Abu Dhabi Gents vs Darjeeling CC, Emirates Palace, Saturday 12th October

Emirates Palace Cricket Ground

Any cricketer in the UAE should jump at the chance of a game here. Three years after first admiring it from a floor high up in a neighbouring skyscraper, this writer was lucky enough to get the chance to play on it shortly before sadly leaving the country for good. Nestled amongst far-ranging and undulating green gardens, and with the ocean lapping up against white sand metres from the boundary fence, you’d be forgiven for imagining yourself in the West Indies were it not for the imposing Fairmont and Jumeirah hotels squarely framing the sight screens. Yes, we were in Abu Dhabi to play the Gents at their enviable Emirates Palace home ground.

With Darjeeling having come up against the Gents in a DSL fixture only a few days previously, this was a more social affair. The two teams set up at the boundary in the shade of palm trees and uncertainty around our hosts’ policy on studs saw them unscrewed, replaced and unscrewed again while the pitch was inspected, and the coin tossed.

Darjeeling were put out to field first in sweltering heat and yours truly thrown the ball by captain Watto to start the demolition. Three wides (right, left and right) later and the long-awaited legal delivery, graciously served half way up the wicket, was duly dispatched for six runs. The theme of my own afternoon was at least decided.

With the boundary short and the bowl-shaped outfield slow, the temptation to angle up was irresistible for most batsmen but, apart from Nick whose ruthless bowling sent stumps flying, Darjeeling’s attack suffered initially from a few slippery hands. The bowlers eventually found their mark, with Matt (2-40), Umar (2-24) and Krish (2-25) finishing with two wickets apiece, Ash 1-21 but on the wrong end of some drops and Nick the pick of the group with final figures of 2-14 off 4.3 overs.

This writer has just googled “worst ever sports performances” to attempt to provide you with a useful gauge of his own toils. A run-up shortened from a Mitchell Johnson 2013 Ashes-esque space shuttle runway to the last resort step-and-lob shame largely failed to stem the wides. Wicketkeeper Charles got a 360-degree workout and the ICC-accredited umpire even copped a bowling action into his thigh in the struggle to keep the ball down the middle. Watto and Darjeeling CC showed its team spirit throughout with endless but futile faith. I am reliably informed that only Boris Johnson’s son may have bowled more wides in an on over for Darjeeling than the ~12 calculated for my final over. A catch resulting from a miscued smash to the boundary is gratefully received in final figures of 1-67 from 6 overs.

A rare 30-over match saw the hosts out within 25 overs and setting a target for Darjeeling of 144 runs to win.

 Sunny, opening the batting for Darjeeling against his old side, made a confident 22 including some characteristically elegant drives you could take home to meet your parents, while partner George saw six balls before holing out for three. Brendan came in at three and battered the Gents with raucous but never-uncertain 74 runs, of which 30 came from sixes. Watto himself contributed a rapid 26. DCC were clearly brimming with confidence – with all wickets falling to catches.

Emirates Palace Cricket action
Emirates Palace Cricket fielding

From a generous foundation, and with the noise on the boundary getting louder, Charles, Matt P and Ash were able to dictate the pace and literally walk it home. Charles, presumably taking a breather after his acrobatics behind the wicket stroked a gentle sixteen. Matt’s desperate shouts of “Two there!” were greeted with leisurely strolls between the wickets from final partner Ash, who dragged out the suspense and condemned Matt to a total of ten singles amongst his 14 runs. Darjeeling were turning the screw, and the slow-play tactics clearly worked, with a Gents bowler removed from the attack for bowling two dangerous deliveries. With the team roaring support from the boundary Ash himself squared up for the Gents’ final delivery, answering it in style with a dismissive six over the Palace-end sight screen to win Darjeeling the game.

Post Match Swim
COOLING OFF AFTER A HARD DAYS CRICKET

Darjeeling CC vs Cool Boys By Oliver Van Der Broek

On a particularly early Saturday morning in Dubai, Darjeeling CC members arrived in dribs and drabs to the Ocean Fair Ground in DIP. Of particular note, Julius Mooney, Baron Mooney of Springs (VC, MBE, KStJ, DL, FRSA), strolled into the ground akin to a panda bear whilst regaling the troupe with his exploits from the night before, inevitably ending up being ‘kennelled’ by his wife for the rest of the weekend…hats off, sir!

 

Skipper Gramilla kept to his tried and tested method of losing the toss and being asked to bat under a blue, sunny sky, on what transpired to be a slow-ish track, which although yellowish and hard in hue, it was thought would require batsmen to work hard for their runs….oh what a mockery both sides made of that!! Ollie “Page Boy” Page, arriving fresh to Dubai from the frosty, northern climes of England, and “Derriere” Arsalan opened the Darjeeling inning with watchful intent and looked solid from the start, safely negotiating Cool Boys’ opening salvos by the oddly effective pairing of their left and right medium paced bowlers, mixing it with full tosses and half-trackers. Derriere warmed up with the innings with a beautifully timed wristy slog sweep for six but, in general, scoring was relatively slow going. Page Boy, after nurdling a couple of singles, decided it was “Delivery Time” and went for a huge swipe to cow corner but unfortunately missed, being bowled middle stump. Andy “Captain” Kirk strolled in at 3 with his usual Aussie no-nonsense attitude, generally impressing on the opposition how sub-standard they all were. Captain, unfortunately, couldn’t quite live up to his own billing and was back in the hutch LBW with a solid 1 to his name. Derriere, on the other hand, became increasingly confident and began to pick off Cool Boys’ bowling with numerous 1s and 2s, keeping the run rate at a steady 3-4 an over.

