So after a long Summer of hard work, the M&H team joined by some customers and current pros decided to travel to the well known cricketing island of Ibiza to play some friendly cricket. The day was Saturday the 9th of October, the location was Ibiza Cricket Club and the format was T20 cricket.
M&H went into bat first with professional Jake Lintott and media man Anton tasked with getting the tourists off to a quick start, and after Lintott smashed a full delivery through the covers that seemed like it would be the case. However, Lintott found himself caught at point for a mediocre five and instantly the tourists realised this would be no walk in the park. Anton added some early firepower and found himself the boundary a handful of times before being run out by his colleague Elliott Trotman.
Trotman’s lack of acceleration hindered the tourists, even with quick scores from Gloucestershire's Tom Lace and George Hankins, the M&H team found themselves struggling to 127 from 20 overs.
The visitors, however low a score it seemed, were confident in what they had with the bowling attack. Captain and Somerset bowling coach Steve Kirby was tasked with getting the M&H boys some early wickets, and after the Ibiza opening batsman timed a Lara-Esque cover drive to the boundary, the man they knew as ‘Tango’ had a fire lit in his belly. He proceeded to bowl two overs of self proclaimed ‘heat’ and put the hosts under pressure. This was before a solid partnership from Ibiza’s dynamic Dutch duo put the hosts in the driving seat, and with one over to spare, took them over the line. Credit must go to M&H customer Tim Gibbs whose bowling figures of 2/11 off two overs gave the visiting M&H side hope before being taken off for Trotman who proceeded to bowl 15mph off-spin.
Later in the afternoon, M&H took on their second side of the day in the London New Zealanders Cricket Club (LNZCC). LNZCC had played Ibiza the day before and were coming off a win, so hearing us being beaten motivated them… or so we thought. M&H elected to bowl first and Kirby started how he finished, proceeding to take key early wickets and put the LNZCC on the ropes. Once again, Tim Gibbs offered stability in the middle overs and further exceptional fielding from the M&H team led to LNZCC only managing a score of 97 from their 20 overs. The game was M&H’s game to lose!
Tim Gibbs and Tom Lace walked out to the crease to take on the opening bowlers, and bring back the win. Gibbs was dismissed early, however, Lace showed his professionalism and controlled the game throughout the power play and eventually was dismissed in the tenth over. This brought Jake Lintott to the crease and soon after, customer Russell Jennings, whose partnership included some exceptional shot selection which gave the M&H team their first… and last win on tour.
