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Barcelona’s loss is certainly Andorra’s gain. Long-serving member Anish Shindore, now based in Andorra, has recently started proceedings to start his own club in the principality. Cricket Club Andorra has been officially born, and a home in Encamp sourced. We were set to play a triangular tournament with our French friends Nimes (who we visited last year, but were unable to play due to the weather), but sadly Anish wasn’t quite able to raise an Andorran team yet - that will certainly come in the near future.
First game scorecard We arranged to play three games over the weekend, although the plans were always quite loose. After reintroducing ourselves, sharing a breakfast put on by our host and even talking with the local press, we started a 30-over game, knowing that there was potentially disruptive weather coming in the afternoon to follow the storm of Friday night. Stand-in captain Maroof Shaikh won the toss and chose to bat with Khyzer Nawaz and Anton Kritzinger opening. Anton decided to become the first man to be run out on Andorran TV (see video below) and Khyzer (23) edged behind moments after being hit on the toe and facing the possibility of never being able to walk ever again. Maroof made a smart 19 before playing a very loose shot, but none of the middle order got going and we went from 54/1 to 70/5 very quickly. Maxi Hoeck (37) was at least playing some big shots and was ably supported by Zeeshan Dildar (23). Their 50-run partnership got us up to 150/8 before both were dismissed with us on that score just 23.1 overs into the innings. Nimes coach Rolf had promised some big hitting before the game, and he wasn’t lying… After a lengthy lunch/ rain delay, we finally got underway with more rain definitely on the way. Jones Paulson and Maxi started us off with the openers clearly keen to get the game won quickly - helped by our overpitched bowling. After an expensive first over, Jones dismissed their opener with the best slip catch that Andorra had ever seen (must be a good cricketer who took that). Sadly for us, the second wicket partnership, despite a few short rain delays, put on a rapid 88 runs together, with the ball consistently sailing over the long-on to cow corner boundary. Their captain Sharoz was finally dismissed for 62 by Umer Razi, who in turn became BICC’s “all-time” leading wicket taker. Spin-twin Anton followed suit, claiming two wickets in his two overs for just four runs as they collapsed from 105/1 to 107/4. Despite that amazing slip fielder getting a wicket of his own, it was too little too late and Nimes sauntered to victory five wickets down in the 17th over as the rain really started to hammer down. First spoils to the French, as we all ran for cover. Second game scorecard After a bit of a wait, we decided to try and fill the remaining time of the afternoon with a T10 match. This time Nimes won the toss and chose to bat. Umer picked up his second wicket of the day but the innings would only last four overs til we were off for rain again, and this time for good. We agreed to finish the match in the morning, when the forecast was much better. Sunday morning arrived, along with the promised sunshine. With latecomers forcing a couple of changes to our lineup, we hit the field for the remaining six overs. Having taken just one wicket the day before, fresh legs and a change of conditions saw us rattle through a slightly mixed up batting order. Anton finished with 2/9 and Vishesh with 2/11, with cheap wickets for Maxi and Jones too. Nimes finished on 80 all out, losing the last wicket to a run out on the last ball. Home hero Anish opened with Anton and got us a solid base. Burhan made an impressive cameo (16 off 6) and Maxi (26* off 14) saw us home for a five wicket victory with an over to spare. Third game scorecard After the completion of the two-day T10, we started our scheduled Sunday games. The first game was a T20 where we again won the toss and chose to bat. With a bit of a reverse batting order, our top order struggled a bit and we were quickly 30/3. Umer and Zeeshan (24) put on a better partnership for the 4th wicket before we lost two wickets in two balls. Maxi (33*), in at 8, had another good cameo with the bat and got us up to 123 before the batters at the other end let him down. Nimes made rather easy work of the chase, taking just 11.3 overs to win the game. They did this just two wickets down, both taken by Sam when the game was gone. Nimes captain Sharoz finished on 85* and clearly felt frustrated at missing out on a ton… Fourth game scorecard Our final game of the weekend was scheduled to be another T20, but was cut short to 15-overs aside due to time constraints. We allowed Nimes to bat first in this game, as they requested. They got off to a flier, that never really slowed down despite the occasional wicket (particularly from Wills with 3/26). After 12 overs, Rolf, the Nimes coach, pulled his team off ending the innings early due to those same time constraints. It’s far to say that captain Sharoz (83*) was less than pleased! It was agreed that we’d bat 10 overs with an unlikely target of 155 set. Despite some lusty blows from Zeeshan (28 off 16) opening up, none of the rest of the top order really got going until Maroof (21 off 9) and Burhan (19* off 10) came in after the game was gone. Nimes won by 56 runs as finished on 98/7. Despite an overall imbalance in the two teams, it was a great weekend played in good spirits. As they had shown in France last year, they are a friendly bunch and the brief conversations after the game already turned to our next game together. We’re looking forward to it! Thanks to Anish and his fledgling Cricket Club Andorra for hosting, we hope to play against an Andorran side next time! Sam Phillipps 
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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  Our fourth day of action came quickly on the heels of the third day, with back-to-back days of action for the first time. We had three games on Day 12 of the tournament, against Catalunya Red, Sohal Hospitalet and old foes Bengali CC. After finally getting our first victory the day before against Badalona, we were keen to target at least two more against these three opponents. Catalunya Red - scorecard Red were one of two new teams to us here, a club that was formed a couple of years ago to enter the Catalan over 40s franchise league but has since moved on to incorporate younger players. Umer Razi lost the toss and we were put in to bat. After a successful chase and our highest score of the tournament the day before we were confident of putting on another big score. Imran Fareed opened with Anton “Mr Vegetables” Kritzinger but the former didn’t last long. Umer walked in at 3 but was struggling to get bat on ball consistently, and despite a couple of late boundaries was eventually out for a run-a-ball 18. When Anton (27 off 20) followed him back to the dugout three balls later and James Bentley one ball after that we were in a bit of trouble. Fortunately Tom Coulthard (26 off 8) and Shriram Bhosale (19* off 9) saved us with some late big hitting in a 49-run partnership that only ended when Tom was run out off the last ball of the innings. They had dragged us up to a defendable 112/5. Despite Maxi Hoeck’s first over only conceding seven runs, and Vishesh Gajjar getting a wicket with his second ball, Red were well ahead of the rate by the end of the powerplay. James (claiming the second wicket in a rare moment of us actually catching one off his bowling), Vishesh and Maxi brought it back a bit in the middle overs but they were still on top and 21 runs coming off of Shriram in the 8th over basically sealed the game. They hit the winning runs next over to win by eight wickets with six balls to spare. Once again our batting had fallen 15-20 runs short, and there was some carelessness in the field that leaked more runs.  