 

A particular highlight during the Darjeeling’s batting innings was actually of a non-cricketing nature with the odd courtship between the heavyweight pairing of His Lordship and Captain and the Pakistani Bugsy Malone look-a-like on the sidelines. Bugsy, clearly being a veteran Pick-Up Artist in DIP, began his mating ritual by lying right next to the pair whilst utilising the tried-and-tested combination of toe twiddling, nail clipping and ball juggling. Unfortunately for Bugsy, he could not quite impress the lads enough, with him leaving the ground in a sulk having not wooed any plus-sized cricketers that weekend. (NB: fortunately for Bugsy, Captain slipped Jono’s number into Bugsy’s pocket so his luck will undoubtedly change in the very near future…)

 

Whilst this action was on-going, Grant “Gramilla” Miller joined Derriere in the middle and together, they rotated the strike beautifully, mixing 1s and 2s with the odd boundary. Derriere eventually being rear-ended with an extremely well made 76 and Gramilla run-out on an equally fine 60. “Ginger Ninja” then entered the fray and achieved what must be termed as the ultimate “Sod’s Law”. Ninja had earlier in the day argued that the use of helmets in friendly cricket was only meant for ‘cricket girly men’…he then, of course, promptly top edged the second ball of Cool Boys’ wily spinner and sliced open his chin. After being patched up with a couple of spare plasters found in his bag, Ninja struck some handy boundaries ending with 26 not out and increasing the scoring rate to end the Darjeeling innings on a very competitive 210 off 25 overs. More than enough…one would think!!!

 

His Lordship opened the bowling for Darjeeling and, it must be said, bowled with great aristocracy to which the opening batsmen had no answer, taking 2 wickets in his second and third overs. Unfortunately for Darjeeling, no other bowler could match the lofty standards of His Lordship with everyone else going for plenty. Derriere did take a fantastic catch at square leg to give the Darjeeling boys hope but the band of buffet bowling brothers, including “Sideshow” Roscoe; Chris “Telly Tebby”; Gramilla; Page Boy and Ninja all got plenty of tap…Van Den upgraded the buffet into a full “Entertainer Brunch” by trying his best to reincarnate his fellow countryman, Daan van Bunge’s, efforts against Herschelle Gibbs in the 2007 World Cup (https://youtu.be/Hsv99LxwrYw). Indeed, Rizwan took a special liking to his bowling in the penultimate over to finish the game off a little quicker than hoped for by the Darjeeling team (sorry boys…mea culpa!). A shout out must, however, go to Captain Kirk’s manful efforts of marshaling his 10 men around the field, giving everyone a good game, but unfortunately, the lack of bowling control, allied with the hard-hitting style of Cool Boys, not to mention one less fielder, hurt the Darjeeling team in the end. Indeed His Lordship, in his usual inimitable way, summarised the Darjeeling bowling efforts succinctly with the words ‘utter shite’…I think no man would dare challenge those noble words!

 

So, despite the loss, a thoroughly enjoyable game was had by all, with high scores on both sides, skillful batting, and everyone getting a good go. On to next week!

 

 

Van Den’s MoM: Derriere…for his excellent 76 and feline like catch at square leg. Bravo monsieur!

 

 

 

 

Darjeeling CC Intraclub Game 9th March 2019

Northern Hemisphere vs Southern Hemisphere.

After much hype and anticipation and many a pre-game beverage beforehand at Kickers, The DCC gathered to play their interclub game at the ICC on yet another perfect day in the UAE.

No idea who won  the toss however the Northern hemisphere went into bat.

Greg and Kev helped the innings get off to a flyer with some top bowling, which saw the lads from the North 2 down quite quickly with our George and Adrian back in the hut. Rather annoyingly Kimbo  hung around and scored some decent runs (38).

Matts impressive spell and use of the wicket bagged him the all-important wicket of Kimbo in a spell which saw him actually only SPIN 1 ball on the heavenly track prepared at the ICC.  Despite switching from medium pace to off spin our Graeme managed to bag the all-important wicket of Watto.

In walked Jerome and shortly after Arsalan, who both batted superbly scoring 55 and 51 not out respectfully. Although helped most definitely by some awful bowling from yours truly, and by Butterfingers Blikkies. Bliks decided to not only not catch the ball, but also caught himself a bruise in the stomach and allow them to run 3 in the process.

Despite the fielding and use of the pitch, the DCC Southern Hemisphere managed to restrict the Northern Hemisphere to a very impressive to 212/4 off the 25 overs.

Kirky and Paul B opened  the Southern Hemisphere innings.  In a spell of fielding where the 3 of;  Butterfingers Ollie, Ash and Stu, all contrived to drop 3 of the easiest catches I’ve seen and allow Kirky to remain at the crease.

Seeing that the only way one could get Kirky out,  Kimbo continued his great work with the bat with an impressive run out of Kirky to leave the Southern Hemisphere 1 down. This was shortly followed by the shocking LBW of Graeme. Paul B proceeded to steady the innings with a belligerent 24 of 40 balls including an impressive spell of 5 consecutive dot balls before he too was run out.

It seemed as though the game was slipping away from the Southern Hemisphere… Thankfully Blikkies, Stanni and Greg had other ideas, and the 14 an over required in the end turned out to be a doddle.  Greg batted excellently with a fiery 31 together with yours truly (Stanni) to get the Southern Hemisphere on track to win yet another great victory for the South.  We finished chasing down the 212 with 8 balls to spare.

Many a drink followed after the game and all in all a good days cricket with a good bunch of lads and families.

Thanks to all who participated and Umer for his contribution towards the BBQ and to all those who took valuable time to organise this day.

Darjeeling vs Loose Cannons February 2019

Start time: 10:30 if my memory hasn’t already started getting worse

Darjeeling CC started off in the field, fresh out of a meeting discussing what was going to happen in the 2019 season and it being our 50th Anniversary.

The Gents were dripping in the new 2019 season kit and it was all guns blazing in the field. The first over of the game going for a mere 3 runs off the bowling of Greg. The amazing start was short lived as Brent was next in to bowl…feeling a little worn from the night before he championed as best he could, but got sent packing to all parts of the ground going for 22 in his first and only over of the day. In what appears to be true to DCC sport, the third over provided some action. A catch was dropped off Greg’s bowling. Sadly this wasn’t the only, as a few more were to come in the days play. Greg finishing off his 4 overs for 19, which was very impressive after the dropped attempts.

