​The first match saw Alex’s Team A play Damien’s Team B. Despite a wicket in the first over, Team B put on a hefty 70 runs in their five overs thanks to contributions from Jack and Ravindu. Team A were never quite with it in the chase, finishing 18 runs short.

The second match was between Mohsin’s Team C and Umer’s Team D. It was a much lower scoring affair, with D only managing 35/1 despite a solid knock from Jon. Team C completed the chase after just 20 balls, Nial and Shubh ensuring a 5 wicket win. A short break was taken for our biryani and samosa lunch.

In Team A’s second match they had more success with the bat, finishing with a respectable 61 runs. Team C were seemingly chasing it down with no trouble, until drama struck in the final over. With just three needed from the final four balls, Alex ran out Nial, attempting a second run, from the deep. Sam bowled both Mohsin and Nick first ball leaving two still needed off the final ball. Shubh edged to stand-in keeper Edward who dropped it and could only watch the batters scramble the two runs needed!

As if that wasn’t enough excitement there was another break after this game, as we noticed a fire had broken out in the next field. A helicopter appeared shortly afterwards to nick some water from the swimming pool next door, leaving us to hold our marquees and tents down. When that drama had subsided, we could continue with the tournament.

The penultimate group game was much more mundane than the previous hour’s entertainment! Team B scored 55/2 from their five overs, thanks to some lusty blows from Bill (and a good amount of wides). Team D knocked the total off with an over to spare, Umer finishing 44* off just 17 balls.

The last group game was between Team D and Team A, who were desperately looking for a win after heartbreak in their previous game, whilst Team D knew they needed to win for a chance to play the final. In something of a reverse batting order, Sam and Anoushka opened. The two batted the whole innings finishing on 40, Sam surprising the spectators with an out of character 25*. Team D again chased down the total with an over to spare, Umer finishing the game with a four.

This meant that three teams had two wins, so a bowl out was arranged to decide the two teams that would progress to the final. With only one player hitting the stumps from each team in the original phase, it went to sudden death. Shubh hit the stumps for the second consecutive time, sending his Team C to the final. Shortly afterwards, Simon too hit the stumps, thus eliminating Team B and setting up a C vs D final.

The final was a six-a-side affair, with both teams having lost a player to injury before or during the day. Team C batted first and, despite losing Nial first ball set up a daunting total of 70/3, thanks to runs from Mohsin (24) and Maroof (32*). A shoutout should also go to Nick for his brilliant 0* (0 balls) who deservedly walked off raising his bat to the applause of the onlookers.

Team D knew they had a challenge on, knowing they were about 10 runs above par. With the top 3 only able to deal in singles, the runrate quickly got away from them and it was clear who was likely to win. Umer hit a quick 27* but it was nowhere near enough and Team C finished as champions, winning the final by 21 runs!

Prizes were awarded at the end, with Sam winning bowler of the day and Nial winning batter of the day. Team A were awarded the BICC-branded wooden spoon and Team C their tiny plastic medals that most couldn’t get over their heads (and not just because their ego had risen). We returned to Barcelona on the bus with many heading to Koh-i-Noor for a curry and a Cobra, thanks to our new sponsor.

My personal thanks go to everyone on the committee who helped put this together; to Mohsin for organising the new commemorative shirts; to everyone who turned up and made it a great day to remember; and to those who didn’t but have kept the club going over the years, despite all the difficulties. It was a day that showed just what this club is, a multicultural community united by cricket and playing the game in a good spirit (but with a competitive streak!). Here’s to 40 years more!

In memory of Phil Paterson Smith MBE, the founder of Barcelona CC (and Madrid CC), who sadly passed away in March this year.
​
Sam Phillipps

​The first match saw Alex’s Team A play Damien’s Team B. Despite a wicket in the first over, Team B put on a heft 70 runs in their five overs thanks to contributions from Jack and Ravindu. Team A were never quite with it in the chase, finishing 18 runs short.

The second match was between Mohsin’s Team C and Umer’s Team D. It was a much lower scoring affair, with D only managing 35/1 despite a solid knock from Jon. Team C completed the chase after just 20 balls, Nial and Shubh ensuring a 5 wicket win. A short break was taken for our biryani and samosa lunch.

In Team A’s second match they had more success with the bat, finishing with a respectable 61 runs. Team C were seemingly chasing it down with no trouble, until drama struck in the final over. With just three needed from the final four balls, Alex ran out Nial, attempting a second run, from the deep. Sam bowled both Mohsin and Nick first ball leaving two still needed off the final ball. Shubh edged to stand-in keeper Edward, who dropped it and could only watch the batters scramble the two runs needed!

