Deutscher Cricket Bund

Last weekend DCB members Deutsche Welle CC from Bonn travelled to Luxembourg for a two match tour. This report is from Andrew Filby.

13 cricketers made the journey from NRW to Luxemburg with 10 staying in Luxemburg overnight and three driving down for a day. As ever our hosts „The Optimists“ at Walferdange were great and we had two very enjoyable games and a very successful trip.

Saturday 26th May 2012 : we lost heavily to “The Optimists” who batted well and beat us with ease. They batted first and scored 279 for 8, Ali was the best bowler for DWCC with 2-24 and Nagendra and Riaz also took two wickets. Deutsche Welle´s reply got off to a poor start with a mix up and a run out and soon we were reduced to 36-3 and at 97-8 we were never in the game . Nevertheless a fine 8th wicket partnership of 56 between Vishal (33: batting with a twisted ankle and a runner) and Riaz (26) gave the total some respectability and with Shafeek not out at the end DWCC reached 171 to lose by 108 runs. The result didnt stop DW celebrating in style firstly with the hosts and then later in Luxemburg City!

Sunday 27th May 2012: In the 20 20 match on a wonderful summer´s morning the following day DWCC batted first, and thanks to some fine batting from Kawsar (44) and Nadeem (33) , and despite three excellent catches from The Optimists, we posted a respectable score of 125 for 8. The Optimists got off to a slow start and after good catches from Ali and Nagendra, Deutsche Welle sensed victory. However some strong batting from young William Cope (44) and Steve Clark (31) and some loose fielding saw The Optimists gradually close in on their target. Deutsche Welle used seven bowlers in total but by the time only three were needed off the last over the game was all but lost and The Optimists deservedly won a good game with five balls to spare. Nagendra, Nadeem and Imtiaz were the pick of the DWCC bowlers but it was Riaz who again picked up two wickets .

The weekend finished with a delicious spicy lunch in the sun and many thanks to our hosts for the two games played in an excellent spirit.We plan to return next year!