Gatwick MC – cricket champions

July 25 2016

Postal workers from Gatwick Mail Centre won the inaugural Royal Mail Cricket Championship after a “fantastic day of cricket” in Sussex yesterday.

In a hard-fought final, played at Langley Green in Crawley, the local team held off a determined run chase from a talented Birmingham side, after both had come through a first-round pool and a semi-final.

Gatwick MC captain Shahzad Ali received the trophy from local mayor Raj Sharma, and also won the Golden Batsman’ award after hitting an impressive 110 runs through the four limited-over matches.

Joint tournament organiser Abdur Rasheed, a CWU rep at Gatwick, said: “It’s been a brilliant day and everyone’s really enjoyed themselves.

“Many thanks to all the teams, from Peterborough, Jubilee, and Birmingham mail centres, from the local Crawley Delivery Office, and of course, the two teams who entered from Gatwick, who all made this a fantastic day of cricket.”

“In the semis, one of the Gatwick teams played Peterborough and the other one went up against Birmingham,” Rasheed explained, “and we ended up with a Gatwick v Birmingham final.”

There was some added spice to the contest, with the Midlanders having won the first match between the two sides last summer – but this time, the home side prevailed.

With the number of matches limiting the length of games, the final consisted of seven overs each and Gatwick batted first, hitting 79 runs.

The visitors replied strongly, reaching 66 with six balls to go, and then needing 10 off the last three, but only managed another three runs and ended on 73 as the hosts grimly clung on.

Birmingham captain Mahmood Ali, who jointly organised the event with Rasheed, said: “Congratulations to Gatwick for winning a great game, although we ran them close and nearly caught them.”

CWU executive member Mahmood also thanked all the participants and the spectators, who “helped to make this event such a success.

“Let’s hope we can make this an annual event with even more teams next summer.”