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Basel CC (Adult side) vs. Switzerland U17's. (40 overs per side match) 27 April 2008.

Ok so this was pretty much a friendly match to get the U17's to gel together as a team as the Swiss U17's would be heading to Germany for the Europeen Championships division 2 in August and this would kind of also help in the selection process. (fingers crossed for selection)

Losing the toss, we were put into fielding first and were pretty disciplined until about the 15th over keeping their run rate to about 3 an over, though we didn't take enough wickets and then they started smacking us all over the place and were looking set to post something about 230'ish. Though we restricted them pretty well in the last 5 overs and took wickets at regular intervals. (6 wickets in the last 5 overs) and restricted them to 202. I was pretty satisfied with my overall bowling spell, a little dissapointed at the third over of my first spell that included three wides, but other than that, I was doing a pretty good job. I got bowling figures of 5/21/1. (overs/runs/wickets)

I was put down at number 4 and the team got off to a bad start as one of our opening batsmen got out on 1 and then there was a little partnership. for the 2nd wicket though a very slow one as by 17 overs, we had only put 32 on the board. With the other opening batsman getting out, there was kind of a sigh of relief in the camp as he played pretty slow. (Even for a test match that would be slow: 5 runs off 43 balls)

I went in and worked away the ball for singles and doubles and in the 19th over, the number 3 batsman also got out (captain) and we were in deeper trouble, though in coming at number 5 was our best batsman and the only real known big hitter in the side. For the first couple of overs (until over # 25) and then we decided that the number 5 would go for the big hitting while I would try to rotate the strike as much as possible. We stood out there until the 30th over before we were asked to retire to give other people some chance and we had a partnership of 94 runs off 69 balls. I made 20* off 40 balls and the other guy made 53* off 42. (The rest of the runs coming from extras, most of them leg byes) By the time we retired, the score was 143 and we would've been in with a serious chance of winning if we didn't have to retire. Though since it was just a friendly kind of a match, we agreed to retire to let the other guys have a go at it too, in the end, we only managed a 167 off the 40 overs, but I was pretty satisfied with my effort and performance.
 
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Switzerland U17’s vs. Cern CC (Adult side) - 40 overs per side match - 03 May 2008.

Second match in a row against an adult side and second defeat in a row for the Swiss under 17’s. Most of our players were stiff before the start of the match as just a day before the match, we had training with former test cricketer, Bob Barber that lasted about 7 hours. Some really helpful tip in there that would certainly come in handy for the future. Though here, put in to field first, despite all the stretches, half the team was still stiff and we dropped a couple of chances, most of which were pretty hard and the rest fairly easy. And since the other team’s openers were given a couple of chances, they went on to score a partnership of over 100 runs at a run rate of over 6 per over. Then came in the off-spinner who isn’t really the main spinner but he isn’t a part timer either. He was certainly the man of the match for us taking three wickets at a very good economy rate and chocking the runs of the other team. I took a brilliant catch at the long on boundary in the 31st over and in the end, we restricted them to 211 off 40 overs which was quite an achievement seeing how they were scoring freely at over 6 runs an over without a wicket lost.

Though it wasn’t the bowling that disappointed, it was rather the batting. The opener got out pretty early and the number 3 came in soon after as well, stepping at number 4, for the first time this season, I felt some pressure heading out to bat. The first ball I played was clipped to mid-wicket for a single but I edged one the very next over. The ball coming from middle and off swinging out... Things looked pretty bad and they indeed were, we were bowled out for 90 in 37 overs and the best scorer from our side was 26 with only two people scoring in double figures. It was one of those humiliating losses. I believe our batting strength lies in our middle-order and yesterday, all number 3, 4 and 5 failed which can never be a good sign. Our goal was to either survive the 40 overs or score at least 100 runs, we didn’t reach any of them and we were really disappointed. After the match, the coach called the entire team out on the ground for a chat to talk about what went wrong there. There were a lot of half-chances in the field and if did take them, we would’ve been in for a better game, our batting choked, but there’s this one guy who said that he preferred that the team chokes in the batting here against an adult team where it doesn’t really matter that much rather than chocking in the batting in August in the European championships division 2. The captaincy, I felt was at times not good enough, with the captain standing at deep mid-wicket for most of the match which meant that the bowler couldn’t really have a chat about field placing, etc with him. One could make minor changes, but I feel the captain should always be standing somewhere in the infield. Next week we take on another adult side and hopefully we can perform better than this and if possible, even win the match.
 
