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The 2001 season is now under way with an away fixture at Lodi where
we lost and an excellent tour to Malta where we played 3 matches and for
which one match report follows below - others to come in due course.
Thanks go to
David Sweetman for organising the trip which was great from the point of
view of the weather, the hotels and the social program, even if not quite
so good for the match results.
However, as Ross Gower
reports.......
MCC vs Winterbourne Marsa Sports and Social club Malta - Sunday 29-4-01
A typically beautiful sunny Maltese day saw the MCC open its tour with
a convincing win against the English tourists Winterbourne CC. This match
was most notable for 6 different reasons.
First we had a good , if somewhat variable , spell of bowling from
Robert Cuffley who somehow managed to finish with 4-26 helping to restrict
Winterbourne to 161 from the 40 overs. He was naturally fined a jug of
beer for avoiding 5 wickets.
Second. A welcome return to the MCC family for R "Tin-Tin" Lawrence
who top scored with a dashing 87.
Third. A good opening stand of around 70 between "Tin-Tin" and the
dashingly handsome and blonde Ross-Gower setting up MCC nicely.
Fourth. A good show of some typically agressive batting and running
from Che Smit who scored rapidly to help finish the game with plenty of
overs to spare and thus win the game by 9 wkts.
Fifth. What can only be described as a display of fine fielding and
a group of high quality catches form the great wanderer Coppack, the other
dashingly handsome blonde Millard. Tin-Tin, Mike "binary" DeMorgan behind
the sticks and even Robert "he has got Robert Cuffley hands" Cuffley plucking
one out of the air like a salmon swimming upstream. Unfortunately Mike
"cant catch a cold" Bonney was not quite so capable!
Sixth. As rare as Haleys commet or Doug Hind going to the barbers the
entire Milan squad turning up and taking part in a 9am saturday morning
net practice!
Some other notable events from the first 2 days would include the astonishing array of well endowed and beautiful Maltese women, but our chances of pulling any of them using Ken "the Dentist" Millards first chat up line of the tour which was to launch a cricket ball carelessly that unfortunately struck Mike Bonney"s fiance Giovanna right in the teeth and knock a crown out but luckily no permanant damage was done. If it had been a throw on the field of play then no doubt it would have broken her toe. The night out after was spectacular and was captured on video for future reference and blackmail but of course what goes on tour stays on tour. (most of the time).
Briliant team effort. Fantastic night out. Coppack didnt get lost. It can only go down hill from here.
Ross.
The next fixture is Monte Carlo away on May 19/20 and if you have not
already been bombarded by messages about the fixture and who's travelling
or sleeping with whom, but would like to participate then contact
Miles Kirchin for more details.
The 2000 season is now in the past but a short report for the two Strasbourg matches and the visits of Monte Carlo and Lodi appear below
We had to cancel away trips to Strasbourg and CERN because of shortage of available players and Swiss entry visa problems for our Indian members.
Although we've missed several fixtures because of player shortages,
with the recent arrival of some new players our playing strength is potentially
now looking good.
On the Sunday against Strasbourg for example , we had 11 batsmen who
have all scored 50s for the club and at least 9 bowlers.Let's hope
that situation continues through to the 2001 season.
Provisional fixtures for 2001 are listed on the fixture page and indoor nets are underway.
MCC versus Strasbourg at Grandola, September 16/17
2000
On the Saturday under
a grey swirling blanket of cloud, Milan batted first in a 35 over match.
After the early
loss of Ross Gower, Richard Lawrence and newcomer Che Smit moved the score
along nicely until at 39 for 1, Che was out for 21, brilliantly caught
and bowled, one handed by Nick Gould off a fierce drive.Various other batsmen
came and went and even though the quality of the Strasbourg bowling was
somewhat variable, suddenly the score was 89 for 7 and Milan in trouble.
Nand Kumar then joined Andrew Allen and batting
sensibly they kept out the accurate Nick Brown (1 for 13 in 7 overs)and
took advantage of the more generous offerings such as Adrian Porter (0
for 21 in 1) T. Butler (0 for 17 in 1).
