Tuesday 24th July 2007: A message from our sponsor

Best of luck !!
OK team I was hoping to join you all but personal circumstances prevent this (sigh of relief from my liver and groan from bar staff in Tallin, Helsinki, St Petersburg, Moscow and Riga.)

If you get the chance visit the Elevant Indian restaurant in Tallin or if you prefer something else then try the local Bear steaks they are great. Best of luck! Charlie Bass

Thursday 26th July 2007: Red Thursday

Just how long did you have to sort it?
Thursday lunchtime and two of the touring squad still didn’t have their Russian visas sorted – grrrr!!!

On Wednesday evening Australian Matt Somerford was in state of anger/panic and Andrew Abraham blasé about “easily getting a later flight if necessary.”

Somerford opted to process his visa in person on the Thursday via an early morning train journey from Howden to London meaning the skipper had to cover his shift at work (you still owe skip for that Matty)..

Junior Abraham meanwhile was bricking it on the Thursday after his passport had not been returned by the Russian embassy. His plan to simply catch a later flight was quickly dashed when he saw the prices for flights were up to £300.

Fortunately several pleading phone calls to the Russian embassy enabled him somehow persuade them to allow London-based wicketkeeper Harry Reekie to pick it up on his behalf – lucky git.

Junior then made the trek to London from Derby after work to pick up the passport before heading to North Wales.

Friday 27th July 2007: Sleep deprivation, Ryanair, Borat and cricket underway!

Sleep driving....
Departure from York to Liverpool at 2am resulted in no sleep for the driving skipper and perhaps a few hours for the other travelling players. Luckily everyone made it to the airport on time, despite severely lacking some zzzzz.

A clever bit of swapping of cricket kit and some bulky hand luggage enabled us all to fall under the weight limit (take note London lot) and meant there were no extra weight charges for us, despite Rob Barnett’s bag initially weighing in at a whopping 22kg with Ryanair setting the limit at 15kg.

The flight went off without a glitch as the majority attempted some much-needed shut eye. We met with the four players travelling from London and had just enough time for a quick knock about outside Riga Airport before boarding our specially arranged minibus from Riga to Tallinn.

Borat the bus driver
Banter flowed as the new teammates bonded and we learned that beaver spotting and boulder counting were two popular pursuits in Estonia – honestly!! As the journey wore on we all could not help but feel our driver (Borat) did not really know where we were going. Especially as we got towards the end of our five-hour journey from Riga to Tallinn.

Looking for our hostel seemed to be beyond our driver who had no satellite navigation and only a tourist map to locate where he was going. Eventually he resorted to picking up a buck-toothed local old man off the street to direct us to the Old Town and our accommodation for the next four nights.

A quick change around in the superb £8-a-night Hostel Alur, some cakes for energy from a local shop and we headed off (after getting lost….again) to the Tallinn Hippodrome for our first match.

Tour Match 1: Estonia Development XI v Carmel & District Cricket Club. Twenty20 match. Hippodrome ground, Tallinn (Carmel won toss)


The sight of the Estonian Development team warming up on the outfield dressed in their whites lifted the spirits of the entire team despite the prospect of impending rain. The match was to be played on a grass outfield with an artificial astroturf-style wicket on top of concrete.

Carmel won the toss and opted to field and the tour got off to a flyer as paceman Tom Horne gave the Estonian captain a short ball first up and he hooked the ball right down the throat of Justin Peacock at fine leg who took a fine catch. Diamond duck and Horne goes wild after capturing his first international wicket with his first delivery.

Unfortunately for the right-armer he was to offer too many lose deliveries as Estonia’s second-wicket partnership between looked to take the game away from Carmel with a number of lusty blows.
Having seen Horne take 1/48 the skipper turned to Sam Philip in a effort to stem the flow of runs and the Cornish left-arm spinner did not let his captain down as he snaffled two quick wickets including Estonia’s big-hitting number three to finished with 2/24.
Australian duo Matt Somerford and Peacock worked in tandem and their tight medium pace bowling slowed down Estonia’s early impetus. Somerford finished with 2/8 and Peacock mopped up the tail to finish with an impressive 3/17.

A wicket apiece for leg-spinner Rob Barnett (1/4) and Tim Hill (1/9) saw the Estonians all out for 111 from their 20 overs.

