BCCB

Season 6, Game 1: Even Stevens

2009-01-19T20:20:00.000-12:00

#3 132/8 (Tony 28) vs Enigmas 132 all out (Mohan 5 wkts, Joy 4 wkts) at Mayajaal. Match Tied.

An incredible match, a match of many firsts. First game of a new season, first game without Sriram in #3 history (a good time to marvel, once again, at what this maniac has actually achieved) and OUR FIRST TIE!! It was also the second game under the new captain Jubbs, and he showed he's growing into his role with a few runs and some smart calls in the field.

Let's start at the very beginning, though. I've heard it's a very good place to start. With the Chennai rains, and the December drinking all over and done with, it was time to start the cricket up again, and Blue Sky duly obliged us by fixing a game at Mayajaal, aother first for us. A turf wicket again, then, which predictably meant low bounce, and a tough day behind the stumps for me. Karthik's brother Srini made a guest appearance, and with Ling and Kishore being drafted in along with usual suspects Mohan, Beer, Tony, Visesh and Joy, we had our XI. We won the toss and Srini and Kabir opened things up. Srini edged one to gully pretty early, and Tony and Beer dug in for a bit of old fashioned platform building. It was soon pretty obvious that back foot play was sort of redundant, and that timing the ball wasn't going to be easy, at least until one got one's eye in.
Things kept ticking along until Beer started cramping up, and he got out soon after asking for a runner. Karthik didn't last too long, but then the old firm of Mohan and Tony got it going. Tony was timing it nicely by now, and Mohan always times it nicely so the runs started flowing. We looked set for a big one, but then Mohan mishit a waist high full toss to point, just as he was starting to open up and Tony left shortly thereafter. Jubbs and I made sure that the collapse from the last game wasn't repeated with a steady partnership, before Jubbs decided he had enough. Remembering to keep the bat straight he started to skip down the track or back away and make room and heaved some good clean hits to the fence. I was lbw trying to get a bit too cute, but Ling, Joy and Kishore stuck it out as we ended up at 132 for 8 in 25 overs. They helped us out considerably with wides and byes, which we were determined not to return.

The skipper felt that we had been losing things with the new ball in recent games, and decided to mix things up a bit. In what was to prove an inspired move, he held Joy back and threw the new ball to Tony and Visesh. The first two overs were a bit loose but they both settled into a nice rhythm and the runs dried up. It was classic Gavin Larsen/Chris Harris stuff, stump to stump at a nagging pace, backed up by sharp fielding inside the ring. We could sense the frustration building as runs slowed to a trickle, and the first bowling change broke the game open. Mohan beat the opener's frustrated heave and splattered his stumps, and then Joy picked two up quickly, with sharp catches from Visesh and Srini. But the fielding effort of the day came from Kishore, who picked up on some hesitant running by swooping in from point and scoring a Jontyesque direct hit with an underamrm flick to run the batsman out. Mohan picked up anothe one as well, and we had them at about 50 for 5.

That's when things got interesting. Their no.6 batsman (named Jaishankar, rather annoyingly) took strike, and casually flicked his first ball over midwicket for four. When he went one better the next ball, and slammed it over long on for six, we knew we weren't quite home yet. Suddenly, their score was racing along, and even though Mohan struck again before drinks, things felt pretty even at 92 for 6 with 9 overs to go. He just looked like he was batting on a different wicket from the rest of us. We regrouped at drinks, and pulled things back really well for the next few overs. We denied Jaishankar the strike, spreading the field and choking the batsmen at the other end. Mohan was immense, bowling his 6 over spell straight, keeping it tight and picking up a five-for. Visesh had come in for a second spell and bowled a very clever spell, bowling cross seam and slow, giving the batsman neither pace nor bounce to work with. By the end of his spell, they needed 24 off 18. The death bowling duties were with Tony and Joy, and they responded magnificiently, even though the awesome hitting off one man's blade continued. A six reduced the target to 18 off 17., and things were on a knife edge. Here is where they lost the plot a bit, refusing singles and playing out dots, while we chipped away at the wickets. We kept it down to a run a ball, and with six needed off the last over, Joy came on to bowl. Jaishankar managed two and a single of the first 2 balls, and then joy struck timber. 3 balls to go, 3 runs to get and the last man on strike. Joy bowled another dot, and then a chinese cut went down to fine leg. They scrambled two, meaning that they got the tie, but the main batsman was off strike. With all the field up, Joy fired one in fast and straight and cleaned the no. 11 up. A tie.

