MCC matches gives young players chance to impress

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23: They might not seem like critical matches, but the MCC Tour of Bermuda could mean everything to the island’s young cricketers.

Bermuda’s next matches won’t be until March when Bermuda plays in the world Twenty/20 championships.

While the young cricketers will always earn nods of approval for a positive work ethic, nothing impresses like a top performance in a match.

Coach David Moore said this is a great opportunity for the youngsters.

“We’re looking for indications on how those guys are going to play against quality opposition so we can make judgments toward selections for the Dubai T/20 in March, 2012.

“This is going to be a last opportunity to play against opposition and a great opportunity to present themselves for selection and show what they can do.

“This will give us a great indication of not only on how guys can handle not only the physical side of the game but the mental side of the game too.”

The coach added he wanted to see how well the players read the game, depending on the situation.

“This is very important. We are improving in this area and we improved on it when we were in Fort Lauderdale, but we have to keep on improving on it.

“This is important to see how we respond to different scenarios in games so we can push home and win games rather than just miss out on victory.

“It’s important that we focus on winning games.

“But it’s also important to know how to play in different pressure situations.

Difficult

Moore said it wasn’t ‘helpful’ that this will be the team’s last set of matches before the world championships.

“But we have to play within our resources and we can only do what our budget allows us to do.

“It is difficult, but we have to make the best with what we’ve got.

“We’re going to be working hard to make sure we’re working best within our resources.”

Moore was excited to give some of the younger players a chance to prove themselves.

Bermuda has selected a squad of 26 to kit up for the various MCC matches.

Guys like Tre Manders, Regino Smith, Lateef Trott and Kamal Easton all should get a good run out against the MCC.

Other players like Sammy Robinson and Glenn Blakeney will get a chance to fight for a spot.

“We want to see if Glenn can come back to the form he had in international cricket previously.”

He said all the players will have a chance to “push for their selection” for the world championships.

He added Bermuda does not have any injuries so that’s a huge plus.

“It’s unusual and a pleasant surprise. That shows these guys are in better shape because of the work they are doing. The lack of injury is a direct reflection on the fitness programme that they’ve run in the offseason.”

MCC Tour / Who’s who versus Bermuda

Craig Wright
Captain
Age: 37
Region: Scotland
RH bat, RA off spin
He enjoys most sports and backs Aberdeen and Manchester United, he also plays a lot of golf. He played 194 games for Scotland between 1997 and 2009 taking 256 wickets at 23.80. He also captained Scotland in 107 matches including the 2007 World Cup and 2009 T20 World Cup. He currently plays for Watsonian CC.

Andre Geldenhuys
Age: 41
Region: London
RH bat, RA medium
A right hand opening batsman, born and educated in Stellenbosch, Cape Town. Andre played representative cricket at school, whilst in the military and at Stellenbosch University. He also played 20 years of Premier League cricket in Western Province, then Boland and in Gauteng.  He relocated with his wife and son to the UK during 2008 and is a qualified attorney who works at Nedbank Capital in London.

Andrew Birley
Age: 34
Region: North West
RH bat, RA medium
Andrew lives in Cheshire with his wife Rachael. He has a chartered financial planning practice in Chester.
He plays for Oxton CC in the Cheshire Premier League and was elected as a member at the start of this year.He has represented Cheshire and has also played five games at Lords, the last time being the final the National Knockout Final in 2001, winning it with Bramhall CC.

Craig DeWeymarn
Age: 29
Region: South West
RH
Craig grew up playing cricket at his home town club of Wellington CC in Birmingham but for the last three seasons he has been captaining a very succesful Bournemouth CC who managed to win the Cockspur Twenty20 Club Championship in 2009 and the Southern Premier League in 2010.  He has recently been appointed as head of physiotherapy at Hampshire CCC.

Paul Muchall
Age: 24
Region: North East
RH bat, RA medium fast
Paul is in his second year as an MCC Young Cricketer, he is a top order batsman and an opening bowler.  In the off-season he has coached in Argentina and Hong Kong and plans on returning for a second spell at Hong Kong CC after the tour. This will be his second trip with MCC having been part of the squad for MCC’s trip to Abu Dhabi earlier this year to play against Champion County; Nottinghamshire. He is also an MCC Candidate.