The next group game was much more mundane than the previous hour’s entertainment! Team B scored 55/2 from their five overs, thanks to some lusty blows from Bill (and a good amount of wides). Team D knocked the total off with an over to spare, Umer finishing 44* off just 17 balls.

To liven things up, there was another break after this game, as we noticed a fire had broken out in the next field. A helicopter appeared shortly afterwards to nick some water from the swimming pool next door, leaving us to hold our marquees and tents down. When that drama had subsided, we could continue with the tournament.

The penultimate game saw Teams B and C face each other. B batted first and it was their captain Damien who scored most of the runs (44/70) in another high scoring contest. He fell short of the only 50 of the day trying to get there in style. C made a real close game of it, majorly helped by 27 (twenty-seven!) extras. Openers Nial (22) and Mohsin (20) were still there at the end but their team finished one run short of what would have been the chase of the day.

The last group game was between Team D and Team A, who were desperately looking for a win after heartbreak in their previous game, whilst Team D knew they needed to win for a chance to play the final. In something of a reverse batting order, Sam and Anoushka opened. The two batted the whole innings finishing on 40, Sam surprising the spectators with an out of character 25*. Team D again chased down the total with an over to spare, Umer finishing the game with a four.

This meant that three teams had two wins, so a bowl out was arranged to decide the two teams that would progress to the final. With only one player hitting the stumps from each team in the original phase, it went to sudden death. Shubh hit the stumps for the second consecutive time, sending his Team C to the final. Shortly afterwards, Simon too hit the stumps, thus eliminating Team B and setting up a C vs D final.

The final was a six-a-side affair, with both teams having lost a player to injury before or during the day. Team C batted first and, despite losing Nial first ball set up a daunting total of 70/3, thanks to runs from Mohsin (24) and Maroof (32*). A shoutout should also go to Nick for his brilliant 0* (off 0 balls) who deservedly walked off raising his bat to the applause of the onlookers.
Team D knew they had a challenge on, knowing they were about 10 runs above par. With the top 3 only able to deal in singles, the runrate quickly got away from them and it was clear who was likely to win. Umer hit a quick 27* but it was nowhere near enough and Team C finished as champions, winning the final by 21 runs!

Prizes were awarded at the end, with Sam winning bowler of the day and Nial winning batter of the day. Team A were awarded the BICC-branded wooden spoon and Team C their tiny plastic medals that most couldn’t get over their heads (and not just because their ego had risen). We returned to Barcelona on the bus with many heading to Koh-i-Noor for a curry and a Cobra, thanks to our new sponsor.

My personal thanks go to everyone on the committee who helped put this together; to Mohsin for organising the new commemorative shirts; to everyone who turned up and made it a great day to remember; and to those who didn’t but have kept the club going over the years, despite all the difficulties. It was a day that showed just what this club is, a multicultural community united by cricket and playing the game in a good spirit (but with a competitive streak!). Here’s to 40 years more!

In memory of Phil Paterson Smith, the founder of Barcelona CC (and Madrid CC), who sadly passed away in March this year.

Sam Phillipps

Saturday scorecard
Sunday scorecard

Saturday
With the disappointment of this year’s Balearic Cup consigned to the history books, social media pages, WhatsApp groups and the Cricket Espana app, Barcelona International made the short trip across from the mainland to provide this weekend’s opposition, stepping in at short notice for BAC XI who unfortunately had to cancel their tour.

Skipper Dan Sullivan’s good run with the coin continued, the home side to electing have a bat on an unseasonably warm day at Biniparell and it looked like that decision would be fully justified as opening combo Julian Hagger and Ali Mujahid set about the bowling attack.

Hagger, whose runs with the bat was one of the few highlights from the Balearic Cup, continued his recent rich vein of form bringing up his 50 from 44 balls whilst opening partner Ali achieved the same feat from 61 balls, the BICC bowlers wilting in the heat with the 100 partnership coming in just the 17th over, Nawaz, Bhosale, Ejaz, Sheik and Maduranga toiling for no reward.

Even the introduction of the skipper himself could do nothing to stem the tide of runs flowing from the MCC batters as they marched to a 200 run partnership without loss in the 31st over until a tired shot from Hagger ballooned in the air for Razi to snaffle, departing for 108 and his third century of the season.

Ali soon followed but under his own steam, retiring on 110 leaving Sullivan and the big hitting Pavan Narella to contribute 46 further runs with special mention to Geer Zhao, Menorca’s female representative for this game, who defended stoutly with both bat and body as she picked up her first run for the club and finishing not out. Menorca posting 276 from their 40 overs.