The whoops were unreal, and we all shook hands in good spirit for a match well played. Jaishankar, with half their score at 65 not out to go with two wickets, was the clear man of the match, and then revealed that he had got 60 off 25 balls in their previous game here! Some suggestions of a bowl out were quickly dismissed with suggestions of a drink out, which we were sure to win!! Which we subsequently proved with a trip to 9ft high, this neat bar in Neelankarai.

A great match, with many more to come soon. See you then, and welcome back.

The beginning of a new era

2008-10-01T02:31:00.000-12:00

Hello all.

All you team members, loyal fans and followers of #3. Welcome to the second innings of no #3

For starters, we've got a new captain. Let's take a moment to reflect on what our first captain achieved. All readers know exactly what it must have taken to get us, bloody bikes, to regularly wake up on the morning, or bake in the afternoon sun and get whacked by a leather ball travelling at high speed. My bloody god. One clap.

However, he's now a little distracted to continue in this role, what with being a dad and all that. (I won't mention the golf, ##*@!!/":*@!!) And people say change is always good, and re energizing. More regular matches and renewal of blogging should be just a start. Hopefully many more fun things will follow.

So, without further ado, let me intoduce one and all to our NEW CAPTAIN. The one, the only, the "cricket is the only thing that really matters" chanting....... JUBBS.

I can think of no better choice. Please join me in wishing him well, and do comment.

More soon.

This felt really nice

2007-10-07T18:42:00.001-12:00

39.5

Hopes to Dhoni, FOUR, Whack. Fullish, outside off stump, Dhoni stood and delivered. Violence. He biffed it across the line and the ball sped to the long-on boundary.

This is from cricinfo. Ah what e beauty it musta been.

Cricket can be so cruel

2007-09-24T23:52:00.000-12:00

Knock knock!

Who's there?

Misbah.

Misbah who?

Misbah five runs.

(thanks to friend in office)

From India with Love

2007-09-24T17:37:00.000-12:00

Come on boys

2007-09-17T22:38:00.000-12:00

So much to blog, So much rest

2007-08-18T08:03:00.000-12:00

My bad. That's all i have to say.
But i can keep quiet no longer. We're too sexy. #3 rocks.

Apparently, the Aussies sledged Kevin Pietersen during the last ashes series by calling him "Figjam" (an acronym for 'Fuck, I'm Good, Just look At Me') - a barb directed at his huge ego. If they play us in the near future, they're probably going to need that sledge again, such have been the performances.

Wretch has given you guys a teaser in her mail to the bikang group... We're done and dusted with season 4, and FOR THE FIRST TIME, HAVE FINISHED WITH A POSITIVE WIN RECORD!!!! Yes indeedy, the record stands at 5 wins against 3 losses. And the season ended with a 4 match winning streak, which is still live. Over seasons 3 and 4, it's 8 - 8.

And over 4 seasons, the record stands at 36 matches with 13 wins and 23 losses.

Mind blasting.

All you loyal fans, this season, especially the second half, is what you have been waiting for. And what we've spent all that time in the nets for. And what makes all those losses worth it. We've played consistently superb cricket, had contributions from every single member of the team, fielded like demons and been outstanding throughout. So many highlights to mention, which I'll bring up in a series of posts subsequently (yes, i know, you've heard it all before, but trust me this time. Please.)

But I can't resist a teaser. During season 4, Tony recorded the highest score in #3 history, a sparkling 75 not out, Ramesh marked his return with a 6 wicket haul, Jubbs hasn't been dismissed even once since his return from injury, every top order bat has made at least one score over 15, and every bowler has been among the wickets multiple times.

It's been phenomenal. And it's even given birth to the concept of "the Jubbs moment" of which one per match is a guarantee.

More soon.

The Rest of Season 3 (And I’m not referring to my blogging efforts)

2007-07-17T00:56:00.000-12:00

Finally. And that’s all I have to say about that.

Firstly, to bring one and all up to date, we are presently six games into season 4. I will elaborate on the happenings of the current season in subsequent posts, but in the interests of maintaining the chronological nature of the blog, I will deal with the considerable matter of Season 3 first. And an action packed season it was, too. This post will form the beginning of a summary of sorts and further posts (by me and others, I’m hoping) will elaborate on specific things of note.

