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Philip Paterson Smith

26/4/2022

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Philip (in the middle, wearing a dress shirt), after Barcelona CC beat Costa del Sol CC to win the Spanish league in 1995. Clearly his services on the field weren't needed that day!
[Versión en español abajo]

Today we were informed of the sad news of the recent passing of Philip Paterson Smith MBE, founder of Barcelona CC in 1982 and Madrid CC in 1979. Philip, born in England in 1936, moved to Spain in 1957 and never looked back. Whilst he spent some time in Madrid in the late 70s, most of his adult life was spent in Catalonia. He did an incredible number of jobs in varying fields, but still found ample time to organise numerous sporting encounters, mostly in rugby and cricket. 


It wasn’t until his mid-40s that Philip, presumably now less able to play rugby, decided to start up a cricket team in Spain. Having been moved to Madrid for work, he got some players together to form Madrid Cricket Club. For a while, they were forced to play amongst themselves but eventually went on tour to Portugal, where a couple of teams welcomed them. Upon his return to the Catalan capital, Barcelona Cricket Club was formed, playing its first game at the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona (the Royal Polo Club) on the 13th June 1982, against Madrid CC. Over the coming years, Barcelona would become the first foreign club to visit Morocco (1992), and the first European club to visit China (1997). He also oversaw the Spanish league and cup double in 1995, the club having been strengthened by the arrival of Pakistani immigrants to the country. Philip played until he was 63, when his eyesight began to let him down. It says a lot that the club was forced into a hiatus shortly after he stopped. 

He was awarded his MBE for “services to Britons abroad” in 1996, having been working with the British Embassy and Consulate for most of his life. He had organised countless sports matches, often between visiting British military forces and the Embassy, as well as providing an outlet for uncommon sports such as cricket and rugby for expats and immigrants. Philip had such an interesting life that in 2014 he released a book, El Inmigrante Inglés (The English Immigrant), detailing his adventures. It was only 95 pages long, but I’m sure there are plenty of stories that didn’t make it in!

Whilst none of the current members of BICC had the fortune of meeting Philip, we are grateful for his hard work. Cricket has come a long way in Catalonia since he founded the club in 1982, with 34 clubs now playing in an organised league under a federation. Who knows how things might have been without him. Our thoughts go to his family as a fine innings from a wonderful man ends. 



Hoy nos han informado de la triste noticia del reciente fallecimiento de Philip Paterson Smith MBE, fundador de Barcelona CC en 1982 y Madrid CC en 1979. Philip, nacido en Inglaterra en 1936, se trasladó a España en 1957 y nunca miró atrás. Si bien pasó algún tiempo en Madrid a finales de los años 70, la mayor parte de su vida adulta la pasó en Cataluña. Hizo una cantidad increíble de trabajos en varios campos, pero aun así encontró tiempo suficiente para organizar numerosos encuentros deportivos, principalmente en rugby y cricket.

No fue hasta los 40 años que Philip, probablemente ahora menos capaz de jugar al rugby, decidió poner en marcha un equipo de cricket en España. Tras mudarse a Madrid por trabajo, reunió a algunos jugadores para formar el Madrid Cricket Club. Durante un tiempo, se vieron obligados a jugar entre ellos, pero finalmente se fueron de gira a Portugal, donde un par de equipos les dieron la bienvenida. A su regreso a la capital catalana se formó el Barcelona Cricket Club, que jugó su primer partido en el Real Club de Polo de Barcelona el 13 de junio de 1982, contra el mismo Madrid CC. En los próximos años, el Barcelona se convertiría en el primer club extranjero en visitar Marruecos (1992), y el primer club europeo en visitar China (1997). También dirigió el doblete de liga y copa española en 1995, habiéndo fortalecido el club con la llegada de algunos inmigrantes paquistaníes al país. Philip jugó hasta los 63 años, cuando su vista comenzó a fallarle. Dice mucho que el club se vio obligado a hacer una pausa poco después de que se detuviera de jugar.

