After winning the toss and choosing to bat, DCC made a terrific start with both Nathan and Jono scoring freely in the powerplay. With the loss of Nathan (for a breezy 30) and the field spread for the slower bowlers the scoring slowed slightly in the middle overs. Jono and Dannie picked up ones and twos until an over of 22 broke the shackles.
When Dannie was finally out ( his final score being 32 for 5), it was left to Jono and the middle order (Ben/Raj) to see DCC to a very competitive score of 174 of which Jono’s contribution was a fine 76.
In reply Omnicom were never really in with a shout. Dave and Rich opened the bowling and both picked up early wickets. All the bowlers were backed up well in the field with some excellent ground fielding and an enthusiastic keeper who picked up a couple of stumpings.
With Gully and myself brought on to relieve the openers, the required rate continued to climb with wickets falling at regular intervals. There were a few lusty blows which never threatened the Darjeeling win and Raj mopped up with 4 wickets. He narrowly missed out on a hatrick with a fine display of controlled, accurate bowling.
The game was finished in style with an excellent diving catch from Jamie and we were able to enjoy a slightly earlier beverage due to finishing the bout within the distance.
Another enjoyable victory. A lovely way to spend a beautiful afternoon .
Greetings all from your jolly tall safa
As I sat very early indeed at the Icc admiring its brilliant facilities my wife mentioned to me that it was already 13h10 and the game is starting at 13h30 (according to my brilliant email reading) I started feeling a little drop of sweat brewing on my forehead… Had I got it all wrong are we playing at the 7s??? I did a quick 100m dash to the reception which resulted in me almost rupturing my spleen and had a quick chat with the receptionist ( and I did not swear I promise ) and he took 1 look at me and said yes Darjeeling are playing at 2pm, well I was relieved.
Now onto cricket, Captain Mike Tyson (Jono) still rushing with adrenalin from his 12 rounds in the ring with a lad the night before LOST the toss and we were put into field. Greg Moses opened the attack and bowled with some fire and aggression and was unlucky not to take a wicket but finished with 3-0-11. From the other end Viv had a go and bowled with the slightest amount of aggression and was quite polite in complimenting the batsmen on how he has the ability to play such unorthodox cricket strokes… ( well thats how I remembered it at least ) 4-1-28 good catch from Krish at covers. Blikkies then came into the attack with the drip still attached from the hospital and bowled a tight first over then the fever from his ebola took charge in the second and he fetched a straight drive 6 finishing with 2-0-15. Kesby the aussie spin destroyer bowled with some fine turn and restricted the hackers ending with 4-2-26, Sir Ash bowled a fine spell bamboozeling the batsmen ripping through them with brilliant figures of 3.5-3-27. Krish had the luck of the Irish with him and as they say s#%t takes wickets and he proceeded to take 2 quick wickets off full tosses and one which went down leg and got hit straight to Kesby at short fine leg however wickets are wickets. So the Hackers aka hard hitters were restricted by good bowling and brilliant fielding ( as there were only 2 drop catches which I think is a new record for DCC, jolly good show lads ) for a mere 128 all out in the 19th over.
Captain Jono Tyson opened the batting with a rather pale looking Blikkies, the fever got the better of him and he perished without troubling the scorers and just made it off the pitch where he rolled over and proceeded to almost cough up a lung ( get well soon mate ). In came Greg Moses who got a peach of a nut and got bowled for a uncharacteristic 6. Brad came in at 4 and batted around captain Jono who batted wonderfully and they put on a decent partnership until Jono took revenge on Brad for running him out when he was 16 years old hitting it onto the bowlers foot which hit the stumps at the other end running Brad out for a hard fought 15. Jono however began to re-enact his previous night and started to slap the bowlers to all corners of the ground. Chris at square leg called a no ball as Hitters “spinner” chucked one which resulted in their Captain dropping his lip and walking off the field. We needed a diplomatic person here to save the day and none so other than the Cool headed Tall safa Viv to offer his skills at square leg and so the game continued. Jamie batting with some fine timing of the ball ticked the score board over until Jono decided to get bowled with a fine knock of 81 thus bringing Kirky to the crease who eased the last 3 runs needed off 2 balls. Jamie finishing on 11 not out. DCC winning by 7 wickets. Some shook hands afterwards most went sulking off but we had a good laugh in the change rooms with some beverages and ended up at the Els club for a few pints!
