It was the Lions that roared the loudest at a cricket tournament with a twist at Ipswich Cricket Club’s Clay Hall ground yesterday.
But this wasn’t the team from Surrey, this was the Lod Super Lions of Israel, led by the swashbuckling Yaniv Razpurkar – who hit an unbeaten 64 – that swotted aside the challenge of Copdock & Old Ipswichians in the final of the first-ever European Club Cricket Tournament.
The winners were part of a four-man tournament, which also included Ipswich CC and Roma Capannelle from Italy, and contributed to some fine cricket over two days.
The tournament ended up being smaller that originally intended with a number of teams unable to make the trip but Kester Clarke, who helped organise the event and is a groundsman at Copdock & Old Ipswichians, was delighted with the outcome.
“I am really pleased with how the tournament has gone and the standard of cricket has been high,” said Clarke, who saw the Super Lions reach Copdock & OI’s total of 146 for seven with six wickets left.
“I would love to make the tournament an annual event but the key is being able to spread the word.
“We should have had more teams taking part but the ‘Baggy Blues’ team from Hungary’s pitch flooded by the Danube and it was too much expense for them to come over which was disappointing for them.
“There was also a team from Warsaw, in Poland, that was scheduled to play but they were unable to come over due to the economic situation, while we had another team pull out at short notice.
“We are hoping the success of this first tournament will see us gradually extend the size of the event.”
The final was watched by a healthy crowd who enjoyed the sun and refreshments at Clay Hall.
The event was sponsored by DEM Sports, for whom former England star Devon Malcolm is a director.
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