The day after the night before – Match Report of the Year Winner Steve Brown

The Cannons is always an eagerly anticipated fixture and Nick Harvey decided to schedule the game after the awards dinner to give our boys a challenge. Thanks Nick!

Darjeeling had their ‘best’ side out since the beginning of time according to Ash Banerjee, but with 9 lads who had attended the dinner in the squad (Nick Lloyd & Dannie Rees hang your heads in shame), surely it couldn’t be all smooth sailing.

The annual dinner was an eventful night out and after many ales were sunk, I think we definitely have all found it in our hearts to forgive Gris for his wrong-doings…… haven’t we Nick?!

Many of the boys were in fine form with Chris Tebb only drinking pints of bitter as anything to the contrary ‘isn’t a real beverage as it’s not dark and has bubbles in it!’ Hassan gave a vivid description to the type of classy attractive women he goes for, and how quality is more important than quantity. Another kick in the teeth comment as I was under the impression to truly encapsulate the Darjeeling spirit, you had to constantly go to Rock Bottom and panic pull average women when the pizza starts getting handed out. That’s mine and Jon’s excuse anyway lads.

Israr seemed to be in a sticky situation with his date, as Badger’s lodger resembled a rucksack with him clinging on to her at every opportunity. He was pulling out some really sleazy chat up lines and dance moves that seemed to leave the lads puzzled. It is also still up for debate on to whether he actually knows Badger, or actually just lied his way in to the dinner to try and cock-block paying members.

Browny was forced up to do another rendition of Wonderwall, but his below average Liam Gallagher rendition was all forgotten when people actually realised what Julius’ was wearing. His ‘big guy’ upper body had looked borrowed from the set of Scarface, red chinos looking like they belonged to Alan Carr and trainers that would have been better suited to a One Direction music video.

A hugely anticipated question was finally answered by Steve Finnigan on what actually makes him ‘tick’. It was sad to see Greg Moses not there to truly pick his brains on his vague answers and to get into the ‘nitty gritty’ details on some pretty seedy responses. Other highlights included seeing Gully pick up a bar bill at the end of the night. He has to be the only person in the world who never carries cash on him, has no money on his card, but always seems to be blind drunk with a glass of mothers milk in his hand. He also lives on the palm and drives a Mercedes…..work that one out! He stooped to a new low when trying to get sloppy 2nds on a terrible looking girl that Jon had already dealt with. The thought of him dancing round in his tighty whities for an hour is still haunting me now.

Anyway…… on to the game:

The game looked certain for disaster when Julius was caught out being sick in the ICC car park in front of his very unimpressed wife and son. He was almost sick again when he caught Jason Brown eating what can only be described as the world’s largest portion of Burger King. Jason came to watch and immediately snuck in 2 lamb burgers, before polishing off his chips and diet coke. He then very sheepishly glanced around to make sure no-one was watching before pulling out what is rumoured to be a Double Whopper burger, and destroying it within seconds before anyone could notice…… Yes Jason, we saw you eat the third!

Darjeeling won the toss (about the only good thing they did all day) and surprisingly elected to bat! A drunken agreement the night before had meant that the 3 stooges (Browny, Jon & Olly) would all go in first as they are MATES with the skipper. As always Gully went back on his drunken words and demoted Olly to 5. Brown and Houghton, who were more bothered about telling everyone at the ground about the latest chapter in a book of average conquests, were to go out and open. What happened next could not have been predicted. Brown playing on for a second ball duck and Houghton nicking off for a golden duck. Top start!

Even funnier than the scorecard, was the fact that Jon had absolutely murdered it to the keeper but because Gully was umpiring, stood his ground and looked as innocent as Stuart Broad. Gully awkwardly raised his finger with the keeper bellowing ‘How dare you stand there for that!’ Tweedle Dum and Dee were out without troubling Chris Tebb’s mouse and to rub insult to injury Julius’ better half even got involved yelling ‘Guess which team was out on the piss last night’.

Nick Lloyd then came and went for 6 before stooge number 3; Higgens strolled in to get some pride back for his mates. He had recently lit a cigarette so snuck in a couple of pulls before passing it on and strolling out. He lasted 2 balls for 4, with his cigarette still not finished by the time he trudged off. After all last night’s air blowing, the 3 stooges managed to muster up 5 balls between them for 4 runs. Solid contributions!

Dannie and Israr started a mini revival, but when Dannie got cleaned up by one of his new best mates, the score was 44-5. If ever you needed a captain’s innings, now was the time. Enter captain clueless – Mark Gullickson…… The last member of the group who met earlier before the dinner to get lashed and was desperate to help his 3 idiot mates out. Gully did them proud by helping himself to a 4 ball duck….. Cherry on the cake!

Newly crowned all-rounder of the year Nick Harvey joined Israr and finally there was something to cheer about. A 50+ partnership that at least gave us something to bowl at and not get even more embarrassed than we already had. Israr departing for a well-made 34 and Nick making 41.

Tebb and Banerjee were next and with Bradders making sure Moxey had one over left, the mini battle could commence. The battle was delayed slightly as Dannie Rees’ & Julius’ wives caught Moxey’s eye and he was half way off the field to try and help himself before being warned about his gentlemanly conduct! They didn’t hang around and left Julius stranded at the other end (not that he was going to make a difference) with Darjeeling finishing 146ao.

Cameron ‘the Judas’ Coles was to open the batting for The Cannons and went on to his highest ever career score. Every time he represented Darjeeling, he was more bothered about clocking up miles on his fitness watch and doing laps round the field after departing for single figures. Could be worse I suppose; at least he didn’t proposition any of our dates or girlfriends.

Gully’s masterstroke bowling changes were not working to say the least and with Darjeeling lacklustre in the field, it was looking like a slow painful death. None of Darjeeling’s bowlers hit their straps and only a solitary run out (which wasn’t even out) was the only success to be had. Credit has to go to Dannie Rees for conning the umpire with a very enthusiastic and convincing appeal. His enthusiasm wasn’t rubbing off on the rest of the hungover bunch and he kept muttering little digs under his breath such as ‘I can’t wait to play for the cannons more often’ and ‘if there were 11 of me playing, we would win every week’. Maybe he’s been listening to Jason Brown too much!

The Cannons eased their way to a 9 wicket victory and the only highlight after that was Dannie Rees trying to pull Steve Finnigan’s ex bird in the polo club. I guess he’s trying to follow in the steps of Tim Moxey so The Cannons will finally welcome him in.

The New Season opener – words by C. Tebb

So a new year dawned for the Darjeeling Cricket Club with a new year of hope and expectation against a new opponent; yet the traditions remain, meeting Gully with beverage in hand for example. The troops summoned by Captain Moses for a 1400 start, mustered around 1315 at Oval number 2 at the ICC and greeted each other with exciting tales on New Year adventures whilst awaiting the opposition. Greg insisted that they were well aware of the revised start time and instead tried to distract everyone with the new uniform for 2014. The less said about that the better, but there were some new definitions of tightie whities in that changing room.

