Vierlandentoernooi 2020/ Quadrangular Tournament

Het Vierlandentoernooi wordt in 2020 niet gespeeld wegens de Coronapandemie en de social distancing (14-04-2020)

Bericht van de SGS Toercommissie

Bijgaand de reactie van onze Spaanse vriend Rico naar aanleiding van het voorstel van de overige landen om het Quadrangular Tournament 2020 in verband met de onzekere tijden die wij tegemoet gaan door te schuiven naar 2021.

"Firstly hoping that you and your loved ones are remaining safe during these terrible times. Naturally it is very disappointing that we will not be receiving you all this October, as you know, we look upon you and all your players and supporters as our cricket family, and hosting you all here in Spain for the Quadrangular Tournament is a privilege and our honour.

These are difficult and uncertain times so I/we here in Spain understand the reasons behind the hard decision you have all had to make.   We will be delighted to rearrange and welcome you to Spain in October 2021. I will be in contact with the La Manga resort and do my best to try and book a similar week to this year in October 2021 and also the similar all inclusive package.  

Please all take care of yourselves and your loved ones"

De Spanjaarden gaan nu proberen de organisatie voor elkaar te krijgen voor 2021. Men gaat daarbij uit van dezelfde week en onder dezelfde condities zoals overeengekomen met La Manga Resort. 

Foto's : Four Nations Tropy en hek bij het veld met toernooiaankondiging in La Manga (2016)

Wij houden jullie op de hoogte van de ontwikkelingen in deze.

Met hartelijke groet,
Theo Straten. 


Bericht van de Engelse Forty Club in relatie tot het uitstellen van de 4-Landentoernooi  (19-04-2020)

CoronavirusThese are difficult times - unprecedented is the word which appears every day - full of uncertainty doubt and risk. It is not possible to make a firm commitment to anything whether in the short or longer term.

I put the situation of QT2020 to our 3 organisers and all 3 took the view that postponement to 2021 was the wise, indeed the only, course of action to take.  I put it to our Executive Committee and they took the same view.  I then informed our colleagues in Denmark [Dansk XL] and Holland [SGS], and their committees subsequently considered the issues and also took the view that postponement was the proper course of action to take. Even though we are 6 months away from the tournament month, this emphasises the level of unease, risk and uncertainty that is confronting us all. /p>

I am sure that for Rico this came as a blow, but I am equally sure that his own organising team would have taken the same decision in due course. It is such a disappointment because he personally has put in many hours of work trying to prepare for the 2020 tournament - and for that we all owe him huge thanks and appreciation.

We all hope that life will return to some level of normality in due course. Personally I am not expecting any XL cricket to be played in UK this summer, despite all the "clutching at straws" that goes on in the press and elsewhere. Are you a 'glass half full' person or a 'glass half empty'? I am in the half empty group and look forward to being delightfully surprised if things turn for the better.  I do note, in all this, that reactions, conditions and government statements in our four countries all tend to be different so perhaps cricket may start in one country but not in another.

Anyway, for the time being, thank you Rico you have been a star.  And thank you too Delphine, our lovely "friend in court" who has been such a marvellous help over so many years.  We will look forward to seeing you both in 2021 and enjoying what we all hope will be a wonderful tournament.

With my best wishes - and please Stay Safe ! 
Barry

Bericht van de Forty Club of Spain in relatie tot het uitstellen van het 4-Landentoernooi  (20-04-2020)  020) 

Bericht van Rico.

Hello all,
Thank you for your kind words Barry, they are much appriecated and rest assured I will be working just as hard for the 2021 tournament at La Manga.

Covid19 has caused disruption and heart break around the globe, and for now, those of us that have survived should be giving our thanks, appreciation and focus to those dedicated people that have put themselves at risk to help us.

Our lives will return back to normal at some point,  but thousands of those fantastic people that have lost their lives while serving and caring for us, they are lost forever and the lives of their families will never return back to normal.

Be safe my friends, please take care. 
We will meet again.
Best wishes
Rico 

Troubling Times : bericht van de Engelse Forty Club in relatie tot het Coronavirus  (19-03-2020)

With sporting events dropping like flies it was only a matter of time before cricket joined the list of those seriously affected by the spread of the coronavirus.

When the Premier League in England, football in Italy, and baseball and basketball in America suspend their playing schedules you know that sport is not the prime consideration. This pandemic is spreading at an alarming rate. It is a clear case of being safe and not sorry.

