On what can only be described as a balmy day, the likes of which we are unlikely to see again until November, DCC took on relative newcomers to the Dubai cricket scene, BCA Eagles, at the Sharjah English School Oval on Friday.
Our skipper for the day, N. Raymond, won the toss and in decidedly un-DCC fashion, chose to have a bat. He and B.Scholtz strode out purposefully and put on a fluent 33 run stand before Brian played an elite spoon to cover, out on 12 after looking in good touch.
G. Moses walked out to the middle, visibly struggling with the disappointment of finding out midweek that he’s ‘not as good as he thinks he is’. Nonetheless, the two put on the partnership of the day before N. Raymond played all round a straight one from Adil, out on 53 with the score on 128 after 14 overs.
J. Mooney esq. joined the fray shortly before G.Moses was adjudged out leg before by B. Scholtz* to one that had the keeper cart wheeling towards fine leg, also for 53.
A. Bavcevich (AKA B. Tony) came out and was soon sitting back in the stands having scored a brief but classy 2. 139 for 4 after 16.
In walked N. Harvey, who in a batting display reminiscent of Zabeel Park days, scored a fine 34 not out, ably assisted by C. Dommett (9 not out including a 4 off the last ball of the innings) after J. Mooney had gotten out for a well-played 19.
DCC 205-5 after 25. Respectable.
With the young B. Raymond in the team, there was talk of potential nepotism, however that was quickly quelled as N. Raymond tossed the new cherry to his mate D. Mariadason instead of his young protégé.
The decision was justified by a tight spell, with D. Mariadason returning figures of 3-8-1, in tandem with N. Harvey, who toiled through the University-end trough for a return of 3-15-0. It was already clear by this stage that the BCA Eagles were not the mighty opponents we had feared.
J. Mooney, arguably the pick of the bowlers, replaced D. Mariadason from the water tank-end, taking wickets in his first and third overs, finishing with 3-8-2, effectively ending any impetus the Eagles had managed to generate.
G. Turner came on next, going wicket less in his first, much to the dismay of all present. 3-14-1.
G. Moses, B. Raymond and B. Scholtz (the latter bowling spin, in what could best be described as a metaphorical middle finger to the Eagles) each picked up a scalp, at varying rates of economy (read: G. Moses was expensive).
Last mention of the bowling must be reserved for one ‘Hash’ Banerjee, who, amongst figures of 4-14-2, managed the unthinkable; a maiden over at SES, which was duly greeted with much joy and elation. In light of this astonishing feat, ‘Hash’ must be recognised as the day’s best bowler. Sorry Jules, no hard feelings.
After 25 overs, BCA Eagles ended with 128-9, testament to the health and wealth of DCC’s multi-pronged bowling attack.
The game was played in good spirits and future fixtures against the Eagles will be welcomed. Special mention must be made of the grace with which G. Turner accepted the ‘not out’ leg before decision against his bowling.
SES continues to be a happy hunting ground for us, and despite a friendly warning from a man wearing pyjama’s, cigarettes were smoked and scoops were savoured into the dusk hour, a most fitting end to what must go down as my most-enjoyed match at SES.
Afterwards, Brian, Hash, Chris and I went to the IV to get pissed.
*Mention must be made of a bet between B. Scholtz and G. Moses on end-of-season batting averages, and one can only assume Scholtz’s decision was in the interest of damage control. Fair play to him.
Friday 3rd May 2013, the scene was set for another “Titanic” encounter between Darjeeling CC vs Fly Dubai. Literally, Darjeeling CC, in recent games between the 2 clubs, had hit an “Iceberg” called Azeem (opposition skipper) who had bludgeoned our attacks, irrespective of who bowled, to all parts of the ground.Prior to the start, a most un-darjeeling thing, was a pre-match warm up in the nets for 5 of us, just checking first-gamer David Mariadason could really bowl as he claimed and giving the boys an early work out. After near complete exhaustion, having the honor of DCC Skipper, I proceeded to the toss at 1.30pm. A good omen for DCC, with a stand-in Fly Dubai skipper, with no sign of The Iceberg (Azeem). Won the toss, and batted, as we do. Fly Dubai’s offer to play 25 overs, was unceremoniously dumped by Sackers citing, that it, ‘would be eating into drinking time’! ……So 20 overs it was.
To Open the DCC innings Our Dependable Chris Dommett, accompanied with a tactical move to give Sackers quality time to score some runs, after succumbing to un-Sackers like shot at ICC last game I saw. Our tails up, with 9 opposition taking the field, and no sign of the Iceberg (Azeem). Great first over, 17 off, mostly wides, with some glorious cover drives from both Chris & Sackers. Both openers exuding confidence, kept good pace, scoring 7 an over until an un-Sackers-like shot missing a full toss, bowled, for 29 graceful runs. 1-57 after 8. I joined Chris, and at drinks DCC were 73 for 1 off 10. A plea went out to the boys at drinks to up the run rate to 10 off the back 10 overs, as the Iceberg Azeem had turned up with the other missing player after 3 overs, so DCC were in for a fight.
Chris ‘The Dominator’ took up the gauntlet and continued to bludgeon the bowlers, consistently picking out the deep fielders on the boundary for 1’s, with a smidegeon of boundaries thrown in between. Run rate increased consistently between us, until I mis-judged a drive to a slower ball, caught at cover for 37. 17 overs DCC 2-144 going at 8.5 an over. In walks Brian “The Great Leslie” Scholtz, who also plundered the bowlers with some beautiful shots to the boundary fielders for 1’s, while Chris “The Dominator’, found the gaps with boundaries more consistently and pushed the run rate to 8.7. DCC 174 for 2 off 20 overs. Chris “The Dominator’ unbeaten on 70 and extremely bright red from an exhausting but terrific team innings, along with Brian “The Great Leslie’ unbeaten on 7.
