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Having been offered the pitch during the week, we hastily organised a friendly against Men in Blue on Easter Sunday. With them a bit short, and us oversubscribed, Wills and Aman filled in for MIB while our newest member Karthik Sai made his BICC debut. The toss was somewhat negotiated, and we bowled first. Having previously agreed a 25-over game, we shortened it to a T20 from the off with lots of wet weather hanging around… MIB were never fully able to get going and Maxi Hoeck and Karthik kept things tight early on. Maxi picked up the first wicket with the last ball of the of the first over, and there was a steady stream of wickets throughout the innings. Never was this more true than when Simon Eldridge was bowling his right-arm darts, although he needed a break and a sit down after the first two overs of his spell (definitely not anything to do with the fact that his second over was his least successful). He had picked up two wickets in his first over, the first a top edge that went about 3km up and might have hit the stumps on the way down, but for captain Shriram Bhosale to catch it with the gloves on. James Bentley at the “other end” got in on the act too, getting the dangerous Omar Ali caught by Maroof Shaikh (the first of his three catches). Zeeshan beat the next batter for pace, Vishesh beat the one after with guile before Simon came back and combined twice with Maroof for his third and fourth wickets. He finished with impressive figures of 4/24. Shriram bizarrely gave the last over to Maroof who had our own Aman LBW with his first ball and was unlucky not to get a second wicket next ball. MIB finished on 149/9, with their top 9 all getting out perfectly in order. We had got lucky in the first innings, as the clouds were light and the rain stayed away. During the innings break, they got a bit darker and as the player were walking out it started spitting. Ujjwal managed to get himself out for a duck before our first rain delay after two overs. With showers coming and going, and varying levels of rain, we went back on and came off twice more before deciding to play on for a few more overs through it. Eventually, a heavier downpour after eight overs came and forced us off for good. We finished on 50/1 (short of the 52/1 DLS par score, for those counting), with Maroof (25*) and Shane Lightley (16*) left unbeaten. It was our first rain-affected game since our tour to the south of France last May, and our first in Catalonia since March 13th 2022! Given the forecast, we were probably lucky to get as many as 28 overs in, although it’s a shame as the game was very evenly poised and we haven’t managed to beat MIB in a while! Sam Phillipps  From the slightly brighter first innings...
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We were delighted to finally put together a long-awaited tour to Granada for the first weekend of March. It had been a warm and sunny week in Barcelona but someone had turned the heating down in Andalucia - our new jumpers would certainly be getting a test over the weekend! Most arrived on Friday evening, although stand-in captain for the weekend Maroof Shaikh was flying in on Saturday after spending the night with his potatoes. Zeeshan Dildar was also absent from the Friday night get-together, although it is not believed that he spent the night with any vegetables. The rest of us headed out for a drink or two, which was of course accompanied by more free tapas than we could possibly eat. Saturday’s game was a 40-over affair. Maroof won his first toss and elected to bowl first. Anish Shindore and Tom Coulthard opened the bowling in what is possibly our tallest ever opening combo. Tom had been almost entirely unused throughout the T10 winter season, but still had fresh memories of his fifer in Menorca in November and it wasn’t long until he had the first breakthrough as he bowled their opener. It would be just a solitary wicket for the opening pair before Vishesh “I never get wickets on tour” Gajjar and Leandro “leaping salmon” Español came on. They too went wicketless at first as Granada built a partnership. Maroof turned to Umer Razi and Damien “oh go on then, I’ll bowl an over or two if needed” McMullen with the latter rolling back the years and defying injury to claim his best figures for many a year, as the middle-order collapsed under the pressure of his dibbly-dobblers. A six over-spell that he’d definitely feel in the morning (and indeed, that evening and afternoon) that produced figures of 3/49. At the other end, Umer too had claimed a wicket that saw him become the joint-top wicket taker* in BICC history (*according to highly inaccurate online records) - although the outright record will have to wait! Pep Mateos was brought on and claimed a wicket of his own thanks to a brilliant one-handed diving catch from Shane Lightley (bowled Pep, caught Shane - the rest