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Pavel Florin: cricket's newest hero in action – video

Pavel Florin: ‘I came to England to speak with people. This is espionage’

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The Romanian bowler received VIP treatment at Lord’s, but the drive to grow cricket in Romania and Europe needs attention

Presumably, these days, there is some sort of support group for those who have become overnight internet sensations. Somewhere someone who accidentally invented a new dance move, or tasered their own foot, can go for advice, solace, group counselling. A closed Facebook group where Fenton’s owner or Hot Mugshot Guy warn newcomers of the things no viral superstar realises – for instance, that life might get unexpectedly expensive.

Romania’s cricketer extraordinaire, Pavel Florin, has learned the hard way. Standing in the President’s Box at the Lord’s Ashes Test this weekend, as a cluster of surrounding dignitaries were topped up with champagne, his shoes shone with fresh-from-the-box lustre. When he left his home city of Cluj-Napoca, he hadn’t expected to be invited to the zenith of cricket’s social season. He certainly hadn’t packed for it.

“It was only one day ago I heard I would be coming here,” says Florin, decked in a petrol blue jacket. “I’m a sportsman, I don’t usually wear these clothes. So I needed to buy them!” He looks down at the Prince of Wales check on his new trousers. “I don’t even know if they work.” They do. Florin looks distinctly natty against an assembly of cream linen and egg-and-bacon.

It’s hard to believe it’s less than three weeks since the world first discovered Florin, when the European Cricket League shot him to insta-fame. But then Florin went from infamy – “check out this Romanian guy’s bowling!” – to international treasure – “check out this Romanian guy, he’s bowling!” – in the space of a couple of overs. There were immediate offers, from people who claimed to know how he could capitalise on his moment in the spotlight. “Many agents came to me saying they I could do this or that and get some money,” says Florin. “But it wasn’t about the cricket.”

Instead, he decided to spend his own cash to fly to England and find out how small clubs work here. If he’s going to use his profile, it will be to develop and improve the game in Romania. “This is why I came alone, I want to try to speak with people, and see how they manage.” He laughs. “This is espionage!”

His spy mission has cost him €700 (£637) so far; his job as a nightclub bouncer pays a monthly salary of €400. “But I’m the president of my club and I need to do this.” When he landed on Thursday, he tweeted his arrival with a selfie at Luton airport. “What do you do when you first arrive in London?” he asked. “Looking for a place to eat … looking for a place to sleep … but first … you are looking for a field to throw a ball.” Florin was immediately inundated with offers of games and net sessions, not to mention a spare room.

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Transylvania’s most famous all-rounder is both a reason to celebrate and a salutary lesson for the development of cricket in Europe, or indeed any small country with little history of the game. He’s an already-sporty type who got involved when he was training and saw some Indians practising in the field next to him. They gave him a hit and, always keen to recruit new talent, told him he was a great player – the future captain of Romania. “It was a lie, because someone caught the ball,” says Florin. “But I liked this lie.”

Now he travels 500km to his nearest ground to play, and cricket is his first thought on waking up every morning (“my life is very easy, because I’m not married”). But, as Florin is aware, passion isn’t enough, not in a country where the police see you carrying a long-handled wooden bat and assume you’re planning to assault someone. Anyone else might well have given up by now. “For six years, I couldn’t bat or bowl in our games, just field,” he says. “My team want to win when they play, and they said you are not good enough yet – you have to get better. And it was true!”

Mr President Anthony Wreford and Mrs Mariana Wreford, thank you for being such a wonderful host. Lord's Cricket Ground is the place where you want the match never end, I am honored to have been here today@HomeOfCricket#Ashes#cricket#ilovecricket pic.twitter.com/VUXOQzNL6L

— Pavel Florin (@PavelFlorin13) August 18, 2019

At the time, Florin was one of only two Romanians in his side (there are now three). As the now-president of his club, he points out that the expansion of the game among Romanian nationals has never been part of the agenda, since it was created for a community of expats who would be leaving when their work contracts were over. “Those people just want to play, which is fine,” he says. “They play and go home and play and go home. But I’m just one person. I can’t do this on my own.”

This was the week European cricket was meant to get flashy. The Euro T20 Slam, in which stars such as Eoin Morgan, Babar Azam and Faf du Plessis would have turned out for city-based franchises in Dublin, Amsterdam and Edinburgh, should have been gearing up for its first round of games. Instead, the tournament was cancelled due to “unforeseen circumstances” and the organisers announced that they had “reluctantly come to the decision that staging of the event will not be possible” this year. In one of the company’s other ventures – the Global T20 Canada League – players including Yuvraj Singh had gone on strike due to non-payment of wages.

Instead, the cricket story that has turned our head has come from a country whose federation currently consists of a mere eight clubs. So what next for Romania? Having witnessed futsal’s dramatic increase in popularity when a new prize tournament was introduced, Florin believes that the club scene needs a rethink, and the International Cricket Council needs “another approach”. As for the national team – which he started playing for two years ago – he wants new opposition. “We need to play with strong teams,” says Florin. “We beat Russia, Turkey, Bulgaria, but we’re hungry for more.”

That, he believes, is the way to raise the profile of the game in his country, and inspire fresh talent. “My nation don’t have a hero,” he says. They certainly have a champion. And if you want to hear more from Florin – how he would bowl at Steve Smith, and who would play him in the movie of his life, for instance – you can listen to this week’s episode of the Spin podcast. It features an extended version of our chat in the President’s Box at Lord’s, all the talking points from the second Test, plus me and my guests Geoff Lemon, Prasanna Puwanarajah and Football Weekly host Max Rushden discussing everything from Jofra’s bouncers to Mouse Trap.

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