Saracens v.
St George's

Crusaders v.
Lamma

Tartars v.
Nomads

Round 6

Saracens v.
Merchants

Tartars v. CCC

Crusaders v.
Nomads

Round 5

Tartars v.
Crusaders

Saracens v.
Nomads

Round 4

Crusaders v. Police

Saracens v.
Centaurs

Tartars v. DBS

Round 7 - 25th October 1997

Saracens v. St George's at DBS
Result: Saracens lost by two wickets.

It hardly bears writing about! For once the Saracens batted first and whilst looking sluggish at around 80 runs after 20 overs, compiled a respectable 190 runs at the end of 34 overs - cut short due to time. Rahul (29) and Burji (43) put together a very patient opening stand but the day was rescued by a swashbuckling 71 from Yarman to lift the run rate late in the innings. No other batsmen, and we use the term loosely at Saracens, were able to contribute much to the event. The St George's bowling honours went to Manning (4/63) with four other bowlers grabbing a wicket each.

When it came Saracens turn to bowl it appeared after an erratic start by yours truly that Rahul, Jamshaid and Yarman had stemmed the tide and St George's were reeling after 20 overs, having lost 3 wickets but only having compiled around 80 runs also. However, thanks to some solid, straight batting (whatever that is) from Wilson (54) and a blazing 53 n.o. from Ahmed, including a 6 to win the game after being dropped the previous ball, St George's managed to snatch victory with 2 balls to spare, leaving the hapless Saracens lamenting what could have been. On the bowling front, Rahul shone with 5/48 and Yarman chipped in with 2/48 and Jamshaid captured 1/42 whilst the remainder of the bowling fraternity watched the ball sail to different parts of the DBS ground.

However, there is always next week and Saracens are starting to hit their straps..... pity its not the ball and the stumps!

Crusaders v. Lamma CC at Mission Road
Result: Crusaders lost by 89 runs

Nissim Hat-trick as Crusaders Go to Pot against Village People

Crusaders proved that their recent losing streak was no flash in the pan by going down to Lamma by 89 runs at Mission Road. From the moment Jim Middleton made the first breakthrough in the third over it was all down hill. That dismissal (like most of the others) was bowled, which wasn't particularly surprising in view of the fact that Jim was bowling to a 3-2 field.

Things didn't pick up much when the full complement arrived, however, as catches were spilled throughout the innings, allowing Lamma skipper Brad Tarr to compile a most unlikely half century and causing his Crusaders' counterpart to be cited for hat abuse. Memories of Mark Giles flooded back to veteran Crusaders as Hyphen's hat made its way back to the long on boundary propelled by Hyphen's foot! Lamma reached 223-7 with Todd Johnsen making a promising debut for Crusaders and bringing the average age of the team down into the low 40s.

Crusaders' batting display was on a par with one of their worst ever (ie last week's), the major difference with the Police game being that Extras improved on his performance to top score with 34 out of 132-8. With the skipper having tried every other available permutation, it is quite likely that Extras will be opening the innings against DBS on Saturday - if we can get him registered with the HKCA in time.

On the plus side, Andy Steward returned to some sort of form with a fluid 25 and Todd showed promise with 20 - despite an unnerving tendency to attempt double-handed backhand passing shots at balls a little too close to off stump. Mike Trayford and the skipper ensured that Crusaders crawled to a batting point, but not before Roger Nissim had got the biggest cheer of the day when he completed one of the more remarkable hat-tricks in sport: three consecutive golden ducks.

Tartars v. Nomads at KCC
Result: ?? - match not reported.

Round 6 - 18th October 1997

Saracens v. Merchants at DBS
Result: Saracens lost by 51 runs

No match report received.

At DBS: Merchants 187-5 (S Malik 94, M Hafeez 36) beat Saracens 136 (R Sharma 31, Z Shroff 30; M Zubair 4-32, J Iqbal 3-30) by 51 runs.

Tartars v. CCC at KCC
Result: Tartars won by seven wickets

This was an excellent all round performance from the 'Tarts', showing, for the first time since winning our opening match, what we can do when we set our minds to it.

Put into the field on an overcast but warm day, the opening pair of Howles and Raphael started well. They bowled tightly for the first ten or so overs and managed to pin the visitors down to a miserly 36 runs or so before the first wicket fell. Martin Lever came in at the first drop and looked in ominously good nick before Jon James rearranged his leg stump (Oooh, err, vicar!), shortly before the break, with a slow, dipping yorker.