Being organised this year for the averages and aided by modern information technology, Chris “Statto” Tebb arranged the soldiers up against the wall of the score box in order to be each shot several times (with a camera). Mugshots duly taken, Gully somehow escaping by refusing to put his kit on until absolutely necessary, talk turned to the soon to be over Ashes series; 30 seconds later the pros and cons of the Super 15 Rugby were being debated at much greater lengths. Time check 1355 Zulu and no enemy action in sight.

Thankfully at 1405, some oppposition appeared; their captain duly explained that when they were told 1400 start they thought 1430 and also that they got lost on their way to the ICC. Oh well, 1430 start time – no plan survives contact with the enemy; as their captain explained that the only car missing was lost and contained 5 of their players in it. Hmm with the ICC staff sceptical that all the overs would be complete before role call, Captain Moses negotiated a DCC bat based on, “the Darjeeling rule” of the oppposition not being there for the toss and well, we always bat first.

The non-appearance of the last members of the oppostion’s squad brought some diquiet to the ranks, there were murmurs of, “Well maybe we should get started and just field first.” Captain Moses stamped out the dissention and finally the remaining squad of players arrived and play began at 1450 (sic) with Private Cartwright and Sergeant Houghton striding to the wicket.

So began the cricket, finally! The opening pair eager to get on with started scratchily with Private Cartwright perfecting the air shot and Sgt Houghton content to collect singles. In the third over after finally getting bat on ball three times for 6 runs, Pvt Cartwright nicked one to a delighted keeper (FOW 12-1, 3.2) Recruit Pretorious joined the Sarge in the middle and carried on where his sadly departed comrade left off. Sensing a NCO’s example was needed, Sgt Houghton flicked the switch from accumulate to pinch hit and went from 5 off 6 to 33 off 16 very quickly (5x4s 1×6). Alas, like at the Battle of Hastings, seeing the opposition in retreat and giving chase Sgt Houghtong duly edged to the keeper chasing a wide one and perished (FOW 47-2, 5.6). Enter Sergeant-Major Brown who promptly announced him self with some silky shots to all parts of the boundaries; this must have woken up Recruit Pretorius who decided that the opposition Grenadier #1 must be punished for poor technique and started bashing the poor man over the ropes for two straight 6s. The new found confidence aided by his own corp of photographers spurred on the young gun and two further boundaries were plundered before the karma of making the Sgt-Major run three, ensured that Recruit Pretorius advanced down the wicket only to be stumped for 33 off 19. (FOW 98-3, 9.4) The halfway mark was reached with the Tea Leaves 100-3 with Sgt Major Brown joined by Corporal “Punishment” Al Huq. What follows will remind those old enough, Brigadier Turner maybe, of the Battle of the Somme; pure carnage. After seeing themselves in in the 11th over (2 scored), slaughter began in earnest. The 50 partnership coming up in just 37 deliveries (JB 19(16) – IAH 29(21)); unfortunately for the opposition Grenadier #2 came onto bowl to whom Cpl Punishment decided was fair game, 50 for GI Joe off just 28 deliveries (4x4s, 4x6s). Deciding that Grenadier #3 was more to his liking the Sarnt Major moved to his 50 (36b, 5x4s 1×6) with an agricultural shot over long on. The 100 partnership followed at the end of the 19th over and with sniper-like precision and clinicalism(?) a whopping 25 runs were plundered from the last over. (Not the most off a single over in the match but this innings). Sgt Major Brown fininshing on 60* off 41 balls with 7x4s and 1×6 and Corporal Al Huq 76* off 35 balls with 5x4s and 6x6s. Darjeeling finishing on 224-3 off their 20 overs in a rapid 80 minutes.

Given just 80 minutes to try and bowl their 20 overs, Darjeeling’s platoon of likely lads took to the field, with Captain Moses expressing that Dajeeling expects that every man should do his duty and give no quarter bowling, fielding or sledging. Cpl Punishment given no respite by the ever-demanding Captain opened up from the School end and after the obligatory initial wide, the Ericsson opener declared, “Game on, old chap,” and carted the Cpl over the long off sightscreen for 6 first ball! From the Academy end Captain Moses took it upon himself to go where the eagles dare and despite the obligatory ealy wide (comedy moment when Brigadier Turner started begging the oppostion umpire to behave, after giving a swing and a miss, wide of Cpl Al Huq in the first over) bowled a wonderful line and length giving away nothing. Captain Moses gunned down a very tidy looking opened in his 2nd over, squaring him up a beauty and taking an edge through to Recruit Pretorius. (FOW 24-1) Consensus was that the Umpire would not have given it, had the opener not started walking before stopping and waiting for the signal. Form the other end Cpl Al Huq was victim to some wild slashing and deliberate stroke play yet the benficiary of the “Ian Bell scoop to Cover” to pick up his first wicket of the season, (FOW 27-2) and finishing with 1-31 off 4. Captain Moses, inspired by his own pre-battle address, caused no end of problems to the batsman and after a personal duel with the number 4 yorked him with the 2nd slower ball in succession. Cpt Moses finishing with 2-13 off 4 including a maiden.

In to the attack Cadet Flight Sergeant Tebb (CCF RAF) from the school end and after a few balls of getting the radar correctly aligned, delivered a ball of good length and line, with a hint of away movement to pick up his first wicket of the season. (FOW 48-4). Warrant Officer 2nd Class Gullickson was introduced from the Academy End and soon picked up where he had left off from last year, showing all the tykes how to bowl swing properly. After taking a full bloodied drive to the midsection Flt Sgt Tebb was withdrawn as his run-up was taking too long and light was receding quickly, 2-0-15-1. WO2 Gully continued to tease and trouble that batsman, but as is nearly always the case when we bowl, the batsman just were not good enough to edge it. It was at this point that the oppostion decided that they were going to enjoy batting at the ICC rather trying to chase an ever increasing run rate. Brigadier Turner into the attack and with no back up from his field alternated bewteen being shown respect and being shown no respect, youngsters these days, eh? After Warrant Gully finally picked up his deserved wicket (3-0-3-1) he was retired to allow the Grand Rear Admiral Banerjee to announce himself on the game; which he duly did. Last years, alleged, leading wicket taker starting with a double wicket maiden, including an oppostion Umpire giving an LBW!! The Brigadier was again let down in field with a dropped catch, no names (the author) this drop seem to trigger some new thought process in the opener’s mind. To around this point he had sedately acquired 40 or so runs but in the last 4 overs overcame his shell sock and unleashed a brutal counter attack. 8 and 12 off Brigadier Turner’s last two overs and after bowling his penultimate over, to the oppostion player most resembling a Badger, conceding just 5; the last over was something spectacular in the rapidly fading light. First ball – long off,
WO2 Gully runs to his left, just over him; SIX. 2nd ball – long off, WO2 runs to the right, just just over him; SIX. Third – long off, WO2 runs in, just short; SINGLE. 4th to the tailender, SINGLE. Fifth ball – straight, straight, straight and on to the roof of the ICC; SIX. Last ball – long off – way over him; SIX. 26 off the last over; opener suddenly finishes on 97* and Grand High Rear Admiral goes from 2-1-5-2 to 3-1-31-2. Tea Leaves still win by 76 runs! Mention in dispatches for Private First Class de Boinville who got pad rash and then fielded.