Batting against Catalunya Red Sohal Hospitalet - scorecard Umer again lost the toss and again we were put into bat first. Anton opened with Tom, promoted back up the order to where he was last week. Anton was dismissed off the final ball of a relatively quiet first over, meaning Tom was joined by Maroof Shaikh. Maroof played some glorious drives on his way to 15, showing that T10 isn’t all about slogging and whacking. He was out off the last ball of the powerplay, in which we had only accumulated 28/2. This brought Shriram to the crease, and he continued on from his morning cameo by dispatching the ball to all parts of the ground with eight 6s. He was ably partnered by Maxi for a 57-run partnership that lasted four overs before Maxi was bowled. Shriram (62 off 21) was eventually the first of three run outs of the final over, as all lost their heads failing to get the right person on strike. As a result, only four runs would come off that final over and it meant we finished on 119/7 when 130-135 was on the cards. Maxi again opened the bowling and again had a great first over, conceding only six despite bowling three wides. Sadly the next two overs would help Sohal recover somewhat and they ended the powerplay on 39/2, Shriram had again been at the centre of all that’s good, as a great catch followed a brilliant run out from long on as we claimed two wickets in two balls in the second over. The third-wicket partnership was a damaging one for us but things looked more promising when Maxi bowled their opened Latif just short of his 50. Despite none of the middle order really shining, the top order had done enough to get on top, coupled with some wayward bowling costing us 14 runs in wides. Burhan had his best game with the ball in a while, finishing with 2/26 from his two overs but it was not enough as Sohal finished the chase with four balls remaining. We walked off cursing the final over of the first innings, and our generosity with the wides. Bengali - scorecard We didn’t have long to get over the previous defeat before we were straight back out there. We had easily beaten Bengali earlier in the season, but they had recruited a number of players for this tournament, including internationals from Portugal and Sweden. Umer finally won a toss and we elected to bowl first. Maxi and Shriram got us off to a good start before a string of expensive overs had us in trouble. Sam Phillipps finally claimed the first wicket of the innings in the eighth over, and Umer joined that party in the ninth dismissing the other opener. We had been far more disciplined with the ball and our fielding was good despite it being the third game of the day, but the two Bengali openers (74 off 25 and 49 off 23) took the game away from us. They posted a score of 161/2. Anton was joined by a third different opening partner of the day, Dev Mahadevan this time. Dev’s innings (30 off 18) was one of the few highlights as we struggled to get their quick, experienced, international bowlers away under lights. Only Imran Fareed and Shriram (19 off 5) reached double figures before both were run out. Bengali gifted us 13 wides and five penalty runs for completing their overs too slowly, which only helped us trickle into three figures. We finished on 103/9, a 58 run defeat. Umer and Maxi, in at 10 and 11 due to injuries, did at least avoid the embarrassment of us being bowled out by seeing out the last five balls. There would be a ball from our innings that would end up spreading around social media, after Tom hit one and the bat ended up snapping in two. Never one to miss out on a comedic opportunity, he grounded the bat handle after completing the single before requesting a new bat from the dugout. At least we'll remember this game for something! The 12 players joined the bumper crowd that had been cheering us on from the stands for a drink. We now have a break over the weekend, before eight games in three back-to-back days starting on Tuesday. If we can get our act together and get through the group, those three days may well turn into four or even five days of consecutive action (although that’s not looking overly likely at the moment!). Sam Phillipps Saturday scorecard Sunday scorecard The countdown to the first weekend of November, for our now traditional annual trip to Menorca, is always a long one but one that’s well worth the wait! Most of the players arrived on Friday, with some in the morning to work “from home” and others in the evening after actually slogging it out at work. The nine of us there went for a curry and a few drinks in the port in Mahón. It was a very windy weekend, with temperatures having suddenly dropped to give it a properly autumnal feel, albeit it was still warm enough when in the sun. With the recent change of the clocks, an earlier than usual start of 11am was agreed to. For the second year running, the Saturday game would be to compete for the Manners-Paterson trophy, with our Balearic hosts holding it having beaten us comfortably last year. With a stronger team at our disposal this year, and some better form behind us, we were confident of taking it home this time around! Umer Razi started well by winning the toss and deciding to bat (/ let most of the team relax/ let himself watch the Pakistan vs New Zealand game). Maroof Shaikh and Zeeshan Dildar opened the batting and very quickly the bookies were slashing the odds on the “Next wicket: run out” option. The inevitable eventually happened with the score on 20, as Zeeshan set off for a quick single that wasn’t on, slipped and was helpless as the bails were removed from the non-striker’s end. Captain Umer came in and left the World Cup game for a whole two balls before sitting down again. Maroof accumulated from one end whilst wickets tumbled at the other, Damien McMullen (caught and bowled) and Nathan Blyth (hilariously run out in exactly the same fashion as Zeeshan) both scoring 7. When Maroof skied one to point for the fifth wicket we were only on 57 and starting to make early afternoon back-up plans. Fortunately, Shriram Bhosale and Jack Jewson had only ideas of us playing cricket as they fashioned a 83-run partnership, with Shri getting a third fifty of the year at rapid pace and Jack playing more of an anchor role at the other end (he barely got to double figures by the end of it!). Shriram (67) eventually played a false shot and was punished for it. Jon Wong, sat getting pad-rash for so long, was naturally LBW first ball. Jack accelerated for a bit longer before being dismissed. This brought James Bentley and Leandro Español to the crease in what turned out to be the last partnership. James blasted the ball all around Biniparell on his way to a quick 34 with Leandro finishing on a useful 7*. We ended up on a respectful 193/8, a good recovery from where we had been! After a delicious tea/ lunch, we were back out in the field and were pumped up following a rare attempt at fielding drills(!). James and Zeeshan opened the bowling well, but the first half of the innings turned out to be the Tom “Hot Dog” Coulthard show. Having brilliantly caught the dangerous Adam Levin in the deep, he was brought into the attack alongside Sam Phillipps and proceeded to blast through the upper and middle order in his six-over spell. Two edges through to Jack behind the stumps were followed by catches by Damien and Shriram before the best caught and bowled you’ll ever see as he claimed a maiden BICC 5fer. This left Menorca on 80/6, which shortly became 91/7 when Shriram got in on the act. Confidence was high, but we knew Menorca batted all the way down to 11 and were not out of it. Joe Brayne came in at 9 and steadied the ship for a bit with Billy Johnson, before he was run out by Sam from third man to make the score 120/8. This merely brought Simon Cotton to the crease and the two of them made a brilliant 68-run partnership. That was only broken when Umer brought himself into the attack late on and bowled Simon. Stalwart Roy Sturgeon played out the rest of that over before Joe completed the win with a boundary at the start of the next. Another Menorca-BICC classic, with the hosts this time coming out on top by just one wicket, with only three overs left. We were naturally dejected but soon cheered up with the festivities and barbecue at the ground, despite having to hide in the pavilion to get out of the ever-stronger wind! Sunday was due to be more of a friendly affair. This time Umer lost the toss against Sunday captain Markus Dow and we were asked to bowl. The wind had died down a bit overnight but there were still strong gusts going around. James and Zeeshan again opened the bowling. We were much more sluggish in the field today, despite actually getting a relatively early night on Saturday! Our mood was not helped by many, many missed chances and the Menorcan top order taking advantage of our mistakes. Zeeshan got a wicket early on, but that was followed by two 80+-run partnerships taking the hosts to 184/3 and the potential of a big score. We managed to restrict the lower-middle order’s scoring rate, with Shriram claiming 3/32 helping massively. Menorca eventually set us 241 to win from our 40 overs. After another great, expansive (end-of-season “everything must go”-style) tea we set about the chase. Despite them managing a much bigger score than we’d seen the day before, we knew their strength today had been their batting and we were hopeful of chasing it down. Jon, on a king pair, opened with Leandro, in his last game before moving to Madrid in a bit of a mix-up of the order. They got us off to a solid start, with Jon registering his highest BICC score (34). The third wicket partnership was a big one for us, with Umer and Maroof both scoring big fifties. Umer was rather hogging the strike as he approached his illusive maiden century, and the pressure clearly told when he played a horrible swipe and was given out LBW on 95. D’oh! Better luck next time, Umi, great 50 though! Maroof was now the undisputed senior batter and had a more willing runner in Nathan Blyth at the other end. He also surpassed his highest BICC score (72) whilst Nathan contributed a “famous” (his word) 15* as we won the game by seven wickets with just over four overs left. We would at least return to Barcelona with a win, even if not the trophy we might have liked! Tom was chosen as player of the weekend for his 5fer on Saturday, and alongside Sam, was kindly gifted a Menorca CC floppy for his efforts. We’d like to thank Menorca again for their ever-improving hospitality and for the two great games. November 2nd 2024 is only 362 days away! Sam Phillipps  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 A 16-strong group of players (plus a supporter!) drove down to Alfas on Friday, with the jokes and banter flowing from the start despite us going in five cars. Although he captained in last year’s trip to Menorca, it was Umer Razi’s first tour as official club captain, and indeed his first game since becoming captain in December. We were due to play against Sporting Alfas on Saturday before being joined by La Manga Torrevieja on Sunday for a T10 triangular tournament. BICC hadn’t faced either team for at least a decade, meaning they were new opponents for all of our squad. However, one of the Alfas players (Carlos Parkin) had faced us in the first meeting between the clubs back in 1996! Ravi Maduranga (Saturday), Hesh Rukunayake and Agni Sikdar (both Sunday) were all set for their BICC debuts. Friday Having all set off at different times from Barcelona, we met up at a colonial themed restaurant (perfect for our mixed nationality bunch…) up the coast in Altea for dinner, before heading back to base in Albir to sample a few of the local beverages. Saturday Scorecard Umer lost his first toss as full-time captain and we were put in the field. Despite the economical efforts of opening bowlers Shriram Bhosale and Burhan Ejaz, Alfas got off to a solid start. After six overs, they were replaced by Anish Shindore and Nathan Blyth (much to the surprise of everybody). The Nathan experiment lasted just two overs before he was replaced by debutant Ravi. Anish then picked up the first wicket of the game, removing Crompton just four runs short of his 50 caught and bowled to leave the hosts 70/1. As dangerous as he had been, the wicket simply brought the current national team captain, Muñoz, to the crease. He got off the mark with a huge six off Ravi, before he picked up his first BICC wicket removing the other opener, SACC captain Pennick. Anish was then taken out of the attack to be replaced by Maroof Shaikh, who was also difficult to get away. In his third over, he bowled Muñoz (30) and the three current or former international players were out with Alfas now on 113/3 just past the midway point of the innings. From this point on, the wickets fell much quicker and more cheaply. Ravi (2/24) picked up his second before the skipper (2/3) brought himself on for a successful three over spell. Anish (2/17), Shriram (removing Parkin for a well made 31) and Burhan came back on and picked up a much-deserved wicket each. Jack Jewson also gets a well-deserved shout out for three catches behind the stumps too. Alfas had an England-style collapse, going from 113/2 to 145/9 as their innings ended with no one outside the top four scoring more than two runs. After a quick break, Maroof and Umair Iqbal went