So if I was to give you the following destinations, Monaco, Budapest, Bratislava, Austria, Croatia and Portugal and then ask what the link is, I suspect you would conclude that I have finally lost the plot!

It is not immediately obvious what any of them have to do with cricket never mind anything else, but if you are a member of Cregagh cricket club you will of course know that these are all venues that the club has played in the last six years.

To be fair given the weather that we have has this season it will probably not be a surprise if we see other clubs following suit next season. Cregagh European Tours is very much the brainchild of one man Thompson Dawson and his background is more of a footballing one than cricket. I will let him tell the story:

�For many years I played for Queens Graduates and we used to go on football tours and to the likes of European Cup Finals. Perhaps it was because I was getting a little bit older that I came back to cricket about 8 years ago.

Now I enjoy watching and playing here at Cregagh. It all started out as a concept when a mate of mine who lived in Monaco suggested we come there and play. So I did a bit of research and discovered there was a team and actually it was not going to be that expensive to get there.

You might say that the European adventure did not have the most auspicious of starts. On the first tour, to play Riviera C.C. we had a 2 hour delay on the runway on the plane at Aldergrove and when we arrived the bus we had hired to take us from Nice Airport to Monaco went on fire on the way!

In Budapest we played in a football stadium, with a wicket cut over the centre circle, and at one stage we were asked to remove our spikes, as we were damaging the football pitch. A report of our match against a Hungarian select side and photographs can be found on their Hungary4cricket website.

The Bratislava tour gave us the opportunity to play in two countries in two days, as Bratislava and Vienna are the two closest capital cities in Europe. Once again we played in a football stadium at Hajske, just outside Bratislava.

This time we played on a roll out plastic pitch; before playing Vienna C.C. (who had previously hosted the M.C.C.) at the best ground we have played at in Europe at their Seebarn ground.�

So far so good but in my opinion the best was yet to come, the tour to Croatia;

�Croatia was the most scenic tour, flying to Split to catch a boat to the Island of Vis; Oliver Roki, after living in Australia for a few years, where his father had emigrated to in the 1950's, decided to start a cricket team, playing on a pitch cleared in his vineyard.

The team, Sir William Hoste C.C. was named after one of Nelson's sea captains who whilst based on the island instigated cricket matches in the early 1800's, to pass some time.

After reading about this Oliver, on his return home to found his wine making business, thought it would be a good idea to bring it back again!

After a couple of days on the island we took the 2 & � hour boat journey back to Split to play the Sir Oliver C.C.

This year we travelled to Portugal to Vilamoura, to play at Brown's Sports and Leisure Complex, where Ulster went to prepare for their Heineken Cup Final. It is also used by numerous other sports teams, from G.A.A. to Premier League football teams.�

So there you have it if you are looking for something that little bit different Cregagh is the place to go. Undoubtedly the club give the Grasshoppers a run for their money as Ulster cricket�s most unlikely sporting ambassadors.

The club will admit that at times the standard may not be the highest but they have certainly tried to mix with the locals rather than just stick to the tried and tested ex-pats route. Equally such a venture cannot go ahead without the support of the NCU, who are now used to granting Cregagh a free Saturday in June.

I thought it was a little too early to ask where next year adventure is will be to, but you can be sure it won�t be dull.