Eventually, I think Season 3 will be remembered largely as “the Sriram Builder season”. This has nothing to do with the development of our captain, but rather it is the name of a team that we played thrice in one season, with three very different outcomes. I like to think that the results of those games were a kind of mini snapshot of our team’s development as a whole – something that I believe has been borne out by the events of season 4. Sriram builder is also memorable for the presence of “The Producer”, who I”ll leave it to others to describe in detail. But more on all that later.

Games 2 and 3 were rather similar, and both were played at YMCA ‘A’, the home of nets. One was played against a vague chom team who’s name no one seems to remember, and the other against our old pals “My Club” - Poonam’s team, including the left handed Manoj, who was to prove our nemesis yet again. We chased on both games and fell rather well short, but Sriram played a particularly smashing innings against Poonam’s team and belted Manoj’s medium pace for a six that apparently still gives him nightmares. All please chip in with other things that may have stuck in the mind for whatever reason.

Game 4, however, was a low point. It marked the beginning of the Sriram Builder saga, and was the first game we played at YMCA ‘B’. A really strange ground (for those who know, it’s the one right next to our nets, an overgrown weed patch of a ground). Ok, actually it’s a fucked up ground. And seems to consistently bring out the very worst in our fielding, as we learnt over the course of the season. We started the game by losing the toss (BIG surprise there) and what’s worse both Kishore and Mohan decided to use today to demonstrate some true lateness. And in the field, we couldn’t catch ANYTHING. It all started when Hui and Mohan clashed going for a really simple catch to break a hard hitting second wicket partnership, and the floodgates really opened. The unofficial count stood at something like 14 (yes, fourteen) dropped catches as they proceeded to flay us all over the really small and incredibly weirdly angled ground (It was a place where you could walk away square of the wicket and instead of finding yourself at point, you’d be at third man, or equally likely at cover. Very disorienting). Kishore eventually landed up, somewhere around drinks, and promptly dropped a catch! We eventually got a few wickets, but not before both the batsmen had scored fifties. The captain eventually slogged his way to eighty plus and they ended up with a score of over 220.

We chased well. Sriram and Mohan really got stuck into them for a 50 and a 40 odd respectively, and we were in with a chance until they both were out. But 14 dropped catches is bound to get you in the end, and we ended up about 35 runs short. We left with a bad taste in the mouth, sure in our minds that we were a much more skilled side.

For both games 3 and 4, we had an overseas visitor in Inis, and it’s a shame we couldn’t put up a better show. But things got better, believe you me. That’s it for now, folks, more in the next post. Thanks for keeping the faith and the repeated visits and requests. Now contribute. Please?

shanky strikes!!

2007-06-27T06:45:00.000-12:00

Ok, ladies and gents. Shanky has rekindled this blog into life!!!!

I will begin the laborious process of bringing the general public up to date with the activities of No.3. But with one change to the form of this blog... you will see it being less structured and report-like and more blog-like, with more personal perspective and more free form reporting. This is merely in the interests of keeping the blog alive (as in a form which I can update constantly), and I hope it will find acceptance. I am currently in the process of ensuring that my recollection of #3's activities over the past 8 months is reasonably comprehensive. And believe me, good things have been happening.

Expect a post within 24 hours. Tell a friend. And comment, bitches!!!!

Calling No. 3! Calling No. 3! Anybody home?!?!

2007-06-20T08:23:00.000-12:00

Earth to No. 3! Earth to No. 3!. Come in, No. 3! Where the flying f#&* is the team? Where are the score reports? Where is the captain? What is the story on iiii's hand? Have the bones set?

Play, motherf#&*ers, play! Post, motherf#&*ers, post! Those of us who live through the vicarious pleasure of your matches are feeling the joy of life leave us....

Going to the Windies

2007-03-12T05:18:00.000-12:00

hello one and all........heres a world cup song for all you cricket fans.......hopefully you'll all be singing this by the time the 28th of april comes around and we bring the cup home......since its a drinking song as well as a drunken song it'll will be best appreciated a few rums down.....we'll all be needing plenty of that over the next month and a half anyway.........so people sing it aloud, teach it to your friends, send it to your friends and of course,get a bit more plastered.....also thought it would be nice if you guys shoot some videos of drunken fans tripping on the game (and of course the song)......would be ideal when groups of you get together and watch a game.......send me the footage and hopefully we'll have a decent amount of footage to edit a nice video.........you can pass on this info to all the other people you may pass this onto......the more the merrier........
Here are the lyrics(written by anand) in case you cant figure out some of the words(its a drunken song...remember!)
anyway thats that for now......cheers and enjoy the cricket....may the best team win(and that reads India)!!

