Jewish Cricketers: High hopes for Great Britain’s Maccabiah team

[Puck]

Great Britain will be represented at the Maccabiah Games this summer as some of the most talented Jewish cricketers from these shores bid to win gold.

The Games, held for the 17th time, take place in Israel in July and are now the second largest sports gathering in the world after the Olympic Games. Six thousand Jewish athletes from over 50 countries are expected to compete in 45 different sports.

Confidence is high in the Great Britain camp ahead of the events. Team manager Nigel Rothband told ecb.co.uk he was bullish about the team’s chances of success in Israel: “We’d be disappointed not to come back with medals; you don’t bother going to a tournament if you don’t think you can win it.”

Such words will undoubtedly fill the camp with belief, something not lacking anyway bearing in mind the calibre of the team’s leader on the pitch, captain Darren Gerard. Known as Dazzla, the right-arm fast bowler is an Oxford University Blue, and one of the GB team’s sources of inspiration.

According to Rothband, the team is well balanced with “a good blend of youth and experience”. This comes partly as a result of two squad members having been to a Maccabiah Games before. Opening bowler Andy Daniels and Mike Jacobs have both represented Great Britain at previous tournaments and will be hoping to do well again this time around.

A 13-man squad has been announced with Gerard captain and Jeremy Mordrick vice-captain. The team begin their quest for honours on July 10 against host nation, Israel. After this, they will pit their wits against Australia, South Africa and India.

The latter three all have strong reputations for being extremely strong cricketing nations, so Great Britain can expect a hard test in their search for honours. Rothband commented, “It will be a challenge for the boys, but we are very confident. The team have been together since last year, and are as well prepared as a Great Britain Maccabiah cricket team has ever been.”

A challenge it should prove, too, bearing in mind some of the players Great Britain are likely to come up against. Australian ex-Test player Julian Wiener, South African internationals Adam Bacher and Terrence Lazard, Derbyshire’s Jon Moss and a number of Irish internationals including current captain Jason Mollins are some of the famous names competing at the Games.

Great Britain will also be sending a squad for the junior tournament, consisting of 14 boys aged between 14 and 17 to compete against Australia, Israel and South Africa.

By Tom Littlefield

http://www.ecb.co.uk/news/features/h...m,4599,EN.html