SYDENHURST RAMBLERS MALTA TOUR, 7th – 13th APRIL 2009
Tour No 17 began at the unreasonable time of 8.30 am at Heathrow as the party of 18 gathered for the third visit to Malta. As well as the usual suspects, there were newcomers to the group, amongst them David Powell and Matt Adcock from Ongar CC, Alan Foster from Fernhurst, Fred Pennell (and Jane) from KES Witley and the Woodpeckers, and David Prynne from Brook. The traditional envelopes were issued containing brochures, coffin stickers, tourist stuff etc, and with red roses for the five ladies (an entirely successful ploy by the tour manager to curry favour)
Arrival at Luqa and check in at the Diplomat Hotel on the Sliema seafront went smoothly and the first outing was to a local restaurant, the Ta Kolina, specialising in Maltese food, for dinner. The proprietor seemed quite unfazed by the arrival of 18 bodies on his doorstep and all then got duly stuck in to fish, rabbit etc and banging on interminably about earlier tours
On Wednesday morning the so-called serious business began with the bus ride to the Marsa Sports Club for the first game. There was some surprise at the state of the outfield – it being more akin to a beach with occasional tufts of grass; a problem, it was explained, brought about by the application some time ago of salt water rather than fresh. The Ramblers were inserted by the hosts, to see what could be achieved in 40 overs. Not as much as had been hoped as it transpired; after David Coles had gone early, Graham Boxall and David Simcock (40) put on 68, but then Graham, after a typically aggressive 33 managed to tweak a leg muscle and took no further part in the match. Marsa then generously suggested that the 12th man should bat, an offer which was accepted with alacrity. With the score 84-3 at 20 overs, and 100-5 in 28 it was slow going and only flurries from Alan Foster and Matt Adcock took the final total to 152, by consensus at least 50 short of a defendable total, and so it was. Two early breakthroughs by Matt Adcock, and a tidy spell from David Prynne raised some hope, but there was only one more wicket to come and that by way of a stunning one-handed catch by David Coles at deep mid-wicket. The result was a comfortable 7 wicket win for the hosts, and the Ramblers noting it was very early season etc etc. Evening jollity nonetheless continued unabated and plans made for the two upcoming free days
SYDENHURST RAMBLERS
D Coles c Grima b Naudi 1 A Naudi 5 0 17 1
D Simcock c Newton b Llewelyn 40 N Khosla 6 0 43 0
G Boxall retired hurt 33 D Newton 6 1 25 1
J Hamilton* lbw Llewelyn 6 M Llewelyn 6 2 5 3
D Powell b Newton 0 G Hewitt 4 3 1 1
A Manley lbw Hewitt 13 J Brooke 4 0 25 0
D Pennell+ c Mustat b Llewelyn 1 S Ali 5 0 22 3
S Keir c Naudi b Ali 9 A Spiteri 3.4 1 12 1
M Adcock c Grima b Ali 13
A Foster NOT OUT 20
D Prynne st Grima b Ali 5
B Davenport b Spiteri 6
Extras (w 8, b 2, lb 1) 11
152-10 in 39.4 overs
7-1,75-2,76-5,89-4,92-7,100-6,114-9,124-8,137-11,152-12
MARSA SPORTS CLUB
J Grima b Adcock 3 M Adcock 8 1 31 2
A Spiteri b Ascock 4 D Prynne 6.1 1 20 0
M Sacco NOT OUT 52 A Manley 4 1 18 0
A Naudi c Coles b Foster 34 D Powell 2 0 16 0
J Brooke NOT OUT 46 A Foster 4 0 29 1
N Khosla S Keir 4 0 37 0
D Newton
M Llewelyn DID NOT BAT
G Hewitt
? Grima
S Ali
Extras ( ? ) 14
153-3 in 28.1 overs
FOW not known
MARSA SPORTS CLUB WON BY 7 WICKETS
After the first session of fines in the evening, sightseeing and ‘touristing’ was the agenda for the two free days, with groups heading off on trips, to amongst other places, Gozo, Valletta, Marsasslok, and Mosta, taking advantage of the splendid buses which cost 47c regardless of destination. Then it was on to the weekend for matches 2 and 3
Ř INSERT REPORT FOR 11 APR MATCH
Yet again the skipper called incorrectly and Marsa batted first. Prynne broke down in his first over and retired to chat to the ladies on the boundary for a while until his hamstring improved. Alex Manley produced a grand spell into the breeze and was well supported by David Powell while the veteran wiles of Davenport put a temporary brake on things. However, with Spiteri anchoring the innings intelligently for a fine century Marsa reached 261/6, a challenging total.
The Ramblers’ reply got off to a spirited start with Fred Pennell in particularly good form and at 89/1 off 16 overs we were looking competitive, at least. However, the next 10 overs yielded 26 runs for the loss of 2 further wickets, and despite a brief flurry from Adcock and a game knock by Foster, the run-rate mounted inexorably until we fell 40 short.
