Saumur, 27th June 2007

A strong Australian Crusaders team defeated France by 176 runs in a 50 over match played in lovely conditions, despite a damp wicket, at Saumur on Wednesday 27th June.

The visitors selected their strongest team of their tour that included left-handed opening batsman Rob Quiney and right armed speedster Clinton McKay, who both made their first class debut for Victoria in the past season. Recent Crusader Scholarship winners also in the lineup included wicket keeper/batsman Liam Castellas and left arm spinner Jon Holland, and to add an international flavour to the squad two leading Malaysian youth players Suhan Kumar Alagaratnam and Mohd Anuar Bin Arudin also joined the team for this special encounter against the Equipe de France on a grass wicket which the Crusaders were very much looking forward to as it is rare to play a quality match in Europe on grass.

France won the toss and sent the visitors in to bat first on a greenish and damp wicket that the Aussies seemed to handle very well with the openers compiling 55 runs before first class player Quiney was dismissed by an impressive run out from the youngest player on the field, 16 year old Usman Khan. The breakthrough didn't work in France's favour however as the next partnership put on more than 100 runs as Mato made history scoring the first Crusaders century against France and Alagaratnam making 45 to set up a strong foundation to finish the innings off.

Luckily for France, captain Andy German brought himself into the attack with 10 overs remaining and put a stop to the Aussie dominance by unleashing an awesome display of controlled leg spin that resulted in 5 wickets for 36 runs and included at least 3 easy chances being missed as well. With support from an impressive 10 over spell by Logith Alagaratnam that conceded only 24 runs and a wicket a piece from opener Rob Mozelewski and youngster Usman Khan, the visitors found themselves restricted to 265 runs from their allocated 50 overs which was a result exceeding France's expectations with a target just over 5 runs per over.

The Crusaders were immediately put on the back foot and began wondering what punishment they were in for as French openers Arun Ayyavooraju and Rameez Ihsan began dispatching the opener bowlers to the fence with 10 runs coming from the first over by first class speedster McKay. Just as les Bleus looked to be settling in at the crease Ayyavooraju dragged a leg side ball onto his stumps and the dream start came to an end.

Key batsmen for France, Thushara Zoysa and Sulanga Hewawalandanage, were both very unlucky to be given out LBW from balls they hit but what was to follow from the Frenchmen was inexcusable and given the situation of the match, most disappointing. From the moment the 3rd wicket fell France lost 6 wickets for 5 runs in a batting display the French coach had not experienced before. It was a first class display of spin bowling by Jon Holland that tore the heart out of the French counter-attack and left him with the figures of 3 wickets for only 2 runs from his 6 overs that including 4 maidens!

Fellow first class player Quiney took 3 wickets for 11 runs whilst Costello contributed with 2 wickets and Bin Arudin with 1 wicket. Another French youngster, 18 year old Rameez Ihsan, second top scored with 20 runs and proved his maturity and concentration by staying at the crease for over an hour under tough conditions and against quality bowlers. Hewawalandanage was looking impressive for his 10 runs and Chris West was left stranded on 12 not out as he watched his fellow batsmen collapse around him. The bowling attack from the Crusaders proved how important it is for France and all European teams to practice on grass wickets and how destructive a good spinner can be against these nations that don't have experience playing on grass surfaces.

In the end the Crusaders came away with a comfortable win in a match that was definitely poised in favour of France and despite the anti-climax all players played the match in an excellent spirit and all spectators were treated to an impressive display of cricket on a glorious day in the Loire Valley.

Many thanks to the Crusaders for including this fixture on their tour especially Swan Richards, Ian Scholefield, the umpires and scorer, as well as Tony Banton, David Bordes, David Rhodes, Vincent Buisson and Saumur CC for their generous support to the Equipe de France.