Round 23 - Saturday, 26th February 2005

Tartars v. HKU at HKU
Result: Tartars lost by 40 runs

At HKU: HKU 253-9 (Butt Hussain 114, M Sabine 55; U Bhasin 8-0-54-6) beat Tartars 213 (A Nainani 47, Mustafa 56; Nisar Khusro 10-0-66-3, Butt Hussain 9-0-38-4) by 40 runs

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Saracens v. Nomads at KCC
Result: Saracens lost by 4 wkts

At KCC: Nomads 192-6 (C O'Sullivan 65, M Garwood 60*) beat Saracens 190-9 (D Chaudhuri 111, R Sujanani 31; L Rewega 9-1-51-3, A Ashman 8-0-31-3) by 4 wkts

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Crusaders v. Police at PTS
Result: Crusaders won by 7 wkts

Police Cop One as Crusaders March On

A dramatic day of firsts ended in triumph for Dr. David Arthur's Cruisedarers when his trusty lieutenant Damian Kelleher pulled a half-decker to the mid-wicket boundary at the Police Training School, narrowly avoiding the bald bloke on the jogging track.

Wrapped up in mittens and ear-muffs against the bitter cold and Matthew Arnold's incessant banter, long suffering scorer Jenny Lethbridge (or Letherbridge or Lethebridge, as she is known to the Good Doctor for reasons known only to him) made the fatal mistake of accepting the offer of a corned beef and Daddie's Sauce sandwich before she had put the finishing touches to her scorebook. As a result, for the first time in a long and distinguished career, the runs in the batting and extras column didn't tally with the runs in the bowling column. First, the tsunami and then this - the end times are truly upon us! Needless to say, the error was detected and the books balanced before Jenny moved on to the tuna sarnie.

But this was just the last in a series of firsts that began when Crusaders took to the field with only eight men – well, seven men and Derek Collins. Not strictly speaking a first, this was the first time this had happened this year, Todd Johnsen and Imran Farzy being the chief culprits. Imran had some sort of excuse – it was too cold for a man brought up in Trincomalee – which is more than can be said for the darling of the swimming pool ladies, who had buggered off to the land of his birth in search of a more appreciative audience for his stories.

Matthew Arnold's first contribution (though sadly not his last) after entering the fray at the end of the sixth over with the score on 28-1 was to engage Manoj Cheruparambil in what, for Mattie, passes as intelligent conversation. "Hey, Mojo, did you take both wickets then?" "Pardon", said the urbane denizen of Delhi and Durham. "You get 'em both then, Moje?!" "Um, actually, Matthew, they've only lost one wicket. Would you mind moving a little squarer…no, the other way…that's right…(under his breath) into a recognised cricket position…"

While Manoj toiled away into the gale from one end, Roy Lamsam, playing his last game for Crusaders before resuming his architecture studies, bowled beautifully, conceding just 13 runs in his 8 overs, making the ball move both ways, both off the seam and though the air. Or so he kept telling us. Anthony Barnet, on the other hand, who replaced him at the Derelict Citybus Depot End, made it move just one way, to the deep backward square boundary, where Crusader stalwart Hugh Tyrwhitt-Drake rolled back the years with an athletic display of fielding, one vicious pull from danger man Nasir Hameed evading his hands but not his midriff – as effective a long barrier as that found in the MCC coaching manual.

Meanwhile, Lee Worthington had replaced Mojo from the Car Park Where You're Not Allowed to Park End, and the young tennis pro reminded us how little we miss Todd as he bamboozled the top order with a mixture of pace and swing. At the end of his seven overs, he had the figures of three for 32, an excellent return on a small ground bowling to just seven fielders – or more accurately six fielders plus Matthew Arnold. With three overs of his allotted ten still to bowl, cries of "five-for" echoed round the ground. Sadly, just ten minutes later, Lee's five-for had become a six-fours, as his final delivery was despatched to the azalea bushes by Det. Ch. Insp. K. Hale.

