Zurich Crickets Academy

They learn responsibility, reliability, punctuality, and fair play. They also improve their sporting skills and can play regularly in a team.

After beginning with 25 players, there are currently over 60 young players who are members of the Academy. They form U17 and U19 teams and, depending on their skill levels, can be integrated into ZCCC teams that play in the Swiss men's leagues.  

Zurich Crickets Academy Statutes 

Please click on the link to access the Academy Statutes

Academy training and matches during the summer holidays (16th July - 13th August)

Five weeks of a holiday programme for the Academy players included matches and training sessions. The two matches vs Eagles Academy were both won, while the U17s took on the U19s in two matches. On 13th August, with some players already back at school for the new semester, a final training session took place.

ZCCC Academy U19 hosts Friendlies vs Eagles Academy (29^th July)

At Embrach on Monday 29^th July we hosted Eagles Academy.

A 30-over match began with Eagles electing to bat. The 9 Zurich Crickets bowlers were tight and disciplined, preventing boundaries. Then at 55-3 in 16th over wickets tumbled. Our guests were all out for 91 in the 25^th over. Pick of the bowlers were Ziaullah with his five-wicket haul (3.5-11-5) and Habibilrahman’s 3-5-2. The chase by ZC Academy, with some fine shots by Sarhad, Aqib, Khalid and Abid, finished in the 14^th over, with ZC winning by 8 wickets.

A T10 match began with ZC batting first. At 41-4, batsmen Saifullrahman, Fayez, Habibulrahman and Salman had got us off to a good start. Enter Subair and Bashir! These two fast bowlers caused chaos and confusion in the field by hitting 90 runs off 39 balls. Their running was superb, converting ones into twos and threes or even sixes. A flurry of boundaries also helped the score to 131. In reply, the ten ZC bowlers took 6 wickets and restricted Eagles to 40 runs.

We thank Eagles Academy for their visit, for the wonderful food, their enthusiasm and spirit. We look forward to having them back to play our U17s on August 5^th.

Academy U19 lose two, win one (18^th/20^th May)

Match 1: Despite an excellent spell in the field against Rorschach, the ZC Academy U19 crumbled to a surprisingly heavy loss. Restricting Rorschach to just 80 all out the six bowlers all took wickets. Fayez topped the board with 3 for 19 off his 6 overs, with Salman taking 2, while Misbah, Ahmad, Bashir and Sarhad all took one apiece. However, with the bat the team managed just 19 runs in 7.5 overs!

Match 2: Next up was Basel Dragons U19s. Again, we struggled greatly with the bat to post just 84 runs. But there seemed to be a possibility of winning this one. At 63-7 hopes were riding high only to be shattered by their tailenders suddenly clubbing 3 sixes to finish on 90 for 8. The highs and lows of a cricket match.

Match 3: The final match of the weekend was the Zurich Crickets clash. The Academy vs ZCCC. The Academy was learning fast: An opening partnership of 56 from Sarhad (18) and Fayaz (33); 58 runs from Salman (25) and Aqib; another 55 valuable runs between Aqib and Shubham. A magnificent 81 from Aqib had held the innings together for more than 20 overs to put 210 runs together. Despite some tight overs from bowlers Zubair (3-19) and Faisal and Saifullrahman, the Academy had punished loose deliveries mercilessly. The reply by ZCCC struggled and struggled to gain any momentum. At 51-5 in the 12^th over runs were desperately needed. On 93 in the 20^th over the final wicket fell with no batsman having made a threatening total. The seamers had been tight and done their job, but it was the spinners who took the opposition apart. Khalid’s 5 for 27 runs was key, and Fayez’s 2-24 at the other end supported him perfectly to produce a win by 117 runs.

Congratulations to this fast-learning, enthusiastic group of players!