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Berlin's most active Bundesliga Cricket team, the Berlin Cricket Club, is getting ready for the summer season a bit differently this year - with a tour to India!
On the 10th of February Berlin Cricket Club's multicultural team will set off from Berlin-Tegel. They will land the next day in Mumbai to start their challenging tour. Seven games are set to be played within 14 days. This, in front of hundreds of thousands of Indian cricket fans. The biggest overseas tour ever launched by a German-based cricket team will be a big challenge and a unique experience for the Berlin players. Matches will be played in Bangalore, Mysore and Goa before the team returns to Mumbai for the last match. As is so often is the case in this sport in Germany, the tour is completely self-funded. The events that shook India in November 2008, meant that players were concerned about the safety of the tour. Since then things have thankfully calmed down again. This, in combination with the fact that we didn't want to disappoint those in India and the organisers who had made the tour possible, meant that all the players agreed to go ahead with the tour. "We should be conscious of the importance of making a contribution in times of political and social unrest. We do this by showing that terrorism and violence is not the solution", says Club Chairman and player Tim Sandner. The Berlin Cricket Club was founded officially as a German club in 1985 but its players come from around the world. They come from cricket-playing nations like England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Caribbean, India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and truly do form a multicultural team. The players are looking forward to a fascinating and unique chance to engange with Indian culture and a different form of cricket. "For this trip we want to put sport centre stage. We bring a message of friendship and peace to those we are playing against. Sport, after all, brings people together", says Sandner. If you are interested in learning more about the tour, via interviews or by following the Tour, please get in touch with Chairman Tim Sandner (see "Contacts" for details).
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