out to open. With the (ahem, significant) help of Mr Extras, they got us off to great start, sharing 46 runs before Umair gave second slip some catching practice. Captain Umer came and went to his first (legal) ball and Nathan didn’t last much longer before controversially being given out LBW by his own teammate. Suddenly we were 51/3 with the middle order rushing to get their pads on. Ravi came in at 5 and joined the calming presence of Maroof. They shared the highest partnership of the day, 74 runs, before Maroof fell for 41 trying to go up a gear with the game all but in the bag. Jack fell cheaply to a less contested LBW. Off the penultimate ball Ravi (48*) and Nial Evans (making a fine 0* from his one ball) managed to run four byes, which probably cost the Sri Lankan a debut 50! BICC won the game by five wickets with eleven overs to spare! Alfas captain Pennick had half of both teams doing push-ups after the game as punishment for ducks or dropped catches, before BICC player of the match Ravi got a good introduction to Western European culture with a race involving downing a pint, spinning around a bat and a race against Alfas’ player of the match! After a couple of (calmer) drinks with the opposition at their clubhouse, we headed into town for a curry (and another drink or two). Sunday Sunday's scorecards On Sunday we headed back to the ground ready for our first ever T10 matches. Umer won the toss and we chose to bat first, looking to set a challenging total against a team already well versed in 10 over games. Having lost Jack early on, Shriram (29*) and Umair (25) put on 74 for the second wicket aided by 20 wides (each wide was worth two runs, but not bowled again). Umair was dismissed with two balls of the innings left. The most incredible part of the innings was the final ball when five runs were scored following some chaotic fielding and panicked running! Thanks to that, BICC finished on a respectable 81/2. From very early on, it was clear that SACC opener Brown wasn’t going to hang about. He hit four boundaries in Hesh’s first over for the club to get the hosts well ahead of the rate. From then on, none of the other bowlers took major punishment but everyone also failed to get that crucial breakthrough until James Smith picked up a wicket (the wrong wicket!) of the other opener in the sixth over. Unfortunately this merely brought Bilal to the wicket for a cameo 10* off five balls, with the chase completed by Brown (49*) hitting a high no ball for four - James’ accidental no ball costing him a chance of his personal landmark. SACC won the first of the round robin games by nine wickets with 13 balls to spare. The second game of the tournament was us against La Manga, who had arrived during the first game. We were well aware of their prowess, having watched them play in the Spanish championship final last year in Barcelona. Umer again won the toss but chose to bowl first this time. Leg spinner Ravi, having been first change in the first game, was asked to open and was miserly, conceding just five runs in his two overs. Sadly for yours truly, that just meant that they attacked the bowler at the other end! Alger (20 off 11) was (crocodile) caught well by Shane Lightley off the bowling of Burhan (1/9) in the fifth over, Tedder came in briefly but soon had to retire hurt. Hesh made up for his expensive first over with two cheap overs, aided by cheap overs from Umer and Shriram too. No more wickets but LMTCC could only manage 62/1 from their ten overs. Having comfortably beaten that score in the first game, we fancied our chances of a first T10 win. Ravi also opened the batting alongside Crocodile Shane. Despite a couple of good shots, Shane was struggling to consistently get bat on ball and was eventually bowled. Umer came in next and together with Ravi batted cleverly, keeping us up with the run rate. It was largely without risk, until off their best bowler’s last ball Ravi (26) went for a big shot and was caught. AIded by some quick running, and a couple of byes to the keeper, Nathan and Umer (21*) completed the chase with a ball to spare. BICC won by eight wickets! In the final game of the tournament, with most of us already headed back to Barcelona, LMTCC beat the locals, meaning the tournament ended with each team winning one game each (La Manga officially winning the tournament on net run rate!). It had been a thoroughly enjoyable day and weekend, great to meet two “new” teams and visit the beautiful ground that Sporting Alfas have. I’m sure we’ll be back before a decade is up, and hopefully down the coast to La Manga too! Thanks to all involved for inviting us and organising. Sam Phillipps  All 3 teams together on Sunday See Saturday scorecard here See Sunday scorecard here Menorca v Barcelona International CC Saturday October 30th 2021 Barcelona very kindly filled the final weekend of the season at Biniparrell following a withdrawal by the scheduled side. Hopefully the last COVID affected fixture ever. The Catalans arrived brimming with confidence following their unblemished record against the locals. Many of the 13 previous encounters going to the wire but Menorca unable to get over the winning line, the new look squad as their international name states very much a mix of antipodean, Asian and British players who've taken residency in the Catalan capital. The game at one point looked unlikely to go ahead as there was rather a lot of precipitation around but a swift phone call to our very own man of the cloth Rev Strudwick resulted in divine intervention and following some sterling work by the players preparing the ground a reduced format T20 game got underway at 2pm. The visitors won the toss and as one would expect opted to bat. The opening new ball partnership of Wilson and your correspondent gave nothing away first up conceding only 20 runs from the first 8 overs and taking 3 wickets to leave the visitors reeling. They never recovered with all the Menorca bowlers taking wickets at regular intervals Adam Lavin 3/3 bowled superbly as the Catalans were skittled for 70. Only chairman McMullen 25 with a score of note. The locals made no mistakes chasing down the paltry total Lavin and Hagger scoring 32* and 35* respectively to give a long awaited 10 wicket thumping victory to the hosts. An early finish most welcome in the chilly conditions, chairman Manners presiding over his final weekend in charge in fine form at the bar. The late afternoon BBQ prepared by our very own Michelin man Osterbery most welcomed by visitors and hosts alike. The natural ingredient dessert supplied by Wilson was well received too. Sunday v Barcelona International CC 40/40 There was quite a contrast in the weather from Saturday to Sunday, the heavier tog gilets tucked away as the sun beat down for the final time at the home of Balearic Cricket. Menorca batting first got off to a measured start before Dow was triggered for 3. Saturday evenings Jugged hare supper washed down with a fine vintage claret having a negative effect on the judgment of line and length. There were contributions in the teens from Catterall, Brayne, Dan