The end has come

And so the final post on this Turkey on Tour blog.

After the Gala Barbie Saturday night following Turkey's historic first-ever international victory, it was a bright and early start as we flew back to Athens. A few of us went off to see the sites and then a flight back to Istanbul.

Turkish team line up at the Gala Barbie

A couple of hours hanging around at the Ulusoy bus station (where surprisingly no one congratulated us on our victory) and it was sleep all the way back to Ankara.

We are all exhausted. Five matches in six days. We gave Estonia and Czech Republic a good run for their money and quite frankly the Greeks and Swedes were a class above. By the way, Greece end up winning the tournament and as such have been promoted to Division 4.

It was an amazing tournament and an amazing experience for all of us. We have learned heaps and will be taking back to our clubs in Ankara and Istanbul all that we have learnt.

A big shout out to coach Raj Chaudrey, who at times must have been tearing his hair out, to the Hellenic Cricket Federation for putting on a great tournament, to the umpires, to BMAC - the official sponsors of the Turkish team (we wouldn't have been able to get to Greece if it wasn't for their great support, and last, a big big big shout out to Syed Mahmud who has done more than anyone to get Turkish cricket where it belongs... on the world stage.

Oh, and how can I forget but to thank all of our followers of this short blog. Your messages were read out each morning at breakfast and bouyed the whole team. Sorry we didn't have time to address all of you... but hey... we had some business out in the middle.

And one last thing... If you are in Ankara and want to play some cricket then head over to the Red Lion Cricket Club page and send us a message.

Cricketing tourists at the Acropolis.

We did it!!!!

A sort-of translation of what we sent off to the ANKA news agency a few minutes ago:

The Turkish representative cricket team won its first international victory on Saturday, beating Bulgaria by nine wickets.

Mohamed Razak and Sajjad Haider led the Turkish attack against a side of youngsters trained at the Bulargian Academy of Sports in Sofia. They both took five wickets, dismissing Bulgaria for 47. Razak, who won the Man of the Match award, also scored xx runs and hit the winning runs at the Ropa Valley ground in Corfu, Greece.

The victory was Turkey's first at the six-nation ICC European Division 5 tournament and the country's first in recorded international competition.

"This is what the team has been working ahrd all week to achieve and we finally did it," said Captain Jonathan Clarkson. "It's a very pround moment for me, coach Raj Choudry, Manager Syed Mahmud and for the entire squad."

...

So we have been hitting the beers and tonight we have the Gala Dinner. Then flying out out of Corfu at 7 am tomorrow morning, a 12 stay in Athens, a flight to Istanbul and then the Sunday overnight bus to Ankara. Looking forward to the crowds at Asti!

Under the Turkish flag

Waiting around to bat, luckily most of us didn't have to. (the match in the background was Sweden v Estonia)

Back at the villa and time for a celebratory beer

A well-deserved cola for Ateeq, Aasim, Sajjad and Imran.

Birinci Zaferimiz

We won.

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Matchday Five

Hello to all our readers and apologies for the late start. I decided
to spend the morning in a deep meditative trance rather than blog.

The upshot, you'll all be glad to learn, is that we are in with a
chance of our first win.

We bowled Bulgaria out for 47. Sajjad took five wickets. Steve took a
catch. And the entire team fielded with passion and efficiency.

We are now 12 for one wicket (sgrbryant lbw 2) and the (leisurely)
chase is on. We do of course still have the chance to blow it.

Stay tuned, cricket fans.

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Swedish win

A tired and injured Turkish side collapsed shockingly against Sweden
at the Ropa Valley today.

Accurate Swedish swing bowling tore through our batting with only
Captain Clarkson providing any resistance.

We didn't do well enough and need to regroup for Bulgaria, our final game.

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SGR Bryant all padded up and ready to go.


Sajjad Haidar steams in.

Team manager Syed Mahmud, the man who has done more than anyone for Turkish cricket.

Matchday four - Sweden

It's overcast in Corfu and we head off to the smallest and
highest-scoring of the three tournament grounds.

Sweden should be strong. They've been playing ICC cricket for 30 years
apparently and they gave Greece a run for their money.

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Taking a break

It was a rest day today in Corfu and that is pretty much what we did. After a few beers last night many of us took the chance to sleep in and recover.

In the afternoon a few of us caught the bus into Corfu Town, a wonderful and beautiful city. Managed to find a tattoo parlour but with prices starting at 50 euros we thought thrice about it and decided not to get anything done... yet.

