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View scorecard We welcomed our third touring team of the year on the last day of June, St Matthias CC from Brighton. They had arrived the night before and immediately hit the bars, with some clearly still a bit worse for wear come 2pm the following afternoon! Umer Razi graciously lost the toss and we were put in the field. Less graciously, Umer decided to open with the pace pair of Zeeshan Dildar and Maxi Hoeck but it was the captain who once again took the first wicket with a second run out in as many games. The other opener was soon after given out LBW to Zeeshan and walked off mouthing "thank you" to the standing umpire - I'm not sure he was enjoying the quick bowling! Maxi sent the number three back to the dugout first ball with a sharp caught and bowled. Reuben Grahame and Duncan Newing offered a bit more backbone at number 4 and 5 respectively before Simon Eldridge had the former caught by Burhan for a well made 18. Tom Sherlock made the bold choice to try and ramp Shriram Bhosale off his second ball and was caught at short third-man by Shane Lightley, allowing Duncan and number 7 Louis Grahame to build another mini recovery. Eventually Duncan was run out and Louis (along with new partner Alex Coghlin) retired. Simon came back on and bowled the tour manager Joel Sayers for his second wicket and St Matthias posted a below-par 120/7 from their 20 overs. Regular guest Pandian Karuppaswamy opened with Vishesh Gajjar but there was confusion early on and Vishesh was run out - maybe Pandian shouldn't expect a call next time we're short! Shriram Bhosale reprised his role as pinch hitting number 3 that had worked so well in the league last weekend but could only managed 16 this time. Pandian somewhat made up for the run out by scoring 31 off 25 before falling caught. Burhan Ejaz (33*) and keeper Jack Jewson (17) kept the runchase well above target before Umer came in to score the winning runs in just the 15th over. A good game played in great spirits between two teams that were probably much more evenly matched than the report and scorecard might suggest - it would certainly be interesting to play them in a more competitive game! A great bunch and we joined them for dinner, along with a couple of others from Men In Blue (who St Matthias were due to play the following day). Overall, it was a great day and Razball now has two wins in a row! Sam Phillipps  St Matthias decided their score of 120 from 20 didn't look good, so doctored the scoreboard a bit!
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View scorecard Following the bonfires and fireworks of Friday night, we turned up to the baseball ground in Montjuïc on a scorching Sant Joan afternoon for our league fixture against old friends Badalona CC. Umer Razi lost the toss with the one umpire that had turned up on time, and we were put in to bat in front of a probable record home crowd that reached double figures(!). Umer opened with himself alongside Burhan Ejaz and the two built a very solid partnership. They were both clearly struggling with the heat though as there were quite a few runs turned down and a few others lazily trotted down to the other end! They reached the 10 overs drinks break at 75/0, aided by a few two-run wides and a dropped catch for each along the way! With a solid base built, they agreed to accelerate the innings, although Burhan was dismissed first ball after drinks, hitting the ball straight back to the bowler. Razball came into effect and Shriram Bhosale was sent in, much higher up the order than normal, to continue that acceleration - and it certainly worked! He would eventually bring up his half century off 28 balls on the way to 55*. Umer contributed a well-constructed 49 before being stumped by former BICC player Nadim Aseq as he looked to get to his personal landmark. In the final over, Maroof Shaikh came in and whacked 10 off just three balls to get us to a total of 186/3. In reply, our now usual opening partnership of Lauren Pamenter (now definitely in her last game for the club in her current spell in Barcelona - unlike last week, which was definitely her last game for us for a while!) and Sam Phillipps took the new ball. Lauren struggled to find her rhythm in the first over but would help dry up the runs over the rest of the powerplay. Off just the eighth ball, there was a mix-up between the batters and Umer smartly ran Mahdi Al out from mid-off and we were on the board. Sam claimed two cheap wickets in his second and third overs either side of a dropped catch that really put the cat amongst the pigeons. Sam was replaced by Zeeshan Dildar who immediately started with a wicket maiden as his pace proved too much for Haseeb Ullah. Leandro Español also came in to the attack and almost immediately another chance went abegging after a mix up between himself and Shriram. Opener Maaz Ahmed and Tahla Islam reached drinks at 63/4, aided even more by some