Sullivan and Barker. Burns senior made 22 but it was Sunday skipper Roussel who excelled hitting 52 from 37 balls at the top of the order. Menorca posting a slightly underwhelming total of 158 from their final 40 overs of the season. In reply the Barca boys found head baker Wilson in excellent form, he uprooted both openers in quick succession. Luke Burns showed great control despite his tender years, impressively conceding only 11 runs from his 4 overs. The youngster unlucky not to pick up a wicket too. Shane Lightley made 39 but Menorca continued to take regular wickets. Roussel 3/35 showing his prowess with the ball to cap off a fine individual performance on the day. McMullen was proving a nuisance with the bat and it seemed likely that he would get the visitors home. He fell for 70 in the 36th over leaving the last wicket pairing to get 9 from 3.3 overs. Akter Husein bowled the antepenultimate over and conceded 3, John Chipperfield then stepped up to the plate 6 required by the visitors for victory, the second ball of the 38th over hoicked through midwicket for 4 by Kleparski leaving the Catalans needing 2 to win or 1 for a tie. Chipperfield strained every sinew with his very next ball, finding a way under Kleparski’s bat to rattle the off stump and give Menorca what seemed like a very unlikely victory. The collective euphoria showing just how much this meant to the team and spectators alike. A superb and fitting end to what´s been a testing half season both on and off the field. We look forward to brighter times ahead with a full calendar of fixtures in 2022. A debt of gratitude to the volunteers who got us to the end of the season. You all know who you are. Special thanks to our chairman Andrew Manners for over three decades at the helm. We wouldn´t be where we are today without your dedication, perseverance and guidance. Menorca travel to Malta for the first time this weekend for an end of season tour. Match reports to follow providing your correspondent doesn’t get overly inebriated. Jeff Barker - Menorca CC See our weekend report here  See Saturday scorecard here See Sunday scorecard here Having managed to put together a huge 16-man squad last year, we were well on target for a similar number this year, until the unfortunate late drop-outs of captain Sid Tewari and vice-captain Stu Boyd. Combined with injury concerns over Sam Phillipps and James Smith, and three players (Nathan Blyth, Jack Jewson and Hamza Baig) having to leave early on Sunday morning, it suddenly left us going from having a selection headache to scraping together an eleven to play both days. With Sid’s drop out, it left just Sam and Umer Razi as the only two to have been on all seven BICC Menorca tours. James, Shane Lightley, Burhan Ejaz, Nial Evans, Seb Armstrong and Todd Fraser were all on their first tour with the club, with Nial set to make his BICC debut on the Saturday. FRIDAY We arrived in dribs and drabs throughout the day, with some fortunate enough to not be working! The early arrivals of Nathan, Jack, Todd and Hamza left Oscar Kleparski working in the hotel and they set off to explore the island (a rarity for us!). In the evening we hit the ever-popular Rainbow Spice curry house in Mahón, before returning again to Latitude bar, with some heading on to the casino afterwards too. SATURDAY With some grey clouds overhead and rain steadily falling in Mahón throughout the morning, there was real worry that we would face our first Menorca cancellation. Despite assurances that it wasn’t raining at the ground, there was a significant delay to Nathan’s first game as BICC captain. Eventually, there was a break in the weather allowing the hosts to do some groundwork before announcing the match would be shortened from 40 overs down to 20. Nathan won the toss and elected to bat, seemingly to the delight of the Menorcans. That delight would stand as BICC had one of their worst ever batting performances on the Balearic Island. With none of the top six batters getting into double figures it left us in dire straits on 36/8. A relatively strong 27-run partnership between Damien (25) and Seb (10*) helped us post an abysmal 70 all out, with the last wicket falling in the last over of the innings. A shoutout to Grant Wilson (2/11) and Adam Lavin (3/3) for really stifling us. Despite the low score posted, there was some optimism that early wickets might get Menorca nervous, especially with our constant reminders of how they’ve failed to close out such games against us in the past! The wicket had been slow with the rainfall, but unfortunately for us the sun came out over the tea break and started to aide MCC. Seb and Burhan opened up for their first bowls on the island with both keeping it tight, but failing to make a breakthrough. When replaced, Umer too kept it tight from his end, but unfortunately Oscar had one of those overs you see on a blooper’s reel and the game suddenly got away from us. In just the tenth over, Menorca completed the chase with both openers finishing in the 30s (that man Lavin thwarting us again!). With Menorca celebrating their first win against us in the modern era, we settled down in the clubhouse to watch the England vs Australia game from the T20 World Cup and used the nets whilst waiting for Dan Osterbery’s superb barbecue and music from Alex (and Shane ‘Gallagher’). Despite the result and weather earlier, it was a great evening. SUNDAY We woke up to a much brighter day as clearly the weather gods were pleased with the cricket result from the day before. With three tourists heading home in the morning, and only Umair Iqbal to replace them, we looked set to be short on numbers for the second game. Up stepped James to save the day (just don’t tell his doctor) and our eleven took the field first, following the gentlemen’s agreement to swap it around from the day before. Sunday’s captain Umer decided to maintain the opening partnership of Seb and Burhan, with the latter finally picking up our first wicket of the tour following a great opening spell. They were replaced by Damien and Todd. Both picked up a wicket, with Damo getting MCC’s Sunday captain Nick Rousell out shortly after he passed 50. They were replaced by Sam and Umer who dried up the run rate somewhat whilst getting a wicket each. Oscar came on and silenced the armchair critics by bamboozling club captain Joe Brayne first ball. Seb and Burhan came back on and it was Burhan who go two further wickets to finish with impressive figures of 3/37. The final wicket, a runout by Oscar, fell off the last ball leaving BICC with a chasable target of 159. Vice-captain and new arrival Umair opened up with the hungover Nial and neither hung around for very long. Shane came in at three and played a steady if aggressive role. Seb was promoted up the order but could only offer a cameo for 15 before Umer came and went cheaply. Shane and Damien shared a decent partnership before the former played a tired-looking shot and was caught for 39. Burhan also came and went quickly bringing Todd to the crease. Despite him only scoring 13 he shared a 56-run partnership with El