2024-06-29_Zagreb_Tour_Report

Zagreb Tour Report

DATE:  29 September 2024 (Season: 2024)

29 September – Game 1 Result: LOSS

29 September – Game 2 Result: LOSS

Tour Report

(Photos can be found here if we have any that are publishable)

Report by: Dills

Boxing Day – probably the most iconic day on the cricketing calendar. This morning, I watched a 19-year-old debutant Australian opener reverse ramp arguably the best bowler in the world in the opening session of a Test match – proving once again that the death of Test cricket is greatly exaggerated. This evening, however, I’m struggling to piece together exactly what happened three months ago as I attempt to write the Salix 2024 tour report. Fair warning, dear reader: things might get a bit hazy!

2023 marked the first year Salix didn’t venture abroad for a tour (barring 2020 for obvious pandemic reasons) since the club first started touring abroad in 2001. It was, therefore, fantastic to have the numbers to revive the tradition with a tour to Zagreb. Our last Croatian adventure was in 2010 on the island of Vis, a trip often reminisced about for its success. Expectations were high for another memorable outing.

We managed to scrape together 11 players – just about. Sadly, in the days leading up to the tour, Chairman Tim, who had done a splendid job organizing everything, had to pull out due to a family emergency. This year’s tour also had the delightful addition of four WAGs, all of whom were in imminent danger of being called up to the starting XI if injuries or missed flights struck…

Some of the team and their respective partners arrived in Zagreb early to explore the city and its surroundings. The rest of us trickled in across Thursday and Friday ahead of the scheduled games on Saturday and Sunday. Well, most of us. On Friday morning, Ollie cut things a bit too fine at the airport and ended up on the wrong side of a closed gate. After using his well-honed negotiation skills, BA kindly informed him he’d be rebooked on a flight arriving at 7 p.m. Saturday. Not ideal. With Ollie out of action for Saturday’s fixture, the WAGs began mentally preparing for their cricketing debuts.

Saturday morning greeted us with torrential rain. Despite pushing the start time back multiple times, the ground was declared waterlogged, and play was cancelled for the day.

But Kunal, on his first Salix tour in 15 years, was determined not to let the day go to waste. With the spirit of a man on a mission, he furiously Googled until he found a sports hall where we could play indoor cricket. Eight of us embraced this dream, while the others chose to explore Zagreb, indulge in massages, or catch up on sleep (delete as applicable). Our first stop turned out to be closed, and the second was an indoor padel court that was unsurprisingly deemed unsuitable for cricket. Finally, across the road, we found a school playground that was “perfect” by our very low standards.

Joined by three players from the opposition, we improvised a single-wicket game with an unnecessarily complicated scoring system (because cricket). We played for a couple of hours, satisfying our itch for cricket. The day continued with beers and a live second-division Croatian football match. It was surreal, but after the disappointment of the official game being cancelled, it felt like a small victory. The evening saw the team regroup at “Taste of India,” where Kunal stole the show by discovering a dusty piano and serenading us with The Beatles’ “Let It Be.” This inspired half the team to hunt for a karaoke bar, where Richard delivered a jaw-dropping rendition of “Under the Sea” from The Little Mermaid, and Kunal opted for the slightly more traditional “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol.

Sunday brought sunshine and optimism. An early start was agreed upon to squeeze in two T20 games. As we arrived at the ground, the previous day’s rain was evident on parts of the outfield. But the real challenge? The grass. It was long. Very, very, very long. Mowing it risked ruining the already sodden outfield, so we soldiered on. Spirits were high, buoyed by the fact that the three opposition players we met the previous day seemed to be nearing the twilight of their cricketing careers. That optimism quickly evaporated when we saw the rest of their squad: young, athletic, and clearly very talented. We had been hustled.

Match 1: Winning the toss, we opted to bat. Raj fell in the first over, and Arsey was run out in the next after being stitched up by Daveski. Two wickets down in two overs, and all our runs so far were extras. At 28/4 after 11 overs, it wasn’t exactly Bazball. The long grass meant boundaries were a distant dream. Thankfully, Richard and Krutik steadied the ship, putting on an unbeaten 55-run partnership to get us to 80/4 in 20 overs.

In the field, Deepak and Arsey struck early, while Richard starred with 4 wickets for 16 runs. At one point, we had them at 55/6 in the 14th over, but we couldn’t finish the job, and they chased down the target in the 18th over.

Match 2: Batting first this time, they posted 97 runs, with wickets shared among Krutik, Richard, Adam, Sham, Deepak, and Raj. Our chase started well, with Raj and Arsey scoring quickly. Raj retired hurt on 29 after a blow to the elbow sent him to the hospital for an X-ray. Wickets then fell regularly, with Christy being the only other batter to reach double figures. Despite taking it to the last over, we fell agonizingly short. Five run-outs didn’t help our cause as we desperately tried to accelerate.

Despite two losses, it was a fantastic day of cricket. Zagreb Sokol were wonderful hosts, going above and beyond to ensure we got some cricket in despite the weather.

The evening’s festivities featured Croatian cuisine and the tour awards. Richard and Krutik shared the batting honours, Richard claimed the bowling award, and Christy won the fielding award despite playing with a broken hand. The Champagne Moment went to Sham for taking a wicket with his first ball and heroically accompanying Raj to the hospital.

A huge thank you to Tim for organizing the tour. We missed his and Jules’ presence but are immensely grateful for his efforts. Thanks also to the WAGs, who made the tour infinitely more enjoyable. Here’s to the 2025 tour!