Recibió su MBE (Miembro de la Excelentísima Orden del Imperio Británico) por "servicios a los británicos en el extranjero" en 1996, habiendo trabajado con la Embajada y el Consulado Británicos durante la mayor parte de su vida. Había organizado innumerables partidos deportivos, a menudo entre las fuerzas militares británicas visitantes y la Embajada, además de proporcionar una salida para deportes poco comunes como el cricket y el rugby para expatriados e inmigrantes. Philip tuvo una vida tan interesante que en 2014 publicó un libro, El Inmigrante Inglés, que detalla sus aventuras. Solo tenía 95 páginas, ¡pero estoy seguro de que hay muchas historias que no llegaron!
Si bien ninguno de los miembros actuales de BICC tuvo la fortuna de conocer a Philip, estamos agradecidos por su arduo trabajo. Criquet ha recorrido un largo camino en Cataluña desde que fundó el club en 1982, con 34 clubes que ahora juegan en una liga organizada bajo una federación. Quién sabe cómo podrían haber sido las cosas sin él. Nuestros pensamientos van a su familia, ahora que termine un buen inning de un hombre maravilloso. 

Sam Phillipps
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First BICC women's session!

10/4/2022

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Yesterday Sam, Burhan, Maroof, Shriram, Umer and Agni (with help from Men in Blue's Suraj) ran the first BICC women's session. We welcomed 12 women from all over the world (with a very healthy Spanish/ Catalan contingent) most of whom were new to the game and eager to try it out. Using tapeballs, we did some drills and exercises on batting, bowling and fielding, before finishing with a quick pairs game on the softball ground. Everyone had a great time and many were keen for a next session, which we hope to be able to confirm very soon (and for it to come very soon too!). If you're interested in joining us for it, or to know when any future sessions are coming up, contact us through out social media or at bcninternationalcc@gmail.com.


Ayer Sam, Burhan, Maroof, Shriram, Umer y Agni (con ayuda de Suraj de Men in Blue) dirigieron la primera sesión para mujeres de BICC. Damos la bienvenida a 12 mujeres de todas partes del mundo (con un contingente muy bueno de españolas/ catalanas), y la mayoría de ellas nuevas al deporte y entusiastas de probarlo. Utilizando tapeballs (pelotas de tenis cubiertas con cinta aislante), hicimos unos ejercicios de batear, lanzar y defensa, acabando con un mini partido de parejas en el campo de sóftbol. Todo el mundo se pasó bien y acabaron con ganas de repetir, cosa que esperamos poder confirmar muy pronto (y que venga muy pronto también!). Si estás interesada en venir, o para saber cuándo vendrán sesiones futuras, nos puedes contactar a través de nuestras redes o a bcninternationalcc@gmail.com.
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Players and coaches at the end of a fun session! Jugadoras y entrenadores al final de una sesión divertida!
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2021 Annual Review

31/12/2021

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2021 was another tough year for the club in a cricketing sense, with us having to wait until late June for our first game of the year and only managing to win two of our nine fixtures between league and friendlies. That being said, there have been many positives off the field: a real boost in membership numbers and interest in playing for the club; helping with the vote for public funding to build a cricket ground in Barcelona - and winning; and lots of media coverage for the club that came with that vote, from within Catalonia and from around the world. The year has ended with our first AGM as the club gets ready to register officially with the Catalan authorities ahead of the 2022 season. This has brought about a new committee of Sam Phillipps (President), James Smith (vice-president), Stu Boyd (secretary), Nathan Blyth (treasurer), Burhan Ejaz (training manager), Maroof Shaikh (kit manager), Umair Iqbal (social events), Todd Fraser (online manager) and Umer Razi (first team captain). It’s not long since the club was struggling to get enough players together to play on a Saturday, and this year we had eleven people put their hand in the ring to help run the club! We are hoping to be able to enter a second team into the league next season, which would (almost certainly) be a Catalan first.

As many as 14 (FOURTEEN!) players made their BICC debut this year despite the lack of game time: welcome aboard Tim, Shane, Martin, Barry, Jon, Tommy, James, Shriram, Todd, Maroof, Nick, Seb, Burhan and Nial! Edward also made a return to the playing eleven after 13 years away from the club.