Presidente who reached his first 50 in three years. Todd’s dismissal meant James avoided a TFC award but he also decided to avoid the ball as he got a golden duck award instead. At this point 21 more runs were needed with just two wickets left. Both teams knew the crucial wicket would be that of Damien – sadly for us he was bowled soon afterwards by captain Nick (3/35) for an apparent BICC best score of 70. He had left eight more runs for the final wicket to eke out, with the overs left not really a problem. Oscar managed to hit a single, followed by a two and we were getting perilously close to the target. He hit the dangerous John Chipperfield (3/20) for four and we were just two runs short of victory. BICC knew the script having won so many of these close games over the years, it almost seemed inevitable... but then off the next ball Oscar inside edged onto his stumps and the game was gone. Menorca rejoiced and Barcelona despaired. That ten-match winning streak over the years was well and truly gone. Despite the strange feeling of losing twice in Menorca for the first time since 2015 (against Marylebone Cricket Club, no less) it had been another great weekend on the island. Perhaps buoyed by actually beating us for once (or perhaps it was the drink), there was talk of a preseason trip next spring. Here’s hoping we see each other again soon. Our thanks to everyone at Menorca who helped organise the weekend, to the bar staff for not letting us go thirsty, to Dan for not letting us go hungry and to Grant for not letting us go sober. It was also the last weekend of long-standing MCC Chairman Andrew Manners’ reign, a mightily fine innings and one that probably deserved to end on a high note. We’ll be back to start a new winning streak soon! See Menorca's alternative view of the weekend here Sam Phillipps  See scorecard here vs Menorca See scorecard here vs Mallorca Following our cancelled tour in April (done for obvious reasons), BICC were champing at the bit to return to Menorca after somehow going two and a half years without a tour there. Despite having lost a couple of senior players in recent months, the club is seeing a real boost in numbers this season and managed to whip up a mega sixteen players to take the short trip across the Mediterranean. Of these sixteen, ten had never been on a BICC tour, one more hadn’t been to Menorca and two hadn’t even made their official debut for the club! Menorca ever-presents Sam Phillipps, Umer Razi and new captain Sid Tewari were back for their sixth tour on the island. THURSDAY: Sid and Sam, joined by Hamza Baig, arrived on Thursday and quickly went to check out the ground and its beautiful grass. There they found new Menorca captain Joe Brayne and Jeff Barker preparing for the weekend’s games and were invited to join them, and a few other MCC players, that evening for a catch-up drink. The weekend had begun! FRIDAY morning saw a further seven players arrive, all of them first-timers (Anish Shindore, Oscar Kleparski, Leo Viñola, Kevin Kitchin, Simon Eldridge, Nathan Blyth and Jack Jewson). After going for a burger lunch near our hotel, the ten of us headed to the ground for a look-around and a net practice, but only after the traditional photos and rolling around on the grass! Whilst there, the penultimate group of Umer Razi, Rez Hassan and Umair Iqbal arrived and briefly joined in the practice. With the sun setting, we headed back to the hotel (via picking up the final three arrivals of Damien McMullen, Stu Boyd and Tom Kynaston) to freshen up for dinner and get everyone checked in. Given the current situation, finding a place for dinner for a group of 16 can be difficult, but we were very lucky to find and completely book out a great restaurant in the town of Es Castell called Es Llenegall (highly recommended!). Upon returning to the hotel, some of the players took advantage of current restrictions to sit outside the hotel with a great view over the port, having one last night cap before bed. SATURDAY morning, and finally time to play on Menorca’s hallowed turf! With us having such a large touring group, Menorca were kind enough to agree to a 12-aside match (12 batsmen, but just 11 fielders). The playing XI was Hamza (wk), Sid (C), Kevin, Umer, Damien, Stu, Anish, Rez, Oscar, Leo and Nathan, with Simon being the 12th player to bat at 3. Menorca won the toss and decided to bat. Rez and Anish opened, and it wasn’t long before Anish got the first wicket of the game, dismissing Adam for a duck courtesy of a smart catch from Damien. Captain Sid had said that he was going to rotate the bowlers through short spells, and so after just three tidy overs each, he brought on Oscar and Stu. Oscar struggled a bit to find his line so, trying to find a breakthrough as the second wicket partnership started to build, Sid decided to bring himself on soon after, bowling in tandem with his vice-captain. A couple of overs later and Stu got that breakthrough, ex-MCC captain Simon giving the second opener Julian out LBW for a well-made 26. Batsman wasn’t happy, bowler was convinced it was plumb (in other news, water is wet). Despite this wicket, Stu was whipped out of the attack next over to allow Umer to come on from the Pavilion End. It proved to be a good swap as Umer got a wicket in his second over, dismissing Nick for 29 with another LBW. This brought about the halfway drinks break, with Menorca on 67/3 after 20 overs. As they say, drinks bring wickets, and Menorca lost one the very first ball after the break. Opener Rez returned and immediately got Marcus to edge the ball to Nathan at slip with a good ball, and Nathan somehow managed to cling on to it! Unfortunately, BICC’s catching was to deteriorate somewhat over the next couple of overs, with Sid dropping a catch off the bowling of Umer, before Umer dropped one off the bowling of Rez, and then Rez dropped one from Leo’s first ball, after he had replaced Umer. Rez was then taken out of the attack and Damien was brought on to bowl some spin. His first over saw the batsman take a big hit out towards deep midwicket where Nathan was waiting for the ball, only for the fourth drop to go down in as many overs. The batsmen were living dangerously and offering chances and another wicket was only a matter of time. Luckily, the catching behind the wicket was up to scratch, and when Leo got Toby (36) to swing at a wild one, Hamza somehow held onto a relatively thick edge and the quick-scoring batsman was gone after a 54 run partnership. Despite this success, Leo became the second bowler to be taken out of the attack straight after a wicket with Nathan coming on for his first bowl. It turned out to be another stroke of genius (or sheer luck) from the captain, as he took a wicket first ball, the batsman picking out Mr Safe Hands Stu in the deep with accurate precision. Nathan would get a second wicket in his second over too, this time caught in the covers by Sid. Despite securing best-ever figures Nathan was taken out of the attack, with Sid and Stu returning to bowl together again. Stu then claimed two wickets in an over, as BICC looked to