Geschichte

Cricket bei Alster CC und dem THCC Rot-Gelb: eine Übersicht

2014

THCC wird vom DCB als Klub des Jahres ausgezeichnet

Wie so oft erarbeitete der THCC sich in diesem Jahr Anerkennung auf und abseits des Feldes. Das Jahr startete vielversprechend mit einer Nennung im 2014 Wisden Almanack und einer Ehrung durch den Bezirk Altona für unsere Jugendarbeit. Diese Ehrung brachte uns auch beachtliche Präsenz in den lokalen Medien ein.

Sportlich begann das Jahr mit einer actionreichen Wintersaison und nicht weniger als vier THCC-Teams im Herren-Indoor-Turnier des NDCV. Drei dieser Teams – inklusive unserer U19 – erreichten die Runde der letzten Acht, doch sie mussten den Sieg der starken SG Findorff aus Bremen überlassen.

Im Frühjahr begann die Feldsaison der Bundesliga Nord, die in diesem Jahr aus sechs Teams bestand – darunter natürlich auch unsere Erste Mannschaft als Titelverteidiger. Sowohl die THCC Academicals als auch die Desperadoes starteten in der Regionalliga. Nach einem überzeugenden 9-Wicket-Sieg im ersten Spiel verlor die 1st XI leider zwei Matches. Zwar konnte sich die Mannschaft in der Mitte der Saision wieder etwas fangen, aber zwei Niederlagen am Ende der Saison ließen die Hoffnung auf eine Verteidigung des Titels schwinden. Der zweite Platz der Tabelle beschönigte eine eher enttäuschende Saison, während der zwei unserer erfolgreichsten Spieler, Surya und Vinay, uns in Richtungs Ausland verließen.

Die Desperadoes starteten ihre Saison mit einem Derby-Sieg über die Academicals, die dann aber selbst einen Sieg gegen das neue Team aus Bremen-Findorff einfahren konnten. Den Rest der Regionalligasaison aber konnten beide Teams nicht mehr so erfolgreich gestalten – unter anderem durch einige Spielabsagen.

Die Höhepunkte der Saison bestanden für viele unserer Cricketer bestanden zweifellos in den vielen Freundschaftsspielen. Wir empfingen drei tourende Teams aus dem Vereinigten Königreich: Crawford’s Commandos aus London, gefolgt von Tarzan’s Touring XI aus dem West Country und zuletzt die Swansea Law Society. Außerdem sandte der THCC auch selbst Teams auf Tour: zunächst auf die Nordseeinsel Helgoland zu einem der traditionsreichen Matches gegen die Heligoland Pilgrims und nach Dresden in einem leider nicht von Erfolg gekrönten Versuch, den Elbe Bowl zurück nach Hamburg zu holen.

Für die sportlichen Erfolge sorgten in diesem Jahr unsere hervorragenden Jugendteams: Die U19 gewann nicht nur ihr Indoor-Turnier, sondern auch die NDCV U19 outdoor league. Auch die U17 gewann ihr Indoor-Turnier. Die U15 erreichten in beiden Wettbewerben einen respektablen zweiten Platz und die U11 zeigte eine steile Lernkurve gegen größtenteils ältere Gegner.
Wir setzten unser Engagement im Bereich des Jugend-Crickets fort – und setzten dabei neue Maßstäbe mit nicht nur einem, sondern gleich zwei T20-Trainingscamps für Jugendliche. Außerdem boten wir im Rahmen des Hamburger Ferienpass mehrere kostenlose Workshops für Hamburgs Schulkinder an.

Besondere Erwähnung verdient das neugegründete THCC-Ladies-Team. Die Ladies gaben ihr Debut in der neuen Damen-Bundesliga, aber oft war es eine zu große Hürde, elf Spielerinnen zusammenzukriegen – und wenn, dann waren einige oft absolute Anfängerinnen. Die Ladies gewannen zwar kein Spiel, aber dafür viel Anerkennung – und es gab im Laufe der Saison auch einige bemerkenswerte Einzelleistungen zu bewundern. Es war nur passend, dass die Ladies ihre ersten zwei Spiele unter den Augen einer Delegation des ICC und des DCB spielten, die nach Hamburg gekommen waren, um Zeugen des Wachstums im Damen- und Jugendbereich bei uns in Norddeutschland zu werden.

