Season Two Wrap Up

Season 2 has been consigned to history, and Season 3 is well underway. But the good news is… it’s time for the season 2 awards and overall wrap up!!! Which I’m hoping the skipper will provide.

The blog is now complete with new and improved stats (game 7 of season 2 is not included as the records are unavailable), the keyest feature of this being that anyone can now view them. You no longer need to go through the blade of requesting for an invite and then accepting it etc., all you need is a google account. One clap for the good folks at google labs. You’ll also find batting and bowling stats on a single page, and all seasons statistics available through the same link, on the top right of this page. As they say, the numbers don’t lie, and this is borne out by the awards.

And so, without further preamble, lets move on to the SEASON 2 AWARDS....... as always, comments/disputes/additions are the whole point of this.

Season MVP: No contest whatsoever. With almost double the runs scored by anyone else, the most catches, a hatful of wickets and constant inspiration, the clear winner is Narahoo. Super show, skip, we’ll all have a tough job wresting this award from you next season.

Bowler of the season: Again, a very easy decision. Far and away our highest wicket taker, a threat in every spell and the guy who makes fielding behind the wicket fun. Vik, take a bow, you’ve been outstanding.

Batsman of the season: Ok. With Sriram as the MVP ruled out, this is a really tough one. So after much consideration I’m going to cop out and give this to the entire rookie middle order. Jubbs, Tony, Lex, Kishore and me have all improved by so much, there’s no way to single anyone out and this middle order solidity is what has made us so much more competitive. Super effort, guys.

So that’s about it for the awards. No fan award this season. As the quality of our play has improved, out support base seems tom be dwindling. Pity.

The only other point of note from season 2 was a slightly sour one, featuring attrition in the ranks. One of the founder members of #3, Narendra, felt the need to part ways with the team, citing philosophical differences with regards to the attitude shown on the field, particularly with regard to the aggression and belligerence on the field of play. The split was amicable, and it’s reported that he’s playing fr one of the other teams which sets up the intriguing possibility of a meeting sometime in the coming seasons. Wah, what fun that would be.

All in all a great season. Guys, please do chip in with your thoughts on the season just completed, would love to hear ‘em, Rock on, #3.

Season 2, Game 8 – So They Were Right

Number 3 vs Chennai Youth CC.
Pachaiyappas ‘A’, 27 August 2006.

#3 98 for 8 (Kataan 27) beat Chennai Youth CC 75 all out (Ramesh 5 wk, Sriram 2 wk) by 23 runs.

Yes sir, they were right all along. Ravi Shastri, Arun Lal, L.Siva, every cliché king on the circuit. All of them. Turns out that catches do win matches. And how. Read on, and you will be rewarded with the story of #3’s most dramatic and exciting win to date.

Even the pre game assembly was unusual. To start with, we were playing on a turf wicket again. And when we showed up, it was to see our pals, Agasha group, playing a Twenty20 match, complete with coloured clothing and all. They lost the match and as it was winding down, we made the acquaintance of our opposition, and in particular, their captain, who is worth a bit of detail. He’s a rather strangely proportioned guy, very large round the midsection, sports a huge beard and goes by the unlikely name of Bandook. Honest. It was written on his T Shirt, and from what we could see, none of the others had nicknames on theirs, so I can only assume this to be his actual name. Having ascertained that our record for the season stood at an unimpressive 2-5, he casually mentioned that his team had won all 9 that they had played. They also didn’t want to bother with a toss, asking us what we wanted to do instead. But we told them that we win tosses so rarely, we have no experience making that decision, and asked for a toss. Which was duly lost, and they put us in to bat.

Bandook was injured, and wasn’t going to actually play this game, but he kept up a continuous dialogue with whoever was in the pavilion, as our efforts with the bat were stuttering at best. He wasn’t being arrogant or anything, but definitely on the cockier side of things. We didn’t really come to terms with the turf wicket, and the start from Bulavar and Ramesh was very slow, but lasted a while. When Bulavar fell, Sriram sent Hui in as a pinch hitter and to some extent, it worked, as he played a decent knock. Sriram went in next and they brought on a spinner who was easily the worst bowler any of us had ever seen. His action consisted of taking two steps, coming to a complete standstill at the crease and releasing the ball from well behind his body in a slow loopy arc which took an eternity to reach the batsman. Sriram had enough of this after one over and launched him for six in his next. One more six from him, and they brought on a really quick bowler (with a suspect action, but….) who accounted for Sriram and me, and the wickets kept tumbling. Lex provided valuable runs as the overs ran out, and he remained not out as we finished at a paltry 98 for 8 in 25 overs.