We resumed with the crafty flight and guile of Don 'the magician' Mohammad and he and Jon continued to make runs hard to come by for the CCC. At this point things were looking good for a sub-150 total, with all concerned keeping tight in the field and catches being held, but some lusty blows form Matt Leyshan and a dogged but necessary 71 from Phil Glenwright, took the visitors to a closing total of 186 for 5.

Seeing Deano lace his first delivery through the covers for four put everyone into good spirits once we started batting. In an all Kiwi opening partnership he and Dave Fanning put on a very brisk 42 before 'Fans' was caught for an attractive 28. Rajiv then joined Dean and the new pair went on to build the sort of partnership that schoolmasters refer to as 'textbook', schoolboys (used to) call 'wizzard' and even Trevor Bailey might have called 'useful'.

They both went past fifty, ending up with 65 and 64 respectively, and in doing so stole, quite visibly, the wind from the metaphorical sails of our hosts. In the end it was left to Steve and Jon to knock off the remaining twenty or so runs and bring us only our second win this season, with just over four overs to spare.

After the match a much relieved skipper Howles cracked open the bubbly to toast, termites notwithstanding, his first win in charge this year (you had to have been here to get that bit about the termites though!!).

Overall, this was a thoroughly good performance and a well deserved win. The bowlers bowled, the batsmen batted and the fielders held their catches. Excellent work!

See what CCC had to say about the match.

At KCC: Tartars 188-3 (R Makhija 65, D Kelly 64) beat CCC 186-5 (P Glenwright 71, J Callon 51) by seven wickets.

Crusaders v. Nomads at HKCC
Result: Match abandoned due to unplayable field.

Match replayed 3/1/98 - see January Match Reports.

Round 5 - 11th October 1997

Tartars v. Crusaders at KCC
Result: Match rescheduled to 20th December 1997

Saracens v. Nomads at HKCC
Result: Match rescheduled to 20th December 1997

Round 4 - 4th October 1997

Crusaders v. Police at PTS
Result: Boys in Blue lose to Boys in Blue

This week we welcome back 'Arry Kneecap, beleagured boss of perennial Premiership strugglers Bed Pan United. Here is a transcript of the match report he sent back to Des Lynam for Match of the Day.

DES '... which saw Manchester United go ten points clear of Leicester at the top of the Premiership. Better luck next time, Chelsea!

Right, change of pace, change of sport. This week 'Arry Kneecap took advantage of a rare weekend off, as his Bed Pan team were given the weekend off in advance of next week's vital World Cup qualifiers, involving the Czech Republic, Moldova and Burkino Fasu, who between them comprise 80% of the Panners' squad. 'Arry travelled to Hong Kong to report on the fortunes of his adopted team over there in the Saturday league, the Crusaders. We have 'Arry on the line now.

Good evening, 'Arry - or should that be "good morning?'

ARRY 'F*** knows, Des - I fell asleep in this 7-Eleven behind some Filipina bird, trying to get on the dog and bone.'

DES 'That's a tough call, 'Arry. So long as you didn't try and reverse the charges again. You saw the game today. How did it go?'

ARRY 'Well, Crusaders was unlucky, Des. They was robbed.'

DES 'Robbed by the Police, 'Arry?'

ARRY 'Too true, Des. The boys in blue batted first ... actually, that's not quite true, as it 'appens, Des - 'cos the Crusaders were the boys in blue, as a matter of fact ... if you know what I mean.'

DES 'Clear as mud, 'Arry. Continue.'

ARRY 'Well, as I was saying, Des, my lads was asked to field first under a sweltering hot sun and they struggled, Des. Don't get me wrong, bowlers performed alright, Des, but some of the fielders had a hard time.'

DES 'Care to elucidate, 'Arry?'

ARRY 'Not this evening, Des. Didn't get no time to pop the pills before filing this report.'

DES 'Indeed. Any particular incidents stand out in the field, 'Arry?'

ARRY 'Well, Des, turning point of the game for me came when young Andonis Steward fell down a crater when going for a catch at square leg. Never seen 'im since, Des.'

DES 'One for the X-files, perhaps, 'Arry?'

ARRY 'Not sure what Mouldy and Scullery would make of that outfield, Des. Anyway, Police ends up wiv 130 off their 35 overs, Clive Walton a nice 57, Virginia Waters pick of the bowlers with 4-15 off 7. But it was a sad story in reply, Des. Only three players managed double figures - Eamesie top scoring with 39 and Extras next with 26. They was all out with an over to spare still three runs short.'