Keep sending in messages on the blog as they have really buoyed us all up. We don't have the time to respond to hardly any of them as the Dream Cafe across the road from the hotel charges one euro for 15 minutes of internet time... still, that's cheaper than the Hic Bir Sey Dahil Hotel Chandris.

Looking tough beneath a poster advertising the tournament in downtown Corfu Town.

Match update

Hellas were the deserved winners. They played with skill and good humour.

Good luck to them in the rest of the tournament.

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As Steve has already posted. It was a tough, tough match, one in which we didn't really have much of a chance. Not a lot to say really... - except for the small fact that Chris scored his first international runs today (not many... but hey) so instead some pictures.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is a rest day. So we are off to the pub for a skinfull tonight and tomorrow time to head off to the tattoo parlour.

Aasim cuts one against Greece today

Looking toward the pavillion at the Marina Ground with SGR Byrant in the foreground.

Imran (left) and Sener take some time out from the match to watch the 2009 Corfu Croquet Open which was taking place right next to the Marina ground. Neither of them had a clue what croquet is about.

Hellas prove heavy hitters

Tournament favourites Greece showed why the hosts are tipped to win
with 299 in their 50 overs.

We've begun the chase now and are 3 for no loss.

In other news:

- the corfu croquet club is clacking away on the green next to our
ground. Hunain is oddly curious about the rules.

- Greece have about 20 supporters enjoying the game and their chilled
Ionian lager.

- no diplomatic incidents have taken place. Hard game though.

Best wishes to everyone.

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Matchday Three

Good morning, cricket fans. You join us this morning at breakfast
ahead of the match between Aegean rivals Turkey and Greece.

We're all well rested. It's Ateeq's birthday. And it looks like it's
going to be a hot day.

Fa fa fa fa fa fa. SCORCHIO!

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Chasing the Czechs

was exciting, dramatic and ultimately unsuccessful.

We were all out for 128 in a big-hitting, single-grabbing climax to a
long match.

Hats off to the Bohemian bowlers: they bowled tighter than we did.

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Lining up pre-match at the Ropa Valley No. 1 ground.

Just to flesh this post out a bit.

Colin Sutcliffe made his international debut today (thus earning the right to have the number 12 tatooed on his leg) in a match that lasted about seven hours.

After winning the toss the Czech Republic elected to bat and after a grueling 47-odd overs they were all out for 150.

Hopes were hight that we could make it and we started off well with Steve managing the "cannon fodder" role of seeing off the Czech's front line bowlers for a full 11 overs before finally falling.

SGR Bryant takes one for Turkey

After a great day behind the wicket, taking two stumpings and two catches, Aasim put on a patient 39 before being given out to a very dodgy LBW decision.

The rest of the batting line-up also did some great work and for a long while victory was not out of sight.

Czech fielders come in from far and wide to witness the intricate stroke play of Sener Sen.

It was only close to the end that things looked grim as we started to lose wickets. In the end we were all out after 47 overs, a great effort for a team that until now hadn't played more than 30-odd overs.

Tomorrow we take on Greece. Today they managed to score 300-plus against Estonia (admittedly on a small field), so... let's see we can pull off the biggest upset of the tournament.

Match update

Hello to all our readers and thanks to Mrs Bullingdon for the lovely
sponge cake. We are chasing 150 against the Czechs. We're 48 and for 2
and need to pick up the run rate a bit now. Asim is building and
innings and we have some batsmen to come.

In other news:

-Colin selected over Chris for the match.

-Mubashir's finger still blue and large.

-There's a bus going down the Kerkyra road.

-Greeks beat estonia

-swedes beat bulgarians

-our epic continues.

Stay tuned, Turkish cricket fans.

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Matchday Two Morning

Many thanks for all the comments and support.

Some clarifications:

- Steve is sporting a Warrior's Goatee.

- Sajjad's scores yesterday were confused with those of Chris. Calm
down, Mrs Wade. Nevertheless, the ICC web site is still your best bet
for match updates.

- Sajjad vows to make you all proud. Ateeq is having eggs and beans.

- weather: partly cloudy but clearing fast.

- Syed slept well.

Dobry den Czech Republic.

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Turkiye kriket dunyasina ilk adimini atti

Turkiye Temsili Kriket Takimi Yunanistan'in Korfu Adasinda Avrupa Besinci grup turnuvasinda ilk resmi macina cikti.

Gelismekte Olan Spor Branslari Federasyonu bunyesindeki takimiz Marina Sahasi'ndaki macta herkes oyun disi kalana kadar once 114 sayi yapti. Buna karsi Estonya Takimi 4 oyun disina ragmen 116 sayi yaparak maci kazandi.