extras than we had been. Despite some good bowling from Joseph Danam and Vishesh Gajjar in the middle overs, their sixth-wicket partnership reached a slightly worrying 68 before Shriram, not content with a first BICC 50 and a catch, claimed the wicket of Tahla caught and bowled. This started another collapse as Badalona went from 114/4 to 129/8, with a wicket for Vishesh, another for Shriram and a run-out by Zeeshan. Nadim was run out by Shriram (yes, him again) in the final over and, after the number 11 didn’t come out for some reason, the game was done two balls early! Sam Phillipps  Scorecard A warm and overcast day greeted the players at Vic, arriving punctually, only to have the start delayed due to a missing hessian wicket. A search round the perimeter by Shane and Vishesh (Mishmash to his mates) found nothing but overgrown grass and discarded confetti from the previous night at the festival next door occupying the old Vic. Off went our indigenous tracker, Sam, into the bush to see what he could find with his sixth sense of knowing where to go he found an alternative wicket. The old Vic wicket was laid out waiting for a new home, and tracker Sam called off the search and requested help via the bush telegraph. It was a team effort with the help of a kind fork lift truck driver to get our drop in wicket ready for our second league game of the season. Having won the toss, Umi opted to bowl first and soon we were underway with Lauren steaming in with her usual left arm over action. The Jaguars were purring immediately though, with a six off the second ball over the fine leg fence which set the tone for the oppos batting nice and early. Next up and charging in like a young Roy Orbison was our very own President Sam, swinging the ball more than an Uxbridge by election. Alarmingly for BICC, the ball was being dispatched to the boundary way too often, soon Shriram and Zeeshan were introduced to stem the flow of runs. Lauren "Lozza" Pamenter was placed into third man on the boundary to shore up things behind Jono "where did it go wrong" Wong. "You're in the game Lozza" encouraged Jack from behind the stumps, suffice to say the ball never did come her way for the next two hours until a dolly of a catch late in the jaguar innings. A few too many no balls were being bowled and Shiram took a couple of catches off the following free hits. Eventually Shri broke through and bowled an opener with his ever nagging line and length. The fielding was briefly interrupted by the policía and the cars parked illegally had to be moved in time for the festival to start that afternoon. Shane returned to deep point and thus the iron curtain on the offside was back in place. A break they say, brings wickets, and Zeeshan was in the thick of it taking two while Mishmash bowled well without reward. Burhan and Umi closed out the innings and a hot and sweaty BICC made for the dugout for shelter. Catalunya Jaguars 181/5 20 overs After the interval Maruf and Jono were striding out to open the BICC innings. Within two balls Maruf was out strangled down the leg side to a melocotón of a delivery, a glancing shot off the pads that the keeper anticipated and moved beautifully to catch on the leg side. Next in was Zeeshan to get the barbecue going and sure enough Jono was the shrimp on the barbie, a miscommunication while a direct hit had him stranded halfway down the wicket. You'd have a harder job finding a calmer man in a crisis than Jack Jewson, the type of fellow you need when the ship is listing to one side and you need someone to tell you everything is going to be ok. Jack and Zeeshan steadied the HMS BICC through choppy waters, sneaking singles with the occasional boundary. With scoreboard pressure building Jack was bowled, trying to go big and next up was Shane to calm the BICC nerves and keep the scoreboard ticking over. To be fair to the Jaguars, they bowled well and either with luck or a well placed field the ball found the fielders more often than the boundary. As batsmen came and went the run rate became increasingly difficult to keep up with for BICC, the skipper was bowled going for glory for 7. Burhan came in and went for a quick 3, finally Mishmash finished on 11no and Shane 13no. BICC 121/6 20 overs Shane Lightley  A photo from when we were ahead in the game (just after the toss) We set off on Friday evening from just by the airport for the three hour drive to Béziers, with a quick pitstop for a overpriced service station sandwich. With most of the drive done with rain falling (and much more of the stuff predicted over the weekend), we weren’t overly optimistic of much play over the weekend. We were due to play two games at the Midi cricket ground in Pouzolles, having been due to tour there a few years ago only for the now defunct Midi CC to frustratingly cancel on us on the Friday morning. Saturday scorecard The first game was a 35-over affair against Montpellier Barracudas CC. We arrived at the