Ice Cricket

Welcome to our Red nose Day site! ********************************************************************************************************** Many thanks to all at BBC Radio Oxford and the Oxford Mail for allowing us to introduce Ice Cricket to listeners in Oxfordshire. ********************************************************************************************************** Our adventure started at the airport where we were met by our guide, holding a sign saying “Comic Relief CC”; fortunately she didn’t seem to be too upset by the lack of comedians or celebrities amongst us. We left the airport with a beautiful view that would preoccupy us for most of the time in Estonia! Sadly Lake Harku, despite looking frozen to us, wouldn’t live up to this due to the weather being much warmer than expected. ********************************************************************************************************** We spent the next few days acclimatising to the conditions. This included ice skating in the town centre under the spires of St Nicholas Cathedral. The cathedral was the only impressive thing that could be associated with the name Nicholas as Team Manager Nick Browne did a fantastic impression of a geriatric, including Zimmer-frame! Thanks to our tour guide we got to experience a more local view of Tallinn, eating in downstairs restaurants that were hidden away from tourists, trying local delicacies like boar and elk, and seeing the Estonian winners of the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest in concert! ********************************************************************************************************** Nice as Tallinn was, and it was a beautiful city that we all enjoyed, we were there for one thing – Ice Cricket! On Saturday morning we finally got the confirmation that we wouldn’t be playing on Lake Harku but instead would be playing in an old Russian missile factory! Our protective equipment was unwrapped, spikes were put on shoes, and we stepped gingerly onto the ice. ********************************************************************************************************** Captain Richard Moore won the toss and unsure of the conditions put the opposition, “Westfield Saints”, into bat. Wickets were shared around the team, and there were a couple of run outs too, by the end of the innings tight bowling had restricted the opposition to a very gettable total. Openers James Smith and James Davis strolled out to the middle and scored quickly, but with some increasingly risky running between the wickets. Davis nearly lost his wicket early on but some appalling fielding by the opposition’s keeper prevented an easy run-out. It was only a temporary let off though and Davis was out soon after, this coincided with a slow in the scoring rate, we then lost both Steve Jayna and Smith for not many more runs. The final over started; 11 needed off it, Browne and Moore the two batsmen in, and the fastest of the Westfield bowlers striding in off a full run-up (not easy on ice!). Cometh the man cometh the moment; Browne and Moore scampered the runs required and saw the team home to a narrow victory with only a ball to spare. ********************************************************************************************************** There was no time for celebrations however as we were back on the ice immediately for the semi-final. Wanting to share around the glory Browne and Moore took time out on the bench and Steve Broome and Phil Lee got their first caps for Informa Cricket. We were up against “The Village Idiots” who, despite their name, played extremely well. In spite of early breakthroughs from Jayna and Alistair Manhire, (the best cricketer on the team - a ringer we had met at the airport!) and an excellent bowling display by the two debutants, the ‘Idiots’ put on a very aggressive display scoring over 100 runs in just 6 overs. Thanks mainly to Dan Smith, the tour organiser, who managed to get himself a place on one of the teams with the promise he could “play a bit”! In order to have a chance we needed to get off to an excellent start, sadly this just didn’t happen. Smith and Davis struggled against the bowling and we were well adrift by the time Davis was dismissed, Lee came in next, missed the first ball and was out to the next one! With wickets falling, and miles behind the run rate, Broome and Smith played for their averages! We lost by 30 runs. ********************************************************************************************************** Our final game was the 3rd-4th place play-off against Ossett CC, a team from Bradford. This was possibly one of the most surreal games of cricket ever played, not only taking place on ice, in an abandoned soviet missile factory but all 12 players were wearing red noses! The Ossett captain got so confused he even tried to bowl a delivery with his nose instead of the ball! We bowled first and some incredibly tight bowling and fielding looked like this would be a walkover, fortunately an appalling over by Moore meant that Ossett made a competitive total. Or so we thought, but Smith and Davis made short work of the total, both playing their best cricket of the day and seeing us home with an over to spare – Smith had the glory of hitting the winning runs and securing us a very creditable third place finish, (three places ahead of the Estonian National Side!). ********************************************************************************************************** The “Player of the Day” award went to Alistair Manhire, our ‘ringer’ from Colchester, for some excellent bowling, reliable fielding and some classical batting! The “Idiot of the Day” award went to James Davis for his suicidal running between the wickets and the fact he needed Steve’s help in putting on his gear! ********************************************************************************************************** We all had a lot of fun, but the main reason was to raise money for charity. Thank you to the generous donations we have received so far, (especially Tours 4 who organised the tour and have donated £200), we have already raised well over £1,500 but we still have a long way to go. So please, please, please go to http://www.myrednoseday.com/icecricket, or make a pledge on one of the sponsorship forms that can be found in reception. ********************************************************************************************************** What’s Ice Cricket? It’s cricket on ice. We'll be competing the Bulmer's Original Ice Cricket Tournament in Tallinn, Estonia. The matches will be played on the frozen Lake Harku which is just a few minutes from Tallinn. The wicket will be painstakingly carved out of the ice and the boundary clearly marked off to prevent anyone accidentally plunging into the freezing waters below. A normal indoor ball is used and cricket spikes are worn for grip but players are discouraged from wearing whites in case they get lost in a snowdrift. ********************************************************************************************************** Don’t forget – all money donated through this site goes straight to Comic Relief. ********************************************************************************************************** Please don’t wait until the gurning Lenny Henry takes over BBC1 on Red Nose Day! We believe we’re doing something much better, so get your card out now and donate. Even if it’s just a couple of quid, it’ll make all the difference to Comic Relief’s projects throughout the world. So, have one less pint tonight or forgo that packet of cigarettes and help us reach our target. ********************************************************************************************************** Who are you? We’re a team of cricketers from Oxfordshire who all work for Informa PLC. We were unbeaten in all our 2006 season games – even managing to smash 67 off 4 overs to win a publishers’ tournament. However, we’ve not played on ice before, so we’ll be finding our feet, as it were. The team members are:
Representing Taylor and Francis - Steve Broome, Steve Jayna, Philip Lee & Richard Moore.
Representing Lloyds MIU - Nick Browne & James Smith.
Representing Informa Healthcare - James Davis.
********************************************************************************************************** Will you win? Well, we certainly think we’ve got a chance. If we progress in the tournament, we’ll play against the Estonian national cricket team. They’re officially the worst-ranked national cricket side in the world however, on this occasion, they do benefit slightly from home advantage. Our Spin king Richie Moore is looking forward to bowling a few ‘sliders’ on the icy wicket. Even if we don’t win the tournament outright, we hope that by participating we’ve encouraged people like you to donate to Comic Relief. It’s as simple as that. ********************************************************************************************************** How will I know how you’ve done in the tournament? Please check back at this site after 12th march to see how we got on in the tournament. We’ll also provide links to photos. In the meantime, please be as generous as you can and click on “sponsor me” now. Remember, all funds go straight to Comic Relief.