XMAS Match on the 27th December 2013 – words from G Human

It was the night before Christmas……… hang on that’s another story

It was the festive Darjeeling cricket game held in the midst of Sharjah, far far away from the North Star.

True to the etiquette, fashion and reputation of Darjeeling, the 1pm start became a 1:20pm inshallah get together and with a possible 1:30 start.

Most players arrived with a lot more of a different spirit than the intended Xmas spirit. This spirit grew as the game progressed.

The two wise “G’s” were self nominated and went forth in selecting the team – Team Gary and Team Greg put their teams together and with a minor one or two last minute changes the final teams were selected. Winning the toss for this game was of upmost importance and Gary being the strategist pounced at this opportunity to nominate his team to bat.

The rules were fairly simple – play cricket and have penalty drinks. For those not there, a brief description;

3 dot balls – drink for the batsman

Wides/no balls – drink for the bowler

Bad fielding, good or bad batting, drop catches, 4 or 6’s, bad wicket keeping etc etc…

Basically anything deemed right or wrong justified a drink.

The opening pair of Paul and Brandon took to the crease and Team Gary’s tactics were already put in motion. The first drink took place within the opening 3 dot balls for the batsman and then the fun and games began. Team Greg and his team were fined with drinks for the first 5 overs, bad bowling and fielding, it was only in the 7^th over when the first 4 appeared and that’s when the batsman also got involved with the drinking game. Paul runout, “Jagermeister”, Brandon retired with 50 plus “Jagermeister”, Jason a Goldie “Jagermeister”, Isra retired “Jagermeister”, “Jagermeister” “Jagermeister” “Jagermeister” “Jagermeister” Kym in and out “Jagermeister” “Jagermeister” etc….

Batsman score, bowling figures – available on request

Bottle of “Jagermeister” finished and advantage Team Gary. The innings ended with 190 off 20 overs.

Drinks break – as if it was needed.

Needing 191 to win – Johno and Ash opened for Team Greg putting on a great partnership of “who gives a damm” “Jagermeister” – substituted with beverage and cheap wine. The game was now in very high spirits and it became even better (thanks to Brandon’s dad) when a 2^nd bottle of – yes you guessed it “Jagermeister” made its debut. Same as the first innings, no balls “Jagermeister”, wides “Jagermeister”, fours, sixes “Jagermeister” “Jagermeister”, beverage, “Jagermeister”, wine “Jagermeister”. Johno good knock, retired “Jagermeister”, Ash great score retired “Jagermeister”, Kym bowling – worst for the day lots of “Jagermeister” etc etc .

Again Batsman score, bowling figures – available on request.

Lots of dropped catches to be expected from a sober Darjeeling team, no different from a spirited team.

PS – News flash for all Sharjah and Iran residents – there were no reason for concern regarding the light tremors experienced during the afternoon. This was only the result of a good attempt but bad result dropped catch “Jagermeister” and one of the highlights was a great attempt of a diving catch – more of a falling over attempt but roughly about 5 meters away from the ball, “Jagermeister”. No names mentioned at this time.

The game was going to be close, run rate achieved, then a wicket “Jagermeister” – pressure was on both captains. Advantage Team Greg in the last over, only 8 runs needed for victory – Tom stumped “Jagermeister”, 3 balls 3 to win. Greg eventually found the crease – The final showdown Captain against Captain, wide called and there seemed to be a hint of “match fixing “ in the air, 3 balls 2 to win. Greg a swing and a miss, 2 balls, 2 to win, another ripper from Gary, Greg sways back, big swing and another miss.

Advantage Team Gary, last ball, 2 to win. Another big swing from Greg, confusion all round, Brandon throws back to the non strikers end, Gary allegedly fumbles the ball and Greg is through for the single.

THE GAME ENDED IN A DRAW.

Great finish to the 2013 Darjeeling year.

Team photo and pleasantries followed.

Darjeeling CC v TAHA CC – words by Kym (not a girl) Harris

It seemed fitting with South Africa playing Pakistan in a test match in Dubai sports city, that Darjeeling would attempt to do the same, by fielding 5 Safas, all equipped with hidden zips, to tackle a Pakistani Taha CC in a 20/20 on turf at the ICC.

Meeting in the dressing room bright and early, it was clear from Gully blaming a maid for his whites misplacement, and Ollies text message at 3.40am to Danny to be picked up, but now not answering the phone, that DCC may start what a basketball team describes Noel Raymond…. short.

A toss was lost, and the inevitable occurred, Darjeeling would field. Gully arrived, had a few heaving practices, and 10 men proceeded to take the field, with captain Tideswell donning the pads. English pastures have seen less grass than the pitch that had been prepared, but as many have experienced in Rock bottoms during school holidays, with grass on the wicket, let’s play cricket.

Moses would open from the Southern end, and although struggled with his length, immediately got a breakthrough, and again in his second over eventually finishing with 2/18 off 3. Ward fired up from the Northern end, pestering the batsman with a good line, and the promise of some real pace with his Mitchell Johnston like ink. Neither the pace, nor the wicket came but finished off with 0/15 off 3, respectable on a pitch that didn’t want to offer too much assistance.

Danny arrived, Ollie not in tow, without his kit, but more worrying without a towel. So whilst the rest of the DCC players plundered who may be asked to dry the bald head, Danny had scavenged together a uniform, and made up the 11 on the field.

Tideswell made the change, and Brought on the second and third Safa bowlers to get the breakthrough. 2 blistering overs from the younger of the Kurten brothers, Barry (0/6 off 2) put the pressure on, allowing Ettiene to take 2 wickets in 2 tight overs (eventually finishing with 2/17 off 3). The first of which proves why even a moan can be classified as an appeal, with the umpire giving it out LBW before people had even realised what the muffled sound was. Taha were struggling at 4/48 off their opening 10.

Drinks were taken and Gully trudged in, refreshed for the first time in 3 weeks from water with no hops. Ward would drop a sharp catch in the covers, leaving the silver brumby wondering if his teammates have a disliking to catches off his bowling. The theory was certainly plausible as Kym came in first ball, claiming an edge, and the brisk movements of Hassan at point clenched onto a catch.

The number of safas in the team was questioned when a complaint about the ball was made, but we explained it was made in India, and it was merely dismissed. Very similar to Saturday night supermarket disputes in Durban.

Gully and Kym would keep the wickets falling, with Gully getting one through the batsman defences, and rocking his middle stump, a method not requiring his fielders help, and Kym giving Tideswell the chance to get a good stumping on a turning pitch. Gully finished 1/20 off 3, and Kym 2/31 off 4.

Hassans nimble, panther like movements in the field got him the nod for a bowl, and although the batsman took the aerial route, non went to hand, finishing with 0/30 off 2. Taha CC 7/144 off their 20 overs.

Darjeeling made a steady start to the chase, with their very own Geoffrey Boycott, Andrew Laing (2 runs off his first 16 balls faced), and the larger of the Kurten brothers, Greg, taking the opening duties. A quick flurry of boundaries from Greg, brought tears of pride to Barry on the sideline, before skying one too many finishing with 25.