might be a slight exaggeration) and the captain controversially brought himself on for his first bowl since getting the last four balls of a game last June - but did also pick up a wicket of his own much to the disappointment of regular captain Shriram following along on WhatsApp. Vishesh was brought back on to close the innings and finally claimed a scalp (maybe you just need to bowl to the tail Vishy?) and eventually Granada finished on 272/8, which they claimed to be on the lower end of the range of a par score. After a lengthy lunch break in the restaurant across the road (a good opportunity to warm up as well as eat!) Umer and Tom were sent out to open. I’m sure Tom was getting flashbacks of a different tour (Madrid 2022) as he trudged off for a duck again - fortunately for him this one wasn’t on camera either. Maroof came and went cheaply at 3, while Shane at 4 was more aggressive than usual for his 15 before getting caught. This brought together Umer and Damien, and our most productive bowling partnership of the first innings became our most productive batting partnership of the second (so far). Despite both of them not wanting to run much (Damien because of injury, Umer because of tradition) they were going along at a good pace. Umer passed his 50 but Damien couldn’t reach the landmark, falling for a well made 37 just afterwards leaving us on 120/4 - a superb 83-run partnership. This soon became 128/5 as keeper Khyzer Nawaz came and went. Umer dominated the next partnership and passed 75, as the onlooking BICC players wondered if Umer might finally pass three-figures, or whether we should see if we could get all out with him stuck in the 90s. Our mischievous plans would have to wait for another day though, as Umer was bowled for 76 by a Spanish man relatively new to cricket who wasn’t even supposed to be playing. Sometimes you can’t write the scripts. Ali Warriach and Vishesh steadied the ship a bit but you sensed that we would need more than the 31 runs they eventually put on together. The game seemed to have completely slipped away when they were both dismissed in consecutive balls with the score on 183. With two new batters at the crease (Pep and Anish), only two wickets left and 90 runs still needed. However, it wasn’t long until the English watching (yours truly) started seeing Anish as the long-lost older brother of Ben Stokes as he proceeded to aggressively take on the attack, whilst cleverly rotating the strike with Pep. Pep did well for his six runs but when he was bowled we still needed a further 44 to win. Anish continued on as before, and soon passed 50 in just 20 balls. As things got closer and the tension built, he slowed down a bit knowing that one mistake would finish the game. There were more than enough overs left still, although with things having slowed down it started to become a factor. 25 needed off 24 balls. 19 off 18. BIG OVER! 4 off 12 now… surely! Three runs came off the next over meaning scores were tied going into the last over. Leandro, now at the non-striker’s end with a beautiful 9*, has a quick word with the bowler. “No pressure, mate”. Clearly, he got into his head and he bowled a huge wide! Anish’s arms went out in a Stokes-esque celebratory fashion with the ball still travelling down the wicket towards him. An amazing victory clutched from the jaws of defeat. We had won by 1 wicket with 6 balls to spare, as Anish finished on 66*. After such an incredible game, we joined our hosts for a drink as they dished out some punishments for extras, low scores, dropped catches and the like. After a quick shower at the hotel, we headed into the city centre for a Moroccan dinner. This was followed by a drink with the Granada lads and that Zeeshan fellow I mentioned earlier at an Irish bar. A few of us headed far too far across town in the rain to a karaoke bar, where none of us fancied singing… On Sunday it had been decided to play two T20s. Maroof again won the toss and decided to bowl in the first game. Sam Phillipps hobbled out to open the bowling with Tom and the pair took a bit of stick in the opening couple of overs. Sam got the breakthrough at the end of the third over before immediately telling the captain that he was done (honestly…). Tom then got the free-flowing Aakash to nick behind to Khyzer and, with both openers back in the shed, things calmed down a bit. An all-Indian bowling partnership of Vishesh and Anish came on to take us out of the powerplay - Anish producing an almost carbon copy of Tom’s wicket as Khyzer took another smart catch. Next was an all-Spanish bowling partnership and it was remarkably the most productive of the weekend! Leandro bowled three really tight overs as he claimed 2/16 whilst Pep at the other end got his first caught by Umer. He himself would come on for a bowl looking for that historical wicket, but it was Pep at the other end that would claim history! His incomplete third