Danish Cricket Yearbook 2017

n Af Jeremy Bray A Danish Development side, led by Hamid Shah, went to Essex for a 3 match tour during the summer. The first game saw Denmark play against a strong combined pro- fessional XL. This side was a mixture of the best club pro- fessionals in the Essex region that were available. Denmark fielded first on what was to be a beautiful sunny day in Southend. The pitch was excellent for batting and the outfield was a good size and lightening fast. All con- ducive for a big scoring game. The professionals reached a score of around 330, with one of there Indian overseas pros getting a fantastic century, although he was dropped early on in his innings. All the bowlers found it tough going in the heat and flat pitch. Anders Bülow led the seam attack pretty much by himself as Basit Raja pulled out with injury the morning of the game. The conditions provided a great challenge for our young spin attack of Saif Ahmed, Anique Uddin, Nicolaj Dam- gaard and Hamid Shah, all of whom would have benefit- ted greatly from the experience. The Danes got off to a great start, Saif Ahmed fell early but Jonas Henriksen and Shangeev Thas put up over a hundred partnership before Shangeev fell close to his 50. Jonas Henriksen had a few good partnerships along the way but fell in the 90’s. A few big hits from Oliver Hald brought the score over the 300 mark however it was too little too late as the Danes lost in a closely fought game. A fantastic achievement considering the strength of the opposition, and the Danish Development side having no fewer than four U18 players in its lineup. The second game saw Denmark play a near full strength Dutch senior side at the beautiful Garron Park. The Danes won the toss and put the Dutch in. Conditions were excel- lent for batting with short boundaries straight and light- ening fast outfield. Basit Raja returned to the side, while only bowling a few overs before coming off, he had no fewer than three op- portunities missed plus getting a wicket. Basit has been the standout bowler for the senior side and if fully fit could be a force to reckon with. The Dutch at one point looked like they were going to get above 300 but some fantastic bowling from Anders Bülow who got 5 wickets and excellent containment from the spinner, Anique Uddin and Saif Ahmad in particular, plus Oliver Hald, saw the Dutch reach a very gettable 240. Unfortunately Shangeev Thas, who got another 40, and Frederik Klokker batting low down were the only real contributors and the development side fell well short of the target. A disappointing end to what could and should have been a famous victory. The following day Denmark development side took on an Essex Academy side which was primarily made up of U20 year old players. Denmark won the toss on a very good batting pitch which provided small boundaries either side of the wicket and one straight. The game was a 40 over affair due to flight issues. Jonas Henriksen and Shangeev Thas continued their good form with Jonas again passing the 50 mark. Hamid Shah also passed the 50 mark and Oliver Hald scored valuable quick runs at the end. The Danes were about 40 runs be- low par on this ground. A score of 280+ was the minimum. The Essex Academy side got off to a slow start. However, partnerships kept building, combined with some very sloppy fielding from the Danes, saw the Academy side as clear favorites. Some lusting hitting in the last few overs from the Academy side meant that they only needed less than 10 runs off the final over. Oliver Hald was the man thrown the ball to. He was to be the hero as he contained their batters and a few wickets fell to see the Danish Development side as winners. Nice win for Denmark. This trip was an invaluable tour development wise for all involved. A special mention goes to Hamid Shah, his first experience as captaining the Danish side, albeit a devel- opment one. Hamid grew in confidence each day and I am sure Hamid will go on to bigger and better things leader- ship wise. Also a special mention to player of the tour, Jonas Hen- riksen. Jonas passed 50 on two occasions out of the three matches whilst opening the batting. Jonas has a huge fu- ture ahead of him as a genuine all-rounder if he puts in the hard work. Hopefully tours like this where senior players are mixed in with youth become more often as the benefits are all there to see. Essex tour Danish Development Squad Anfører Hamid Shah yderst til højre Træner Jeremy Bray lægger taktikken Essex holdet I 28 I DANSK CRICKET ÅRSSKRIFT 20 17