transformed football ground as the lawnmower was going around, and there was even a surprise reunion as one of the opposition players happened to be a friend of Maroof Shaikh’s from India! The morning was very warm and sunny, although we knew there was rain expected in the afternoon. When Lauren Pamenter’s first ball went for six over the fence, she was probably hoping it would come sooner! A couple more lusty blows from the Montpellier opener followed in that opening over before he was adjudged LBW by the home umpire. Lauren was soon to have another LBW decision go her way, whilst Sam Phillipps at the “other end” kept the scoring rate down. Sam had an absolutely plumb LBW shout turned down (the umpire clearly having used up his quota!) and ‘deliberately’ dropped a caught and bowled to allow keeper Shriram Bhosale to get a run out. With the French hosts four down early on, we fancied our chances of rattling through them quickly. Zeeshan Dildar and Simon Eldridge were introduced into the attack and both claimed a wicket too, before returning captain Umer Razi started rotating the bowling (with all ten outfielders getting a go). Ali and Fareed hit some big shots for the hosts, boosting their score to 188. They were all out in the 28th over, with the last wicket a great run out by Maroof. There had been a wicket for the accurate Vishesh Gajjar and a couple for Umer too. After a quick lunch, and with the clouds starting to roll in, Maroof and Khyzer Nawaz opened the batting. The two got us off to a relatively quick start, aided by some inaccurate bowling (and the wides that came from it) until Maroof was out in the fifth over caught behind as the drizzle started falling. Khyzer had been somewhat hogging the strike and this continued with his new partner Simon Eldridge. The two were struggling to rotate the strike, or hit big shots, so it was somewhat inevitable when Simon was run out attempting a second run. Khyzer and returning guest Pandian were both dismissed the following over, as a now traditional middle-order collapse started to take place. Shriram and Vishesh came together and upped the rate for a couple of overs before everyone was forced off as the rain increased. After about half an hour’s break, we went back out despite there being drizzle still falling. Sadly, this only lasted three overs until we were forced off again. It was ultimately the end of the game, with us on a below-par but not out of the game 70/4. The hosts decided to call it a draw, rather than work out any DLS result (which I’m sure wouldn’t have been in our favour!). It had been a great game played in good spirits and the relatively-newly formed Barracudas were fantastic hosts.  All smiles after the game with Montpellier, despite the abandonment The forecast for Sunday was even worse and the rain started at about 8am. The ground had taken a lot of water overnight and had gone from being very dry to suddenly muddy. The astroturf pitch was sodden and with rain constantly falling we called the game off at about 11 o’clock. We started heading home, stopping for a couple of hours in Perpignan for lunch and a sport of tourism. Our thanks again to Nimes for even trying to get a game on for us, especially given their own commute to get there. Hopefully we’ll see you in Barcelona soon! A great weekend with spirits high, despite the lack of cricket and the soggy weather. Maybe a third BICC tour to France will go better…? Sam Phillipps  Enjoying dinner together on Saturday night Scorecard It was a sunny and warm afternoon for the start of the new Cricket España-run Northeastern League. We were to face Bengali CC in the debut match at the Carlos Pérez baseball stadium in Montjuïc in a Sunday evening fixture that would eventually end under lights (and some rain!). Shriram Bhosale won the toss in what is probably his last game as stand-in skipper. Without hesitation he decided to bowl first. It was apparent right from the off that the Bengali batting line up was an inexperienced one and they were very reliant on a couple of their batters, opener Pabel Rahman (50) and captain Hasin bin Hakim (32). None of the seven bowlers used could dismiss them but some sharp work in the field saw them both run out. No one else (except our old friend Mr W. Ides) got into double figures although we were a bit disappointed to let Bengali reach an admittedly below-par score of 125/6 from their 20 overs. There were two wickets apiece for opening bowlers James Bentley and Lauren Pamenter, while Sam Phillipps and Vishesh Gajjar both chipped in with one each. Despite Bengali reaching a score considerably above what might have been expected during most of the innings, we went into the short innings break confident of chasing it down. Regular opener Maroof Shaikh was partnered by Burhan Ejaz, not required with the ball today as he returns to being a specialist batter. They put together a partnership that saw us just short of halfway when Burhan was dismissed