Round 9 - 27th November 1999

Crusaders v Witherers at HKCC
Result: Crusaders lost by 34 runs

A day of missed opportunities and to much short pitched bowling saw Crusaders lose a game against a weak Witherer’s side that should have won. Bowling first after losing the toss we preceded to work to a good position at drinks having the opposition at 73 for 4, the result of a fast opening spell from Bakes and a controlled religious experience from Rabbi. Unfortunately the old three card trick of short ball, Hong Kong batsman, caught on the leg side boundary didn’t work, especially as we were playing on the artificial, however the Crusaders did try all they could to prove this theory was correct with the net result that we were chasing far more than we should have. The only notable point of the Witherer’s innings was a piece of magic from Lethers who peddled back all of ten yards in a parabola, dived and preceded to get absolutely nowhere near a catch. This was meet with a certain a mount of joviality from most of the other team members with Lether’s taking in his usual unflustered fashion.

One can only describe our batting reply as Greengod. If you had seen this man bat before and thought Taz (alias Baggy) was a good player, then watching on Saturday you would only come to the conclusion that this guy could have made in first class cricket for Mars. He was on another planet. He batted with little support throughout the innings and nearly pulled off an improbable victory. Not only was it his pacing of the innings, but his placement and his running (I know a hard concept to acknowledge) were superb, and this with an ordinary bat (the only one he used all innings). Only Burbidge and Baker (both scoring twenties and sharing in plus 40 partnerships) offered any credible support, however it must be said all tried and from number 5 onwards no choice other than ‘hit dee ball’ was available.

A game we should have won was given away. I know Christmas is coming, but please let us be less charitable to the upcoming opposition.

At HKCC: Witherers 226-6 (Hawthorn 55, McDuell 56) beat Crusaders 192 (D Green 100; McDuell 3-54, Silby 3-39) by 34 runs

Saracens v Lamma at KCC
Result: Saracens lost by 4 wickets

No report received.

At KCC: Lamma CC 149-6 (B Tarr 52, M Zubair 40*; Y Vachha 3-33) beat Saracens 145-9 (R Sujanani 48; M Burns 3-50, S Malik 3-27) by 4 wkts

Tartars v Mainlanders at KGV
Result: Tartars beat Mainlanders by 80 runs

No report received.

At KGV: Tartars 192 (Anup 67; C Duddy 3-38) beat HKCA Mainlanders 112 (A Aftab 55; S Lama 3-20) by 80 runs

Round 8 - 20th November 1999

Tartars v CCC at KCC
Result: Tartars won by 12 runs

No report received.

At KCC: Tartars 195-8 (S Lama 75, A Amit 39; Weatherly 5-32) beat CCC 183-8 (M Eames 73, N Stearns 43) by 12 runs

Round 7 - 13th November 1999

Saracens v Witherers at KCC
Result: Saracens won by 64 runs

Raveena Warrior Princess and Hercugrump Lay Waste

It was a terrible sight to see on the battlefield at Cox's Road. The carnage was too terrible to recount. The unsuspecting Withering hordes from the Land of the Gap had no idea what lay in store for them. Previous encounters had seen them victors and they probably expected the same.

But there in the autumn sunshine armed to the teeth lay Raveena and Hercugrump. Raveena whirling her mighty weapon from the start saw the Witherers in retreat from the start. A few near misses and she almost lost her life. This was not a day for the faint hearted. From the other end Hercugrump was ever watchful with the regular amassing of victims. Blood and gore all the way through.

Fast forward the video before you all go to sleep reading this tosh. 250 for the first wicket. 270 the final score. Bowled them out pretty easily. What a thrashing. It was great. Four for four.

Fine of the Week. "Carats" Butani for being this weeks choice to drop a catch off the Finesmaster.

At KCC: Saracens 276-1 (R Sharma 122, R Sujanani 139*) beat Witherers 212-9 (V Karnani 46, R Sharma 4-41) by 64 runs

Tartars v Police at PTS
Result: Tartars won by 32 runs

Tartars won the toss and elected to bat. TR Raman opened the innings and scored a brisk 23 before being caught. Score was moving at a decent pace but then 3 wickets fell in quick succession. Malhotra steadied the innings with 33 and was out trying to force the run rate. By this time the run rate had fallen considerably. Tartars were 114 for 5 in 27 overs. Lama and A Nainani scored 50 runs in the last five overs to give Tartars a decent score to defend. Lama scored a magnificent 45 not out.

