Cricket clubs diversity to be highlighted during 2017 World Series of Cricket match
The Napa Valley Cricket Club (NVCC) will host its sixth annual “World Series of Cricket” match this coming Sunday from 10am at the Napa Valley Expo in downtown Napa. The match marks the halfway point in the clubs 2017 season, their first playing matches in Napa having moved from their previous ground at The Fairgrounds in Calistoga over the winter. As ever the game will be hotly contested as the Rest of the World (RoW) team of members look to retain the trophy they won in 2016 against a strong American & Australian (AA) team who lead the annual contest 3-2 having won last in 2015.
With cricket being the second most popular sport in the world, after soccer, the NVCC uses their annual World Series match to showcase the game and encourages locals and visitors alike to come watch, and learn about, the game. Cricket is played in over 100 countries worldwide and close to home the game has a strong and passionate following in the South Bay.
“Our World Series match has become the big match of the season for our members” said NVCC president Rob Bolch, an Australian, “and with almost all 
of our playing members available for the match it means the cricket will be of a very good quality from both teams who this year are looking pretty balanced. The addition of a number of new members with our move to Napa has added even more diversity to our ranks in particular with the Afghan born Safdari brothers, Mustafa and Mujtaba, joining in 2017. So when we add all of the players together we’ll have players from Australia, America, Ireland, the UK, South Africa, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan playing the World Series match. And when we add in non-playing members we can also add Brazil and Jamaica which I’m guessing makes us one the most internationally diverse organizations in the Napa Valley.” continued Bolch “It’s a fun day out for the family with supervised activities for the kids, food from Compadres and beverages from our sponsors Clos du Val and Anchor Steam Brewing.”
New Zealand born Yountville resident Bernie Peacock captains the RoW team for the 2017 match and he has a wealth of talent at his disposal. In addition to the Safdari brothers, league cricketer and long-standing NVCC member Amritpal Bhatal has made himself available for the match. “It’s going to be a great day, both on and off the field.” says Peacock “As the holders of the trophy we go into the match feeling confident but need to make sure that we make the right decisions with both bat and ball, as the AA team have some strong match-winning players in their 
ranks. If we can get those players unsettled, or even better, take them out of the equation, I think we’ll see a good contest that we hope to win. Off the field I’m excited to be playing the match at the Expo in downtown Napa as a number of family and friends will be coming along for the day to enjoy the spectacle.”
Australian all-rounder John Leake will be captaining the AA team in 2017 and he’s looking forward to the challenge of taking back the trophy. “The World Series is always a great day out for family and friends and having it in Napa this season will mean we can probably expect a larger crowd than in previous seasons.” says Leake “The team we’ll be putting out this year is strong in all departments, but particularly in the fielding department with our American fielders Pete Cameron and Jared Thatcher and their “baseball arms” being singularly effective at keeping the run scoring down. That, in tandem with a decent bowling line up and a strong batting line up means that we’re pretty confident of taking the trophy back from the RoW side.”
The toss for the game, to decide who bats or bowls first, will take place at 10.15am with Napa Mayor Jill Techel performing the task. Commentary on the 
game will be provided by American born NVCC member Jamie Johnson who played cricket in the UK for 24 years. During the innings lunch break and during drinks breaks, explanations of the game and its rules will take place at the “pitch” area in the middle of the ground.
Admission is free for the day with food from club sponsor Compadres Rio Grille and refreshments from Clos du Val and Anchor Brewing on sale. An instant cellar drawing with wine worth in excess of $2000 will take place at the end of proceedings to raise money for the club. Tickets will be on sale on the day for $5 each or $20 for five.
World Series Match Day Details
FREE ADMISSION
Sunday 23rd July 2017 from 10am – 4pm (approx.)
Napa Valley Expo, 575 Third St., Napa, CA 94559
Sponsors
The Napa Valley Cricket Club wishes to acknowledge the assistance of the following sponsors
Clos du Val, Anchor Brewing, Compadres Rio Grille, Crown Hill Stone Supply, St. Helena Optometry, Amcor, Azmera Consulting, Caliber Home Loans, 19 Crimes Wines, John Fearless.
Lyve Systems Inc., Stone Universe, 3 rock marketing, Bill Wagner Realtor, Napa Gourmet Foods, ZAM Apps, Mechanics Bank, Tugboat.
The NVCC couldn’t have picked a better weekend to travel north of the border with the temperature nudging 80 degrees and their match scheduled just a couple of days after the summer solstice, ensuring light for playing well into the evening. MCC captain Raj Sidhu won the toss and decided to bat first and give Leigh Ritchie, the NVCC tour captain, and the NVCC team something to chase. MCC started strongly with the bat and their openers Dave Avren and Tommy Keady batted solidly for MCC seeing off the NVCC opening bowlers Tim Irwin and Tim Kay, with both batsmen getting to 30 runs and retiring – local social rules for the match to allow more to participate. It wasn’t until the 13th over that NVCC found some success with the ball when club president Rob Bolch had MCC captain Sidhu trapped LBW (leg-before-wicket) for only five runs.
and haunt NVCC later in their chase. Some good application with the bat by Kay that included two fours was ended by a stunning catch by MCC’s Shah Hamid and from there the NVCC middle order imploded with Jamie Johnson (0 off 2), Bijoy Ojha (5 off 11), and Pete Sander (2 off 7) contributing to what was looking like an early end to the NVCC’s innings.
was so full of praise for this ground almost 70 years ago. The hospitality shown to us by the Meraloma CC guys was great. It was a good, hard and fair cricket match and afterward over a curry dinner it was great to share stories of our mutual love of the game of cricket, and share and hear stories of each club’s history.”