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Round 9 - 19th October 2002

Crusaders v. SubCont CC at KCC
Result: Crusaders won by 9 wickets

"Tazzie Master Blaster Torpedoes Subs"

It was the Damian Kelleher show at KCC, as the burly Tasmanian made short shift of a threadbare attack on a beautiful afternoon in Jordan. In the last match to be played at KCC before the International Cricket Sixes featuring Werzmi Izcream and the harem (did I say harem, I meant cream) of world cricket – plus Mark Ealham – the Tazzie sent the ball to all parts of the ground described by Adrian Baker's boss just last week as the best ground he'd ever played on. And who would want to argue with … well, Adrian's boss?

Having made an inspection of the pitch, Crusaders captain, the erstwhile Doc, now upgraded after a bloodless academic coup d'etat to the Prof, decided that all bowlers should bowl off run-ups of 5 yards. This caused quite a bit of confusion to Per-Ulrik, tennis coach to the stars – and Hyphen's missus – who lost his rhythm for a couple of overs as he tried to start from precisely the 5 yard mark. It took the intervention of Crusader's one-armed photographer and general factotum, Travis Pittman, who spotted the problem through his telephoto lens, to sort things out. Using one of the various gadgets that were wired to his belt, Travis provided the kind of service to Per-Ulrik that Q usually performs for James Bond. Having established cyber communication with the Swede – a task made incomparably easier when the target's a spaceman anyway – Travis input the requisite data through his wireless satellite defibrillator.

To the casual observer, the twitching in Per-Ulrik's skull might have been put down to nothing more than the normal signs of cognitive activity in his brain, usually followed by a sharp intake of breath and a stuttering attempt to express his thoughts in words, i.e. speak. But this time it was different. With a broad smile spreading across his face, he paced out his run-up again and then turned to the clubhouse, where Travis was recalibrating his gizmos. A faint whisper of "Goodonyamate" could be heard reverberating from the dishes – soon to be filled with chicken tikka.

With Brewster in fine form behind the stumps, Per-Ulrik scythed through the top order like a Williams' sister forehand. He was well supported by Immie and the Tasmanian Devil, who showed his true mettle in his second spell against the tailenders after struggling in his first against the openers. The Don was spotted briefly after coming on after the drinks interval, but subsequent spottings proved as elusive as Romer's Tree Frog at Chek Lap Kok.

Click here for more pictures. All images © Travis Pittman - copies available upon request.

Chasing just 163, Mojo and Damian's attempts to run each other out were thwarted when Mojo lofted one to mid off. With the score at 123, the Veteran decided that there were enough runs left to make it worth his while to make his way to the middle, although he only just beat Per-Ulrik, who had picked up a scrambled signal that he had been promoted to Number Three. Travis later admitted that his systems needed fine tuning, as he had at the time been uploading a birthday present onto his mobile for one-time Crusader Jim Cannell, celebrating his big 4-O in UK. Apparently, the cyber-present was intercepted by KMB's fledgling GPS (Global Positioning System) in MK (Mong Kok), where the downloading was said to have caused severe tailbacks up Nathan Road.

Back at KCC, the Vet was doing his best to prove the old adage that no Crusaders game is complete without an injury to Brewbags, when he was almost hit be an exocet from the Tazzie. Putting their common heritage aside, the Vet first stared at the batsman and then took up a machine gun pose, much beloved by four year-olds and CEOs playing war games in a Country Park. With the ball being juggled by the fielder on the horizon at long on, the Tazzie could only reflect upon the odd behaviour of his country cousins from Queensland. Seasoned Crusaders watchers know better, of course. If it was Ray who had hit the ball, nothing would have prevented him from calling "Two" and sprinting for the other end … not even a virtual message from the techie monitoring events on the boundary.

[And Crusaders still didn't have 11 at the start... - Ed.]

At Kowloon Cricket Club: Crusaders 167-1 (Damian Kelleher 79*, Manoj Cheruparambil 55) beat SubCont CC 163 (K Krishnan 65; T Johnsen 5-32, I Farcy 3-39) by 9 wickets

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Saracens v. HKU at Sandy Bay
Result: Saracens lost by 78 runs

No report received.