Openers Tim Abraham and Andy Pierce gave Carmel a solid start to the innings but the day belonged to Perth left-hander Somerford who came in at number four to crack 65 runs.

The rest of the Carmel batting line-up were unable to make double figures as Roddy Brooks was run out in the final over with Carmel stranded on 110. Oh well, we’d have plenty of chances to make up for it on the rest of the tour.

Carmel lose by one run (Scorecard)

A few beers at the Hippodrome was followed by a swift turnaround at the hostel and out into the Tallinn night to share a few beers with the opposition, check out Nimeta bar.

As well as later visiting the holy grail of Hollywood club with a few “maxi burgers” thrown in for good measure - we hadn't eaten since Liverpool airport after all!

A great first day to start the tour.

Saturday 28th July 2007: Ferrrrry cross....the gulf of Finland




Wake me up before you go-go...
After going to bed when it was starting to go light it seems a miracle that we were able to locate, walk to and catch the ferry from Tallinn-Helsinki at 7am.




The majority of the group caught up on some valuable sleep while others cured their hangovers with fresh sea air.




The skipper picked the two teams for the plate and the main trophy competition and little did we know as we arrived at the SKK cricket ground the drama ahead of us.



Tour match 2: Helsinki Sixes Plate Competition.
Six-a-side five-over matches. Kaisaniemi Ground, Helsinki


Match 1 Carmel B v Finland VI B
Carmel B team captain Andy Abraham won the toss and elected to field but series of rusty bowling performances meant 40 extras were conceded as the Finns reached a total of 53 all out.

Although a good run out by wicketkeeper Roddy Brooks following a fine throw from
Tom Horne was one of the positives of the fielding.

Andy Pierce played some cultured strokes from while Gaz Roberts also batted sensibly to give Carmel a comfortable victory

Match 2 Carmel B v Phoenix CC
Carmel lost the toss and again fielded first against an experimental team which contained some Finland internationals, except they were women, in a side of four females and two men.

Phoenix hit a meagre 33 runs and were all out in the 4th over as two run outs including superb direct hit from Tim Hill put Carmel in a position to keep their 100 per cent win record.

Carmel B coasted to an easy win off seven balls, including a no ball 6 (10 runs) off the first ball and a no ball 4 (8) in the same over as skipper junior Abraham hogged all of the strike and the runs leaving Brooks at the other end without facing a ball!

Match 3 (Plate Final) Estonia B v Carmel B
The final group game of the round robin tournament was also designated as the final and skipper junior again won the toss and elected to field.

This game was to proving to be a much tougher affair as the two Estonia B openers amassed 71 without loss with only Junior Abraham not bowling any extras, as his over went for only five runs.

There was one moment of controversy though as one opening batsman was clean bowled by Horne but was then no-balled by the umpire after batsman had starting walking.

Carmel heads dropped after the decision and a bit of slack fielding gave the opposition a few more than they deserved.

Roberts and Pierce opened the batting but struggled to really get into the massive 14.4 required per over. Pierce was bowled for 12 and big-hitting Horne came to the crease.

Roberts and Horne enjoyed a partnership of 20 before Horne was bowled to bring Junior Abraham to the wicket needing to up the run rate but he could only muster a single before being caught on the boundary attempting to hit a maximum.

Roberts was keeping things ticking over at the other end, as was the (not infrequent) wide bowling but it was ever understated Hill who became a instant hero after he set about the Estonian bowling like a man possessed.

Hill hit several fours and a big six to take Carmel B to within 27 runs of victory with one over remaining. The watching players were not confident and disappointment was more evident than belief that Hill and Roberts could do it.

THAT last over….
Ball 1 - A four from Hill brought the crowd renewed belief 23 off 5 - 5 fours and a six would see us home….
Ball 2 - a massive six from Hill, which was also over head height and called a no ball - 13 now required off 4 balls and the Carmel boys are at fever pitch.
Ball 3 - A wide – 9 runs off 3 balls means it’s more than do-able but things are still very tense with every ball counting.
Ball 4 - A cover drive beats the fielder and Hill puts it down to 5 off 2. The team wait expectedly with the skipper, inevitably, pacing nervously...
Ball 5 - A single puts Roberts on strike - 4 off 1 ball means the boundary needed to be found for victory.
Ball 6 - With four runs required Roberts looked determined to smash it out the ground, until, that is, the ball pitches at the very edge of the matting!

