Hungarian Cricket Sports Association

Match summary

A terrific half-century from opener Rob Smyth proved the crucial difference
between two otherwise fairly evenly matched sides on the first day’s play of
the 2010 season in Dunabogdány. Batting first in overcast conditions,
Phoenix suffered an early loss when aggresive batsman Syed Ibrahim was
bowled for a duck off his pads by Tim Dixon in the very first over. Ranjit
then joined Rob Smyth at the crease to steady the ship, but a flurry of
wickets followed not long after. Ranjit first fell to the slow looping
deliveries of Adrian Zador, before guest Shobhit Gupta ripped out the
Phoenix middle order (including skipper Benjamin Lebor, trapped lbw once
again plumb in front of off-stump). Smyth was immovable, however, and played
aggressively but serenely to reach a chanceless half-century, ably assisted
by a mixture of youth (12-year-old Andrew Danks) and experience (veteran
keeper Preminder Singh). Smyth finally fell to an excellent catch at mid-off
by Kangaroos guest player Gábor Nadudváry (his second of the match), before
some late hitting by Kevin Johnson brought the innings to a very respectable
close on 179 for 8.

DCC stand-in skipper Steve Anthony used no less than nine bowlers, taking
advantage of the friendly match to give everyone a chance to turn their arms
over. Besides the excellent Shobhit, Dixon and Zador both bowled tightly and
economically.

The home side got off to a terrific start in reply, as openers Brandon
Krueger and Aneyas Moghe put on an excellent half-century for the first
wicket, combining solid defence with some fine attacking shots. With the
score at 54 after 11 overs, a solid foundation had been laid for the big
hitters to come at 3, 4 and 5. Sadly, having looked totally secure, Krueger
holed out when his firm strike found the safe hands of Lebor at mid-off, and
this triggered a flurry of wickets that eventually turned the match for
Phoenix. First the Master Blaster Zador - in confident mood after hitting 49
in the previous friendly against the Kangaroos - was unluckily run out when
he collided with bowler Ranjit as the latter inadvertently stepped in his
path to receive the ball from the fielder (who scored a direct hit on the
stumps), and he was soon followed by Shobhit, castled by the same bowler
injudiciously swinging across the line. Anthony briefly threatened a revival
when he pulled Lebor’s very first ball for a flat six over forward square
leg, but he fell to an excellent one-handed caught and bowled to the same
bowler soon after. Though realistically the run rate had by now put the game
beyond DCC’s reach, Laci Kresz and Tim Dixon showed the benefits of their
winter training in making sure the DCC tail wagged far better than has
sometimes been the case in the past, putting on a solid partnership of 32
for the seventh wicket that took the home side almost to the full 25 overs.
In the end they fell just short of batting out the allotted total, thanks
mainly to the spin of Smyth, who completed a superb all-round performance by
whittling out both batsmen, before 12-year-old Danks finished off the
innings by bowling Máté Benczes with just three balls remaining.

Bell and Johnson both bowled economically early on for Phoenix, while Ranjit
took the main bowling honours for the visitors by taking three key wickets,
including the patient Moghe. All in all it was a fine match, closer than the
result might suggest, and fought in the best of sporting spirit between the
sides. Thanks go to Benjamin for loaning two players to DCC. But can we
please have our opener back?

MAN OF THE MATCH: Rob Smyth (64 runs and 2 wickets)

A combined DCC/Phoenix team will tour Devon UK, this coming season. Three fixtures have already been confirmed:

• Saturday 17^th July 2010 - verses Coaver Club, Exeter.
• Sunday 18^th July 2010 – verses Clyst Hyden CC.
• Tuesday 20^th July 2010 – verses Newton S. Cyres.

It is hoped maybe one more fixture will follow shortly.

DCC and Phoenix not only want to enjoy the unique village cricket atmosphere you can only experience in England, but also advertise the rapid progress, development and interest in the sport in Hungary.

Coaver Club – Exeter.

Finland Old Boys Cricket Club is travelling to Hungary this coming 2010 season. DCC plan a 35 over fixture against them on either Saturday 19^th or Sunday 20^th June. The Old Boys want to play cricket, site-see and drink beer and DCC are working very hard so as to give them a memorable time in Hungary.

Further information will follow shortly.

Hello all Cricketers in Hungary.

As previously announced on this website, the HCA intend to send a National Team of Hungary to the Vienna World Cup, to be held on Saturday 4^th and Sunday 5^th July, 2009. All eligible to play for Hungary are welcome to register their interest for selection. The tournament is 6-a-side, but the HCA intend to take a squad of 8 so as to fulfil the tournament organizers requirements. To be eligible to register your interests for selection to the National Team, you must fulfil the following criteria:

• National of the country
• Born in Hungary
• Lived in Hungary for at least 183 days in each of the previous 7 years
• Lived in Hungary for at least 183 days in each of the previous 4 years, and done cricket development work for at least 100 days in the previous 5 years (only members of the team can use this criteria)
• Age – To play in senior cricket matches in 2009, players must have been born in 1992 or earlier

To register your interest and so as to allow plenty of time for arrangements, please reply to main organizer Steve Anthony by Friday 24^th April 2009. Also please copy me into your emails.

steve.anthony@t-online.hu

david@holden-brown.fsnet.co.uk

As well as players, families of course are welcome. The team will wear their new national kit and it promises to be a very enjoyable weekend.

All are welcome!!

David Brown

Chairman (HCA)