with the score on 60 in just the eighth over. Maroof was similarly caught by the keeper a few balls later bringing fake-Aussie Shane Lightley and fake-Brit Damien McMullen together. Damien was brilliantly run out from the deep, starting a collapse as we went from 83/2 to 89/5. James and keeper Khyzer Nawaz settled the nerves with a 35-run partnership that took the scores level, before Khyzer tried to win the game with one of his trademark scoops and was inevitably bowled. Vishesh came in and hit the winning run off his first ball to cheers from the boundary! A much needed win for BICC as some much needed rain fell. We retired to the bar for a celebratory drink before heading for a late dinner. Congrats and thanks to Shriram, who amazingly finishes his spell as stand-in skipper with two trophies and us top of the league! Sam Phillipps  Scorecard Catches win matches, is the old saying in cricket... While stand-in skipper for the match, Shriram Bhosale, was winning the toss some light precipitation fell across the Carlos Perez campo de Beisbol stadium. It wasn't enough to dampen the spirits of BICC though, they took to the field full of vitality and vigour, after some pre-match drills. James "Brisbane express" Bentley opened the bowling from the concert hall end, with Shriram steaming in second over. It wasn't long before the debut skipper was rewarded with a wicket, an absolute beauty rearranging the stumps. The Brisbane express was coming off track, until an adjustment was made to the run up and soon found his line again. A change of bowlers often brings a wicket, and this time Joseph with Sam "baby faced assassin" Phillipps was no exception. Joseph bowling a nagging line and length tempted the Badalona captain into a lofty drive, as the ball sailed up into the evening sun, Shane "doesn't wear Ray Ban for nothing" Lightley was running in from mid off to take the catch. The catching practice session wasn't wasted from Saturday's nets session and within minutes Uswa "capitana" Syed was plucking one out the air at gully, giving Joseph a well deserved second wicket. Meanwhile, not to be outdone, the baby faced assassin was rattling the stumps to get in on the action. Making her debut for BICC was our newly appointed women's captain Uswa Syed, introducing her spin to the attack, and with Bill "sticky fingers" Brooks lurking at mid wicket she soon picked up a couple of wickets that Bill gobbled up in his mitts. At this point it's worth mentioning how exceptional the BICC fielding had been, committed and with barely a misfield, let alone a dropped catch. And as the sun was low on the horizon Shiram took a screamer out on the boundary off of Uswa, to finish her spell with excellent figures of 3 for 11. Even Maroof "don't mention Madrid" Shaikh took a great catch at deep mid wicket, unfortunately it was in vain as the delivery was an above waist no ball. Joseph returned to finish his spell and picked up a third wicket, a tidy 3 for 26. Enter into the fray the ever ready Leo "the dentist" Español with a quick piece of fielding to extract a Badalona batsman with a run out. Not to go home empty handed the Brisbane express clean bowled a Badalona rabbit to pick up a solitary wicket and end the Badalona innings.  Breaking fast The BICC innings began after a short interval to break fast with Bill and Maroof, under the lights in full darkness. Bill fancied a long spell of umpiring so stood in front of the stumps and was dismissed LBW for the first of several ducks. Uswa was next and soon back in the dugout, without troubling the scorer. Now Bruce, to steady the ship with Maroof and set about the Badalona bowling. After looking settled Maroof chipped one back to the bowler and was out for 8, with Shubh in and out like a flash Shane was unexpectedly on his way to calm the BICC nerves. With Bruce and Shane in control the runs finally began to flow, Bruce executing a sublime cover drive to the boundary while Shane cutting outside off stump until a mix up in the running of a quick single ended the partnership, having scored 16. In came Shriram who didn't waste any time dismantling the bowling and hit hard, the run rate was creeping up though and with an unbeaten 25 not out it wasn't enough. Bruce's good knock came to an end, bowled for a well played 28. James had a little cameo with Shriram and finished with 11 not out. All in all a good team performance, but runs win matches, not catches. Shane Lightley  Pre-game catching practice in the drizzle
