Saracens Cricket Club Tour of Alicante, October 2006
The Columbus Oval is the home of Sporting Alfas Cricket Club. Situated in Albir, the seaside resort of the town of L'Alfàs del Pi, in the province of Alicante, it has become a popular venue for touring teams, with one hundred and four having visited since the Club was created in 1996. This was Saracens second tour of Alicante having made the trip first in 2004, when we were soundly thrashed. This year however we made the trip with a much better side and were confident of an improved result. After the first game of the tour was rained off the second game got under way in perfect sunshine on Monday 16th October at the Columbus Oval.
Sporting Alphas batted first but were soon in trouble with Saracens’ Aussie quick bowlers Rob “Woody” Morgan (3 wickets) and Greg “Fonz” Munday (2 wickets) doing the damage. Sporting Alphas lost half their batsmen in the first ten overs. This forced a change in the bowling, but unfortunately Sporting Alphas found Saracens’ spinners just as difficult to get away. Even the friendly bowling of Mike “Robo” Robins proved a challenge. Sporting Alphas final score of 103 for 7 from their 40 overs was about half as many as they required according to the local supporters.
1. P Slaughter lbw Munday 1
2. C Hall ct. Von Gerricke Morgan 2
3. P Pennick ct. & bowled Morgan 0
4. G Crompton ct. Von Gerricke Morgan 0
5. G Kellington bowled Munday 1
6. D Rose bowled Young 11
7. P Taylor not out 36
8. A Mullin bowled Bradbury 20
9. A Fletcher not out 2
10. J Howden did not bat
11. J Bellis did not bat
Bowling: M Ayre 5-2-3-0 R Morgan 4-1-5-3 G Munday 2-1-1-2 A Young 5-1-14-1 M Bigby 8-4-11-0
M Robins 5-0-12-0 R Young 3-0-15-0
Saracens knocked this score out in just 23 overs with only 4 batsmen getting to the crease. Saracens best batsman Paul “Goober” Bradbury scored an unbeaten 54, he was supported by Fonz (29).
1. P Bradbury not out 54
2. G Munday ct. Pennick Crompton 29
3. C Griffin bowled Crompton 9
4. J Parker not out 7
5. M Ayre did not bat
6. E Von Gerricke did not bat
7. M Robins did not bat
8. A Young did not bat
9. R Young did not bat
10. R Morgan did not bat
11. M Bigby did not bat
The second game was played two days and plenty of beer later. The rest period between games had been spent wisely by the Saracens players on the golf course, the bar, the go kart track, the bar, the beach and the bar.
Saracens won the toss and batted first, scoring 209 runs for 7 from their 40 overs. The opening partnership between James “Sammy” Parker and Matt “Fanny” Ayre of 148 set a great platform, Fanny was in a bit of a hurry scoring 44 of his 62 in boundaries. They were supported by Eddie Von “Stumpy” Gerricke (21) and Goober (21)
1. J Parker stumped Bellis 56
2. M Ayre ct. Kellington Howden 62
3. E Von Gerricke ct. Rose Bellis 21
4. M Robins ct Howden Bellis 2
5. P Bradbury stumped Kellington 21
6. G Munday stumped Bellis 10
7. A Young ct. Lewis Bellis 5
8. R Young not out 2
9. J Matthews bowled Dovaston 3
10. R Morgan not out 0
11. M Bigby did not bat
Saracens Aussie quick bowlers Woody (1 wicket) and Fonz opened the bowling again but this time the opening batsmen saw off the first ten overs for the loss of only one wicket. So Saracens turned to the spin twin old boys Mike “Bunny” Bigby (6 wickets) and Andrew “Dinghy” Young (2 wickets) their subtle combination of custard pies, donkey drops and hand grenades took the remaining eight Sporting Alphas wickets for just 30 runs.
1. C Dovaston ct. Ayre Morgan 4
2. P Slaughter ct. Bradbury Matthews 6
3. C Hall ct. Morgan A Young 18
4. P Pennick lbw M Bigby 25
5. C Griffin ct. Munday M Bigby 0
6. D Rose bowled M Bigby 4
7. G Kellington ct. Bradbury M Bigby 0
8. B Marriner bowled A Young 0
9. S Lewis not out 4
10. J Howden ct Morgan M Bigby 3
11. J Bellis ct Morgan M Bigby 0
Bowling: R Morgan 5-2-15-1 G Munday 4-0-14-0 J Mathews 6-1-20-1 M Bigby 7.3-2-16-6 A Young 3-0-14-2
Saracens Cricket Club would like to thank Cory Environmental for their shirt sponsorship of this tour. The team traveled and played in the polo shirts supplied.