Same name, different family, Moses strode to the pitch, and pelted a quick fire 32, Andrew Laing continuing to push singles on occasion. At drinks Darjeeling were 1/63 off 9.3 overs, called early due to Moses clearing the boundary, leaving Taha some time to find their pride along with the ball. It didn’t take long after the break for Greg to hit one too many skywards, holing out to midd on.

Barry (the proteas team activities manager) Kurten, hit a fine 18 off 9 balls before being trapped plum in front. If he had laid bat on ball he would have been given not out, yet bat on air is not a saving grace for anyone. His displeased complaints were duly noted and considered, but not even Oscar Pretorious could get the benefit of the doubt on that call.

Laing and Ward quickly followed suit and fell on 14 and 1 respectively, giving Taha a sniff, but Tideswell (34*) and Gully (10*) steadied the ship and put on 37 for the final stand. Not even a time limit pressure given by the ICC security guards could faze the 2 twilighters, and on a five minute warning, even with 4 overs to spare, 26 were hit off the final 10 deliveries, seeing DCC home 5 down and 2 overs to still be bowled.

Beverages in the cricket stadium were to follow and watch the final hours of the test match. A brilliant way to finish a Saturday of cricket, and always keeping that spark alive of what one could have been instead of a Darjeeling cricketer in Dubai. But we surely are not complaining.

Friday 18th October T25 Darjeeling vs Victory Chalisa XI: Scribed by A Laing

My life fades.

The vision dims.

All that remains are memories.

I remember a time of chaos. Ruined dreams. This wasted land.

But most of all, I remember The Cricket Warrior. The man we called “Nick Harvey”.

To understand who he was, you have to go back to another time. When the world was powered by the black fuel. And the desert sprouted great cities of pipe and steel. Gone now, swept away. For reasons long forgotten, two mighty warrior tribes went to war…

And so it came to pass that Darjeeling XI played a 25 over game against Victory Chalis XI at SES on Friday 18 November 2013. Unbeknownst to our very own Cricket Warrior Nick Harvey, his family & friends had sneakily cooked up a cricket match to celebrate his 40th birthday. Well to be more correct (despite numerous hints and clues along the way), he didn’t work it out it until he happened to pull into the same service station on the way to the game as all his friends and family (suspiciously all of them happened to be dressed in assorted white clothing lugging large coolers full of snacks, ales etc).

After recovering from the shock, Nick as Captain of Victory Chalis XI proceeded to win the toss and elect to bat. Girish Monie and Andrew Laing opened the batting on a sunny afternoon. To spice things up, Girish also had an accomplished runner (Trupti Harvey) doing duty, so the running between wickets was the subject of more negotiations than the latest US Congressional Budget Deadlock Crisis. No matter, the Victory XI sneakily worked the ball around until Girish was out bowled by Hasan Saeed in the 5th over with the score on 28 (Girish making a stylish 3).

In came Noel Raymond who along with Andrew added a quick fire partnership of 38 in 4 overs before Andrew was out for 22 (one 4 and one 6) to a good catch down the legside by keeper Ian Potgieter standing up to the mystery spinner, Russell Goulbourn (Score 66 for 2 after 9 overs). Next man in was Elliot Spencer who made a guarded 9 before being caught by young Jacob Raymond off the bowling of Mohit Manwani. In walked Nick Harvey, the birthday boy himself, who together with Noel took the fight to the bowlers.

Nick hit three 4’s in a quick fire assault and ended his inning with a well thumped 6 – Retired on 35. Noel hit one 4 in his stay at the crease and also ended his innings on a well hit 6 – Retired on 31. After this there was some interesting styles of batting on display with big shots being attempted with variable levels of success. Steve Finnigan made a absolutely dashing first ball duck, being stumped by Ian off the bowling of Barry Cummings. Steve Cook then made a cautious 7 (all in singles) before also being stumped by Ian off the bowling of Mohit. This was followed by quick fire innings of 1 from Bridget Irvine (caught by young Jacob Raymond off the bowling of Jason Brown) and another well played innings of 1 from Robyn Harvey who was caught and bowled by David Mariadson. Ben Raymond and Ash Banerjee (one 4) provided some stability as the wickets tumbled and both were not out at the end with 7 runs each. As per a long-established tradition, Extras at 40 was the highest score and the innings closed after 25 overs at 161 for 7. Darjeeling used a total of 9 bowlers, five of whom took at least one wicket. Destroyer-in-Chief was Mohit with 2 wickets for 14 runs off 3 overs. The award for “Most Airmiles Earned” of the innings goes to Barry Cummings for his 1 wicket for 39 runs off 3 overs. And the mystery spinner (even he didn’t know where it was going to bounce!) Russell Goulbourn was economical with 1 wicket for just 9 runs off his 2 overs.

After snacks, sandwiches and a few (or possibly more than a few) well-deserved beverages, Darjeeling XI went out to bat with Jason Brown and Russell Goulbourn doing their duty as openers. Steve Finnigan and Ben Raymond opened the bowling for Victory Chalis and it was young Ben who made the breakthrough by having Russell stumped by Noel Raymond for 4 runs. In came Hasan who made a good partnership with Jason before being bowled by Nick Harvey for 14 (with one 4). This bought Warren Spencer to the wicket which did not last long as he was stumped by Noel off the bowling of Ash Banerjee for a very entertaining duck.

CD Kotze came in to stop the rot and despite surviving a rightly vociferous appeal for a first ball stumping (the umpire at square leg clearly needed new glasses and dark comments were passed on his abilities and parentage) went on to score 12 runs (hitting one 6) before being caught off the bowling of Ash. Meanwhile Jason had been steadily accumulating runs and retired for 30 (with one 6 and two 4’s).

At this crucial stage Barry Cummings and Mohit Manwani came to the wicket and proceeded to put the nail in the coffin of Victory Chalis’s hopes. Barry bashed a thumping 30 Retired (one 6 and three 4’s) and Mohit provided good support with 22 Not Out (all run with no boundaries so he must be quite fit by now!). Paul Shrigley added the last few runs and was 3 Not Out at the end.

Darjeeling made the required target with two overs to spare and kept to tradition by making sure Extras at 41 was again the highest score of the innings. Best bowler for Victory Chalis was Ash Banerjee with 2 wickets for 18 runs off his 3 overs. The award for “Most Airmiles Earned” of the innings goes to Elliot Spencer for his wicketless 3 overs that went for 24 runs. Robyn Harvey also turned her arm for 1 over of 11 runs – her figures were not helped by some seemingly harsh interpretations of the laws of wide balls.

Man of the Match went to Nick Harvey who was presented with a fully engraved trophy to mark the occasion for his 35 runs and a tight bowling spell of 1 wicket for 19 runs off 3 overs.

A video of the event was provided by professional film maker extraordinaire, Lou Shrigley and can be watched at: https://vimeo.com/77318686

All agreed that it was a great day and many thanks to all of Nick’s friends and family (especially Robyn and Tripti Harvey) for the arrangements, snacks and drinks.

Darjeeling CC v Wombats CC – words by Chris "Stato" Tebb

Someone must have forgotten to tell the powers the be that the summer should be over as Darjeeling Cricket Club took on the Wombats at the ICC on a hot Autumn Saturday. As the Darjeeling elite moseyed on into the changing room for plenty of pre-match banter, the Wombats enthusiastically took to the field for a very professional looking warm up.