Scorecard On a bright and warm afternoon at the Carlos Perez baseball ground in Montjuic the BICC players arrived promptly and were soon practicing on the outfield. Jack "safe hands" Jewson was making his debut as captain, winning the toss and choosing to bat first. Within minutes Jack was padded up and striding out with opening partner Maroof "Teflon" Shaikh. Overseeing proceedings for the first few overs was Shane "trigger finger" Lightley, calling play and the BICC innings was underway. Jack and Maroof started confidently, running well and put the Fateh fielders under pressure. Unfortunately for Jack it wasn't long before he feathered one behind and the old trigger finger went up, although Jack the gentleman was already walking. In came Shubh and didn't waste any time finding the boundary. A partnership quickly formed and Maroof grew in confidence, getting 36 well hit runs before a rush of blood to the head, down the wicket and was stumped. Supun was next in and one ball later was making the long and lonely walk back, pinned in the block hole LBW. Vishesh walked out but he wasn't the bunny Fateh was hoping for. Instead Vishesh played with composure and improvised a few ramp shots. Shubh was still finding the boundary on regular occasions until he was trapped LBW for a fine 44. Next up was Shane, some might say the backbone of the batting order, to steady the ship and keep the runs ticking over, until Vishesh tried one ramp shot too many and was caught behind for 13. Aman was in and out in the blink of an eye making the same lonely walk as Supun had earlier. Little Agni strode out, a new man since his operation, and snatched an immediate cheeky single. The BICC innings was over with Shane 5* and Agni stuck on 1* having wafted without success at the last few balls. During the interval the BICC players were treated to a motivational speech from the energetic captain Jack, and it seemed to pay off as the BICC bowlers were rewarded with good opening spells. Sam bounding in like a young Roy Orbison, sunglasses on and quiff wafting in the wind, bowling a nagging line and length. He had the opener caught by Aussie James and soon after pinned the Fateh number 3 LBW, endling with 2-26 and good economy. Steaming in to open the bowling with Sam was the Brisbane express, James, bowling well and and got his reward of clean bowling the other opener and ended with 1-36. BICC were in the luxurious position of having three quick wickets and then all of a sudden the wickets dried up and the runs flowed for Fateh as their big hitting leftie dispatched the BICC bowling with relative ease. Shriram, after having been called for a debatable no-ball first delivery, was unfortunate to end his spell wicketless. Aman bowled with control and got his debut wicket with some nimble glove work from Jack, taking a stumping. But as the sun was setting across the Iberian peninsula so was the hopes of a victory for captain Jack, as several catches were dropped the Fateh batters reached the target with at least three overs to spare. Shane Lightley  Maroof and Jack walking out to open the innings Saturday scorecard Sunday scorecard SATURDAY It was 1pm start on a sunny yet chilly afternoon at the amazing Woodbridge Oval In Alfàs del Pi, a beautiful setting for a 30 over game. Our hosts had just installed a new artificial pitch in January, which was making its debut against us. We were offered the toss and captain Umer chose to bowl on it, to have a look at how it played. The Alfas innings was well anchored with the opening partnership between Crompton and Brown taking the home team score to 39 before Crompton was dismissed by our ringer Pandian. Spanish Captain Muñoz came in at No 3 and suffered a somewhat shaky start being dropped twice whilst in early double digits and hit on the shoulder by Pandian. Simon Eldridge took two wickets in two balls but was unable to complete his hattrick at the start of his next over. BICC paid the price for those drops as Muñoz opened up with plenty of big hits ending up on a rapid 108 before retiring alongside captain Pinnick (23*) to give the lower order a chance. It was not a chance that any of them took particularly well but nonetheless the score ended on a healthy 201. BICC bowling was in the most part good with little extras. Sam Phillipps had a tidy opening spell of 13-0 off 4 keeping the ball well pitched up. Simon with those 2 wickets for 24 with off-spin. Tom (1/26), Pandian (1/38) and Suraj opted to take advantage of the lively wicket with some shorter stuff. Leandro’s new medium pace bowling asked some questions of the batters and Umer and Hesh took a wicket apiece. An estimated total of 8 catches were dropped or ‘not arrived at’ (to not say, ‘run away from’) which was the main disappointment for the visitors, especially given how Muñoz scored an extra 80-odd after his first drop! After a nice array of sandwiches and hot tea, BICC innings kicked off with openers Pandian (40) and Bill Brooks (19) made cautious starts against some tight bowling from Walker and Malik. Shane Lightley chiseled out 34 anchoring from number 3 and top scorer captain Umer made 52 off 32 deliveries trying his best to get on top of the run rate. In the end with 50 needed off the last 4 overs it was too much to ask. Steady bowling and good fielding, including a great catch from captain Pennick at deep long on, were enough to see Sporting Alfas to victory. BICC