Sackers 29
Chris 70 NO
Noel 37
Brian 7 NO
DCC 174-2 off 20 overs
DCC taking the field, with a tactical move to reserve Brian & CD, when the Iceberg surfaced in the batting.
Young Jacob thrown the challenge to cement his good new ball spells. After 2 wides to start, he showed good line and length to consistently beat the bat with some good out-swing bowling, 2 runs (wides) off the 1st over. David (1st Gamer) Mariadason, thrown the new ball challenge, and successfully continued the Darjeeling tradition of taking a wicket in their first game. Batsmen bowled playing on after David’s inswinger nipped in. Well done David. David & Jacob bowled well together in tandem, Jacob trapping the other opener LBW with a full toss, and given out by the Iceberg (Azeem), who was impressed with his ability to out-swing the new ball against the breeze. GREAT encouragement from Brian ‘The Great Leslie’ on the cow-corner boundary, really lifted young Jacobs spirits.
Jacob 4 overs 1-22.
David 3 overs 1-25
Enter CD ‘The Unsinkable Molly Brown’ Kotze, to bowl in tandem with Brian ‘The Great Leslie’ Scholtz, with the Fly Dubai best batsmen occupying the crease. Both CD & Brian, bowled an inspiring line and length and made it very difficult for the opposition batsmen to score, ably supported with some great fielding…..Sackers excepted, who taunted the bastmen to run 2’s against his powerful arm, and they gratefully obliged, easily making their ground on several occasions, much to poor Brian’s bowling stats. CD trapped a batsmen LBW, and got another batsmen out caught Brian on the boundary. Brian was very unlucky not to pick up a wicket and bowled a great tight spell in the middle overs when it mattered. The Icebreg Azeem realising the game was swinging DCC’s way. tried to up the anti, but again CD outfoxed him and had Chris The Dominator pluck out a catch at point, and take it on the second grab on his way to the ground. The Iceberg threat melting away.
CD 4 overs 3-28
Brian 4 overs 0-19
Mohit & Ben were introduced and bowled a good line & length, keeping the batsmen below the run rate. Ben unluckily missing the stumps on several occassions with in-swingers, picked up a wicket caught Brian on the boundary. The final over of the match, Ben gave DCC a real scare, going for 3 sixes in a row from the opposition who finished just short on 167 for 6 in 20 overs.
Mohit 2 overs 0-18
Ben 2 overs 1-30
Anthony 1 ‘forgetable’ over 0-20
Nathan great keeping effort, against a variety of bowlers.There was a lot of deliberation about the bowling figures, as it also seemed to contain wides/byes/anything else,…… but that’s whats in the book !!
GREAT team effort from the all the boys, with outstanding contributions from Chris on the batting front and CD on the bowling front. Our fielding & positioning was great, often frustrating the opposition.
History created with DCC victorious over Fly Dubai.
DCC 174-2 off 20 overs
Fly Dubai 167-6 off 20 overs.
The Titanic sailed safely to the Irish Village for a couple of quick rounds enjoyed by the boys (old & young ones) to celebrate the break through occassion.
Ash was nominated as the match day commander and promptly put his name forward for the General Custer award for tactical miscalculations, as he agreed to a 25 over game, lost the toss, and then when we finally thought he had a grip on the situation, discovered that the man he had nominated, Andre Fourie was not aware of his selection.
Battle plans were drawn up and frantic text messages were sent, Darjeeling would start with 10!
Much like the calamity in the changing rooms before the match started the first 13 overs were a brutal experience as catches went down, Nick nearly caught a blinder, Lee couldn’t catch a cold and Ash was keeping the air space above the UAE occupied with aerial missiles that refused to land on the pitch or inside the boundary ropes. Lee bowled an interesting over and the only breakthroughs were provided by Barry, bowling a straighter one than his previous delivery and getting an LBW and Etienne bowling their skipper.
Wombats 130 for 2 off 13.
George ‘The Chairman’ Appleton saved us from having to endure this torture with 10 men as he had emergency whites in his car and having done his stint in the heat was replaced by Chris “the Captain” Dommett who had raced over from the cinema! Top commitment!
With the reassuring presence of the previous days MVP, (where is the match report Noel ‘do we still write match reports’ Raymond!)
After the drinks break Darjeeling can claim a moral victory as we bowled a lot tighter, Nick got 3 wickets and catches were held, Gary took a stepler after the Wombats number 3 had holed out on 99 and we only went for 115 off the 12 overs taking 5 wickets. Would have been 6 but Lee dropped another one! Etienne finished with 2 wickets, Badger got 1, ‘pick of the bowlers’ Brian got none but as he only went at 6 an over when everyone else went at 10 plus he gets the accolade!
Darjeeling would require 246 off 25 to win.
With fielding done, the lads lower down the order tucked into a few beverages of the amber variety clearly confident in the match either being over before they would have to bat or terminated early as Wombats had the task of bowling 25 overs in an hour and 15!
The open 3 overs safely reassured Gary that eviction was probably going to happen before the match could be decided and tucked into another Fosters! Lee and Sackers opened the batting and set about the score with vigor. 1 of the first, 6 off the second, 2 off the third, solid test match cricket, but not great chasing 246 at 10 an over! Lee finished off his great day out by getting a duck off his 10th ball. Score 10 for 1! Brian joined Sackers at the crease as Simon was trying his best to instill some energy in the Wombats fielders to ‘quickly’ get into position as we didn’t have much time. Brian and Sackers accelerated the score putting on a quick 50 before Sackers got castled quite literally as he feel over during the dismissal. 60 for 2. Barry joined Brian and they made a quick 20 before Brian got himself out with the score on 80 after 10. Barry batted well after that and apparently hitting a huge 6, before he too was stumped and Darjeeling were struggling at 100 for 4. Enter Chris and Etienne who moved the score serenely without any issues to 120 for 4 at the drinks break after 14.
Now if anyone had quickly jumped on the internet, typed in Duckworth Lewis calculator and gone to the following link,http://easycalculation.com/sports/duckworth-lewis-calculator.php, this responsibility does fall firmly with the captain, we could have calculated we were only 9 runs short, D/L is strange!
As no one knew D/L was even this easy to calculate the blame cannot be completely put on Ash’s shoulders and with eviction playing a role in shot selection. Chris holed out, Etienne got caught behind and when Ash joined Nick at the crease the game was teetering towards an abrupt conclusion, as the ground staff had arrived and were starting to turn the sightscreens black. To speed up the process Ash got bowled first ball and with Badger and Gary running around the changing room trying to pad up. With no batsmen appearing the game was concluded in the 17.3 over with Darjeeling 130 for 6.
In step another quick D/L calculation to concluded that Darjeeling lost by 47 runs!
On a drizzly Saturday reminiscent of ‘St. George’s Day’ in 2008 when grey skies and rain greeted the 43rd US President, Darjeeling CC was due to begin their Two Match T20 series against The Wombats (recent winners of the pre-Chiang Mai Sixes Tournament). On arrival to the ground, the GCA appeared deserted – the teams however, (most of which arrived early) were camped out in the Changing rooms warming their hands round post match bevies. Familiar faces of Greg Moses, Neil Colbeck, Sackers and Steve Brown greeted me whilst Brian languished horizontally on the benches deigning to offer an outstretched arm. (Ash was around busying himself with the ground staff – of which I discovered he refers to as ‘curators’) Early discussions surrounded Friday’s performance of DCC – with particular reference to dropped catches, Brian’s scruffy half century and the enigma of what made certain Darjeelingites ‘tick’
Next to join ‘the party’ was Matt Escritt looking healthy and ready for action followed by Gibby & Son along with (yet another) trimmed beard style and tails of bitter Canadian winters and thermal underwear. Bringing up the rear, the unmistakable figure of Lee Dawson.
Further mention should be given at this stage to the weather and pitch conditions. There was spitting rain – rain I might add you would welcome in England for your Saturday league cricket – let’s say median British weather conditions. Rain that was however, keeping the covers on. A 2:30pm start was announced – at 2:20pm the toss was lost and Darjeeling was put into field. At 2:30pm the covers were sliding off and Lew was limbering up. At approximately 2:33pm the covers were sliding back on.
When polite enquiries were made (whatever polite is for what the fuck is going on with the covers’) – we were informed that the ‘Australian’ pitch was due to be used and as this was heavily clay-based it might be too slippery for us and could cause injury (which is ground staff/curator speak for “there’s a spot of rain in the air and we don’t your spiky feet touching our pristine square”). A further pitch inspection was agreed at 3:00pm and we also heralded the arrival of one Mr Dommett looking a wee hungover and donning a simple Nokia to replace his vodka-damaged smart phone.
DCC sauntered back to what Americans call the ‘locker room’ and the lids to the Eskies once again opened. A new shower turned our interests to indoor cricket and an impromptu game of French cricket began. We learned that you cannot be out for a Golden Duck and that Steve Brown is a little too ‘passionate’ in the froggy form of the game. We then stretched the indoor pitch to the toilets and found Ash’s batting forte is definitely with indoor tennis ball cricket after he sent deliveries pinging around the alcoves of the changing rooms.
At 3:00pm it was announced the game was cancelled and some took this as a cue to leave whilst a few of the keener/more optimistic/more deluded members (myself included) hung around in the hope some cricket could be negotiated. Interests however, turned to talk – with that master orator, Greg Moses delivering a 3 o’clock bombshell – i.e. that he had zero sympathy with anyone killed by a dog or a snake*
We even tested the theory of how to repel such a snake attack and agreed it would be possible (and forgivable)if the victim was drugged or asleep. Discussion then switched to further unlikely “Animal Death Matches” A Staffordshire Terrier v a Red Kangaroo, A Badger versus a Wolverine, a Gorilla against a Bull and Tag team between a Tasmanian Devil and Staff (Terrier) versus a Monitor Lizard / Komodo Dragon and Panda. We also concluded that a Great White Shark would beat a Polar Bear (in water) – unless, the Polar Bear was defending her young and lastly, that a Grizzly Bear was just about the hardest beast out there (out of water).
Now this may sound like drivel to any TMS (Test Match Special) followers – but let me tell you Aggers, Blowers and Bumble – it beats discussions about the demise of test cricket cheesecakes any day!
To further prevent the onset of ennui, Greg entertained us with a Sydney Harbour Bridgesque climb up the GCA
and avowed it to be “one of the finest views in cricket”. After getting further updates on the current affairs on the world of darts (and hearing that Sackers has forked out AED1,200 for a ringside – or should I say “oche-side seat” at the Dubai Duty Free Masters) it was time to leave. I would welcome any further addendum from any of the more hardcore DCC’ers who remained.
*On further probing, the parameters of this bold declaration were agreed – the snake would have to be of the constrictor type (i.e. a python or Boa and not a poisons viper) and that we’d be talking about a sole dog and not a pack dog attack.
Whilst the majority of the Darjeeling crew , including the current and immediate past Chairman’ where continuing the team building and bonding exercise that is commonly known as the Chaing Mai Sixes, it was left to the hardy few to brave the largest shamal seen in the UAE for many a year and take on the unknown entity known as the National Bank of Fujairah.
Greg Moses had managed to pull together a team of has beens , never will be’s and some still thinking they might be’s! Plus a ringer from London called Bruno who is a lover not a fighter!
Skipper for the day , Gary , selected because Greg did not want the stress, walked towards the square like a man who understands bad weather and duly won the toss and elected to bat. So far so good!