Results:
6th June: LOST by 4 wickets vs Lleida Tigers (30 overs - Lliga catalana). BICC 135/10, Lleida 137/6. Sid 49, Umer 39.
20th June: LOST by 64 runs vs Ali CC (30 overs - Lliga catalana). Ali 160/10, BICC 94/10. Sid 6fer. *Ali CC were later found to have used an ineligible player and we were awarded the two points.*
3rd July: Internal game. Team Nathan beat Team Nick by 5 runs.
4th July: WON by 2 wickets vs Trinitat Stars CC (30 overs - Lliga catalana). Trinitat 119/10, BICC 121/8. Sid 5/14, Tommy 4/32.
10th July: WON by 2 wickets vs Bengali CC (T20 - friendly). Bengali 108/11, BICC 109/8.
11th July: CONCEDED vs Kharian CC (Lliga catalana). Covid outbreak within squad.
18th July: LOST by 58 runs vs Rising Stars CC (30 overs - Lliga catalana). Rising Stars 195/10, BICC 137/9. Tim 3/18.
1st August: LOST by 4 wickets vs Roses Spartans (30 overs - Lliga catalana). BICC 74/10, Roses 79/6. Tommy 3/27.
29th August: LOST by 126 runs vs Raval Sporting CC (30 overs - Lliga catalana). Raval 358/5, BICC 232/6. Umer 3/57, Maroof 50, Jack 48*
9th October: Internal game. Team Red beat Team White by 5 wickets. Anish 59, Umer 83*, Maroof 102, Shane 32, Kevin 31*.
30th October: LOST by 10 wickets vs Menorca CC (T20 - friendly). BICC 70/10, MCC 74/0.
31st October: LOST by 1 run vs Menorca CC (40 overs - friendly). MCC 158/10, BICC 157/10. Burhan 3/37, Shane 39, Damien 70.

On the pitch:
The year started with Catalonia under curfew Covid rules, and with our ground in Montjuïc still closed, we were unable to play in the city.

In May, we were forced to cancel our proposed tour to Italy to play Idle CC due to further Covid-related complications over travel too.
With us unable to play friendlies in the city, the club decided to rejoin the Catalan league for the first time since 2013. We were placed in group C, amongst some familiar foes, although when it finally started in June, we began with a match against previously unknown Lleida Tigers in Riudarenes. Despite some decent scores from Sid and Umer, the batting let us down and we posted an underpar score. Despite this, we were well in the game until a late rain delay saw momentum swing the way of the Tigers. Two weeks later we were back in action at the same ground against another unfamiliar team, the seeded Ali CC: This time, skipper Sid shone with the ball, claiming 6 wickets but it was to no avail as again our batting fell short. However, a few days later we were awarded the points after Ali were found to have used an ineligible player! We were (sort of) up and running.
On the first weekend of July we held a practice game, with film crews from Catalan News and al Jazeera keen to showcase Catalan cricket to their audiences. They witnessed an intense battle between Team Nick and Team Nathan, the latter narrowly coming out on top. The next day we once again travelled to Riudarenes to play our third league game against Trinitat Stars, who we attempted to play once back in 2017. Thanks to another Sid 5fer and 4 for Tommy, we restricted them to 119 and chased it down with just two wickets left, with the runs shared around. Now we’re definitely up and running!
The very next weekend, we organised another friendly on Saturday, consisting of almost an entirely different eleven to the one due to play in the league game on Sunday. Our first 2nd XI game was a success, as we beat a young Bengali side by two wickets. It’s very unfortunate that we didn’t quite get that completely different eleven as one of the tested positive for Covid that afternoon, leaving a handful of Sunday’s team stuck having to quarantine and leaving us both short of players and worried about spreading the virus with the players we did have. We felt obliged to cancel the match, since the Federation wasn’t prepared to postpone it.
The next week’s league match was also a bit compromised with so many players in quarantine as the fifth Covid wave wreaked havoc in the city. We came up against former regular opponents Rising Stars, who we were confident of beating again despite their seeded status in the league. Unfortunately a decent showing in the field wasn’t enough to win in Stu Boyd’s first game as captain.
In August we had two games, a rarity for the club as we normally take the hot summer month off. On the first Sunday of the month we made the long trip up to Emburiabrava to play Roses Spartans for the first time. I’m assured everyone had a great time up there although the trip was probably longer than the match. Despite being bowled out for just 74 we ran the locals close and they only just scraped home by four wickets. Four weeks later, we travelled to Vic to play our last league game against Raval Sporting, with the slightest possibility of qualifying for the next round with a big win. Instead, we went on to concede the highest score of the entire league season (by a good 30 runs) and, despite an encouraging first few overs and passing 200 for the first time all year, we fell 126 runs short.
With the league done for us, we didn’t manage to play in September. But on the 9th October we travelled back up to Vic with 22 players for an internal match. Suddenly all our batters were back in form with 50s for Anish and Umer, and a superb 100 by Maroof as Sid’s “Red XI” beat Umer’s “White XI”.
Three weeks later and it was the most anticipated fixtures of the year as we travelled over to Menorca looking to increase our ten-game winning streak against them. With regular captain Sid and his vice Stu both missing, Nathan took charge on the Saturday in a rain-shortened game. Unfortunately, our batting woes were back and we were dismissed for 74. After the sun came out during the tea break, batting became easier and Menorca managed to chalk up their first victory against us by ten wickets. The next day, things went a lot better and we were able to play our normal 40 over game, this time with Umer as captain. We dismissed the hosts for 158, a score which looked on the low side of par. Led by a BICC-best 70 for Damo, we got oh so close as well fell just one run short.
Other than being able to return to the nets in Montjuïc, that was it for us in terms of playing in 2021. With any luck, things will be easier in 2022!

