Vinny Sandhu with six takeaways from his interactive Maximo Chat with guests Eugene Moleon, Arun Chandrasekaran and Philipp Bächstädt.

European Cricket Studio - TAKE 6 with Mr Maximo

What a pleasure it was to have three more fantastic guests in the European Cricket Studio this week. It has been wonderful working in the Studio during April, and thanks to everybody who has been interacting with the show. Michael McCann and I, “Mr Maximo”,  continue for our fourth and final week of Instagram Live escapades, before we bring the Studio to Facebook Live in May. Stay tuned for exciting details!

Eugene Moleon enjoyed a long and distinguished career in South Africa.

Some European Cricket followers may not be aware that Eugene Moleon was a regular performer on the domestic scene in South Africa over twelve seasons with North West, Western Province and the Lions.  In all, the tall right-armer snared over a 100 first class wickets and scored in excess of a 1000 first class runs!  What’s more, he was part of a star-studded team which boasted South African greats Herschelle Gibbs, Gary Kirsten, Jacques Kallis and HD Ackerman as the top four bats, and Brian McMillan as the all-rounder! That’s pretty select company.

2 Eugene performed impressively against World Champions Australia.

Playing for North West in February 2003, Moleon got to bowl to the reigning world champions ahead of the start of their title defence in South Africa. The seamer delivered with the big wickets of Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Andy Bichel on the way to figures of 3/34 off his nine overs. He also experienced batting against the likes of Shane Warne and Brett Lee in the same match. Moleon described meeting the Australians socially after the game and being struck with how much they seemed to enjoy themselves and playing together, both on and off the field. Check out the scorecard from that match here!

3 Eugene once ran 100 metres in only 10.22 seconds!

I was surprised to find out that Eugene only took to cricket seriously at the age of 18, and up to that point was very focussed on his athletics, once sprinting the 100 metres in only 10.22 seconds – just like his idol Olympic champion Carl Lewis. It was only after he was spotted by a scout in a rare cricket appearance that he was fast-tracked into the South African Under-19 team, and ultimately into the professional game in South Africa.  Just another reason the “Flying Bus” moniker is appropriate!

Cluj captain Arun Chandrasekaran thinks he is the funniest player in the team.

I enjoyed a great chat with Arun Chandrasekaran, who captained Romanian champion club Cluj at ECL19.  I made note of his outrageously aggressive running between the wickets, and that I wouldn’t fancy driving 500km to the only cricket ground in Romania just for him to run me out! We learned more about the Moara Vlasiei Cricket Ground, which is an outstanding facility just north of Bucharest, the nation’s capital.  We discussed the possibility of a Dream11 European Cricket Series being played there, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Philipp Bächstädt joined me for a behind-the-scenes look into #ECL19.

My commentary partner from last year’s tournament, Philipp Bächstädt joined the chat from beautiful Tegernsee in Bavaria, Germany. He described how a fortuitous teacher exchange programme led to the development of cricket in his area, and his journey leading the German Under-19 side to the European championships. Now an experienced TV presenter and moderator in Germany, Philipp provided a unique insight surrounding the sudden and viral interest in Cluj player, Pavel Florin. Amidst a media storm, Bächstädt conducted his interview with the suddenly famous “slow bowler” with enormous sensitivity and professionalism. You can catch a brief excerpt of the interview here.

What a great birthday!

I always pride myself on researching my guests before they appear on the show. But it seemed this week that my guests had done their homework, because they all knew it was my birthday! I followed the advice of so many viewers by removing my “corona patch” live on air and endured Philipp Bächstädt’s Marilyn Monroe-like serenade. On a serious note, I have been touched by all the messages and kind wishes I have received from all around the world, and sincerely thank everybody that has taken the time to reach out. It is so wonderful to have the opportunity through modern technology to connect in a way that would have been impossible just a short time ago. I am so very appreciative of the support and kindness shown to me by the cricket community, particularly those who have guided my journey in European Cricket so far.

Don’t forget to join us on @europeancricket Instagram Live for our European Cricket Studio shows this week, Monday to Thursday at 5pm CET (4pm UK, 8:30pm India). You can even catch up on previous episodes in the video section of www.ecn.cricket or click on the link below!!

Thu 23 Apr – Maximo Chat (Eugene Moleon, Arun Chandrasekaran, Philipp Bächstädt)