When Pirbright Cricket Club tour captain Dean Burditt pulled the winning runs away for four over midwicket, the rest of the players watching from the clubhouse raised their hands into the warm Maltese air in triumph. They had finally won a tour match in Malta!

In five previous matches on tour in Malta, the team had managed to come second on each occasion.

The second annual Pirbright tour saw the club return to Malta after a successful visit last year. It may not have been successful in playing terms,, but very much so in fun and team spirit.

Pirbright has played cricket on Pirbright Green since 1780, but four years ago there were just two sides which played on Saturdays and Sundays, with only 30 to 40 adult players.

There are now 160 junior players aged six to 16, a women’s team with more than 20 players in the I’Anson softball league, older players playing walking cricket for Pirbright Penguins, a midweek team playing 20-over cricket, and a beautiful new clubhouse built in spring 2023.

Players Tim Lindberg and Phil Eshelby met for a beer in autumn 2022 and proposed a tour. A party of 17 - comprising 14 players and three “interested observers” - made an April 2023 visit to cricket-mad Malta, and plans for a 2024 tour began at the airport while waiting to fly home.

A new tour captain was appointed in Dean Burditt, who organised touring kit. Player and youth coach/manager Alex Houghton filled the role of Tour Judge to keep the tourers in check. Tim and Phil secured sponsorship from Pirbright’s The Cricketers on the Green pub.

The Maltese hosts, Marsa Cricket Club, are very welcoming and always provide touring sides with fun and competitive matches at the Maltese international cricket ground.

Marsa’s attack is normally led by a Maltese international fast bowler, a fun challenge for the Pirbright batting line-up. Pirbright have lost all five games against Marsa but can say they have faced an international pace bowler at an international stadium.

The party again stayed at the Mercure Hotel in St Julian’s Bay - near many bars and restaurants, and a ten-minute walk from Paceville, which has nightclubs, more bars and a chicken wings restaurant where diners sign a waiver before eating the extra-hot wings.

The hotel’s rooftop pool was perfect for enjoying the picturesque bay below and the requisite late-night team-bonding drinks.

The diverse touring party enjoyed four days of bright sunshine, cricket, swimming, making new friends, eating beautiful food and drinking beer - a wonderful experience which the club hopes to repeat in 2025.

Summer colts training is on Pirbright Green every Friday from 5.30pm. For youth membership details email [email protected]