DES 'Any reaction from the lads?'

ARRY 'Well, obviously, they was gutted, Des. But they was without a couple of key players and badly missed their talented Japanese playmaker, Rogeru Nissan. You may remember, Des, we 'add 'im on trial at Trumpton Park begining of the season. I thought the lads battled hard, gave 110% on the day, ran out on the pitch and enjoyed 'emselves, but end of the day, Des, they didn't get the rub of the green.'

DES 'That's football, 'Arry.'

ARRY 'That's lawn bowls, Des.'

DES 'Ouch!'

Tartars v. DBS at KCC
Result: Tartars lost by 19 runs.

No match report received.

At KCC: DBS 173 (L Jayasinghe 57) beat Tartars 154 (R Raphael 59, S Winterhalder 34; A Harjani 7-42) by 19 runs.

Saracens v. Centaurs
Result: rescheduled to 6th December 1997 - see December reports.

Infidels v.
Optimists

Templars v.
Vagabonds

Dragons v.
Pakistan
Association

Round 5

Infidels v.
Vagabonds

Dragons v.
Indian CC

Templars - Bye

Round 4

Infidels v. Templars

Dragons - Bye

Round 3

Infidels v.
Scorpions

Dragons v. LSW

Templars v.
Optimists

Round 6 - 26th October 1997

Infidels v. Optimists at HKCC
Result: Infidels crush Champions

With Infidels' large and diverse squad unavailable due to foreign visits, babies, injuries and visiting mummies, it was left to the remaining 11 men to battle it out with last year's champions, Optimists at the KCC.

Being led for the first time by Adrian ÎFab' Baker, who after 168 hours of deliberation had decided to call tails on Sunday he would bat first. But when this decision was taken from him by a correct call by Brew, Infidels soon found themselves chasing leather as Optimists raced to 50 off the first 5 overs. Winstanley joined Brew to continue the scoring rate, but once ÎDeadly' Don Mohammed tempted Brew into one boundary too many, Infidels started to get back into the game. Optimists collapsed, loosing their last 6 wickets for 60 runs, with Jamshaid Khan taking 5 for 18 in a wonderful spell of fast bowling. So after a ragged start Infidels found themselves chasing a modest 232 in 46 overs for victory.

Our thoughts immediately turned to our favourite subject, lunch, with the exception of Adrian Baker, who was taken to hospital with a suspected damaged kidney after being hit last week by Vag's slowest bowler. Get well soon mate.

Jamshaid Khan then proceeded to the wicket with Mark Eames, who was quickly replaced by Zubin Shroff. The two put on a superb partnership of 171, including a superb 6 from Shroff, which cleared the club house, ran down Cox's Road and bought an Octopus card for a trip to Prince Edward. Zubin finally fell short of his hundred, departing for an excellent 98 - definitely his best innings of the season. That left Jamshaid to finish off the run chase on an undefeated 89, adding to his devastating spell with the ball. Well done Infidels for a great fightback!

Templars v. Vagabonds at DBS
Result: Templars in a canter

It was a somewhat disjointed Templars that turned out on Sunday morning against the unpredictable Vagabonds. With Deano, Simon, Kel, Earl and Phil Shaw all still away and Garic on a late morning plane from Taipei, it was with some trepidation that the skip elected to bowl on a humid morning.

This decision seemed to be a good one with Jamshaid Mohammed bowling a fiery spell and new recruit Paul Sutherland picking up a wicket each. This is where the good news was temporarily suspended as veteran Burji Shroff and Vags captain Martin Level put on a 100 plus partnership in quick time. No bowlers were spared as Burji raced to 62 and Martin scored 102 to place the Vags firmly in control.

The breakthrough came when our own Welsh spinner Graham Evans had Burji stumped, then Martin Lever was stumped off Garic. U19 Alistair Williams scored a brisk 44 and the Vags ended with a competitive 259 for 6. The Templars bowlers can point to a good effort on an unresponsive pitch with no one bowler completely coming to grips with the conditions and small ground.

The performance in the field could only be described as ordinary, notwithstanding the poor outfield, as from vet Fordham to new boy Chaudhuri, catches were put down, stumpings missed and run out's botched. Pat would be the first to admit that by his high standards he had a shocker after one month away from the pitch (he even almost broke a finger, mis-handling a delivery from the pedestrian medium pace of Correa).

