Frosty St. Moritz cricket festival slips into action

Cricket On Ice organiser and chairman Daniel Haering is busy preparing the wicket when Swisster catches up with him ahead of the opening festival games.

Standing on the frozen St. Moritz lake in bright sunshine, Haering surveys the icy strip which he intends to cover with a dark green synthetic mat.

To the uninitiated ice cricketer, the surface appears slightly bumpy. Presumably the heavy roller is a no-no on this particular surface.

“The pitch is more or less flat, that’s part of the game,” says Haering, who is more concerned that the weather behaves itself. He must be the only person in a ski resort not to wish for fresh snow.

“Last year, five feet of snow fell every hour during the tournament, so play was held up while we cleared the snow away,” he says. “This year, the forecast is not too bad.”

Apart from having to cope with testing climatic conditions, Haering is an experienced hand when it comes to dealing with the eccentricities of ice cricket.

In previous years he has found himself racing around the sports shops of St. Moritz to buy 11 pairs of gloves for one ill-equipped team from South Africa.

“Their fingers were so frozen they couldn't catch the ball,” he says.

Another memorable mishap occurred soon after Haering founded the tournament in 1988, when England cricketer David Gower made an uncharacteristically ill-timed decision to park his car on the lake, only for it to sink.

Although the ice is 50 centimetres thick, Haering is quick to stress that the authorities “really don’t like it when you park on the lake, so spectators should follow the signs to the car park when they come”.

This year’s hitch is getting hold of star players for the festival. Last-minute cancellations by unnamed Indian former internationals mean that the event is marginally less jet-set than in previous editions.

But Haering, who developed a love for the game at Lyceum Alpinum boarding school, is positive that the four participating teams from Switzerland and England will provide more than enough entertainment for the curious bystanders on the boundary – all of whom are invited to the festival tent for champagne or a cup of English tea.

“Our caterer was unable to provide scones and cucumber sandwiches,” he jokes.

“Spectators watch the games very carefully and they are getting used to seeing it here in St. Moritz now, but of course they have questions about how to play,” says Haering.

“It’s a very different game to the one you play on grass,” he adds.

“The air at this altitude is much thinner, so running is more exhausting for the batsmen. The team with the best fielding will win.

"You see some good dives and catches because the ball is plastic and soft. The leather cricket ball becomes wet within a few overs, so it is inadequate here.”

Today’s game features Cholmeleians against Winterthur. Haering, a left-hand bat for Cholmeleians, favours his side’s experience which has earned them the festival cup for the last three years.

But he also tips “rookie side” Woodham Wanderers as a possible contender for the title.

While Haering agrees that the idea of a cricket festival up a mountain is “a bit mad”, he insists that all the games are played in the "true spirit" of cricket.

"Everyone talks about the importance of fair play, but we really live it here. If we’re not sure about an LBW appeal, we give the batsman another chance. No one cares about who wins, it’s all about the sport.”

The fixtures:

Thursday, February 4

10am – 4pm

Cholmeleians XI vs Winterthur XI

Friday, February 5

10am – 4pm    Winterthur XI vs Woodham Wanderers XI

Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz XI vs Cholmeleians XI

Saturday, February 6

10am – 4pm

Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz XI vs Winterthur XI

Cholmeleians XI vs Woodham Wanderers XI

http://www.cricket-on-ice.com/