Games We Play: Cricket

Telalivit and Sri Lanka Jerusalem in final; Evans to attend.

By JERUSALEM POST SPORTS STAFF
Cricket 311 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Cricket 311
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Telalivit and Sri Lanka Jerusalem both showed why they finished first and second on the league last weekend as both teams won their semi final matches.
Telalivit was on the back foot for most of its match as inHasharon nearly caused the upset of the season. Telalivit scored 74 and inHasharon required four runs off the final ball of the match, with Telalivit restricting inHasharon to only 1 to win a pulsating match.
Telalivit will meet Sri Lanka Jerusalem in the final after SLJ comprehensively beat Lions Modi’in in the second semi final.
Set a small total of 48 to win, SLJ timed its run chase superbly to win comfortably in the end.
In the first of the Plate Playoff matches, unbeaten Pearl Wanderers Cricket Club beat the Pommeranz Juice Good Old Boys by 18 runs in a good contest, and both teams will be looking to play in the final later on this month.
This week sees Gold Insurance Bet Shemesh Lightning play two crucial matches, first against the Pommeranz Juice Good Old Boys and then the daunting task of facing the unbeaten Pearl Wanderers.
In other Israeli cricket news, it was announced this week that local rising star Josh Evans was selected for the ICC European Emerging Players Program, to be held at the La Manga Club in Murcia, Spain between March 21-26.
“I am extremely excited at being selected to go to Spain and represent Israel,” Evans said. “I am hoping to learn a lot from my experience there and to come back and put it in to practice both in my performance and to help with the juniors in Israel.
“I also hope to gain a huge amount of knowledge and advice from the coaches that we will be working with abroad, which will benefit me as an Israeli player and an international player, and be able to benefit the upand- coming youth in Israel.”
Now in its third year, the Emerging Players Program caters to talented players from around Europe who are performing at a high-level for their age group.
The squad consists of 11 players from eight different member countries.
Stanley Perlman, chairman of the Israel Cricket Association, was excited for Evans’s unique opportunity.
“This prestigeous academy is for the most promising young cricketers in Europe,” Perlman said.
“Josh will be rubbing shoulders with players from Ireland Italy Denmark.
This is a great achievement and accolade for the ICA.
“The choice of Josh puts us right up at the top in Europe an achievement to be proud of. Josh proved his promise at the the senior European competition last year getting a big bag of wickets without conceding a wide or no ball in 45 overs.”
Evans understood the nature of the program when he received the invitation.
“I am very grateful for this opportunity I have been given, and look forward to the great experience and knowledge I will gain from this for my future career in cricket. I would like to thank everybody who has made this possible.”
Herschel Gutman, coach of Israel’s national cricket team, believes that Evans’s ability warrented an invitation.
“Josh is a huge talent, he has been a fantastic addition to the local leagues and has performed remarkably in his debut season for the National team,” Gutman said. “This is a fantastic opportunity for him to enjoy the sport that he loves with players who will challenge him. I have no doubt he will come back a smarter cricketer and be ready to help lead us in our quest for the under-19 Euro B division Gold medal and the Senior Euro Division 1 T20 tournaments later in the summer.”