quickly clean up a very strong looking tail. He first knocked over the stumps, removing MCC stalwart Roy (24) before enticing the next batsman Grant to edge one straight up high, Stu claiming the catch off his own bowling. Rez replaced the wicketless Sid and quickly got his second wicket of the innings, Jeff caught by Umer. This brought the last batsman in, but confusion led to Joe being run out by Stu. BICC had bowled out MCC for 166 from 37.2 overs, with eight wickets falling in the 17.2 overs after drinks! After a half an hour late lunch break, Sid and Hamza went out chasing a below-par score full of confidence. However, after a quick start, Sid was dismissed in the third over for seven, caught by the keeper having tickled the ball off his glove. Specialist batsman Simon came in and managed to build a strong foundation having recently come back from injury, playing like an old Ian Bell circa 2013 (or so he claims…). Hamza fell in the ninth over having scored 13, skying one well up into the air, only for it to fall into the keepers’ gloves. Kevin (1) came and went quickly, becoming the second victim for Grant. This brought Umer to the crease, the ‘enigmatic’ and ‘much maligned’ all-rounder (according to our hosts!). With two of the steadiest scorers in the club batting together, the required run rate rose for a while, although Umi was putting away the bad balls and Simon was able to swing his now fixed arms at a few balls as they played themselves in. That being said, both were giving opportunities, but it was Menorca’s time to put down catches and allow a big partnership to build. They managed to make it to the 20 over drinks break unscathed, with BICC on 64/3, still requiring a further 103 runs. Despite the rising run rate, we were confident with two set batsmen and some big hitters left in the shed yet to come. At this point, Simon decided that it was time to accelerate, but having given a couple more opportunities that MCC failed to take, finally succumbed when charging up the wicket and being stumped for 18. In came President Damien with 81 more runs required from the remaining 14 overs. Umer too had moved up a gear, and offered another chance in the covers but was put down. With the batsmen having run a single, Damien was then caught at mid-on off the very next ball for a quickfire 12. This brought the dangerous (but tremendously ‘unwell’) Stu to the crease, with 68 now required from 12 overs. Umer offered one more difficult chance to a diving slip fielder, before reaching his fifty with a big six over long-on. By now, the chase was down to a run a ball and the ball was well in BICC’s court, even if next-man-in Anish couldn’t bare to watch Umer’s continued blocking! Stu and Umer calmly continued knocking off the runs, with the scores tied after Stu hit a massive six, and Umer called him through for a suicidal run in a definite attempt to get on strike to score the winning run. Stu turned down a single off the last ball of that over, before dismissing the first ball of the next for another massive six to win the game with 11 balls to spare. Stu finished on a quick 45* and Umer on a well-constructed 63*. BICC continued their unbeaten run over the Menorcans, stretching an unbelievable 11 games. MCC were left cursing their luck and wondering how we always end up on top in these usually tight games. With the game finished, we hung around at the ground having a beer before heading to nearby Sant Lluis for a lovely, socially distant dinner with the usual speeches from Menorca’s Jeff and our captain Sid. Upon returning to Mahón after dinner, a few of the players headed into town for one last drink. On SUNDAY, Menorca had invited their Balearic neighbours Mallorca to come play both us and them. With the clocks having gone back overnight, we headed to the ground for an 11am start in our first ever fixture against the Mallorcans. Sid again lost the toss and we were put in the field in this 20 over match. The playing XII was Jack (wk), Umair, Oscar, Kevin, Anish, Sid (c), Rez, Nathan, Hamza, Umer, Tom (bowling only) and Sam (batting if desperately required). Rez and Anish opened again, with the pairs first overs both ending with a boundary following five dot balls (albeit with four byes in there too). The Mallorcan openers didn’t seem to want to run, with the first twenty runs all coming from fours! In his second over, Anish managed to dismiss both opener Mujahid Ali (bowled) and number 3 Tishan (caught at slip by Umair) in a double wicket maiden! Sid continued his system of rotating the bowlers and brought himself and debutant Tom on. Sid went for a four before the batsman finally scored a run by actually running! Off the next ball, Sid put down a sharp return catch off his own bowling. Two economical overs followed, Tom conceding just two from his first BICC over and Sid just one from his next. Then, in Tom’s second over, he got his first BICC wicket, claiming opener Stefan for 19 following a great catch from Oscar. Tom wouldn’t have to wait long for his second wicket, taking advantage a wide to claim Qais, again caught by Oscar, off the seventh ball of the over. Sid took Tom out of the attack, bringing on Umer, who was again economical in his first over. This left Mallorca struggling a bit on 44/4 at the halfway stage of the innings. Tom returned from the other end, replacing the skipper, and managed to get himself a third wicket, Rez this time taking the catch at mid-off to dismiss Mallorca captain Wesley. Umer then got in on the act at the start of his third over, having Dev caught by debutant wicketkeeper Jack for his first BICC dismissal. Tom bowled out his fourth over to finish with impressive figures of 3/25, before he ran off to the airport to catch his flight, with Leo substituting for him in the field. Sid brought himself back for his final over and finally got a wicket with his last ball, bowling the fast-scoring Rizwan for 15. At this point, Sid brought back the opening bowlers to clean up the last wickets. Anish claimed the wicket of anchor Paul (26), before Rez claimed the last two wickets in three balls, first bowled before taking a good caught and bowled to end the innings. Mallorca had been dismissed for 105 from 18.3 overs. There were wickets for all five bowlers, but particularly impressive figures for Tom and Anish (3/10). After a quick break, Jack and Umair opened the innings, chasing what seemed a low score for the second game in a row. The pair built a solid, if slow, start before Jack nicked to the keeper in the seventh over for ten (doing an absolute textbook ‘walk’ off in the process). Oscar came to the crease and tried to increase the scoring rate but fell for four, caught and bowled to Qais. This left BICC looking behind on just 31/2 at the halfway stage, needing another 64 to win. Things went from bad to worse in the next couple of overs, as BICC then lost another wickets to be on just 44/4 after 12 overs. Kevin came in and was quickly run out from a good throw, running all the way to the boundary much to the amusement of the gathering Menorca fans. Anish then came in looking to try