The umpire raises his arms aloft to signal a wide, cue pandemonium as Roberts calmly holds his stance for the best leave of the tournament...

The Carmel B boys win the plate!!!


Tour match 2: Helsinki Sixes Main Trophy Competition.
Six-a-side five-over matches. Ruskeasuo Ground, Helsinki

Group match 1 Carmel A v Estonia A
Carmel A got off to a poor start in the group stage by succumbing easily to an Estonia A side who had been training at sixes cricket all week. Going into the match without any prior experience of this format of the game meant it was difficult to know what was a good total batting wise.

Matches consisted of each side batting for five overs with bowlers limited to one over and a strict four-run penalty for wides. The skipper had to quickly learn how to set fields and we all had to work out just how the hessian matting on the shale outfield would play.

Carmel failed to set a high enough total (68) but the skipper’s rustiness with the ball in particular cost his side greatly as the rule of four runs for a wide which had to re-bowled saw 36 go off one over. A severe case of the yips.

Carmel A lose by five wickets (Scorecard)

Group match 2 Carmel A v Helsinki Old Boys
A balanced batting order and some lose bowling saw Carmel A bounce back in style to smash the veterans for a tournament highest 117 runs from their five overs, with Philip’s 30 not out assisted by 55 extras.

The total was far to high for the Old Boys and early tight bowling meant the victory was never in doubt. Rob Barnett snaffled 2/14 and an attacking field of four slips was even employed in the final over!!

Carmel A won by 70 runs (Scorecard)

Group match 3 Carmel A v Stadin Kriketti Kerho (SKK)
It was now win or bust for the Carmel boys and a brilliant innings of 47 not out from Matt Somerford, supported by Philip (17) meant Carmel had a solid 72 to defend against the host club from Helsinki.

Tight bowling from Tim Abraham (0/8) and Justin Peacock (0/9) put the pressure on the SKK openers to begin playing some shots. But Philip caught the wides disease to go for an expensive 0/32. Leg-spinner Barnett stepped up at the crucial time and heroics from wicketkeeper Harry Reekie, who took a difficult high catch off Barnett, as well as claiming a run out, put Carmel in with a shout.

SKK needed 12 off the final over but some superb line and length bowling from Somerford and commitment in the field saw Carmel only give away eight runs and book their place in the last four of the competition

Carmel A won by four runs (Scorecard)

Semi-final match Carmel A v Helsinki Cricket Club
The tournament favourites awaited in the last four of the tournament and seeing several of their players wearing their Finland national team jumpers certainly brought home the extra level we knew would have to raise our games to.

After losing the toss Carmel were again inserted and in the first over a small target looked likely as opener Philip went for a duck and only eight runs were scored. Somerford again cut lose and began to attack the Helsinki bowling along with fellow Australian Peacock.

Somerford’s knock of 47 not out, including several huge sixes, and Peacock’s 21, along with 15 extras, helped Carmel to reach a very competitive total of 83 but there was still lot of work to do against a capable batting side – one bad over and we knew they had the talent to cash in.

The tourists were urged on by the neutrals who were keen to see the underdogs upset the favourites and a group huddle before the Helsinki innings showed the team spirit and belief in the gold-capped Carmel boys.

The skipper’s words in the huddle seemed to do the trick as a pumped Carmel team bowled and fielded like a team possessed.

Abraham’s opening over went for 17 but crucially no extras and Carmel were well in the game. Peacock then bowled a magnificent over to remove the openers for only three runs and leave the Helsinki batting hanging by a thread.

Philip bowled a couple of lose deliveries first up but found his line to pick up two more wickets for 14 runs including a catch at deep square-leg by Barnett and a fine stumping by Reekie.

The crowd were rocking and the Carmel boys smelt victory. Barnett tossed up a flighted delivery with his first ball and the Helsinki batsman’s eyes lit up but he miss-hit the shot high over the bowler’s head. Barnett turned and gave chase before taking a remarkable caught and bowled.

Cue celebrations from those on the field and the watching Carmel B team players - Carmel had crushed the best team in the tournament and made the final where they would meet, their old friends Estonia.

