The Lord's Taverners make history on and off the field

The Lord's Taverners XI not only won both of their cricket matches against Fly Emirates XI but also raised an amazing amount of money for charity at the annual gala dinner on Saturday evening.

The charity auction held during The Lord's Taverners Gala Dinner Dance at the Fairmont Hotel, saw TV presenter Chris Tarrant as an enthusiastic auctioneer raising a total of AED 473,000 from bids and tickets sales. The highest bid of the evening was AED90,000 for a return trip for two to New York with Emirates; with tickets to two Broadway musicals kindly donated by Sir Tim Rice.

The Lord's Taverners chosen charity in Dubai was the Dubai Centre for Special Needs and the money raised will go to building a sensory perception room.

Following the match on Sunday, Maurice Flanagan, Executive Vice Chairman, Emirates Airline & Group, said, "It was a great pleasure to welcome The Lord's Taverners to Dubai and we always look forward, with great anticipation, to watching them face our Fly Emirates squad. On this occasion we have to congratulate The Lord's Taverners on their victories on the cricket pitch and for the amount of money they have raised for charity.

"We look forward to travelling with the Fly Emirates team to Windsor in the summer where we shall be determined to win back the trophy."

Tarrant, who received a standing ovation on Sunday following an impressive catch off the bat of Fly Emirates' Nigel Fernandes, said, "Apart from raising a serious amount of money of Saturday night for underprivileged children, especially those at the Dubai Centre of Special Needs, everyone had a fantastic night. It is what The Lord's Taverners are all about, raising money and having a good time.

"I would like to thank Emirates for their support and to those people who helped to raise all that money."

The Lord's Taverners arrived for their third visit to Dubai out for revenge against Fly Emirates, having never won against the home team in six previous matches. The fortunes of The Lord's Taverners, captained by Mike Gatting, changed for the better as they went in to bat first on Friday afternoon at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Gatting, the last English captain to win the Ashes in Australia, hit an unbeaten 33, leaving Fly Emirates to chase a total of 196 runs after the 35 overs. Javid Ismail, captain of the Fly Emirates team, was caught and bowled by Min Patel for 25, with Fly Emirates all out for 162; giving The Lord's Taverners victory by 34 runs.

Fly Emirates returned to Sharjah on Sunday determined to get back to winning ways but The Lord's Taverners were looking to take the trophy back to Britain. With the help of centuries from Darren Maddy, who scored 114 off 82 balls, and Anthony McGrath; The Lord's Taverners ended their innings with an impressive 266.

The visitors had to work hard as Fly Emirates put up a fantastic display, but ran out of overs to finish just seven runs short on 259.

After the victory Gatting said, "It has been a tremendous trip, it was nice to win, not once but winning both matches. I would like to thank both my team and Fly Emirates, we have had a wonderful time in Dubai and we are looking forward to the re-match with Fly Emirates in the summer."

Fly Emirates will travel to Britain to play The Lord's Taverners at Windsor Castle on the 17th June.