Ps… beware of the hand dryer in the ICC changeroom its the spawn of Satan….
Cheers
Viv ( the polite bowler )
Here is the very kind email that was received by Chris Dommett and Nick Harvey, the catalysts behind DCC’s fundraising efforts in memory of Simon Fowler
Dear Chris and fellow members of the Darjeeling Cricket Club,
On behalf of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), it is with our deepest gratitude that we accept a gift of AED 104,000 from the Darjeeling Cricket Club in honour of the late Simon Fowler.
We are honoured that Mrs. Fowler and the Darjeeling Cricket Club members chose to dedicate the 24 hour cricket marathon to MSF’s international medical humanitarian response. Simon was a generous and loyal friend of MSF. During his lifetime, he thought of people around the world who had been affected by conflict, natural disasters, and epidemics; he used his passions, like music and cricket, to act as a catalyst with MSF to help those who need it most, like refugees fleeing the crisis in Syria, the thousands affected by the earthquake in Haiti, and children plagued by malnourishment in Niger.
Simon’s support was a message of solidarity and hope that continues with his legacy, thanks to the Darjeeling Cricket Club.
It is because of supporters like Simon that MSF was able to respond immediately to the Ebola crisis in West Africa. And it is because of supporters like the Darjeeling Cricket Club who have carried on his legacy that MSF has been able to see 2,195 Ebola patients survive. Your collective support has had a tremendous impact on MSF’s response to Ebola, translating into sending 24 doctors to West Africa to treat patients on the frontlines of the crisis.
On behalf of MSF’s field staff, and more importantly, our patients – thank you. We could not do this work without you.
With gratitude,
Mohamed Bali,
Executive Director
MSF UAE Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) \ أطباء بلا حدود
There’s a certain glow one feels when you arrive at the ground for the Darjeeling inter-club Christmas match and the smiles that greet you are both friendly and warm. But, if you look closely you can detect a hint of something else. As a child you’d share that smile with your friend just as you agreed to bunk off school; as a teenager, before you were about to get laid; a smile that promises tomfoolery to come with a soupçon of vice……………….nice.
Stark differences were apparent on meeting the two skippers of the day. The Southern hemisphere skipper, Greg Moses looked stoic and fit (now that he can bench press his own body weight); Gary (True Grit) Turner on the other hand appeared at best grim and at worst like death after five seconds in the microwave (now that his two day marathon drinking session was over). Imagine therefore, Gary’s glee of learning that our little warm-up session was to be a 100 metre dash across the pitch at the team briefing………but did baulk at the idea? Did he fook! Gary, Turner……..True grit!
A week ago or so, I sent around a mail requesting some of the players’ vital statistics which, I’m sure mildly irritates people (I thank yee all for humouring me), but all bar one was duly returned with some interesting results. For those of you with an occasional fetish for useless information – below a summary of the stats:
The average age of the squads was 37.5 years old
Average height, 180cm (5’10¾)
The average BMI, 29 – which, if the Darjeeling Cricket Club Christmas Club squad were a country
would make us the fattest in the world bar Tonga & Micronesia (well, it is Christmas afterall……!)
Members below 6 feet lie about their height…….Julius, 5’11”? ………per-leeease…!
The average time we’ve ever run the 100m (from the sensible answers) is 14 seconds
Our allergies include; pineapple, alcohol, non-alcoholic drinks, virgins (not sure how he found out about that one – would have been fun testing it though), Jagermeister, 4x4s with baby-on-board stickers, pollen, pretentious ar*eholes, Palestinian Bankers, furry dice, penicillin, top quality spin bowlers and a couple of Darjeeling members! (no names of course!)
