'Ice Ashes' embraces the big freeze

14 January 2010

Ice Ashes, Carmel & District CC, Pen-y-Gelli, Flintshire, Wales

An ice-cool Michael Harrison of the Wales XI sends down a delivery during a dramatic tie at Carmel's Pen-y-Gelli ground on January 9

The majority of sporting fixtures may have been wiped out by the recent freezing conditions but for a group of village cricketers it represented a unique opportunity to stage a special ‘snow international’.

On January 9, players from Carmel & District Cricket Club in Flintshire, North Wales, cleared just under a foot of snow off the frozen artificial batting strip at their Pen-y-Gelli ground before taking their places in XIs representing England and Wales.

With the urn – a can of de-icer – to play for, as well as bragging rights, the first Anglo-Welsh ‘Ice Ashes’ contest may have been played in sub-zero temperatures but the action was white hot.

The idea for the match came from Carmel all-rounder Timothy Abraham, who had previously heard about playing cricket in the snow from his friend, and author of Batting on the Bosphorus, Angus Bell.

He said: “I remember speaking to Angus during a European Twenty20 tournament we have hosted for the past two years and he told me about his experiences of playing cricket during the winter.

“I thought he was joking at first but it turns out he had played matches on frozen lakes and even in a former Soviet missile factory, so I called the Carmel groundsmen to see if we could play our own version.

“After the laughing had eventually died down at the other end of the phone they realised I was serious and fortunately the rest of players at the club were keen to give it a go.”

The 10-over match ended in a dramatic tie as the England team were bowled out for 52 – the same score that the Welsh side had made in their innings – and Carmel captain Danny Oliver, who skippered Wales, admitted the draw was a fair result.

Oliver said: “It was great fun and from a Carmel point of view it was probably a good thing that match ended in a tie as there is always plenty of dressing room banter between the English and Welsh players.”

Man-of-the-match Stephen Skates, who top scored with 14 for the English side, revealed that it was difficult to distinguish players wearing cricket whites against the snowy backdrop.

“We had a rule that if you played more than one defensive shot in the over you could be pelted by snowballs by the fielding team so that combined with fielders in whites and the slippery ground meant batting was quite tricky,” said Skates.