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CERN as in the particle physics place? Cool!
I was obsessed with that stuff for about 6 months when I was in college - read everything I could get my hands on about quantum physics and the like. CERN always seem to be up to something interesting.

Hard luck on the game - it sounds like the CERN team are pretty handy.
 
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They are all adults, we're all under 17's. Enough said. lol

But yeah, it's that physics things place. The Cern ground is the home ground for my club (Geneva Region Youth Cricket Club) Because the Geneva CC wouldn't let us use the ground in Geneva. The worst part about the cern ground is that you have to get a security pass every year before the start of the season. The ground's quite nice actually otherwise. Better than Geneva CC's ground anyways. :laugh: :p
 
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(Sorry for updating this a bit late)

Cossonay CC (Adult Side) vs. Switzerland Under 17, Sunday 11th May (40 overs per side)

Another weekend and another adult side to deal with, this time, we were playing in Cossonay meaning that the other team had the home advantage but the match was still a nice one, if only weather hadn’t ruined it...

Losing the toss we were put in to field first and our bowling was much better than any of the other matches as we bowled them out for 167 requiring a 168 to win. In bowling, I got the best figures as I got to move the ball both ways, troubling the batsmen at all times. I ended up with figures of 8/1/17/4 (overs/maidens/runs/wickets)
It was probably my day because everything seemed to be going perfectly out there.

The batting was messed with rain. As soon as the openers went out to play, after the 3rd delivery of the very first over of our batting innings, rain was accompanied by heavy wind. The conditions switched into their favour and the ball was swinging quite a lot, even their worst bowlers were swinging it like they’ve mastered the art. I didn't score many and went out to an outswinger caught at second slip. We were bowled out for 145 and if not for the rain and the overcast conditions, I believe we would’ve won this match. However, good news for me is that next Saturday, I’m not facing an adult side. It’s going to be Geneva U17 vs. Zurich U17. This one should be easy hopefully.
 
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Match cancelled due to rain. -_- :cursing:

The coaches are looking to reshedule it sometime in the near future but it's one weekend of cricket gone...
 
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Today's practice session and tomorrow's T20 against a local school team cancelled due to rain. :cursing:

Gah... this means my next assignment would be with the Swiss U15's in Zuoz in Grisons (Switzerland) at what is claimed to be the world's highest cricket ground. The matches would be on the 14th and 15th of June. Only three teams participating at the U15 level. Switzerland U15, Austria U15 and the local Zuoz U15. Hopefully I'll get to play some cricket there... these last few cricketing days have all been 'blessed' by rain. -_-
 
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Zuoz Junior Cricket Tournament: Playing for the Swiss under 15’s​


Well, so there I was 7 hours away from home in Zuoz, Grisons in Switzerland for the third annual Zuoz cricket tournament. Although I missed the India-Pakistan final, since I was away from Friday 13th June to Sunday 15th, I had a great tournament. On Friday, we basically travelled, we arrived in Zuoz at around 10pm and after a long and hectic journey on the train, I decided to go to bed “early”.

On Saturday, our first match was starting at 12:30 pm and so we had plenty of time to just sit and relax, but instead, the team had agreed last night during the train journey that we would rather be getting some net practice to get us in some kind of form before the actual tournament matches. (We had our training sessions washed out for the previous 3 weeks so most of us had played little to no cricket during that time)

After a good net session, where I struggled to find the right line and length early on, but got it right later on and I think the net sessions really helped me for the rest of the tournament. My batting was kind of poor in the nets, but the captain still decided to give me the opening batsman spot.

