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.”
No comments:
Post a Comment