With no Simon Fowler to select it was obvious that Noel, the ever ready, and Ben were the obvious choices to open up for DCC. There is something impressive about Noel strolling to the wicket. A combination of pugnacious short arse Aussie and knowing that no matter how bad those first balls are he will block and say in a loud voice “NO” means reassurance!
At the other end , Ben , a man who has been sent to Darjeeling because his partner was worried he was drinking too much! WOW! Grisdale will meet you soon MR. BEN!, The bowling was average and the two boys went on their merry way , Noel striking the ball magnificently behind square and Ben pulling anything short for 4.
Noel got bored and missed a straight one for a well worked 35 and Greg , chilled as ever strolled to the wicket looking like a white and slightly tall Viv Richards. He didn’t have any smoke on him but you can use your imagination!
Ben continued to strike the ball well until on 47 a Darjeeling umpire gave an LBW! Yes! No name no pack drill as they used to say and he shall remain anonymous ….. Lee! Apparently as plumb as Jack Mc Plumb living in Plumbville!
Enter Anthony who had described himself earlier as doing a bit of both to the skipper!! Grisdale will soon meet you MR. Anthony!!!
Anthony and Greg plundered the runs off the 9 bowlers used before the former was caught on 47, a great knock if you forget the many dropped catches the bankers had spilled!
Bruno the cockney geezer came and went and it was left to Greg , 51, not out and Steve Blandford to bring us to a creditable 216 for 4 in our 25 overs.
By now the wind and sand storm was at a level that even well hard northeners , from England at least where beginning to blink! Greg, as usual, and a worthy position for a Saffer, was asked to toil up the hill, into the gale, and at pace.2 out of three was not bad as he plopped the ball on a length enough times to cause the somewhat Kamikaze openers some trouble. Etienne came down the hill and struck early with a wicket in his second over. Greg meanwhile toiled up the slope but after 3 overs was given a well earned rest to be replaced by Both Ways Anthony! Of course this skippers decision led to a wicket with Anthony clean bowling the other opener.
There is a time in a match when a decisive decision has to be made, this was not it so CD was brought on to replace Etienne who finished with very creditable figures of 4 overs 1 for 14.
CD , as you all know is an enigma. So much talent, so few wickets! But not today…… Amidst the wides and the full tosses he bowled some Jaffas and finished with 3 for 33 off his four overs before pleading with the skipper to be taken off because his wallet , still strapped to his body was giving him back ache!
Anthony, whose 2 overs gave him figures of 1 for 19 was replaced at the up hill end by Steve Blandford who these days bowls robbers mask eroding as spin.Needless to say he provided the champagne moment when a batsman tried to smash him through mid wicket and was deceived by the lack of quality of the ball and skied in towards a gently snoozing Mo. screams of catch it woke our Grocer of note and he sprinted in and took the catch at knee height ! Fantastic cricket?
Skipper GT replaced CD and duly confirmed the golden arm theory with a wicket off his 4th ball, well caught behind by the ever ready Noel. Steve finished with 2 for 33 off his 5 and GT a creditable 3 for 23 off his 3.4 overs.
All together a good performance in very difficult climatic conditions.
Please note that all names used in the production of this document are factual and will not protect the innocent!
Yet again another warm afternoon in prospect at the ICC Global Cricket Academy, Brian Scholtz as Skipper lost the toss as usual, and Darjeeling were doomed to the first 20 overs in the field.
With two of the Darjeeling boys still having failed to appear on time, Loose Cannons Skipper Richard Bradstock kindly lent the fielding side 2 able bodied men.
Brian took the new ball himself, hoping to bowl the ball a tad straighter than his previous wayward spell only getting shipped for 8 in the opening over, relying on youth and exuberance from the Academy End our junior player Jacob Raymond kept the ball straight, with the opening batsmen, Clint Birkenshaw and James Elliott-Square rotating the strike for the Cannons. CD Kotze came into the attack in the 5th over hoping to stem the flow of runs, currently over 10 an over, and proceeded to gift the visitors a 22 run over. The Cannons were in full flow and all the bowling options that Darjeeling offered resulted in runs, Ben Jacob, Ash Banerjee, Stuart Matthewson and Gibbon Human all getting carted around the ground.
James Elliott-Square finally departed cleaned out by James Grisdale on the last ball of the 16th over for a fluent 81, the partnership of 188 having done the damage, Ash Taylor joined Clint in the middle for a four over onslaught on the Darjeeling bowling, with the Loose Cannons blasting 94 to finish on 282 – 1 in their 20 overs, with Clint Birkenshaw 142 off 65 balls and Ash Taylor 31 off 12 balls.
Looking at the unenviable task of setting off chasing over 14 an over, Brian Scholtz went for a Jonathan Houghton – James Grisdale partnership hoping that these two could get Darjeeling on track in the run chase, the reality kicking in on the 4th ball as Jonno was cleaned out by Nick Anderson. Chris Dommett strode determinedly to the crease and with his first scoring shot drilled a boundary; his fourth ball saw him waving his bat at a loose delivery from Tauseef Qadri to get caught behind. This brought together the high octane partnership of Brian Scholtz and James Grisdale. With a 21 partnership in full flow Brian found himself trapped LBW by Nick Anderson, bringing the left handed Noel Raymond to the crease for an 11 run partnership, before Big Gris going for a quick single found himself narrowly coming up short with Darjeeling finding themselves in all sorts of trouble at 39 – 4. With Jacob Raymond joining his dad at the crease the biggest of the afternoon’s partnerships was formed with 37 before Noel finally departed for 23, Ben Jacob joined his brother before being ruthlessly bowled by Bradstock. With the over’s diminishing and the tail looking very fragile wickets fell regularly with Jacob going for (9), Ash Banerjee(6) and CD Kotze (1) bought the unlikely paitring of Gibbon Human and Stuart Matthewson to the middle to try and avert a total humiliation with three and a half overs still to be bowled and with Darjeeling sitting on 90 – 9!! This pairing bought the third highest partnership of the day of 20, mainly gifted by wides with scoring shots consisting of two fours and a double. Darjeeling finishing well short of the target on 110 – 9 losing by 172 runs!!
