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France completed a three-nil series victory over Morocco last week amidst ecstatic scenes at the cacophonous cauldron that is the Hercules International Cricket Stadium in the colourful Rah-Rah district of Tangiers.

France won the first match by 7 wickets in a bailless galeswept encounter in the Tangiers International Stadium on Saturday 5 April. It was a memorable occasion: Morocco's first-ever cricket international, with national anthems played, teams presented to the French Consul, and a Gala Dinner afterwards. Offspinner Sulanga was the French hero with the ball, claiming 4-9 as the all-green Morocco collapsed from 80-3 to 112 all out in 37 of their 50 overs. The blue-shirted Frenchmen soon lost Arun and skipper Shabir Hussain but Buddhi (29) and Gareth Edwards, who reached 50 not out with the same shot that brought France victory, helped the visitors home with over half their overs to spare.

In the second match, France beat Morocco by 138 runs in a lacklustre encounter played in warm sunny conditions. Dan Wettasinghe's 76* helped France to 242 all out in the 50th over. Morocco in reply could muster only 104 with the Ayyavooraju brothers Prakash and Arun grabbing 3 apiece, although offspinner Sulanga was the pick of the French bowlers.

The Moroccans improved constantly throughout the week and their international future is as bright as the morning sun rising above the Mediterranean and glinting on the aerials and satellite dishes atop the white-walled seaside Hotel Tarik where both teams were lodged.

The ever-enthusiastic Moroccans were wide awake by the 10 o'clock start for the final match, and hustled the sleepy French, playing in their change strip of red shirts and navy flannels, to 31-3 with the new ball. It was naivety, more than loss of spirit, that saw Morocco capitulate to a last 10-over onslaught worth 106.

French skipper Shabir Hussain atoned for his (minor) share in the KeystoneKop run-out of James Grant by blitzing 86. Coming in at 7, Tahir Mohammad reached 100* with the last ball of the French innings. Such was his eye and timing, on this belter of a grass track, that nearly every ball pitched up prompted a 4 or 6 straight down the ground.

Drums and chants pounded from the stands as Umpire Stephen Harrison went into overdrive, waving his arms like a manic scarecrow and ditching earlier leniency to adjudge legside wides with the full and aweful rigour of international law. France delighted hundreds of noisy Arab cricket fans with some succulent strokeplay en route to a mammoth 336-7 inside 50 overs, although with wides and no-balls, the French innings lasted a full four hours and ran to the equivalent of 57 overs. Clad in a broad-rimmed hat borrowed from companion law-enforcer Deputy Dawg, Harrison's vigil was epic: given the absence of a qualified Moroccan colleague, he had to stand at both ends. "Dagnabit!" spluttered the Lost Raider as he limped off for lunch. "Cotton-pickin' cricket."

Not for the first time the Moroccan middle-order showed talent and fight, with French skipper Shabir twirling like a whirling dervish in all directions to summon every member of his six-man attack into the futile fray, eventually posting 162, their highest score of the series, all out in the 49th over. With the amply-rolled pitch getting lower and slower, a Moroccan score of around 250-5 loomed at one stage. But the French stuck to their task, diving and shying for run-outs even as the shadows lengthened, evening drew on, and a Moroccan victory resembled a desert mirage...

… a Tale for another Arabian Night