Round 4 - 28th September 2002
Crusaders
v. Witherers at Po Kong Village Road
Result: Crusaders won by 4 wickets
Crusaders produce what the doctor ordered
Starting with 7 at 1.15pm on a Saturday
is not unusual for the Crusaders. In fact this behaviour
was immortalised in song several Christmases ago by Hyphen.
What is unusual is giving a team the quality of Witherers
a beating with 7 and one half men. True the numbers did
swell to 9 at one stage but we were a severely depleted
team, yet as the Captain had requested the bowling was
tight, kept the Gap lads to 199, and a cameo performance
by the 'Bags' did the job.
It was nice to have Beefy back. He opened
the bowling with Mojo, backed up by Don and Damian. Despite
gaps in the field and 'Pinky' Pittman fielding with his
feet, Witherers lacked lustre. The team welcomed back Dilip
Mathew, and debutant 'Sir' Richard Pollard.
The positive approach of Mojo and Damian
set up the chase with a brisk opening 43 partnership, then
Brewbags under strict instructions to steady the ship as
we only had 3 recognised batsmen left, proceeded to attack
the bowling. Beefy displayed his mature approach to the
art of batting and supported 'Bags well. 'Ben' Wilkins
was caught short attempting a quick run which left the
Doc, and Sir Dick to paddle about for a few overs before
Don finished it off majestically with an onside drive for
four, with an over to spare.
Gallant Crusaders, well done.
At Po Kong Village Road: Crusaders 202-6
(M Cheruparambil 44, R Brewster 88*) beat Witherers 199-8
(S O'Reilly 54, J Callow 34; D Kelleher 3-53) by 4 wkts
[Top]
Saracens
v. CCC at KCC
Result: Saracens lost by 4 wkts
No report received.
At KCC: CCC 139-6 (M Eames 57; T Bukhari
3-30) beat Saracens 136 (J Atkinson 55, R Sujanani 42;
R Muller 5-47, A Mukhtar 5-5) by 4 wkts
[Top]
Round 3 - 21st September 2002
Tartars
v. Crusaders at KCC
Result: Tartars won by 4 wickets
Farouq Engineers Victory for Tartars
Derby day at the KCC and a testimony
to the newly laid ground that a game could be played at
all after the torrential rain that had followed Typhoon
Imelda from the Philippines. This turf, which will be even
better after a couple of months bedding down, has already
attracted marine biologists from all around the world,
who have come to explore the rich variety of shells and
fossils in the sedimentary sand that has proved more absorbent
than a Pampers' nappy. In fact, the only interruption to
play was occasioned by two toddlers who had escaped their
mums' loving attention at the pool (the presence of Chris
Williams on the balcony in Speedos may have had something
to do with this) building sandcastles behind the square
leg umpire.
Crusaders took first use of the new artificial
track, recently laid by Wilton, the thick pile of which
had the Hong Kong captain salivating, as he sought to improve
on his two previous returns this season, a five-for and
a six-for. The wily leg spinner bowled unchanged from the
17th over to the close, but even he could not have envisaged
the onslaught that would be launched by Crusaders' answer
to Abdur Razzaq, Barnacle Bill the Sailor. In fact, none
of his teammates could have envisaged it either, as Barnie
broke his personal best for turning up late by 10 minutes,
finally coming through the turnstiles at 2.40pm. With captain
for the day, Graeme "Boycs" Jardine, occupying
the crease at the time, it was left to Hyphen to tell A.B.
to pad up. "Hey, Hyph, I've only just arrived!" Hyphen's
threat of litigation should the Barnacle opt not to concur
was more than enough to send Barnie rummaging in the kitbag
faster than you could say "Kevin Egan".
Meanwhile, resident tennis pro Per-Ulrik
Johnsen (still after six years playing cricket more comfortable
with double-handed backhands than wielding the long handle)
was seeking advice from former Crusader Mark Eames about
which hand he should put the glove "with the big thumb" on.
Having sorted this technicality out, the Scandinavian spent
the next ten minutes attempting to suss out, with Prof.
Eames' help, which way the leg spinner spun the ball. With
the assistance of diverse diagrams and charts, Per-Ulrik
pronounced himself happy with his tutorial – only
for left-armer Bharat Gohel to come on at the other end. "Um,
Eamesie, which way does Bharat spin it?" At this point,
the Professor left to count his children and help them
construct sand castles by the pool.