Menorca knew they would be in for a game when Cotton’s 3rd ball of his opening over disappeared over the dry stone wall for 6 and despite Wilson picking up Shaikh for 11, the home side couldn’t find the right length to bowl as honorary Barcelonian for the weekend, Peter Lucas and Panabokke plundered 83 from the first 8 overs, Cotton exacting some sort of revenge by clean bowling the latter for 46.

Lucas carried on his merry way, ably supported by Maduranga (29) and Razi, who was eventually but superbly caught on the long off boundary by Bill Johnson for 49.

Due to the blistering start run rate was rarely an issue for BICC, it was clear that Menorca needed wickets and they were picking them up at regular intervals thanks to some canny bowling from Johnson and Nazim, who accounted for Lucas for an impressive 72, and finish with 3-45.

When the 7th wicket fell with the score at 227, the visitors still needed another 50 runs and the home side felt the game was as good as won. Ejaz (21*) and Nawaz (28*) had other ideas as the two lower order batters sent the ball to all parts of the ground to see the visitors complete the run chase from the penultimate ball of the game and win by 2 wickets.

Sunday saw the turn of Barcelona to bat first, once again the ground bathed in glorious sunshine amidst barmy May temperatures.

A couple of changes to the visiting team saw Sam Phillipps open the batting with Maroof Shaikh but his stint at the crease was shorter than the flight over as Richard Grant had him caught behind for 3 for the first of his two wickets of the afternoon.

Menorca bowled with much more control than the previous day and Pavan picked up a further couple courtesy of the umpire’s finger as both Maroof (23) and Dan (0) were trapped LBW.

Bhosale was the only BICC batter to register a score of note, before a superb catch off his own bowling from Markus Dow sent him packing for 41 whilst yesterday’s match winning pair of Ejaz and Nawaz continued their good weekend with 29 each before Panabokke coming in at Number 10 found the boundary for 3 maximums in his brisk 39 before Dow had him caught behind for his 2nd wicket of the day.

BICC 213 all out - R. Grant 2-32, M. Dow 2-27, P. Narella 2-29.

Menorca knew that a solid opening partnership would be key to chasing down the target and you don’t get much more solid than Dan Sullivan and Markus Dow who set about the task with aplomb. The pair rotated strike with ease picking up vital 1’s and 2’s and taking advantage of any bad ball to send it to the boundary line for 4.

Razi came into the attack to try and break the opening salvo and did just that when Dow was adjudged to be LBW, 2 runs short of what would have been a well deserved 50.

Nazim and Grant both got starts but failed to capitalise reaching 13 and 10 respectively and there was much discussion about who managed to record their 50 first as the huge hitting Narella went toe to toe with the BICC attack as he caught Sullivan up in the scoring stakes.

A double bat raise seemed the most apt way to acknowledge their achievements as they passed the 213 required to win by 7 wickets in the 39th over. Dan Sullivan carried his bat for 67* and Pavan accredited with 50*. Razi the only bowler to trouble stand in scorer Goochie with 3-34.

The weekend finished with the cricketing spoils shared, a close win to each team in two fantastic games as always played in the best of spirits. Although it was sad not to see BAC XI able to fulfil the fixture, we always look forward to the friendly rivalry we enjoy with Barcelona especially since we broke the losing streak last year!

All things being well, Jeff will be back in action next weekend to take over reporting duties once again.

​Julian Hagger (Menorca CC)

See Scorecard

We arrived in Vic with March’s incredible cold snap still in full flow, the car thermometer reading 0º and some frost still lingering in the shade! Unlike our game against Botany Bay last week, at least the sun was out. With one car arriving at the ground late, we forfeited the toss and were put in the field - not exactly what you want in such cold conditions. 

The first innings was littered with far too many dropped catches to be able to remember when they took place, but we estimated on the way home that each of their top four batters were dropped at least twice each as all passed 50, Manish Manwani really punishing us for his second consecutive century against us. Raval got off to a quick start against Burhan Ejaz and the returning Rez Hassan before Ravindu Maduranga was brought into the attack early, his first three overs going for just six runs. Seeing that his spin was slowing the oppo down, Umer Razi brought himself on and and finally made a breakthrough in his second, and the game’s 12th, over as Ravi took a good catch in the deep despite being blinded by the sun - breaking the 100 run partnership that C Patel (54) and the dismissed Datta (52) had formed. Burhan came back into the attack for another two over spell, but it was his replacement Edward Spencer-Phillips that got our second wicket with his second ball, getting Patel LBW. Unfortunately for us the run rate shot up from there, despite Umer chopping and changing the bowlers, as I Patel and Manwani repeatedly found the boundary. Their devastating 8.2 over partnership put on 122 runs - their efforts combined with some sudden cloud cover making fielding less and less enjoyable. Ravi finally and deservedly picked up the wicket of Patel (80) caught by Burhan. Another 50 run partnership later and Manwani (101) became the third Raval player to be dismissed immediately after a personal landmark, Burhan claiming his wicket in his third two over spell of the innings. Rez managed to put some life into his figures by getting two wickets from the last two balls of the innings, both brilliantly stumped by Jack Jewson standing up to the stumps. Raval finished on 332/6, some 25 runs shy of the record score they got against us last year!