The first breakthrough of the day came in the 6th over, this coming shortly after a second catch was dropped by Roscoe the over before of Greg’s bowling yet again. DCC then went on to drop a 3rd catch in the 8th over of the day… it was evident that we gave the cannons too many chances, chances which they ended up using to the fullest.

Umer was next in to bowl as the second change option. With Captain Grant opting for spin against the wind to entice the batsman to hit it long and risk their wicket. Sadly the Cannons played smart and knocked him around the ground with 12, 6 and 8 in his 3 over spell. Oh Captain my Captain Grant came in bowling at number 5. Taking a wicket in his first over, bowling cross seam as the wind had started to move across the wicket. Grant had a short spell lasting only 2 overs, but ended up with figures of 1-19…this wicket breaking an all-important partnership of 41 runs

Ash came in to bowl at number 6 in the 14th over, just after a wicket had fallen the over before… Ash started with a spread field… for the first few balls, and then the mastery and mind games took over. The field was brought in as the new batsman was very tentative and was reaching for the ball, the pressure in going over the top paid off as Ash got his man… bowled. Ash finishing off with figures of 1-49, which wasn’t helped by Roscoe as he over ran a catching opportunity in the last over of Ash’s spell.

Jonno came in bowling in the number 7 slot took a wicket in his first over. It was a well-judged catch in the deep by Brent… opting to stand his ground and wait for the ball to come to him. This was sadly where the wickets stopped, and the runs started to pile on thick and fast for the Cannons. Scoring just 77 in the last 5 overs, this was a day for the batsmen.  Cannons no3 Wake came in and dominated with the bat against the DCC bowlers. Wake played some decent cricket shots before ending his not-out-innings in true T20 style scoring 83 runs.

 

The Cannons posting a massive target of 194 for Darjeeling to chase down.

 

An honourable mention to all those of DCC who came down to watch the gents play, even though the new kit was what you were truly after… the support had not gone unnoticed.

 

Darjeeling batsmen needing to get off to a flying start if we were to get the W over the Cannons.

 

In steps our openers for the day with RK and Rohan taking to the crease. RK and Rohan looking really good and playing some positive attacking shots to get DCC of the mark with a 36 run partnership with RK scoring 20 before getting bowled.

Next in was Jerome who walked up to the crease looking confident. After a few no-balls by the Cannons bowler, Jerome fell to a brilliant catch by the keeper taking a low diving catch to his right. The shot was an uncharacteristic push to a wider pitched delivery. Jerome had fallen after only scoring 1. Rohan was the next batsman to fall for 12 . being trapped in front by the bowler. This left DCC at 47 for 3 and in real trouble needing another 147 off only 12 overs. Charles our wicket-keeper batsman walked in at number 4 but did not last very long, as he had only managed to score 2 before being caught. This leaving DCC in even deeper strife, at 51 for 4.

At the crease we now had the experienced pair of Jonno and Brent. The pair started off nice and easy by first getting used to the pace of the wicket, when all of a sudden we saw Brent start to unleash. Brent having to make up for his bowling decided to take the bowling attack on, with massive success. Ending on an unbeaten 89, which included 7 x 6’s and 7 x 4’s, with the odd single here and there to keep him honest. This was an innings unlike any other seen from the supporters of DCC. A whirlwind performance with the bat, smearing the bowlers to all corners of the ground with some amazing power and stroke play from the man hailing from South Africa.

Jonno standing in amazement at the non-strikers end watching as Brent is owning this moment and owning the bowler. He had them in his back pocket. Jonno playing the supporting role of the day and himself scoring a well-paced 50 which included 7 x 4’s before being caught. Jonno at time looked to turn the screws with his running between the wickets as he wanted to get Brent on strike more often than not. Brent almost running himself out, and at the end fell to the ground trying to catch his breath, but Rasta rose to his feet and championed on.

Brent and Jonno turned the almost unthinkable into reality with a stand of about 130 runs. A well-paced and well composed innings from both men to steer Darjeeling into the home straight to winning the game. Jonno almost ending the innings with a not out next to his name. Unfortunately he fell agonizingly short with the end of the game in sight. In stepped Greg to add a single run, before Brent scored the winning runs in good fashion with a 4.

This had been a hard fought win by the men of Darjeeling CC. An epic run chase to say the least, and getting the first win under the belt with new swissglobal kit made it even more special. This has to go down as one of the greatest knocks by Brent.

 

The DCC gents thanked the Cannons before making their way into the cloak room where Grant handed a very well deserved man of the match performance to Brent by handing over the match ball. The celebration that followed was one that was well deserved

 

Cannons: 193/4 after 20

Darjeeling CC: 196/5 after

Stand out performers: Greg 0/19 after 4 overs
Brent 89*

Jonno 50

Darjeeling CC v Loose Cannons by Wade Golightly

A different format for a change by Wade

On 21st September Darjeeling welcomed the intrepid Loose Cannons for some early evening (and just starting to cool) battles on the larger of the two ovals.

Pre-match meeting adjourned in Kickers at 5:30pm, players were eager to ensure that the bodies were warm and ready to fire in the upcoming match. Key batsmen Blikkies stated that at least 4 beverages need to be consumed in order to perform at his elite ability, there were no objections. Following the Captains downing of his second beverage, the boys were warm and ready.

Inside the changing room the boys exchanged stories of the sources of their Cricket Bat’s, Misbah Ul-Haq was mentioned repeatedly.

 

Darjeeling Batting:

 

  1. Blikkies –              5          Quick fire innings. Bowled comprehensively off the short chap with a bit of gas
  2. Graeme –           68          Man of the match performance (IMO) Bowled
  3. Stanni –               10          Stumped after running to the bowlers crease to meet the ball
  4. Shugie –               40          Clean hitting, bullied the bowling. Bowled off the short chap with a bit of gas
  5. Rohan                   1          Not much to report. LBW
  6. Wade                    0          Strong performance from the non-strikers end. Bowled
  7. Millar                    7*        Season end average is forecasted to be at the 40 mark. Not Out
  8. Stephan                6          Poor umpiring decision. LBW
  9. Shehan                 13*      Was In the changing room, I’m told a promotion in the batting order is needed.