The average weight is 94kg (14 stone, 12lb in old money)
The reason for acquiring the statistics was not to set up a dating site (as was suggested) but to set a handicap for our 100 metre sprint across pitch (which I once again miscalculated). So after the team briefing and sweepstake draw we had a little pre-warm up session with Ben Jones’ camp scissor step manoeuvre catching the eye. We lined up in our selected rows with poor young slim Jason Stewart looking to make up 8.5 seconds to the high-handicappers. The young and fit never stood a chance, J Dot cut the ribbon first, Dommett pulled a hamstring and despite my best efforts of pulling him back, I was pipped at the line by Johno (….the shame of it). Coco came up the rear. We then sauntered off to the changing rooms muttering & cursing under our breath between gasps of air.
GT won the toss and elected to bat, opening with Cockcrusher (Coco) and the Beast (Badger).
It being Christmas and Darjeeling having a penchant for playing silly-buggers, all batsmen took a swig of good-ol-Jagermeister before striding out and for all bowlers (and returning batsmen), a jager-jelly was dished out by the umpire complete with freezer bag over their shoulder.
Neither stuck around for long despite Etienne’s purposeful drop off Coco’s skied leading edge (he was later heavily-fined). This brought Juggernaut Mooney and the Dominator to the crease with Julius in particular smashing fours to all parts of the ground. Chris, with a knackered hammy, was less enthusiastic between the wickets than his usual scampering-self. Chris Bridle was half way out to the square to act as runner before (you’ll never guess) Badger came bounding on to act as Chris’ legs (apparently, he wanted to get in the game…!). Chris was visibly distressed/amused (delete as appropriate).
All in all, the North had three retirements (as we were playing Taverners’ rules); Julius, Dommett & Me). There was a couple of memorable moments that exemplified/tested the ‘spirit-of-the-game’ Firstly, Julius claiming and GT awarding five penalty runs after Gully’s delivery was hit by Chris on to his cap lying behind/near the stumps and secondly, me being recalled by Greg and others after being giving out by Coco LBW some way out of his crease. Indeed, the exuded body language of the South at half time as they strode off avoiding eye contact and the offering of water was akin to that of the Australian’s during the Bodyline series against Jardine’s England (well similar to that from that series that was on the telly anyway).
Rich Hallows, Lee Dawson and Julius (on his second innings) all chipped in, but the total of 158 after the North’s 22 overs always looked 30 runs short. The South had three notable bowlers to speak of namely (Velvety) Etienne (3 overs, one wicket for 10 runs), Jason Stewart (3 overs for 14) and Jason (Breathless) Brown (3 overs, three for 14)….well bowled Gentlemen.
The Southern Hemisphere opened with (Sensitive) CD & Nathan (Caring) Cartright and for a while it looked they were making a game of it. They scrapped and scrabbled about and were just 20 odd after 6 overs. Chris Bridle (great to have you back in the squad by the way) forgot he was playing cricket as he chested one down from CD’s miscued drive (both umpires heard the distinct drumming sound of leather on ribcage). CD eventually found himself (to be joining many others) in Badger’s famous hutch as Nathan fell to……err someone else…?
Potty, usually effective, failed to impress and one Mr. Nick Lloyd was less than impressed after being run out cheaply. When cordially reminded of his duty to take his obligatory jager jelly whilst marching off, was heard to retort “well f**king bring it here then…!” (ooooo-oooo!).
Andrew Kirk, managed to better his previous Darjeeling batting effort (by facing a ball) and just made it to double figures
but was dismissed before reaching twenty.
