Berlin Cricket Club

Just Not Crickit

The fight against misperceptions of our sport in Germany and Europe is still a very real one. Here are some of the most common myths:

That cricket is somehow played on horseback.
That cricket is croquet – “just like in Alice in Wonderland?”
That we drink tea all day.
That it’s not a proper sport, just something to pass the time.

And it’s one thing to not know the basics, but then to actually show off your ignorance and use it as a backstory on your website, is something else. Like this Hamburg company did:

“Julia’s husband Michael, who’s responsible for the day-to-day running of the company, has a passion for cricket. Not only does this equestrian sport dispense with referees, it also stands for fairness, reliability and decency.” (Translated from the German).

We are sincerely concerned for the well-being of Michael and his horses – and indeed the other members of the team who, presumably, are running around on two legs instead of four. Surely a disadvantage – especially when it comes to LBW? Mind you, without a referee does it matter anyway?

International Women’s Day

We think it’s brilliant that more and more women and girls are getting involved in cricket. And we would like to actively encourage more of you to join our club. If you are reading this and thinking, I’d love to play cricket – then drop us a mail or click the ‘sign up’ button on our Facebook site. You’d be very welcome to make our club, your club.

Another Great Meeting

Sadly, Berlin CC’s Annual General Meetings tend not to enjoy huge attendances. There seems to be a misconception that they are a bit stuffy, drone on and on and don’t actually achieve much. But if you want to air your views about issues arising during the season – this is the best time to do it. They are also a great source of information about the day-to-day running of the club. And it lasted just 3 hours!

Only 14 members were present this year. Nevertheless, there was plenty of healthy discussion about the state of the club and its future direction. Some of the issues debated included:

The club providing more financial support to pay the entry fees of prestige indoor and outdoor tours/tournaments. Including, for example, Dresden, Bucharest and possibly others. 💶
Growing pains. The club has plenty of keen new members wanting to join but is unable to offer training and/or playing opportunities due to the lack of facilities. How do we manage this without turning prospective members away? 🚷
Maifeld accessibility. The Bell Tower entrance to Maifeld will be closed this year due to the reconstruction work going on. Not only will we have to use the far entrance, there are also no showers or storage facilities.👃🚿

If you are a member but were unable to attend, please read the minutes (they’ll be sent round) to find out more or ask someone who attended.

And congratulations to…

Karan who recently passed his Level 1 trainer qualification. He will now be taking our Tuesday training sessions until the end of March. Thanks for stepping up, Karan!

Also well done to Martin who was awarded Best Fielder in the Regionalliga by the ODCV! He only managed 10 catches all season but apparently that was enough… 😳🏆

Dresden-itis

Oh calamity, calamity – so close but no cigar…

Commiserations to the guys who played in the Dresden tournament last weekend. Having lost only one of five games on the first day, the Bears were looking to push for some silverware on day two.

But overnight, Mughil was struck down by a nasty case of pancreatitis and had to be dragged off to hospital screaming and wailing!

Premature
So with only six men left standing, the semi-final against Chemnitz was always going to be a struggle. Having been refused a substitute player, our dirty half dozen put in a sterling effort. But, alas, the missing fielder made all the difference and Berlin CC were knocked out of the tournament prematurely.

A Dresden pancreas yesterday:

Our very best wishes go out to Mughil who was last seen clutching his bat and bails in intensive care.

Withdrawal
A string of last-minute injuries (Mughil included) and some sudden work commitments also meant that five of our original squad of seven had to pull out of the Vienna Winter Cup. To our embarrassment and regret, this meant we had to withdraw from the competition.

Our sincere apologies to Vienna CC who were left with the task of scrabbling around to find a replacement team. Nevertheless, we are in no doubt the tournament will once again be a massive success, as it is every year.