Kevin McGill opened the bowling for Tartars and bowled first five deliveries wide (this is what happens when you get married - Ed.) and the first straight ball he bowled took an inside edge and went for a simple catch, which was simply dropped by Malhotra. But after that, Kevin bowled beautifully and took total control of line and length, completing his quota with figures of 10-1-29-1. He had really put police on the defensive. Papu Butani on the other end bowled very steadily and was turning the ball well. He tempted the Police batsmen with his flight and took 5 wickets for 40 - 3 clean bowled. Fielding was average - Malhotra dropping 2 catches but took one nicely off Papu's bowling. Mukesh Butani fielded superbly and was instrumental in 2 of 3 run outs. It was an all round performance and Tartars won comfortably by 32 runs.

At PTS: Tartars 173-5 (S Lama 45) beat Police CC 141 (C Walton 53; P Butani 5-40) by 32 runs

Round 6 - 6th November 1999

Crusaders v. Islanders at KCC
Result: Crusaders won by eight wickets

Islanders won the toss and batted. Chaudhuri batted well for 88 NO and the Islanders ended up with 206-4, Hussain (Sada's relative ?) contributing 51. Hyphen's darts and TV Newsman's leggies kept them to that score. Taz Devil opened with TV Newsman and got us off to a good start until TV Newsman departed for 34. Brewbags assisted with 29 and Taz Devil bullied the kids for 120 NO. With the Pres and his red wine watching, we just could not afford to lose to another schoolboy outfit twice in a row - so let that be a lesson to them.

At KCC: Crusaders 209-2 (D Green 120*, N Waters 34) beat Islanders 206-4 (D Chaudhuri 88*) by 8 wkts

Tartars v. Nomads at HKCC
Result: Tartars lost by six wickets

At HKCC: Nomads 180-4 (P Varty 83*) beat Tartars 179 (TR Kalyanaraman 37; G Davies 3-43) by 6 wkts

Round 9 - 28th November 1999

Templars v Friends XI at KCC
Result: Templars lost by 125 runs

No report received.

At KCC: Friends XI 259-9 (M Shabir 91, S Dukhande 53; R Sharma 4-79) beat Templars 134 all out (TR Kalyanaraman 79; D Shah 3-38, A Ahmed 3-27) by 125 runs

KCC Colts v Scorpions at DBS
Result: KCC Colts lost by 172 runs

No report received.

At DBS: Scorpions 291/9 (Powell 70, Wood 58; A Lethbridge 4-47) beat KCC Colts 119 (M Wong 32; G Lalchandani 4-9) by 172 runs

Round 8 - 21st November 1999

KCC Colts v Vagabonds at Mission Road
Result: KCC Colts won by four wickets

KCC Colts Come of Age!

Finally it happened.....
A little earlier than expected....
A little more difficult than it could have been.....
THE COLTS WON THEIR FIRST GAME!

In a memorable game the Colts managed to overcome a resurgent Vagabonds who two weeks ago beat the Templars in a high scoring game. On that day the Templars bowlers were thrashed to all points of the ground as the Vags thumped them for 270 in 50 overs. On Sunday the Colts were not prepared to be treated with such disdain.

Bowling first on the batsmen friendly Mission Road wicket, the Colts started with a bang. Danish's opening ball was hooked by a confident Mark Burns straight down Nassam's neck - only to be spilled after he looked certain to catch it. Danish, however was not to be bowed and came back in the next over to have Burns caught by Tony Correa at first slip off a top edge. At the other end Correa's new ball "dibbly dobblies" managed to attract the outside edge of the other opener and Ritesh took a spectacular grab at first slip. The openers bowled an excellent line with few runs and more wickets when a wild no 3 batsmen was clean bowled by Correa.

After 12 overs the Vags were 3 for less than 40 which was the best start of the season so far and first change "Coach Lalu" took full advantage with a 4 wicket spell that rivalled anything Muttiah Muralitharen has ever conjured up for Sri Lanka. He took 4 wickets for 9 runs off 8 overs and smashed open the Vags middle order to everyone's collective surprise!! With Dytish picking up a wicket from the other end the Vags were in deep trouble at 8 for 66 off only 25 overs, but then the unpredictability of the Vags came into play. A 90 run partnership between stalwart Phil Glenwright and Awik (the first ever Australian Lebanese to make a 50 in HK) for the 8th wicket, pushed the Vags pushed their score to 162 in the end with Phil not out on 47. Dytush finished with 2 for 23 off 9, Danish 2 for 40 off 10 and, Tony Correa 2 for 49 off a maximum 15.