The winner of the sprint, Mr. Breathless Brown was next to the crease and from the minute he took his jelly and guard, looked purposeful and determined to make his twenty and retire. Joined by Ben Jones, the big guns had definitely arrived. In reply, True Grit whipped out his cock-crushing secret-weapon and Ms. Caroline Toussaint was thrown the ball. Twenty minutes later, both Big Guns were back in the paddock, both falling victim to Coco’s charms in spectacular fashion. Firstly, Ben, playing forward was bowled with Coco getting the best of his length and secondly, Jason, honey-trapped in as he smashed Coco (Jason’s length, definitely shorter than Bens’) in to the deep only to pick our Richard Hallows with laser-point-accuracy. Both J Dot and Richard wore the same “WTF??” expression (both in total disbelief…..for different reasons). But in the end Mr. Brown had to go and take his goodbye jaeger-bomb.
Next in was the South’s skipper, Mr Greg Moses who’d been swaggering around all day with his chin raised more above horizontal than Agmal’s arm is bent. He marched to the crease and took very little time in stamping his authority on the game with True Grit falling prey to a very brief but very brutal onslaught (with Greg’s 20 coming in just 7 balls). The North lost 22 runs in that over and the tide had tipped. In short, the South’s tail didn’t merely wag but beat the North’s bowlers to all corners. Etienne, too finding the middle made his retirement runs thereby, bringing Kymbo & Gully (10 & 11) to the crease.
True Grit looked deep into his arsenal and brought Coco back into the attack with Badger chirping away to Gully about being dismissed by the fairer sex. Gully’s reply was to play a beautiful slog sweep off one knee from a Miss Toussaint full toss that looked to be heading straight to the awaiting Badger at deep backward square leg. There are two-sides to every story and I think it’s only fair to share both. Badger: “…it flew well over my head and miles over the boundary” The Entire Southern Hemisphere: “…it went through your hands mate”
Personally, I believe Badger.
That shot did, however, make the run chase far simpler with both Gully and Kym finding the boundary fence. With two and a half overs to go Gully was dismissed (for the second time that over) which brought back Mr. Moses and the game was all but lost. There was a bit of hand-bagging round the boundary and on the pitch over bowlers and batsmen not used (I felt …….it was just the right amount of animosity) as the last few deliveries were bowled. But with the winning runs hit hands were firmly shaken and bums warmly slapped as we headed off to the changing room to read out the book and the fines.
Sugee won AED 400 on the sweepstake for pulling out Breathless Brown and I wish I could remember more about the fines (duly punished Vodka and yet more Jager shots) of which some were brilliant. Afterwards, I think all bar two or three then headed to the Els club for dinner and the promise of AED10 drinks. A great session was had including a revival of obscure Darjeeling XI’s – this time we had the Psychologists’ XI (as, in those of need of seeing one). I believe it was Ben Jones that picked up on a running theme, i.e. that the majority were South African (and all agreed most were decent players….!). Perhaps, a new question to be added to the membership questionnaire?
Before the festivities really got going.
On a personal note, congratulations to the South (again) on winning the match and thank you to everyone for being such a good sport and making it such a memorable day (and night).
Darjeeling Cricket Club to host event in support of Médecins Sans Frontières in memory of club member who passed away
Dubai, UAE – 10 November, 2015: A 24-hour cricket marathon will take place later this month, at the International Cricket Council’s Cricket Academy (ICC CA) in Dubai Sports City, in support of non-governmental medical humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Dubai’s longest ever game of cricket will be organized by Darjeeling CC – the UAE’s oldest cricket club, established in 1969 – in memory of long-standing former club member Simon Fowler, who passed away suddenly earlier this year.
The event will take place from 12 noon on Thursday, 20th November, until noon on Friday the 21st, with several consecutive matches being played continuously over a 24-hour period. It will be first time a 24-hour cricketing marathon has ever been held in the UAE. The match is being supported by the ICC CA, and the Els Club, among others.
Mohamed Bali, Executive Director of MSF in the UAE, said: “The success of our work in this region and across the world, relies on the support we receive from individual supporters. Serving two purposes, this game of cricket will not only honour and remember the life of a committed, generous cricket lover and MSF supporter, but it will also ensure that in his memory MSF can continue to make a difference to the lives of people less fortunate across the Middle East. This is a great initiative and we thank Darjeeling for their support.”