Words from the (incoming) captain - Umer Razi:
First of all being a captain of BICC it’s a great honor and also a big responsibility. Being a captain you have to be leader and good leaders are those who are good communicators. It involved both listening and speaking and being captain and I will encourage all the team members to give me their feedback every after a game. As being social club the most important thing is to enjoy the game that we love. We do our level best in the field in order to win the game. All I want from my team to give 100 percent in the field. Winning and losing is a part of the game. I would like to thank again all the team members who have nominated me this year to be a captain.

​Sam Phillipps
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BICC on ABC's Sunday Extra

18/7/2021

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This weekend, club president Damien McMullen was invited as a guest on to Julian Morrow's Sunday Extra show, to explain the recent vote on the soon-to-be-built cricket ground in Barcelona and a bit of Barcelona cricket history. The full interview can be found here: 
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BICC on al Jazeera!

12/7/2021

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Last week a British team from al Jazeera visited Barcelona to cover the Mobile World Congress, and decided to pay us a visit to look at the effects of the recent vote for funding in Montjuic. Here is the end result:
Check out some of the 'behind the scenes' shots over on our instagram page!
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Kit partnership with Big Dogg Clothing

21/6/2021

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We are excited to announce that we have begun a partnership with Melbourne-based clothing company Big Dogg, who will provide our playing kit as well as some bonus items for off the pitch, Our new coloured kit has already arrived and seen its debut in our match yesterday. The kit looks great and we can't wait for everything else to arrive and to see what designed Dane comes up with next. Hopefully this will be the start of a fruitful relationship between us, as they look to expand into Spain and mainland Europe beyond. If your club is looking for a new kit supplier, get in touch and we'll pass you on to them!
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Barcelona voted for cricket!

21/6/2021

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Today at lunchtime it was announced that the bid for €1.6million of funding for a cricket ground in Barcelona had passed the second round of public voting, being the second-most voted project in the city. This means that our old ground, the Camp Municipal Julià de Campmany should receive quite the makeover during the next couple of years. We hope to be able to get back there very soon!
Our thanks go to the Federació catalana de cricket and those involved with the new girl's and women's teams for getting this off the ground. 
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An artist's impression of what the ground will look like when completed
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Barcelona, vote for cricket!