Carmel A won by 49 runs (Scorecard)

Helsinki Sixes main competition final
Carmel A v Estonia A
The euphoria of the emphatic semi-final victory over what effectively amounted to the Finland national six-a-side team meant it was going to be tough to repeat the performance against our bogey team, Estonia.

Skipper Senior Abraham again lost the toss and Carmel, as with every other match, batted first.

The Estonia A side lined up for pre-final photos but B team skipper Junior Abraham warned against the same for Carmel’s A boys. “They are having their photos now, do they think they have won it already? Victory photos while they have their whites clean and their hair in order….Wait until afterwards boys, you have your photos done then.” he said.

Philip wanted to be dropped down the order after making a duck in the semi-final but the captain turned down his request. The skipper’s faith was repaid, with interest, as Philip and Somerford took the game to the Estonians in the first two overs.

The Estonia bowlers felt the pressure and wides were bowled as the first two overs which went for a total of 53 runs. The third over was not as profitable as Philip was bowled for fine knock of 27. Peacock was given out lbw in the fourth over as Carmel struggled to capitalise on their early advantage.

Somerford fell in the final over for a modest 19 (by his standards) leaving the skipper and Barnett to scramble a few remaining runs off the remaining balls. Carmel finished on a defendable 91 with extras proving costly for the Estonians to total 38.

Bowling as fewer wides as possible was the instruction from skipper Senior Abraham in the huddle who realised extras would be crucial in the final.

The skipper saw his bowling smashed for 33 runs but without any wides and Peacock (0/17) fared little better as the Estonian opening pair bullied the Carmel bowlers to get off to a fine start. 50 off two overs and they had victory in their sights.

The Estonians had struggled against the spin of Philip and Barnett in the earlier game and the previous day so everyone knew the next two overs would be the defining moment of the final. If the spin twins could remove the opening batsman cheaply Carmel knew they could contain the lesser threat of the remaining batsman. If they couldn’t the trophy would be Estonia’s for certain

A wide from Philip first up immediately put the pressure on and Estonia were looking confident. The Estonian captain then miss-hit a straight drive to Philip on the second ball for a caught and bowled and Carmel were back in it. Another flighted delivery from left-arm spinner Philip tempted the new batsman on the third ball of the over and he skied the ball high into the air. You could hear as the crowd hold their collective breath to see whether wicketkeeper Reekie would claim the catch.

The ball seemed to be in the air forever but Reekie held his nerve to take the catch. Get in! The next Estonian batsman took no chances and Philip finished the over with three dot balls to finish with 2/5.

With two overs remaining and the atmosphere reaching fever pitch Estonia still had a gettable 36 and they still had their star opening batsman at the crease, although he had called for a runner after pulling a hamstring.

Barnett stepped up to bowl the fourth over and his nerves showed as he bowled two wides. He regained his composure and a further five runs were added in five balls. The Estonia opener realised 13 off the over might not be enough and danced down the track to Barnett’s final delivery looking for a maximum. He missed and Reekie made no mistake to take the bails off and Carmel celebrated the stumping of Estonia’s key man.

The last over was left to expert death-bowler Somerford with 23 runs required. The man from Perth kept his cool and Estonia’s less-powerful batsman were unable to find the boundary. Somerford went for just nine runs to leave Estonia 14 runs short of victory.

Carmel A win Helsinki Sixes Trophy Final by 14 runs (Scorecard)


Double winners!!
Carmel were magnanimous in victory, shaking the hands of all the Estonian players before celebrating the fact that they were the first touring team in the 12-year history of the Helsinki Sixes to win the competition with a well earned beer!!

Medals and trophies were dished out to the Gold Caps A and B teams in the presentation ceremony by the coach of the Finland national cricket team Andy Armitage with individual awards for the top performers.

Carmel thanked their hosts and headed with their beaten finalists to the Australian bar in Helsinki for the post-match beers, banter, and impressions from Hill before boarding the ferry back to Tallinn.

Junior Abraham rubbed salt in the wound and made it a treble by winning the poker competition with some of the Estonian players while the rest of the team talked, slept and basked in the glory of one of the greatest day’s cricket we were ever likely to play in. It was only day two of the tour, how the hell were we going to top this???!!

It’s already light…
Tired, weary and with little energy after two testing days of cricket and little sleep the boys had little option but to head out to celebrate (minus Barnett, who said he was just too tired!!).





