Basel Cricket Tour

After leaving a rainy and cold Zuoz on Friday night it was a pleasure to wake up Saturday morning in Basel to blue skies and a warm 23 degrees. The conditions were perfect for our quickly developing team to make the most of this opportunity and experience what cricket has to offer. Ours was a young team, with six debutantes amongst our 12 man squad! Therefore it was vital that our opponents were on the same page as us, focusing on the spirit of cricket and the camaraderie that this entails. I can repeat what was said many times throughout the weekend, and that is that the hospitality, generosity, and friendliness of the Basel team was absolutely outstanding and played a huge part in our enjoyment of the weekend.

Photo Credit: Janis

Two games were completed, the first on Saturday was a 40 over match. A relatively long match for our inexperienced side, but one that would allow our batsmen to take their time and practice the patience we had talked about during training. It also gave ample opportunity for all of our players to spend time at the crease, an experience that is difficult if not impossible to replicate during structured training sessions. We got off to a good start despite the loss of an early wicket. Our new captain, Carl, helped lay the foundation of our innings with Janis in a valuable early partnership. When Janis fell, our Cricket Assistant joined Carl at the crease and they set about building a defendable total. A number of boundaries were scored and the partnership was looking fairly solid until Carl was dismissed thanks to an excellent one handed diving catch in the covers. This brought Max to the crease, the 'last ball' hero of our previous tour to Italy at the end of 2010. His staunch defence in the face of some good attacking bowling was impressive and his innings of over 50 balls continued before he was finally run out. Prior to this however, with a 50 in sight, our Cricket Assistant called for a tight single and with a small hesitation mid-pitch was run out with a direct hit for 48. With this it was left to our debutantes to continue to build the innings which they did with admirable courage. It is not an easy feat to walk out and face up to a hard ball being hurled at high speed directly at you, and then to stand firmly in its path to protect your wicket. All our batsmen showed real determination and a desire to score runs which was great to see. With their help our total increased to a very respectable 151 from 40 overs.
 

Photo Credit: Janis

In reply, the Basel side got off to a steady start and their experience really showed as they batted with composure to chase down the total with slightly more than 10 overs remaining. However it was great to see our bowlers working hard and there are a lot of promising newcomers who I expect to see improving rapidly and becoming real threats in the upcoming matches. In particular Alessandro and Nuri impressed with their economical bowling, and along with Benedikt, they picked up their first wickets for the Lyceum team.

The Basel team joined us for dinner on Saturday evening and the suggestion was made that for the Sunday match that we mix the teams. This was a great opportunity for our players to play alongside some very experienced and keen cricketers. After some discussion on Sunday morning, teams were sorted and the game got underway. This time a shorter 20 over match. The team batting first lost a number of early wickets and was quickly put under pressure by some tight bowling however a composed innings from one of the Basel players helped boost the total to 88 all out from 19.5 overs. Again it was great to see our new players benefiting with Caspar notching up an achievement in all three disciplines by taking his first wicket, scoring his first runs, and taking a catch for the Lyceum team! 

Chasing the moderate total of 88 would prove challenging for the side batting second, especially after the loss of early wickets. But it was the bowling of Alessandro, Nuri and Max that really put the pressure on. All bowled with consistency and picked up valuable wickets to restrict the batting side. With overs running out and wickets starting to fall the pressure continued to build and thanks to a great team effort, with fielders backing up their bowlers and taking those all important catches, the batting side was eventually dismissed for 72 runs.

Photo Credit: Janis

After some initial hesitation, mixing the teams proved a great success and allowed our players to experience a competitive and closely matched game of cricket. They also benefited from playing alongside some much more experienced cricketers who were more than happy to pass on some words of wisdom when required. I'm sure the Basel players enjoyed playing with our young team and a number of them expressed how impressed they were with the infectious enthusiasm of the Lyceum players.

So in summary, it was a great weekend for cricket and one thing is certain, every one of our players left Basel a better cricketer than when they arrived. The difference was clear, even from the first game to the second. No amount of training can replace time spent playing a real game of cricket and it was great to see our team making the most of this opportunity. The reality is that we have a young squad of cricketers who are new to the game, however the potential is clear to see and I am sure that the team will continue to develop and can become very strong in the years to come.

Finally I would like to once again pay tribute to our wonderful hosts in Basel. Thank you for your hospitality and we look forward to seeing many of you later this year at the International Cricket Festival here in Zuoz.

Photo Credit: Janis