International Cricket Festival

It was another memorable weekend of cricket in Zuoz. Despite the treacherous conditions, the spirit and desire to play cricket was fantastic and the players made the most of the opportunity during Saturday before moving to the warmth and security of Dorta for the evening entertainment. Fortunately, on Sunday morning we were greeted by a stunning crisp Engadin morning and the excited players got underway bright and early!

Photo: Benjamin Hofer

For the Lyceum team it was a successful weekend with two wins and a loss from our three matches, eventually ending up in 5th position. In our opening game we came up against Idle CC from Lodi who inflicted a fairly heavy defeat on us due to a batting collapse in the damp conditions of Saturday. The Lodi team however went on to win the tournament and end undefeated.

Photo: Benjamin Hofer

On Saturday afternoon we began our match against the Humidor XI - the 2nd team from Tegernsee. In increasingly damp conditions we bravely battled our way through the bowling innings and witnessed a stunning hundred by the opposition's opener and one of the best diving catches you'll ever see ;). Unfortunately the weather eventually became too much and the match was stopped after the first innings with the Humidor XI reaching 143 from their 20 overs. Upon resuming the following day, the Lyceum team got off to a cracking start thanks to the alert and attacking batting of Dr. Schmitt and Carl. When Carl lost his wicket our Cricket Assistant joined the Dr. at the crease and they set about chasing down this imposing total. With a mixture of aggressive flair and quick singles they raced away and reached the 100 in the 11th over at a rate of around 10 runs per over. Eventually the total was reached in only the 15th over and an unbroken 100 run partnership was achieved with Dr. Schmitt finishing 55 not out and Mr Harding on 44 not out.

There were a number of close matches still in their final stages and it was uncertain who the Lyceum team would face in our final match. With 2 runs needed off the last ball and only 1 wicket in hand, some risky running and an overthrow gave Campbell's XI the right to face off against the Lyceum team in a battle for 5th place. This time the Lyceum would bat first and unfortunately lost their openers early so it was left to Mr Harding and our guest Anderson to build a total. Our Cricket Assistant raced to 67 with a number of lofty blows before falling LBW towards the end of the innings. It would perhaps not be accurate to describe it as an innings of subtlety and variation (the ball seemed to always end up over the fence at 'Cow Corner') but it was nevertheless effective and set the platform

Photo: Benjamin Hofer

for a total of 133 from 20 overs. In defending the total, the Lyceum team was well served by it's young bowlers with Kevin in particular impressing with a spell of bowling that was fast and accurate, containing the batsmen and putting them quickly below the required run rate. This tight bowling and fielding was kept up throughout the innings and the batsmen were strangled, unable to score fast enough and eventually falling short of the target.

Focus then shifted to the Grand Final between Basel CC and Idle CC on pitch number one. Due to the earlier weather this was the only one of the matches that went the full 30 overs. Batting first the Basel team scored 150 which is perhaps 30 runs short of what they would have liked given the favourable batting conditions and 30 over innings. In reply there were a number of momentum shifts and the outcome was never certain until a 6 was lofted over square leg to secure victory for the Idle CC with less than 2 overs to spare.

Once again the weather has proved to be a major influence in a cricket event here in Zuoz, but I'm certain all the players went home happy and it was great to be able to finish on a positive note with a superb day's play on Sunday. For the Lyceum team there were some great individual performances and it was fantastic to see the team working together and fighting for two great victories!

Photo: Benjamin Hofer