The reply with the bat saw the continued good form of Dytish who survived a life on 0, then went on to make an excellent 67 in only 55 balls. Dytish's improvement since being more careful with his shot selection has been dramatic and as he continues to develop his technique and strength can he move to a higher level. The other batsmen disappointed early on with Nassam being run out (3 weeks in a row he has been involved in a run out), Tony Correa Lbw and Lal out for a first ball caught duck after smashing it off the middle of the bat! Fortunately for the Colts Maurice Ling marked his welcome return to KCC, with a game saving 46 not out. His innings was marked by a series of excellent drives and cuts and with to partnerships with Skip Tony Lethbridge and Zubi, the Colts won the day.

A great first win and hopeful a precusor of more to come! Roll on the Scorpions at DBS next week!

At Mission Road: KCC Colts 163-6 (D Chaudhuri 67, M Ling 46*) beat Vagabonds 162 (P Glenwright 47*, A Awik 53; L Jayasinghe 4-9) by 4 wickets

The following letter was also received in relation to this match.

"Vagabonds CC vs KCC Colts on Sunday, 21 November 1999 played at Mission Road.

When a match report is received, particularly from an umpire, it invariably forebodes complaints or criticism concerning an incident or behaviour, directed at a cricketer or a team, as is the practice nowadays. I hope that this "match report" will be an exception to the rule. I was appointed as one of the umpires to stand in the above game yesterday, along with Mike Walsh. It was a game in which I thoroughly enjoyed being involved as, in my opinion, it was played in the true spirit of cricket.

The game was keenly contested with no quarter asked and no quarter given, by either side. It had all the ingredients that makes cricket such a great game. We saw superb and atrocious batting displays, athletic and shoddy fielding, inspired and wayward bowling - but it was spirit in which the game was played that shone through it all!!!! Anger and frustration reared its ugly heads, from time to time, directed more at themselves than at others, but discipline and good humour prevailed.

Both sides bowled their allotted 17 overs per hour well within the prescribed period, demonstrating that the hourly overs rate can be easily achieved if attempted seriously. Both sides had medium-pacers with long run-ups and spinners with short ones. Both sides suffered from wides and no-balls. Still, the captains controlled the teams without being heavy-handed, and kept the game moving on. I was reminded of my days as a young cricketer in school where it was drummed into our minds - it is not who has won or who has lost that matters in the end, but it is how one plays the game!!! The Colts emerged as winners finally, but the Vags were almost-winners!! They need not be ashamed!!

I would like to congratulate the two captains - Mark Burns and Tony Lethbridge - and the rest of the other adult cricketers on both sides, for producing a great game of cricket and setting a great example, particularly to the students - the future Hong Kong SAR players. Well done everyone!!!

I for one will not begrudge giving my spare time if the game of cricket is the ultimate winner, and I am sure my fellow-umpire, Mike Walsh will endorse my views.

Fahmy Jowharsha - Umpire, HKACUS"

(It's nice to hear some good news for a change - Ed.)

Infidels v Optimists at HKCC
Result: Infidels won by 17 runs

This was a good result for the Infidel's, however the path to victory was not at all smooth. I have been racking my brain as to the nature of our play and once again I must categorise it top class for 3/4's of the game with the remainder second class.

We started well with the toss being won and my decision to bat on what is a very slow wicket at the HKCC. I will put the early loss of Damian Green down to the wicket, but he himself and no doubt Jim Cannell, will tell you that it was a bad shot. Jim will have particular delight in telling you this. Jard's was the next in and was victim to the pitch getting caught in front for one. Then the veteran mainstay of the Infidels, Ray Brewster, played his hand and stabilised what was beginning to be a shaky start. Along with steady Eddie, aka Mark Eames, we were able to post 2/73 or thereabouts by the first drinks break. If Jard's fell prey to the whims of the pitch then Brewbags was robbed with a ball that imitated a worm and took his off stump. Brad Tarr who had also been in good form with the bat was not able to post a score but we look for better times ahead which we know will come. It was then that Steady and myself were able to put together a partnership which took the total along too 180 odd before Mark was bowled trying to place a ball in cow corner. Uncharacteristic but nonetheless the correct shot for the time of the innings. He finished with a polished 89 and the innings that set us up for our final total of 8/223.

Was it enough? Well I thought so and the final result tells us so but it was not all smooth sailing. Adrian Baker is back to almost his best and his pace matches that of anybody's in the League. We now hope for the consistency that is required. When this comes Bakes will take a bag of wickets if anybody can get near the ball. Jim Cannell struck first and sent Collard to the pavilion in his first over . Jim's influence on the game didn't end there when he dropped Stewart Brew in the next over off FAB and collectively the team was thinking, oh no here comes a ton. This did not happen with Chris Williams putting in the best performance from him in the last three years taking 3/37 off eight overs, his second wicket being that of Brew. Well done Chris. Jiggy Tailor started bowling at over 19 and this was surely the man that kept us in the game. He bowled with accuracy and flight developing considerable turn off the wicket that saw him end with the figures of 4/42 off 15. Jiggy's talent is not in question and with this kind of performance we should look to include him in the team for the Hancock Shield. We could have easily lost the game as we dropped four catches in the end. What we did do was post a victory and I look forward to having turned the corner. When we do string a whole day's play together I will relish the result. Optimists ended all out for 206.

