The boy had been loitering for about 15 minutes, edging steadily closer to the waiting batters seated around the nonexistent boundary edge, when he eventually plucked up the courage to ask who was winning.<\/p>\n
It was the type of uninformed query that ordinarily prompts eye-rolls in cricket\u2019s complex spheres. But the match situation \u2013 60 for one, chasing a victory target of only 86 \u2013 made the response quite simple on this occasion. Besides, he was just a kid; an American one, at that. How was he to know that cricket\u2019s ebbs and flows rarely render it condensable into such binary terms?<\/p>\n
Buoyed up by the engagement, the child began asking further questions, thrilled by every minor detail he was able to obtain: the ball, the bat, the scoring process. His name, he told us, was Jake. He lived in New York and he was 10 years old. Cricket had been his English father\u2019s favourite sport until dying in a car crash three years ago. Since then, Jake sometimes watches cricket clips on YouTube to try to understand what it is all about.<\/p>\n
Now, in the unlikeliest of locations, while on holiday with his mother in Corfu, he had stumbled across real-life cricket in the flesh for the first time. His father\u2019s passion played out in front of him. Jake was entranced.<\/p>\n
His were, in fact, just a few of all manner of inquiries asked by confused spectators over the course of the Sunday afternoon \u2013 from English families wondering why they had unexpectedly stumbled across a scene reminiscent of home, to baffled east Asians taking photos of a strange sporting spectacle, the likes of which they had never witnessed before.<\/p>\n
We were rather difficult to avoid. The match between the tourists, Octopus Cricket Club, and our hosts, Anagennisi Cricket Club, occupied the most prominent of spots in Spianada Square, the green buffer separating the picturesque cobbled Old Town streets from the Old Fortress holding guard over the shimmering Straits of Corfu.<\/p>\n
Anyone seeking an outdoor spot for some food in the autumnal sun unwittingly became cricket viewers from their vantage point of the dozens of restaurants and cafes that lined one side of the pitch. Spectators \u2013 if that is the correct word for an engagement span that ranged from brief glancers to entranced starers \u2013 numbered hundreds.<\/p>\n
Over the past few years, Octopus have embarked on season-ending trips to a raft of unlikely European cricketing locations. From France to Croatia, and Malta to Montenegro, a common denominator tends to be the expat-heavy makeup of the opposition. By contrast, Corfu\u2019s unique cricketing history ensures their teams are overwhelmingly homegrown.<\/p>\n
A panoramic view of the Venetian quarter in Corfu Town. Photograph: carmengabriela\/Getty Images\/iStockphoto<\/p>\n
The first fixture on the Spianada\u2019s sward took place in 1823 between officers of a Royal Navy ship moored nearby and a team of British soldiers from the local garrison. By the end of the 19th century \u2013 with the island no longer a British protectorate \u2013 the sport had been taken up by natives and Corfu swiftly became the home of Greek cricket.<\/p>\n
These days, the Hellenic Cricket Federation is based on the island, alongside eight of the country\u2019s 11 clubs (the remainder are located in Athens). Enduring Anglo-Corfiot relations ensure a steady stream of English sides make the trip east to sample the local cricketing fare.<\/p>\n
One of those was crucial in reinvigorating the sport when it was in danger of dying out on the island \u2013 a high-profile fixture between a Corfu XI and a Lord\u2019s Taverners team consisting of celebrities (John Cleese and Nicholas Parsons among them) and former England cricketers (Ken Barrington the most distinguished) in 1978. The match was immortalised in the short film Mad Dogs and Cricketers, narrated by Eric Morecambe, showing the two sides, replete in full whites, arriving at the ground to extraordinary pageantry before taking the field behind a marching band.<\/p>\n
Our entrance was rather less ceremonious, although pre-match discussions in 2025 differed little from that 47 years earlier, with the Octopus captain, Sam, informed \u2013 just as his slightly more illustrious counterpart Barrington had been \u2013 that, in lieu of any visible markers, the boundary would begin \u201cwhere the grass ends\u201d.<\/p>\n