 

Darjeeling Bowling:

 

  1. Etienne               3 Overs, 0 wickets, 23 runs. Solid performance, brilliant final over
  2. Sheehan             2 Overs, 0 wickets, 29 runs. See batting performance
  3. Stefan                 3 Overs, 0 wickets, 30 runs. Umpires shoulders were hard at work, plenty wides
  4. Wade                  2 Overs, 0 wickets, 19 runs. Under 6 foot bowlers, should not ball short
  5. Ash                      3 Overs, 1 wicket,   33 runs. Brilliant first 2 overs, 3rd over was regrettable (21 runs)
  6. Shugie                 4 Overs, 0 wickets, 28 runs. Deserved a wicket, quality performance.
  7. Stannie               3 Overs, 2 wickets, 24 runs. Age is just a number, quality.

 

Result:

 

Match went to the last ball, Darjeeling lost by about 5 wickets (TBC)

 

Any queries on the report, please send to Shugie.

Darjeeling v Savannah Lions by Nathan Cartwright

To set the scene for the days play, our studious scorer and club captain Nick described the conditions as ‘murky, muggy, grey, close, calm, but permeated by the gentle hum of construction work and Badgers moaning…’ and so it was for the start of the days play.

With that out of the way skipper for the day Etienne duly won the toss and DCC opted to bat.

Rohan and Rach opening and getting the team off to a solid start, 1-56 in the 8th with Racchit falling for an almost run a ball 30. Then enters into the match what I can only describe as a right handed SoB (son of Badger). Pulling the pin out and bowling some loopy leggie grenades (as opposed to Badgers left arm chinaman but close enough). SoB seemed to favour the straight one that goes on with the arm (i.e. there was no turn) but on a sticky wicket collecting three scalps in quick succession, Rohan falling for a well compiled 30, yours truly skying one to mid on for a duck and then Silky Thighs to a dubious LBW decision for 14. We have an early contender for the teddy award, with Silky at first refusing to walk once being given out, then proceeding to question the decision all the way back to the pavilion with an innocent chair feeling the full brunt of his fury being sent flying with a swing of the cricket bat. If only he had thought of that when facing SoB, as my dad would say ‘that’s what your bats for son..’ In Silky’s defence he claims it pitched outside leg, he was a mile down the track and he hit it. It looked pretty plum from where we were sitting but we’ll take his word for it over the neutral umpire that we were paying for.

So at 4-95 in the 11th over with wickets falling things weren’t looking too good, a fact observed by the friendly chaps in the field offering some advice that we should pad the rest of the team up as it would all be over soon. From this point on Jerome and Elliot took the bowling attack apart (including the previously unplayable SoB) hauling DCC to a highly defendable 195, including 30 from the last two overs. Remarkable when you think we hit only one 6 for the entire innings (thank you Mr. Elliott). Jerome finishing up not out on 65 off not that many well supported by Elliott not out 31.

With renewed vigor we took to the field, Etienne opening from the ICC end picking up a wicket in the first over caught by Nick in the covers. Nick relieved to take the catch after being offered some advice that it was a sitter just prior to being pouched. SL 1-5 after 1.

This brought to the crease SoB who Silky Thighs described as ‘if he was playing for DCC he would be the best batsman in the club.’ High praise indeed. The other opener Armand and SoB then set about serenely going along at the required rate without taking too many risks, Etienne taking the brunt of this going for 1-51 from his 4 overs. Shehan keeping things tight at the other end however with 1-21 off his 4. SL 1-71 after 8.

Nick then bought into the attack and duly spanked for 19, we were only missing the beamer and the bouncer as he displayed his full repertoire. The real Badger coming on and going for 10 off his first at the other end although bowling well apart from a first ball loosener. At drinks SL 1-100 and looking in control.

I would like to know what Nick consumed at drinks, something in the water, perhaps some left over linseed oil from Thursday nights proceedings, who knows. His next three overs going for just 17 runs and beating the edge consistently. Nick finishing 0-36 from his 4. The pressure was starting to tell at the other end also with Badger bowling beautifully and finishing 0-28 from his 4, unlucky to be on the wrong end of a close stumping call and a few miscued shots just evading fielders (and an obligatory dropped catch)… plus one alleged missed stumping however the ball was coming that slow the batsman could have run two and was well back by the time the bails were broken.

SL 1-137 after 16 overs 59 needed from 4 overs, still very gettable.

The next two overs from Racchit and Jerome (bowling leg spin) going for 33 runs, bringing the Lions right back into the game. SL 1-170 after 18, 26 to win from 2.

19th over Rach found his line and bowled well only going for 8 runs, 17 to win from the last. Jerome having seen two of his leggies disappear over the mound and into the school his previous over decided sensibly to stick to medium pace for the final over.

1st ball 4, game on 13 needed off 5. Second ball swing and a miss, the batsman scamper through only for the keeper to throw down the stumps. SoB run out for 65. 13 needed off 4 with a bearded Caspar now at the crease and on strike. 3rd ball two, 11 needed off 3. 4th ball dot, 11 needed off 2. 5th ball 4, 6 needed off the last for a tie… one run off the last DCC win by 5 runs. SL opening bat Armand ending up stranded on 92 not out. Rach ending up 0-23 from his two overs and Jerome 0-28 from his 2. Jerome MoM for his 65no and last over bowling.

Refreshments  followed in the bar, Casper agreeing that SoB could well develop into Badger if he concentrates on his game.

Darjeeling CC v Abu Dhabi Gents. By Umer Saleem

On 20th February, Darjeeling Friendly XI welcomed the Abu Dhabi Gentlemen at the ICC Cricket Academy.

The last few encounters between the two sides have seen the Abu Dhabi Gentlemen victorious & Darjeeling team wanted to make sure this was put to an end.

The days play started off with the Darjeeling fielding team waiting for the batsmen, reviewing some sort of worm attacking some sort of wasp at short cover.