In the space of 11 overs they added nearly 100 runs and ensured that
Milan secured a solid total.Andrew made a fine 56 before being bowled by
Nick Gould ((3 for 26) and Nand was out lbw for 44 with 2 overs to go.
The innings closed soon after at 203 for 9 and Milan took the field as
the rain started to fall and the light was dungeon dark.
There was only enough time for Nick Lynam to play on to Nand Kumar
before the heavens opened and 11 or so players were seen vainly trying
to keep dry under the gazebo.
The downpour led to the match being abandoned and a sudden flash flood
in the stream swept away a case of Lowenbrau (disaster) and two cases of
water (not so bad), never to be seen again,
except perhaps in the streets of Porlezza.
The stream also burst its banks roughly on the line of the wickets and
new player Peter Haselden proved his fielding abilities after a bit of
juggling by catching two trout that slithered on to the outfield.One sniff
of the water was enough reason to throw them back but we look forward to
further catches in the outfield from Peter next season.
On Sunday the
weather gods relented and Milan again batted first under warm blue skies
in a declaration game. Mark Roper and Miles Kirchin were bowled early on
and then with Rob Cuffley and Mike De Morgan each out for 10, Milan were
37 for 4.
Enter Mrinal "Albert" Dasgupta and Che Smit to propel the score
swiftly along to 76 before Albert ran himself out attempting a third
when the throw in hit the stumps.
If Strasbourg were happy to get rid of
Albert, they probably soon changed their minds with the arrival of yet
another new Milan player, Casper Ridley, who after looking round
a bit, proceeded to strike 6 enormous sixes in an impressive whirlwind
53 not out.
Meanwhile Che Smit was making
great shots at the other end all round the wicket and finished up with
an excellent 75 not out.So at 191 for 5 after 25 overs, the declaration
came before the buffet lunch and the opportunity for a slightly blitzed
fielding side to recharge batteries before putting their pads on.Unfortunately
for Strasbourg, things didn't get any better and an excellent teasing spell
of 7 overs 4 for 3 from Nand Kumar meant that the batting side were soon
20 for 4.
Che Smit, whose nonstop
narrative from cover was even enough to keep Ross from getting a word in
edgeways, showed he could also bowl a bit with a spell of 4 for 1 in 4
overs.Pity nobody could understand Che's Afrikaans -- well maybe
not.
Although Strasbourg had
fielded valiantly they were a little under their normal strength and and
playing against a much stronger than average Milan side.So their innings
closed at 40 for a Milan win by 150 runs.Pity about the weather on Saturday
but all in all an enjoyable weekend.
MCC versus Monte Carlo at Grandola August 26/27 2000
At the end of August, Monte Carlo visited us and on the Saturday the
Milan highlight was an opening partnership of over 200 from Richard
Lawrence and Ross Gower. Richard retired not out for an excellent 107 and
Ross was finally bowled for a fine 74.
Monte Carlo could never quite get near
the required run rate to match Milan's 240 for 6 and
we won by 44 runs.On the Sunday Monte Carlo batted first and Jeremy
Pierce with 55 and the Callaher brothers with 40 each were the main contributors
in a total of 141.
Milan's reply included 26 from
Miles Kirchin and 22 from Rob Cuffley but never quite achieved the required
run rate, especially in the later stages where Graham Rogers bowled well
with 4 for 24.Monte Carlo won quite comfortably in the end by 20 runs.So
honours even and another great weekend with sunny weather.
MCC versus Idle C.C. at Grandola on Sunday September 3rd.
In early September, we played Lodi at Grandola and batting first, Mark Roper with a solid 35 and Albert with 49 formed the basis of a Milan total of 148 in 34 overs.Good all round bowling from Milan helped to keep the Lodi run rate down to 3. something and Lodi finished at 122 for 8, leaving Milan with a win by 26 runs.