Chris Benham
Age: 28
Region: South
RH bat, RA off spin
Chris Benham made his county debut in 2004 scoring 74 against Derbyshire. He represented England at junior level, and also played first-class cricket for Loughborough UCCE. His first major mark on the professional game came when he struck 158 in the 2006 Pro40 play-off against Glamorgan.
He currently plays for the Unicorns, this will be his first tour for MCC.

Richard Gilbert
Age: 31
Region: Home Counties
RH bat, RA Fast medium
Richard teaches at Magdalen College School in Oxford as the Head of Cricket and PE.  Whilst growing he was a member of Scarborough Cricket Club. He has represented Oxford Minor County and his other interests include playing hockey and skiing as much as possible during the winter. This is his fourth year as a full member of the club, and he has enjoyed the opportunity to meet and play with some now good friends and in some wonderful places.

Michael Baer
Age: 24
Region: North West
LH, LA off spin
Michael spent three seasons with Lancashire whilst also studying at Loughborough University. He captained the MCCU team in his final year.  He now works as a trainee accountant with Baker Tilly in Manchester.
Away from cricket he enjoys socialising, watching Arsenal and good food. This will be his second tour with MCC having previously been to the Netherlands.

Tim Van Noort
Age: 37
Region: South East
RH bat, RA medium fast
A full time cricket coach working at a private school in Sussex Tim also runs his own cricket academy.
He is a fun loving person but takes his cricket very seriously once across that white line. He has represented SA at indoor cricket of which he is very proud but says his job now is to develop players for both Sussex and England.

Josh Knappett
Age: 26
Region: Home Counties
RH bat, WK
Tall, dark but certainly not handsome. Josh earned the nickname ‘badger’ throughout university and at Worcestershire due to his promptness and training ethics and abundance of useless facts.
He has a lot of coaching experience and has previously toured twice with the club to Botswana & Zambia and also Fiji & Samoa. Has tried his hardest over the past few years to make drinking a strength of his but is failing miserably.

Chris Thompson
Age: 24
Region: London
RH bat, RA medium
Chris represented England u19’s in 2006 and joined the MCC YC’s from Surrey thereafter. He also had a spell at Leicestershire and more recently has played with the Unicorns.
He is an aggressive opening batsman and reliable seamer.

Steve Hobson
Age: 33
Region: London
TH bat, RA off spin
Steve enjoys playing positively, he likes scoring runs quickly or making things happen in the field, either with the ball in hand or whilst fielding.
He enjoys nothing more than having sinking a couple of beers after the game to celebrate a successful day on the field.

Will Jones
Age: 21
Region: London
RH, RA leg spin
Will is currently studying at Cardiff University and is a member of the Cardiff University MCCU team.
He is also a member of the Leicestershire CCC squad.
He has never been to Bermuda and is looking forward to a whole host of new experiences and having a good time both on and off the field. Will is currently an MCC Candidate.

Mike Griffith
Manager
Mike played for Cambridge University and then Sussex, he was captain of Sussex for three years. A wicket keeper/batsman who played 276 first class matches.
He is the current MCC Chairman of Cricket, he worked in the City after cricket for Willis doing reinsurance and is now retired. This will be Mike’s second tour as manager having led a succesful tour to UAE & Oman in 2010.

John Tythcott
Umpire
A retired Police Officer who took up umpiring and served on the Minor Counties panel for almost 20 years. In the winter he is a Referees’ Assessor for The Professional Game Match Officials Board covering The Football League and The Football Conference together with Contributory League Football.  He is currently Chairman of the Norfolk Association of Cricket Officials (an affiliated body to the ECBACO).

Geoffrey Boycott
Ambassador
Geoffrey is now a well known voice on TMS and has worked on Channel 5’s cricket coverage. Between 1964 and 1982 he played 108 test matches for England amassing 8114 runs at an average of 47.72
He is well known for his impenetrable defence and for his strong opinions on the game.  This will be his first MCC Tour as MCC ambassador and he will be accompanied by his wife Rachael.