Round 3 - Saturday, 27th September 2003

Saracens v. Gap Ramblers at Kowloon Cricket Club
Result: Saracens won by 6 wickets

At Kowloon Cricket Club: Saracens 227-4 (R Sharma 63, R Sujanani 42, T Hield 36*; R Eagleson 10-0-23-3) beat Gap Ramblers 225-5 (Jayasekera 54, Mulcock 39; R Eagleson 70*, Winchcomb 34) by 6 wkts

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Tartars v. HKU at Sandy Bay
Result: Tartars won by 56 runs

TARTARS WON THE TOSS AND ELECTED TO BAT
TARTARS SCORED 229 FOR 8 WICKETS IN 35 OVERS
AFTAB AHMED SCORED SPARKLING KNOCK OF 87 RUNS NOT OUT
WHICH INCLUDE 7 SIXES , OUT OF WHICH 4 SIXES ON THE LAST 4 BALLS OF
INNINGS (HE SCORED 28 RUNS ON THE LAST OVER )
TR KALYARAMAN SCORED QUICK 31 RUNS (3 SIXES , 2 FOURS )
SHARRY MALIK 27 RUNS
MOHSIN HAFEEZ : 3 WICKETS FOR 40 RUNS
SAMIR MEHTA : 2 WICKETS FOR 44 RUNS
GREG THOMAS : 2 WICKETS FOR 69 RUNS

IN REPLY HKU SCORED 173 FOR 8 WICKETS IN 35 OVERS
SAEED IMRAN SCORED : 66 RUNS
DEVANG SHAH : 4 WICKETS FOR 43 RUNS
AFTAB AHMED : 2 WICKETS FOR 15 RUNS
RESULTS : TARTARS WON THE MATCH BY 56 RUNS

At Sandy Bay: Tartars 229-8 (Aftab Ahmad 87*; M Hafeez 10-1-40-3) beat HKU 173-8 (Saeed Imran 66; Devang Shah 10-0-43-4) by 56 runs

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Round 2 - Saturday, 20th September 2003

Crusaders v. SubCont at Po Kong Village Road
Result: Crusaders lost by 14 runs

Coming off an agonizing defeat the previous week the crusaders were guilty of a repeat performance that saw us go down fighting to a somewhat re-inforced SubCont by 14 runs, although the final count for lost cricket balls were 8 -2 in our favour. If we could blame our batting last week, it was the fielding and bowling that let us down today.

Last week had been a tough game of cricket due to the heat but it was nothing compared to what we had in store for us this weekend. According to our ardent supporter, Kim Lamsam, the surface temperature hit a scorching 40 degrees. Boarding the bus at 12:45 p.m for our first and only (thank god) game at Po Kong Village Sauna 2, the much scarier sequel to the infamous PKVR 1, the skip had his mind set firmly on putting the opposition in. On arrival at the ground skip was instructed by the team and the heat to win the toss and bat first. Unfortunately for us just the opposite happened.

On a ground where diving would win you a free trip to the hospital, Roy opened the bowling and had a good first over where the openers' attempt to play golf ended up in them playing and missing on most occasions. Todd opened from the other end and the openers continued their quest for 'fores' . There were a few fours off the bat of SubCont Captain Krishnan with some well disguised cricket shots. It was only a matter of time before Roy castled the other opener, Vipul, for 5. Having somehow survived the first few overs and got his eye in Krishnan proceeded to clear the infield and find the boundary regularly. He was helped by some inept fielding that saw him dropped twice off Todd's bowling. Having conceded a fair few at this stage Killer was brought into the attack for a 3 over spell and this resulted in 28 runs but also the important wicket of overseas pro Kanishka for 14, out to a spectacular catch by Jaime, showing the older generation how it is done. Todd continued bowling well from the other end but remained unlucky having Ankur Sharma, yet another overseas recruit dropped off his bowling. Ankur capitalised on the mistake and scored 122 at a good rate. The high scoring rate was ensured by Anthony 'madman' Barnett's introduction into the attack. For future captains do not listen to Barney when he says that he has changed his bowling action. The nagging usually starts when you call him to see if he is available for the game and it continues till you succumb to it. Barney's 2 overs laced with well flighted full tosses helped Mr. Sharma race from 68 to a 100. Barney's figures 2 overs for 32 runs.

