Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
THE TOURING Awali Camels cricket stars swapped last year’s exotic summer in Brazil for a six-match summer series in South Wales and not even a one-day wash-out could dampen their high spirits.
The Bahrain-based squad of sports-lovers, made up of seasoned players from the Awali Cricket Club’s Taverners team with an injection of young blood, took on local club sides and the stars of tomorrow’s county scene.
Locals and tourists alike branded the trip ‘probably the most successful Camels tour ever’ and already invitations are flooding in for repeat and new fixtures in future years.
The Camels’ cause was, however, impeded by the absence of last year’s ‘Player of the Series’ Dick Ryan, who suffered a nasty injury while holidaying in Canada.
That loss was offset by the presence of four members of the original Camels touring party of 1995 in the shape of father-and-son duo Keith and Greg Veryard, bowling supremo Steve Turner and the evergreen Guy Parker, who once again skippered the side.
The tourists also featured former Hampshire left-hander Charles Forward, Parker’s brother, Paul, an ex-England Ashes Test player and fellow Glamorgan ace, Mike Williams, Graham Hoar, Mark Hartshorne, Matt Rees, Matt Davis, Martin Saunders, Dan Viles, David Axtell, Andrew Pilgrim in the their line-up, supported by umpire Tony Forward.
Awali Camels started their 2014 tour with a thumping 129-run victory over Cowbridge CC. Put in to bat by a young home side the Camels lost opener Forward for a cautious 16.
Joining Williams at the crease was ex-Test batsman Paul. The pair put on 158 runs in a masterful display of controlled hitting.
Williams topped the scores with 83 and Paul was stumped for 60 by the enterprising Russell off teenage medium pacer Ellis Bird.
The Camels middle order of Guy, Rees and Pilgrim made hay in the last 10 overs, scoring freely to all corners of the beautiful Cowbridge Oval. Hartshorne smashed the last two balls to the boundary in a final flourish of runs.
At Pentyrch CC, in balmy sunshine and on a near-perfect batting track, Myocardial Cricket Club won the toss and elected to bat. Number 7 bat, Foley, smacked 40 off the last five overs leaving the Camels 199 to win.
Forward reached his first Camel century a few balls before Hoar brought up his own 50 with the winning hit of the match – a four to square-leg for a nine-wicket win.
Game three was rained off. With Bridgend’s cricket pitch under torrents of water from monsoonal overnight rain, Awali Camels hastily arranged an intra-club fixture at nearby Cowbridge. Surprisingly, the ground here was bone dry, the weather perfect. The ensuing match was a highly-entertaining seven-a-side affair.
The Awali team’s next fixture was against a highly-rated Tondu side. Skipper Parker
won the toss and put the opposition in. After the early loss of one of their star openers with just four runs on the board, painfully caught by Williams off the bowling of Turner, Tondu put together a second-wicket stand of 112 in 20 overs to end on 243 for 8.
Awali finished the innings on 222 for 10 – this being a 12-a-side friendly tour match. Still a very creditable score on a very sticky wicket, and brought Awali’s aggregate runs total to almost 700 in just three limited-over games.
In a match re-arranged from a 40-over one-day format to 20-20 by local organisational issues the Camels came very close to winning a game against Vale CC where the odds were decidedly stacked against them.
Batting first against an attack comprising several Glamorgan Cricket Academy stars the Camels looked lively with Williams picking off the openers with ease. Forward joined in with a mighty smite for six, only to be caught behind, wafting down the leg the very next ball. Williams carried his bat for 79, while Axtell smashed a quick 21, as Awali totalled 140 for 5.
The Vale batsmen kept ahead of the required run-rate through snicks for four, sixes that dropped inches over the short boundary, tired fielding and dropped catches to win by nine wickets.
Barry West End CC provided the spectacular setting for the Camels’ final match on their stunningly successful tour. To the amused screeches of flocks of swirling seagulls feasting their eyes on the extravaganza below, the Camels openers Forward and Williams set their sights on building a huge total.
Cautiously at first, they countered the accurate and nagging attack of the home bowlers, including the wily old fox Holmes, still snapping up wickets at 72.
The caution steadily gave way to a cornucopia of dashing strokes, scattering gulls, pigeons and fielders alike. Williams proudly held his bat aloft on crossing the century milestone.
All expectations were for Forward to follow suit, but an incredible one-handed diving catch by Nye Jones at point meant the burly left-hander walked off to cheers for his chanceless 90. There was enough time for Veryard and Rees to clout a few boundaries and lift the Camels to a daunting 237 for 2.
Barry’s batsmen bashed and batted bravely, but lost wickets regularly to Turner, run-outs and Parker again – this time a deft stumping by Pilgrim. Never giving up hope the lower order batsmen thrashed 19 off Parker’s last over, but it was too little too late as they ended on 208 for 6, 29 runs short.
The Camels were applauded from the field by a sizeable crowd and no less a number of seagulls.
As well as Brazil and Wales, in recent summers the Awali Camels have toured the English cricketing hotspots of Nottingham and Yorkshire and the Irish capital, Dublin.
Next year they have set their sights on visiting the cricket-crazy English counties of Devon or Yorkshire.
Information about the Taverners such as match details, social events and how to join, can be found on its Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Awali-Taverners/433757683374975