All this time, Crusaders had been pacing
their innings well against the champions of two seasons
ago, and the runners-up of last year. Travis found the
middle of his bat nicely on at least two occasions as he
struck his half century, while at the other end, Sir Geoffrey
Jardine (shouldn't that be "Douglas", I hear
you cry – perhaps, but who would want to put their
body on the line for such a matter?) was accumulating runs
in metronomic style, also posting a fifty. But the real
fireworks were still to come. Barney had been warming up
in some style in the nets against the Don, the Immy and
the Hyphen, taking a particular liking to Hyphen's darts,
which were dispatched to every part of the … well,
net. At the fall of the next wicket, out strode the Barnacle
with a Bothamesque swagger. 17 balls later a six that landed
on the swimming pool balcony brought not only concern to
Mr. Speedo but also the Great Man's fifty. The Hong Kong
skipper's final over had been dispatched for 24.
Set 238 to win, Tartars were pinned down
by Per-Ulrik's first spell, moving the ball both ways off
the Axminster. After getting one to move prodigiously up
the hill, he turned to his tutor, who was attempting to
manoeuvre one of his brood in a pushchair around a sand
dune on the boundary, and boasted of his new ability to
generate reverse swing. "It hit a bump," was
the terse reply.
At the other end, sadly, tearaway fast
bowler, Imran Farcy, was putting plenty of variety into
his bowling, with leg-side wides mixed with off-side wides,
plus the occasional head-high no ball thrown in. It's days
like these that make one pine for Beefy Baker, who unfortunately
cannot be relied on to play more than a couple of games
a decade, such are the demands of his job. With Beefy estimated
to spend 280 days of every year in the sky (and the other
84 with his head in the clouds, it should be added), rumour
has it that the airlines have got together (nothing new
there, I hear you say) and set up a special package just
for him: he gets all his flight for free, as it costs them
less than shelling out on frequent flyer awards.
Tartars' new recruit, the Ranji Trophy
man, was by his standards struggling to find his best form,
and it is a mark of his value to the side that his dismissal
for 62 was greeted rapturously by the whole Crusaders'
team, with the exception of Hyphen, who was nursing a sore
groin on a boundary bench and wondering who he could sue
for it. The wicket taker, Paul "Molly" Molloy,
took a couple of overs to find his length, but after he
did, bowled beautifully, conceding just 4 runs an over
off his allotted ten overs. Unfortunately, his Herculean
efforts could not be matched by the other bowlers (with
the honourable exception of the Swede), as Tartars's strength
in depth saw them to a deserved victory with just a few
balls to spare, with T.R. (Trav, check this!) top-scoring
with 80 (or whatever).
It was a magnificent game, played in
a good spirit. And Farouq (the hero of our headline) Hong
Kong's Hockey captain had a quiet game, in fact, but what
the heck, who could resist a headline like that?
At KCC: Tartars 238-6 (R Sharma 62, TR
Kalyanaraman 86) beat Crusaders 237-6 (T Pittman 59, G
Jardine 59, A Barnett 56*; R Sharma 3-63) by 4 wkts
[Top]
Saracens
v. Gap Ramblers at Mission Road
Result: Saracens won by 4 wkts
Gap Ramblers won the toss, elected to
bat and made 6/191 from 35 overs. In reply Saracens were
6/192 with 7 balls to spare.
Steamy conditions and a side with a strong
batting bias made it important to win the toss and bat
first. Accordingly the skipper lost the toss and we were
bowling.
Tauseef, acquired in the Sharma trade,
and Ravi were the pick of the bowlers. Each conceding 30
or so from their 10 overs, Tauseef picking up 3 wickets
with his offies and Ravi getting some reverse swing! Yarman
had 5 good overs and 2 that spoiled his figures. As for
the skipper’s bowling well let’s just say he
can’t wait to have Zubair and Jammy back!
In field it was vintage Saracens, even
Shiroy was changing the field! John Atkinson, acquired
on a free transfer from Sunderland CC in UK, deputized
with gloves and put in a strong performance. Other notables
in the field were Willow, Anil, Nigel (Shuffles II) and
1st round draft pick Andy Moncks.
At Mission Road 191 wasn’t a bad
total. Although it hadn’t of been for their skipper
we would have been chasing about 70 (he made 125 – most
of them over the mid wicket boundary).
