Battle Of The Messes For The Queen's Royal Hussars

The Queen’s Royal Hussars in Germany have been ramping up their training – cricket training, that is.

When the Officers mess took on the Warrant Officers and Sergeants mess in a cricket match, it was a chance for revenge following the Officer's defeat in their tug-of-war competition a few weeks ago.

Warrant Officer 2 Andy Meenan, Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant, said:

"We beat them in a tug of war and we were the overall champions of Dettingen Day - and today we're just trying to concrete our place at the top."

When asked why it was so important to beat the Officer's mess, WO2 Meenan replied:

"Just because of the rivalry between us - especially with cricket as they've got some public schoolboy experience out on the field today - we haven't got that, so we've trained hard.

"We just want to rub it in their noses to be honest." 

Following last years defeat, the Warrant Officers and Sergeants mess have been getting in some late night training sessions - and for some, it was the first time they had played cricket.

But it was the Officer's team who took a hold of the match, showcasing their more experienced stance on the sport despite many of teams not having played in years.

Lieutenant Jamie Fry, 3rd Troop Leader, seemed confident that his team would again take home a win:

"It should be quite close but we have won for the last few years. I don't think we've lost yet - there's history on our side."

After a long day's cricket in scorching Germany temperatures, the Officers took away the win but it was still a day to be proud of for the losing Warrant Officers and Sergeants mess team.

The Regiment has had a busy few months - with soldiers exercising in BATUS Canada, participating in the Strong Europe Tank Challenge competition in Grafenwoehr and UK commitments, including delivering armoured training to the field army in Warminster.