After the squad had assembled and it must be said, on time, Nick Harvey strolled to the middle for the coin toss which he duly won and after much deliberation decided “we’ll ave a bat first”.

Openers Chris Neal and Crayton Apps took to the field and Darjeeling were off to a great start with 2 fours from Neal in the first over, however on the last ball of said over, Neal Bowled by Abid for 8. Next in was Jason ‘Averages’ Brown looking to rack up some runs after a small absence from the club due to some niggling injuries. After facing a few balls to get his eye in, looked to be getting comfortable but was yet to get off the mark. Brown was then shocked to hear Apps call for a very dubious single that subsequently lead to a relatively easy run out for the visitors and DCC were 2 down for just 9 runs.

In steps Higgins to try and settle the nerves that are starting to show in the faces of on looking team mates. However after some 1s and 2s and the occasional 4 from either end and the score board ticking over slower than the UAE’s unrelenting summer, Higgins was trapped LBW for 12. It must be said that John Houghton’s innings was almost the mirror image of Higgins with some neat 1s and 2s and the occasional 4. His dimise was a catch off the bowling of Farid with a total of 12.

Nerves and tempers frayed, not helped with short cameoes from Tideswell (1) and N.Raymond (0) who can usually be relyed on to cement a middle order. Out strides the Vice Captain, Nick Harvey, determined to change the tide of an ever worsening situation. Some at this point may have forgotten that amongst the carnage of the middle order Apps’ name hadn’t yet appeared on the wicket list and they would be absolutley correct. Harvey, getting his eye in with some singles and then unleashing a fury of bondaries; whilst Apps at the other end, stubborn as the preverbeal mule, added to the mounting partenership with singles and doubles of his own. Harvey was finally stumped for a respectable 31 from 35 balls. The score now a very modest 114 / 7.

Apps finally surcombing to the heat was stumped trying to up the run rate which brought in Josh Smith for a short spell of 4 runs from 5 balls. Andrew Laing and Chris Ward then took to the task of seeing the remaining overs through and try to put a decent target on the board for the Wombats to chance. What ensued next was arguably the best partnership of DCC innings with some magnifisant stroke play, sharp running between the wicket and great communication between the two young batsmen. (A few leaves for the top order maybe). Ward bowled Haroon ending the DCC batting at Laing 10 not out, Ward 21 and Darjeeling CC 170 all out, 4 over short of completing their 40.

DCC took to the field with heads slight bowed at the daunting task that faced them. The new nut was handed to Josh Smith and Nick Harvey respectively and after a few overs each the mood started to pick up as both bowlers were keeping the run rate fairly low. This was helped by some sharp fielding that lead to 2 quick wickets, the first of which was a stunning run out from Ward and shortly after a solid catch from Neal. Darjeeling very happy to see the backs of the two openers. This was however short lived as the replacement batsmen planted themselves at the crease and subsequently up the run rate. Smith 7 – 0 – 38 – 0, Harvey 7 – 1 – 33 – 1 and Ward 5 – 0 – 37 – 1.

Something needed to be done, so the captain made the decision and the nod was given to our very own Stuart Mathewson, better known as Badger. Raymond’s sixth sense for wickets was spot on as Badger was rewarded with two from very good catches on the boundary by Neal and Apps. Mathewson 4 – 0 – 24 – 2, a few other cameos from DCC bowlers included Neal 1 – 0 – 8 – 0, Gully 2.4 – 0 – 24 – 0 and Unnamed in the score book 1 – 0 – 4 – 0.

Catches, Run outs, shape fielding and cameos however were not enough and the Wombats easily reached their target with plenty of overs to spare. A very sporting decision was then made that DCC would remain in the field and bowl the allotted number of overs so that the opposition got their moneys worth for the day.

The result certainly wasn’t one that Darjeeling CC would have hoped for however another smashing day of

cricket was had with plenty of banter and laughs shared.

Darjeeling vs HSBC

Saturday 5^th October

With a 1030 start foxing some of the lusher DCC players and the prospective sponsors forcing Steve Brown to be on his best behaviour. Skipper Sackers then asked every player what to do if he won the toss as he fancied a bowl, fortunately peer pressure told and after winning the toss he chose the right option. HSBC took to the field with only 6 players after 4 new players did not turn up! Despite the sparse field, neither of the openers Browner nor John H could take advantage and after a self-confessed scratchy 15, Steve departed with the score on 23 in the sixth over. Cameron tried to accelerate the scoring but perished to Josh’s trigger finger for 13.

Captain Sackers strode to the wicket intent on increasing the sedate scoring rate (57 off 9.2) but fell for 9 off 13 trying to score off a wide. Enter Chris Neal who succeeded where the other failed and playing proper cricket shots increased the run rate. After Johno retired for 41 at the end of the 16^th over, Badger strode confidently to the wicket and confidently strode back one ball later after playing what Browner described as French Cricket around a straight one. Gully helped Chris maintain the run rate until Chris fell for 36 off 17 balls. Josh (1*) and Gully (16*) managed to help DCC scrambled to a respectable 169 for 6 off their 20 overs.

With Sackers asking for a brisk over rate as our time slot was fast approaching its deadline, Josh duly obliged with a wicket first ball. Etienne opened at the Academy end and bowled tightly save the 4 and 6 that were smeared off his 5^th and 4^th ball respectively. Josh returned for a second over but forgot the skipper’s instructions and decided that he enjoyed bowling in the sticky heat and promptly bowled 12 deliveries in his second over. Ash was getting plenty of exercise as the umpire, with his arms up and down like a windmill in a decreasingly enthusiastic manner. Josh(1-17,2) was withdrawn and Chris Tebb brought in to the attack. Chris and Etienne then bowled tightly only to see some lusty smears reach the boundary off good balls. Etienne was withdrawn after 3 (0-19) without breaking a sweat despite the rest of the team doubling in weight with their sweat saturated shirts.

Chris picked up his first wicket for the Tea Leaves with the score on 52-2 after 7. Sackers then started the Midas touch routine with the introduced Neil Colbeck striking first ball. Four tight overs from Neil effectively won the game for Dajeeling (4-0-1-24) before Sackers repeated the trip introducing Gully for Chris 1-24 (3), who promptly bowled the HSBC batsman first ball. Gully picked up another two wickets thanks to good catching from Chris Neal, who also chalked up a direct hit run out. Badger bowled the usual floaters that normally bring great success; unfortunately just the one wicket this time and one also striking the Academy on the full about two-thirds of the way up(3-0-18-1). With Gully bowled out with figures of 3-24, Sackers offered a bowl to Chris Neal, who declined, so he bowled himself going for a miserly 5 in the 19^th over. HSBC finished on 135-8 off their 20 overs, resulting in a 34 run win and a 2 for 2 weekend for Darjeeling.