Im September konnten wir unsere neue Website launchen – mit einem Bericht über eine weitere erfreuliche Berichterstattung über unseren Klub, dieses Mal in The Nightwatchman, the Wisden Cricket Quarterly. Und im November war der THCC Rot-Gelb Gastgeber der DCB-Jahreshauptversammlung, auf der er vom DCB als Deutschlands Cricket-Klub des Jahres geehrt  wurde.

Alles in allem war 2014 ein Jahr sehr erfolgreicher Leistungen. Unsere Mitgliederzahlt überschreitet die Hundert immer noch bei Weitem, und wir sind guten Mutes, dass der Klub sich weiter stabilisieren und wachsen wird – bei allen Herausforderungen, die das deutsche Cricket bietet.

2013

THCC gewinnt die Bundesliga Nord und wird Deutscher Vizemeister!

Nach einer turbulenten Indoor-Saison und einer erfolgreichen Vorbereitungstour nach Dänemark startete der THCC die Bundesliga-Saison mit zwei Teams: Die Erste Mannschaft spielte in der Nordgruppe mit den anderen Hamburger Teams, Kiel und Schwerin, während die Zweite in der Südgruppe antrat. Die 2nd XI, die “Academicals” unter Führung von “Doc” Steve Aplin, war ein Development-Team, das einige vielverprechende junge Spieler und einige erfahrene Veteranen zusammenbrachte. Die Academicals taten ihr bestes und erreichten den 9. Platz bei einer Gesamtzahl von zwölf Teams der Bundesliga Nord. Auch die Dritte Mannschaft, die Desperadoes, hatten eine gute Saison und wurden Zweiter in der 35-over “Freizeitliga”.
Die Erste Mannschaft gewann unter Käpt’n Surya Narayanan alle Gruppenspiele außer einem und schlug dann Alemi im NDCV-Finale, um zum zweiten Mal in der Klubgeschichte Norddeutscher Meister zu werden.
In den nationalen Playoffs schlug das Team Viktoria Berlin in einem markerschütternden Halbfinale, verlor aber das Endspiel gegen den SK Walldorf aus Hessen. Nichtsdestotrotz ein herausragendes Ergebnis – nie zuvor hat ein Team vom THCC oder Alster CC das nationale Endspiel erreicht!

Weitere Highlights waren die Tour nach Helgoland im Juni, wo man gegen den neugegründeten Heligoland Pilgrims CC spielte, das Rückspiel gegen die Pilgrims bei einem Exhibition-Match bei der British Flair auf dem Hamburger Polo-Ground und das “Final Fling”-Familienwochende in Damshagen zum Saisonabschluss.

Die Jugendabteiling des THCC wuchs und wuchs und wuchs: Mittlerweile spielen etwa 50 Youngster zwischen 6 und 19 Jahren in den diversen Jugendmannschaften (U19, U15 und U11). Die U19 und U15 gewannen nicht nur ihre Indoor-Wettbewerbe, sondern auch die entsprechenden NDCV-Titel. Das dritte jährliche “T20 Youth Training Camp” in Folge war ein Höhepunkt unserer Jugendarbeit.

2012

Der THCC feiert das Silber-Triple

Following the departure of captain Graham Sommer to Denmark, the 1st XI captaincy was taken over by THCC’s other former German international, allrounder Surya Narayanan. Indoors, the THCC 1st team was led by Jon Cardy, and the Twenty/20 team by Trived Turai. The season got off to a great start with the 1st team reaching the final of the Indoor competition, an experience soon to be repeated by the T20 squad. In the eleven-team League our 1st XI won all games except one, with a washout also costing valuable points, and so finished runners-up to HSV. Overall, this evidenced a consistently strong performance, with only a narrow gap remaining to be closed between the two top teams in the region.

The club’s two second teams, the Academicals and the Desperados, had mixed fortunes in the new 35-over “Friendly League” (of five teams), with the Desperados managing a convincing victory over Fallingsbostel but losing against the Academicals in the final game of the season. Other highlights of the season were undoubtedly the THCC 6-a-side Olympics featuring eight teams (gold medalists: Germany), the 2nd Alster/THCC cricket festival, and the Elbe Cup matches against Dresden CC in September.

