Malta Cricket squad prepare for important year ahead
The Malta national cricket squad went through their first training camp of the year in preparation for key practice matches and T20 tournaments in Luxembourg (July) and Hungary (August).
The 4-day camp was held at the Marsa Sports Club under the guidance of Darren Scott, Head Coach of the Malta national cricket team. Darren is an ex-professional cricketer and England Cricket Board Level 3 Coach.
The camp gave him the ideal opportunity to work with his players intensively and he was particularly impressed by the level of competition for places in the Malta team this time around.
Paul Bradley, Chairman of Malta Cricket, explained “there is definitely an increase in the depth of the squad. The national selectors will have a difficult task selecting the final squad for Luxembourg”.
The squad members took part in two T20 matches to put their learnings into action. Frank Spiteri, Vice-Chairman of Malta Cricket and leading run scorer for Malta, believes a training camp this early in the year is a considerable advantage over other nations in terms of preparation. “At a time when all other European teams are confined to indoor cricket or an enforced lay-off due to winter, we are the only cricketing nation in Europe hosting competitive league matches. It means our players will be better prepared for the international fixtures that lie ahead”.
The Malta squad have their next training camp set for April, together with 5 trial matches in 9 days against Romiley Cricket Club (Cheshire League - Division 2), Actonians CC (Middlesex Championship - Division 1), Harrow School, Grasshoppers CC (Shropshire) and Wraysbury CC (Chilterns Cricket League - Division 1).
On 3 and 4 April, the Malta Junior Cricket Academy are also due to play against the David Byas Cricket Academy and a Hampshire Academy team. Several upcoming U17 players will be using these games as a stepping stone for selection to the senior national team.
In other news, Malta Cricket have announced that the following county teams (Berkshire, Essex, Warwickshire, Yorkshire Ridings, Kent and Surrey) will be participating in the Malta Seniors Cricket Festival between March 25 and 30. The tournament will be the largest ever hosted in the Maltese Islands.
The tournament dinner will take place on Friday 30 March with guest speaker Matthew Hoggard MBE, (former England international cricketer) also present. In 2005 Matthew was awarded an MBE from HM Queen Elizabeth ll in recognition of his outstanding services to sport and the community. In 2006, he was selected as one of the five “Wisden Cricketers of the Year”.
Rabat Zebbug 1 2
Żebbuġ lead the standings after beating Rabat by the odd goal in three despite suffering an early goal in the first period and played with ten men for 44 minutes.
They are now on 28 points from 11 games while Rabat are in fifth position on 12 points from same number of games.
Rabat opened the score after six minutes when Sven Fabri dribbled past an opponent on the right flank and crossed the ball in the area to Wilhelmin Ashiaku who scored with a hard low drive past Żebbuġ keeper Samuel Aquilina.
Żebbuġ replied and a flag kick by Christian Tabone was cleared away with difficulty.
In an action by Rabat, Matthew Nappa served Ashiaku in the area who scored with a low drive but the point was disallowed for offside. At the other end, Matthew Agius released Andrea’ Balzan in the area but Rabat keeper Gilmore Muscat foiled him with a timely sortie as he dived at his feet to smother the ball.
In the 21st minute, Żebbuġ levelled matters as Formosa served Kyle Tanti with a square pass outside the area and he scored with a hard grounder from 25 metres.
Tanti then served Agius on the right flank with a through ball who, after advancing, saw his cross-shot missing the near post.
The score became 2-1 for Żebbuġ