The cricket marathon will conclude with a match between Darjeeling and a Dubai Celebrity XI from 8am – 12noon on Friday, 21st November. The Celebrity XI, which will include members of the UAE national team, high profile local business figures and media celebrities will be captained by local broadcaster and cricket fanatic Tom Urquhart. The final match will take place alongside a brunch and auction, where sporting memorabilia and more will be offered in support of MSF – a cause Simon Fowler dedicated much of his time to.
“I am delighted to be taking part in this event,” said celebrity team captain Tom Urquhart. “Cricket is a passion of mine and a sport that brings people together from across the cultural landscape in the UAE. What better reason for a record breaking game of cricket, than to remember a dedicated member of the local cricket community and a person committed to giving. It will be a great occasion and I hope the community comes out to support it.”
The family-friendly event will also feature:
· A live DJ on both days
· Suburban Voodoo and guests live from 9 pm on Thu 20th
· Raffle with great prizes
· Bouncy castle
· Car wash competition
· A silent auction
· Live auction of sports memorabilia
· Awards Ceremonies after every match
Chris Dommett, Club Captain of Darjeeling CC, said “We play at the ICC Academy every week and are grateful to them for allowing us to stage the event here. Simon was a much-liked member of our club, a wonderful cricketer and a great guy, and we couldn’t think of a better way to honour him. This is just the sort of thing he’d most want.”
Anyone wishing to support the event in any way, should head to the Darjeeling Facebook page, website darjeelingcricket.com or tweet mentioning the handle @Darjeelingcc.
As one of the most anticipated games on the DCC calendar – DCC took on the formidable Loose Cannons on a balmy Saturday afternoon at the picturesque ICC grounds!
To relieve the tension surrounding this battle we will jump straight into the happenings of that fine afternoon!
Ash “Trigger” Banerjee * won the toss and the first shot across the bow was delivered, DCC would bat!
Tom “The Gun” De Bonville and Dannie “Golden gloves” Rees would be the first to cross swords, the game got off to a flyer with “Golden gloves” leaving a few and watching a few go past the bat at the other end “The Gun” wreaked havoc against the Cannons dispatching a the ball at will as if it was fodder?!
Fast forward to over #3 and good bye “Golden gloves” triggered by the “trigger” plumb in front beat for pace all ends up!
Step in Greg “Needles” Moses and the partnership of the day ensued, “The Gun” carried on bludgeoning the hapless cannons to all corners of the ground with “Needles” uncharacteristically being overshadowed?! After much of the same “The Gun” to the relief of the cannons was bowled trying to put another one into the school, 78 off a hand full of balls and a partnership of 96 leaving the score on a healthy 136/2.
The departure of “The Gun” brought to the crease Nick “Tardy“ Lloyd – the back of “The Gun” seemed to inject (See what I did their?) some life into “Needles” and boundaries started to flow again.
“Tardy” then chipped one to mid-wicket and had to return to the hutch for a conservative 6….
Israr “No Surname” and “Needles” trotted along for the remaining overs getting DCC well over the 200 mark until Israr “Consistent” missed a straight one. Richard “medium pace” Logan saw off the last couple to give DCC an impressive total of 240!
“Needles” ending up on a very well-orchestrated 83 off 48* (Rather slow considering the depth/quality of batting still to come).
After a short interval DCC took the field with “Medium pace” getting the first over from the pavilion end with the wind at his back and down the hill, whilst James “F@#king brisk” Grisdale started from the school end up the hill into the wind….
The first few overs set the precedence for the Loose Cannons innings with “Medium pace” (now striving with the wind at his back) taking the top 3 wickets all cleaned up impressively! At the other end where immense pressure was being applied “F@#king brisk” ended up with 0-27-3…. Respectively!