The majority got in between 4am and 7am as beers, banter and the team was treated to one of junior's now imfamous Conservative party political broadcasts.




Sunday 29th July 2007: Zombies at square-leg

Yaaaaaaawwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnn
Why, oh why, oh why did three games in three days sound like a good idea?? Getting the lads up after the previous day’s (and night’s) exploits was not an easy task – especially attempting to raise our Australian superstar batsman.

Somehow we managed to arrive almost on time at the Hippodrome for a 30-over match against the full Estonian national team. We’d beaten them, had nothing to prove, now where’s my bed……

Tour match 3: Estonia National Team v Carmel & District Cricket Club. 30-over match. Hippodrome ground, Tallinn (Estonia won toss)
With our Australian duo sleeping off hangovers it was left to the remainder of the team to get us a competitive total, but the early prospects did not look good.

Rob Barnett (6), despite having the most sleep (sorry Rob) fell early and was quickly followed by fellow opener Andy Pierce (5). Harry Reekie, promoted up the order to three after five dnb’s on Saturday, struggled against the express pace of the Estonian opening bowler and was out for just two runs.

The youngest player on the tour, Gareth Roberts, stemmed the flow of wickets to play a mature innings which belied his years to make an important 38 before getting caught attempting a big shot. Sam Philip (16), Justin Peacock (10) took the score to over a hundred.

The Abraham brothers, Tim (16 not out) and Andy (7) ran everything on offer in the final few overs to see Carmel finish on 148 for eight wickets from their 30 overs.

After a delicious lunch a pumped up skipper atoned for his average bowling the previous day to test the Estonian openers with a series of deliveries which beat the bat at pace. A completely different bowler off a full run-up the Estonian skipper noted.

Tom Horne also tied down the other end and picked up one of the openers as Estonia crept along to 30 off the first 10 overs.

The Estonian batsman managed to get the measure of spinners Rob Barnett and Sam Philip and began to up the run rate. Three run-outs in 10 overs kept Carmel in with a shout but a strong Estonian middle order took advantage of a tired field and even more knackered bowling attack to reach the target with two overs remaining and four wickets in hand.

Comprehensively beaten by a strong Estonia team, keen on revenge from Saturday no doubt!!

Carmel lose by four wickets (Scorecard)

The living daylights….What time is it?
Our last proper night in Tallinn and time to celebrate a fantastic weekend of cricket, and welcome the two-day break until our next game in St Petersburg,

A mountain of food was devoured at the Peppersack restaurant, where Estonia skipper Jason Barry got a round of vodkas (served at –30) and presented us with some parting gifts, before we headed out to celebrate.

Junior Abraham and Somerford showed us how to dance properly, a diminutive Alice Cooper seemed impressed anyway at a club called Amigos before more beers at Nimeta bar.

The ale kept flowing until gone 6am, Gaz Roberts got familiar with a girl from Norway while some headed to place where they had poles, some sort of football goal shop I presume while others headed to bed. Junior Abraham continued his political ramblings long into the night while Roddy Brooks got easily distracted….

By 7.30am and with the Monday morning Tallinn commuters heading into to work pretty much the entire party was in bed…I think...

Monday 30th July 2007: Boulders and bear steaks

Bouldered over
A relaxing leisure day in Tallinn where bus tickets were bought for the next day’s journey to St Petersburg with eurolines and some of the group indulged in a spot of boulder spotting – honestly!! It is an Estonian traditional after all.

The rest were happy to wander round the city and generally chill out.

Delicious
Bear steaks for tea, at least that’s what two of us had, before bedtime banter and an early night.

Tuesday 31st July 2007: From (Fidel’s in) Russia with love….

Nägemist Eesti
A 9am departure from Tallinn on a Eurolines bus got us into St Petersburg at around 6pm that evening. Valuable sleeping time and a nervous crossing over the border.

Bemused looks on the St Pete’s underground as 12 lads lugged heavy cricket bags around before checking in at the Cuban hostel and heading out a some food, a sightsee and then a few quiet jars.

Castro had it all worked out...
Fidel’s didn’t seem like a great bar when we went it – not many free seats, too smokey for some and not a lot of space. Several hours later it was an eventful evening!! A quiet drink, I don’t think!!

The night ended up being the biggest extending of international relations since the formation of the EU. Five of the group struck gold with a variety of Russian, Dutch and Spanish females. There was at least one conversion but of course, names will not be mentioned.....

