Cresta Cricket Club Match Report (06.7.2019)
by Chris Lodge - July 14th 2019
President's XI 179-6 (20.0 overs) bt Drac's All Stars 149-7 (20.0 overs) by 30 runs
Saturday 6th July, 2019
Stadion St Moritz, Kulm Hotel Golf Course, St Moritz
Another beautiful day in St Moritz; the venue, the very picturesque St Moritz Olympic Stadium; the sun blazing. The Cresta Cricket club summer match, the cricket event everyone had been
waiting for, was all set. Generously hosted by Mr Rolf Sachs patron of Cricket on Ice and attended by friends and members of the Cresta Club and also members of the St Moritz CC.
After the only grass wicket in Switzerland received its last cut and then the heavy roller, groundsman Bart Davey, who always produces a fantastic surface for the match, left the players to enjoy
the day.
For the players the day starts with a beginners/novices warm-up, where various cricketers including national team coach Chris Lodge supported the new players to learn the basics: how to hold the
bat; how to hit a ball; how to bowl and the basics of fielding. All would put this new knowledge to use during the game.
The Rolf Sachs’ Drac's All Stars took to the field, following the Cresta President’s team winning the toss and choosing to bat. They opened with Cricket on Ice President John Hallam and Simon
Sudbury who got the team off to a good start. Following a few wickets at the other end, John Hallam, having reached 31 NO by hitting fellow COI regular Brian Strong for 3 fours in an over,
retired to ensure everyone got the chance to bat. The President’s team had a strong female middle order of Lauren, Daniela, Flaminia and Anne who put partnerships together amassing over 60
runs between them, including Daniela who, like John, retired on 18 NO to give others the chance to bat. James Sunley also retired on 16 to give the Cresta club honorary archivist and COI
supporter Stephen Bartley the last few deliveries, closing the President’s innings on 179 from the 20 overs.
The Drac's all-stars plan of giving every outfield player a bowl worked well and there were some great bowling and fielding performances including COI regular Allard Vermeulen with 2 overs for
just 10 runs; novice Marcel Melcher coming on first change and getting figures of 2 overs 1 wicket for 10; and Ludo Marsland with an impressive 2 overs 1 for 12. Ludo and Marcel also teamed up
with St Moritz captain Chris Lodge, who had taken the wicket keeping duties to affect 3 run outs.
The BBQ was ready and the players and supporters sat down to enjoy Rolf’s amazing hospitality.
Suitably refreshed, the Drac’s all-stars set out to chase the tough target set by the President’s team. Francis Marsland opened with novice Gabriel Stahel putting on 34 for the first wicket, but
the pressure of run rate and mixing the more experienced players with the new players, led to Rolf unfortunately getting run out for 8 and Brian Strong not managing to repeat his performance of
last year, falling to a good catch for 5. Another couple of wickets brought COI regular Chris Lodge to the middle to face the in-form John Hallam. The over ended with honours even. Chris fell to
the local rule when hitting a 6 but into the “red zone” (to protect Rolf’s house at one end and balls getting lost near the golf course at the other) so it was 6 & out! This left Ludo,
already having a good match, to be joined by another who has always played well at COI: Alessandro Welte. The pair put on a memorable 47 run partnership but unfortunately ran out of overs with
Ludo NO 18 and Alessandro NO 29; the President’s team taking victory by 30 runs. With his run outs and bowling figures, this gave Ludo the best performance award during the after-match
presentations.
The President’s team and match top bowling figures were taken by John Hallam with 2 overs 2 wickets for just 6 runs, this with his retired not out and top match score of 31 gave John the Man of
the Match trophy presented at the Cresta dinner at the Steffani Hotel on Saturday evening. As always a great end to a fantastic day.
View photos of the Cresta Cricket Match from Sunday 7th July 2019 in the gallery.
For more information on the Cresta Cricket Match please contact Mr. Stephen Bartley or Mr. John Hallam.