Sajjad Haider Estonya Takimi kaptanina verilen macin adami odulune aday gosterilen 3 kisiden biriydi. Sener Sen ve Sohail Razak takimimizin en iyi vurucu ikilisiydi ve oyunun kritik anlarinda hanemize 40 kosu yazdirmayi basardilar.

Kaybedilen macin ardindan Koc Raj Chaudray, "Bugun takimimiz sahada bircok iyi seyler yapti. Havada yakalanan harika toplar vardi ve birkac vurucumuz ikili oyunda oldukca basarili olarak uzun sure sahada kaldilar. Kisacasi pozitif yanlarimiz vardi ancak daha tutarli olmali ve bu iyi yanlari takimin tamamina yaymaliyiz." dedi.

Ingiliz asilli kaptanimiz Jonathan Clarkson, "Turkiye icin oynamak tum oyuncularimiz icin buyuk bir onurdu. Ilk macta ayaklarimiz biraz titredi ama onumuzde daha 4 mac var."

Yarin (Sali) Turkiye Cek Cumhuriyeti'ne karsi oynayacak.

(Turnuvada 6 ulke yarisiyor: Turkiye, Estonya, Cek Cumhuriyeti, Bulgaristan, Isvec ve Yunanistan.)

First Match Nerves Get Best of Turkey

Lining up for the first match.

We lost to Estonia. Batting stands from Sohail and Sener plus a
gripping spell of bowling from Jonathan and Sajjad were not enough to
prevent us handing Estonia their first ICC victory.

(Steve batted tenth and scored eight on his international debut. Hi mum.)

We are blooded now, with lessons learned and bruises earned. We have
determination for tomorrow.

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Skipper Jonathan in action at the crease.

Waiting to bat

The spirit of cricket as Estonia and Turkey join up for a post match photo.

Live updates of Turkey-Estonia

Should be available at

www.icc-europe.org/EURODIV5/index.shtml

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Matchday One

Breakfast looking out over Albania. And Estonia, Bulgaria, Sweden,
Estonia and Greece.

Rested and ready.

Haydi Turkiye.

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What a beautiful place to to some training

Our final training session before tomorrow's opener against Estonia.

After the hard graft of the swimming pool it was off to Corfu town centre for a match at one of the most beautiful grounds in the Mediterranean. With the old fortress on one side, the sea itself just a few hundred yards away and hemmed in by the wonderful historic buildings of the old town.

We also had quite a crowd watching as one side of the ground is lined with cafes full of locals and tourists wondering what the hell are the Turkish team doing.

Coach Raj put us through our paces and set out some basics for us to remember. So that's it. An early night for us.


View Larger MapWhere we practiced today. For a better view, ignore the A and zoom in, look for the ceicket pitch to the left of the big fortress that juts into the sea.

But in the meantime this piece is from the book "Cricket" written by AG Steel who scored a century at Lord's against the Australians in 1884.

The necessity of moderation in drink is happily a thing few cricketers need to be reminded of. There are many opinions as to what is the best drink for men when actually playing. By best we mean that which does least harm to the eye. In hot weather something must be drunk, the question is what? Our experience is that beer and stout are both too heady and heavy, gin and ginger beer are too sticky and sweet to the palate, ouzo is alright if playing in Corfu. In our opinion, shandy-gaff, sherry, or claret and soda are the most thirst-quenching, the lightest and the cleanest to the palate. In a long innings the heat and dust are apt to make the mouth very dry and parched and a clean drink is especially desirable.

So I guess we had better get some ouzo in.

This extract was taken from Angus Bell's "Batting on the Bosphorus" from which he found the above passage from the website of the Estonian cricket web page.

Aerobique Aquatique

Raj arrived to find his squad hard at training. In the pool. Led by an
animator in a bikini.

Also spotted: Bulgaria and Estonia competitors. Cowed by our awesome
aquatic aerobics, no doubt.

Climate: Istanbul-like.

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Some of the hotel's other guests decided to join the Turkish cricket team and their personal trainer for a full-on aerobic workout.

Corfu first impressions

Rain.
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Corfu Second Impressions

Sunnier

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We made it!

Finally we made it to Corfu. After a few hours kip at a hotel somewhere near Athens (I have no idea where) we headed back to the airport and boarded our flight. Made it no worries this time, although none of our bags showed up. Some slight freaking out and our quarter ton of luggage was discovered to have been sent to the international terminal.

