The Tour party assembled at Menorca airport at 11am on Friday 1st. Some people had got up at 2.30 am in order to make their flights. Who said Cryptics are not dedicated?!
It was raining when they landed and 24 hours later it was still raining! Menorca CC looked forward to welcoming the Cryptics to "christen" their new track Well, there should be plenty of water on it for that!
After a 5 wicket win in the Menorca Tour opener, the Club was brought back to earth with a 6 wicket loss in the second match.. (See Menorca Tour Matches tab for scorecard)
Menorca CC were superb hosts at their lovely ground, one of the best the Club has visited in its Mediterranean tour history. While winning every match would have been nice one win each was probably a fair reflection of the quality of the two sides and not at all influenced by the entertainment in the Texas Bar enjoyed by some tourists Saturday night/Sunday morning!
After two days of rain, the worst two days of the winter said the locals, it was doubtful there would be a game on the Saturday. But Menorca CC were keen to make sure the Cryptics got to play at their beautiful ground notwithstanding how wet both pitch and outfield were.
A tight bowling performance by the 9-man Cryptics limited Menorca CC to 119 in their 30 overs. Tour Manager Alex Hutchinson bowled his leg breaks with great early season skill and a wet ball giving away only 7 runs from his 6 overs! When the Club lost its first wicket on the second ball of their innings the ability to chase 120 was in doubt. A superb 57 by Ben Hardy in a second wicket partnership of 99 with John Hamilton (33) should have made it a formality. But in true Cryptics style the loss of 4 wickets meant there were still 20 required off the last 3 overs. Superb tight bowling by Menorca contributed to the tension. In the end two great boundaries by Chris Ward and a nerveless 4 and a 2 from Alex Hutchinson ensured victory with 2 balls to spare.
The Tour Party dinner that night took place at Latitude 40 (a restaurant bar of that name not that specific location) after which the party split into two - the stayers and the non-stayers! It was perhaps fair to say that the two groups were immediately identifiable the next day!
Sunday was a much better day with some warm sunshine and blue skies. The Club were inserted and eventually got to 158 of their 40 overs. Extras (31), John Hamilton (31), Alec Hutchinson (31), Ben Hardy (21) and Jason Doole (20) all got going but no-one went on to get a big score. If just one had got 50+ then we would have had 170 which would have been more competitive. With openers whose total age was probably under 34, Menorca raced to 42 off 5 overs before Nick Priestnall pulled off a smart catch behind above his head to the left to dismiss the prolific Davies. Tom Gallagher hit powerfully for 55 before being caught with a stunning catch at square leg off a full-blooded pull by Porter. (Porter you ask? Didn't know Joe was on tour. Well he wasn't but his father Bob plays for Menorca and was loaned to the Club for the day!) While one end of the Menorca batting did not look very strong and the Club missed several run out and other chances, 13 year old Repton pupil Seb Sayer batted with great skill and level-headedness for one so young to see Menorca with 6 overs and 6 wickets in hand. The Cryptics bowling had given away far too many easy four-balls which made the chase easier than it should have been. Chris Ward bowled superbly yet again but with no luck ...again. (12.5 overs on tour for 47 runs.)
Back in the Club House both teams watched in disbelief as England first looked like winning and then snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in the World T20 final. The cricket concluded with warm speeches of welcome from Menorca and of our appreciation from Alex Hutchinson. All agreed it was a superb place to tour and we will be back!
PLAYERS' PLAYER OF THE TOUR: BEN HARDY
CHAMPAGNE MOMENT: JEREMY WINTER (for his antics to keep warm while umpiring on day one)
See Photo Gallery.