National Team

Match Report

Straggler Tour to Corfu

Cricket has been well-established in Corfu for along time with the Hellenic Cricket Federation having celebrated 200 years of Greek cricket in 2023.  Initially established during a period of British occupation in the first half of the nineteenth century and the first games played between teams of officers from the Royal Navy, the locals took to cricket, forming a number of clubs over the years (among them the Byron CC in 1923). The Hellenic Cricket Federation was founded in 1996 and is now an Associate member of the ICC. In April 2018, the ICC granted full T20I status to all members.  The first Greek T20I match was with Serbia, won by Greece by 10 wickets.

The Stragglers straggled somewhat to arrive in Corfu over 24 hours, many undone by the somewhat flexible timetables of the cheaper airlines.  Fortunately, the hotel was close enough to the airport for a late evening walk with kit bags.  The early arrivals were in good time for a series of bar stops and then a rather fatter boys’ dinner that most cricket coaches would have advised.  The fish selected by Charlie would have been perfectly acceptable in a trophy cabinet.  Along with XI tourists, we were joined by resident sommelier, Andrew Ross, and fellow resident, Will Attwood, who had to fly home after the Friday game for a family celebration.

In the steamy atmosphere of a Corfu evening, the Stragglers held their nerve to achieve victory over a National team, which included many members of the current Greek international side, and lead by Aslam Mohammad, captain of Greece.  Aslam was one half of the 6^th wicket partnership (against Romania), which sits at 6^th place in the all-time T20I list. While apparently not an official ICC international T20, the Stragglers are enquiring of the ICC about the award of caps.

Out hosts elected to bat, and, having settled some issues of colour (the opener took a series of blows to the body as we were in whites bowling with a white ball, which was then changed to orange, and they were in blue using a white ball) set off with significant intent.  It would not have been much of surprise had we ended up on a ferry to Albania to look for a ball or two. However, cover at deep square leg proved useful, as the opening bat found Hugo in the deep in the fourth over.  In spite of occasional pyrotechnics and with plenty of wasted effort swinging and failing to connect, the Straggs just about kept control of the opening overs.  Gabriel (2 for 15) came on at first change, induced a mild miscue and a flying Reese took the catch at short mid-wicket.  A ball hit almost vertically found almost all fielders gratefully passing the buck to Harry behind the stumps – 44 for 3 in the 9th.  International cricket was a breeze.  The fall of the third wicket brought skipper, Aslam, to the crease, and he proved to be a more challenging proposition.  Running to almost everything, taking advantage of the hard, uneven outfield and the occasional mis-field, the innings changed gear.  Alex sowed some confusion and strangled the other batsmen down the leg side, another good catch for Harry, but the opposition kept up the pressure.  Will Evans gave the ball plenty of flight, but was not well served by his fielders, as two catches went to ground in the same over.  Alex, however, made the key break through, as he pulled out the flipper to bowl Aslan for 62 and finish with figures of 2 for 38.  We had not quite managed to get through to what looked like a much younger tail, and the batsmen kept the pressure on right to the end (one extraordinary flat six earned the batsman the Corfu cap award).  Hugo used his ‘sky’ ball (the one which sees the batsman hit it straight up), but this time it was hit so high it was picked up by the space station before coming safely back to earth, some way away from a fielder. The innings closed on 176 for 5.

The Straggler openers, Harry Pattinson and Will Fenwick were not phased by the situation, getting the reply off to a very smart start, the pick of the early boundaries Harry’s hook over square leg for 6.  One advantage of hostile pace is that a slight misdirection swiftly becomes a wide (or more), and the Straggs benefitted from a steady stream of extras through the innings, one over lasting 11 balls (the Master Brewer would have felt right at home).  Will fell for 22, and a brief flurry of wickets followed with Munton, Mitchell and Ross back in the pavilion in quick succession – 77 for 4 after 9 overs. Jonno’s cameo included a wonderful top-edged (or scooped) six over the keeper. Hugo (15) settled things down with Harry, only to fall LBW to Aslam, the decision given by his skipper, Patch – 105 for 5.  Harry kept pushing hard only to find a fielder on the cow corner boundary, gone for a ferocious 47.  The chase now belonged to Gabriel and Freddie Evans.  Having been part of the record-breaking 8th wicket partnership with Will at Torry Hill and coming so close to snatching victory, Freddie was determined to go one better this time.  A flurry of boundaries got them ahead of the rate to the extent that a very tight nineteenth was insufficient to halt the charge.  With four needed from the final over, Gabriel hit the first ball over the mid-wicket boundary, 179 for 6 and international victory by 4 wickets.  Freddie finished on 35* and Gabriel 22*, an undefeated partnership of 64.  The game summed up the more successful elements of the 2024 Straggler season – a good bowling performance, (mostly) well supported in difficult fielding conditions, followed by an excellent chase.