With a warm afternoon in prospect at the ICC Global Cricket Academy, Andrew Tideswell as Skipper won the first salvo of the day, the toss, and elected to bat.
Opening with Jonathan Houghton and Cameron Coles, it only took four balls for Jon to be netted and back in the hutch caught on 2. Cameron was the second to be snared for a three ball duck in the 2nd over trapped LBW. Nick Lloyd and Greg Moses steadied the wobbling Darjeeling ship with a partnership of 87, with Nick cleaned out for 28. In strode James Grisdale looking full of purpose to blast a quick-fire broadside of 42 in 18 balls of his 60 partnership with Moses, Andy Tideswell still not having been dismissed at the ICC looked to add to his strong run. Greg was the next to get reeled in with Darjeeling on 175 in the 19th over for 76 off 48 balls, Brian Scholtz followed the next ball for a Golden.
Tideswell & Nick Harvey put on a 14 partnership before Tideswell trudged back to the hutch for 20, Nick Harvey and Julius Mooney adding a further 14 partnership before Nick was cleaned out for 10, Julius hang on with Mohit (0) and Badger (1) adding little or no support with Julius finishing on 13 not out and Darjeeling floundering on a minnow of a score with 213 all out in 24 overs.
With the clock ticking down Choueiry had to turn round quickly to beat the tide of time that was against them. Baber and Bilal anchored themselves in the middle and resisted the lure of the Darjeeling bowlers Grisdale, Scholtz, Moses and Mooney coming up empty handed, putting on 92 before Bilal was hauled in from the first ball of Badgers first over with a sharp catch from Lloyd for 35. Baber managing to escape with a couple of huge appeals both for catches behind, Sameer got lured down the track on 17 by Badger to be snared, Hammad and Bilal saw the Choueiry boys home in the 23rd over with Baber on 94 not out and Hammad 40 not out.
Darjeeling retired to the Pavilion to analyse their short comings and the power point presentations to follow by nets on Tuesday!!
Farooq CC (supported by du) squared off against Darjeeling Cricket Club (supported by du) in a friendly 40 over game @ the Fairgrounds Oval yesterday (8th March 2013).
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Farooq CC were rocked back in the second over of the innings when Rashid Khan was cleaned up by Adel Farooq for a duck. From then on, it was all Farooq CC with two big partnerships, the first (143 Runs) between Ahmed Shaukat and Qais Farooq and the second (74 runs) between Qais Farooq and Waqas Khan with Farooq CC getting a competitive 269/4 at the end of the innings.
Qais Farooq played a stellar knock (although he was assisted by a couple of dropped chances) to score a superb 102 not out in 116 balls (9 x 4s) with Ahmed Shaukat (86 off 88 balls, 9 x 4s) and Waqas Khan (41 off 24 balls, 5 x 4s, 1 x 6s) being the other main contributors. For Darjeeling CC, Gris (7/0/37/0), Adel Farooq (7/0/53/1) and Ben (3/0/22/1) were the main bowlers.
Chasing a competitive target, Darjeeling got off to a sedate but stable start as J Houghton (24 off 34 balls, 3x4s) and N Raymond (67 off 115 balls, 9x4s) put on a decent 41 run partnership before Adel Reyal (5/0/34/3) picked up a couple of quick wickets to peg Darjeeling CC back to 76/4. The fall of the 4th wicket brought Adel Farooq to the crease and he, along with N Raymond, put together a brisk 100 run partnership in an attempt to bring Darjeeling CC back into the game. Adel scored a superb 44 off 48 deliveries (3x4s,3x6s) before being dismissed. Qais Farooq followed up his batting performance with a wonderful bowling performance (8/2/41/3), the match ending with Farooq CC (supported by du) winning the match by 84 runs.
Darjeeling Logo supported by du
Friday saw Darjeeling take on a slightly weakened Loose Canons team. After the last performance against them this was much needed.
The day began with several of the players typically showing up hungover. Thankfully Chris won the toss and elected to bat. Unfortunately though he decided to open up with the two most hungover players with yours truly and Steve Brown (with Grisdale still missing).
The brave decision by the captain was quickly vindicated as Darjeeling got off to a flyer with a scoring rate comfortably over 10 an over. The two openers made light work of some average bowling posting an opening partnership of 136 in the 12th over with yours truly out LBW (Questionably?) for a fine 68 off 37 balls with 52 runs coming through the leg side. Stevie followed soon after for a very well made 57 from 36 balls caught at point – Darjeeling being 145-2 in 12.3 overs at this stage. In came Olly and Nathan to slow down Darjeeling’s scoring rate with a partnership off 87 in just under 10 overs ending with Nathan being caught for 36. In came Pete and back out he went. First ball. A determined Grisdale stumbled towards the wicket hitting two huge sixes of his first two balls before being caught by the traitor hitting towards the longest boundary against the wind – falling one yard short from a third consecutive six. Captain Magnificent (Yes I want to open again) came in for the last 10 balls scoring a quick 15 from 8 balls with Olly anchoring the innings for an excellent 42 ball 52*.
Darjeeling finishing on 274-5 in our 25 overs no thanks to the opposition bowling 25 wides and 7 no balls. The traitor comfortably had their best bowling figures going for 25 in his three overs with no wickets while Bradders finished one short of his 50 in his three overs.