Fortunately, we managed to overtake the total in quick time (39th over) with Rahul hitting a typically silky 109 not out and Pat a typically fearsome 88 not out. Substitute first gamer Ahmed recorded a "Sri Lankan like" 57, to complete the major scorers. Both juniors Grayson and Dytish were out early slashing outside off stump and can put the game down to experience.

In the end a good well fought win and we look forward to Pakistan Association at KCC in 2 weeks time. The game will be a defining one in terms of this season's league.

Dragons v. Pakistan Association at Mission Road
Result: ?? - match not reported.

Round 5 - 19th October 1997

Infidels v. Vagabonds at Mission Road
Result: Infidels won by 75 runs

This game will not go down in the annals of history as one of the classics (perhaps the anals of history?). Neither side was at full strength and the rather lethargic performances of the players was reflected in the relatively low scoring, on a ground where the previous week, the two bottom sides in the league had managed to score at more than ten runs per over.

Motorola Infidels batted first and rattled up a moderate 189, with Zubin Shroff showing his class by dominating with a fine 88. He was officially out 'quoted' by skipper Jim Cannell who was heard to say the ball before Zubin's dismissal, 'He'd better get a hundred this time - he's already had two 95's'. New recruit Simon Scanlon scored a good 25, before being run-out in a mix up with Zubin, whilst ÎJumbo' Williams (well that's what the girls call him anyway) contributed a rather scratchy 22. The last six wickets contributed a mere 29 runs, with Dillon Silva being the chief destroyer, clean bowling Pittman, Lethbridge and Shakhil in the space of 4 balls. He finished with 4-26.

The Vagabonds, missing all their stars from earlier in the season, never really fired with the bat and were eventually dismissed for 114. Tony Lethbridge excelled in the field, taking a tricky skier to dismiss danger man Sol Buckman before bowling a tidy and deceptive spell to claim 3-27, including young gun Alistair Williams caught and bowled from his first delivery. Ali Douglas and Beefy Baker bowled the occasional straight one to claim 2-17 and 2-16 respectively.

The win keeps Infidels firmly at the top of the Sunday League points table, but the boys will have to play with greater urgency if they are to mount a serious challenge for the title. The next three matches against Optimists, LSW and Pakistan Association may ultimately determine the outcome of their season. Beefy Baker makes his captaincy debut as he takes the reins for next week's match against Optimists.

All the boys would like to congratulate Mark and Sarah Eames on the birth of their second daughter.

At Mission Road: Infidels 189 (Z Shroff 88; D Silva 4-26) beat Vagabonds 114 (A Lethbridge 3-27) by 75 runs.

Dragons v. Indian CC at KCC
Result: Indians 'Lama-nated'

No match report received. Congratulations to the Dragons on securing their first win of the season. Excellent bowling performance by Sher Lama, taking 5-39. Hopefully we'll have a report on a later.

At KCC: Dragons 133-5 (B Gohel 30*) beat Indian CC 129 (A Illahi 40; S Lama 5-39, B Gohel 3-14) by five wickets.

Round 4 - 12th October 1997

Infidels v. Templars (match actually played on 10th October)
Result: Templars won by 24 runs.

Jim Cannell had these words to say on the match:

Following the Scorpions 'nailbiter', came another real test, against the local KCC rivals - Templars. Having been beaten by them twice last year (or once by Rahul Sharma), the in-form Infidels were looking to turn the tables.

Again, the Infidels won the toss, and put the Templars into bat, on a very hot and humid day. The opening attack of Baker and Shakil, again started well, and with Steaders Eames, not at the ground yet, it was left for Rob 'Ben' Wilkins, to don the gloves, behind the sticks. Before Eames could take the field, he had taken two smart catches, behind the stumps, one, a full length dive (yes, it's true), to claim the opening batsmen, Tyndale. When Rahul went for only 23 and the total on 69-3, the decision to bowl, looked a good one. However, the bowling and accuracy, started to deteriorate a little, with the extras eventually second top scoring on 47, and with the bowling being sprayed from side to side, making field setting a little difficult, the Templars started to put together a few runs. Due to the 27 wides, only 46 overs were bowled to the Templars and their innings ended on 232-8.