Due to the lack of depth in bowling Skip himself came on and bowled from one end and provided easy pickings for the batsman. At this point Krishnan's luck came undone and at 59 he skied one to Killer who completed a smart running catch. Towards the end it really did not matter who bowled as the boundaries were breached consistently. Roy had figures of 1 for 67 off 10 - a good result given the circumstances, Todd Johnsen's 10 overs went for 83 - figures that would have been far better if the fielders had done their jobs and the skip 10 overs 3 for 79.

The chase began badly when skip was out on ball 2 for 0 trying to find the mid wicket fence on a short ball outside off. However 'Madman' and Roy put on a brisk partnership showcased by some extra-ordinary hitting and we kept pace with the asking rate of over 8 an over. Barney fell on a well smashed 59 getting a leading edge on an innocuous delivery. The fight was carried on by the Veteran, the numerous lost balls and slow over rate meant that by this time the sun had gone behind the buildings. Ray was the first to be bowled due to the bad light on 22. Roy who was continuing to score freely, despite clearly being fatigued, was joined by Jards who contributed ?? before being the 2nd victim bowled due to bad light. The runs kept coming and we were always there or there abouts with the run rate thanks to the Steve Waugh-esque (to use the Vet's words) hitting exhibited by Roy.

The task was much harder for the incoming batsman as they had to score quickly and did not have time to adjust to the light. To make matters worse we had lost so many cricket balls that the one being used was more dark green than yellow, the same colour as the greenery behind the bowlers arm. Killer replaced Jards only to see Roy get out to a tired shot after a chanceless and boundary laced innings of 119. Steve Atkinson, who had been brought out of retirement, strode out to the crease and made 1 with a classy flick off the pads (showing that he has still got it with the bat) before being run out to a good piece of fielding and a direct hit (showing that he has not still got it with the running between wickets) . Barney's boss Mathew Arnold faced 1 ball and did not see it as it crashed into leg stump. This brought Toddy to face the action. Killer meanwhile had been moving the runs along and the equation stood at 40 runs off 4 overs. 1 over later it was 22 off 3 overs as Killer smashed 2 sixes and picked up a few doubles. It was at a cost though as he was bowled off the last ball of the over.

Todd and Jamie managed to scramble 8 runs off the next over. By this time the light was ridiculously bad, Todd having come down the track to lose sight of the ball was stranded outside the crease as the keeper some how stopped the ball and dislodged the bails. With 2 new batsmen at the crease and hardly any light the situation was tilted against us. Sure enough it was all over on the last ball of the 34th over with yet another batsman, Mathew Alridge, bowled. The light was so bad that we were unable to read the scorebooks and ended up having to tally up the individual scores the next day.

Our sincere thanks to Jenny who was scoring for us enduring the heat in the tin shed, the mosquitoes at the end, missing several glasses of champagne in the comfort of the KCC bar and still agreeing to be there for our next game. As for the players a huge hurrah for Roy who completed his maiden league hundred with more to come in the future we are sure, Jaime and Matt who were outstanding in the field even after having played 50 overs in the morning, Barney, Killer and Brewbags who made telling contributions with the bat.

Play of the Match: Jaime Atkinson's diving catch running a good 20 yards.

