Villagers bowled over by Russia

The mighty Bear - Carmel found Russia too strong

A village cricket team has claimed it is the first club of its kind from Wales to defeat two national sides.

Carmel and District Cricket Club, from near Holywell, Flintshire, defeated the Estonian and Latvian national teams in a 10-day tour of eastern Europe.

The 12-man squad also played in St Petersburg and Moscow, although the Russian national side were too strong.

Previous tours have taken them to Derby and Shrewsbury but the club wanted to play somewhere "a bit different".

Carmel's triumph in the Helsinki Sixes made them the first touring side in 12 years to win the six-a-side contest.

Tour captain and organiser Timothy Abraham said their narrow victory over Latvia in their capital city of Riga, was the last game of the five-match, four-country tour and came after a 17 hour train journey.

Estonia beat Carmel twice in the longer format of the game later in the tour but the village side set the pace in the Helsinki Sixes in Finland by defeating them in the final of the tournament.

The presence of touring teams in these countries really helps the growth of cricket there Timothy Abraham

"I'm pretty certain Carmel's victories over Latvia and Estonia means we're the first Welsh village team to defeat two national teams," said Mr Abraham, who admitted the tour of Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Russia was organised "on a whim".

"We also became the first touring side to ever play cricket in St Petersburg and Moscow so that was a great honour for us.

"Batting in the Moscow international baseball stadium, which has a fantastic backdrop, was an experience I doubt any of the team will ever forget despite being comprehensively beaten by the Russian national side."

Many of the club's regular players were unable to make the touring party because of league commitments so Mr Abraham had to assemble players from work colleagues and university friends.

He said that organising the tour had been a long and painstaking process but he was pleased to be able to help the development of the game in one of Europe's lesser-known cricketing outposts.

"The presence of touring teams in these countries really helps the growth of cricket there," he said.

"Hopefully we'll be able to welcome them to our Pen-Y-Gelli ground one day in the future."