At Sandy Bay: HKU 191-9 (A Shukla 41, A Butt 55; T Hield 3-32, T Bukhari 4-64) beat Saracens 113 (T Hield 61; R Gomes 3-21, G Thomas 3-35, Salman 4-40) by 78 runs

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Round 8 - 14th October 2002

Crusaders v. Nomads at KCC
Result: Crusaders lost by 20 runs

I honestly thought we had an unbeatable team for this match. I really did...

Nomads won the toss and elected to bat on a rather worn looking grass strip, that had already witnessed two KCC defeats earlier in the weekend. The wicket looked to have a crusty surface, indicating variable bounce for the seamers and turn for the spinners.

Crusaders record of not having 11 players at the start of each match this season was kept in tact, with only 9 of the starting XI on the field for the first over. Actually, there were 12 Crusaders at the ground, but the Doc (fresh off a flight from Edmonton) and Pinky Pittman (injured finger - hence the nickname) were not expecting to play. The Doc found some whites but Pinky was still toting his camera around the field when he was asked to change and join the fray. Having eventually found some suitable attire, Pinky finally charged on to the field only to find that Barney had finally arrived and the team now had 12 on the field. Moments later, Per-Ulrik showed up and it was decided he should play instead of the Doc, even though Per-Ulrik was not selected in the starting XI as he had to play in the Hong Kong Tennis Championships at 5:30PM! Per-Ulrik had no whites so he and Pinky had to do a quick shimmy in the changing rooms so that he could take the field. It was about this time that Don, who was selected in the starting XI finally showed up... but he had no gear.

On the field, Nomads managed to accummulate 190-5 in their innings, with all the batsmen finding runs hard to come by. Don was sorely missed.

Crusaders innings didn't start too well with the early departure of Mojo. But 'Killer' Kelleher teamed up with 'Dazzling' Darren (Beefy's boss) to put together a 60 run partnership in pretty good time. At 70-1 after 12 overs things were looking sweet - even Jards was seen to crack a smile... (or was that a grimmace?)

Click here for more pictures. All images © Travis Pittman - copies available upon request.

Ten overs of loopy leg spin from 'Marvellous' Mal Costain and Crusaders had self-destructed to be 120-6. The game had already turned further than one of Mal's googlies. With time and wickets running out, the Crusaders batting got a little desperate. Strangely, they did not bother to send in Per-Ulrik, even though 3 or 4 opportunities were available. 5:15PM came and Per-Ulrik went - to tennis that is. What was left of the tail did its best to rescue the situation but a rather comical run-out completed Crusaders' demise. 20 runs short and 1 DNB - Did Not (use) Brains.

Those that stayed behind after the game out-drank the opposition 20 to 1 but it was only a hollow victory.

At Kowloon Cricket Club: Nomads 190-5 (M Bowden 50, J Powell 74, D Meggitt 40*) beat Crusaders 170 (Damian Kelleher 51, Darren Tucker 40; M Costain 4-44) by 20 runs

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Tartars v. Gap Ramblers at HKCC
Result: Tartars won by 46 runs

Genius can demonstate itself in many ways and on this Chung Yeung festival the Tartars watched one at work against a hapless and unsuspecting opposition.

Rahul Sharma is a man at the peak of his game. He knows which of his strengths allow him to achieve and which of his weaknesses will be his downfall and today he combined the two with a heathly dose of luck , to almost singlehandedly defeat an inexperienced Gap Ramblers outfit at the Wong Nai Chung Lai Gap ground. His 201 consisted of 14 sixes, 20 fours and a "five" off a waist high no ball - that is 169 runs in boundries in a 34 over innings.

Readers of this match report should be aware that at one time the Tartars were in deep trouble at 30 for 2 after 10 overs and with top order batsmen, TR, Anoop, Anurag and Farooq all missing over the long weekend , the Gap Ramblers could sense a chance of victory. However, thanks to a quickfire 36 from an aggressive Aftab and the wily Bharat Gohel , the Tartars fought back and started to support a rampant Rahul. After Aftab's departure at 3 for 73 in the 16th over, Bharat and Rahul put on some 80 runs , with Bharat playing the perfect foil only scoring 2 of their first 50 partnership runs - but this is just what the Tartars needed! When Bharat departed for 18 after 25 overs the score was already 150 and the game was in our control. (ed note the Infidels could have learnt from this the previous day - partnerships count more than spectaulcar individual innings )

If was also from here that the master batsman launched his assault on the now demoralised Gap Ramblers. Rahul spared no bowler lifting them all over the ropes and at one stage hitting 4 consecutive sixes off a frustrated opening bowler Kevin Ryan who up to then had bowled very well and had Rahul dropped twice off his bowling . In the end he carried the side to 296 for 6 with an honorable mentions to fast improving Naresh (18) who also played important supporting role.