With the Loose cannons reeling at 3-36 off 6 “The trigger” rolled out a double change with “No surname” and Nick “Up the duff” Harvey taking aim, both failed to make any inroads with “No surname” finishing up on 0-22-2 and “Up the duff” obviously struggling up the hill into the wind finishing on 0-23-2…
Bring on the spinners and good bye “Golden gloves” reputation as a wicket keeper …
“Trigger” bowled well and probably would have picked up a few more if it wasn’t for “Golden gloves” behind the wicket – 1-25-3
Neil “Rocky” Colbeck bowled a lot better than his figures suggest, again this can solely be attributed to “Golden gloves” – 2-37-3
Mark “Silver fox” Gully chipped in with his boomerangs and picked up a wicket a piece with “Tardy” to bring the innings to an end and a good old fashioned spanking to boot, with the loose cannons finishing up just short on 191-8…
Great day had by all and “The gun” “Needles” and “Medium Pace” having very good showings….
Everyone retired to watch the springboks annihilate the All blacks as expected and all was right in the world once again!!!
NB – Congrats to “Up the duff” on the news of a 3rd baby Harvey due! Well done Nick!!!
On a warm Saturday afternoon at the ICC, our very Nathan Cartwright sent his work (GAJ) XI into battle with the DCC boys, interestingly Nathan decided to captain his XI from the position of umpire, injured allegedly or just not wanting to endure the sledging and banter that would have been mandatory or for the cynics amongst us perhaps he wanted to exercise his influence in another manner.
Nonetheless the early arrival of our Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Dannie (ADHD for short) ensured that the local rules were enforced and DCC would bat first, GAJ apparently didn’t wish to contest this rule citing an extension of the rule – ‘let’s make sure the game lasts’.
ADHD clearly enthused about the prospect of discovering some form against the lesser opposition strapped on his pads before GT could contemplate his order, ADHD was joined by ‘he’s posh but not as posh as the real posh tom’ Tom and play got under way. GAJ opened up with left-arm spin, GT declaring this was ‘the one player he knew could bowl’, 23 runs flowed off the first over after a series of half-trackers and wide balls. The bowling at the other was equally as wayward but didn’t offer the same amount of gifts. So with DCC racing along at 15 an over of the first 5, GT decided it might make sense to give everyone at bat and enforce retirements at 50…. ADHD clearly not relishing the idea topped edged a sweep to short fine leg moments later to reduce DCC to 71-1 off 5.4 overs (ADHD 27 from 18).
Tom was joined in the middle by Blikkies who forgot to arrange his cap and in afrikaans barked out his displeasure and instructions to his better half as it was clearly her fault… she made amends immediately by sprinting off and resolving her oversight with the minimum of fuss.
Blikkies and Tom carried on taking the attack to the GAJ bowling attack and when drinks were taken after the 10th over, Tom was informed about the retirement rule smashed two sixes and trudged off disappointed he wasn’t going to fill his boots as much as he wished. Tom 53 (from 21). The debutant John Stamper adorning a complete virgin set of kit strode out to show his new team-mates that lawyers are about results and not time and money. Almost immediately Blikkies decided to check the cloud formation out and fell victim to the rare commodity of a ‘straight-one’ gone bowled for a fine 32 including a graceful straight-drive through long-off legs for 4 which had the purists purring in delight. DCC 150-2 after 11.
John was joined by Greg, slightly subdued by a Gris braii the day before and lacking his usual chipper. John was clearly not on a ‘legal-aid’ case as he took his time at the crease playing circumspectly at the variety of offerings, like it was a ‘working-lunch’ at a tapas bar where the wine wasn’t vintage and everything needed treating with suspicion. Greg was struggling to get going at the other end, as a result the run rate dropped. John suffering from a knee-complaint ran himself out the last ball of the 16th over for 21, DCC 170-3, hobbling off to the small claims court.
Greg was joined by Lee, who was served a waist high full toss on leg stump first up to help him remember what the game of cricket was and how the bat on ball thingy worked. A single followed of a very wide short one giving Greg the strike, he played at a very wide very short and very slow one…. who was the most surprised with what happened next remains unanswered, umpire Cartwright for someone playing at such a wide one, Greg reaching and hitting straight to backward point or backward point for taking the catch high to his right… the one known factor was Greg was gone for 6, 175-4.