Darjeeling feeling confident of a win strode out to the middle knowing that Bradders was the key man to get out early. Grisdale and Gary Turner opened up with Gary getting a wicket in his first over bowling a full toss which the batsmen hit to short extra with yours truly taking a stunning one handed catch. Bradders soon got hold of Gary though hitting him for 21 of his third over and looking good. Ash could and should have made a better effort to catch a top edged pull from Gris’ bowling however instead decided to take a couple of steps backwards before watching the ball land behind him. Fortunately for Darjeeling Gris soon got his man caught at point – an excellent diving catch by Olly – to remove Bradders for an aggressive 56 off just 26 balls. Luckily Captain AT was not playing and fielding in his usual point position as surely that would have gone for four. This left the Loose Canons on 73-2 in 6.4 overs with the traitor coming in. Grisdale finishing on four overs 1 for 35 and Gary T four overs 1 for 43.
Darjeeling then began to take wickets regularly with Olly taking a wicket in his second over – a superb catch by yours truly running towards third man and taking a skier over his shoulder. Not all of Darjeeling’s members were quite on the ball as yours truly was and some very average fielding followed culminating with Captain Magnificent labeling some of the fielding as ‘toilet’ before dropping a sitter himself which Stevie was quick to point out.
On came the spinners Moxey, Badger and Ash keeping things tight and picking up wickets at regular intervals. Ash with the pick of the figures finishing on 3-44 in his five overs while Badger bowled five tight overs only conceding 34-1 while Moxey went for 38-1 from four overs. Loose Canons finishing on 221-8 from their 25 overs with the traitor ending up on a fine 63* from 59 balls. A convincing 53 run win for the mighty Darjeeling who put on a great show for their fans (AT, Sackers and Brian)
A great days cricket had by all with special mention to Pete Foley who played his first game in a long time and got out first ball however some exceptional looking dives in the field (even though nowhere near the ball) will keep him in contention for selection next week. A few cheap beverages at Girders followed before those left standing went to Barasti.
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On what can only be described as a perfect day for cricket the Darjeeling Cricket Club took on an unknown rival (later to be identified as a team we thrashed before at SES) on the smaller pitch at the ICC and previous venue of a fine Grisdale batting display.
While indulging in in a fast-growing pre-match ritual of devouring a choice of Burger King or Hardy’s pre-match chatter was mostly centered around certain members’ conquests of the the previous, Jono AKA The Darjeeling Bicycle sharing what he described as a stereotypical Dubai hookup with a teacher and Greg adding that he for the first time saw a certain member of the DCC known for his anger management issues showing a softer side, the table was set for a standard random day at the home of DCC.
With members arriving from 12:30 to 1:15 for a 12:45 team get together and some confusion caused by the term “bring a few scoops” amongst the internationals of DCC, the source of the confusion and the second-last player to arrive, Gary Turner AKA the Guv’nor was selected to Captain the side, due to club captain Chris Dommett’s reluctance to captain the team from keeper, against the Wombats/Nomads/ Without a Name, which at this stage had 3 players at the ground consisting of two slightly portly cricketers and a gentleman resembling a Bollywood actor playing the role of the Rambo of the cricket field.
With the classic line of “my team is still coming from Friday prayers” uttered by the opposition captain, the Guv’nor proceeded to win the toss and in true DCC form, elected to bat, a decision not driven by tactical prowess but by a culture of Friday hangovers and a memory of desert weather conditions. So the day of normal randomness continued as DCC Umpire Shiju and Umpire Banerjee took to the field to call ‘Play’ on a 25-over match.
Out strode Sackers and the Bicycle to open the batting against the Wombats who were at this stage recognized as a team we played before when an aforementioned DCC member with anger management issues scored 90 against Sharjah and were outplayed by DCC. The opposition by this time had grown to 9 players with two of their team still praying hard.
Sackers started scoring from some Jonathan Trott-like shots but not in true Sackers style gave away his wicket softly with a practice catch to the opposition off the bowling of Hamad, before the opposition had reached the full complement of 11 fielders.
Out strode Greg Moses to the pitch with his signature fisherman’s hat and a bat won for player of the tournament in Chiang Mai. His feng shui just seemed right after having witnessed the first time emotional display and armed with a new pre batting ritual involving two fingers and a foul smell (details of which are being withheld due to the open nature of Facebook and fear of having to enter into a witness protection program for revealing them) Mr. Share the Love himself went on to build a Rahul Dravid rock of an innings.
In the meantime, more and more scoops (beverages, biere, brews, lagers, XXXX’s etc, for the rest of us non Oldham Athletic supporters) were being enjoyed next to the pitch, which bode well for the banter but perhaps not the batting performance needed by the middle order.
Bicycle, during all this, started his innings nervously, very unlike a man with his Casanova-like exploits but started to find his stride not too long after Mr. Moses walked in, and proceeded to bash a few fours for a very good 40 and an innings-defining partnership of 73 with Greg before being bowled by “one that kept straight” otherwise known as a “beauty” from the bowling of Moiz, who was proving to be a be a bit of a thorn in the side of the Darjeeling run rate along with Taz “Sharapova” who had a Shoaib Ahktar like run up and a Maria Sharapova like grunt upon delivery.
Unfortunately, a batting collapse reminiscent of the England cricket team of the nineties, South Africa in a Cricket World Cup or the more recent collapse of the Pakistan middle order in their previous test in South Africa, commenced with depressing ease.
First came and went the reluctant captain, usually dominant, out for 1, bowled by Haroon, followed by the self-proclaimed agricultural cricketer, Nathan Cartwright, out for 6, bowled by Abid.
Which led to an attempt at an innings-stabilizing 7 of 9 balls innings (Strike rate significantly helped by 4 overthrows) from Jules “Tats” Mooney, caught off Moiz with teddy bears, rattles and puzzles lining the way back to the changing room along with some choice words. Which brought in Mr. Comeback, Nick Harvey, who was soon after caught off the bowling of Hamad for 4.