The opposition seemed well satisfied at the break, and were pretty relaxed. But there was something in the air at the changeover and we all felt it. Sriram’s team talk was brief and to the point. We had only one option and that was to give it everything. We set aggressive fields, and Vik’s first spell was tight and he picked one up with Jubbs holding one of the openers at backward point. Things weren’t going great at the other end, and the skipper quickly rotated Joy and Tony at that end but the runs kept coming. Hui put down a straightforward chance off Tony, and shoulders sagged a bit, as the score reached about 40 with just one down. Then Kishore gave us a glimmer of hope with a sharp piece of fielding which ran the one drop batsman out. A window of opportunity, as Sriram tossed the ball to Ramesh, and then things began to happen. Fast. And it all started with Hui. But it didn’t stop with him, as you’ll see.

Remember Kapil’s catch from 1983, the one they can’t stop talking about? Well for the members of #3, it now occupies second place in the list of all time great running-backwards-with-ball-coming-over-your-shoulder catches. As the ball was launched into the air off Ramesh’s second over, Hui at midwicket turned around and started running. And kept running. And covered some serious ground, reached out in front of him, and suddenly, with a primal yell, he was chucking the ball into the stratosphere. As momentum shifts go, they don’t come any clearer than this one, and the team converged on him as one.

Ramesh had the ball on a string by now, and Sriram was keeping it tight from the other end as well. In hindsight, all they had to do was knock it around and pick up the singles, there would have been nothing we could have done. But panic set in and they kept trying the big shots without coming to terms with the pace of the wicket. Ramesh snaffled a couple more, and with them five down, more magic happened. The batsman lofted Sriram in the direction of long on, and Lex started charging at it at a rate of knots. It looked to be a game effort, but the ball was always going to fall just out of his reach. Applauding the try, we started to turn away, but Lex wasn’t having any of that. With one final extra lunge, he reached out and snatched the ball out of thin air, one handed, at ankle height. I kid you not, it was right up there with anything you’ve seen on TV, and the whoops and yells that followed it were unreal. We were walking on air.

That catch stunned them into submission. Sure, with only 25 odd to get and four wickets in hand, theoretically it was still very much in their hands, as the even the number 10 batsman looked more than capable, unleashing one nice drive through covers. But off the fifth ball of Ramesh’s fifth over Sriram took another sensational running catch, and seven balls later it was all over. Ramesh got one off his next delivery, but didn’t even get the opportunity to bowl his hat trick ball because Sriram’s next over killed off the game. He got them nine down by castling the no.8 and two balls later, Bulavar was calmly lobbing the ball to him to complete the run out that closed off an incredible victory. We had sent them packing for 75 all out, in just 14.5 overs.

A mad huddle in the middle of the ground was followed by the handshakes, and though Bandook and Co. were magnanimous in defeat, the shattered look on the face of the opener sitting cross legged on the ground said it all. We had pulled off a sensational heist. What a finish to the season. 3-5, one short of our target of 50%, and only one loss by a margin greater than 30 odd runs. Bring on that season 3. Grrrowf!!

In season2, Game 8, #3 was: Narahoo (c), Kataan, Joy, Hui, Druck, Bulavar (wk), Jubbs, Kishore, Vik, Tony and Lex.

Season 2, Games 6 and 7 - The ones that got away

Sindhi College, 30 (i think) July 2006.
Teachers ‘B’, 13 August 2006.

As you all know, it's been a while since these games actually took place, so I'm summing them up in a combined post of sorts. Also, there was a bit of a common thread running through both games, the fact that we came away feeling that these were matches we could have, and should have, won.

Game 7, in fact was marked by acute problems in team selection, particularly the non availability of Bulavar and myself, leading to a lack of keeper. The plus side of this (as reported by those who played) being that it led to a heroic performance behind the stumps from iii, replete with two stumpings.

But let me try and retain some kind of sequence to all this. So we'll begin with game 6. Back at sindhi college again, against a team called holiday cc. We showed up in a very FIFA world cup inspired mood, and as opposed to the normal catches based warm up, we waited for the other team by playing some intense football. The oposition, as they arrived, surely thought we were either buffoons or consummate atheletes. Either way, we soon lost the toss (as usual) and were fielding.