MCC versus Idle C.C. at Lodi on Sunday May 28th
They say catches win matches and we would have probably won this
one if a certain Naseer of Lodi had not been dropped, when only just arrived
at the crease off a mistimed shot to mid on where the fielder did not have
to move too far.Then again a few runs later, a harder hit and more difficult
missed catch to deep mid on gave him another life which Milan were to regret.
From coming in at 69 for
5 chasing 112, Nasser hit 8 sixes and one four in an unbeaten 59 to snatch
victory from the jaws of defeat with 15 of the allotted 35 overs still
to be bowled.
Earlier Richard Lawrence
28, Chris Morgan 16 and Shanta 18 had all made useful contributions
to the first part of the Milan innings but with only 10 players in each
side and at
78 for 6 with a third of the overs still to go,we had lost too many
wickets.
So Mark Roper and Alan Osman did well to dig in a bit and ensure
we batted for the entire duration with Lucky,our last batsman, being bowled
out on the last ball of the last over.
We may not be very successful but we can create a tidy
scorebook!
112 was not a big total even if the outfield slowed the ball down a
lot.The pitch had bounce and Chris Morgan and Lucky beat the bat a lot
in their opening spells.Danith, the scourge of Milan in the last game against
them, had some umpiring luck and accumulated 26 in fairly short time but
then Nand Kumar, bowling his mesmerising mixture of leg spin and occasional
full tosses, transformed the position with 3 wickets in 2 overs including
Danith's.
With Shanta also bowling well from the other
end, only two recognised batsmen stood between us and a good chance of
victory. But then came Naseer with his several powerful straight
sixes, some almost into the river, and the rest is history.
Milan versus Monte Carlo Away at Levens May 6/7
Our ability to get sufficient people together for the long trip to Provence
had been in some doubt but eventually 13 players, 5 ladies and two small
children made it to La Chaumiere Hotel in Levens in the hills above Monaco
by the Saturday morning.It could have been a world record of 14 players
but for our newest member from USA, John Velis, unfortunately being trapped
back in Milan by an outbreak of customer love bugs. (feel free to arrive
at your own interpretation)
Monaco's ambitious plan to stage a triangular tournament
had folded when the Tappers ex UK emailed a few days before to say they
couldn't raise sufficient players.So we reverted to the original plan of
two matches against MCCC. (as it turned out,a 40 overs match
on the Saturday and 35 overs on the Sunday).
After a stroll round the hilltop village of
Levens for some and despite a lot of dark clouds and rain in the morning,
play commenced around one o'clock on the Saturday with MCCC winning the
toss and electing to bat.There was a freshly laid mat on a fairly
soft wicket and a damp and generously grassed outfield ( the motor mower
had broken down before its job was complete but we're accustomed to that
anyway because our bowlers often do the same!)
After 20 overs MCCC were 46 for 3 and pinned down somewhat by the accurate bowling of Mark Roper and newcomer Kiwi, Michael Bonney who had manfully made the journey all the way to Levens from Ancona.At this stage the game broke off to take advantage of Sophie's excellent lunch which may with hindsight have been a turning point in the game.
After lunch, Steve Greenwood, in at number 3, had batted patiently and
with some well struck boundaries helped to accelerate the run rate
to around 3 per over.Joined by Jim Bennett coming in at number 5 they took
advantage of the occasional loose delivery before Steve was finally bowled
by David Sweetman in the 29th over for 35 with the score at 85 for 4.
Then Jim Benett took over and
with useful contributions from Nick Thomas and Jim Mc Cready, in the space
of 8 overs helped produce a comparative torrent of 55 runs before finally
succumbing to Mrinal Dasgupta for 40.
A feature of his innings
was that he hit 3 sixes (but curiously no fours) on a ground with longish
boundaries and the 3 other batsmen mentioned also each chipped in with
a 6.