over will be remembered forever more as he ran through the tail. The first wicket was somehow caught by Ali and the second by Maroof. Number 11 walked out to the crease on a hattrick ball. With all the field in, Pep was given a bit of advice from Anish (“just a normal ball”). Pep ran in and bowled his best normal ball, which the batter could only fend off to Vishesh at a short mid-wicket to complete the hattrick! His final figures of 4/25 are almost certainly the best for the club by a Spaniard, six wickets to Spaniards is surely another record, and it was the first hattrick at this relatively new ground. Granada were bowled out for 142 before the end of the 19th over. Our second innings didn’t start quite as well, as both openers were dismissed for ducks. Shane at number 3 didn’t fare too much better and we were struggling at 12/3. Umer and Maroof managed a 44-run partnership but we were still falling below the required rate. Umer was dismissed for 37 and Tom (despite a fast 14) and Maroof (fantastically run out from square of the stumps) would fall soon too and we were starting to need another Anish miracle. Sadly, that wasn’t to come again. Wickets kept tumbling (although not mine!) and we were bowled out at the start of the penultimate over for 110. By this point though, many of the team had already started tucking into the barbecue that the hosts had laid on for us! In the second game, it had been agreed that the opposite would happen to the first game - that is that we would bat first. We got off to a much better start this time, with captain Maroof leading the way alongside a slower-to-start Ali. The opening partnership was worth 70 when Ali was bowled trying to accelerate his own scoring rate. This would turn out to be a mistake for the hosts, as it merely brought Tom to the crease. In this third game he really found his groove and he and Maroof formed another great partnership. Tom got off to a rapid start and was frequently peppering the ball into the cornfield over the bowler’s head. When he got into the 40s, Maroof started hogging the strike a bit more which meant he got to 50 first before being bowled next ball. Tom continued to find it difficult getting the strike over the last few remaining balls but finished with a mega 61* from just 28 balls (including 7 sixes) - where were you in the ECS?! We finished on 175/3 and felt like firm favourites after seeing the scorecard of the first match. Their captain Aakash opened again and scored at a very similar rate to Tom, and was ably supported by his opening partner (and our long term enemy Mr W. Ides) and got them off to an absolute flyer. Even when Akash was the second wicket to fall, bowled by Tom, it seemed he had done enough to put Granada in the driving seat. Richie and Sebin saw the home team to victory with just over three overs to spare and eight wickets still in the shed. We’ll cling on to one of the greatest wins in BICC living memory from the Saturday and let them have the two T20 wins though! An absolutely fantastic weekend that entirely lived up to expectations. We are sure to be back, and look forward to the Goval and Granada CC getting better and better over the coming years. Thanks to Richie and all for the fantastic hospitality. As pretty as playing with a snowy Sierra Nevada in the background was, can you make it a bit warmer next term though? Sam Phillipps  My first ever trip to Granada was set to be a memorable one, having been nearly two years in the pipeline. I flew out on Friday morning and decided to take the bus to nearbyhotspot Nerja rather than explore Granada itself. It was a very pleasant town with the sun shining. There were some really nice flowerpots and a cool roundabout before I found some rocks to stand on. A walk back down the hill took me to the seaside where I found a cool-looking scooter and a flower. The clouds started to roll in but it wouldn't take away the beauty of the main square or some shells that I found. I had some snacks before going to bed in an otherwise uneventful and non-commentworthy day. After a lazy Saturday morning and a long lunch, I headed back to Granada to meet up with some friends at a bar, who were brimming with joy after winning something called a "cricket match". Having been very intrigued as to this strange sounding sport, I headed along to the ground with them to watch. They couldn't manage to get a win in the first game sadly. To top it off, in that game lots of the players got injured and I was asked to play! I was told to run as fast as I could but to make sure I stayed behind the white line, or the umpire would get mad and tell me I had no balls. We lost the second game too, but I had a great time and thought about the possibility of playing some more. I asked the captain if I could join them for the whole tour next time, and he said maybe. I hope he chooses me!  |
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