[:.First match against Zuoz U15 – 22 overs per side.:]
The match was supposed to start at 12:30 pm and we were all at the ground at about 12, doing some warm ups, etc. This match against Zuoz, wasn’t the most important one, but it would get us some good practice before the Austria match, which was the all important match seeing how no Swiss junior team had never beaten an Austrian team before. Winning the toss, we decided to bowl first and I was opening the bowling. I bowled 3 of my 5 overs first up picking up 2 wickets in the process before I was given a break and my last 2 overs spared for the ‘death’ period of the game. When I came back to bowl my second last over, Zuoz was in deep trouble at 61/9 from 18 overs. My first bowl of this over, coming around the wicket to a left hander, pitched just outside off, nipping away after hitting the seam as the batsman edged it and he was gone, but so was I, I landed awkwardly during my follow and pulled something in my right leg. My team was celebrating totally overlooking me lying on the ground holding my leg in pain. After a minute or two, they finally realized that something wasn’t right with me and came in to check. I received special stretching treatment during the 15 minutes innings break and then I padded up to bat, not completely sure whether I’ll be ok to run or not. Opening the batting, I was looking good at 11* but then my leg started to hurt again and I was taken off the field as a decision of my coach so that the ‘injury’ doesn’t get worse and so that I have time to get fit again in time for the game against Austria. I received all kinds of treatments, from stretching to massage, and after a while, I felt much better. We ended up scoring the winning runs in the 15th over.

[:.Second match against Austria U15 – 22 overs per side.:]
I was ready to take the field again, this time against Austria, a team we had never beaten before. We lost the toss and were put in to bowl. Again, I bowled well, not giving many runs away but managing to pick up only one wicket. Thank God, this time I was able to bowl my five overs without any hint of injury and by the end of the innings, Austria had set us a target of 103 to chase down in 22 overs. One of the revelations of this match was the sledging of our wicketkeeper. I never knew he was such an awesome sledger. He’s usually kind of a shy guy and stays quiet but I walked up to him pretty early in the match and told him “Hey dude, it’s about time you start sledging them.” And man did he sledge well. He annoyed every batsman that came out to bat. Quite a decent bowling performance from us, but I think the target could’ve been a little less if the fielding had been a little better. Going in to open, we were off to a flyer with 28 runs off just 3 overs. On the first ball of the fourth over though, I tried to move across and whip the ball to the leg side off my pads, but the in-swinging delivery beat my bat, striking my well in front of off stump according to what my teammate at the other end said and I was walking back with a 5 ball 7. Not much, but a decent start was there, and we had a feeling that we could beat them. Things got a little tense in the middle overs though as our batsmen struggled to find gaps, and the Austria had tightened the grip on us as we needed to go at 7 runs an over in the last 5 overs. Then started a flourish of boundaries mixed with good running between the wickets as in the final over we needed 5 to tie and 6 to beat Austria for the first time at this level. On the first ball, the number 6 batsman hit a beautiful cover drive beating the three men standing in the circle as they quickly ran two and we now needed 4 off 5 to beat Austria. The next ball was on the batsman’s pad and he got an inside edged it very fine out of the fine leg’s reach and as soon as the ball crossed over the boundary rope, we all ran out to the ground to celebrate the first ever Swiss victory against an Austrian side (at junior level). We were all ready to party but we knew that the tournament was only half way through and that we had two ten over matches against these same two sides to decide the tournament winner.

[:.Third match against Zuoz – 10 overs per side.:]
On Sunday, as people would have to leave back, the matches were organized to be quicker with each team playing 10 overs in their innings. We won the toss and decided to bat first and again we got off to a flyer as I retired in the fourth over at 15* (tournament rule). My best shot was a pull shot which bounced once before clearing the boundary line, almost a six actually. By the end of the innings we had reached 80 runs, which was our target as that would get us the maximum amount of bonus points achievable while batting, 5. Our bowling was good again and Zuoz pretty much threw their wickets away in this slog fest of a match. I’ve never been much of a fan of Twnety20 so even less of Ten10... We restricted them to 42 with them losing about 5 to 6 wickets in the process.