The HKCC side were always going to have trouble with such a formidable total and when Lama 3 for 50 and Sandeep 1 for 34 ran through the top order it was only a matter of time before victory was achieved. Bharat capped off a good day with 1 from 44 to close out the game and Papu took a handy 3 for 40 to clean up the tail. In the end the Gap Ramblers were 46 runs short at 250 for 9 from their 35 overs, but even this wide result flattered their performance as the Tartars cruised to victory.

In the end there was only one performance that mattered. A wonderful 201 for Rahul and the Gap Ramblers that dropped him on 7, 56 and 132 will not forget the sight of a master at work for a long time!

At Hong Kong Cricket Club: Tartars 296-6 (Rahul Sharma 201, Aftab Ahmed 36) beat Gap Ramblers 240 (P Winchcomb 31, C Wood 41, R Comerford 77, D Mulcock 43; Sher Lama 3-50, Papu Butani 3-40) by 56 runs

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Saracens v. Lamma CC at Po Kong Village Road
Result: Saracens lost by 97 runs

No report received.

At Po Kong Village Road: Lamma 315-6 (H Butt 80, L Dixon 100 ret*, J Seifman 34) beat Saracens 218-3 (S Wilson 77*, T Hield 100) by 97 runs

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Round 7 - 12th October 2002

Crusaders v. Mainlanders at Po Kong Village
Result: Crusaders lost by 5 wkts

Crusaders suffered at the hands of Mainlanders at Po Kong Village, in a match in which they played well enough to win, but lost heavily in the end.

Batting first, Crusaders got off to a cautious start after losing Damian quite early ('Killer' hasn't quite lived up to his nickname yet). Mojo and Jards steadied the ship and put together a decent partnership for the second wicket. Jards looked in good nick, eventually hitting 46 in good time whilst Mojo was once again the anchor for the team, hitting another half century. The drinks break proved a turning point in the game as Mojo immediately holed out to the left arm spin of Munir and the brakes went on. None of the Crusaders batsmen came to grips with the turning ball and with Schooolboy Cricketer of the Year Shkawat Ali bowling well at the other end, the run rate dried up and wickets fell at regular intervals. It wasn't until Dar and Ali finished their spells that the runs started flowing again, with some lusty hitting by the lower order batsmen, particularly Todd and Beefy.

Now you would have thought that a score of 246-8 was pretty respectable, but having seen very few runs scored in the middle part of the innings, it was clear that this total looked a little on the light side. It is not too surprising really - the Po Kong Village ground has moderate sized boundaries but a VERY hard, gritty outfield that is also very rough. Not only does this mean that the ball rockets to the boundary, but no fielder in his right mind would risk his life nor limbs to dive to stop the ball as doing so would guarantee a nasty graze on any part of the body making contact with the ground.

Crusaders' opening bowlers pegged the young Mainlanders batsmen down in the early going, having the lads 3-1 off three overs. Ali showed however that he is a decent all-rounder and the youngster bludgeoned a quick 80-odd to give Mainlanders the upper hand. Ali's shot selection was rather unorthodox, making it difficult for the bowlers to know where to pitch the ball and where to set their fielders. As the runs flowed, the Crusaders fielding got a little ragged and a number of over throws were given away as the players cracked under the pressure. With Muir and Tabarak flogging the bowling to all parts of the ground, and with nearly every available Crusader riding the boundary, the Mainlanders reached their target with more than three overs to spare. The winning runs were scored off a huge six that rolled half way down Diamond Hill.

It was another disappointing loss for Crusaders - the third time this season that they have failed to defend a total of 230+. The team will hope to put that behind them as they take on Nomads in Monday's match at KCC - a team that plays a little more orthoodox, on a ground that is a little more forgiving.