The whole match was played in a sort of relaxed mood, and maybe this made the difference in the end. We actually started extremely well in the field, picking up wickets at regular intervals. But wides and dropped catches ensured they got a decent score, around 150 odd, with one partnership contributing most significantly. Lex pegged away for a five wicket haul, and Joy managed to break one of the tail enders' noses (granted, it had more to do with his attempt to impersonate Dhoni, but...).

Probably the best part of this whole innings, however, was a cry from the Holiday CC team hut exhorting their batsmen to run hard. In a perfect chom accent : "Make the singal into dubbal and the dubbal into trippal". It took all we had to keep from falling about the place.

Bulavar and Venkat opened, if I remember rightly, and the going was slow. The one thing the holiday cc guys did was set precise fields and bowl to them. This isn't as glamorous as it sounds, since the strategy was basically to pack the region behind square on the off, and consistently bowl short of a length and a foot outside the off stump. Being not so accomplished players, the cut shot was our only option and yielded only a single on most occasions. There's certainly something to be learned from the discipline, though.

Sriram pushed himself well down the order, as Tony and Kishore earned promotions, and didn't do too bad a job, but we steadily fell behind the rate. Sriram going in and playing a blinder was our only hope, but that didn't happen as he was caught playing.. you guessed it, the cut shot. We ended up about 30 runs short, the wides and the slow start contributing in equal measure to a loss where we felt there was a win for the taking. I do think that man for man, we were a more skilled side.

Since I didn't play game 7, at Teacher's 'B', I'm relying on second hand info and will therefore keep it short. I'm hoping the guys who did play will paint in the details.

The desperate scramble for players led to a second #3 appearance for Ling, and the late drafting in of a guy from Hui and Lex's office, whose name I don't quite recall. And the scratch team's fate was compounded by injury woes to the skipper, whose ankle wasn't anywhere near a hundred percent.

Playing Crown Tapes CC for the third time, we came away once again with their respect, but not the win. Got to change that next time around. Fielded first as usual, and the wides problem was worse than the previous occasion. The only points of note that were reported to me were iii's keeping, stopping the ball with hands, legs, body or whatever, and taking a catch and making stumpings to boot, and Joy scoring a direct hit on one of the opposiion and reducing their numbers for the second game in a row. The word's probably going out around the leagues that this #3 is a dangerous team to play, and not just for cricketing reasons.....

The target finally stood at a stiff 180 plus. But this was where the fun began, with the batters mounting a serious challenge. Lex topscored, with good contributions all through the order. I'm told Hui's colleague almost decapitated Jose (one of the crown tapes guys we're quite friendly with) with a blinding strike. Also, in response to calls from team members at meetings, there was much clearer instruction from the hut while constructing the chase.. so a real sense of purpose and excitement built up. The opposition were quite on their toes, and only the regular fall of wickets was the problem. We ended up less than 30 odd runs short, and one big innings of 40 plus could have made a huge difference.

So one game left, and a 2-5 record for the season. How will it all end?

it's a wonderful life

Wah! Some way to spend a friday afternoon. I'm so glad I write a cricket related blog so I can gloat to the world.

At three in the afternoon on what ought to be a regular working day, #3 veterans jubbs, tayne, hui and me, along with anand are lounging on the terraces of the MA Chidambaram stadium, watching Sachin, David and the rest. As I write, Irfan Pathan has just belted VRV Singh for 10 off 3 balls. And all this sitting in a total comfort, as part of a small crowd of about 1000. Totally free.

And it's a six!!! IKP on a roll here, folks.

Here's the scene. The indian team, as part of its preparation for the upcoming tri series, is playing a practice match against a second string XI and the gates are open to the faithful. Two more sixes, and Pathan retires. Dhoni walking in, crowd going wild, it's all happening here, folks. Catch up with you guys after the game.

and..... we're back

ok guys. It's back. Impressed by the demand and all that.

I've frankly been thinking of various ways to handle this huge backlog I've created, but finally decided that the chronology of the whole thing is working very well, so I'm not going to mess with it. Will bring all up to speed within the next couple of days.

To set the ball rolling, let me post about the key new rules that we've implemented at #3 net sessions. To replicate match pressures, bowlers now have to run one round around the ground if they bowl more than three wides in one set (i.e. at one batsman). The batsmen aren't spared either. If anyone gets out in the first four minutes of his session he's got to go. And even in the remainder of the session, he's only allowed two dismissals. As you may well imagine, concentration levels have been soaring with even the skipper having one of his sessions cut short.

Good stuff. Match reports follow shortly. (promise).