This was again, a gettable total, but required sensible batting. Steaders, was the first to fall, having only scored 2, caught behind, flicking down the leg side. Zubin "park'n" Shroff then came into bat, and soon started to find his impressive rhythm. Along with Jamshaid Khan, they started to put together a good partnership, with the runs flowing steadily. In the final over before drinks, Khan, misjudged one, and was out for 35.

Following the drinks, 'Spacestation' Mir, came to the wicket, in form, from his last two outings, scoring rapidly as a pinch hitter. However, after playing himself in, for 2 balls, he decided it was time to open up, but forget to exert the necessary power, and holed out to Sharma, at long off. Wickets them started to fall, and only Shroff was scoring any runs. When he eventually fell for 69, it looked like it was all over, at 153-7. Lethbridge, was out soon after, with the scores the same, and that only left, Wilkins and Cannell at the crease, with the 'untested' Shakil after them. Cannell, decided that the only was out of this was to attack, much to the displeasure of the Colony star Sharma, who came in for the brunt of this attack, being dispatched for a number of straight sixes, back over his head. Cannell scored 46 of 23 balls, and took the total to 204, before, falling to 'the' straight one, from former Infidel, Jamshaid 'Shoulders' Mohammed. Shakil, trying to emulate his skipper, from each ball faced (without any connection though), was soon run-out on a suicidal second, and the inning closed on 208. 24 runs short (which could easily have been subtracted from the extras column).

It was a good game of cricket, with plenty of entertainment for everyone. Each team had players missing, but those out there on the day, did a good job, for an equally good game of cricket. Next time, these two sides meet, it will be equally interesting, with hopefully each team at full strength, and with the added incentive of the 'Chris Collins' trophy.

Anthony Correa's view of the match is as follows:

"Kel Blyth's Double Tenth day out at the KCC"

Kel Blyth always dreamed of the KCC when he lived in the cold winters of Canada. He had heard of the flat turf pitch so lovingly tended to by the "fa wongs", of the lush green outfield and the picturesque setting of the ground, framed by the ever-present high-rise buildings on Cox's Road. When he had the chance to come to Hong Kong he knew that one day these dreams of playing on the hallowed turf would come true.....

Well on the 10th day of the 10th month 1997 ("the Double Tenth") , Kel Blyth's dream came home with a vengeance against the unsuspecting Infidels. For the second Templars v Infidels derby game in a row, Kel made a huge contributions to the Templars victory.

Put in to bat by the Infidels, the Templars started poorly with both Grayson Tyndale and Dyutish Chaudhuri out early with loose shots outside off stump. This brought together Dean Kelly and Rahul Sharma who put on 52 before Rahul was out caught behind off the accurate Jamshed Khan to bring the score to 3 for 70.

Fortunately, for the Templars this is where Kel Blyth came into play. He and Deano steered the team out of troubled water with a match winning partnership of 100. The two compiled their runs slowly at first, but gradually they asserted themselves on the opposition bowlers before Deano was out caught on the square leg boundary line for a patient but invaluable 38 off 98 balls. After Deano's dismissal Kel continued to revel in the conditions on his dream ground smashing the Infidels bowlers to all parts of the field for a gritty 60 from 71 balls, before being stumped by stand in keeper Eames, off the deceptive Lethbridge.

Skip Correa (28 off 22 balls), Jamshed Mohammed (10 off 6), debutante Rohan Boghani (4* off 10) and Taurun Sethi (13* off 10) pushed our score to a respectable 232 for 8 off 46 overs...... but it was the partnership of Blyth and Kelly which had been the cornerstone of the Templars innings. Best of the Infidels bowlers were "Fabulous" Baker (7 overs 1 for 14), Skip Cannell 7 overs for 30 runs and Jamshed Khan who bowled 8 overs 1 wicket for 43 runs.

In reply the Infidels started well with Jamshed Khan hitting some poor new ball bowling from his namesake Jamshed Mohammed. He and Eamsy moved the score along quickly at over 6 an over before Eamsy was unluckily caught behind glancing down the leg side. This brought Zubin Shroff to the wicket and he immediately set about the Templars bowling attacking stand-in new ball opener Grayson and a recalled Jamshed Mohammed. He and Khan took the score into the 80's before Kel Blyth came into the game again.

Brought on to bowl his left arm orthodox spin, Kel immediately had Jamshed Khan caught plumb LBW (full toss) for 35, then dismissed Ijaz Mir for a duck trying to hit over the top, followed by Fab Baker for 9 clean bowled. Suddenly the Infidels were 4 wickets down after looking very comfortable.