At Po Kong Village Road: Mainlanders 248-5 (S Ali 88, A Illahi 41, M Dar 50*, T Dar 30) beat Crusaders 246-8 (M Cheruparambil 72, G Jardine 46, A Baker 38; M Dar 3-58) by 5 wkts

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Tartars v. Islanders at KCC
Result: Tartars lost by 7 wkts

Match report not available.

At Kowloon Cricket Club: Islanders 169-3 (R Lamsam 57, D Daswani 36, Amjid 55) beat Tartars 165 (A Nainani 50; N Ahmed 4-15, J Bacon 4-34) by 7 wkts

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Round 6 - 5th October 2002

Crusaders v. HKU at Sandy Bay
Result: Crusaders won by 134 runs

"Top Order Changes Fail to Deter Plucky Crusaders"

Crusaders ventured to one of their least successful venues, the Stanley Ho Sports Centre at Sandy Bay, concerned less about the ethics of playing on a ground endowed by the father of 17 children by four wives than with the threat posed by long-time nemesis, HKU-run machine Harry Pitchfork. Joy was virtually unconfined when it was discovered that the ex-colony left-hander was attending a wedding (not Dr. Ho's fifth, it was hotly denied: "I was invited", the urbane man-about-town replied, "but it wouldn't have been very big-a-me to attend") and so would be unable to frustrate Crusaders again with the steer between fourth slip and gully.

With Butt Hussain unavailable as a result of Dubbya's embargo on anyone with the name Hussain (or Hussein, or Houseman, or whatever – "Shoot! These foreign names are all the same anyways", as Asst. Secretary of State Tomasz Aksisovevil put it), Crusader veteran and captain for the day, Karl Raimund Bagster, decided to bat first, perhaps in the hope that the grass on the lush outfield might be mown between innings. After the early dismissal of Damian "Greenie" Tazzie, Manoj CheerupmumIllpaythebill, took charge, with a glorious array of sweetly timed shots in his knock of 82. The Vet could only look on in admiration from the other end, although he soon had the old sweep-into-the-East-Lamma-Channel going well, reducing the cormorant population on the nearby rocks by one.

The game was enlivened by a series of appeals from the Academics that had Hong Kong's most celebrated ex-academic and HKCA umpire shaking his head in wonder. One particularly vociferous appeal having been followed by the demand to know which stump the delivery was going to hit, the Litigator pointed the appellant to the law which states that if the batsman's playing a shot and the ball hits his leg outside the off stump, then it really doesn't matter if the ball was going to hit all three stumps and pulverise them leaving only a pile of sawdust. Another appeal, this time for a run out, was met with looks of disbelief from all parts of the ground, not least from the fielder who had planted himself in front of the square leg umpire at the decisive moment. Amid all the excursions and alarums, Per-Ulrik Johnsen – still coming to terms with his shock omission from Europe's Ryder Cup team – and Dan the Man steered Crusaders to a highly respectable 218, leaving the Academics to score at six an over to win.

In reply, HKU sent out a teenager in blue jeans and Dr. Brian Jones – to umpire that is. Just twenty minutes into the innings the decision was made to replace the good Doctor, who responded to the ominous presence that had made its way onto the field that he had only had five overs. Rather than return from whence it had emanated, the brooding figure made its way to the young boy, who had just turned down a confident appeal for LBW from Beefy Baker et al, and promptly dismissed him.

It wasn't indeed until the 16th over that the Academics got the partnership they wanted out in the middle, but by that time it was a case of too little too late, as the team required 23 an over to win with three wickets in hand. Nonetheless, there was still time for some fireworks, when a confident appeal for a caught behind off Greenie was turned down, and Per-Ulrik got into a finger wagging contest with the Brooding Presence. It may be said with some confidence that this was the only part of the contest that the Academics won, as Per-Ulrik was shown the yellow card for an audible obscenity. His plea for mitigation, based on the well-established legal precedent that he hadn't been addressing the said offensive epithet to the umpire but to the world in general, was noted. The Court of Final Appeal will give a definitive ruling next week. The National People's Congress will decide whether to overrule the following week.