Darjeeling vs Desert Eagles

Friday 4^th October

With the summer heat still lingering the Tea Leaves took on the Desert Eagles at Sharjah. Winning the toss skipper Nick Harvey had no hesitation in forcing the Eagles into the afternoon heat. However the same decisiveness was lacking in the batting order, Noel went through 3 or 4 partners before striding to the wicket with Kym Harris. Noel looking resplendent in all white, Kym looking like he had just walked off a beach, set about watching the Eagles bowl to lines that would have been closer to the stumps on the next wicket. The first wicket was broken with Kym tamely chipping to midwicket with the score on 17 (10 wides), Greg strode to the wicket with purpose, allowing Little and Large to try and raise the total with the willow. After a breezy 18 off 9 balls, including 2 sixes, Greg edged to slip, score 47-2 (16 wides).

Next in was Dannie Rees who carried on where Greg left off but with Noel also finding 3^rd gear and the ball disappearing to all parts. A wonderful partnership of 101 off 53 balls was only ended when closing in on 50 Dannie was stumped for 42 off 26. Noel then upped his scoring rate again and after a quick innings of 1 from Nick Lloyd, Noel with another ton in sight perished for 85 off 56 (11x4s & 1×6). Nick C (6), Nick H (4), Chris Ward (10*), Hasan (3) and Jacob R (1*) took the score from 20 overs to 206 for 8. The crowd was also entertained throughout by on-going fielding competitions between Nick H, Wardy and the Raymond boys with Wardy being beaten every time, until he realised that the winners were always at the other end.

After a quick-ish turn around Darjeeling took to the field confident of defending 206; Wardy opened up from the Water Tank end. What followed was a display of aggressive and tight fast bowling and after a dropped catch in the maiden first over, Chris struck with his first ball of the third over bowling the opening batsman. The other opener quickly followed in the same over after a suicidal single to Nick Lloyd resulted in a run-out. In his next over, Chris picked up two more wickets with another clean bowled and a Greg Moses catch. Final figures of 4-1-10-3 sum up the great spell of bowling that it was.

After a slightly less effective 0-14 off 2 Nick replaced himself with Jacob Raymond who, despite beating the bat with regularity, did not pick up the wicket he deserved (0-15 off 3). Hasan picked up a wicket caught behind by Dannie Rees to leave the opposition 36-5 off 8.2. Before a mini revival despite the best efforts of the spin demon Kym; Kym and Nick L picked up a wicket a piece before the economic Ben Raymond bowled a decent 2-over spell for 9 runs. Kym picked up a second wicket and finished with 2-25 as the opposition closed on 103 for 8. Tea Leaves winning by 103 runs!

The Green's response…… words by Josh Smith

Raymond Snr and Mr. Sackley duly went out to the middle for the customary coin toss with Raymond Snr using the first of his Jedi mind tricks to win and install his Greens into bat….It was discussed in the changing room to reverse the batting order which was dually agreed upon apart from Raymond Snr insisting Mr. Rees opens up to steady things with the promoted lower order to ensure we at least got some runs in the first 10 overs…..Jedi mind trick number 2…..Raymond Snr’s plan was working a treat. 10 overs in Greens were at 64/4 with Raymond Snr (6), Coles (0), Mooney (0), and Raymond Jnr J (0) all succumbing to Mr. Harvey’s superb opening spell of bowling that included a complete Hat-trick, a caught behind, bowled and an LBW.

The next 10 overs started in much the same way with Mr. Rees feeling he had to provide catching practice to first slip off the bowling of Raymond Jnr B. Gone for an elegantly played 40. This bought in what could be argued a slightly less elegant Mr. Ward but argued again just as effective. Mr. Ward and Mr. Theo (3) (apologies for no surname) made a well-paced 20 before Mr. Theo was bowled Mr. Hassan (apologies again.) Mr. Smith came to the crease and so the rebuilding commenced. Mr. Ward and Mr. Smith taking advantage of some inviting captaincy from The Golds to swash buckle the greens up to 120 odd by the middle of the innings prior to Mr. Ward missing quite a nice straight ball through quite a large gate from Mr. Banerjee for a fabulous 33. By this time Miss Pinky had been and gone, still without the faintest idea what cricket is but safe in the knowledge Mr. Pinky does actually do something on those Friday and Saturday afternoon’s he manages to escape (at least that is what she thinks.) One thing she couldn’t understand was that if we were outside ‘running’ around all day, why are we not all fit?!?

The dismissal of Mr. Ward bought out Mr. Turner and the revitalization of the Green’s innings continued with more swash-buckling. Mr. Smith eventually out LBW to a well claimed 5 for from Mr. Harvey for 42 with the score on 190 odd. The ‘hard-working’ and late arriving Mr. Brown came to the crease with Mr. Kym (I need to remember some surnames) huffing and puffing from having sat with his pads on for the best part of 20 overs, gradually being promoted to number 11 (remember we reversed the batting order.) Mr. Turner stuck around for another few overs before being bowled by Mr. Escritt for a pleasing 24. This bought Mr. Kim to the crease who took the Snr partner’s role with Mr. Brown showing him how it’s done with some lovely shots before Mr. Brown (7), who was middling everything for 1 was finally caught middling it to mid wicket, moments after blaming his bat and calling for a new one. Mr. Kim not out for an apparently controversial 11. Innings closed on 226 all out off 33 ish overs with much thanks going to the Gold’s for top scoring for us with extras of 60…..The favour would be returned.

With both teams retiring to the changing rooms for a quick turnaround, Mr. Turner offered out the energy drinks to the Greens (Savannah Cider) and Mr. Raymond came up with a masterful team talk, “The Golds don’t think we are playing as a team, lets show them how it’s done!” or something to that extent. Jedi Mind trick number 3.

The Golds opened up with Mr. Johnno and Mr. Crayton, with The Green starting out with Mr. Smith and Mr. Mooney. Mr. Smith instantly regretting extending his run up in the 40 degree plus heat, getting a little over heated in the first over but bowling Mr. Johno for 0 with his in-swingers. The Green’s showed tenacity and good ground work in the remaining overs up to tea but coming out empty handed as the Golds were comfortably in control with 79 on the board and the only additional loss of Mr. Dommett for a hardworking 19. Caught Mr. Reymund Snr bowled Mr. Rees off his first ball. Jedi Mind trick number 4.

The marvelous delights of tea were consumed, amid a variety of conversation between players and families. The final curtain was ready to rise with the Golds well in command needing 150 odd from 26 overs.

Mr. Sackley and Mr. Crayton Carried on where the Golds left off before Mr. Crayton was bowled by the Green’s ‘all-rounder of the day’ Mr. Ward for the innings of the day 48. Mr. Tideswell entered the fold and carried on where Mr. Crayton left off with compiling a decent innings of 25 before being caught off the impressive bowling of Reymund Jnr J. This was all becoming a familiar story as Mr. Harvey again came in and created another good partnership with Mr. Sackley before succumbing to another of Mr. Reymund Snr’s Jedi mind tricks (Number 5), a snick off Mr. Mooney’s boot to be run out at the non-strikers end (14). This was the luck the Green’s needed; Mr. Brown held a catch, Mr. Sackley going for 37 off the bowling of Mr. Reymund Jnr J. Mr. Mooney then produced another magical over, trying to emulate the heroics of Mr. Harvey’s previously bowling first Mr. Moses for 3, and then Mr. Escritt for a golden in successive balls…..This bought the fearless Mr. Reymund Jnr B to the crease; Sledging coming from all angles behind the wicket from his father, he stood up and defended the ball stoutly.