Pen
But there was one chink of light in an otherwise gloomy week for Berlin CC – Sachin Tendulkar got to meet our best runner-between-the-wickets on the red carpet of the Laureus World Sports Awards. Of course, he was unable to get an autograph because his pen ran out of ink at the crucial moment. Still, we reckon this selfie more than makes up for it!

Star Berlin cricketer and some small bloke

Who’s Allowed at the Captains’ Table?

As promised, we’re back with the results of our hotly contested captaincy competition. Commiserations to all those who narrowly missed out – there really was more competition for the top jobs than I can ever remember!

Captains for the 2020 season are as follows:

1st XI Bundesliga: Mohammed Musthafa
2nd XI Regionalliga: Vimal Vardhan
1st XI T20: Mughil Viswanathan
2nd XI T20: Vimal Vardhan

Congrats to those three – I’m sure you’ll all do a fine job of upholding the club’s vision and achieving greatness both on and off the field!

Upcoming Indoor Tournaments
We have registered one team each in this weekend’s Dresden Indoor Cricket Tournament and the following weekend in the Vienna Winter Cup. There are still two spots available for the Vienna tournament, so if you’re interested flick an email to info@berlincc.de and we’ll let you know the details. Good luck to the teams – both events are very competitive and great fun. I can highly recommend getting involved.

Indoor Overspill
A word of warning if you’ve been invited to one of our indoor training sessions: every session is now so well attended, we may, sadly, be forced to turn people away. We certainly don’t want to do this because we want to encourage as many as possible to get involved with our club – but the hall we’ve been allocated is only really suitable for 12-15 players. Last week we had 30!

And Finally…
Just remember, however bad you are at cricket, there’s always worse:

Indoor Sovereignty

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Finale

As the curtain gently falls on the EU’s dictatorship of the UK, I spent my final evening of servitude at a sports hall on the outskirts of Germany’s capital, playing one of Britain’s most successful sporting exports, with an international melting pot of Kiwis, Ozzies, Germans, Indians, Pakistanis, Afghans and, of course, Brits. “What has freedom of movement ever done for us?”, I hear you cry.

We are, of course, very lucky to even have the venue. After a ten-year wait and some behind the scenes back-slapping and cajolery, we were finally offered not one, but two halls to practice in during the winter months. Are Berlin sports halls rather like London buses? It would seem so.

Curtain-Raiser

When one curtain closes, another one opens – as they say in Unicornland – and while we look forward to the new outdoor season with an Odyssean gusto, our esteemed chairman has been locked in a Charlottenburg backroom with various Berlin cricket aficionados and some hooded figures from the Olympic Stadium to thrash out a level playing field for the new season. Sadly, they hold all the cards and we’ve been told the season must finish by the end of July. There are some more changes, the details of which I won’t bore you with here. But suffice it to say: we really do need to take back control.

Buckstop

Speaking of control, I will post the results of our captaincy meeting here some time during the week. Appointing the captains of four separate teams requires a degree of consensus, so rather than have faceless bureaucrats snatch away our sovereign right to decide our own destiny, we’re going to slug it out mano a mano across the boardroom table. Good luck to the candidates and remember, win or lose, the buck stops with you.

I’ll be back soon with more Berlin buffoonery… but until then let’s bear in mind the muffled words of Kane Williamson, “All this talk of Super Overs is just another example of project fear.”

Cricket in Berlin?

Don’t be daft – that’s the usual reaction you get from people who are visiting or who have just moved to Berlin. Quite obviously, there can’t be any proper cricket in Berlin. But this is where they’d be wrong. On the contrary, there is a very vibrant, skillful and diverse family of cricketers, playing under the very mustachioed nose of the Berlin Olympic Stadium, against one of the most picturesque backdrops anywhere in the world. The Maifeld. For all its faults, our ‘home’, for now. But more about that later.

If you’re curious enough to open up the Pandora’s box that is Berlin CC, then subscribe to this blog and we’ll do our best to keep you entertained and enthralled with tales of derring-do and idiocy – and whatever other nonsense our club and its members happen to be up to…