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The 17th Maccabi Games
Steve Tovey
The games were divided into the senior and junior sections as follows:
The senior group was won by South Africa who outplayed Australia in the final with Adam Bacher scoring 102 as South Africa amassed 313 in their allotted 50 overs. In reply the Aussies struggled to 160. Great Britain after losing to Israel in the round robin came back strongly to take the bronze medal when they convincingly defeated the hosts. The South African juniors were years ahead of their rivals winning all 6 games with ease. Each of the 4 teams played each other twice. Israel, playing against a level of cricket unknown to them, played outstandingly to defeat Australia on the final day to take the silver medal, with Australia the bronze. The series of 24 games were played at the 2 grounds in Ashdod and the 2 grounds at the National Athletics Stadium. All 4 grounds were in magnificent condition with the new site screens, locally made and provided by the EDP, proudly in place. The facilities at all the grounds were outstanding, the catering superb. Israel took the initiative in requesting 4 ECC Umpires to assist in this special event through the Annual Support Programme. Ken Amos, Neils Bagh, Richard Smith and Stephen Tovey were specially flown out to join Naor Gudker in officiating at the senior tournament. The 4 ECC Umpires also umpired the junior games and/or stood as third Umpire cum referees. 2 local Umpires Hillel Awasker and Norman Sankar, who umpired the juniors, also went on to officiate at the Under 15 2nd Division Championship in Rome. It was the presence of the 4 visiting Umpires that added a special stature to the competition. Malcolm Speed and his wife Allison arrived on the penultimate day and were present at the final in Ashdod. A film was made at the final at which 10 minutes of cricket was screened followed by two interviews with Malcolm Speed and local Chairman Stanley Perlman. The movie was made for screening on the ICC Cricket World weekly programme and hopefully will be shown during September. During the interview Malcolm Speed, who was referring to the ICC Development Program, said "Israeli cricket punches way above its weight." That sums up the success of the 17th Maccabi Games tournament . The Israel Cricket Association, after so successfully running this major tournament (there were 6,500 participants at the games, the third biggest world sports meet after the Olympics and the Student Games) is now hoping to host the European Under 17 2nd Division Championship in 2006. The security at every cricket game was phenomenal and in addition a doctor, nurse and paramedic were available for all the players’ medical needs. |
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The highlights of the recently completed Maccabi games were undoubtedly the superb organisation and the visit of the ICC CEO Malcolm Speed.