THCC’s youth section continued to expand rapidly and now numbers 30 youngsters aged 6-17. After three indoor tournaments, the first outdoor league games in May saw the THCC colts losing only by the narrowest of margins to strong teams from Göttingen and Schwerin. In friendly matches later in the season the colts showed how much they have learned by defeating not only Hamburg rivals HICC but also a Mecklenburg-Vorpommern select team, both by big margins. The Twenty/20 Youth Training Camp held at the end of the summer holidays, this time for a whole week, surely contributed to the team’s improvement. This was also evidenced by the youngsters’ impressive performance at the DCB Schools’ Championships in Düsseldorf in November where the team, competing as Hamburg South-West, fought its way through to the final of the Plate Competition, losing there to a team featuring no fewer than three German U19 players. With membership levels stronger than ever before in the club’s history, the THCC teams await the 2013 season with confidence.

2011

Halbfinale in der Norddeutschen Cricket-Liga

The THCC team led by South African Graham Sommer (former German national team captain) won all its group games bar one and so qualified for the semi finals. In the semi-final THCC was drawn against HSV and put up 214 for 8 off the allotted 50 overs, recovering well from a top order collapse, with skipper Graham scoring 51 and Jon Cardy an unbeaten 38. However this was not enough and HSV won by 3 wickets, later losing to Hannover on the final.
However, the league campaign only tells half the story. 2011 saw the club realising its true potential in many other ways. THCC hosted the Hamburg indoor qualifying tournament, the North German indoor finals and even an an Indoor youth tournament with over 50 kids from all over the region. When the weather turned warm, the season really took off: in between and after the league games, numerous friendly matches were played at home and across Northern Germany, from Schwerin to Husum and Fallingbostel, and a team from London came to play a tour match.
The club’s youth section expanded rapidly, from just half a dozen youngsters at the start of the season to 17 at the end. The highlight was undoubtedly the Twenty/20 Youth Training Camp hosted by THCC in September which attracted 25 youngsters from the region and was run by professional trainers from the UK. To cater for the growing cricket section of the club, efforts off the field were focused at finding a second cricket pitch to cater for the boom.

2010

Norddeutscher Meister!

August 1st 2010 was a red-letter day when the team won the North German Championship for the first time in the club’s 15-year history by beating HSV in a low-scoring affair played on the old Alster ground in Horn. THCC were bowled out for 111 with Su top-scoring (37). Those who felt this would be too low a score to give THCC any chance of victory had not reckoned with HSV’s self-destruct mechanism. Unable to get out of a 20/20 mind frame, many of the HSV batsmen were caught out going for big hits on the slow and slightly unpredictable wicket. Excellent bowling, again by Su, and several outstanding catches by Hardeep and Su meant HSV were all out for just 79 in just a dozen overs. It was a great team performance by THCC, not least in refusing to be provoked by the extremely unsporting pitch invasion by the HSV team after the fall of their 8th wicket. Congratulations to Javed, the captain, and all those who played their part in this first-ever NDCV Championship! This title meant THCC had qualified for the finals of the German Championship, but unfortunately the performances against the champions of North-Rhine Westphalia and Berlin did not match that of the final and heavy defeats resulted.

2009

THCC erreicht Nord-Finale gegen HSV

The first season on Germany’s only grass wicket! How would the pitch play? After many damp days in May and June, the wicket finally dried out in July and a sunny, warm August even allowed four consecutive days of cricket to be played on the ground. The verdict? Pretty good for a first season. And the more the wicket is rolled, the better it gets. An influx of new players in the winter and spring left THCC with a group of 20-25 keen cricketers. At last, the new captain, Javed, could look forward to a season of actually choosing teams rather than begging guys to turn up and play. The performances on the field were very mixed. A fine win against Göttingen in the first game at the new ground was followed by embarrassing league defeats against Oldenburg (away), HICC (home) and even Hamburg Youth (home). But enough points were gathered from other games, e.g. a historic victory over HSV, to secure THCC a place in the semi-finals where HICC were comprehensively beaten . Unfortunately, the two stars of the semi-final victory – Su with the bat and Saradhi with the ball – were unavailable for the final against HSV and a close-fought game was lost by just 3 wickets. It was actually one of the closest wins for the perennial champions HSV, but that is not much consolation in view of the earlier defeat THCC had imposed on HSV in the league. Still, ending up 2nd in the North German League in the first full season at the new club is a great achievement – congratulations to everybody who played for the club this year!

