3rd September, first round, first match.
A very hot and humid day in Trento, with temperatures in the middle thirties, saw captain Weston lose the toss against Trentino and being asked to field. The opposition appeared to be mainly of Pakistani heritage with their known preference for tonking the ball around with massive swinging hits. The rules of the tournament were that players had to retire on reaching 25 and the opening Trentino batsman, a gentleman with a rather solid figure, retired when he had reached 31 – he should actually have retired one ball and four runs earlier. That was his final contribution to the game for he neither fielded nor bowled but was replaced by another, more athletic player. The four MCC bowlers used went for around 10 runs per over, the exception being Wright who took one for 13 in his two overs. The cummulative Trentino scores at the end of each over were 0 -12, 0 – 22, 0 – 32, 1 – 34, 1 – 45, 1 – 54, 1 – 67 and 2 – 78.
Weston and Clare opened the batting for MCC and the scoring was slow, the first boundary coming in the third over with the 15th ball of the innings. After the seventh over things were looking gloomy, MCC reaching only 60 for 2. However Wright did some marvellous tonking before being run out spectacularly after easily making his ground and Sarma and Turner then took us to 78 with an exciting two runs off the last ball of the innings.
MCC`s cummulative scores after each over were 0 – 5, 0 – 10, 0 – 24, 0 – 32, 1 – 40, 2 – 50, 2 – 60, 3 – 78.
Weston 24, caught, 1 catch
Clare 13, caught, 2 overs, 0 mdns, 21 runs, 0 wkts
Wright 23, run out, 2 overs, 0 mdns, 13 runs, 1 wkt
Sarma 8*, 2 overs, 0 mdns, 23 runs, 0 wkts
Turner 4*,
Fudge DNB, 2 overs, 0 mdns, 21 runs, 0 wkts
MCC, 78 for 3, tied with Trentino, 78 for 2.
3rd September, first round second match
Captain Weston lost the toss and MCC were put in to bat by Indomita, a team from Trento consisting mainly of Italians but not including Guido “Hitta ze Rabbish” Ronconi. Weston and Fudge opened the innings and scored at a rapid rate, Fudge falling in the third over with the score on 34. Embleton at number three was the only MCC batsman having to retire during the weekend after he scored 26. Some powerful hitting and aggressive running took MCC to a good score, the cummulative scores after each over being 0 – 11, 0 – 33, 1 – 41, 1 – 48, 1 – 63, 1 – 81, 2 – 89, 3 – 94.
Clare and Embleton opened the bowling, Embleton taking a wicket with only his second ball. In the first over Clare had run out the other opening batsman with a quick gather-and-throw off his own bowling. The scoring was kept to a moderate rate and Indomita were three wickets down after the alloted eight overs. The cummulative scores were:
1 – 6, 2 – 10, 2 – 18, 3 – 23, 3 – 24, 3 – 31, 3 – 38, 3 – 46
Weston 22, caught, 1 over, 0 mdns, 7 runs, 0 wkts, 1 catch
Fudge 23, bowled, 1 over, 0 mdns, 8 runs, 0 wkts
Embleton 26* retired, 2 overs, 0 mdns, 9 runs, 2 wkts,
Turner 12, caught, 1 catch
Sarma 3*, 2 overs, 0 mdns, 15 runs, 0 wkts
Clare 2*, 2 overs, 0 mdns, 6 runs, 0 wkts.
MCC, 94 – 3, beat Indomita, 46 – 3 by 48 runs.
4th September, semi-final
Having competed well in the first round matches, MCC were not quite up to standard for this match – was it the long wait for the ice cream, the excess of vino, the impressive views in the Piazza or the excertions of the Pink Flamingo? I guess we will never know.
Captain Weston made it three in a row for the toss and MCC were asked to field by Trento. Clare opened the bowling and after taking a wicket off his third ball things were looking up. Embleton, his opening bowling partner also had a good first over but thereafter it went pear-shaped. Trento finished with 105 from their eight overs, two of their batsmen retiring having reached 25. The cummulative scores were.
1 – 3, 1 – 16, 1 – 32, 1 – 47, 1 – 58, 2 – 79, 2 – 89, 2 – 105.
Weston and Clare opened for MCC and found scoring to be very difficult, in fact only one boundary was scored in the complete MCC innings whereas Trento had scored 17. Weston top scored with 19 but after 6 overs the match was finished, the cummulative scores being:
0 – 6, 0 – 16, 1 – 23, 1 – 34, 3 – 45, 5 – 52.
Weston 19, bowled, 1 catch
Clare 7, bowled, 2 overs, 0 mdns, 20 runs, 1 wkt
Embleton 4, caught, 2 overs, 0 mdns, 28 runs, 0 wkts
Wright 2, bowled, 2 overs, 0 mdns, 21 runs, 0 wkts
Sarma 6, run out, 2 overs, 0 mdns, 35 runs, 1 wkt
Turner 1*
MCC, 52 – 5, lost to Trento, 105 – 2 by 53 runs.
MCC player of the tournament, the pink flamingo