For the non-biological-boffins, the cricket couldn’t start soon enough.

Chris M, debutant opened the bowling & bowled very well. He picked up 2 wickets for 18, both caught. Ieuan caught an impressive catch running both back ward & side ward, much to his parents delight, watching on from the Pavilion. Greg Moses, Mr Darjeeling, star performer with the ball, bowled both economically & successfully, picking up 1 for 6 off 3 overs.

Miller & Ash (Skip) were running late & joined the field for battle.

The score was 24-3 off 7 overs, it was clear we were in for a low-scoring affair, with the pitch being slow with improbable bounce.

David was first change & also kept the bowling very tight, returning with respective figures of 1 for 15 off his 4 overs.

There was some hope for the Gentlemen with a partnership of nearly 30, between the opener aka ‘The Keeper’ scored a snail pace 22 (44 balls) & number 7 batsman ‘Shaun’ who managed 27 (off about the same number of balls). There were a flurry of boundaries, good shots by the batsmen off Brendan & Dex. When they both bowled a good line, the pitch did the rest of the talking. Dex was slightly baffled by a couple of caught & bowled opportunities, borderline lack of commitment off his own bowling.

Ash was the impressive with the ball, figures of 3-25 off 3 overs. Brenden had figures of 0 – 21 off, Dex 0-18 off 2. The fielding was higher than the average Darjeeling display, one handed pick-ups on the boundaries, quick releases & a few dives for the audience, about 3 people in total.

The Abu Dhabi Gentlemen ended up on 108 – 7 off their 20 overs.

After a short break, the chase was on, Umer & Peter opened the batting. Peter was bowled by a leg spinner in the 2nd over, 2nd ball, Darjeeling 4 – 1. Paul, Chris & Grant all hit some nice shots, but none could make double figures on the difficult wicket. Paul with a slash pull, Chris with straight drives & Grant with a cover drive.

Umer (The Original, not Malik), started off slow, held up an need & saw off the opening bowlers & started to gain momentum by hitting a pull shot, straight drive & slash outside off, fine of 3rd Man, all to the Keeper’s disappointment. He was out trying to cover drive off the back foot, caught mid-off diving forward. The score was 50 odd after 11 overs, Darjeeling behind the rate mainly due a lack of partnership. Greg managed 9 runs, out caught & Ieuan for a duck also caught.

At one point Darjeeling required 60 runs off 42 balls.

With Darjeeling looking at yet another defeat against Abu Dhabi, Brenden, the silent assassin / ninja decided it was up to him to change the outcome of the result.

Dex well supported for the much needed partnership, Brenden hit a masterful array of shots hitting one of the bowlers for about 26 runs. The pick of the shots were a pull for 6 & straight drive for 6.

With the job still not finished Dex hit a couple of boundaries, Darjeeling needing 4 off the last 6 balls.

Fittingly a boundary was smashed early into the last over, Darjeeling strangling the Abu Dhabi Gentlemen much like the worm & wasp from earlier in the day.

 

A great win & a great all round team performance, onto the Canadians!

Darjeeling CC (UAE) vs Premier CC (Canada), By Ash Banerjee

 

February 23rd 2018

With all of our players turning up uncharacteristically punctually (only to realise it was a 10:30 am start), the pre-game banter was in full flow whilst the academy tykes occupied the pitch and we waited for the opposition to arrive. In due course a ‘Fancy’ minibus wound its way through the car park maze (as it is now) and disgorged our Canadian visitors. They were resplendent in their dark brown playing kit, looking somewhat like the UAE team might after several months into their post-season fitness regimen of extra-large servings of biryanis followed by leisurely walks around the block.

Fittingly, the hyphenated-Canadians were met with a motley Darjeeling crew of mostly hyphenated and some non-hyphenated Brits and Aussies. With customary Darjeeling hospitality, the home skipper (sporting the club blazer, as we sometimes do to impress upon visiting teams our longstanding heritage… but minus the newly-minted club flip-flops, which Badger unsportingly refused to loan him for the toss) offered up a choice of three large coins: a Kennedy half-dollar, a two-pound coin and an old dirham. In typical North American style the visiting skipper opted for the half-dollar, called right, and chose to bat.

Your correspondent then informed him that “we walk on a nick,” etc., the two shook hands pledging a fair contest, extended and accepted an invitation for a post-match pint, all whilst the DCC malcontents grumbled and moaned sotto voce about having to field first after their generally good (but evidently not excessive) Thursday night shenanigans.

As we took the field (with typical Darjeeling nonchalance seasoned with cynicism) in green for this white-ball match, it became evident that our three walking wounded (Kirky – groin, don’t ask, Rohan M – calf and Umer – ankle) would not be able to move with even a tenth of the alacrity of Usain Bolt, and their surnames on the day might as well be Kripalani. With Badger in the side as well, the infield had magically sorted itself out even before we’d stepped into the 30-yard circle.

Just when one thinks we’ve seen everything… in a cricketing first in our story-rich annals, the Canadians had brought along a videographer who stood behind the umpire and beamed out play on Facebook Live for the benefit of those back in Toronto who had stayed up late into the northern night to watch this momentous match in their club’s cricketing history. Learn, o ye of little faith who won’t turn up to watch your clubmates play mediocre cricket in a Friday friendly! Et tu, Matt Peet, neighborly resident of Sports City, dancer of note, active member of three cricket clubs, winner of the Chairman’s Award, nominated volunteer Committee Member for Membership Affairs

Proceedings began with Dave from the School/City End and Badger from the Academy/Desert End continuing the legendary Darjeeling hospitality, respectively offering up a buffet of gently swinging and slowly spinning offerings which were duly feasted upon by the visitors, hungrily seeking redemption after their loss the previous evening to GEMS at the Sevens.

At an untenable 50/0 after 5 overs the changes were rung in, with Jerome and Dexy replacing Dave and Stu, and immediately the rot was stemmed as both “bowled in the right areas” (as cricketers and commentators are so fond of saying ad nauseum on the telly these days), “hit the right lengths,” “varied their pace to keep the batsmen guessing,” etc.