All this action happening while Greg was building a beautiful game-saving attempt of an innings on the other side of the scooped-up middle order, while bravely trying to hide the pain of his pulled hammie and fighting the burning sensation in his nostrils. The question being raised at this point, will Mr. Share the Love be able to bowl with a pulled hammie, since we were looking a little bit short of a few wicket takers, which as we all know, is crucial for winning a game of cricket.
Finally, after a serious batting wobble, in strode Gully, red-eyed from a week-long visit from his wife’s cousin and looking brittle, therefore setting the opposition bowlers at ease, to bring some form of support for the superb innings being played by Greg.
After feeding the strike to Greg with three well-taken singles, the gentleman out in the middle realized that Greg running with a pulled hamstring was not in the spirit of Darjeeling Cricket, so Gully decided to let loose and hit two classy fours before trying one shot too far and was caught off the bowling of Taz (of the Sharapova kind, not to be mistaken with the Tasmanian kind) for a crucial 11.
In strode the “taking one for the team” player of the day, your’s truly, to witness some brutal hitting by Greg, a short run of a very well-taken two runs (disputed with the umpire, the first of two dubious umpiring calls for the day) and a brave sacrifice run-out to protect the Batsman of the Day’s wicket for a well-run duck without facing a ball.
This left only one ball of the innings which Greg proceeded to hit through the air, only to be dropped and ending the innings, carrying his bat, for a long overdue 108, his first 100 after the sad demise of the Darjeeling Cricket Club grounds in 2008, may she rest in peace.
With a softish target of 207 set for the opposition, Darjeeling took to the field and after a brief stint of enthusiastic fielding practice, set about defending their total, opening the bowling with the deceptive Gully from the Academy End and Jules from the School End as a well-fuelled Gris replaced Ash to umpire for the first 10 overs, while the latter tucked into a Stella or two.
The opening bowlers proceeded to keep it about as tight as a loosely-tied westminster tie, with some quality dot balls mixed in with some good balls dispatched to the boundary, but there was hope in Darjeeling’s slightly scooped-up blurry eyes when Jules took the wicket of Mannu sharply caught by the candidate of comeback player of the year, Nick Harvey for 5, which brought to the crease a blue padded, Inzamam ul-Haq like communicator between the wickets, Omar.
Gully proceeded to bowl his five overs on the trot, which is no mean fitness feat for any DCC bowler, unlucky to end his spell wicketless, conceding 44 runs and with Jules finishing 4 of his overs on at the other end with figures of 1 for 38, Darjeeling were still battling hard to stay in the game.
During Jules’ spell, the second dubious call of the day was made when Gris called a (low) slow ball full toss a no ball, which brought about a pleasant exchange of shits and giggles between the Guv’nor and Jules and said umpire, with the other umpire proclaiming his support for his fellow umpire with a well timed: “What to do?”. The call was also later falsely blamed on the innocent square leg fielder.
Jules was replaced by Nick at the school end and he came in to bowl like a man who did not spend any time away from the game with an injury. Nick was the only other wicket taker in the innings bowling Karan “Bollywood Rambo” with a pearler for a well played and showy 62. Nick ending the day the pick of the Darjeeling bowlers with 1 for 38 of his 4 overs.
The Bicycle then replaced Gully at the academy end and clearly thought that a slow full toss would be his stock ball of the day, with ‘Taz’ Tauseef, who replaced the Bollywood Rambo and the blue-padded Omar proceeding to take advantage of the fine weather and friendly pitch, though rarely used by the Bicycle. Not even a change of ends stopped the full toss frenzy and Jono ended the day with an uncharacteristic 52 runs of his 5 overs with no wickets.
Mohit was brought on to replace the Bicycle and stem the flow of runs and did a great job in his first over, but unfortunately, consistency let him down in the second and Mo was knocked around a bit in his second for figures of 0 for 21.
it was now clear that Greg’s hammie was costing us on the bowling front with the aforementioned lack of wicket-takers taking effect, facing a team spurred on by the wild celebrations and Asian drums from the other pitch, where a corporate cricket day was in full swing with spectators lining up for food boxes, etc.
With Darjeeling’s fielding being good to pretty good despite a few misfields, a dropped catch and a half-chance, we could not take any benefit from some poor running from Omar and Tauseef as they merrily continued chipping away at the target, getting the Wombats into a very comfortable position.
The Guv’nor brought himself on to replace Mohit for one over and went for 12 runs in the 19th over of the game, leaving the Wombats 2 runs to get with 5 overs remaining.
On came CD, some say a little too late, and after 3 balls and a hamstring-inspired misfield, the game was all over, the Wombats beating Darjeeling by 8 wickets with several overs to spare.
Despite the loss, it was a thoroughly enjoyable game made better by great banter, scandalous dressing room stories and good opposition who understand the spirit of cricket.
The Wombats were worthy opponents and with a bit more depth on the bowling front, they are very beatable.
Unfortunately, I cannot do a Girders report, but judging by the pace of scoops being consumed until the time we were asked to leave the dressing room, some quality shenanigans were had.
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With the Darjeeling 2’s finishing up on Oval 2, the Darjeeling 1’s kicked off on Oval 1 vs the XL40’s. With the pre-negotiated toss sorted, Gris and Brian strode to the crease. Jules screaming to Skipper Brian “Whats the batting order” to receive a reply of “just work it out yourself”…. Leadership of legends
While some might have viewed the proceeding few overs as respect being shown by these two flat track bullies, consensus was the ill-effects of the early hours drinking session. Neither could get the wily XL40’s bowlers off the square and Gris fell early doors for 2 in the 3rd and then went MIA for 90 minutes! Hmmmmm…..
Jules strode to the crease to be faced with such express pace not seen at the ICC since Badger last bowled, the XL40’s had the measure of these two young lads and the crowd in the stand were watching something akin to paint drying!
