Still Going Strong Cricket Club

Tour report of SGS-Forty Club Lanzarote 2015

Earlier this year the touring committee of SGS’d tried to organise a cricket tour to Lanzarote. When only seven players wanted to go the committee decided to cancel the tour, much to the disappointment of the organisation in both Holland and Lanzarote.

In July I talked to Rob Nelson from the Forty Club who suggested to get six players from England and six from Holland to turn it into a combined tour. After a bit of asking around and a few emails it looked as if the idea’d work for both so we decided to go. Arthur van Lunszen did take care of booking the flights and accommodation

On Thursday the 1st of October 2015 six English XL and six Dutch SGS cricketers got on a plane to Lanzarote in order to put them together in a combined team. Beside the players the Dutchies brought their own umpire (Joep Hesseling) and with Anny, Gerda and Truus the whole touring party consisted of sixteen people.

The English and the Dutch were supposed to meet at 8 pm to make plans for the next couple of days. Unfortunately our flight, that was to depart at 3.35 pm, was delayed considerably due to a failing battery charger. After replacing that and the battery itself we headed for Lanzarote at 6.15 pm to arrive at Arrecife Airport four hours after that. Needless to say we didn’t meet up with the English because they’d already gone into town and we were unable to get in touch with them by text messaging. Rob Nelson was the one who these messages were sent to but his phone was still in flight mode. Since Rob’d made all the arrangements regarding matches; start time etc. we had no clue what time we’d have to leave the next morning. That evening we had some tapas in a local restaurant. Very nice and I could see everyone was very excited about the things to come.

On Friday morning nearly everyone had breakfast in the apartment hotel Fariones in Puerto del Carmen so were able to connect with our English friends. They were also looking forward to playing here. The majority of them’d already played here last year as well. They told us we’d be playing 35 overs, starting at 10.30 am. Our hosts from Lanzarote cricket would pick us up from the hotel at 10 am. At 10 sharp their cars arrived and it was great to see our friends from Lanzarote (David Smith and Jack Talbot). They were very pleased by the fact we wanted to play cricket over there with them. After arriving at the ground we saw the Flicx pitch being prepared for the match. Unlike our experiences from the past this pitch was quite similar to the artificial matting we’re used to back home. Only sometimes the ball’d do unexpected things. Our skipper John Hartley told us we’d bat first. Jon Thornton and David Humphreys opened the batting for us and they did a great job. Jon scored 43 and David 58. Then Roelof Balk entered the arena and scored a quick 30. Arthur and Theo had a useful partnership (17 & 18) and with small contributions of Jan Willem Heshusius and Mans de Rooij after 35 overs we had a total of 191 for 9. Wouter Herklots scored a duck (second ball). After a quick tea we went out to field. The opposition made it quite clear they were not going to chase our total by textbook shots. We saw a few impressive sixes and had to use spare balls regularly. The only bowlers with an average under six per over were Rob Nelson (0-28 in 6); Ashe (1-27 in 7); John Hartley (1-32 in 7) and Roelof Balk (1-5) who took David Smith’s wicket on the second bounce of his delivery. In the 34th over the game was finished by a boundary which took their score to 194 for 4. The third innings was most enjoyable in the afternoon sun and a temperature of around 28 degrees In the evening we went out and had dinner in the old town together. The sea food they served was really fresh and simply delicious!

On Saturday we had a rest day. Time for some to get active (renting a mountain bike) and for others to do the opposite (cappuccino in a local coffee shop) and watch the Premier League in The Inn Place (the main sponsor of the cricket club). In the evening a few of us (Roelof Balk, Mans de Rooij, Wouter Herklots and I) went to a Chinese restaurant. It was a buffet and the food was lovely. Except for the shrimps, Mans said. So Roelof told the waitress, that the shrimps weren’t really good. So the waitress looked at Mans’s plate and said: “No wonder. These aren’t shrimps: they’re chicken.” Lesson learned. Whilst we were having dinner and a good time our English friends were watching England getting a hiding by the Aussies in the Rugby World Cup. Which meant rugby was no longer a topic to be discussed over breakfast after that.

On Sunday morning we were picked up by our friends from Lanzarote to play a timed game. Since we’d had an English captain on Friday (and lost..) it was my turn to be the skipper. Neil French was the skipper for Lanzarote and we decided this time Lanzarote’d bat first. The start time was 10.30 am and the start of the last 20 overs would be at 4.30 pm. The opening batsmen for Lanzarote (Elsden and our dear friend David Smith) made it very obvious that they were not going to hang around but their aim was to make runs quickly. Elsden was bowled after getting his 50 by Rob Nelson. Smith however scored 112 and was caught out by Wouter Herklots on the last ball of their inning after batting for 43 overs. A. French scored a quick 32 and was then caught and bowled by Rob Nelson. Arthur van Lunszen took 2 for 14 in 2.1 overs. Rob 2 for 53 in 11. Ashe 1 for 41 in 8. John Hartley 1 for 19 in 5. Lanzarote scored 251. After a wonderful lunch David Humphreys and Jon Thornton opened the batting for us. David scored a quick 48 and was then bowled by a beautiful Yorker by Stonier. Who then managed to take the wickets of Wouter (second ball duck) and John Hartley (1st ball duck) in the same over. Ashe (31) kept his cool after that and Roelof (16) looked like he was going to finish the game together with Jon Thornton who was in the nervous nineties when Roelof was caught out. So it was my turn to bat. I saw Jon make his century (114*: bravo!) and after that we were able to finish the game with two and a half overs to spare and me scoring 22*. A wonderful game of cricket and another beautiful day. Stonier had the impressive bowling figures of 3-51 in 9 overs. Bayley 1-45 in 10.

After the game we had a few presentations in which we thanked our hosts and Jack Talbot in particular for his efforts to make this tour unforgettable in many ways. Jack was presented with our tour shirt as a token of our appreciation. Jan Willem Heshusius was presented with a Lanzarote cricket cap for being the best Dutch bowler. Jon Thornton for being the best batsman (and fielder?) was presented with a shirt. David Smith made a wonderful gesture by hanging BB1’s RIP-shirt in their clubhouse. Lest we forget. Thanks, David! After a few quick beers Roelof and I headed for the airport because we both had to work on Monday.

I’d like to thank Rob Nelson for the organisation on the English side and all the other participants for their enthusiasm and company during this tour. I’d also like to thank Arthur for booking flights and accommodation and Anny for scoring both games for us. Besides I’d like to thank Gerda for taking pictures when she’d not forgotten to take the camera. And Joep for umpiring the first game.

Hopefully we can do it all again in the not too distant future.

Theo Straten a.k.a. BB2.

Foto's Crickettoer Lanzarote 2015   Foto's Gerda Heshusius  Gerda, heel hartelijk bedankt voor de foto's !