Nina Stevens will captain the Cricket Library Podcast Invitational XI against a very experienced Riding Mill Dice Cricket line up captained by Liam James
Patron of the Cricket Countdown, Nina Stevens has been rewarded commitment to inspiring a love of cricket with the honour of being named captain of the Cricket Library Podcast Invitational XI for the historic dice cricket fixture with Riding Mill Cricket Club this weekend.
The Cricket Library Podcast Invitational XI boasts International & First Class cricket experience with the likes of Daryl Tuffey, Tim Ludeman, Nicola Browne selected in the line up alongside some very seasoned club cricketers and podcast listeners.
While both sides boast plenty of talent, the Riding Mill team much more seasoned in dice cricket than the hosts. The big question will be how quickly the tourists can acclimatise and if there are any virtual jet lag related concerns for the squad.
The game will get underway at 7am on Sunday morning in Australia with fans in the UK following along at 10pm Saturday night.
You can learn more about Nina’s passion for cricket by listening to her interview on the Cricket Library Podcast last year.
In a last minute bid to strengthen their bowling stocks for the highly anticipated match against Riding Mill Cricket Club, the selectors have called former NZ International Nicola Browne into their XI. It is expected that she will take the new dice with fellow former Kiwi International Daryl Tuffey.
Nicola Browne was a seasoned campaigner for NZ playing across all three formats and having success with both ball and bat taking over 100 wickets for the White Ferns and scoring over two and a half thousand runs across her 181 game International career.
She is the final big name selection in the XI with the full line up to be announced very soon.
The team lists are in for the highly anticipated virtual tour opener this weekend
After much deliberation at the selection table, the Burrabadine XI has been finalised for the dice cricket virtual tour opener against Riding Mill Cricket Club. The side has not had the fanfare of the Cricket Library Podcast Invitational XI but boasts some high quality players.
Resident cricket librarian Matt Fiction who is best known for the highly popular Roadside Reviews segment will captain the side. He has a wealth of dice cricket experience that he will bring to the virtual table and is expected to lead the team with distinction.
One of the marquee signings is Andrew Ellis who we assured has been picked in the team on merit and not simply due to the fact that his brother hosts the Cricket Library Podcast. In fact there is some speculation he has a point to prove having being omitted from the Cricket Library Podcast Invitational XI.
Andrew is best known for his work making Ellis Guitars and feels more comfortable playing dice cricket as the chances of him injuring a precious strumming fingers are greatly reduced.
Andrew Ellis will bring a real rock star flavour to the Burrabadine XI
The tour is gaining momentum rapidly and all and sundry are eagerly anticipating the opening fixture at 6am Sunday morning in Australia and 9pm (GMT) in the UK.
Robbie Mackinlay from ABC Riverina discussing the Dice Cricket Virtual Tour with Cricket Library Podcast host Matt Ellis. Audio courtesy of ABC Radio
Daryl Tuffey represented New Zealand across all three formats claiming 77 Test wickets and 110 ODI wickets for his country. He played 91 First Class matches claiming 288 wickets with the remarkable best figures of 7-12.
In a massive coup for the Cricket Library Podcast Invitational XI, Daryl Tuffey can now add dice cricket to his CV having been named alongside other marquee players Nina Stevens and Tim Ludeman to take on Riding Mill this Sunday Morning.
It is expected that Tuffey, who bowled the first over in the inaugural T20 International between Australia and NZ will open the virtual rolling in this historic encounter with Riding Mill. No doubt he will pose a serious threat to the top order in the T10 Fixture that has captured the imagination of dice cricket lovers around the world.
You can learn more about the Daryl Tuffey story in his chat with the Cricket Library Podcast last year.
After completing their preparations with an eight wicket loss to their neighbours Mallards, Riding Mill have named their XI for games one and two of their virtual tour down under. Andy Watson is named to skipper the side against the Burrabadine XI which is expected to provide a good opportunity for the tourists to acclimatise to the conditions on what promises to be an exciting tour consisting of ten fixtures over the next month.
For the late game against the Cricket Library Podcast Invitational XI, Liam James will take over as skipper with a few players rotating out of the side. Managing the squad for a tour of this length will be a challenge and ensuring players maintain peak condition will no doubt be a priority for the visitors.
The hosts have been slowly announcing signings for the tour openers with plenty of speculation on twitter as to who the final marquee player will be. Fortunately, for those who have been busting to find out, it appears there will be an announcement made at 9:30am EST in Australia on ABC Radio in the Riverina.
There is a big announcement coming tomorrow morning. Tune in at 9.30am Aus time to hear who the last big name signing is – https://t.co/IyMgrG1sGZ ❤️🎲🏏
There is a buzz around the Riding Mill Cricket Club at the moment as they prepare to board the virtual plane Down Under for what should be a memorable month of Dice Cricket fixtures beginning early Sunday morning.
Normally the club that was originally founded in 1880 and is based in the beautiful village of Riding Mill in the Tyne Valley would be competing in the Northumberland & Tyneside Cricket League but due to COVID-19 they have had to seek out other options.
Brian Watson from the club got the lads organised to play in a dice cricket tournament organised by Dice Sport and he says it has proven to be a big hit with the club.