Given the close proximity of the onlooking horde, protective netting was hoisted along the thick line of bushy trees under which the diners sat, and the match was played using a yellow indoor cricket ball \u2013 a leather creation with familiar stitched seam, but of almost half the weight of a conventional outdoor ball and a propensity to swing an astronomical amount.<\/p>\n
The tourists gratefully exploited it, easing to a nine-wicket win that made up for our earlier narrow defeat in the tour\u2019s opening fixture at the island\u2019s equally scenic Gouvia Marina ground.<\/p>\n
As our unbeaten batters walked off the Spianada pitch, and hands were heartily shaken and pictures taken, Jake remained in our midst, absorbing all he could of his father\u2019s treasured sport.<\/p>\n
Seeking an opportunity to offload his distinctly worn pair of cheap batting gloves that had contributed to a career average of 8.91, our wicketkeeper Ben offered them to the eager young American, even pulling out a pen and adorning them with an autograph to further reduce their nonexistent value. Jake was elated; an otherwise routine holiday lunch had turned into an unforgettable occasion.<\/p>\n
When we passed him on the way back to our hotel a while later, the old gloves with a new lease of life were still firmly strapped to his hands and he was proudly displaying them on a video call to a family member on the other side of the Atlantic, his wide smile showing no sign of fading. Cricket in Corfu. How unexpected.<\/p>\n
Officials stir the pot<\/p>\n
Given the heightened tensions between the two nations, officials would have hoped to avoid any further controversy when India met Pakistan in the Women\u2019s World Cup.<\/p>\n
Such wishes went awry the moment Pakistan\u2019s captain, Fatima Sana, called out \u201ctails\u201d at the toss, only for the match referee, Shandre Fritz, to announce \u201cheads is the call\u201d and wrongly offer Sana the choice of batting or bowling when the coin did indeed land on heads.<\/p>\n
India\u2019s captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, tosses the coin as Fatima Sana watches. Photograph: Ishara S Kodikara\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
There followed a bizarre incident when the Pakistan batter Muneeba Ali was belatedly given run out after the third umpire had initially put \u201cnot out\u201d on the big screen. Replays showed Muneeba had tapped her bat in the crease, before lifting it in the air just as the ball hit the stumps. A day later, Marylebone Cricket Club explained that law 30.1.2 \u2013 also known as \u201cbouncing bat law\u201d \u2013 only applies when a batter is running or diving, not standing, as Muneeba was.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, India\u2019s 88-run winning margin was sufficient that neither moment proved decisive.<\/p>\n
Quote of the week<\/p>\n
I feel like I\u2019ve really stripped it back and my focus is just scoring runs \u2013 it\u2019s not really too technical\u201d \u2013 Marnus Labuschagne takes a big step towards reclaiming his Australia spot for the Ashes by top scoring with 160 for Queensland against Tasmania in the Sheffield Shield.<\/p>\n
Memory lane<\/p>\n
Remember the ICC Super Series that took place 20 years ago this month? No? You will not be alone. Two months after the most riveting Ashes \u2013 which, of course, Australia lost \u2013 an ICC World XI was selected to play three one-day internationals and a Test against the world\u2019s top-ranked side: Australia. The entire thing was a damp squib, poorly attended, with the Aussies winning all four matches at a canter. Turns out manufactured contests cannot compete with the real thing.<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s Shane Warne (right) is congratulated by his teammates after dismissing Virender Sehwag of the World XI in 2005. Photograph: David Gray\/ReutersStill want more?<\/p>\n
The Australia captain, Pat Cummins, is expected to miss the Ashes opener in Perth<\/a> as doubts grow around his availability for the entire series.<\/p>\n England survived a nervy wobble with the bat to beat Bangladesh by four wickets in Guwahati and go top of the table at the Women\u2019s World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n And Gary Naylor lists his five county cricketers of the year<\/a>.<\/p>\n In?<\/p>\n