The Ash Tree Cricket Club in the Cheshire village of Prestbury finally won their first overseas victory in 35 years. Every Summer they go for a pre-season foreign tour and have failed to win one match for almost four decades. This year, however, the team finally tasted victory thanks to a two-run win over Balkan side, Sir William Hoste Cricket Club – based on the Croatian island of Vis.
They were so jubilant the very next day after their win they played a rematch – and typically lost it by 81 runs! The club chairman Mark Crook said it was a mystery why their tour record was so woeful. Crook, 72, said: “Over the years on home turf we have won and lost in equal measure, but abroad it was a very different story. It became a bit of an inside joke.
We didn’t expect to win with our track record, so it was amazing when it happened. “We used to share our record with the team we were playing but they never believed us and thought it was a ploy. I think the main reason for not winning was a lack of skill, but we’ve also been a bit unlucky. We came very close a few times, and only lost by one run last year in France. In Vis we didn’t expect to win with our track record, so it was amazing when it happened. We couldn’t believe it.”
The team returned home to a hero’s welcome, popular with millionaire footballers like Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney.