2008

Neustart bei Rot-Gelb in Klein-Flottbek

The Rot-Gelb AGM on March 1 2008 voted to set up a new cricket section – with the proviso that safety nets be erected on two sides of the ground to protect the tennis players and parked cars from flying cricket balls. Unfortunately, the club did not have the funds to purchase masts and netting so the search began for sponsors. It was only in autumn 2008 that the money was finally raised – thanks to two generous grants from the state and local parliaments. However, since a “ex-Alster” team had been entered for the North German League, a small band of cricketers valiantly battled through the season playing all their games away from home. A training net was erected in one corner of the new ground and a couple of social events in the course of the season showed that the new clubhouse had great potential for socialising. There were, however, some hopeful indications of what the future could hold. Hamburg’s International School is moving to a site right next door to the Rot-Gelb ground in autumn 2009 and the Headmaster expressed a keen interest in close operation. Plans are going ahead to erect the masts and nets in the winter months so that by April 2009 the Rot-Gelb ground – one of Germany’s very few grass wickets – will be ready to host our home games.

2006-2007

Ende einer Ära

The 2006 season was fairly unspectacular. The squad was further weakened by the loss of several key players. A general lack of numbers resulted in difficulties raising a team for some of the league games. The Committee’s biggest concerns were financial as the changes in the membership structure of the club made it increasingly difficult to raise the rent for the ground. Only through taking on another team as a sub-tenant and sponsorship by CFS could the bill be paid. By 2007 the fall in overall membership and relatively high proportion of student members had increased the financial pressures on the club. As a result, two other teams had to be invited to use the ground as well, a far from satisfactory solution. However, the bombshell hit the club in March when a local newspaper reported that Hamburg was planning to extend the racehorse to accommodate a new trotting course – at the expense of most of the cricket pitch. Many months of fruitless searches for a suitable ground followed and no clubs seemed interested in such a small band of cricketers. Finally, towards the end of the 2007 season, a tennis and hockey club in the western suburb of Klein-Flottbek, THC Rot-Gelb, welcomed us with open arms and proposed that Alster CC become the newly founded cricket section of Rot-Gelb. At an Extraordinary AGM of Alster CC on November 3 2007 the motion to dissolve the club was unanimously passed and Alster CC duly went out of the existence at the end of the year.

2005

Eine Saison des Wandels

Though weakened by the loss of some key players, Alster’s season got off to a tremendous start with the Club winning the North German Indoor Champs for the first time. Outdoors, the highlight of the early season was the Club’s tour to Essex and London. Sadly, League performances failed to match the previous season’s highs and the Club finished fifth in the League, just outside the play-off places. Off the pitch, an era came to an end as Alster founder Mark Richardson gave up the Presidency and many of the long-established members drifted away. But as the one truly multinational club in North Germany, Alster continues to attract new players from the worldwide cricketing community.

2004

Zweiter der Norddeutschen Cricket-Liga

This was ACC’s Indian season as the weekly indoor net sessions held at a school gym near Altona Station had drawn in a numerous Indian cricketers. The outdoor season saw some powerful batting and bowling performances with at one stage Alster’s Gursaant Singh simultaneously heading the League’s batting and bowling figures. Sadly, Alster did not perform as well as expected in the final of the play-offs – not least due to the fact that Guru’s visa had run out – and had to be satisfied with second spot in the League.

2003

Die Wiederauferstehung

In the Indoor Championships this year Alster CC managed 3rd place with a team featuring several newcomers. The outdoor team took on a new look as well, partly as a result of the captain and vice-captain having left Hamburg, but also because of an influx of new players. Young Australian James Bales assumed the mantle of the captaincy, aided and abetted by the kinetic Steve Aplin. When all players were available, Alster put out its strongest team ever, featuring the South African allrounders Graham Sommer and Graeme Rule, and Australian Damien Keating to name just a few. However, in the key matches the team was either missing they key players or otherwise fell short of its potential and so finished 3rd in the outdoor league.