Not to be outdone, Barney surprised Nasir with a straight one, and the umpire (as befits someone wearing an MCC sweater) surprised everyone by raising his finger and sending the Colony man on his way. Suitably encouraged, Barney tried a couple more straight ones, and saved us all the prospect of the captain bringing himself on as he mopped up the tail.               

But it was as Crusaders prepared to begin their reply that things got really interesting. Kelleher and Barnet decided to take advantage of their enforced day of rest on Sunday by opening the innings. All was going smoothly until the fourth over, when Umpire Hyphen's spectacles imploded and he had to leave the field. As he did so he noticed Mojo just starting to put his pads on. "Hey, Moje, you're in next. What's with putting the pads on now?" "Well, Hyph, you keep giving me out when it hits my pads, regardless of whether it's hit my bat or not, so I thought I wouldn't give you – I mean the bowler – a target."

While a one-eyed Hyphen weaves his way to an optician's in Aberdeen, Barney gloves one to the keeper and Mojo promotes himself up the order to make hay while the sun shines. He's made 28 off just 15 balls when he sees the Toyota Echo with the Panama-hat-with-MCC-ribbon on the back shelf heading back past the parade ground. Giving away his wicket, he's back in the pavilion before Hyphen can get his finger working again. A quiet word with Brewster and Barney completes Hyphen's humiliation, as they zip up against the cold and promise Manoj to umpire the rest of the game, leaving the Dickie Bird wannabe alone with his six one dollar coins and just Mattie Arnold to spend them with.   

Meanwhile, on the field, Kelleher and Lamsam get down to business, putting on 140 for the fourth wicket and steering Crusaders home before the weather closes in. On a day of firsts, it's quite possible that we have witnessed a last. The last Crusaders game at PTS. For years of providing good players and fair umpires, let me be the first to salute Asia's finest.   

At PTS: Crusaders 183-3 (D Kelleher 79*, R Lamsam 68*) beat Police 182-8 (Nasir Hameed 33, K Hale 51*; L Worthington 8-0-56-3, A Barnet 9-0-46-3) by 7 wkts

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Round 22 - Saturday, 19th February 2005

Tartars v. Mainlanders at PKVR1
Result: Tartars won by 102 runs

At PKVR1: Tartars 213-9 (Afzaal Haider 67, Anoop Nainani 31) beat Mainlanders 111 (A Bhat 8.3-0-56-7) by 102 runs

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Saracens v. SubCont at KCC
Result: Saracens lost by 5 wkts

At KCC: SubCont 186-5 (B Borges 70) beat Saracens 185-9 (R Boghani 49, G Balakrishnan 10-1-36-3, R Patade 10-0-56-4) by 5 wkts

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Round 21 - Saturday, 12th February 2005

Crusaders v. St George's at Mission Road
Result: Crusaders lost by 97 runs

At Mission Road: St Georges 278-5 (Amjad Mahmood 123, Iftikhar Ahmed 39) beat Crusaders 181-5 (D Kelleher 38, A Barnet 106) by 97 runs

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Tartars v. Witherers at KCC
Result: Tartars lost by 8 wkts

At KCC: Witherers 175-2 (A Stewart 63, R Bettridge 87*) beat  Tartars 170-9 (A Nainani 41, TR Kalyaraman 56; R Norris 7-0-35-3, A Waters 8-0-35-3) by 8 wkts

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Round 20 - Saturday, 5th February 2005

Crusaders v. LSW Warriors at Mission Road
Result: Crusaders lost by 6 wkts

At Mission Road: LSW Warriors 84-4 (Shabbir Ahmed 33*) beat Crusaders 83 (R Lamsam 37; Sakhawat Ali 2-0-2-3) by 6 wkts

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Tartars v. Saracens at Mission Road
Result: Tartars won by 77 runs

At KCC: Tartars 182-8 (TR Kalyanaraman 41, Mustafa 50; N Laungani 8-0-38-5) beat Saracens 105 (D Chaudhuri 56; John (?) 10-2-29-3, Moazzam Ayub 7.5.-1-28-5) by 77 runs

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