A further complication to the evening’s proceedings was the loss of Harry Reekie’s bag which contained his passport and all his other important worldly possessions.

Now Haz isn’t a violent chap but it seemed the only way he could communicate the fact he had lost his passport etc was by punching people – Sam Philip and Justin Peacock both got a chinning before helping him to look.

A frantic 30-minute search including Gaz Roberts paying for an announcement which was never made before the bag was found and Reekie’s relief was there for all to see.

The majority of the group eventually got to bed at, I have no idea what time - 5am, 6am?!! Well everyone got back somehow, at sometime anyway!

Wednesday 1st August 2007: Military bases, OAP Speedos and making history

To go where no westerner has gone before...
Again rousing the troops was a difficult ordeal but we were able to make it to the rendezvous point with our contact before a 45-minute journey by minibus taxi took to us to a former military training base to play a St Petersburg International XI.

Looks of complete bemusement from Russians on the outskirts of St Petersburg as a band of 30 people, most dressed in white, began setting up a cricket match on a former Soviet military training area.

Mankini man...Life's a pitch
The spectators themselves were of interest to us – ranging from young Russian beauties to an OAP with a pair of tight Speedos and not a lot else on – Mankini man even seemed keen to get involved in the action!!

This was of course, history in the making. No touring team had ever played cricket in St Petersburg. We felt like cricket pioneers, and what’s more we even got to play on a grass wicket!!

Well, this is a grass wicket in the loosest sense of the word. It wasn’t a cut strip as such, more just a grass field with stumps and crease markings. Of course, batsmen had a ready-made excuse for losing their wicket – the pitch!!

In all fairness there was the odd ball which reared up or stayed low but overall cricket was possible and it played fairly well. The cricket enthusiasts there even told us of how they ordered a cricket mat to play but the Russian customs refused to release it when it arrived because they thought it was going to be cut up and sold as door mats!

Tour match 4: St Petersburg XI v Carmel & District Cricket Club. Two Twenty20 matches. Kronshadhd ground, St Petersburg (Carmel won toss)

Match 1
In all honesty after the success of Helsinki and the success of the previous night (!) it was always going to be difficult to motivate a tired team to play cricket.

The only Carmel player to reach double figures, and have maintain any pride in the Carmel badge, was Andrew Abraham who batted for 10 overs to make 14. The next highest score was six and the scorecard made for sorry reading as Carmel slumped to 68 all out.

A fired-up Tim Abraham ripped through the St Petersburg top-order to take 3/16 off four overs – Roddy Brooks holding a fine catch at slip. Justin Peacock, Matt Somerford and Sam Philip all finished with a wicket apiece but despite a fine effort in the field, taking the game to the last over, the hosts chased down the target relatively easily.

Carmel lose by four wickets (Scorecard)

The tourists had underestimated St Petersburg, who had two players who had played state cricket in their respective countries in their ranks.

We had just expected to turn up and win and after a few harsh words from the skipper the team were determined to make amends in the second match.

Match 2
The Abraham brothers opened the batting and the urgency in the running of singles and byes set the tone for the rest of the innings. Somerford (27) and particularly Andy Pierce (31 not out) put added crucial runs to the Gold Caps total.

Peacock, Tom Horne and Tim Hill all chipped in with single-figure contributions as Carmel set a competitive target of 124 for the loss of six wickets in their allotted 20 overs.

Peacock made the first breakthrough in the St Petersburg batting line-up when Carmel took to the field and bowled one of the opening batsman. But the home side seemed to be well in control with wickets in hand and early runs on the board.

Furthermore deputy wicketkeeper Brooks received a nasty ball on a length which caught him in the face as he dived down to take it down the leg-side. With blood on the pitch Harry Reekie took the gloves back as Carmel had their backs to the wall.

Again it was Sam Philip who the skipper turned two and the spinner got the crucial breakthrough in a devastating spell which gave him 3/18 but more importantly gave Carmel a foothold in the match. Fellow spinner Rob Barnett couldn’t quite match Philip’s exploits but with a cleverly set field he enticed two run-outs.

The skipper returned to the attack to bowl the dogged number three who had reached 27 with a caught and bowled and with one wicket to take Carmel seemed in the box seat. The last pair proved frustratingly difficult to get out and a were only a couple of big hits away from reaching Carmel’s total.