Man of the Match: Roy Lamsam

At Po Kong Village Road: SubCont 290-5 (Krishnan K, 58 Ankur S 122; Manoj 10-0-79-3) beat Crusaders 276 (A Barnett 59, R Lamsam 119; Ankur 10-0-88-3, Gopal 8-0-56-4) by 14 runs

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Tartars v. Gap Ramblers Kowloon Cricket Club
Result: Tartars won by 6 wickets

Aftab Ahmad [Click image for more photos]

Sandeep Dukhande [Click image for more photos]

At Kowloon Cricket Club: Tartars 182-4 (Sandeep 55, Tauseef 80; C Duddy 9-1-52-3) beat Gap Ramblers 177-7 (D Jayasekera 53; Aftab 9-0-38-5) by 6 wkts

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Round 1 - Saturday, 13th September 2003

Crusaders v. Nomads at Kowloon Cricket Club
Result: Crusaders lost by 3 runs

The first game of the season for Crusaders started promisingly with all the players turning up 20 mins before the game and warming up together as a team. We even had a twelfth man in Hyphen and our official photographer Pinky Pittman was also there to offer support. Sadly the professionalism started and finished there as we threw away a game that we well and truly had complete control over till the final few overs.

There were 5 players in the team earning their first caps; 2 of whom, Keiran 'Hanse' Kumaria and Grayson 'Gramps' Tyndale, can only be seen as temporary overseas pros. We also had an injection of youth in the side with the inclusion of Matthew '' Aldridge and Jamie 'Squeaky' Atkinson aged 15 and 12 respectively. Mr. Roy Lamsam a.k.a. 'Ham sandwich' completed the off season acquisition list. With a team packed with batting the skip had enough confidence to send in to bat our old nemesis the Nomads after winning the toss.

Matthew Aldridge [Click image for more photos]

The ball was tossed to 'Ham Sandwich' and 'Hanse', fresh from their exploits with the national team, to ensure a steady start. However the awe of the occasion of playing for the Crusaders got the better of them and resulted in the Nomads racing off to nearly a 10 runs per over start. After an eventful 2 overs each skip decided on twin bowling changes, and replaced the two right arm medium pacers with two right arm medium pacers. Todd 'on the spot' Johnsen took over from Ham Sandwich and Damian Kelleher self proclaimed as 'Killer' (for reasons still unknown) replaced Hanse. Although they bowled slightly better than the openers the runs kept flowing. In an effort to produce a break through the 'Colombo Express' (called so for the blistering pace with which he speaks) Imran Farcy was brought on to bowl. This introduction slowed the run rate down with on the spot doing a good job from the other end. The breakthrough eventually can when the opposing skip dragged one from outside off stump, much as he had done the whole innings, towards square leg where Hanse completed the catch and Johnsen got a deserved wicket. The Express soon took care of the other opener with a rising delivery outside the off stump finding the outside edge and also the safe gloves of Atko jr, who impressed behind the stumps.

Having 2 new batsmen at the crease stemmed the flow of runs for a while, however the bowlers were unable to cope with unorthodox batting styles on display and were left wondering how to get them out. The express threatened the most while bowling changes from the other end amounted to little as all the bowlers were pretty much bowling the same stuff. Two changes in particular were costly with the skip bringing himself on and conceding 18 off 2 while Killer also was guilty of a similar performance in his 2nd spell. Bringing on Ham Sandwich for a 3rd spell proved just the ticket as he picked up 3 wickets. Meanwhile the Express bowled another outstanding spell at the death to finish with 3 for 35 off 9 exceptional in the context of the game. Nomads were restricted to 226 off 35 overs which given the start they had was a good effort from the bowlers.

Jamie Atkinson [Click image for more photos]

The batting got off to a similar start as the previous innings with Skip Manoj 'Mojo' Cheruparambil and Gramps picking up regular boundaries and racing to 40 off 4 or so. At this juncture Gramps departed when the opening bowler some how bowled a straight ball that took him by surprise. The dismissal brought the Vet (who had his first game of not keeping since he was 12 and incidentally the first one without picking up an injury) to the crease. He continued the positive stroke play till he missed a straight one, much to the bowlers surprise and left the crease at 40, which he later claimed was also his age. The score was 130-2 off 17 overs. This gave young Aldridge the opportunity spend some time in the middle. He was impressive in his technique and his knock was capped by a beautiful cover drive that threaded the gap between 3 cover fielders. Cruising at 175 for 2 off 23 overs Crusaders next lost the skip who had ridden his luck on the way to a bludgeoned 92 to an irresponsible shot.