In a game where run rates
were generally low this was probably one of the key factors with
6 sixes transforming what might have been only 2.5 ish for the whole innings
to a respectable 3.5 ish, as they eventually closed 9 wickets down for
146.
Mrinal and Miles Kirchin each
took two wickets and Nand Kumar and David Sweetman
also managed a wicket each, albeit a little more expensively.
Milan fielded quite well with
3 run outs and some safe catching, including two in the covers from Michael
Bonney.
In the Milan reply, Miles Kirchin
27 and Mrinal 11, helped take the score along to 64 for 3 after 20
overs. Although this was 16 runs better than MCCC at the comparable stage,
it still meant a required run rate of over 5 for the remaining 15 overs.Although
several batsmen threatened to make good scores, it always seemed that their
innings ended abruptly with an ill timed hit offering a catch to the covers
or midwicket.
Monaco did well to hold onto everything
that was on offer (6 catches in all) and the steady fall of wickets
sapped any momentum in the Milan innings and despite a valiant 19
from David Sweetman before being run out, the innings closed at 126 for
9, 20 runs short of the Monaco total.
Best of the Monaco bowlers was
Grant Rogers with 3 for 19 while NickRogers, Chris Pearson, Jeremy Pearce
and Graham Rogers all toiled manfully away for a wicket or so each, on
a wicket that was not offering much in bounce or pace.
In the final analysis, two of
Monaco's batsmen made significant scores which Milan never quite managed
to match, they held their catches and and at the excellent dinner
in the evening at La Chaumiere,Monaco deservedly took back into their keeping
the trophy for the bi - annual contest between the two clubs.
But don't forget to bring it up to Grandola in August!!
On Sunday the weather was again threatening but the match started after
12.00 a.m. and Monaco again won the toss and elected to bat first.Nand
Kumar, opening from one end with his mixture of slow/medium paced leg spin,
took two wickets in his first over including a fine catch from Ross Gower
at deep mid wicket running away with his back to the ball and taking it
over his shoulder.(We probably won't have heard the last about that).
After 20 overs there was another fine lunch from the tireless Sophie
and her helpers, this time a BBQ.
On resumption, Nand finished with 3 for 12,and also Michael Bonney
and Mrinal, each conceding only 4 or 5 runs off their 7 overs, helped to
restrict the Monaco run rate to less than 3 per over.
Christian Gallagher made
a good, fighting 37 but the Monaco innings finished at 102 for 8 at which
point the rain started to fall.
When it stopped raining,
there were some rumblings about the playability but the right decision
to play on was reached and with the rain stopped Richard Lawrence and Mark
Roper got the Milan reply off to a good start with 45 runs on the board
at the halfway stage.
Although they were
both out shortly afterwards for 28 and 15 respectively, and some other
batsmen lost their wickets cheaply, Mike Bonney and David Sweetman in particular,
steadied the Milan ship with 20 and 17 not out and Milan passed the Monaco
total with 7 wickets down and 3 overs to spare.
Some compensation for Saturday's
defeat and the thought that even although the weather had been changeable
throughout the weekend we managed two full games and the drive back to
Milan was virtually traffic free for once, with most of the weekend Italian
tourists to Liguria having stayed at home.
It was good to see the reappearance
of Robert Cuffley from Lucca and the return of Andrew Betournay for one
game and Chris Stokes for the Sunday match, plus of course Fiona for the
scorebook management.
Apart from Michael Bonney from NZ and Nand and Mrinal from India, our
International flavour was strengthened by the first appearance of Steve
Coppak who claims to hail from North Wales.With modesty his middle name,
he declined to actually take the field and it brings to mind the line from
an old Welsh rugby song "We think so much about him that we always play
without him" A bientot Steve, as they probably say in Snowdonia.
Visit the archives for
previous match reports such as Monte Carlo Away in 2000, other
'99 matches, UK tour 98, and a host of other famous cricketing events.
Also new, sizzling snaps from the cameras of Chris Morgan and others.
Don't miss.
Calendar
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This page last updated on September 24th. 2001.