Hanging around at the hotel before flight to Corfu

Met the Estonian team at the airport who joked that we had spent our entire ICC allocation on our spiffy suits.

It's pretty warm here but the heat holds no worries for us, though the humidity is a bit higher than what we are used to but generally it felt pretty normal - temperture wise.

Booked into the the Hic bir sey dahil Hotel Chandris were we are staying in villa apartments. All very nice and after a bite to eat we headed off to a local bar where the Welsh barmaid seemed more surprised that we live in Turkey rather than the fact that we will be playing cricket over the next week. Got our tips on where the local tattoo parlours are and so we are set. Our coach Raj is due to arrive Sunday morning and then we are off to training.
Say cheese

One sign that our confidence is building was when one of the stewardesses on the flight remarked to a young baby being carried in her mother's arms that she was the "the best passenger we have ever had". Sener then immediately said "I'm the best." That man is going to do well!

There's Corfu... Oh dear...

Ready to go (part 1)

These reports may seem as if they were written all in one go but they are being written up, saved on the computer and kept in storage for some place in Greece which has had the brilliant idea of easily accessible internet. (which happens to be the hotel where we are at now somewhere near Athens)

So we flew to Corfu early this morning after spending the evening playing cards, drinking beer, annoying innocent passengers and being annoyed by hopeless bar staff (and one weird Dutchwoman who kept trying to scam beers off us).

Let's hope Jonathan is a better cricket captain than he is a cards player

Corfu seemed lovely, only hassle was that we didn't land. According to Colin, the pilot made two attempts to land and on the second one he could clearly see the runway. He bottled it though and so flew back to Athens and to the baggage collection area where this post is being written.

Hanging around at Athens Airport having got "this close" to Corfu

Mubashir takes a nap

... as does Imran

After a couple of hours of buggering around Olympic Airlines put us into a bus and got us into a hotel where we will be sleeping for the next few hours before heading off yet again for Corfu.

Hopefully, this time we will actually land.

Sener milli oldu

Finally got ourselves to Athens and with plenty of hours to spend, and therefore time to drink beer... er... update the blog, I can't get onto the internet! Thus my first experience of Greece has not been the most positive. Neither was the experience at the bar where this is being written when the barman said he couldn't accept Mastercard, nor American Express, but that he could accept Visa - except that he had already put into the computer that we were going to pay cash. Oh, well.

Anyway, you are reading this well after we have left Athens because I couldn't figure out how to get on to the internet here.

But before we got to Athens we had to take a flight. It was Olympic Airways... which I guess was okay, especially for all the Muslims on our side who got their food before everyone else. Somehow or other Steve also got a "Muslim meal", meaning that Colin, who is a vegetarian, got nothing at all! We all cried. Steve was also allowed to order a beer with his Muslim meal, which demonstrates great Olympic open-mindedness.

Everyone has to make their first flight and tonight was Sener Sen's. Our nanotechnologist and "I'm fine thanks" leg looked a little freaked out at first but upon arrival he said that it "just like a Luna Park ride". As a physics geek (if you take out "r" from "greek" it becomes "geek" - Sener's pot. kettle joke) he also said he was very impressed with the landing... when the bits on the wings go up and down ... and stuff.

Sener Sen freaking out on his virgin flight.

It also requires noting that vice-captain Sajjad has brought his guitar. We're all trying to look at the bright side of this.

So, the battery on the computer is about to die, but one last word... from Steve... he really recognises that it was David O'Byrne's idea to start this blog. There you go... hex lifted.

Quick news from Istanbul airport

Our flight has been delayed for 30 minutes which means I have just had enough time to upload these photos and grab a beer (or three). Off to the gate in a moment for our Olympic Airways flight.

Your bloggers at work on the bus from Ankara to Istanbul



Ateeq, Jonathan and Colin eating away in the space age booths at the Garanti lounge of Ataturk Airport

Yola cikiyoruz ve tesekkur ediyoruz

The Ankara contingent of the Turkish XI set out from the capital city for Corfu today at midday. Aboard a comfortable Ulusoy coach the team departed Ankara, heading westward for Istanbul, where we will meet up with our team-mates from Turkey's biggest city. Hande, Tahir and Ela waved us off. Thanks for the lift, and the love!

Chugging out of the Ankara, we passed the turn-off for Bilkent University, the nursery of cricket in Turkey. Syed Mahmud, a professor of economics at the university, has worked day and night to get us where we are and all the team were delighted to see him arrive at the Ulusoy bus station. Travelling to Corfu without the architect of Turkish cricket would have been just wrong. Thanks to Bilkent for giving him the time off. And to the Greek Embassy in Ankara for all their help with visas.