With the run rate increasing the squeeze was on…..Mr. Hasan swinging at everything but finding the chirpy fielders and Mr. Raymond Jnr B intent on not letting his father get the better of him, despite some attacking batting coaching from out ‘promoted number 11’ Mr. Kim. 6 runs in 6 overs, the run rate was still increasing and Mr. Hasan diving out the way of a ball from Mr. Mooney caused much amusement to Mr. Rees as he fell to the ground in fits of laughter.

After much debate and controversial discussions in the middle Mr. Raymond Snr turned to more Jedi Mind Tricks (number 6) and bought on Mr. Theo. Tossing the ball up Mr. Hassan’s eyes lit up, as did Mr. Raymond Snr’s, a swoosh of the bat and a rattle of the stumps, Mr. Hassan had missed but Mr. Raymond Snr didn’t. Stumped for 6. It was then Mr. Theo’s for the taking and he obliged taking the final wicket wrapping up what at one point seemed a very improbably victory for the Greens. That’s Cricket!

A good team effort from the bowling with Mr. Mooney (7-12-2) Mr. Raymond J (6-30-2) and Mr. Theo (1-5-2) all taking the limelight. The Greens did oblige with the extra’s providing 40 of them.

And so back to the changing rooms for the debrief, the banter, and the light hearted debates.

All-in-all a much enjoyed day by all, and one that shouldn’t be left to linger too long in the memory before another is organized.

Darjeeling v Awali

Awali from Bahrain were busy practising in the nets, in their banana yellow pyjamas, as the Darjeeling boys arrived at the ICC Global Cricket Academy Oval 1, obviously looking for revenge from their last visit to Dubai.

Nick Harvey the Darjeeling skipper for the night got off on the right foot, winning the toss and electing to put the Bahraini’s into the field. Opening with the pairing of Foley and Dommett who were keeping the scoreboard ticking along at 7 an over until Foley spooned one back to Chris Bloodworth (4 – 26 – 1) for a caught and bowled for 13. Chris Neal joined Chris Dommett in the middle with the pairing upping the tempo to 8 an over, with Dommett reaching his half century in 50 balls, with Chris Neal on 48, deciding to try and get one round the corner, stepping too far across his stumps to get skittled by Guy Parker (4 – 29 – 1) with Darjeeling on 117-2 Captain Harvey striding into the middle to make a brief cameo appearance for a quickfire 10 off 6 balls before the slightest of touches down the leg side for Paddy Bateson to pouch to the delight of Nick Bishop (4 – 44 -1). After a lengthy absence from cricket, Andy Tideswell joined Dommett and both kept the run rate around the 8 an over pace, after the allotted 22 overs Chris Dommett (74 not out) and AT (25 not out) Darjeeling had amassed 182 – 3.

A brief rest period and Darjeeling were out in the field chomping at the bit to put Awali to the sword. Julius Mooney steaming in from the Kindergarten End took only six balls to see Paul Baker (1) back to the Pavilion after shattering the stumps. David Mariadson bowling meanly only giving 3 in his first over. Then controversy as an adjudged LBW for Mooney against Doug Perrins, the Awali skipper, who was walking, was called back by the Darjeeling skipper, Julius was definitely not a happy Teddy!!

Justice was served in the 6th over as Mariadson (4 – 24 – 1) had Perrins trapped LBW, this time these was no reprise and Awali on 46 – 2. Charles Forward was starting to amass the runs with Graham Hoar ably assisting until Nick Harvey (4 – 17 – 1) struck in the 11th over with a thin inside edge to Chris Dommett, with no hesitation or signal from the umpire Forward marched back to the dressing room. Nick Bishop joined Hoar for a 16 run partnership before succumbing to an easy catch for Mooney off Matthewson (4 – 24 – 1) CD Kotze (3 – 23 – 0) Mohit Manwani (2 – 11 – 0) and Chris Neal (1 – 13 – 0) yielded no more wickets but the bowlers keeping it tight enough to restrict Awali to 149 – 4 of their 22 overs.

A fine game played in the spirit of cricket.

Matthewson wins Match single Handedly! Still no Sign of Averages!‏ – words by Gary Turner

We all thought that volunteering for a Saturday night game under the lights at the world famous ICC was a really cool idea! How wrong can the 11 sweaty betty’s who braved the high humidity of the last day of August 2013 be?

The opposition , OMD , spookily playing in Black shirts , where at the ground early and practiced hard the skill of continuously dropping a white cricket ball. This practice would come to our rescue on more than one occasion as the evening progressed.

Ash , our stern but methodical skipper won the toss and as is the norm chose to bat and selected that well known optical duo , Dommett and Lloyd to open our batting. As in the morning game Mr.Wide kept the scoreboard ticking and our gallant openers ran several swift singles before Chris found the middle of his bat with a couple of crisp fours. Having run a three Nick decided it was too bloody hot and mistimed a shot and was caught for 8, the partnership worth 30. Enter the fray our nonsmoking athlete , Greg Moses, who looked lean and mean. Greg started with a thunderous on drive , some said imperious , others regal , others didn’t like regal and then the conversation turned to the strange names of cigarettes in the UK in the 70,s , like number 10,s and number 6,s. Ash denied all knowledge of such vices using the fact that he was not raised in the UK as a defence! Flimsy stuff!

Chris ran his usual sharp ones and twos before also being caught off the bowling of Bin. He had in fact Bin and Gone!

Greg was seeing the ball well but spooned one off into the deep , we held our breath as the ball spiraled out of the inky black sky and breathed again as he was dropped! A dolly we all said!

Lawrence struck a few lusty blows before he was smartly stumped for 13 off the bowling of Qasim. Our run rate was about 7 an over and we all know that is never enough at the ICC.

Lee Dawson strode meaningfully to the crease wearing one of Badger’s Chiang Mai cast off shirts and we all agreed it fitted well! Lee was quickly off the mark and as he does every year or so seemed to time the ball well AND ran regularly between the wickets. The runs started to come and then Greg spooned one off into the deep..(see previous part of the report!).

Skipper Ash was doing all sorts of calculations and reckoned we needed at least 179 to be sure of victory. This message was relayed to the middle. Lee hit an enormous 6 over long on and Greg hit a smorgasbord of shots as our run rate started to climb. Greg then spooned one off into the deep (same chap , same story , same ending!). As per the skippers instructions and with precisely 179 on the board our innings came to an end with Greg having hit a fantastic 87 not out , surely he will be topping the batting averages? Who knows? Lee finished with a supportive 29 not out and Darjeeling where pretty confident that we had enough on the board.

After a Pattonesque team talk out in the middle from Ash we set about our defence of the 179. Chris (the tyre) Tebb who was a late arrival at the ground due to having to call in a 3^rd party outfit to change his puncture opened from the net end and started with something almost as rare as a Darjeeling set of averages , a maiden over! CD was given the honour of opening from the City end and bowled a good length to worry the opener and after 2 overs only 5 runs where on the board. Chris was relieved of duties after his second over and CD struck in his second so after 4 overs the OMD where behind the pace at 19 for 1.