- Cheers, Simon Scanlon

At HKCC: Infidels 223-8 (M Eames 89, S Scanlon 64; B Morley 3-63) beat Optimists 206 all out (S Brew 33; J Tailor 4-42, C Williams 3-37) by 17 runs

Round 7 - 14th November 1999

Templars v. Scorpions at HKCC
Result: Templars won by 91 runs

A bright crystal clear Sunday morning saw the skipper win the toss and elect to bat on a flatish bare surface. Predictably the wicket was a slow and low, which suited the Templars batsmen fine, with most being front foot players, having been brought up on Subcontinent tracks. The skip and Trupti opened the batting and both looked in fine touch. Trupti was timing the ball well, until he played across one and was adjudged leg before. TR came in with a mission-to go after the bowling. He did succeed in making a quickfire 58 but the method in which he got the runs was not always convincing with a mixture of good and bad shot selection. Ravi looked in good touch, having got an unbeaten ton the day before. He was playing with consummate ease until he nicked one from Erasmus. On the other end the skip was in total command and in full flow. Runs continued to flow with the skip receiving good support from Jaideep and Lama. The skip duly completed his second century of the weekend and went on to score 147 before the opposing skip took an absolute blinder at deep cover. The Templars ended on 315 from the allotted 50 overs.

The Scorps started their innings rather watchfully. The first 17 overs saw them score only 41 runs losing three very important wickets, including those of danger men Smart and Mallinson. All credit must go to Lama and Jammy who bowled superbly. Both maintained an impeccable length and line, giving nothing way. Lama in particluar was brilliant as he went for only 11 runs in his first 8 overs. Jammy too was economical with 9 overs for 21 runs. The Scorps were all but out of the game at this stage. The skip had to call on himself and the evergreen Mr. Gohel to purchase wickets to ensure taking away full points from the game. 4 wickets to the skip and 2 to "Uncle B".. Scorps all out for 200. And once again 4 victims to Amit behind the stumps, who as usual was brilliant.

Great effort again.

At HKCC: Templars 315-7 (R Sharma 147, TR Kalyanaraman 58; M Bain 3-59) beat Scorpions 224-9 (J Powell 74; R Sharma 4-71) by 91 runs

KCC Colts v. Pakistan Association
Result: Colts lost by 205 runs

In a much improved bowling performance, the KCC Colts again faltered with the bat to record our 5th loss of the season.

Returning skipper "Tony the elder" Lethbridge made a snap decision at 9:30a.m. to play on a soft and sticky turf wicket instead of the matting. This proved to be decisive when he won the toss and put the undefeated Pak Association into bat. Still clearly showing the effects of overnight rain, the KCC turf was playing slow and choppy, with plenty of movement and bounce off the wicket. The Paki openers were forced into constantly replacing divots caused by the new ball, which was ripping huge chunks of turf out of the pitch. This naturally provided encouragement for our openers Dinesh and Danish who beat the bat more often than anytime this season. Dinesh was finally rewarded with the prized scalp of Sada Hussain, caught behind trying to pull a rising delivery. Tony Correa followed up by removing the other opener caught behind and Danish took a good catch off Dytish to make the Pakis 3 down for under 100 in the 25th over.

The Colts continued to play well into the 30th and 40th overs restricting the opposition to below 4 an over. Wasim Imtiaz was clean bowled by a searing Dinesh yorker and Yorgi Muthani made an excellent debut bowling 10 overs of controlled leg spin for 48 runs. At 210 for 5 off 43 overs it looked like the Colts could restrict the Pakis to below 250 runs. However Munir Hussain proceeded to hit a lusty 80 not out, mainly at the expense of an unlucky "Tony the elder" who was taken for 50 off his last 4 overs. The Pakis finished on 270 all out in the penultimate over – the first time they have been dismissed in 2 seasons.

Brian Lowcock made an excellent return to Sunday cricket with 1 run out, 2 catches and 4 stumpings and all of the bowlers kept the ball up to the batsmen. Importantly wides and no balls were kept to 14 which is a 200% improvement on last week. The 2 wides per over rule was however invoked twice with "Tony junior" Correa and Dinesh both immediately removed from the attack after their indiscretions.

