Geneva Cricket Club

In the crook of the Rhone, with the alps in the distance, the Bout du Monde ground is an unexpected gem in this Francophone city, noted for all kinds of things other than cricket. Having arrived blearily from a big night on the town, we were warmly welcomed by Hascal and his youthful team of subcontinental players (plus one stray Englishman).

Putting themselves in, they began slowly – we figured that they reversed the order to give the lesser bats an outing – but once the first three wickets had gone down, they stepped on the gas. Their number six, in particular, hit 108 at speed and retired, while their number 11 made 42. Even so, we took all 11 wickets, since they were keen to field 12 men, which made for lots of celebration.

With 281 on the board, it was a daunting prospect, softened by a delicious curry and cake for tea. As soon as we started our innings the gulf in ability began to yawn. Their bowling attack was far better than their batting, making the most of the artificial wicket to produce a wicked bounce that had us reaching for helmets. Paul Cook and James Weymes were the only players to get the measure of their bowling, with Paul proving especially dominant, hitting seven fours and two sixes. But once he was gone for 62, with the score on just 120, there was little prospect of another 160 runs from anyone else. Never mind, great time had by all.