Next to the crease was Dave Mariadason, who helped himself to an early boundary with a delightful pick-up over mid-wicket quickly followed by an all run 4. Lee and Dave continued to pick up 1’s, 2’s and the odd boundary, taking DCC to 217-4 after 21. Lee helped himself to 10 off the first 3 balls of the last over before Dave decided 2 down to long-on twice in a row was just a ridiculous concept and trotted back with the trickling throw hitting direct with Dave still well short of his ground, run out for 23. Rory came in for the last two balls and was run out last ball of the innings without facing, Lee 29*, DCC posting a respectable 230-6.
Before DCC took the field John referring to Section 10 sub section 6 article 3 of the UAE penal code declared he isn’t allowed to field with a bad knee and that the code allowed a replacement, Dan Mellor quickly donned his whites and with some regret this morning I expect took to the field.
GT opened the bowling with our 13 year old dynamo Rohan and Rory. Rohan bowled a fine spell of away swing beating the bat at will and Rory bowling a tight line and length. Both openers completed a 4 over spell conceding just 2 boundaries between them, but remained wicketless, Rohan was unlucky as ADHD missed 2 stumpings in as many balls before throwing down the gloves and walking off to ice his pinky. Enter Dan Mellor upgraded from fielder to assume the responsibility of the gloves. GAJ’s opener Aftab had found hitting the ball of the square extremely difficult and as result collapsed under the pressure and retired hurt. So after 8 overs GAJ we 42-1. (Rohan 4-0-15-0, Rory 4-0-21-0). With the light fading and concerns over getting the game completed by Christmas, GT threw the ball to our very own midnight runner Rich ‘Dexy” Hallowes, whose first ball was spooned high to cover where Tom ran round to take a good catch. 42-2. GT brought himself on at the other end and bowled with his usual cunning and guile. Dexy disappointingly without the usual pink cravat caused mayhem in his 2nd over striking again with his first ball bowling the batsman with the old fashioned straight one and then the tip and shy approach of their batsman causing a run out of the last ball to see GAJ slide to 61-4.
GT brought out his ‘special’ delivery in his next over the disguised double bouncer which almost brought the 5th wicket. Dan ‘Teflon’ Mellor had remember how to use the gloves by now and was doing some smart work behind the stumps which almost brought a couple of stumpings and run out chances were coming thick and fast, but Lee and Tom’s radars were clearly set to friendly fire mode. Some of this innings was far from memorable, especially since the author of this piece was busy recalling Lincolnshire’s over 50’s squad with our guest umpire Colin Walters at square leg.
The skipper was not to finish without snaring a victim, another straight one proving too good to reduce GAJ to 81-6 off 16. Blikkies appeared from the partial football ground end and bowled as fast as he could in the half light (2-0-7-0). GT after completing his spell 4-0-18-1 handed over the baton to Dave the destroyer, who after bowling some wayward nantie Hayward deliveries decided to resort to the straight ones, 2 in 2 both bowled. 87-7. In Blikkies 2nd over another suicidal single to a now concentrating Lee saw the score move to 93-8. The destroyer added another bowled in his second over completing a fine spell of 2-0-7-3 (97-9). So after 19 overs GAJ needed 134 runs to win off 3 overs, with the sun setting fast Dexy returned and 2nd ball fired one down the leg side, the batsman swung with all his mite, making a fine contact, unfortunately not with the ball but with Dan’s head, the 12th man forced to leave the field blood streaming down his face and with only one eye open, to make matters worse he bled all over Johns virgin whites. At this point GAJ decided to call it a day and finished 97-9, Dexy 3.2-0-18-2.
Dan retired to the Rashid hospital and the rest of the team retired to the Ryder Cup, Premier League football and Saffer rugby safe in the knowledge the winning feeling had returned.
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.