Not after some eventful happenings though – your correspondent shelled a steepling top-edged swirler at cover off Dave (yes, I’m 50-50 these days as the eyes degenerate further), and one of the openers nicked Dexy off palpably to Ieuan behind the stumps (it was heard in Canada on the Facebook feed, as we learned subsequently), but refused to walk after being given not out by their man standing… despite the most gentle, most polite, and most endearingly encouraging entreaties from all in the infield.

“Gentlemen, are we gentlemen?” you might ask upon reading of this terribly un-sportsman-like behavior (from them, of course, not us).

Most definitely we are, despite the quantity (and dubious quality) of smut pumped regularly into both WhatsApp banter groups by some of our more upstanding and rigid members. However, Darjeeling morality has generally tended to be contextually and situationally flexible (like the many shades of grey), much like the moral probity of the two supposedly neutral umpires who stood in last Saturday’s DSL game vs. Wombats Yellow and triggered half our side on horrendously callous lbw shouts… but I digress.

Well, a line had been crossed, so we bolted the bar doors, twirled our metaphorical brollies, morphed into Kingsmen, got on with it, and proceeded to tighten the screws on the Statesmen of Ontario. King Arthur George of Chiang Mai would have been proud of us reigning in our generosity when faced with ungentlemanly conduct.

With his tail up (possibly after watching Jackie Beltrao run through the football scores on Sky Sports?), a Merlin-esque Dexy conjured up one of his best spells any of us have seen, clamping one end down tighter than the proverbial Golden Circle (allegorically cinematic, not factually like an unfortunate and blameless sphincter suffering mightily after a dodgy curry night out somewhere in the seamy underbelly of Satwa).

With Jerome and later Krish bowling equally parsimoniously from the other end, the rate dropped from 10 an over to 6-ish, and consequently the worm turned, much like the Rand and the economic fortunes of South Africa drooped under The Zuma Kleptocracy (Robert Ludlum’s imminent best-seller – it happens to be World Book Day today, really).

Wickets fell regularly (despite Grant and someone else shelling a catch apiece in the deep) as the lower order ably, variously, and vividly demonstrated their ineptitude against spin of a certain vintage and quality (Badge and Jez bowling the last 4) and the visitors ended up on 153/8 off their 20, setting us up to chase at an entirely attainable 7.5/over. Despite taking a bit of tap in the powerplay, we had bowled extremely well: Dave 3-35-1, Stu 4-35-2, Rich 4-20-1, Jerome 4-25-2, Krish 3-20-1, Ash 2-12-1.

Alas the visitors’ app which they were scoring on proved less reliable than their videographer, crashing conveniently at the innings break; accordingly this report is short on the oppo’s batting details, and our bowling figures are the collective approximations of whatever’s left of Stu’s and my cobwebby brains. Then again, this newspaper has long favoured the embellishment of the inconsequential over the accuracy of the factual, and in this day and age of fake news we stand resolutely behind our moral duplicity.

With skippering duties split across innings, Galahad Jr. (Kirky playing Eggsy with elan) was running the chase, and the batting order was conventional with the man himself and Jerome opening. Kirky went early for 9 off 12, the inflatable doll punching bag in the changing room coming under immediate threat of violence most severe and sustained.

Grant walked in at 3 and got under way promptly with a sublime first-ball leg-glance for 4, living up to his moniker of ‘silky thighs.’ Meanwhile Jerome, too, succumbed to the whippier of the two opening bowlers, caught for 8 off 6. Enter Umer, a few nurdles and then out lbw for 5 off 11, even as Grant eschewed his usual jack-in-the-box and shuffle routines and hunkered down keeping the asking rate in mind, batting quite well and chipping away at the target.

Rohan in at 5, off the mark with a carbon copy of Grant’s first scoring shot, and the two motored along in our most substantial partnership, with Rohan lofting one over cow for the only 6 of our innings, but out shortly thereafter for a rapid-fire 20 off 15, with us bossing the rate at this point.

Young Thomas, in the side as a batsman subbing for Badger who left early, then batted very sensibly, giving Grant much of the strike for a well-made 11 off 12. Ieuan was in next, while Grant dispatched the bowling to all parts in a flurry of boundaries as the win loomed and the Canadians wilted.

All done and dusted in the penultimate over, Grant 78* (11 x 4) off 54 the MoM, Ieuan 9* off 6, and we had won chasing (again!) by 5 wickets and the beverages would taste even better.

A second invitation to the pub was issued to the oppo, and accepted, yet they failed to turn up. Someone ought to publish a book about cricket tours for the uninitiated – “Social Cricket for Dummies,” perhaps?

A good time in the pub afterwards with most players in attendance, with thanks to Matt Carney for umpiring through the match, thanks to our Aussies for keeping their inner Bogans in check against flaky opposition, and a thumbs-up for erstwhile member Bill Collier (left in ’88) who spectated with great interest.