“With regards this season due to COVID-19 we’ve had to look for other things to do due to lack of cricket, I stumbled upon a dice cricket tournament being organised by @DiceSport on twitter and thought it would be fun to enter the club. I also thought it would also be a good idea to get the players to donate to our fundraising Just Giving page whilst at the same time having a bit of fun. We are fundraising for a new practice strip and an Electronic Scoreboard. https://justgiving.com/crowdfunding/brian-watson?utm_term=dGA2dXZ92… All the players have taken it on board and got involved, and that’s how our love affair with #dicecricket started.”
Riding Mill’s key stats from the @dicesport T10 tournament
It was so popular in fact that Brian was keen to keep things rolling and when this was not possible locally, he put his feelers out on social media. Much to his delight, he was able to plant the seed of a virtual tour with host of the Cricket Library Podcast, Matt Ellis
“In Australia i found a fellow dice cricket nut Matt Ellis and after a few questions the idea of a Dice Cricket tour was born. I helped Matt contact a few clubs via Twitter and he has kindly done the rest”
With the home tournament now concluded, Riding Mill have a practice match scheduled on Thursday against neighbouring club Mallards. There are some players who will be using this game as an opportunity to have one last tune up before the action begins with a highly anticipated clash with the Cricket Library Podcast Invitational XI.
The Cricket Library Podcast XI have already announced network seven journalist and #CricketCountdown patron Nina Stevens in their line up as well as former Adelaide Strikers & Melbourne Renegades wicketkeeper batsman Tim Ludeman.
We are also hearing whispers out of the Cricket Library that there will be one final marque player announced in the lead up to the tour opener on Sunday morning.
Johan Botha is a cricketing journeyman who came through the ranks in South Africa representing his country in 5 Tests, 78 ODIs and 40 T20 Internationals.
The short format specialist, has plied his craft in franchise cricket around the world with stints in the IPL, BBL and CPL.
In this episode of the Cricket Library Podcast we will learn of where his passion for the game began, playing for South Africa in the u-19s World Cup, breaking into the South African ODI & Test teams, overcoming setbacks to return to the team and lead South Africa to a ODI Series win in Australia in 2009.
Johan also shares about his passion for long distance running and gives us an exclusive scoop into something he is training for at the moment.
Needless to say, he will select three people he would most like to have a net with and his selections are an interesting mix.
Please remember to subscribe to the Cricket Library Podcast on your favourite podcast provider and leave a review to help us to continue to share stories like this one from Johan Botha.
After some speculation, we are pleased to confirm that former Adelaide Strikers and Melbourne Renegades wicket keeper batsman Tim Ludeman will be lining up for the Cricket Library Podcast Invitational XI to take on the touring Riding Mill Cricket Club in the opening game of their dice cricket virtual tour of Australia.
Ludeman was a very popular guest on the Cricket Library Podcast with his interview trending at number one on the Apple Podcasts cricket podcast charts in India.
Tim will join Nina Stevens becoming the second big name to be selected in an eleven that will comprise predominately of Cricket Library Podcast listeners.
It is expected that Ludeman will be suited to the T10 Format with his power hitting to be a feature at the top of the order. His glove work is exemplary and Riding Mill batsmen will need to be wary of his smart work behind the stumps.
With the tour now less than one week away, Riding Mill will conclude their preparations on Thursday with a friendly fixture against their neighbours Mallards before boarding the virtual plane down under.
To hear more of Tim Ludeman’s story, you can listen to his interview with Matt Ellis on the Cricket Library Podcast here.
Overnight Riding Mill Cricket Club finalised their squad to board the virtual plane to Australia for what promises to be an exciting month of Dice Cricket Fixtures.
The tour commences with a highly anticipated exhibition game against a Cricket Library Podcast XI who yesterday announced Nina Stevens as their first major signing.
Following this fixture Riding Mill will take on Dubbo CYMS Cricket Club in Dubbo before heading South to go up against Wagga Wagga RSL and will finish the NSW leg of the tour with matches against the Kissing Point Cricket Club and UTS North Sydney District Cricket Club.
The tour then continues on to Victoria for fixtures against Westmeadows, St Kelvin’s Old Boys and Parkdale before their final leg of the tour concluding with a clash with the Bayswater Morley District Cricket Club.
The Riding Mill squad will bring extra Dice Cricket experience to the table and are currently in the midst of preparations for the Virtual Tour playing in a local Cup in the UK.
FULL SQUAD LIST
1 Scott Dickson 2 Brian Watson 3 Iain Longstaff (wk) 4 Cam Longstaff 5 Rob Burns 6 Ali Raza 7 Andy Eden Watson (c) 8 Kevin Frazer 9 Steve Kent 10 Liam James 11 Lance Mallinson 12 Aly Hall 13 Ben Sherrard-Smith 14 Dave Cox
Stay tuned for further announcements in the lead up to this historical virtual tour in the coming weeks.
There has been a lot of speculation as to the make up of the Cricket Library Podcast Invitational XI to take on the Riding Mill Cricket Club in the opening fixture of their Dice Cricket Virtual Tour of Australia.
It is with great delight that we can confirm that Nina Stevens who was a highly popular guest on the Cricket Library Podcast last year has been named to take part in the tour opener.
Listen to the Nina Stevens story on the Cricket Library Podcast
The Invitational XI will consist predominately of Cricket Library Podcast listeners with one more place in the team left open for someone who has been a guest on the program.
Stay tuned for further updates in the lead up to the tour which will commence on June 13.
thecricketlibrary.com 