ended up on 174/3. Not many wickets for Alfas, with all three going to their first change bowlers of Morris (2/28) and Braithwaite (1/22) who proved hard to get away. Catches win matches! The 12 of us headed into town for a curry in the evening. It turned out to be a quiet night for most of us... SUNDAY The Sunday game was a 20 over affair, BICC electing to bat having again been offered by the home team. With confusion as to the starting time, the Brits amongst us decided to head across the road to the British shop for some home comforts. Some went for sweets and goodies, others for over cleaners. More on that later… Tom opened the batting and with a plane to catch he opted for the aerial route early doors adding a quick fire 3 before being caught via some cirrus cumulus. Shubh Deb was joined by No3 Umer, moved things forward to 80 after first ten overs, both ending with half centuries providing the most of the BICC runs. Shubh fell the ball after passing 50 and Umer was dismissed in the penultimate over. That the third top scorer was Suraj and James with 4 shows how reliant we were on Shubh and Umer! A helpful contribution of extras took BICC to a modest but defendable 137 total. Only five bowlers were used by Alfas, Aitor with 2/37 and pick of the bowlers Perman with 2/18 from his four overs. There was another fine lunch spread served during the innings break, including pork pies today! Sporting Alfas started about their task facing some good straight bowling from BICC, resulting in most of the top order being given out LBW. Some resistance came from Pernham (15) who was bowled by Sam having failed to pick up his off-cutter, the pick of the BICC attack finishing with 2 for 11. Pandian and Suraj also picked up wickets and Simon maintained good economy despite a failing knee. The backbone of the Alfas innings was Crompton who accelerated his innings nicely, ending on 54 not out, with Malik and Tyler helping to keep the score moving. There was a little panic in the BICC ranks towards the end but they finished 21 runs short to leave us with our first victory of the year! A great weekend was had by all. We played mini wacky races back up to Barcelona between three cars on the AP7 and the last Vueling flight back home (James’ trip home made easier following the confiscation of his oven cleaner!). Our thanks to Alfas for hosting us again for their season opener, great to see you again! Bill Brooks & Sam Phillipps  1st game scorecard 2nd game scorecard After just under eight months in existence, our women’s team entered its first tournament on Sunday. It was hosted by Fundació privada per a l’Esport i l’Educació de Barcelona (FEEB) and we were delighted to be invited to take part, alongside some of the other women’s cricketing hubs in the city. The tournament was due to be a six-aside tapeball tournament with four teams, but given the numbers that signed up it turned into an eleven-aside tournament. Our six players (Katie, Cami, Cècile, Anoushey, Mary and Ankita) were paired up with five from the Criquet Jove (CJ) team to make an historic first BICC Women’s XI. The team really lived up to our International name from the get-go, with our six players from six different countries. The games, originally scheduled to be 10 overs, were reduced to eight following a late start. The tournament kicked off with two games in which we were not involved, but it gave our inexperienced players some time to watch, observe and learn from the other teams, with club captain Umer (presumably) offering some good advice from the sidelines. After that long wait, we finally got our chance against the Concell de Cent team. Katie had won the toss and elected to bowl, reasoning that she always likes to know what she’s chasing. We started off very well, as CJ guest Aneesa clean bowled the Concell captain Hifsa (a Spanish international, no less) and was on a hat-trick when she bowled Maria next ball too. Some good fielding was shown during the innings, as we claimed two run outs. There was also a wicket for Ankita, who took a great caught and bowled. Concell de Cent finished on 70/5, with a few too many wides helping their cause. Whilst a daunting target, especially for a new team, we were definitely still in the game. Aneesa and Simran opened the batting for us, looking to get a positive start. Both fell cheaply before a BICC-dominant middle order of Anoushey, Ankita, Cami and Cècile tried in vain to chase the target. In the end, despite some help from extras of our own, inexperience caught us out but we finished on a very respectable 57/5. Ankita finished with a well made 7* (not often you can say that), hitting some good shots that all managed to go straight to a fielder. What could have been... Despite the loss of the first game and of a player in between games, confidence had grown after a first experience of a real game. Ankita, captaining the second game, won the toss again and this time chose to bat against SDJ Besòs. It meant we were straight back out to the middle. Ramin and Katie opened up, and decided not to give anyone else a chance! They batted the whole eight overs with a brilliant 86-run partnership to bring up the highest total of the day. There were nine boundaries hit during the innings, and some great running between the wickets to boost. There was a wicket off the first ball, after confusion between the openers left the non-striker stranded, run-out for a diamond duck. Aneesa claimed another wicket in the first over and we were well on top. Anoushey, who had been reluctant to bowl in the first game, and Katie came on and really restricted the Besòs batters from scoring freely. Both were rewarded with a well-deserved wicket. Besòs eventually finished on 43/5 and we had a comprehensive victory in just our second game! There was fantastic work from all the players, who have worked very hard to improve their game throughout the year (some starting from absolute zero). Everyone was all smiles at the end, despite playing in very chilly, dark conditions by the end (yours truly standing still umpiring/ scoring was a bit grumpier). We’re looking forward to the next tournament already, bring on next year! If you want to get involved, get in touch!  Cècile, Cami, Katie, Anoushey and Ankita after their victory (joined by Anton, Sam and Umer) Saturday scorecard Sunday scorecard After a postponed internal charity game last weekend, we welcomed London side The Spread CC on tour to Barcelona for our first game after the summer break. We were to play two games, the first being a T20 under the lights at the baseball ground in Montjuïc. Tom Coulthard and Pep Mateos made their debuts for the club, as we fielded two Spaniards in the same game (Leandro Español the other on his birthday!). Captain Umer Razi performed his magic trick of losing the toss, and Spread chose to bat. Sam Phillipps and Todd Fraser opened up without much luck. Anish Shindore replaced Sam and immediately picked up a wicket, which Todd copied in his fourth and final over to send both openers back to the shed. Burhan Ejaz replaced Todd, with the Londoners finding him most difficult to get away, his three overs costing just 13, in addition to claiming the wicket of Spreading captain Simon. Pep came on for his first over for the club, and it was certainly an interesting first go… There were a couple of wides and a wicket before he went off injured after three legal balls! Shane Lightley finished his over in a rather less dramatic fashion. Pep leaving the field meant the all-Spanish bowling attack would have to wait, as Leandro came on at the other end, he too claiming a wicket stumped brilliantly by Jack Jewson. Umer then brought himself on for a couple of unusually expensive overs before Tom bowled the final over of the innings. Spread finished on 162/6 from their 20. Jack and Anish opened up knowing we needed a quick start, but sadly it wasn’t one they were able to offer as we were reduced to 20/2. Umer came in at 3 but was poorly supported by those at the other end. He made a 50 at above a run a ball before retiring with the game becoming a mathematical improbability. Shane (17*) and Nial saw us through the 20 overs but we finished 46 runs short of victory. We headed up to the bar for a drink or two before attempting to get a taxi to Poble Nou for a few more! On Saturday, we headed up to Vic for a 35-over game with some feeling a bit(!) worse for wear. Dev Kumar made his debut behind the stumps, whilst Pandian made his BICC debut on loan from Men in Blue CC. Spread won the toss again and like Friday chose to bat first. There was a steady start against openers Burhan and Tom. Sam somewhat benefitted from this slow start as he was able to pick up the wickets of both openers alongside Simon. Damien and Pandian replaced them and they continued to keep the run-flow tight, whilst also picking up three wickets leaving Spread on 124/5. There were further wickets for Shane (2/13), Umer and the returning Simon as Spread collapsed to 154 all out, dismissed with two balls left. We were certainly more confident than Friday about our chances of chasing that total, even if it was just on the low side of par for the ground. Nial Evans and Shane opened up, with another cagey start. Shane was dismissed having not really troubled the scorers and Dev replaced him. He made a quickfire 30 in partnership with Umer, who would become the backbone of the innings. Damien McMullen, Simon and Burhan chipped in with handy contributions as we got closer to the target. Eventually Tom scored the winning runs with over six overs to spare, with Umer finishing on 40* in a captain’s knock. One win each over the weekend which was probably a fair result. We returned back to Barcelona after the game and wished Spread well. It had been a great weekend and we hope to one day visit Spread back in London! Sam Phillipps  |
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