Cricket World XI in Austria & Germany
CW XI at Munich CC English Garden Munich
Back row- Vinoo Nath, Scott Ide, Fred Kensey, Vivek Rattan, Charles Noakes A Crash,Stamstisch and a Brothel,just another Cricket Tour
Vinoo Nath and I met in Kensington not much past dawn and motored south over the River Thames to Clapham where we met Tony Brennan already packing his boot. Tony had not yet begun his distinguished diplomatic career and at the time drove a brand new large limousine provided by the company for whom he then worked. It had been agree that we three should use this company car for our visit to Bavaria and beyond. Having transferred our cricket bags and more to the large boot we motored on without incident down to the channel, ferried across and were making good progress on the autobahn when around Stuttgart the traffic jammed. For a while we were but part of the repetitive concertina of traffic when suddenly Tony slammed on the brakes and we skidded into the back of a mature Volkswagen. Both cars pulled over and we all got out to examine the damage. The Volkswagen couple were not amused but the damage seemed superficial at that stage and no road rage erupted. Then the Autobahn courtesy police arrive looking very dashing, two ladies and one man. They checked that we were ok and radioed a description of the incident to their colleagues. The dashing police were replaced by much sterner gentlemen. We were soon removed to a nearby Police Station for questioning while photographs of the car damage and the road skid marks were taken. Vinoo and I duly made our statements and signed. Tony was interrogated as the driver for a considerable time. Eventually he emerged accompanied by a very tall Policeman who announced to the three of us. "Gentlemen, the situation is like this. If anyone has been injured the fine is 1000 marks. If no one is hurt then the fine is 10 marks".
Now Vinoo had taken a knock to the head and I had bashed my right knee so we were both sitting with handkerchiefs staunching the blood from our respective wounds. Vinoo and I looked at each other and then the Policeman and in unison proclaimed." Well no one is injured " Whereupon the Policeman replied "Exactly so". So we paid the fine. The police declared the car to be unfit to drive but drove us to Stuttgard railway station where we were pleased to discover that in Germany trains run regularly through the night. However having bought our tickets to Munich we were told the next train was not for over two hours and what's more having just turned midnight the station bars a had closed!
The three of us and our luggage were thus a glum sight sitting on a bench in the station forecourt imagining the fun the rest of the party were having in Munich and Sunil's smile as he told us all about it. Ugh! and then pushing a trolley loaded with beer was a couple of youngsters passing right in front of us. "May we buy some beer from you" We asked and to our utter glee and astonishment the German youths replied "Take a crate, we will never drink all this tonight at the party we are going to" We did just that and set about drowning our sorrows for a few hours before joining the train to Munich. It was light when we arrived and we walked to the hotel, checked in, took a shower and went down for breakfast. Having missed dinner the night before we were glad to tuck in to the extensive buffet provided. Fred Kensey was the first down and we were pleased to hear that everyone else had arrived safely the night before. Charlie Noakes and family, Sunil Amar, Vivek Rattan, Fred Kensey, Scott Ide et al..... A great evening and night they had enjoyed at a local eaterie recommended by Munich CC. Indeed they had discovered 'Stamstitch' which would become an institution for Kensington for some two decades. The party made their way to Munich Cricket Club which was located at a sports club within the English Gardens. Apart from the athletic track it was a very pleasant cricket location. Munich batted first and were well contained by CWXI's bowling but a 7th wicket stand by Cooper and Packard transformed the innings helped by some dropped catches. Even so the declaration was generous. We had two wicket keepers Tony, not the best, and a very good Australian Scott who kept that day. So Tony opened with veteran Jack Hyams and these two crawled along to the utter frustration of the rest of the batting line up. When Tony was out for 8 some 14 overs had been bowled for a mere 28 runs! Vinoo then hit 32 out of 34 and was out at 62 off 26 overs. Jack with Fred Kensey did then accelerate and 64 was added in 15 overs but it was far too few and the match was drawn. Munich CC provided a magnificent barbecue which was much enjoyed together with vast volumes of local beer. CW XI were pleased to greet two lady friends of Tim Yeardley. The night's entertainment continued in Munich to the small hours but we all reported for the 40/40 match on Sunday. However memories of this match are blurred and certainly the scoresheet is not helpful. Michael Blumberg top scored with 60 before being he was run out as Fred Kensey declined to respond to the call. However despite taking regular wickets we failed to bowl Munich out.Munich being 9 wickets down. After the match we set off deep into the English gardens and took over a long table aside some 25/30 Japanese female tourists and duly tucked into vast quantities of roast pork and litres of beer. Munich CC had been very welcoming hosts indeed. The origins of the club lie with the European Patent Office located in Munich which was populated by many English, Australian and New Zealand patent freaks. Next day we motored to a small town called Ingolstat together with some Munich players as we had lost Charles Noakes and family,Tim Yeardley and damsels among others. Ingolstadt Park Cricket Club had been formed in 1836 but had obviously had better days. The side we played at a very impressive sports centre on a football pitch with cricket mat were enthusiastic but weak. We duly won the match easily and repaired to a beer garden whereupon we met a Lancashire League cricketer and a Bajan waiter learning German to further his career as a water ski instructor in Barbados. They did coach the local side but did not seem very keen to play for them. After the Beer Garden closed we were told there was nowhere open to drink so many of the party repaired to the hotel. However some of us had noticed a fine theatre in the town and concluded there must be a late thespian drinking haunt. There was and a few of us spent a good few hours in the company of the actors.
