Slogging with the Swiss

When I checked my cricket kit in for my flight at Luton Airport back in December, the Easyjet drone on the desk suddenly woke up and felt compelled to double check that I was sure I wanted to go to Basel, Switzerland.

It's not exactly the first, second or even 100th place many would think of if asked by Les Dennis 'to name a country you would associate with cricket'. But unlike most other decisions in my life, my move to Switzerland was not one based on cricket.

To my pleasant surprise there is a lot more happening here than you would first think. There are 19 teams which compete in a league and cup. There are now 35 ECB Level One coaches and 12 Level 2 coaches.

There is a growing junior setup, and the U11's and U13 Swiss National teams have just won a European Tournament in Munich. Big deal I hear you mutter... Mickey Mouse are the words probably passing through the brain of Matty D. When you compare it to English cricket and it's heritage yes it is, but until 3 years ago there was little or no junior cricketers here and no qualified coaches, so the strides that have been made in such a short space of time is nothing but commendable.

And so yesterday I played my first game. An inter-club game of which for which 30 people turned up. English, Aussie, New Zealand, Indian, Pakistani, West Indian, South African and even a genuine Swiss player all came together for a 25 over game, followed by a junior game, and a curry afterwards on a beautiful sunny day on the outskirts of Basel, near the French border.

The ground, not surprisingly, lacks the cricketing feel and class of The Wick. There is no sense of heritage, no history oozing pores or for that matter a club house. Instead there is a shipping container which houses the club kit, the barbecue, scoreboard and seating.

And what of the pitch? Again it couldn't really be more different. The ground is essentially a football field, with a concrete path running through the middle of it. On this road is laid a mat for the pitch and the run-ups. When I say it is quick, that does not do it justice. Balls fizz past your nose as though you're in a virtual reality game and stormtroopers are unleashing a barrage of lazer fire at you. If Joey were to bowl on it, they would have to demolish the surrounding golf club and build a hospital instead. Unfortunately for me though, my third ball did very much the opposite to everyone else's. It bounced 3cm off the floor, having pitched half way down the pitch and struck me on the ankle bone. I'm not sure if I was actually given out LBW or if I walked, especially as the fielding appeal consisted of not so much a "Howzat", but "SHIT! It's never done that before"!

My keeping experience was slightly less eventful but it was certainly an early season workout of an intensity I wasn't expecting. Especially when, stood-up to one of the opening bowlers, he decided to bowl a vicious bouncer, which seemed to collect snot from the batsman's nose and smash into my gloves milliseconds before it would have smashed into my cranium square between the eyes. The bowler apologised after, commenting that he didn't realise I was standing up.

As it's a football field the grass in the outfield is long, especially as we've had enough rain in the last two weeks to drown a whale. Some players approach this hurdle with a more agricultural game plan from the Adam Crane and Charlie High school of batting, but it was also a very pleasant surprise to see some genuine stroke-makers and some very good cricketers. One young English lad was very much in the Boney mould, and given opportunities could be a very good batsman. There is a South African who has played provincial cricket back home and the skipper and all-round godfather of Basel cricket played for the Indian Army in the Ranjiv Trophy, and despite his advancing years is without doubt still a very good player.

The game was a relatively low scoring affair and in the end the side I was playing for came out victorious, but it has indeed whet my appetite for more, and gone some way to making up for the disappointment I felt when it became clear that I wouldn't be able to play for the Wick for the foreseeable future.