There was still more good news, in the form of Hunain Durrani, who arrived ready to join the team. His place had been approved at the last minute by the ICC, because of a report written by the mighty Clive Lloyd! We are touched by greatness. Thanks Clive.

Syed Mahmud, Turk Kriketin Babasi, stands by our kit bags in Ankara. Thanks to www.bmak.com.tr for their support.

Thanks are also due to the university for the support they've given the entire team. The beautiful grass of the football pitch has been given over to cricket almost all summer and the groundsmen have helped us roll and cut what is becoming a very playable wicket. Many thanks to Director of Sports Hayri Ozkan for his dedicated backing.

And now we're off for Istanbul, where we have players, supporters, sponsors and friends but sadly no ground. The Istanbul team in our league, Desi of Istanbul, has to make the five-hour journey to Bilkent in Ankara in order to compete. One of the next stages in developing cricket in Turkey has to be finding a pitch we can use in Istanbul. So if any of the 11 million residents of that metropolis is reading this and knows of a nice, open, flat stretch of grass, please get in touch.

Here we go


Steve and Capt. Joanathan as the lovely Dilara comes out to wish us good luck.

Fixture list

Ah ha. We finally know who we are playing. This fixture list is from ICC site. The site says they will update with results daily.

Fixtures
All matches start at 10.30am.

* 7 September
o Estonia v Turkey (Marina)
o Sweden v Hellas (Ropa Valley 1)
o Bulgaria v Czech Rep (Ropa Valley 2)
* 8 September
o Sweden v Bulgaria (Marina)
o Turkey v Czech Rep (Ropa Valley 1)
o Hellas v Estonia (Ropa Valley 2)
* 9 September
o Hellas v Turkey (Marina)
o Bulgaria v Estonia (Ropa Valley 1)
o Czech Rep v Sweden (Ropa Valley 2)
* 10 September: Reserve Day
* 11 September
o Estonia v Czech Rep (Marina)
o Bulgaria v Hellas (Ropa Valley 1)
o Turkey v Sweden (Ropa Valley 2)
* 12 September
o Czech Rep v Hellas (Marina)
o Estonia v Sweden (Ropa Valley 1)
o Turkey v Bulgaria (Ropa Valley 2)

A couple of days to go

Looking the part

Former Aussie captain Steve Waugh apparently made more money out of his cricket diaries than he did from actually playing cricket. Admittedly there is probably less interest in the progress of the Turkish cricket team as it heads off to Corfu, Greece, to take part in the ICC European Division 5 Championship, but hey - why not do our own.

It was actually Steve Bryant's idea to start this up with the aim to keep family and friends informed as to what we are up to.

Some basic background info.

How the team was chosen: Under ICC rules for affiliate members, members of a team representing a country in an international competition must be either nationals or to have resided in the country for at least seven years (two players are allowed to have only been in the country for four years).

We have a league in Ankara, with one team from Istanbul, and it was from here that the 15-man squad was chosen. In the past 12 weeks or so we have been training like mad, including a nine-day stint with Raj Chaudhuri a UK-based level 3 coach.
Sajjad Haider with the team's mascot Matthew. The Spiderman fan unfortunately won't be with us in Corfu thanks to the start of the new school term.

Cricket in Turkey is a fairly new sport but already we have been able to name six Turkish nationals in the 15-man squad. This will be the first time a Turkish team has played in an international tournament but with the development programmes we have started up at a few schools in Ankara, and our long-term plans to expand, in a few years time the number of Turks could well be 15 out of 15.

In the meantime, all I can say is how proud I am to represent the country where I have lived for the past 16 years, almost all of my adult life.

So we are off on Friday by coach to Istanbul, then fly to Athens and another flight to Corfu. I can't wait.

Oh yes - who are we playing? Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece and Sweden. Five one-day matches in six days.
Captain Jonathan Clarkson is awarded his cap at a ceremony at Bilkent University on Sunday August 30, 2009.

The Squad.
Jonathan Clarkson (Capt.), Huseyin Sen, Hunnain Durrani, Mubashir Khan, Athar Imran Opal, Mohammad Razak, Abdul Hamid Chohan, Muhammad Aasim, Colin Sutcliffe, Imran Sharif, Syed Ateeq Ahmad, Christopher Wade, Sajjad Haider, Stephen Bryant, Khawar Nadeem; Coach - Raj Chaudhuri.

And by the way, I've just noticed that someone has been adding to wikipedia about us
Who needs changing rooms?