Cricket World XI in Corfu
Cricket World XI in Corfu Greece September 1991
Played 4 Won 0 Drawn 0 Tied 0 Lost 4
CWXI enjoyed a first vist to Corfu in September 1991. We stayed at The Cricketers Inn at Liapades and the tour was organised by British Consul, John Forte who had revived cricket aftr World War 2 and nutured it thereafter. The Party consisted of-Michael Blumberg & Annette Tiberghien, Jack Hyams, Reg Scarlett, Keith Booth, Roger Montgomery, Gordon Hewitt, Richard Lanyon & girl friend, Bill Rodwell, Alan Hobson, Simon Stentiford and Jo Jordan, Brian Milner.
We played three matches against Feax, Gymnastikos and Byron and a fourth against a Combined XI. We lost all four, the last by just three runs in the pitch dark. With injuries suffered by party members and some taking an excursion to Zakynthos several Greek players also played for us in matches two and three.
View of the secluded beach at Liapades Dining area at the The Cricketeers Inn
Cricket World XI v Feax September 26th The Liston Espinade Corfu Town Greece 33/33 overs match
Result:Feax won by 75 runs
Toss:Feax
Umpires:Not Recorded
Scorer:Bill Rodwell & Mrs Bogdanos?
FEAX CC Innings
? Pigis bowled Blumberg 45
? Garyniatis c & b Scarlett 28
S Kantaros bowled Scarlett 23
T Bogdanos bowled Scarlett 2
D Bogdanos bowled Blumberg 1
? Dafnis bowled Blumberg 43
? Aygerinos not out 35
N Dimisianos not out 23
Extras (b3,lb6,w3,nb3) 15
TOTAL (6 wickets,33 overs) 215
Dnb:? Vasilas,? Gianoulis,? Kapodistrias
Fow:Not recorded
Bowling-Booth 4 0 32 0,Hyams 3 0 23 0,Scarlett 13 0 58 4,Blumberg 13 0 92 3.
CRICKET WORLD XI Innings
J Hyams c Dimisianos b Kantaros 33
R Lanyon c Dafnis b D Bogdanos 30
R Montgomery c & b Aygerinos 18
G Hewitt not out 17
R Scarlett c Pigis b T Bogdanos 25
ME Blumberg not out 6
Extras (b0,lb1,w7,nb1) 9
TOTAL (4 wickets,33 overs) 138
Dnb:K Booth,A Hobson,S Stentiford,J Jordan,W Rodwell.
Fow:1-54,2-87,3-87,4-128.
Bowling-Kapodistrias 4 0 9 0,Gianoulis 4 0 17 0,Basilas 2 0 12 0,D Bogdanos 5 0 21 1,Dafnis 2 0 9 0,Kantaros 9 1 47 1,Aygerinos 2 0 6 1,T Bogdanos 5 0 16 1.
Cricket World XI v Gymnastikos CC September 27th The Liston Espinade Corfu Town Greece
33/33 overs match
Result: Gymnastikos won by 54 runs
Toss: Gymnastikos
Umpires: Not recorded
Scorer: Bill Rodwell & ?
GYMNASTIKOS CC Innings
D Christou c ? b Hewitt 44
J Misfut c ? b Scarlett 64
S Tsaggaropoulos bowled Scarlett 1
J Nikitas c Hewitt b Milner 7
G Patrikious c Lanyon b Milner 14
G Vramis bowled Blumberg 21
V Vrahliotis not out 19
S Grimmas not out 14
Extras (b0,lb6,w0,nb0) 6
TOTAL (6 wickets,33 overs) 190
Dnb~:N Bouhaier,N Vramis,A Sloubalis.
Fow:1-80,2-81,3-106,4-130,5-148,6-160.
Bowling-Booth 3 0 33 0,Scarlett 16 0 58 2,Hewitt 4 0 45 1,Milner 5 0 33 2,Blumberg 5 1 15 1.
CRICKET WORLD XI Innings
R Lanyon st Vrahliotis b Nikitas 41
R Montgomery c Vrahliotis b Misfoot 37
B Atgerinos st Vrahliotis b Nikitas 7
S Kantaros bowled Misfoot 12
R Scarlett c ? b Nikitas 5
ME Blumberg c & b Nikitas 3
J Hyams not out 17
A Hobson st Vrahliotis b Nikitas 16
G Hewitt not out 0
Extras (b2,lb3,w0,nb1) 6
TOTAL (7 wickets,33 overs) 144
Dnb:B Milner,K Booth.
Fow:1-70,2-84,3-100,4-101,5-107,6-110,7-144.
Bowling-Patrikos 3 0 9 0,Nikitas 14 0 70 5,Misfoot 13 0 40 2,Christou 2 0 20 0,Bouhaier 1 1 0 0.
Cricket World XI v Byron CC September 30th The Liston Espinade Corfu Town Greece 33/33 overs match
Result:Byron won by 87 runs
Toss:Byron CC
Umpires:Not recorded
Scorer:Bill Rodwell & ?
