Great Britain, Australia and Asia compete in Malta Diplomats Cricket Cup

Last weekend saw the first edition of the Malta Diplomats Cricket Cup with teams from Great Britain, Australia and Asia competing.

Great Britain captain Derek Ali and Australia/Asia’s Sam Aquilina hold the Malta Diplomats Cricket Cup.
Great Britain captain Derek Ali and Australia/Asia’s Sam Aquilina hold the Malta Diplomats Cricket Cup.

Local players with a direct connection took part in two of the most exciting matches this season.

In attendance were Australian High Commissioner, H.E. Ms. Jane Lambert; British High Commissioner, H.E. Mr. Robert Luke; Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, H.E. Mr. Johannes Nijssen and Ambassador of the Republic of Ireland, H.E. Mr. Padraig MacCoscair. Trophies and awards were donated by the four diplomatic missions.

In Saturday’s first match, the Great Britain XI scored a respectable 89 for 6 from their allotted 15 overs, largely thanks to a rejuvenated Chris Naudi (23 runs), Andrew Naudi (22) and M.Towns (30). Sid Anand took the bowling honors for Asia with 2 wickets. In reply Sumair Khan hit a brisk 29 runs for the Asia XI however their run chase stuttered as wickets fell at regular intervals. David Marks (2 for 8) and Andrew Naudi (2 for 12) clawed the British team back into the game and Gordon Hewitt finished off proceedings with 3 wickets for 9 runs from his 3 overs. Hewitt conceded only 4 runs from the final over of the match to seal victory for the Great Britain team.

In the second and final match, the Great Britain XI batted first and scored an impressive 112 runs. Stephen Lucas (30) and Sean Byrne (31) were the mainstays, while John Rusher also chipped in with 13 runs off only 9 balls. For Australasia, Chris Riordan (1 for 5) and Brett Smith (2 for 19) were the best performers with the ball. Chasing 113 runs for victory, the Australasian XI were boosted by the excellent Chris Riordan (30 runs off 22 balls) and Sam Aquilina (15 off 16). Frank Spiteri and John Grima shared in a handy 48 run partnership to renew hopes of victory. With 3 runs required off the final ball of the match, Grima and Istanbouli scampered the 2 runs required for a tie. For the Great Britain XI, Uday Maclean took the bowling honors with 2 wickets for 8 runs.

Match Summaries:

Match 1: Great Britain XI 89 for 6 defeated Asia XI 87 for 9.

Match 2: Great Britain XI 112 for 4; Australa/Asia XI 112 for 5 (Match Tied).

Umpires: Leslie White, Subhas Roy, Kevin Krishna.

Scorers: Paula Calleja & Eric Balakrishnan.

This weekend sees the start of the Malta Cricket Summer League, with Marsa CC, Krishna CC, Melita CC and Malta Marauders CC all in action.