Farewell to comrades

It was Friday 13th, the sun was shining and CD and Lee entered into their last DCC supper with their 13 other disciples in tow, but who would be found hanging on the cross by the end of the day? (As it turned out it was both, along with several of their followers).
Fresh from 1 hours sleep and a black sambuca breakfast Lee negotiated the toss with CD allowing him his choice based on the years served rule, CD elected to field while the oven was warming up.
God’s Chosen Ones (aka those of normal height) opened with the skipper himself wearing Thomas’s pad as a compulsory armguard and his Bahrain Buffalo Bullfrog stalwart Badger, opening up for The Wrong Un’s, was the silver fox willow Kotze himself. Ball one…. Kotze wobbled down his finest first delivery in his DCC career and was met with the usual amount of negativity from Lee as he blocked it out to point.
Some tight early overs from CD, Nick and Dexy were soon put to bed when the Gully was crashed over midwicket first ball for 4 and drilled over cover for 6 by his Lee leading to his retirement on 50.
Badger soon followed Lee back nicking off to Ieuan for a flamboyant 1. Brad the Chiang Mai Wall in at 3 was doing his level best to increase the run rate with a flurry of drives but his partner Rasta Abrahams soon fell victim to Umer for 11. Tebby looking like he would ‘come on for the run’ made a quick 10 before coming the first of Rohan’s run out victims. Erstwhile Brad had cruised to 28 and was safely back in the pavilion reminiscing of CM (where?) with ETB.
Olly Van Der Broek was asked to put his finger in the wall (I add not the Chiang Mai version) and stop the flow of wickets, but was out to an extraordinary piece of luck, more lucky than Jono pulling a thin bird, a return catch was shelled by Thomas (I thought it was Rohan) diving at full length only for the ball to crash into the stumps and leave Olly out of his ground and out for 1. Nathan ‘Thailand’ Williams using what can only be described as tree trunk hit a couple of lusty blows before making the stupid mistake of hitting one down Kes the Trolley Dolly’s throat at long off for an appropriate 13. Harry who might look back at this game thinking there will be better days inexplicably was out bowled on a free-hit to the smallest of all Thomas I’ve inherited my dad’s golden arm Mariadson for 11.
The kids then started turning the screw, Ieuan returned to clean ETB on his return for 3 and Thomas then had Ben stumped for 5. Viv gave Gully a wicket when a lusty blow picked out Umer for 10, and Chris Neal became the 3rd run out victim this time to Umer for another unlucky for some 13. Ash dancing down the wicket like a whirling dervish gave Jono his 3rd victim making 8.
In return the first retiree Lee to join Blikkies, acting as a joint heavy roller for the second innings added some needed runs, Blikkies huge 6 off Umer had Kes moving into an extraordinary fielding position at long-high off, standing above the sightscreen in the ‘moon’ position. Inspired by this Lee aiming to in his words “knock the fucker off” drilled CD in the last over straight but low for four, nutmegging George in the process who thankfully for him was hanging to the right.
The innings closed with Lee unbeaten on 78 and Blikkies 14. A challenging total of 237 had been set. Pick of the bowlers was Thomas once again, pick of the batsmen… pretty damn obvious.
After a short innings break a padded set of silver foxes in the form of Gully and CD strode out to the wicket to face Badger the Bunny. Gully, wearing a shirt reminiscent of the last time he paid his club fees faced the first ball and together with CD started building an innings that would for a long time baffle the cricketing gods.
Gully was the first to go caught off the bowling of Tebby for a run a ball 5, not reproducing his days as a class A Australian cricket opener and in came Dexy, wearing his pink cravat, which could mean only one thing, or two, in some cultures.
What followed was the biggest collection of mistimed shots, thick outside edges, back foot off cut straight drives from CD and swings and misses coupled with singles from Dexy. Such was the beauty of the innings, that God’s chosen ones started slowly but surely take their big feet of the gas, all part of the Tyrian Lannister type deception being built by the wrong’uns wiley captain.
With his only well timed shot of the day, a straight drive, well placed over Rasta’s head, CD retired for a captain’s knock of 52 off 20 odd balls, leaving Dexy to continue his dot ball deception, but how long would that last?
In strode Teddy Mooney who for a time continued the dot ball deception for some time before picking up a few fours, keeping the wrong’uns just in touch with the now overconfident cheery chosen ones.
At the same time, Dexy suddenly decided that he had spent enough time building an innings and proceeded to go bounding towards his retirement scoring his last 15 runs of 5 balls, retiring on 25 off about 109 balls. Would this be the start of a turnaround?
Here is where I start getting a bit blurry, I believe caused by the bullfrog induced concussion suffered at Kickers, so excuse the run of play slightly.
Enter Gary Busey aka Maverick aka Colin Morris for a three run cameo, bowled by Chris Neal.
At about the same time, Teddy, or so he claims, agreed that he would give Lee an easy catch off Ash’s bowling, thereby proving himself to be both a scholar and a gentleman out for a solid 18.
Jono, who I have known since he was a wee lad, walked in with the confidence of a young feeder in his prime and what occurred from this point onwards was a thing of beauty.
The tall blokes chuckled and pie’d themselves into a sense of comfort and allowed Jono to retire on a 14 odd ball 26, mostly off Viv, who could be seen tearing up on the fence after Jono’s onslaught.
Blake coming in after Mooney’s wicket, made a welcome come back to the club with after a stint in Kenya where he scored a double hundred for his club against the Mombasa school for the blind and deaf, finding some kind of form with a very good 22, stumped by the reluctant keeper off the bowling of a certain Mr. van der Broek, which I must say, is a great name, further setting up the innings
Meanwhile Umer, who sounds exactly like Ducky, a gent who some at the club might know, contributed with a good 20 to hold up one end for Kes, who was nursing a suntanned backside from his sight screen antics.
Kes, cunningly sent in after a short conference between the shorts captain and Jono from his batting position of 15, he proceeded to stroke a pre-nap Eugene for 3 sixes in one over and scoring a game changing 25 of 7 balls, setting up a tense finish.
With young Rohan coming in to join Umer and Badger bowling the last over, the shorts needed a run a ball off the last over, conservatively reached, including a reverse sweep from young Rohan and the shorts pulling victory from the jaws of defeat, leaving God’s chosen ones wondering what God they had chosen.
A great game was followed up by a focused fines session spilling into what can only be described as a Kicker’s brunch reminiscent of the days when we had a clubhouse, may she rest in peace.
Gentleman, are we still gentleman?
Thank you to everyone, it’s been great.

God's Chosen Ones vs Wrong 'uns

As we bid a fond farewell to Lee Dawson returning to the UK and CD Kotze going back to South Africa, the Club will hold an Inter club game followed by a inevitable “messy” brunch.

There will be some special rules & drinks fines after the game, Team Captains will run through this again on Friday but briefly: 

Retire on 25

Lee & CD runs count as double, they also get a chance to counter appeal any dismissal once.

3 dot balls in a row is a shot of jager (Because we cannot drink on the field we will do these after the game) also included will be

  • Dropped catches
  • Misfields
  • Overthrows
  • Boundaries
  • Wides
  • General uselessness

Square leg umpire will be monitoring this closely

We will play 22 overs (24 time permitting), wides will not be re-bowled unless it’s the last ball of the over.

