The Lankwitz Extras, Freie Universität Berlin’s mixed cricket team, is a group founded on the initiative of keen participants in the university’s extracurricular cricket course. Their goal is to play cricket for the sheer love of the game and to make the sport accessible to everyone.

In August the Lankwitz Extras went on tour to Cambridge, playing a total of four matches against local cricket teams. Although they didn’t win any of the games, their performances both on and off the field earned the respect of their opponents. More importantly, each of these teams has invited them back for a rematch next year.

campus.leben spoke with Milind Pania, who works as a system administrator for the Department of Philosophy and Humanities and also serves as a cricket instructor at the University Sports Center.

Mr. Pania, why is the Freie Universität team called Lankwitz Extras?

The members of the team chose the name Lankwitz Extras because it has a funny double meaning. Extras are runs scored in cricket due to player errors rather than excellence. This reflects our sense of humour but also that we’re constantly improving our skills. It also highlights that we stand outside the existing cricket structures.

Where did the idea for the tour come from?

The idea for the tour came from the continued success of Freie Universität Berlin’s extracurricular cricket course, first offered by the University Sports Center in the summer semester of 2021. After marked improvements in quality and a steady increase in the number of participants, it became clear that we were ready for the next step: to move beyond training at the sports hall and outdoor facilities on the Earth Sciences Campus in Lankwitz and to face off against real players on a proper cricket pitch.

While Berlin does have its own cricket pitch (two at the Maifeld next to the Olympiastadion), current differences in opinion between the responsible authorities make access to the playing field there difficult. There is a lack of space in the local cricketing setup for the kind of all-inclusive, developmental cricket that the Lankwitz Extras stand for. For men, if you don’t already know the game, the local clubs won’t give you a chance. For women, there’s such a shortage of players that games are often getting cancelled, with the better players frustrated by a lack of decent training and opposition.

The idea of traveling to England – and to Cambridge specifically – came from two of our team members who had personal experience with the city. It was suggested in October 2022 by Jamie Carson, an exchange student visiting Freie Universität from Cambridge University’s Robinson College, and Nathan Walk, a senior researcher at Freie Universität Berlin who had just returned from working in Cambridge.

One of the main attractions in heading to England is that it is completely normal for amateur cricket teams in England to have women playing alongside men, to have newer players alongside experienced ones, and for the young to play with the old. This is especially true when it comes to formats such as midweek friendly games and the Sunday league.

How did you organize the tour?

The proposed dates were set for August, when the cricketing calendar would be the most flexible in England, as well as minimizing the chance of poor weather ruining games. Using their connections at their club in Cambridge, NCI (New Chesterton Institute) Cricket Club, Jamie Carson and Nathan Walk were able to organize four matches for us against four different kinds of opponents.

Planning for the tour began in earnest in April, with flights and accommodation being booked by the end of the month. One major challenge was getting tourist visas to the UK for the Indian and South African members of the Extras. The efforts of Petra Salomon (Department of Philosophy and Humanities), Bertram Welker (Center for International Cooperation), and the Ernst Reuter Gesellschaft in providing funds for the tour were invaluable.

After all the organizing and planning was done, the final squad travelling to England consisted of seven men and six women, with Jamie Carson waiting for us in Cambridge. The players also reflected the diverse nature of the Extras, with five Germans, three Indians, three Australians, two English people, one New Zealander, and one Canadian making up the squad.

How did the four matches of the tour go?

Our first opponents were the NCI Midweek team, whom we played against at Parker’s Piece, a beautiful public park in the heart of Cambridge. It was a 40-over game, meaning that each team bowled forty overs (one over = six legal ball throws). The game was the first time that half of our members had ever played on a proper, curated grass wicket.

The match ended in a draw, which is an exciting result in cricket, especially for the weaker team. While NCI were the more experienced and skilled team, the Extras showed a great deal of commitment on the field and avoided defeat through an excellent display of batting techniques. After the game, players from both teams got together at a local pub as is customary and shared some beers and some laughs.

Our next match was on Thursday against the Bustards CC – an all-men’s team of players who are all over sixty years old! Don’t let their age fool you though, since many of them were semi-professional county players in their youth and have decades of experience and cunning to draw upon. What followed was a thrilling match, which we agonizingly lost by one run in the penultimate over. Our opponents remarked that it’s been a long time since they themselves had felt so excited about a cricket match. We may not have won the game, but we won their hearts and promptly earned the right to a rematch in the future.

Sadly, we did pick up some injuries over the course of the two games and our next game, a short 20-over evening match away at the picturesque ground of Grantchester CC, next door to an English village tea garden, ended in heavy defeat. However, we are determined to see this in a positive light: it was a good opportunity to see how much more we must progress to be able to beat them next time around.

Our final game was organized against Thriplow CC, a club from a small village outside of Cambridge. After our thrashing at the hands of Grantchester, we had another close-run thriller against Thriplow CC, losing by a narrow margin of eighteen runs. Seeing the spirit we played with, we secured yet another return invitation from our gracious hosts, who also presented us with a beautiful shield that we can hang in our as of yet non-existent clubhouse.

So what’s next for the Extras?

Firstly, recovering from an intense week of sports, travelling, and socializing. Secondly, planning for a second tour next year, considering we now have the measure of our opponents, who in their folly have invited us back! A third priority is securing access to the Maifeld at the Olympiastadion. Despite never having played together as a team on a proper cricket ground, we managed to perform extremely well in Cambridge. However, if we want to do one better next time and further raise the profile of the game in Berlin, it is imperative we have the chance to play on a grass pitch. Not to mention that this is the only respectable place that we can host them if we are ever to invite our friends from Cambridge to Berlin.