The gentleman’s sport of cricket, an obsession on the Indian Subcontinent, has been strategically used to drum up interest in Switzerland by promoters and tourist attractions.
Get the world’s fastest ever bowler (Shoaib Akhtar of Pakistan) to send a cricket ball whizzing at one of the most aggressive batsmen of all time (Virender Sehwag of India) and choose Swiss luxury ski resort St Moritz as the scene of the combat between sporting rivals.
This is the premise of the Ice Cricket tournament held on February 8 and 9. The match featured retired legends of the game from India, Pakistan, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.
Cricket on Ice in St Moritz dates back to 1988 when Swiss anglophile Daniel Haering and his friends found themselves in St Moritz only to find there was no snow. They suddenly had the idea to play a game of cricket on ice and requested the nearby Lyceum Alpinum school to send players and equipment.