Fortunately seamer Horne was able to finish off the last batsman with an inswinging yorker to give Carmel a satisfying victory against an opposition who were much stronger than we had anticipated.

Carmel won by 14 runs (Scorecard)

Another entertaining journey back in the hands of some of Russia’s finest drivers followed by a quick bite to eat at around 10pm.

We thanked our hosts, shook hands after a historic day of cricket, contemplated Fidel's (never go back!!) a few beers before deciding to have a quiet night in after a long day.

Most of the players relaxed their aching limbs at the Cuba hostel, drank tea, used the internet while junior got irritated by “unwashed lefty travellers.”

Thursday 2nd August 2007: Theft, sunny Rhyl and cricket of the revolution


Come on the Lilywhites....!!
The Abraham brothers decided to jump ship at this point and take a detour via train and hire car to rendezvous with their father in Valkeakoski (Finland) to watch Rhyl crash out of the UEFA Cup against FC Haka on away goals.

By the way if you are ever thinking of making a detour to Valkeakoski don’t bother unless you absolutely love the smell of paper.

Lenin was a left-handed middle-order slogger right?
The rest of the group spent the day enjoying the sights and sounds of St Petersburg. Clearly not enough cricket on this tour (mental note for next time) as an impromptu knockabout took place outside the Winter Palace.

The Bolsheviks had ushered in an era of communsim in the October revolution of 1917 with their assault on the Palace. Just under 90 years later the square was witnessing Andy Pierce’s cut shot off Tom Horne’s bowling – what would Lenin have made of it all? Billy Bowden refused to see him lying in state in Moscow, I know that much…..

Faganov picka pochksit orrr twoo
Never once on the trip had the group felt threatened by the criminal element of Russia but we had been made aware of gangs of pickpockets operating on the metro system. Roddy “the Rodweiler” Brooks is also not the kind of guy you mess with. But a group of theives on the St Petersburg metro surrounded him and stole the big fella’s wallet.

Australian have-a-go hero Matt Somerford almost got trapped between the metro car and the tracks attempting to fend off the attackers.

Unfortunately all Roddy’s cards and cash were in his wallet but luckily he was able to cancel the cards before further damage could be done.

The group then caught the overnight train from St Petersburg to Moscow, not before a minor panic as Tom Horne and Gaz Roberts cut it fine with the departure while searching for food while the Abraham brothers spent a civil night in a Helsinki Holiday Inn.

Friday 3rd August 2007: Trains, rain, Red Square and curries

Maybe Lenin bowled leg breaks?
The tour party spent a day seeing the sights in Moscow including Red Square, the Kremlin and Saint Basil’s Cathedral. They all managed to avoid the great Moscow visa registration con undertaken by the Russian police – so no cricket knockabouts this time! Besides it was lashing it down with rain.

I'll have the Moskva balti with pilau rice...
Our hosts in Moscow, understanding the significance of the first touring team to ever visit/play them, arranged a complimentary meal at an Indian restaurant. The opposition were gracious hosts and proceeded to put the wind up the Carmel boys with talk of former international U19 bowlers and ‘A’team players. We’d won the Helsinki Sixes though you know!!

The big train dash
Meanwhile the Abraham brothers undertook the arduous journey from Helsinki to Moscow – departing at 7am and including a made 10-minute dash to the train station (think they are both still sweating now) at 6.30pm in St Petersburg.

Eventually the pair arrived at the cramped and wildly disorganised hostel in Moscow at 11.30pm after fantastic directions by Rob Barnett.

A poor night’s sleep in a noisy hostel was hardly ideal preparation but our hosts had arranged transport for us at 9.30am – not another early start!!

Saturday 4th August 2007: A beautiful setting to slaughter lambs….and Dasvidania Moskva

What a backdrop!! Tough luck Madge...

The Moscow International Baseball stadium was the most scenic and certainly the best ground we played on while on tour.

We had just about escaped the rain in Estonia, Finland and St Petersburg but we were to get a whole tour’s worth in one day as it never really stopped in Moscow on the day of the game but the weather didn’t dampen the spirits as we were honoured to play in our second international at such a prestigious venue.

Rumour had it that there was meant to be a Madonna concert at the 5000-capacity stadium on the Saturday but they had to postpone because history was about to be made as Carmel became the first touring side to compete against the Russian national cricket team.

