Indian students play cricket and compete for Ammerlaan Cup
The Indian students of HAN University of Applied Sciences and Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences held a cricket match in Velp on Saturday 23 April. Although cricket is not that popular in the Netherlands, in India it is the national sport!
HAN professor Ton Ammerlaan is best known at HAN University of Applied Sciences as a teacher of English at Mechanical Engineering and as a counsellor. What many people don’t know is that he is a cricket enthusiast. He acquired this love while studying in Australia. Now that many students from Asia are studying at the HAN and Van Hall Larenstein, Ammerlaan thought it was about time for a cricket match between these two universities. And so the winner gets the Ammerlaan Cup.
Ton: “In preparation, I had booked the R26 Gym on Thursday afternoon for some bowling practice and had received HAN money to buy batting and protective clothing. One player from the HAN team had even come from Rotterdam and others had cancelled their Saturday jobs! That is how seriously the players take the game of cricket!”
The game on Saturday attracted spectators from VHL, HAN and the media alike. There were some brilliant catches and impressive batting performances from both sides. Although the field was far from perfect, and the swamp on one side and a redwood tree on the other made catching the ball difficult, the game was played in good spirit. Both teams agreed that this is only the first game in a series.
The winning HAN Team consisted of :
- Ashwin
- Bhanu
- Kishan
- Mehedi
- Obaydul
- Navaneeth
- Sharan
- NIKIL
- Jehan
- Noor Hossain
- Prabhat
Ton: “Maybe we should try to play against other high school teams, or even the Salland team in Deventer, who play in the 1st division. I am planning to get a cricket clinic from the coach of the Dutch cricket team, who would love to meet the talents. For the next three weeks I have booked the R26 Gym again, to practice.”
The VHL team plans to practice every Friday on the VHL lawn, to trump the odds. Of course, HAN players are welcome to join in. Rachel from VHL and I are planning a rematch on the Saturdays 21, 28 May and 4 June, weather permitting. Spectators are welcome between 14.00 and 16.00!”
Sources: HAN, SAM, De Gelderlander
Photos: Ton Ammerlaan