At Sandy Bay: Crusaders 208-7 (Manoj Cheruparambil 82, Ray Brewster 39) beat HKU 74 (Damian Kelleher 4-23) by 134 runs

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Saracens v. Witherers at KCC
Result: Saracens lost by 6 wkts

No report received.

At KCC: Witherers 190-4 (A Booth 41, O'Reilly 48; Hall 53*) beat Saracens 189-4 (Ravi Sujanani 78, Tauseef Bukhari 40) by 6 wkts

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Tartars v. Mainlanders at Po Kong Village Road
Result: Tartars won by 6 wkts

The undefeated Tartars kept up their unblemished record for 2002/03 with a well fashioned win against the Mainlanders at the fast and unpredictable PKV ground.

Mainlanders elected to bat first and started well enough with the young Imran hitting a flashy 23 and Tabarak coming in at no 4 slashing his way to 30. The PKV ground was very fast and any shots which pierced the infield made it to the boundary. The Tartars bowlers were wayward which encouraged the Mainland batsmen to go for their shots and after some 17 wides from the first 4 bowlers Sandeep, Lama, Azam and Aftab, skipper TR called on veterans Bharat and Rahul to finish the Mainlanders off. Rahul was most effective with 3 from 28 from 7.3 overs and Bharat took 1 for 58 from 8 and could have had more if not for some unfortunate umpiring decisions. Azam bowled his best spell for the season with 3 for 25 from 5 overs although he again needs to work on bowling less wides. Special mention to a fast improving Naresh who had an excellent day behind the wickets including 2 stumpings. Mainlanders all out for 199 in the 31st over.

In reply the Tartars were never in danger of not achieving their target. The in-form top order of Rahul (58), Anoop (34), Tony (29) and TR (40) pulled the team across the line and the runs were reached in the 32nd over. Only the left arm spinner Munir Dar posed any threat with 2 for 48 from his nine overs.

Tarts play two games this coming weekend against the unpredictable Islanders on Saturday and wounded arch rivals Gap Ramblers on Monday. Two win from this game are essential if the Tarts are going to be able to put some space between themselves at the top of the table and the rest of the league

At Po Kong Village Road: Tartars 200-4 (Rahul Sharma 58, Anoop Nainani 34, T R Kalyaraman 40*) beat Mainlanders 199 (T Dar 30, M Ahmed 39; Azam Muhammad 3-25, Rahul Sharma 3-38) by 6 wkts

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Round 5 - 1st October 2002

Tartars v. Saracens at KCC
Result: Washed out

The much anticipated 2002 Tartars vs. Saracens derby was disappointingly washed out after promising so much in the only innings played.

The Tarts won the toss and elected to bat as most of its squad were nowhere near the ground at the designated start time. Ex Saracen Rahul Sharma opened the innings with a now veteran Tartar Anoop Nainani. The Saracens were noticably more aggressive than normal in the face of their former team-mate Rahul, and both opening bowlers Timogen and Ravi (yes both known in the past more for their batting skills) toiled in vain as the openers took the score to 60 before Anoop was bowled by a fired up Ravi for 19.

This brought another ex Saracen Tony Correa to the crease and with Rahul they proceeded to put on some 102 runs for the second wicket in a very non Saracens like manner! The Saracens vs. ex Saracens showdown become somewhat of a farce during this period as skipper Timogen resorted to the unconventional tactics of bringing on CoC Shroff for a scintillating spell of 1 over just before drinks. The ex Saracens Correa and Sharma were in such shock that Shroff almost had Rahul caught behind by Brian Lowcock from one of his well flighted, dipping, swinging, cutting and reversing versions of a WWII hand grenade! In the traumatic aftermath of this Shroff over, Correa was out for 50 caught by Vachha S off the bowling of Vachha Z while Vachha Y watched from mid off (ed note - somewhat reminiscent of that famous dismissal Lillee caught Willey bowled Dilley).

After another late innings cameo from Anurag, the Tartars finished their 30 overs after a rain delay on 204 for 2 with Rahul not out on 106, his first century against the Saracens!

With a run rate required of a little under 7 an over the Saracens were faced with a formidable task. However after 4 overs and a wicket to Lama who dismissed John Atkinson, the rain clouds opened and the teams did not return to the pitch.

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