Belgium tour India
On December 20th, Simon Newport, Jamie Farmiloe and Ken Farmiloe left Zaventem for Mumbai. The rest of the team, boys from Antwerp Indians CC, had already left to stay in their own accommodation. The squad was made up of boys ranging from 14 yrs to 19 yrs.
With no time to acclimatise, the first match took place the next day at the lovely Bombay Gymkhana ground. The strong home side notched up a formidable 294 off 35 overs helped by many dropped catches and a lot of sloppy fielding. However, Belgium started their reply in splendid fashion with openers Nirvam Shah (53) and Vishal Shah (49) putting on 59 off the first 6 overs. Rachin Shah (38) and Abhishek Mehta (33) kept Belgium in the hunt but the run-rate slowed and wickets fell at regular intervals with Belgium ending on 223 all out.
The second match on 22nd December was hosted by PJ Hindhu Gymkhana. Belgium batted first and totalled 226 in 30 overs with Nirvam Shah (65), Rachin Shah (71), Simon Newport (25) and Arpan Meha (21*) starring with the bat. A much improved fielding and bowling performance gave Belgium a good chance of winning but a last wicket partnership of 64 runs guided PJ Hindhu Gymkhana to a 1 wicket win.
The next match at Fort Vijay on 24th December was an amazing experience. The wicket looked good but the outfield looked like a rubbish dump with paper, cans, and stones covering it. An effort was made to clean it up a bit but it was not an outfield to dive on! The boundary was difficult to fathom out but we had two experienced local umpires to judge the fours and sixes. The ground is part of an enormous green belt with plenty of official and unofficial games going on. During the game hundreds of locals wandered aimlessly across the outfield, sometimes even through the slip cordon!
Fort Vijay batted first scoring 234 in 30 overs. Shalin Shah (2-24) bowled superbly off his 6 overs. Belgium's reply started badly with their star batsman, Nirvam Shah, out off the second ball. Wickets fell regularly and only Jamie Farmiloe (25) batted well in the final total of 103.
Roland Lefebvre and his Dutch Under 17 squad arrived on Boxing Day and stayed at the impressive Cricket Club of India (CCI). The stadium is by far the best cricket location in Bombay, but due to differences with the Bombay Cricket Federation, One-day Internationals are played at the nearby run-down Wankhede stadium. CCI hosts the World Cricket Academy, so the Dutch took full advantage of the excellent intensive training with at least 20 net bowlers.
The last match of the tour was played on December 28th at the Police Gymkhana ground as a day/night match under floodlights. Holland Under 17s batted first and were soon in trouble due to a fine opening spell from Shashank Kothari (3-13). He claimed the three top order batsmen, including Alexei Kervezee, the talented Dutch National player for 1. Bob Entrop (63) and Ollie Lodder (39) rescued the Dutch from real embarrassment ending on 162 for 7 in 30 overs. A fine performance by the young Belgian team.
Belgium started slowly in their reply and progressed to 123 all out due to some reckless batting and some accurate bowling. Only Shalin Shah (26) and Simon Newport (33*) batted well.
Although the Belgium boys lost all their matches, the experience gained was immeasurable.
Many thanks must go to Naresh Shah who arranged the matches and to all those who made our stay so enjoyable.