The chase started poorly with John going
early – he must have had his mind on that night’s
relegation playoff between Newcastle and Sunderland. Thereafter
Ravi played a swashbuckling and classy 79 (although the
sweep/chip to square leg is not his best shot) and the
skipper compiled 59. Unfortunately just as they had taken
control and were cruising to victory they gave away their
wickets to deliveries that were not that challenging. At
that stage we still need 50 or so at about a run ball.
The pressure was back on. But there was
no need to panic! A steadying 23* from Burji (no more 2’s!),
a quick fire 13 from the Kashmir Willow at about 2 a ball
and a timely boundary from Yarman saw us home with an over
and a bit to spare. I’m not sure who was more relieved
when Burji whipped one off his pads to the fence, Shiroy
who was next in, the skipper (because Shiroy was next in)
or Nigel who was in after Shiroy.
In any case it was an exciting finish
to a game played in goods spirits. Windows (Dave Mycroft)
even turned up to support the team. Well done all.
At Mission Road: Saracens 192-6 (R Sujanani
79, T Hield 57) beat Gap Ramblers 191-6 (P Winchcomb 125;
T Bhukari 3-33) by 4 wkts
[Top]
Round 2 - 14th September 2002
Crusaders
v. CCC at KCC
Result: Match washed out
[Top]
Saracens
v. Mainlanders at Mission Road
Result: Match washed out
[Top]
Tartars
v. Police at PTS
Result: Match washed out
[Top]
Round 1 - 7th September 2002
Crusaders
v. Gap Ramblers at HKCC
Result:
Crusaders lost by 2 wickets
The Doc, back in Crusaders after a break
of 3 seasons with the Tarts, had his captaincy tested in
this first match. Winning the toss, batting seemed to be
the best option with Barney still on his way, and the vet
still cooling down from his latest wine tasting tour of
southern France. A fresh face in the form of Damian Kelleher
(his nickname is not Greenie) fortified the team although
the big guns Beefy, Manoj and Immy are still to finish
their summer retreats.
The first over was one to remember. 16
deliveries, 31 runs and the lowered heads around the ground
reflected the agony of the opener from the Ramblers who
clearly lost the handle on the ball. Wides beyond description,
no-balls over the keepers head and when he got one on the
wicket no one was more surprised than young Jardine who
feeling desperately sorry for the poor chap, spooned one
back and headed back to the pavillion. 1/31 off one!
Most
were a little rusty but the Vet showed he can still bat
with a delightful cover drive off one knee first delivery.
But the pick of the batsmen were Damian who showed his
potential with 30; ‘Ben’ Wilkins who played
a variety of shots that kept the critics agog; and a delightful
undefeated 104 from Jaideep Malhotra. 231-7 seemed pretty
good.
A tad short of bowlers Crusaders boasted
Todd, with streamlined Aggasi haircut, Damian first match,
Don and ‘I’ve got a new action and haven’t
had a wicket for 6 years but please let me at ‘em’ Anthony
Barnett. And get at ‘em they did. Spirited bowling,
faultless fielding and Barney’s stunning parallel
to the ground slips catch top dismiss the danger man Smith
was staggering. The game see-sawed, and all bowled well
with Don the pick as he warmed into the task and had the
tail quivering. Chasing around seven and eight an over
for the last ten it seemed Crusaders had it, then lost
it, but with one ball remaining and 3 to get and only the
tail remaining it seemed possible again…’nuff
said. 
A splendid game, gutsy performance from
the bowlers who really toiled and just about did it for
Crusaders and above all a fine team effort displaying the
potential that Crusaders has. Come on next week!
(A report on this game would not be complete
without mention of 'Ben' Wilkins' pants. Soon after commencing
his innings, the draw string in Ben's vintage whites finally
gave up the ghost. Despite the addition of no less than
3 safety pins, throughout his 10+ over at the batting crease
Ben had to keep one hand on his pants as he ran between
the wickets to stop them falling down - a very funny sight!
Given Ben's Japanese connections, I guess we'll have to
start calling him 'Nappy-san' - Ed.)
At HKCC: Gap Ramblers 232-8 (J Collard
72, S Burke 49 Comerford 36) beat Crusaders 231-7 (D Kelleher
30, J Malhorta 104*, R Wilkins 30; K Ryan 4-63) by 2 wkts
[Top]
Tartars
v. Kai Tak at KCC
Result: Tartars won by 8 wkts
No report received...
At
KCC: Tartars 149-2 (R Sharma 44, A Nainani 34*, F Saeed
42*) beat Kai Tak 145 (M Brown 30, D Ellis 34*; R Sharma
6-22) by 8 wkts