  • Wides will count as 3 runs
  • We will bowl 11 overs from one end in a row and swap over to save time
  • 2 overs max per bowler
  • 3 slips at all times since we are 14 a side

Let’s not forget the brunch at kickers afterwards. You can buy your ticket on Cobone to get a cheaper deal, here is the link:

https://www.cobone.com/en/deals/dubai/search?query=Kickers

 WARNING – DARJEELING TAKES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR DAMAGING ONES EGO DUE TO THE TEAM THEY ARE IN 

Lee

CD

Tebby

Dave M

Ben

Thomas M

Viv

Rohan M

Blikkies

Gully

Chris Neal

Nick Harvey

Brad

Julius

Eugene

Ieuan

Nathan Williams

Dexys

Badger

Colin Morris

Ash

Umer

Ollie Van Den

Cartwright

Brent

Blake

Moseley

Jono

DCC v Oyster Catchers – Ian Potgieter

It was with nervous anticipation when 1:30 pm ticked past, and DCC only had half the team present at the “suggested” meeting time. The ICC official already putting us on notice for a 5 pm finished, quickly renegotiated to 5:30pm by the present audience. The toss was performed in the middle, no negotiation to bat first being attempted, the toss was duly lost and the boys were fielding. DCC was in fortunate position to have 11 plus Watto (official scorer for the day – how I wished we had that for last Saturday’s night game!!).

The opening spell by Mike was only spoilt by 2 wides and streaky shots past 3rd man for 4. Dave was the initial destroyer claiming 2 wickets in his 2nd over. The father & son tag team saw Rohan take a maiden wicket over in his first followed by a 2rd wicket in his second. The run rate was kept very slow, wickets kept falling, enter Ieuan “Terminator” Carney who proceeded to bowl a first delivery he would rather forget, in swinging beamer shoulder height and following the retreating new batsmen, with a slight dip to connect with the batsman’s glove edge just below the chin, latter needing to retire and attend A&E for his injured pinky (Our thoughts are on his well-being). The eventful over also saw the new batsman miss a straight delivery avoiding all forms of available protection and connecting with the “Box”. This was followed by spin bowling, Stu making a great start conceding only 5 but not wanting to catch balls hit gently back to him twice in the over; this was followed by Ollie conceding 3 plus one wide. Essentially the bowling was tight, drinks being taken after 9 overs with the Oysters Catchers sitting on 40 runs for 5 wickets. This is where Ashley’s’ renegotiation skills came to the fore explaining to all in the change room we need to make a game of it etc… and so the “bookie John” effect took hold. Overs 10 and 11 saw the Oysters put on 33 off Stu (12runs) and Olly (21 runs).  Enough said. Digby (1 wicket) and Callum (3 wickets) had great spells with equally great fielding by DCC – catches taken and run out effected from mid-off with a direct hit). The last 2 wickets fell to Stu and Ollie leaving the Oyster Catchers on a modest 99 from 17.21 overs.

With a run rate of 5 per over, Captain Ash rearranged the batting line up to give all a chance to bat. I believe he succeeded in that goalJ. DCC opening with Ieuan and Rohan both getting off the mark and trying to play aggressive shots. The pitch was holding up slightly and lacked pace (emphasis made for Lee’s benefit). First wicket to go was Ieuan for 6 (13 balls) followed by Rohan for 9 (5 balls). This brought Lee and Ash to the crease with plenty of time to get ones eye in. This was taken very literally and reminiscent of “Alec Bannerman” (google the name  J)

Alec Bannerman

Lee was eventually out 0 (13 Balls). On the positive it was a 10 run partnership with Ash. Stu briefly joined Ash and departed for 0 (3 balls). Pottie joined Ash and proceeded to put on a 36 runs partnership with Ash before Pottie was catch at mid-on for 20 (25 balls). Digby came to partner Ash, with Ash being next to go attempting to march down the pitch to smack the ball over the ropes only to miss it and be stumped for 16 (33 balls). Dave partnered with Digby to put on 29 runs before Digby was out for 10 runs (11 balls) [DCC 96/7 after 14.2].No panic yet as we had wickets in hand. Mike hoping to hit the winning runs was quickly taking the long walk back being bowled for 0 (2 balls) [DCC96/8 after 14.4]. Callum confidently walked up to complete what Mike could not, however was caught and bowled for 0 (7 balls) [DCC 98/9 after 15.5]. Well thoughts went back to Ollie over where he conceded 21 runs (bookie John influence) was he in the right frame of mind – Panic !!!. Digby making a comment hopefully the wide’s will win the game J and that proved to be the case, with the winning runs courtesy of 4 wide’s down leg side leaving Dave on 13 runs not out off 12 Balls and Ollie 1 not out. Top Scorer for DCC was Mr. Wides with 28 for 16 overs.

In conclusion a great game played with true cricket spirit and won by DCC, eventually. The DCC discount at Kickers was appropriately utilised by both teams…..

Dubai Super League CHAMPIONS

Darjeeling beat SCB in the final of the DSL yesterday.
A very good performance in the field with ONLY one dropped catch? Very unlike Darjeeling! Some good catches from Chris Neal, Rhys & Shugie. An excellent spell by Viv who somehow did not pick up a wicket but finished 5 overs for 16 with Rhys, Nick Harvey & Shugie picking up 3 wickets apiece. SCB finishing up on 163 all out in the last over.

Opening up myself and Rhys got off to a flyer and were 47-0 from 5 overs. Rhys batting through for 80*, myself 42, Pete & Watto in the teens. Darjeeling wining with an over to spare and by 8 wickets. From my side I’d also like to thank all the supporters who came down to cheer us on

CHAMPIONS!hys Carter

[/vc_column_text][vc_images_carousel images=”1373,1361,1358″ img_size=”full”][vc_video link=”https://www.facebook.com/DarjeelingCC/videos/751115664988956/”][/vc_column][/vc_row]