David replaced Chris and got the ball to swing and seam with several oohs and aaahs from our nonsmoking athlete who for some reason was static at first slip.

David bowled so well he was taken off by Ash ( a Darjeeling tradition???) who brought himself on whilst CD finished his spell , sweaty but happy. Ash bowled a tight first over and a generous second! I was allowed a couple from the City end and despite reading Mathewson’s book on how to bowl Donkey Drops and take wickets , was not able to prize out the opener or the number 3 bat who by now looked comfortable and ready to accelerate the run chase.

Nick and Greg where introduced to “get us back on track” or so Ash thought. The runs however continued to flow (see earlier email from bowling guru Stu) until the opener literally gave up! Nick bowled , nothing happened , silence and the opener walked! Kaseem , out to Lloyd , fatigue! Strange but true. (it is recorded in the book as a stumping but clearly not true!).

Then the champagne moment of the whole evening. Stuart is at last called upon to bowl. His torture as a mere fielder over at least for a short while. He trundles (slightly slower than that but I don’t have a suitable phrase to suit that pace) , tosses the ball high into the night sky , down it comes and…. stumped! Eat your heart out Moses he thinks but does not say! In comes the next batsman , a left hander this time. A big swat to deep mid-wicket and David takes a catch as coolly as you like! 2 balls and 2 wickets to the bowling guru! The hat trick ball evades the batsman and the stumps but the 4 th ball is “spooned off into the deep , we held our breath as the ball spiraled out of the inky black sky and laughed as Greg dropped the ball and assisted it over the rope for a 4! Well most of us chuckled a bit , Stuie maybe not quite so much!

The game was almost won , Ash stated boldly that it was always his plan to bring Stuie on when the batsman where so desperate he would clear up and indeed another wicket fell to him and his figures of 2 overs 3 wickets for 7 runs will surely be recorded somewhere? Apparently not! The opposition innings closed on 159 for 6 so DCC won by 21 runs.

Nick had 2 for 35 off his 4 and CD 1 for 31 off his 4 and generally the bowling and fielding was tidy. The team spirit was excellent and the opposition remarked how sporting we all had been!! A very enjoyable evening was had by all and as I understand it evening games may become a more regular feature of our season to come. Bring it on I say!!!g

Darjeeling CC v BCA Eagles – words by Nick "Iron Man" Harvey

DCC hosted BCA Eagles first game of the season at Sharjah this Friday.

Our punctuality was uncommonly good – with all Eleven players in attendance prior to the 2:00pm scheduled start – and not a hangover in sight (apart from Mo of course, but that’s par for the course) – as Chris Dommett recently remarked – I don’t think we’re drinking enough.

BCA Eagles started drifting in soon after 2:00pm. I tossed with Shameem and after a re-throw was negotiated we managed to win/conjure the toss and inevitably put the Eagles into field.

In an effort to out-fox and unsettle the opposition’s line and length we opened with Simon Fowler and the left-handed Noel Raymond (indeed, I actually put myself as skipper just so I could get Noel up the batting order!)

Wides kept the score ticking along at seven an over, though the runs off the bat were less fluid. By the seventh over, the padded up batsmen (Sackers & Jason) were starting to get fidgety and all were trying to will the score on…. Noel started to respond and in the 7th & 8th over hit three consecutive boundaries..

Talk in the stands centred on (as it usually does) sports and romance. With Sackers revealing his destined meeting with a girl at the Durham Test Match (what better place to meet a girl?)

At drinks Darjeeling were 72 without loss and with Simon’s flowing run-scoring absent (as well as him being knackered) he retired hurt bringing Sackers to the crease. Love it seems conquers all – but doesn’t help find the middle of the bat – and after a couple of overs, Paul miscued one to mid-wicket, bringing Jason Brown on with one of his seven bats (an additional two currently being tirelessly handcrafted). Noel at ‘tother end started to spray the ball around with more abandon and began to pile on the runs including one over that went for 26 runs. BCA Eagles offered a reasonable bowling attack (and highly enthusiastic appeals), with Shehab’s spinners topping the fair but slightly mediocre efforts.

With two overs to spare and Noel in the nineties, all prepared themselves for the standing ovation. Noel’s umpteenth four brought him on to 99 and even Ben and Jacob started to take some notice of the cricket. With a single needed, Noel decided that a top-edged square cut was the way forward and we all groaned as the catch was pouched at point. Chris then joined Jason at the crease and added four runs (Jason finishing on 19*) to the total bring Darjeeling on to 171 for 3 off their 20 overs (a total which George – who umpired – believed to be a highly competitive one considering the speed of the outfield). Noel collapsed on the turf and remained there until the start of the next innings.

Darjeeling opened their bowling attack with Josh (Water Tank) and Jacob (University). Mr Smith making his intentions clear (and strengthening his hostile-fast-bowler reputation) by greeting the opening bat with a bouncer that ricocheted off his lid. It was however, Jacob that was the more consistent of the two and was duly rewarded with his efforts in the second over with the batsmen forced to play on the up and yours truly was gifted a straight forward catch in the covers. Jacob was to enjoy another wicket in his following over and Josh joined the party in his third over as a mistimed drive was caught at mid-on.

DCC looked to be cruising at this point but a resolved BCA partnership and an expensive over off the bowling of Ben took the BCA Eagles total just five short of ours (was) at the half way stage.

The skipper believing we needed to tighten the scoring up brought himself on and proceeded to bowl two wides whilst Jason was keeping things tidy (relatively) at the water tank end and surprised all with a couple of jaffers and was unfortunate to finish wicketless. With no notice whatsoever, the skipper elected to get Crayton on to bowl after his DNB showing in our innings. In retrospect, a few minutes to warm-up may have paid dividends as on his second (legitimate) ball – he pulled up with a strain in his chest/right tit (he’s since been diagnosed with a torn under arm muscle and we all wish you a speedy recovery Crayton, Sharjah wont be the same without your electric-orange sportsgear!) . Jason completed the over, revealing on his penultimate delivery that he (also) wouldn’t be able to continue (or words to that effect)

With last week’s bowling star Mohit on at the University end it was (overall) hard work in the field. BCA Eagles were enjoying a lengthy partnership with a Left-Right hand combo, frequent fielding changes and the humidity were taking their toll. Replacing the wounded Crayton and exhausted Jason I completed the bowling from the WT end – eventually, breaking the partnership with a full straight one. By this stage the scoring had been restricted BCA Eagles had run out of steam and effective batters. Ben came on to finish up and was unlucky not to get a wicket on his first ball – being dropped (by a tough chance) at slip – but was credited with a wicket on the last ball of the day.

We left the field jubilant, though not unexhausted. Hands were shaken, backs per patted, Fowler mumbled something about the number of wides bowled and Sackers headed straight for the ice box and liquid refreshment. Noel finishing the clear MOTM with his 99 off just 61 deliveries.

Bevvies were consumed on the pitch and only Sackers, George, Chris & I reunited at Fibbers……..a slightly poor post-match gathering.

To overcome this bizarre non-drinking affliction Chris has suggested we have a pre-winter Brunch at the end of September to kick start the return to the ICC and set our priorities straight……….we have the Bahrainis coming on Friday and a reputation to uphold!