After a quick turnaround, and with the sun back out, Maroof and Jack - our two highest scorers against Raval last year - opened the batting. Together they put on a fantastic 107 run partnership with things neck and neck with where Raval had been in their innings. Sadly, Jack (45) was bowled and two overs later Maroof (45) was caught. Umer followed them back to the hutch in another two overs, and from then our run rate fell somewhat. When Nathan was also caught, another batting collapse had seen us go from 107/0 to 157/5. Ravi (30) and Damien McMullen (26) put up some defense and played some great shots but with the required run rate now rocketing we were effectively out of the game. Their 54 run partnership was ended as first Ravi, then Damien, fell in the same over to Das. A quiet couple of final overs followed before Das again struck twice in the last over, to claim a 4fer. A shoutout to Ishan Patel for adding a 3fer to his 80 from the first innings. 

We finished 112 runs short, rueing giving Raval’s top four so many chances. Had we taken even half of them, who knows how this game would’ve ended up - but hats off to Raval for taking advantage. Manwani took a nasty blow to the eye whilst fielding and was forced to leave the ground, we’re assured he’s ok and we hope there’s no long-lasting damage (even if he does love batting against us!). Our next game is in three weeks, our first game in Vidreres against the unknown team of Punjab Warriors. 

Sam Philllipps.

Scorecard

After a narrow defeat in the rain on Saturday, BICC had two fixtures on Sunday. The first of these was a league match in Empuriabrava against local rivals Men in Blue. Unlike the day before in Vic, the sun was out and there was grass on the outfield.

After arriving just in the nick of time, captain Umer Razi jumped straight out of the car and ran to the middle for the toss. We were to bowl first.

After a wayward start, the opening pair of Shriram and Burhan started hitting a good length and putting pressure on the batsmen. The openers, however, weren't looking to hang around and got Men in Blue off to a quick start. They had 37 runs on the board when Burhan made the first breakthrough, with Agni taking a sharp catch at the end of the fourth over. Another 30 runs were added in quick time before Burhan struck again. After six overs, the score was 67-2.

BICC toiled away for the next few overs, but the runs kept flowing and it wasn't until the the 15th over the skipper Umi removed Men in Blue's big-hitting number 4 - trapping him LBW for 35.

This was the turning point, and from there the wickets started to fall much more quickly. Todd bowled a lively spell and was rewarded with two wickets, and Ravi kept things very tight in his six overs, finishing with figures of 1-28. Burhan took another three wickets to take his first five-for for the club! 

Maroof was brought on to bowl the 28th over, and after a loosener which was given as a wide, he picked the last wicket with his first legal delivery, to finish the game with figures of 1-1. Men in Blue were all out for 205. Overall it was a good fielding performance from BICC, with fine catches from Damo and Umer as well as some body-on-the-line fielding from Bruce. 

Maroof and Ravi opened the batting for BICC and they started cautiously against the Men in Blue openers, who were making the most of the uneven bounce that was coming from the artificial pitch. In the third over, Ravi was out caught trying to take on the short ball and Umer joined Maroof at the crease. These two settled in nicely and were playing the bowlers very well and finding runs when there was a bad ball. It wasn't until the 9th over that Maroof was out caught.

Nathan was in at number four and he and Umi safely navigated the team to drinks. Unfortunately the break didn't serve Nathan very well and the second ball after drinks he played all round a straight skiddy ball and was clean bowled.

Jack and Umer played a few nice shots in the next few overs, but the slow outfield was not providing much value for shots along the ground. Eventually Jack fell for 7 to leave us at 57-4 after 14 overs. Once Umer went a couple of balls laters, BICC started an England-esque collapse and lost the last six wickets for 18 runs and were bowled out for 75 runs after 21 overs.

It was a disappointing batting performance, with only Maroof and Umer making it to double figures, but credit must also go to the Men In Blue bowlers, who bowled with good pace and accuracy and made scoring runs very hard. Next week's league game in Vic against Raval Sporting means there's not long a long wait until we get a chance to get the first victory of the season on the board!

​Nathan Blyth