BYRON CC Innings
G Kourkoulos c Dimisianos b Milner 32
? Anemogianis bowled Lanyon 5
? Prosoparis bowled Scarlett 7
F Kourkoulos bowled Milner 10
T Galanis c Hyams b Milner 8
F Skourtis c Montgomery b Blumberg 58
S Kolas c Dimisianis b Lanyon 56
? Balos not out 4
? Stogiannos run out 0
M Batsomitis not out 0
Extras (b11,lb1,w0,nb0) 12
TOTAL (8 wickets,30 overs) 192
Dnb:G Vassilakis.
Fow:1-8,2-49,3-49,4-?,5-?6-?,7-192,8-192.
Bowling-Scarlett 8 2 27 1,Lanyon 9 0 56 2,Milner 5 0 26 3,Kantaros 4 0 27 0,Blumberg 4 0 44 1.
CRICKET WORLD XI Innings
R Lanyon bowled Galanis 11
R Scarlett lbw b Galanis 15
S Kantaros c? b Galanis 2
J Hyams run out 2
N Dimisianos c ? b Galanis 9
R Montgomery run out 20
ME Blumberg c ? b Galanis 0
G Hewitt not out 30
K Booth not out 8
Extras (b0,lb0,w6,nb0) 6
TOTAL (7 wkts,30 overs) 105
Dnb:B Milner,W Rodwell.
Fow:1-23,2-25,3-27,4-32,5-49,6-50,7-72.
Bowling-Galanis 13 2 46 5,Skourtis 12 2 40 0,Anemogiannis 2 0 12 0,Kolas 1 0 3 0,Vassilakis 1 0 2 0,Kourkoulis 1 0 2 0.
Cricket World XI v Corfu Combined XI October 1st The Liston Espinade Corfu Town Greece 33/33 overs match
Result:Corfu Combined XI won by 3 runs
Toss:Corfu CC
Umpires:Not recorded
Scorer:Bill Rodwell & ?
CORFU COMBINED XI Innings
Scorecard Vanished
TOTAL(?,wkts,27 overs) 121
Fow:Not recorded
Bowling-Missing
CRICKET WORLD XI Innings
R Lanyon c Kourkoulos b Dafnis 0
D Christou c Skourtis b Avgerianos 1
J Hyams bowled Vassilas 7
R Scarlett c Avgerinos b Skourtis 47
R Montgomery bowled Vassilas 30
G Hewitt not out 14
T Bogdanos run out 12
ME Blumberg c Kourkoulis b Kolas 4
Extras (b0,lb1,w4,nb1) 6
TOTAL (6 wickets,27 overs) 121
Dnb:K Booth,B Milner,W Rodwell.
Fow: 1-0,2-4,3-12,4-80,5-97,6-116,7-121.
Bowling-Dafnis 5 1 15 1,Avgerianos 3 0 17 1,Vassilas 5 1 10 2,Kapodistrias 5 0 34 0,Skourtis 5 0 31 1,Kolas 3.5 0 13 1.
Defeat in the dark
The game started late and so was reduced to 27 overs each. We had begun to learn the nuances of Corfu cricket by this time and by judicious field placing and taking the pace off the ball we constrained the locals to a modest 121.
After a poor start a fine stand between Reg Scarlett and Roger Montgomery had set us en route to victory. However the light was already failing when we started our innings and was further delayed as a fight broke out in the car park. As the evening set in so coach drivers began returning with their passengers and attempted to re enter the car park. With the car park full it is much easier to hit boundaries as a car or coach hit is immediately recorded as four. The local cricketers were keen to keep the car park free of vehicles during our innings and this resulted in several confrontations between fielders and coach drivers eventually exploding into a fight with dangerous weapons, cricket bats and car wrenches.
All this delayed play further and the light darkened and yet Reg Scarlett with 47 and Montgomery with 30 had taken us to 97-5 in the 21st over. Further runs from guest Bogdanos and Gordon Hewitt found us on 115 with two overs to go. Gordon hit a single whereupon Bogdanos was run out. Blumberg hit two twos leaving us with four runs to win off the last over over. Gordon declared he could not see a thing and Blumberg concurred. Somehow they scrambled a legbye leaving three to win with two balls left.
The batsmen conferred and it was agreed that Gordon Hewitt would shout as the bowler bowled. Blumberg still missed the next ball however he made contact with the following, a full toss, a screaming top edge and the ball zoomed high towards the boundary, Hewitt and Blumberg ran like hell and were considering a third for no one knew where the ball was! No one that is, except wicket keeper Kourkoulis. He had sprinted into the distance towards third man and now claimed a miraculous catch.
Well no one was in a position to contest or verify the catch and in the true spirit of cricket the batsmen accepted the fielder's claim and walked off to another defeat. Beer, Ouzo and Restsina followed and we arrived back at The Cricketers Inn very late. Spiros Kantaros would always shake his head in subsequent years and declare that the missing scorecard was indeed a mystery! For the tourists the fight in the car park remains vivid in the memory and part of Corfu cricket folklore.