MARSA SPORTS CLUB
N Khosla c Foster b Keir 10 M Adcock 8 0 51 1
F Spiteri lbw Keir 31 D Prynne .3 0 7 0
A Spiteri lbw Powell 101 S Keir 5.3 0 44 2
C Naudi c Pennell b Adcock 0 B Davenport 7 0 53 0
J Ghusoroy c Pennell b Manley 10 A Manley 8 1 38 1
M Sacco NOT OUT 59 D Powell 7 0 30 2
R Sacco st Pennell b Powell 26 A Foster 4 0 29 0
M Caruana NOT OUT 2
A Lennard
J Grima DID NOT BAT
D Newton
Extras (w 13, b 4, lb 5) 22
261-6
36-1, 53-2, 58-4, 114-5, 211-3, 259-7
SYDENHURST RAMBLERS
D Simcock lbw Caruana 15 N Khosla 7 0 54 1
D Pennell+ lbw Lennard 49 D Newton 6 0 17 0
D Coles c Sacco R b Caruana 28 A Lennard 8 1 39 1
D Prynne c & b Sacco R 4 M Caruana 7 1 38 2
S Keir st Grima b Sacco R 22 A Spiteri 4 0 22 0
A Manley c Sacco R b Khosla 15 R Sacco 8 2 42 3
A Foster NOT OUT 45
M Adcock c Spiteri F b Khosla 20
J Hamilton* b Sacco R 3
D Powell NOT OUT 5
B Davenport DID NOT BAT
Extras (w 8, nb 1, b 6, lb 1)15
221-8
49-1, 95-2, 97-3, 109-4, 135-5, 139-6, 175-7, 207-8
MARSA SPORTS CLUB WIN BY 40 RUNS
Ř INSERT REPORT FOR 12 APR MATCH
For the third time the Marsa won the toss, but this time put the Ramblers in. Boxall, despite being on one leg, announced his determination to play and after one over to look at the attack set about despatching it to all parts, one glorious extra-cover drive being particularly memorable. Alas, he played inside the first ball of the ninth over, but his aggression had given the Ramblers a start, which Hamilton and Coles were able to carry on to 109/1 off 20 overs, after a break for a heavy shower. Unfortunately, both then fell in the next over and the old story of batsmen getting a start but not going on to the really big score repeated itself. Pennell again showed urgency at the death with a fine half-century but one felt that our score was 20-30 short of being really testing. This time another Spiteri showed the way batting through for an unbeaten century; at 139/5 we had hope but Mike Carauana played fluently from the start and we could not stem the steady flow of runs, Marsa winning in the penultimate over despite the best efforts of everyone in a gale force wind, with Boxall and Manley doing particularly well into the storm.
An enjoyable tour, but the early season cobwebs were in evidence!
SYDENHURST RAMBLERS
G Boxall b Ashraf 33 A Lennard 6 0 30 0
J Hamilton c Ali b Spiteri A 45 N Khosla 8 0 51 0
D Coles b Spiteri A 28 N Ashraf 8 1 46 2
A Foster c Shah b Ashraf 24 S Dhandapani 3 0 22 0
D Pennell NOT OUT 56 A Spiteri 6 0 22 2
D Simcock NOT OUT 22 M Caruana 5 0 25 0
M Adcock G Hewitt 4 0 19 0
S Keir
A Manley DID NOT BAT
D Prynne
D Powell
B Davenport
Extras (w 2, nb 3, b 3, lb 4) 12
220-4
46-1, 109-3, 110-2, 163-4
MARSA SPORTS CLUB
N Khosla c Keir b Manley 7 M Adcock 7.4 0 46 0
F Spiteri NOT OUT 101 A Manley 7 0 37 1
A Spiteri lbw Prynne 19 D Prynne 8 0 40 1
J Shah c Keir b Boxall 32 G Boxall 8 1 39 1
S Dhandapani RUN OUT 3 B Davenport 4 0 28 1
N Ashraf st Pennell b Davenport 2 D Powell 4 0 25 0
M Caruana NOT OUT 43
A Lennard
T Edwards
S Ali DID NOT BAT
G Hewitt
J Rusher
Extras (w 6, nb 2, b 3, lb 3) 14
221-5
19-1, 79-3, 120-4, 126-5, 139-6
MARSA SPORTS CLUB WIN BY 5 WICKETS
With the cricket done it was time for the tour dinner at Paparazzi in St Julians
and then back to the hotel bar for the final fines session and further in depth discussions on the meaning of life assisted by Mr Cisk to which midnight did not bring a halt. A very wet Monday morning meant a gentle start for everyone, a little lunch, and then off to the airport for the return home. There was comment at Heathrow how quickly the time had passed, and where were we off to next, but as always the primary feeling was of friendships renewed and new ones made in a group in which everyone got on very well - and of course there was much laughter. Now, if only a few matches could be won.....