But the game was still in the balance while Zubin was at the wicket and Brian Catton proved to be an able foil, providing stubborn resistance to the newly introduced leg spin of Rahul Sharma and more left arm orthodox from Marty Gray. Sharma eventually won the break-through when Catton edged one to keeper Kelly who adeptly (unintentionally?) palmed it to a diving Correa at first slip. Blyth continued to destroy at the other end with Ali Douglas LBW for a duck reducing the Infidels to 6 wickets down.

The vital wicket of Zubin Shroff was secured for 69 when 13 year old Dyutish casually caught a well hit pull at deep mid wicket off Rahul's bowling. At 7 wickets down the Templars looked to be in a comfortable position, and when Lethbridge fell caught behind to Rahul, it looked as though the game was won.

But as is always the case in Templars v Infidels clashes, we should always expect the unexpected and Jim Cannell provided just that with a swashbuckling innings of 46 off only 23 balls when the run rate required was over 8 and over. He smashed all of the spinners out of the attack, leaving both Rahul's and Marty Gray's figures in tatters. Eventually the reintroduction of a more accurate Jamshed Mohammed saw Skip Cannell clean bowled only 30 runs short of the final target. The final wicket was a run out again attributable to Dyutish in the outfield, seeing the Templars win by a well fought 23 runs.

Kel Blyth finished with the impressive bowling figures of 10 overs 2 maidens 4 wickets for 31 runs, and was supported by Rahul with 10 overs 3 for 52 and Jamshed Mohammed 9 overs 1 for 41 (an excellent comeback by Jamshed in his 2nd spell!!).

In all a dream day out for Kel for the second year in a row against the Infidels and lets hope that his dreams of glorious cricket at the KCC continue to come true.

PS authors note - both Infidels and Templars bowled over 20 wides each, which is far too many for KCC teams. The skips of both sides will be looking for improvement from their sides in this area.

At KCC (match played 10/10/97): Templars 232-8 (D Kelly 38, K Blythe 60) beat Infidels 209 (Z Shroff 69, J Cannell 46, J Khan 35; K Blythe 4-31, R Sharma 3-52).

Round 3 - 5th October 1997

Infidels v. Scorpions
Result: Infidels won by three wickets

After two relatively straight forward victories in the first two games, this was to be a tougher test for the Infidels. Winning the toss, and electing to field, the Infidels, soon had their rewards, as they claimed an early breakthrough. However, the Scorpions batsmen started to put on some runs and the U19 star Alex French was looking to continue his good form. By the first drinks break, the Scorpions had only lost a single wicket for around 70 runs. However, French was soon to fall, as was the ever dangerous Andy Yates, to a piece of cricket neither batsmen nor bowler (Gazza Steward) would be particularly proud of. Nick 'Muddy' Waters, then entered the bowling attack and totally changed the course of the game, claiming 6 wickets for 28 runs and cleaning up the Scorpions for 168 runs.

Having done the hard work in the field, it was now down to our batsmen, to bat sensibly, and get the runs, at little over 3 an over. This was not to be easy though, and so it proved, as wickets fell at regular intervals, with batsmen getting in, and then out again. Dave Mallinson is worthy of a mention here, as he claimed 5 catches at first slip. He did however drop 2 others.

At 127-7 things looked decidedly shaky, until Travis 'Ed' Pittman and new boy Alistair 'The wardrobes improving' Douglas (when he tucks his shirt in that is) got together and started to chip away at the runs. Slowly and carefully they picked up the runs over a period of nearly 16 overs. Ironically, it was a wide that handed the Infidels victory, in a game where the 'wides rule' seemed to take on many meanings. It was a great partnership and real relief to the rest of the team, having done so well for so long, only to look like throwing it all away.

(The match was also interesting for some bizarre umpiring calls. Umpire Chandran Îno-balled' the Infidels for having too many players inside the 30m circle and later called Îdead ball' for no shot played after the ball had ricocheted from the batsman's bat! - Ed.)

At KCC: Infidels 167-7 (A French 3-36) beat Scorpions 165 (N Way 43, A French 42; N Waters 6-28) by three wickets.

Dragons v. LSW at DBS
Result: Dragons lost by 62 runs

The morning got off to a slow start with two Dragons pulling out in the morning. Fortunately, we were able to find two boys to come at such short notice. That's what you call team spirit! Thanks lads!

