The Swiss U19s team, ably coached by Simon Drake, competed in an U19 cricket festival in Berlin from 27th - 31st July 2017, finishing 3rd from 4 in both the T20 and ODI competitions.
Organised by the DCB there were 5 days of T20 & ODI cricket involving U19 teams from hosts Germany, Switzerland, Belgium & Norway on the Maifeld cricket grounds (Olympia-Glockenturm, Am
Glockenturm 1, 14053 Berlin, Germany).
The festival began with a two-day U19 Twenty20 round-robin tournament, followed by a three-day tournament in an ODI 50 over format using ICC regulations/powerplays.
GermanCricketTV filmed all games with nine cameras (wicket cams, from the boundary & on the umpires), while a film crew from Belgium made a documentary about Belgian Cricket.
Here is the Swiss squad (in alphabetical order):
No. | Name | |
1 | Thomas Allen | |
2 | Aidan Andrews+ | |
3 | Freddie Drake | |
4 | Hemant Ganesh | |
5 | Rohan Jain | |
6 | Ruwan Jayakody (vc) | |
7 | Ruan Kruger | |
8 | Oli Millar | |
9 | Dayn Pariaug | |
10 | Simon Pearce+ | |
11 | Ale Poynton | |
12 | Jai Sinh" | |
13 | Floris Winckel |
Result – Switzerland lost the game by 43 runs.
Notable Swiss performances: J Sinh – 3 for 8, A Poynton – 2 for 40, A Andrews – 41, R Jayakody – 18
Switzerland won the toss on a cloudy and wet afternoon and decided to bowl first. A tight spell by the opening bowlers had Germany in a bit of a bind at 56 for 5 at the end of 11 overs.
Thereafter Germany stabilised their innings and scored strongly in the last 5 overs to finish their inning with a slightly above par score of 131 for 7.
The Swiss reply was sedate with the bat and unfortunately kept loosing wickets at regular intervals. Germany was a disciplined bowling side and managed to keep the Swiss scoring rate down; with
the visitors ultimately finishing at 88 for 7.
Result – Switzerland won by 8 wickets.
Notable Swiss Performances: H Ganesh – 4 for 28, J Sinh – 3 for 30, J Sinh – 44*, R Jayakody – 31*
On a bright sunny morning, the Swiss 19s took on Norway. Norway won the toss and selected to bat first. The Swiss opening bowlers were a bit loose and got worked around the park for runs. Quick
bowling changes resulted in more runs, until the spinners came on and changed the game around. The Swiss spinning pair of Jain and Ganesh showed great guile and had Norway reeling, till they were
bowled out for 128 runs in 19.1 overs.
The Swiss reply was crisp and confident; with the opening pair keeping the scoreboard ticking. The first Swiss wicket fell on 41 and by then the stage had been set for a comfortable run
chase. The batsmen kept focussed and continued collecting regular boundaries, finally passing the oppositions score in 17.2 overs….a great victory for our youths!!
Result – Switzerland lost by 29 runs.
Notable Swiss performances: D Pariaug – 3 for 26, R Jain – 2 for 20, A Poynton – 21, T Allen – 21*
The bright sun continued to shine for the second T20 match in the afternoon. Switzerland lost the toss and Belgium elected to bat first. The Swiss bowling was accurate and the fielding sharp,
keeping the opposition down to a manageable scoring rate. Belgium finally finished their 20 overs on 128 for the loss of 7 wickets. This was the exact score which the Swiss had conceded in the
first game of the day as well.
Confident Switzerland embarked on the chase and played quite freely. A touch of complacency then followed and the Swiss 19s lost wickets on regular intervals. Some odd run outs and the innings
finished on 99 for the loss of 8 wickets. A painful loss for a side which was showing great skills and promise.
Germany won the tournament with 3 outright wins.
Aidan Andrews from Switzerland was adjudged as
the best batsman of the tournament and Raja Saqlain
Ali Tasawar Iqbal of Belgium as the best bowler.
Date | Time | Format | Match | Pitch | Officials |
Thursday 27th July | 3pm | T20 | Germany v Switzerland | 1 | H.Shah, J.Altmann |
3pm | T20 | Norway v Belgium | 2 | A.Schou, A.Mackay | |
Friday 28th July | 10.30am | T20 | Germany v Belgium | 1 | J.Altmann, A.Mackay |
10.30am | T20 | Norway v Switzerland | 2 | A.Schou, H.Shah | |
3pm | T20 | Germany v Norway | 2 | H.Shah, A.Mackay | |
3pm | T20 | Switzerland v Belgium | 1 | A.Schou, J.Altmann |
Norway U19s 238-8 off 50,0 overs (A.Sheik 82, H.Glanfield 30 / J.Sinh 10.0-0-49-2, R.Kruger 3.0-0-12-2) beat Switzerland U19s 154ao off 35.3 overs (A.Poynton 26 / A.Sheikh 10.0-0-43-3) by 80 runs
Germany beat Switzerland
Belgium beat Switzerland
Saturday 29th July | 10.30am | ODI | Germany v Belgium | 1 | A.Mackay, J.Altmann |
10.30am | ODI | Switzerland v Norway | 2 | H.Shah, A.Schou | |
Sunday 30th July | 10.30am | ODI | Germany v Switzerland | 2 | A.Schou, H.Shah |
10.30am | ODI | Norway v Belgium | 1 | A.Mackay, J.Altmann | |
Monday 31st July | 10.30am | ODI | Germany v Norway | 1 | A.Schou, H.Shah |
10.30am | ODI | Switzerland v Belgium | 2 | J.Altmann, A.Mackay |
More information is available from Simon Drake.