Officers and crew from Cunard's Queen Victoria will play a game at Glenpark on Wednesday of this week (28 July) when the ship arrives in Greenock for its maiden visit as part of its Around the British Isles cruise which started on Thursday 22 July from Southampton.  The ports of call on this cruise are Cherbourg, Cork, Dublin, Liverpool, Belfast, Greenock and Edinburgh before returning to Southampton on Sunday 1st August.

 

The match is likely to start around 10.30am. 

 

Quite a number of the crew are cricket enthusiasts and are looking forward to having the opportunity of playing on a proper cricket ground instead of on the harbourside in amongst containers which is often the only place they can get, on the very odd occasion that there is any possibility to have a game whilst in a port.  Satish Salian from Mumbai in India is one of the Head Waiters in the Britannia Restaurant on board Queen Victoria and he will be among the crew members taking part on Wednesday.  He was delighted to be offered the chance to play in Greenock and quickly had a large group of his fellow crew members signed up for the match at Glenpark.

 

Brian Lynch, who is Personnel and Training Manager aboard Queen Victoria, helped set up the game when approached by Peter and Mary Hempsey who were recently aboard for a cruise to the Baltic.  Brian was delighted to accept the offer of the use of Glenpark for the cricket match and indicated that it would be a very welcome opportunity for members of the crew who were cricket followers.

 

Queen Victoria will dock at the Ocean Terminal around 7am on Wednesday and sail again at about 6pm.   Cunard liners are becoming regular visitors to Greenock with the famous QE2 having called several times, most recently in October 2008 on its farewell cruise around the British Isles, and last year in September Queen Mary 2 paid its maiden visit to Greenock.  In 2011, Queen Mary 2 and the new Queen Elizabeth, which enters service in October of this year, will both call at Greenock during the month of September at which times there may be further possibilities of developing the link between Greenock Cricket Club and Cunard.