[:.Fourth match against Austria – 10 overs per side.:]
Winning the toss, Austria batted first and again our team bowled and fielded well, except on one or two occasions to restrict Austria to 59 off their allotted 10 overs. 6 runs per over was a very achievable target and again I went out to open with my usual, wicketkeeper-batsman opening partner. One thing I liked about him was that he summed up our entire plan into one word, and that one word approach I guess made us a successful opening pair. I was always the one tensed when going in and whenever I said. “Hey you know don’t take many risks, look for the gaps, run the first one hard if there’s a mis-field, look for the two.” And he always used to cut me between my “speech” and said this one word “Basics” Nothing simpler or harder than that. Do just that, basics. This time though, that technique didn’t quite work Austria were cutting off the singles diving for everything and we were rolling along at 5 an over after 3 overs. I knew there were still 9 players left, and even though I’m not a big hitter, I decided to play a lofted shot. I got well under the ball and lofted it quite well, but the boundary on this end was one of the longest and I was caught at long on. I was disappointed and the captain was angry at me but I couldn’t have done anything else, we needed to accelerate to win, the required rate was reaching around 7 and that is one of the reasons I hate these 10 over slog fest matches, you don’t get the time to settle down and plan your innings. Our number 4, who was the best batsman against Austria in the 22 over contest had a turn around as he couldn’t get the bat ball connection for half the balls he played, and even those he did hit, were not well executed. In the end, it was nothing more than just ‘go out and slog’ and we ended up losing the match by 6 runs.

In the last match of the tournament between Austria and Zuoz, Austria scored 81 runs to get their 5 battings bonus points which meant that they needed only 2 more bonus points to win the tournament by taking four wickets, which they took and we ended up losing the tournament by 1 point. Even though we lost, we knew that we did well, the match that really mattered to us was the 22 over one against Austria and we beat them there for the first time ever. I ended up getting the ‘bowler of the tournament’ trophy for my 7 wickets from the 4 matches and an economy rate of 3.8.
 
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Congrats Alifor defeating Austria in 22 overs match.
Congrats :D for winning the "Bowler of the Tournament" Trophy.That will certainly boost ur confidence.
 
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Wow Ali! So close.

Regardless of the outcome, it sounds as if you all had a great experience.

As for the Ten10 agains Austria, I don't think you have anything to worry about. As you say, there was not a lot else you could do. Well done!
 
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Great stuff Ali. Well done on both winning the game against Austria (and for the first time at that!) and picking up bowler of the tournament. Some good figures, especially since these are the shorter format.

Hopefully the rain will ************ off and let you play some cricket for your club!
Just a question, who popular is cricket in Switzerland? Are you able to field a full eleven every week?
 
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Well cricket in Switzerland is not very popular and some of our matches has been cancelled because we or the other team wasnt able to field a full eleven, but most of the time we do have a full eleven to field.
 
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That was my brother's go at 'cricket in Switzerland' lol now here's mine.

cricket in Switzerland isn't really all that popular most peopel in the team are either from England or Asia or Australia, etc. (test cricket playing nations). Our team can field a full playing eleven almost everytime, I'd say about 9 times out of 10. But the problem is with the adult sides, the adult sides sometimes don't have enough players but that's understandable I guess... at junior level, the cricket is pretty what you could call 'quiet'. you don't really get many matches but this season thankfully because of the European Championships division 2 coming up for the under 17's, there are a lot more matches for us, mainly against adult teams. The European championships though is our biggest assignement to date at junior level. It's the first time a Swiss team is invited, and though we might not be experienced, I think we can win a couple of matches at least.
 
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Well its good that cricket is getting some exposure in Switzerland, maybe it can become popular over time. And I hope you guys take the European Championships :D
 
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I know I haven't updated in quite some time but here goes.

Geneva U17 vs. Zurich U17

This was quite some while back actually this one was on the 28th June and one to forget for me. Scored only 8 runs off about 10 balls on a pitch that had no bounce at all! There was this guy in the other team (a quickie) who on any other pitch would’ve got a good bouncer, but the ball stood really low and took the off stump of our skipper. Back to me, I was given LBW off a medium-pacer who switched to off-spin mid match and I think that move surprised me really as I went for the shot a little late. My bowling was nothing to be proud of either. No wickets gave away 17 runs in 5 overs when we were defending a low total of 130. My brother though, got some pretty useful off-spin in as he claimed 4 wickets for 19 runs as we bowled Zurich out for 82. At one stage they were looking set for victory at 54-0 but a sudden collapse of wickets worked in our favour. The only thing to remember for me in this match was a catch standing in covers I had to dive full length in front of me and I caught the ball just a couple of inches off the ground. Overall I would rate my performance in this match bad but the team won and that’s what counts in the end.