10/6/2021

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Click here to vote

Between 10th and 20th June, Barcelona is voting on where to use public funding, and we want you to help us get a cricket ground! If you're a Barcelona resident, please vote. If not, please share this video! Vote... and then follow us on social media and let us know that you voted!

https://www.instagram.com/bcnintlcc/
https://facebook.com/barcelonainternationalcc
https://twitter.com/BcnIntlCC
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BICC in The Guardian

23/5/2021

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A few days ago, President Damien talked to Stephen Burgen of The Guardian about cricket in Barcelona, Here you can read the article in full. 
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A nomadic past, but a stable future?

29/3/2021

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The club started off life playing at the prestigious Real Club de Polo de Barcelona in 1982, after Barcelona CC founder Philip Paterson Smith convinced the Conde de Reus (Earl of Reus), the then-President of the polo club, that Englishmen always played a game of cricket to celebrate the Queen's birthday and were granted use of the grounds. Despite this white lie, the club were soon invited back to play there regularly, as can be seen from the letter below. The club played there until the 1992 Olympics, when they were required to find somewhere else to play, although they were able to return temporarily and sporadically from 1995. 
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After ten years playing regularly at the same place, suddenly the club had to become more nomadic. They embarked on more tours abroad, as well as around Spain. One game saw them host Swiss side Cern CC in the grounds of Hotel El Montanyà, some 60km north from Barcelona. 

After the club had a short hiatus at the end of the 90s, it continued in its nomadic ways before ending up playing games in a field outside Constantí, Tarragona, almost twice as far from the capital as El Montanyà. Following the subsidised purchase of a Flicx mat, a few practice sessions were also able to take place in the nearer Sitges Rugby Club (below) in 2006-7.
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Sitges rugby club, the temporary home of cricket practice
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BICC in league action, December 2011
In 2007, the inaugural Catalan cricket league started, with the recently renamed BICC entering as a founding member with games to take place at the Olympic Baseball stadium, in Montjuïc, with a coconut matting placed between 2nd and 3rd bases. The ground also saw us hosting Essex touring side Stanford-Le-Hope in 2012. Seemingly, the club played all of its league games there until 2012. In 2013, our second division matches were moved to the University of Barcelona's rugby pitch (below). At the end of that year, the club pulled out of the league and stopped playing at either the baseball ground or the University. 
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BICC vs Stanford-Le-Hope
The year before, the club had signed an agreement to play at the Estadi Julià Capmany, soon to be nicknamed the Coca-Cola stadium (can you guess why?). There, we began playing friendlies against selected oppositions from Barcelona as well as continuing to receive British teams. ​
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BICC vs 'Umair XI', October 2013
The club has remained there ever since, surviving the closing of the stadium bar, repeated break-ins and theft, an arson attack, double bookings with softball matches and far too many incidents of trespassing. The ground has become the cricket hub of Barcelona, now used by most clubs in the area, despite its unideal rectangular shape and uneven ground. 

​Throughout the years, the ground has continuously changed from the one seen in the photo above (even the Coca-Cola sign is gone!).
  • Spring 2014- the club went about installing three concrete nets on the far-side of the ground, which are still in use today. 
  • October 2015- the bar inside the ground is closed, and BICC have to look elsewhere for a post-match bevvy!
  • June 2017- following a fire, the entire grandstand is condemned and *eventually* knocked down.
  • 2018- following the opening and expansion of a dog-training school next door, and the demolition of the grandstand, it is decided to put the pitch the other side of the ground to face north to avoid balls being hit regularly into the dog school. 
This ground is now in real need of some TLC. If you are a resident of Barcelona, please click and vote here (until 4th April) to help get funding to do the ground up!
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Our last practice at the ground in October 2020
Even with this potentially funding, the club has been looking to find its own ground for a while now and continues to pursue this. We hope that this will be somewhere in the suburbs of Barcelona and will allow us to play in better conditions with the hope of attracting more touring teams to visit us. Please get in touch if you might have any lead in terms of land available, or potential investors or sponsors! With any luck, we won't have to be a nomadic club for too much longer. 

​Sam Phillipps
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