Kohinoor CC won by 55 runs
Basking in the sunshine while watching a nice gentlemanly game of cricket on
a large castle lawn is one of those quintessentially English experiences,
yet now it is a reality here in Hungary. Just an hour south of Budapest,
Zichy-Hadik Kastely at Seregelyes has opened its doors to cricket and lent
its lawn to the cause.
The castle is the home ground of Comenius Cricket Club in Szekesfehervar, a
few kilometres away, and on Saturday 13th July Kohinoor from Budapest were the
first visitors. In the morning the local players watered and rolled the
wicket, then put down some plastic matting (found in the school garage, but
similar to an official plastic cricket mat costing around 700,000 forints)
to counteract the bumpy grass. Despite the numerous no balls and high
bounce, nobody was injured and the best players performed, so the efforts
were worthwhile.
Kohinoor batted first and racked up an impressive 181-7, thanks to 60 from
Steve Fisher and Habib's 45. Fisher was almost run out early on, which would
have changed the game completely, as would any of the six dropped catches.
Comenius started batting slowly but steadily, yet never seemed likely to get
close to the target. Captain Andy Grieve top scored with 25, but the result
might have been different had 20-year-old dangerman Zoltan Mago not injured
his leg jumping off a school wall and 17-year-old Attila Vakan not bruised
his finger trying to take a catch during the game, ruling him out of the
batting line-up.
The castle will be in action next on Sunday 20th July
for the visit of Royal Tigers - will the bumps work in Comenius' favour this
time to produce a big shock?
Man of the match: Steve Fisher