Added 22 minute(s) and 9 second(s) later...

Swiss U17 vs. Cargill CC (Adult side)

After having a good three hour nets sessions on Thursday and Friday, we were all looking set and positive for this game against Cargill CC, an adult side. We were though missing some of our key players, as they were missing out due to holiday, which meant that we weren’t at full strength, but we were still confident about winning the game. Winning the toss, our captain decided to field first. A decision pretty much everybody in the team disagreed with as it gets much easier to bowl later in the day when the temperature’s not as hot and the fast bowlers get a tiny bit more assistance from the overcast conditions. The decision was though made together by the captain and coach, and despite not being of the same opinion, we were backing them up for whatever decision they made. I had to open the bowling because one of our opening bowlers was out on holiday. I usually bowl as first change after about 8 overs, but I was glad that I had been given a chance with the new ball this time round. One real positive for me was that I was getting the ball to swing both ways and that really helped me keep the batsman in trouble pretty much during most of my spell. My first over was kind of lacklustre with one wide going down the leg side and each wide counted two runs. In my second over, my first two balls were in-swingers, my natural swinging delivery to the right hander, and I followed it up with an out-swinger as the trap worked perfectly and the batsman edged it to the keeper. It was a good start for us, and my first spell, which consisted of 4 overs, was pretty tight as I gave away only 7 runs in the process. Things became rather difficult later on as the other bowlers couldn’t really maintain the pressure built by the two opening bowlers (Me and a regular quick) as they started picking singles pretty easily and kept rotating the strike, dispatching the odd bad ball for a boundary. From the 20th over onwards, they really started stepping on the gas scoring freely at about 6 an over. But they were going for one too many as they lost 3 quick wickets in the process and were forced to slow things down. Their best batsman, and captain, was still out there though and that was a cause of concern for us. He dispatched our off-spinner for 13 in one over and followed it up with 20 in his next over. I came back to bowl in the death overs (32-40) as I took bowling back from the 33rd over onwards. I picked up another wicket giving away 12 runs in the second spell. I ended up with figures of 8 overs, 2 maidens, 19 runs, and 2 wickets. I thought it was pretty good considering how most of the other bowlers were smacked around. They had set a score of 212 to chase for us and we knew that this would be a hard target to achieve.

Clouds settled in the sky as our opening batsmen set off to open the innings. They got us off to a “watchful” start but a touch too slow as we were on 30 after 12 overs as the first wicket fell and I stepped out to bat at number 3. Coming in, I watched the first 2-3 deliveries on to my bat, but then I chased one way outside off and skied it to mid off for an easy catch collecting another duck. My batting form has rather been a cause of concern lately as I have only managed 9 runs in my last 4 innings. Nobody, other than our opener got to double figures, he ended up with 26, but that too off 97 balls and that really put the pressure on the others to score. We were comprehensively bowled out for 110 after 34.4 overs.

Out batting has been a cause of concern because we have the European championships division 2 coming up in two weeks and if our batting continues the way it is right now, then we don’t stand a chance of winning, but having said that, I prefer failing and falling face first in these friendly matches rather than the European championships. Next week we have our return fixture against Cern CC and our best batsman, and vice-captain (who is out of form himself), will not be available which means that the others will have to take more responsibility with the bat.
 
