Mallorca C.C. lose to Marcham

Mallorca C.C.*s innings began badly when Marcham C.C.*s R. Whittaker took the home side's first three wickets for just 9 runs off 5 overs. Some sensible batting from Mohammed Shafeek and James Bodsworth produced a fourth wicket stand of 100, Bodsworth was dismissed by Chris Webb for 42, which began a steady fall of Mallorcan wickets, Tristan Barratt in his second bowling spell took 3 for 12. Shafeek was Mallorca's top scorer with an excellent 64 which included 11 boundaries. The tourists from Oxfordshire were intent on a win to redress the balance, and despite an early wicket by Robin Budd on his debut for Mallorca, batted steadily to reach their target with 8 wickets remaining. Trevor Hill, and Tristan Barratt finished unbeaten on 60 and 49 respectively. The latter producing some fine shots in the process. The final game of Marcham's tour was on Sunday, and resulted in a win for the visitors over the home side by 60 runs. However, it did give the MCC an opportunity to blood several new players before next weekend's Balearic Championships, which is an important event in the cricketing calendar. The Championships begin this coming Friday 22nd March when the MCC play Ibiza CC in the first game. Menorca CC then play their opening match on Saturday 23rd March against Ibiza CC, and the tournament ends on Sunday with Mallorca and Menorca CC's meeting head-to-head. This competition always produces exciting cricket, and I strongly recommend cricket lovers not to miss it! Wickets will be pitched at 1.00pm each day, there's a clubhouse, teas are served and entrance to the ground is free. The ground is situated behind the large Sports Stadium in Magaluf.