Ingolstat had received an urgent call from Professor Dr. Brian Fell of Passau. The University had closed down for the long vacation and locked up all the sports equipment including the all important cricket mat. Could they borrow Ingolstat's. So the matt was hoisted onto the roof of the Volkswagen Beetle of one of our Munich guests and he and a rather bewildered girl friend set forth in convoy with the rest of us to Passau.
Passau is on the confluence of three large rivers, one of which was the Danube and therefore had a confusing number of bridges. We played Passau who comprised ten Germans and Brian Fell and won and enjoyed a couple of enjoyable evenings there. The day after the match Brian Fell took us on a walk about the town which included an official welcome and presentation at the Town Hall. Sunil Amar discovered that he could travel on to Vienna by boat which he then did. Jack Hyams announced that he wished to drive to Prague to see a 'ladyfriend' but was finally persuaded to drive us to Vienna. In Vienna we discovered out hotel was a brothel thus providing an interesting insight to a side of Vienna we had not expected to experience. Luckily the ladies with us Mrs Amar and Mrs Nutan Shah seemed to find our location amusing! Dr Dickie Wyse joined us in Vienna and opened the batting with Jack Hyams on matting in a large Viennese square with a Sports Pavilion. Dickie and Jack added a hundred for the first wicket but at a slow pace so that after 40 overs we had amassed a mere 140 odd runs. Now the Vienna side was a representative XI of all Vienna and a good number of excellent Sri Lanka cricketers were padded up. However Vienna opened with two ethnic Austrians one of whom later became a Nomad, Wolfgang Teser. CW XI quickly put in place a strategy to keep Wolfie and his partner in as long as possible and we did. By the time the openers were out the majority of the overs were gone. The mighty middle order panicked, played a flurry of rash shots, we took several wickets and Vienna finished short of their target. CWXI had won in Vienna. At the following evening reception all members of CWXI were presented with a decorated shot glass commemorating our visit to Vienna. Sunil Amar was impressed by these and took notes. The party duly returned to UK, with Vinoo Nath and Michael Blumberg persuading Jack Hyams to drive non stop so that they could play in matches for Nomads and KCC on Bank holiday Monday. Vinoo however began lusting in his dreams on the back seat and asked to be dropped off in Salzburg in pursuit of an Austrian lady friend. Jack reached the Channel safely but driving in fog up the hill from Dover harbour he fell asleep. His passenger woke him up admiring his capacity to drive straight when asleep. We reached home safely and Michael Blumberg arrived at Ashstead in time for an all day match. The next spring at the Kensington CC post nets Thai dinner at the The Warrington Pub Sunil Amar on behalf of KCC presented the Bavarian and Austria tour members with KCC decorated shot glasses. So this was a KCC tour after all! Sadly San Gore, KCC's master Statistician has never included the scorecards in the club records! Sunil Amar makes presentation to Professor Dr Brian Fell captain of Passau CC and President of refounded Deutscher Cricket Bund at the University of Passau Sports ground Tony Brennan – Cricket World Tours – Kensington CC
Front row- Andy Day?, B Mehta, Jack Hyams, Michael Blumberg,Tony Brennan, Sunil Amar
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