One of the major cricket casualties is the Indian Premier League. Original thoughts were to play the tournament behind closed doors but that has now been amended to a deferment. While this is essentially a health issue, there are also financial considerations.  The cancelling of major cricket matches is a rare occurrence and casts the sport back to the dark days of the two world wars. Test matches were suspended in early 1914 and didn't resume until late 1920 because of the First World War. The gap in competition was slightly longer during the Second World War, stretching from August 1939 until March 1946.

The game of cricket has gone from 100 to nought in seven days and the immediate future looks barren.  The continuum of various shaped series linking and stretching into the new year has been broken; a once crowded 2020 calendar is now looking vacant.  England has cancelled its tour of Sri Lanka, India’s tour of South Africa has been rescheduled, Durham CCC are returning early from Zimbabwe, South Africa has banned all cricket [today] for the next 60 days, and the England and Wales Cricket Board have a challenge on their hands at home, and many other series with lower profiles are no more.

The third playing day of the Over 50s World Cup in Cape Town got underway on time in Cape Town in windy, sunny, weather on Sunday, but by lunch the whole event was over.  As players came off the field for the break between innings at the six games in progress across the city, a representative of the organisers announced the decision had been taken to abandon the remainder of what had been a scheduled two-week long event due to the pandemic.  

The second innings of day three was cancelled forthwith and stumps were immediately drawn.  Even though many were expecting something to happen, players and officials, all of whom paid for themselves to travel and stay in Cape Town to take part in the tournament, were left somewhat stunned.  What was a long planned, very well organised, much enjoyed event, was no more.  

Now the question is how does everybody get back to their respective homes from South Africa, when will that be possible, and what will be required of them by their respective countries in terms of self-isolation when they finally do? And involving as it does an age group who have taken leave from work to attend, how will that aspect of their lives be covered?

Coronavirus has been declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation, has now appeared in multiple locations in the UK and is highly contagious. The most recent advice is that if a person feels unwell, with symptoms such as a new and contagious cough, they should self-isolate at home for 7 days.

Understandably, at the grass roots level of our game, enquiries are pouring in about the 2020 cricket season. The latest news from the ECB is that they are working on an update and as soon as this is available, it will be shared.  As readers of this e-Newsletter will understand, The Forty Club has a fixtures card which is stuffed full of schools matches. Schools in UK have not been ordered to close yet, indeed received wisdom seems to indicate that it is best to keep them open, however some are already announcing on the websites that "external visitors will not be permitted".  Presumably this includes visiting sports teams.

The Forty Club might expect to lose much if not all of the first 2 months of its fixtures card and probably more. We shall have to wait and see.  This morning's media reported that a leaked Public Health England document seen by The Guardian states that 80 per cent of British citizens are likely to contract coronavirus and that the current epidemic is likely to last until Spring 2021, putting the entirety of the 2020 English cricketing summer in doubt. 

If we are allowed to play a fixture, our players will have to be thoroughly honest and responsible about the wisdom of their own participation.  Cricket’s concern is not that players will infect each other in the game but will be exposed or spread the virus in transit to games. Players spend a lot of time in cars and buses, in changing rooms and in dining rooms.  Cricketers are also deemed to be vulnerable during transit at the end of tours.

In addition, the recent news about the over 70s being requested or required to self-quarantine will generate its own impact around the cricket grounds - the club volunteers, the match officials, any players of that age - all will or may have to remove themselves from the action.

On the brighter side, the golfers may be a deal luckier. Turning up to play on the course, staying in the fresh air, and avoiding the club house presents a low risk and it may well be that the majority of the Forty Club activity over the next few months will be seen on the golf course!

We need to remember that this is just about sport:  there are many more people out there with problems that are far more significant and dangerous. We may have cancelled our long-weekend tour to Rome:  we may be cancelling our Executive Committee meetings: we may be cancelling the Scottish lunch in April: heaven knows, we may have to reconsider the Quadrangular Tournament in Spain in October, if this pestilence continues.  But these issues fade into insignificance compared with the challenges that others are facing.

Stick to your social distancing:  stay well. 

XL Secretary - Barry Aitken

De Gentleman's Cup (27-07-2019)

Aan het einde van elk Vierlandentoernooi wordt de Gentlemans Cup uitgereikt.

"The Gentleman's Cup was donated by a former Dansk XL player, Henning T. Olesen.
The cup is presented each year to a player who has served the Triangular Tournament well, or who has participated for many years.
 “From a grateful Dansk XL former player to a worthy gentleman”

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