out his new bat, and was promptly bowled first ball. Sid came in next, with BICC needing to up their scoring rate, and he and Umair did that in a needed quick 30-run partnership. Sid was bowled attempting a big shot, but he’d done a job and inputted some momentum into the scoring. Rez came in and offered much of the same, rotating the strike well with the accelerating Umair. Rez was caught in the deep for 11, having perfectly picked out long-on. This brought Nathan to the crease, with BICC now seemingly on top but frequent wickets making things tense on the boundary. Just four were needed from the final over, with opener Umair on strike needing four for a maiden club fifty. First ball, dot. No problem. Second ball, wicket! Umair had edged through to the keeper and had to go. In came Hamza, batting well down the order and he hit a two off his first ball. Two to win, three balls left. The pair then scampered a single off the next ball. (Some) relief, scores were tied, with Nathan now on strike. The two batsmen met and presumably discussed tactics. Nathan missed the ball, and the keeper gathered it cleanly, but was unable to hit the stumps as Hamza sprinted to the other end, both batsmen making their ground, meaning BICC had won the game from the penultimate ball of the over! Once again, we’d made it far more complicated than seemed possible at the change of innings, but we had won our first game against Mallorca. That afternoon, Mallorca were playing Menorca in another T20 match in front of a good crowd of 30 or so picnickers. We ordered pizza and sat down to watch as Mallorca comfortably beat Menorca, batting more aggressively in this match, and thus setting them a target that was out of their reach. A last beer or two were consumed after the match with promises that we’ll be back soon for tour number seven. Our thanks again to Menorca for having us over once more and organising a great tour in difficult circumstances, even though they haven’t been able to play much this year. It was nice meeting Mallorca CC on the Sunday too, I’m sure it won’t be the last time that our two teams meet. Assuming new restrictions allow, we’ll be back playing on our less green ground in a couple of weeks, daydreaming in the outfield of having a pavilion, a bar, and spectators! Check out the highlights from the game versus Mallorca here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEHxaDVnC4I&ab&ab_channel=BarcelonaInternationalCricketClub Sam Phillipps  See scorecard here
The BICC 12-man squad arrived for their fifth Menorca tour across the Friday night and Saturday morning, chasing two victories to take their tally to ten games unbeaten against the Menorquins. The squad included three newbies, birthday boy Mohan ‘our favourite Indian’ Reddy, David ‘Big Joe’ Evans and Nakul ‘Nockles’ Vyas, along with the long awaited return of ex-President Rob ‘I’ve lost my sunglasses’ Paterson. With rain forecast all of Friday night and much of Saturday there were worries we wouldn’t get a game. Fortunately, the sun came out and a delayed, over-reduced game could begin at about 2 o’clock. Supreme Leader Nawaz won the toss and elected to bat. With President Damien having graciously offered to sit out this match, he was cruelly denied the opportunity to sit in the sun soaking up the cricket (amongst other things), after being volunteered to umpire all 70 overs. Mohan and Umer Razi opened, but it was not to be a birthday debut to remember for Mohan as he fell early. Keeper Alex ‘Saffer’ Wallauz joined and they formed a solid partnership, taking BICC to 76-1 before Alex was caught for 29. This began a mini collapse, as three wickets fell for just eight runs, including a duck for Stu Boyd and a harsh run out for Rob (despite including the least gracious dive you’ll ever see on a cricket pitch). Fortunately, everyone’s favourite South African Warren Meredith joined Umer at the crease and scored a quickfire 30. After he edged behind, it fell to Sid Tewari to help fire some quick runs as the innings drew to a close. In the penultimate over, opener Umer finally fell, having scored a fine 50 where he was the backbone of the innings (he’ll tell you he scored 81, mind). BICC eventully set a total of 169-7 off their 35 overs. The skipper decided to open the bowling with himself and Nakul, who both managed to keep it tight. They didn’t manage to get a breakthrough until the sixth over though, when Nakul had Julian Hagger caught by his opening bowling partner. The score was just 13 and the next wicket would take just two more overs before Nakul struck again, bowling Adam Cockroft. The score was now 28-2, as Mallorcan guest Ali Mujhid walked out to the crease. He formed a formidable partnership with keeper Andy Tysoe as the pair of them reached the 40s. First change bowlers Dave and Sam were unable to continue the opening pair’s pressure, nor take any wickets (albeit not helped by a dropped catch off Sam’s bowling). Eventually, Warren and Sid were bought on. Warren had quick success, taking the wicket of the dangerous Ali (48) in his first over, caught in the deep with quite possibly the finest running catch ever seen on a cricket pitch* by yours truly. The next wicket would come in the very next over, with Sid relying on the skipper’s safe pair of hands to dismiss Grant Wilson for a duck. Still, with the score now 103-4 off 21 overs, Menorca were getting dangerously close to their first win over BICC, although looking far less secure than they had done on 102-2 just seven balls earlier. When opener Andy (41) finally fell a few overs later after missing a straight Sid ball, BICC got their tails up. From this point, 44 were required off the final eight overs, with the Menorca’s fast scoring skipper Simon Cotton walking to the crease. Fortunately, for BICC, no one was able to hold down the other end and give him support, with Stu, Umer and a run out from Dave dismissing Pavan Nerella, Akter Husain and Russell Day with none of them scoring more than six. In amongst these rapidly falling wickets, Simon was “dropped” after yours truly again took another great catch in the deep, only to end up falling over the rope. Despite the quick wickets, MCC had gotten themselves into a position where they only needed 10 off the final two overs. Step up Stu, who brilliantly bowled a maiden in the penultimate over, including the run out from Dave. Still 10 needed off the final six deliveries. Mohsin vs Simon. Skipper vs skipper. Three results still possible. Who would come out on top? First ball, dot. 10 off five. Second ball, wicket! Mohsin bowled Simon and BICC could smell victory. Ten off four, with numbers ten and eleven at the crease. Between them, they could only muster three singles and a dot ball, meaning BICC won by six runs in one of the tensest and most exciting matches between the two sides thus far. The two teams dusted themselves down and discussed BICC’s latest MCC win over a beer or two. Following this, BICC headed out for the now traditional curry at Rainbow Spice before hitting the town. Sam Phillipps |
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