The ground was huge (a gift from the Japanese to the Russians and the only one of its kind in Russia) and whilst warming up the ball seem to fly at a rate of knots off the special artificial surface. The Aussie batsman and the seamers were liking the look of this!

The Russians had even suspended the 11-team Moscow Cricket Union League for and the visit of Carmel and cherry picked the best players from the league to make up a select XI for the national team. They clearly weren’t taking our visit lightly!

Tour match 5: Russia National Team v Carmel & District Cricket Club. 40-over match. Moscow International Baseball Stadium, Moscow (Russia won toss).
Not exactly a good toss to lose as the Russians put us in to bat but after a positive pre-match team talk the skipper picked what he thought was his most balanced and strongest batting line-up. Four overs later he had his head in hands.

Opener Rob Barnett was the first to fall with the second ball of the innings after edging a delivery to second slip for duck: 1 for 1. Andy Pierce was back in the pavilion, sorry dugout, two overs later caught behind for 1. Gaz Roberts followed for a duck with the next delivery as Carmel slumped to 11/3 off three overs.

Sam Philip hung around for five balls before being bowled for a 0 and Carmel were 24/4. Australian left-hander Matt Somerford could hardly believe his eyes as batsman came and went with alarmingly regularity.

Skipper Tim Abraham was next to the crease and determined not to give his wicket away cheaply despite some hostile bowling. The right-hander began to build a half-century partnership with Somerford by using the pace of the ball and the artificial outfield rather than attempting to play big shots.

Somerford at the other end was looking more relaxed even and began to find the boundary. If these two could stick around then there was hope Carmel could get to 200.

It wasn’t to be as Abraham (22) was bowled and Somerford (27) was caught behind in relatively quick succession by the fourth-change bowler with the score on 72 in the 15th over.

Justin Peacock was left as the only recognised batsman but despite brave efforts from Harry Reekie (8), Tom Horne (9), Tim Hill (1) and Andy Abraham (1) he ran out of partners to finish on 29 not out. Carmel’s total of 136 all out was never going to be enough on pitch that most of the opposition played on every week, and we knew it.

Carmel were determined to make some sort of a fight of it and the skipper removed one of the openers in his second over to give Carmel a hope, with a well-taken catch by Philip at deep gully.
Several overs of pressure followed as the Carmel bowlers consistently beat the bat but the Russian openers had now got the measure of the attack and began to pick off the bad balls. The Russians looked to put the game out of Carmel’s reach as the opening batsman and the number three began to play aggressive shots.

Philip was introduced into the attack and got the second breakthrough but with the score on a 100/2 Carmel were looking in serious trouble.

The skipper brought back Horne who had gone for 29 from his first four overs. Horne was clearly fired up and took three wickets for only six runs in a devastating second spell. Suddenly Russia had gone from cruising at 100/1 to 108/5. Surely Carmel couldn’t get back in the game?

Russia’s batsman closed ranks and played more conservatively to chase down the final 36 runs. Despite the attempts of Philip (who finished with 1/26), Peacock and Barnett the hosts comfortably reached the target with 20 overs remaining and five wickets in hand.

A few more breaks (the toss) and some runs from some of capable batsman in the top order and Carmel could have made a game of it. But on this occasion they were thoroughly outclassed by a strong Russian team.

Carmel lose by five wickets (Scorecard)

Our hosts took us back to the hostel where we were able to pick up our bags and they dropped us at the train station to catch the overnight train to Riga.

There was still time for plenty of beers at the train station, the skipper to put his foot in a load of dog crap and a bit of wander round before boarding the 17-hour train from Moscow to Riga.

Dasvidania Moskva
The journey itself wasn’t as bad as you’d imagine. Games of cards, a lot of drinking and the usual high jinks (niet niet niet!! vt vt vt vt vt vt!!!!) made for an interesting mix. For future reference don’t let Roddy Brooks lose after drinking two bottles of vodka with a video camera and two Latvian girls.

The Aussies and the Abrahams were the last to bed after irritating probably their entire sleeping coach with laddish antics.

Checks at the Russian/Estonia border went ok although the skipper’s passport which looks like it has been through the washing machine several times went under severe scrutiny. Rob Barnett meanwhile didn’t even has his checked on the way out!