The opposition won the toss and chose to bat first. We took the field with nine players to start. Things were not looking good as LSW's opening pair got off to a solid start. However, much to their surprise, we quickly turned the game around with the introduction of Maurice who captured 3-21 with Mazook and Riaz coming in at 6 and 7, we knew this was the pair to break. We did this through Lama 1-32, as he bowled Mazook, the game turned around in our favour. We finally bowled out Sai Wan for 177 with Adrian and Jiggy taking 2-17 and 2-31 respectively. Overall, great effort in the field and bowling by all the lads!

LSW bowled aggressively and had us reeling at 20/3 after 7 overs. Whilst we were unable to chase the target of 177, we saw great contribution in the batting from Vijay and Adrian towards the end.

This was another learning experience for the young Dragons who are continuing to improve with every game. Keep up the good work lads!

At DBS: LSW 177 (R Farcy 35, M Cheruparambil 30; M Ling 3-21) beat Dragons 115 (K Raza 4-27, M Marzook 3-8) by 62 runs.

Templars v. Optimists at HKCC
Result: Templars lost by 54 runs.

"One That Got Away"

In the post sixes hangover, the Templars let one slip to the Optimists on a day where we controlled 50% of the game, but could not come up with that extra 1% to win the day.

On another wet wicket, the Optimists won the toss and surprisingly elected to bat on track which looked a little underdone. Pereira and Jamshaid opened the bowling with Earl immediately getting on line and beginning what was to be one of his best spells ever for the Templars. Unfortunately at the other end Jamshaid was not so successful and after a flurry of new ball wides and half volleys to the grateful openers, was warned for running on the wicket by umpire Swift. Skip Correa had no choice but to bring Jamshaid off, yet the Skip did not do much better with the ball and after four 4 loose overs promptly dragged himself as well. The eventual saviour was Garic Howles who came on just before drinks and immediately dismissed the dangerous Stewart Brew with a slower ball that Brew could only manage to lob to mid on.

Despite Brewie's dismissal, the Optimists run rate was well over 4.5 an over and some hard work with the ball was required to peg them back. Fortunately, this is exactly what happened, with Earl the Swirl and Garic bowling exceptional spells of 0 for 19 and 2 for 40 in their respective 10 overs. Their excellent efforts and those of spin kings Rahul Sharma (2 for 17), Chandru Harjani (1 for 16) and even Dean "the experiment" Kelly (0 for 8) restricted the batting on the slow wicket. The Optimists eventually ended up with 203 for 9 with a rejuvenated Jamshaid (1 for 48) and Skip Correa (3 for 42) atoning for their poor first spells with better efforts in their second spells.

Our reply was typically fast and furious with both Rahul and Grayson quickly taking to the bowling attack. Our score raced to 59 within 9 overs with Justin Strachan belted for 21 in his first over, prompting a somewhat jaded Pat to suggest that our new junior Dyutish Chaudhuri be promoted to no 3. However shortly after these words were uttered things started to go terribly wrong.

Rahul was well caught and bowled off Tim Cook for 34, Grayson was out skying a misjudged drive in the next over for 23 and then Pat unluckily went for a golden duck sweeping. From none for 59 we were 3 for 63. Correa and Kelly took the score to 88 before Correa was out to a lazy cut in front of point and Deano made a well compiled 27 before being caught a square leg from a shot he will probably want to forget. Garic then departed for the second duck for the day, this time to another Cook caught and bowled, followed by Jamshed for 12 after a few typically lusty blows.

It was at this point in time that some of the more senior players were given a lesson in "slow track" batting by Dyutish and Simon Castley who both managed to play sensibly and patiently on a wicket which required just these two elements. Dyutish made a promising debut with some excellent shots through the covers and Simon also showed why he is one of the fast improvers in the side with some crisp drives and deflections. Eventually both were out for 21 and 14 respectively and we were all out for 151 with debutante Chandru not out on 3.

Unfortunately Earl was unable to bat because his back again seized up after his excellent spell. We hope that he will take Deano's advice and visit Dr Chan to get it sorted out quickly. Get well soon.

In the end we were only 50 runs short and bowled out in only the 38th over and it was a shame that none of our batsmen could come up with these runs on the small HKCC ground. We will have to do better chasing small totals like this next time!

At HKCC: Optimists 203-9 (M Parlane 66, S Brew 34, M Winstanley 33; A Correa 3-42) beat Templars 149 (R Sharma 34; M Winstanley 3-14, T Cook 3-40) by 54 runs.