NATO struggles in Portugal while Casuals lead (21 Jun 1999)

21 June 1999

NATO struggles in Portugal while Casuals lead

NATO may have won the war in Kosovo, but it trails the field in Portugal. It has yet to register a point, while Casuals (61), Oporto (52) and Cavaliers (44) have streaked ahead.

Next weekend (June 26 & 27), Casuals and Cavaliers clash in a meeting of first and third, while second placed Oporto has the opportunity to overtake second-last placed A.C.C.

Peter Eckersley tells more:

There have been several noteworthy performances by some of our key players: Humayun Shazhad scored the first (and so far only) century (106) of the season for A.C.C. in their victory over Cavaliers. The leading wicket taker is Casuals' Carlo Buccimazza with a total of 8.

There have been several scores of 50+ notably a 52 & 78 by Oporto's Martin Wade, 65 by national skipper Torben Rankine for his club Casuals, an 83 out of his side's 143 all out by NATO's John Riddell and scores of 68 by John Keeble & 84 by Dave Bevan in Cavaliers win against Panthers last Sunday. Panthers themselves had a good contribution from Haleem Butt (55) before the poor lad injured himself.

The annual fixture between Oporto & Lisbon for the Kendall Cup promises to be a very keenly fought affair this season. Both sides have some promising new players at their disposal. For Oporto we shall watch out for significant contributions from the two Chambers brothers (William & Robert) as well as from young Martin Wade, Brian Goodfellow and the evergreen Steve Rogerson.

Lisbon have two sets of brothers in their ranks: Carlo & Paulo Buccimazza and Nelson & Paulo Ferreira, who, along with Torben Rankine and the veteran David Baverstock make the backbone of the team. Newcomers Dave Bevan & John Keeble are expected to make their mark on this long-standing competition.

Portugal (in the shape of the Associação de Cricket de Portugal) has put in a bid with the E.C.C. to host the 6-a-side indoor championships in the year 2000 in Mafra, some 35 kms north of Lisbon. The decision as to which country will be granted the honour to host this competition will be made at the E.C. C. annual general meeting at Lord's on 24th June.

We all have our fingers crossed in hopeful anticipation as we see this as a great potential boost to cricket in Portugal.