In reply the Colts innings started well with Dytish smashing Khalid over square leg for 6, then dispatching him for 4. However a terrible mix up with Nassam saw him run out prematurely – Dytish really looked like scoring a big score and Nassam must improve his calling to prevent a recurrence of another run out next week.

From here on end it was all downhill and with Khalid warming up on a still tricky wicket the Colts capitulated like ninepins. Nassam out to a yorker LBW, Tony junior out missing a straight full toss, Lal out well caught at point, Ritesh caught at gully, Brian clean bowled, Tony the elder clean bowled and Roshan also clean bowled. Khalid took a hat trick and after late resistance from Yorgi and Danish the Colts were bundled out for 65 in the 14th over.

In the final analysis our best effort with the ball and worst with the bat. Improvement from the top order urgently required next week against Vagabonds.

At KCC: Pakistan Association 270 (W Imtiaz 43, M Hussain 83*; A Correa 3-53) beat KCC Colts 65 (K Khalid 5-32) by 205 runs

Round 6 - 7th November 1999

Templars v. Vagabonds at Mission Road
Result: Templars lost by 6 runs

At Mission Road: Vagabonds 268 (C Coombes 52, P Akhtar 43; B Gohel 5-68) beat Templars 262 (TR Kalyanaraman 57; M Burns 3-63, V Niaz 3-39) by 6 runs

KCC Colts v. LSW at DBS
Result: Colts lost by 186 runs

After a one week break the fast improving colts hiked up the DBS driveway for their 4th outing of the season this time against a strong LSW outfit.

LSW won the toss and elected to bat in some of the best weather we have seen in HK for some weeks. The sandy and unstable DBS ground along with a lifeless pitch was not conducive to either side in the field and the Colts struggled from the first over.

The Danesh and Dinesh opening bowling pairing was mauled early on by Adnan Butt and Arshad who were clearly enjoying anything pitched short on the flat DBS wicket. Both opening bowlers strayed too often and were punished accordingly. Early bowling changes bringing on Zubair junior (Zhalid) and Tony Correa met with some success. Skip Correa managed to remove Adnan Butt with his spin, Ritesh taking a sharp caught behind standing up and shortly thereafter another wicket fell with Dinesh taking a good catch at deep square leg. Zubair settled down to a string of 4 stable overs after being expensive early on and was rewarded with a wicket as well. He showed some potential in his first game by bowling straight and keeping the ball up to the batsmen.

Dyutesh Chaudhuri and Zain came on as second changes and Dyutish met with more success, again because he pitched the ball up and bowled straight. He took two good wickets with catches again this time from Monesh and Ritesh behind the wicket. Zain picked up one from an excellent catch to Ronesh at long off. Danesh and Dinesh came back to finish the innings and bowled much better in their second spells. Dinesh in particular bowled very straight and was rewarded with two wickets late in the innings.

LSW's total of 314 looked formidable but the colts started well with Dyutish and Nassam looking comfortable against Zubair and Jamshed Mohammed. Both openers played the fast bowlers sensibly by attacking the bad balls and were rewarded with quick runs. Dyutish in particular seemed very comfortable with the pace and milked the bowling at will. Nassam was unluckily run out and Monesh was bowled by Zubair bringing Tony Correa together with Dyutish. These two put on 45 and brought the run rate up over 4 and over when Tony was caught at point for 18. Ritesh was out bowled to a poor shot and should do better next week after his well made 30 against Templars 2 weeks ago. After Ritesh's dismissal a batting collapse ensued at the hands of Shakhil who took 5 wickets in just over 3 overs. Some of these wickets were extremely soft because batsmen backed away from what was not particularly threatening bowling.

Dyutish was finally had to retire hurt for a well made 71 and should be encouraged by and excellent effort. Interestingly he did not play his "get out" shot once and this should instructive for him when analysing his approach to his batting.

Overall another learning experience for the Colts. The three things to take away from this game:

1. The FASTER the bowling the EASIER it is to score runs.
2. 40 wides and no balls is unacceptable. From now MORE THAN ONE wide/no ball an over will mean the bowler comes off IMMEDIATELY.
3. Good CATCHING makes a difference (9 wickets again).

The Colts can improve another 60 runs in the field by cutting out wides and no balls and 60 runs with the bat by the middle and lower order making sure we bat the full 50 overs.

At DBS: LSWCC 314-9 (Azhar 46, I Mir 66) beat KCC Dragons 127 (D Chaudhuri 71; Shakeel 5-11) by 186 runs