Swiss domestic season gets underway after series with France
Tony Munro - 8 May 1999

The Swiss Cricket Association's domestic season got underway on May 2 with six clubs participating in this year's championship, in two divisions: South-west: Geneva, C.E.R.N., Cossonay; North-east: Berne, Basle, Winterthur

After a home-and-away round robin the winners of SW play the runners up of NE, and vice versa, in the semi-finals to be played on August 29th. The final is set for September 26th.

Let's have a closer look at the clubs in question:

Geneva: Switzerland's oldest club (1956) will be trying to produce the form of earlier years when the team whose home ground bears the name 'Graceland' was a leading light in the old Ambassador's Cup knock-out competition before the league system was introduced. Their permanent strip gives them a slight home advantage. Players to watch for: Nelson Burrel (WI/CH) Swiss international, powerful batsman and accurate medium-pace bowler, can turn a match on his own; Matthew Hutton (AUS) opening RHB and cat-like close-in fieldsman, able tactical captain.

C.E.R.N.: a regular turnover of players always makes it difficult to forecast the prospects of this club whose ground sits on the land occupied by the European Centre for Nuclear Research. For the last two seasons C.E.R.N. have carried of the wooden spoon but things could be better this time around. Players to watch for: Chris Onions (ENG), LHB, medium-pace bowler and captain; John Osborne (ENG), opening bat and the man to shore up any collapse; Bryan Pattison (ENG), veteran seamer and wily placer of the field.

Cossonay: Switzerland's village side with the picturesque ground set in the Jura foothills are a difficult team on which to make a prediction this year. In the closed season key players have moved on and a fresh contingent of new faces - Commonwealth and Swiss - have moved in. Coss. have been beaten semi-finalists these last two seasons and so still have that final step to aim for. Players to watch for: Rod Nish (AUS/CH) fast bowler and hard-hitting middle-order bat; John Bird (SCO/CH) perhaps the best wicket-keeper on the Swiss Cricket Association circuit; Drew Gamage (ENG/CH) the all-rounder who learned his cricket in Switzerland.

Berne: former champions and last season's runners-up (the champions, Zurich Prince have since transferred to another cricket championship in Switzerland) will be out to recapture their crown. A well-balanced side of Swiss and Commonwealth players Berne have a deep reserve of talent on whom to call. Players to watch for: Tariq Kahn (PK), dependable RHB, fierce bowler; Peter MacLaverty (IRL/CH) opening bat and difficult to dislodge; Abraham Koshy (IND/CH) wicket-keeper-captain.

Basle: after a very slim period a club rebuilding and seeking the form which took them to the final in 1997. Basle CC recently moved to a new, larger ground and the wide open spaces of their new home seem to be encouraging the players to enlarge their cricketing talents.

Players to watch for: Jacques Boshoff (ZA/CH) medium-to-fast bowler, rock-like middle-order bat and one of the best fieldsman on the circuit; Michael Baboolal, (WI/CH) spinner with an action to rival South Africa's Adams, can bat well anywhere in the order; David Sykes (AUS), strong hitter and WK; Magsood Kahn, (PK/CH) elegant RHB.

Winterthur: the most Helvetic of the clubs in the SCA and one which often teeters on the edge of the honours list without quite falling into the cup. This club has seriously tightened its coaching methods over the last two years, with marked improvement in form as a result. Players to watch for: Dave Williams (English), veteran batsman who averaged over 50 last season; Alex Bühler (CH) up-and-coming Swiss middle-order bat and pace bowler; Phil Martin (English) fast bowler who leads the attack; Kurt Ziegler (CH), WK.

Meanwhile, France scored two close victories over Switzerland on the weekend, by three wickets on May 1 and by nine wickets on May 2.

On May 1 at Thoiry, near Paris, in a game played to full 50-over ODI rules, Switzerland won the toss and batted, struggling to 138-9 with Simon Hewitt taking 32-3. The hosts promptly collapsed to 17-5 and looked set for a shock defeat at 61-7, before young Frenchman David Bordes and wicket-keeper Shabir Hussain took control with a French-record eighth wicket partnership of 77.

The next day at the new ground in Dreux, 50 miles west of Paris, France again recovered from an early collapse in a 40-over match. Only 55 not out from Pierre Alexandre, batting eight, and an unbeaten last wicket stand of 35 with Christophe Bartlett, helped France to 160-9. The Swiss looked in control during a lengthy stand between MacLaverty (39) and Nelson (60), but lost wickets trying to accelerate and were all-out in the last over for 151, just nine runs adrift.