Enter Graeme 'Grumpy' Jardine, who lasted precisely 3 balls and was out attempting to clear the boundary. Showing signs of his ripe old age of 40 in counting as the first wicket of Miss. Natasha Myles (daughter of the HKCC President). In all fairness she was perhaps the best bowler in that she bowled the best line and length of all the bowlers. The fall brought Atko jr. to the wicket and together with his under 19 colleague ticked the scoreboard over. Matt was the next to fall bowled for 9. The stage was set for Killer to see the team home. The Nomads, sniffing a slight chance of a win, tightened their bowling. The increased pressure resulted in Killer being adjudged lbw for 10. Hanse who had been very keen to amend his poor performance with the ball went in next but was unlucky to be bowled off the thigh pad from the first ball he faced. A confident Ham Sandwich strode to the crease and had a conversation with Atko jnr, now the senior partner. The two managed to tick the runs over until 23 runs were needed off 24 balls. By this time, the game had continued way past the scheduled finish time and the light was fading rapidly. However the nerves had not set in on the spectating Crusaders at this point and we were still confident of a victory. After reducing the target to 16 off 18 Ham Sandwich was also adjudged lbw and Johnsen came in to bat, at the end of that over we were left needing 13 off 12. Johnsen survived being caught caught off a no-ball, but Crusasders suffered the loss of Jamie who had batted well and played some very classy shots in his knock of 15. In came the Express, the remainder of the over resulted in a few scrambled singles and we needed 8 off 6 at the end. Despite the best efforts of the Express we were only able to manage 5 leaving us smarting from a case of what could have and should have been.

All in all there were a lot of positives to take away and mistakes to learn from. The youngsters showed their prowess in batting and fielding and they look set to bloom into extremely good cricketers. The fight back in the field spearheaded by Imran was also a positive to take away from the game, we will counting on more such performances from him. The skip also learned not to let complacency set in and the game was a huge lesson in terms of his responsibility towards the team. At the end of the day we were all left muttering "never again will we lose like this”. A mention of thanks must be given to Hyph for his support and for umpiring the whole game and for Jenny who has returned for another year of scoring more runs than the rest of the players combined.

Crusaders Man of the Match: Imran Farcy

At Kowloon Cricket Club: Nomads 226-8 (T Smithson 40, T Brown 53; R Lamsam 8-0-55-3, I Farcy 9-2-35-3) beat Crusaders 223-9 (M Cheruparambil 92, Brewster 40; Grewcock 6-0-16-4) by 3 runs

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Tartars v. Witherers at Hong Kong Cricket Club
Result: Tartars won by 1 wicket

Very exciting match -- TARTARS won by 1 wicket with 1 ball left.

Tartars penalised for 1 over so to achieve target in 34 overs.

• Witherers scored 207 for 8 in 35 overs
• Jones: 30 runs
• Devang Shah : 3 wickets for 51 runs
• Tauseef: 3 wickets
• Afzaal: 2 wickets
• Sandeep: 1 wicket

• Tartars scored: 208 for 9 in 33.5 balls
• Sharry Malik: 50 runs not out (3 sixes )
• Devang Shah: quick fire 32 runs (2 sixes)
• Tauseef Bhukhari: 31 runs
• Afzaal Haider: 27 runs

At Hong Kong Cricket Club: Tartars 208-9 (Tauseef 31, S Malik 50, S Devang 32; S Robson 10-1-60-3, A Waters 9.5-1-41-3, G Jones 8-0-50-3) beat Witherers 207-9 (A Stewart 48, G Jones 31; S Devang 6-0-51-3, Tauseef 9-0-47-3) by 1 wkt

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Round 1 - Friday, 12th September 2003

Saracens v. CCC at Kowloon Cricket Club
Result: Saracens won by 8 wickets

At Kowloon Cricket Club: Saracens 235-2 (R Sharma 108*, R Sujanani 62, T Hield 41) beat CCC 224-3 (M Eames 125*, A Mukhtar 60) by 8 wkts

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