Lord's Taverners Stars Win Charity Clash With Fly Emirates XI

The Lord's Taverners - inspired by a ton from ex-Zimbabwe international Murray Goodwin and a half century from ex-England player Geraint Jones - beat Fly Emirates XI by seven wickets yesterday at 7he Sevens.

The charity side - which also included former England players Mike Gatting, Matthew Hoggard and Matthew Meynard - also won the first match in the series. They won by 59 runs on Friday against a Fly Emirates XI featuring several members of the UAE national team.

However, Fly Emirates XI - a team assembled from talented employees of the Emirates Group who juggle work with a busy cricket schedule - retain a 13-7 lead in the series which has been running for eight years.

The annual meeting between the two sides in Dubai also featured a gala dinner on Friday which raised funds for the Dubai Centre for Special Needs, the Rashid Paediatric Therapy Centre and the Al Noor Centre for Children with Special Needs, while Emirates also made a donation of £25,000 which will fund a minibus for Northgate School and Arts College in Northampton, England.

In a few weeks, 7he Sevens will host the Emirates Airline Twenty20 which will see Fly Emirates XI defend the title the won last year against Sussex, Nottinghamshire, Durham and an MCC select side.