Having built a solid foundation, with Jules milking a few runs hear and there, at about a run a ball (yawn) until Brian decided to go aerial with some great effect until he was run out for 47 (off 34) and a good partnership of 68 with Darjeeling at 2/79 off 11.
After a few challenges with technology, Badger stripped the iPad off Nick for Brian to now control the scoring, to only have the iPad thrown back at him within an over and Badger praying he didn’t have to bat with his broken foot.
Jules and Noel kept the scoreboard ticking over, until Jules was bowled trying to ensure he had a better strike rate than Ash for 39 (off 34 NB: better than a run a ball), leaving Darjeeling teetering on 3/98 off 13
After a quick change of pads, Gully strode out looking forward to facing a ball after the diamond duck of his last dig…. Walking back a few balls later for a 3-ball duck, plumb LBW, and still without an average in 2013, wondering what it would feel like to have some leather on his bat….
After a power nap in the change rooms, Jonno walked out… and walked back almost as quickly caught and bowled for 2. Darjeeling 5/101 off 15
‘Almost’ run a ball Ash kept Noel company for solid 5 overs as Noel started carving up the opposition, of the 58 run partnership, Ash added 6 (off 10 NB: yes not quite ‘almost’ run a ball Ash) and Darjeeling at a slightly more respectable 6/159 off 20
AT came out and started where he left off in the earlier game, while Noel was teeing off. Noel was finally bowled for 72 off 35 balls after 23 overs, leaving AT and Dommett to close the innings out. Dommett heard the call from Jonno and Gully and ensure he hogged the strike for the last 2 overs leaving AT stranded not out 16 off 16 (no not quite 50 in a day!) and himself at 13 off 9 and Darjeeling a respectable (albeit sub-par) 7/207 on a good deck.
The XL40’s innings started with Gris dictating terms on where he wasn’t going to field, Jonno sleeping at 1st slip, Badger limping with ‘apparently’ a broken foot, Ettienne holding his broken thumb, Ash in his Skins and no-one scoring on the iPad.
Brian decided to open with the express pace combination of Gully and Ettienne (well… when taking into consideration the XL40’s attack!) The XL openers nudged a few around and after 4 overs were 0 for not many (NB: above point “no-one scoring on the iPad”) Gully 0/10 off his 2, and Ettienne 0-11 off his 2.
Great captaincy brought on Ash ‘almost run a ball’ Banerjee in his Skins… bowling a maiden! Followed by Badger hopping to the crease, like a rabbit caught in a trap, bowling another maiden (his only over for the day!). There was something not right, Darjeeling were fielding like demons!
With spin now the call of the day, Jonno came on to throw down a few darts (literally!) but got milked by the wiley old fella’s but he did bring about the first chance, a sitter dropped by Jules (now this is the Darjeeling we remember!) Jonno obviously thinking watching Badger running (sorry hopping) in the field was funny, kept throwing pies up and outside off ensuring we could see that sight over and over again. Ball magnet Ettienne, with his broken thumb, got in on the action no matter where he was fielding, with Dommett the unfortunate collateral damage of this strategy breaking his finger again (from memory dropping a catch?) with the call from AT “it might be straight now!”
Ash ‘almost a run a ball’ Banerjee finished his spell with ANOTHER MAIDEN… 3 overs, 2 maidens for 3 runs, bowled well… must be the Skins helping!
Jonno finished his 3 overs with 26 stripped from him and no wickets in sight. With a team meeting between Jonno and Gully, it was decided that in no way would they let AT get better bowling figures than them! The strategy working a treat with some runs milked through slips, and the ball going to the left or the right of Gully at short 3rd man or square leg… as a catch came, Gully was all over it until he remember his pact with Jonno and grassed it at full stretch….. AT finished with 0/29 off his 3 (phew!)
Jules bowled a couple of overs of pies (turning them? Yeah right!) bowling off a step… having worked out that the only way he was going to get a wicket was if he caught it himself, he threw up a dolly and took a caught and bowled buying himself another over of absolute shite… finishing with 1/3 off his two overs including some of the best grunts when attempting legspin every seen, especially for balls that didn’t turn! XL finally loose a wicket and are 1 for not that many.
Gris came on with some leggies…. Also getting in on the grunt action started by Jules, according to Noel he got a few to actually turn and hop… again the ball kept going to the left or the right of Gully (either at Gully or leg slip!) making him run more than he has in 15 years, with Gris finishing at 0/33 off his 4.
At the other end Brian kept it interesting with a tight spell of 1/13 off his 3, also accepting if he was going to get a wicket he would have to catch it, with a caught and bowled. The second wicket left XL trembling at 2 for not many more (about 120-ish off 21)
For reason unbeknown, Brian gave the ball to Gully to close out the XL innings, being forced to continue this leg spin theory with now everybody aware of the Jonno/Gully pact… Gully got seriously carted… finishing with 0/24 off his 4 (still better figures that AT) even though mysteriously balls kept going left and right of fieldsmen straight to the boundary!
Darjeeling won by plenty (about 50/60), good fun but cant say anyone other than Noel played to their ability! Only one thing left to do…. To the pub!
Ash finally took his Skins off, Badger went to hospital (well, talked about it), Captain Brian spent 4 hours discussing the nuances of his 100% win ratio as Captain, Jules saved the captains mobile, AT did a smoke bomb and faded away, Jonno found a pair of shoes to get into Mahiki that ‘had character’ (he didn’t make it to Mahiki and neither did those shoes! Probably ANOTHER Bullfrog or 3 at Barasti?), Greg while not having played, kept what was left of the team together at Girders and said captain of the day decided that Jumeirah Beach needed a splattering of colour ….. of the Magners hue.
It must be time for another Jaeger challenge?