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Swiss U17 vs. Cern CC (Adult side)
A much better performance this week against Cern CC. Our vice-captain, and “best batsman”, wasn’t available for this game which meant that a new guy, an opener from Zurich was given his debut match. It was also good for him to play with us as he is selected for the European championships and he got to know the team better. Cern CC won the toss and elected to bat first, the match was reduced to a 35 overs per side as some players came late and we had to start the match later than expected. I had to open the bowling again, and I had no problems with it as we bowled pretty well during the first few. The other opening bowler got a wicket in the second over of the innings and we never let them get on top of us with wickets coming in at regular intervals. After 20 overs, their score was 65-6, but then their batsmen started to counter-attack and our bowlers weren’t able to hold them back quite well, I came back during the last 5 overs and I bowled pretty well until my last over (also the last over of the innings) in which I got hit for 14 runs, in my previous six, I had given away only 14 as well with which I ended up with figures of 28-0 out of 7 overs. Their final score was 149-8 leaving us with a target of 150.
Our openers again started pretty slowly, at one point the score read 6-0 after 6 overs, pretty much 1 run per over. After 8 overs, the score was 17 as our first wicket fell; opener trying to play across the line got bowled. In went batsman number 3, who is usually an opener but the coach wanted the debutant to open to see how he would do, he did pretty well actually, both of them did. They made a partnership of 70, at a respectable run-rate and with 9 overs remaining and 74 runs to win; the debutant lost his wicket after a well made 30. I walked in at number 4, I had to take some responsibility now that our best batsman wasn’t here and though the required rate was a little high, I decided to play myself in as my batting form was quite poor. After blocking the first two balls, I lifted the third one over covers and got two, it was kind of a relief to not get another duck. I made 13 off 9 balls and was involved in a partnership of 47 runs off 37 balls (6.1 overs). I got out in the 33rd over, as the team required 27 runs. I tried to lift the ball over mid-wicket but got a leading edge, instead giving a catch in covers. I was frustrated with myself, I wanted to keep going and see it through till the end. The others didn’t really have time to settle in and we ended up 6 runs short of the target in the end, finishing on 143. It was again a much better performance than last week and really boosted our confidence up ahead of the European Championships (division 2, U17). We’ll be travelling down to Germany on Friday with a rest day on Saturday, which we will use to get some training session/nets. On Sunday we will have a game against Gibraltar, then on Monday another against Hellas (Greece). On Tuesday we have another rest day and on Wednesday a match against Spain. On Thursday, the final match of the group stages against Belgium and then depending on our points and position in the group stage, we will be either contesting for the 1st/2nd or 3rd/4th or 5th/6th or 7th/8th or 9th/10th place on Friday.
 
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Cricket Under 17 Division 2 European Championships.

I won't put any match report or summary on this tournament myself as there is one available on the ICC-Europe website.

So the European championships finally came and we were under a lot of stress or say pressure as our first goal was to prove that we deserved to be there. ICC didn't invite us Switzerland Under 17's) for this tournament originally and we were able to enter thanks to Germany, who had followed our recent success in tournaments and recommended us. Since the tournament was in Germany, the germans had a bit of a say and the ICC had us in the tuornament. We proved how skilled we were in the first two matches where we lost in a close match against Gibraltar by 2 wickets and defeated Hellas(Greece) comprehensively by 9 wickets. Though our lack of experience was clearly visible against Spain and Belgium as those two claimed easy wins over us to let us compete with France for the 7th/8th positions. I think if not for so many wides at the beggining and end of the innings (A wide counting 2 runs and not re-bowled but being re-bowled in the last 8 overs of the innings but remaining 2 runs). All matches were 40 overs a side format other than the 7th/8th and 9th/19th position play-off which were 30 overs a side where the wides would be re-bowled in the last 6 overs of the innings. I did pretty well opening the bowling getting loads of swing early on and claiming at least 1 wicket per match. My best bowling figures were 8-2-9-2. (overs-maidens-runs-wickets) Batting wise I was in a really poor form as my best score was a 13* which was in a losing cause against Spain, I was batting pretty defensively over there with the goal of batting out the 40 overs. One thing was certain though, the amount of cricketing experience I gained in this tournament was equal or maybe more than what I had learnt throughout the rest of the season. I certainly became a much more mature cricketer as the tournament went on I guess.

You can follow the tournament results, reports, statistics, etc on this website.

http://www.icc-europe.org/EUROU17B/index.shtml

And just in case you're curious and want to search my performances out, my name is Ali Saleem.
 
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Thanks. :D I'll also try posting my bowling action soon to get some eventual comments on how to improve anything. Like in that picture, a teammate of mine said that my follow through looks like that of a spinner and I'm supposed to be an opening medium-pace bowler. lol
 
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