2002

Wieder Indoor-Vizemeister, aber nur Dritter im NDCV

At the German Indoor Championships ACC won its group outright and progressed to the semi-finals where Berlin’s SC Staaken won a close game. With two new teams joining the North German League, the outdoor season was an exciting and varied one, especially with the advent of two new Flicx pitches in the region, and at the end Alster were pipped into third spot on bonus points. Castle Rising CC of King’s Lynn played Alster on their tour of Hamburg but the Club had to cancel its own planned tour to Italy. Three friendlies against Husum, who play in the Danish Elite league, rounded off an eventful year.

2001

Zweiter bei den Deutschen Indoor-Meisterschaften und auf dem norddeutschen Rasen

This year got off to a cracking start with an excellent result in the German Indoor Championships where the team fought its way through a tough group only to lose in the final. Outdoors, the team consolidated its previous year’s success and finished second again. The Club tour to London and Norfolk was a great success, with two games out of three being won. At home, the Club dedicated its resources to the construction of two additional practice pitches for net training.

2000

Norddeutscher Vizemeister

The 2000 outdoor season turned out to be ACC’s most successful yet with the dormant potential suddenly realised. The League had grown again with the return of two clubs, but in one upset after another, Alster defeated teams it had never previously beaten before (e.g. Hamburg Youth and Bremen). The first club century was recorded with Dilip Nair scoring an imperious 168 against former North German champions Hamburg Youth, and the 200-run barrier was broken by the team on repeated occasions on its path to second spot in the final table. Another major milestone was the ACC’s first tour abroad – to Manchester, where two matches and some excellent cricket were played against clubs from the Saddleworth League.

1999

Ein Jahr des Wiederaufbaus

For several winters, the Club had benefited from indoor training sessions at Heinrich-Hertz-Schule, which had been initiated by sports teacher and ACC member John Kirby and seen many pupils introduced to the sport. The North German League had shrank with the self-imposed exile of two clubs and the outdoor season was a relatively peaceful one, though ACC failed to capitalise on the situation and finished fourth out of five.

1998

Ein Heim für Alster

After many months of negotiations, May 1998 finally saw an Alster dream come true. An artificial pitch was installed at ACC’s new “home”, a ground belonging to Marienthaler Tennis & Hockey Club (MTHC) next to the Horner Rennbahn race course. With the MTHC’s excellent clubhouse and changing room facilities, Alster finally had a ground to be proud of. Indeed, only a month later the German National team came to play a practice match. The results of the outdoor season were less conspicuous. Alster won the wooden spoon.

1997

Das Ende der Vagabundenlebens

With the League reverting to one group, ACC concentrated its talents on fielding one strong team and its energies on seeking better training facilities – and indeed a home ground. Thus far, the club had led a nomad-like existence, playing “home” games on the British Army base at Fallingbostel and even in Osnabrück, 200 kilometres away! This season, the ACC had shifted its training sessions from the Stadtpark to a parking lot at the Volkspark – not as scenic or as centrally located but at least there was a reasonable training strip for net practice. The team finished 7th in the ten-team League.

1996

Zwei Alster-Teams in der Norddeutschen Cricket-Liga

ACC entered a team in the German National Indoor Championships held at Göttingen University but the players made more friends than runs. Every learning curve has to start somewhere! Outdoors, 1996 saw the ACC leave the previous season’s primitive training facilities and start training on grass for the first time – on a mole-infested, tree-lined hockey pitch in the Stadtpark. Picturesque maybe, but far from ideal. Many new members had joined the club so ACC fielded two teams in the North German League, one each in the two regional groups formed for that season. The 1st XI performed creditably in its group, finishing 3rd out of five, whilst the 2nd XI, which included a high proportion of young beginners, bravely plunged in at the deep end, finishing 4th out of its group of five.

1995

Alster Cricket Club – seit dem 4. Juni 1995

Many of the 15 founding members had previously played at another Hamburg club, but as a result of growing disenchantment had decided to leave and form Alster Cricket Club. The Club got off to a heady start. ACC’s first fixture in the North German League was an away game in Gütersloh to which the team was accompanied by a camera crew from German TV station ZDF! Long before a minimum number of German players became mandatory in the German leagues, Alster teams consistently featured four or more native Germans, who earned their places with strong performances. Eighth place in a ten-team League represented a fair start for the Club’s first season.