Heres the song.......www.musicfromtheplace.com/going to the windies.mp3

GOING TO THE WINDIES

We're here to play some cricket,
tell our opponents to stick it,
so you'd better buy some tickets
because this is where you want to be.

We're praying and we're hoping.
With injuries we're coping.
We strongly deny doping.
Because this is where we want to be.

We're playing for our nations.
For our reputations.
Considering amputations.
There's no place that we'd rather be.

We're going to the windies. We're going to the windies.
Now that we're in it, we may as well try to win it.

We're going to the windies. The beautiful west Indies.
There'll be winnin and a losin. Dancin' and a boozin.

We want to be victorious
But uncertainty's glorious.
We're true-blue cricket warriors
Where else could we want to be?

We'll inspect the pitches
and the trini posse bitches
We'll hope for close finishes
This will be the place to be.

We're here to bowl our Jaffas.
Hit the ball into the rafters.
Fill the ICC's old coffers.
It's where everyone is going to be

We're going to the windies. We're going to the windies.
Now that we're in it, we may as well try to win it.

We're going to the windies. The beautiful west Indies.
There'll be winnin and a losin. Dancin' and a boozin.

I had to do this...

2006-12-03T20:55:00.000-12:00

I do not know when Rahul Dravid scored his first century. Or where Bai hit those three centuries in a row on debut. Or even who RR Singh is. I am a big fan though. And when Ravi Shastri grandly announced that the ODI at Durban was the most spineless batting display he had ever seen, my nostrils flared.

It really got my goat that minus that instinctive reaction I had nothing else on Shastri. So I looked around.

India’s string of lowest ODI totals runs as follows: 54, 63, 78, 79, 91, 100, 100, 108, 108, 112 and 113.

In that happy little list is a game against a pre-Sanath Sri Lanka where, chasing a total of 195, Kapil’s Devils crashed to a humiliating 78 all out in just 24.4 overs. In spite of a fighting 8 of 11 balls by, you guessed it, Ravi Shastri. Oh, and this was not in one of those fast, bouncy, we’re-not-used-this type of pitches. It was in Kanpur - a ground where the Indian team holds the record for highest ODI total. In fact it was on that dull lifeless wicket that Azharuddin hit the third of those three consecutive centuries. Cricinfo rocks.

My nostrils are good enough for me but for those of you who are into number talk, I hope this bit of trivia helps.

Peace.

Straight Talk from Pak

2006-11-12T18:16:00.000-12:00

Mohammed Yousuf (Joseph John to friends) to Cricinfo:

"I don't support this at all. Wickets should be tougher, there should be enough in them for everyone. Batsmen are too dominant. The ideal pitch should have bounce at least, like there is in Brisbane which is one the best pitches." Mohali, he argued, was different altogether. "No batsmen can play well on pitches with too much grass, like there was at Mohali. Even Jacques Kallis said he hadn't seen a pitch like that before."

Is it even imaginable that limited overs international cricket can actually be a contest between bat and ball, instead of between bat and bat? Was the Champions Trophy merely a showcase of substandard pitches, or a spotlight on technical inadequacies of "international calibre" batsmen? Can a low-scoring, bowler-dominated contest actually be as interesting as fetching balls from boundaries and stands?

Thoughts?

Can you believe it?

2006-10-16T05:57:00.000-12:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends all around the world,

Most of you may not have noticed this, and i only just did. But exactly one year ago today, the #3 journey began with our first match at Teachers B.

That's right folks, one whole year. You better believe it. 21 matches, with 6 wins.

You've all read my thoughts throughout this one year. So with a heartfelt thank you to all those who play for us, follow us, support us,read this blog, and even come in as last minute replacements and field for us, I'll leave it to you to share yours.

#3 rocks!

Season 3, Game 1 – Here we go again

2006-10-16T05:33:00.000-12:00

Number 3 vs VistaSoft.
YMCA ‘A’, 1 October 2006.

VistaSoft 131 for 7 (Sriram 3 wk) lost to #3 132 for 5 (Indrabeer 21*, Mogee 20) by 5 wkts.

Ok, so on to Season 3 with all due speed. What will it bring? A rather different line up, for starters. Lex has moved to Bangalore, Vik’s got back issues, and Joy is also unavailable for the early part of the season at least. And Kishore, too was unavailable for this one. One positive was that Mohan, Sriram’s friend from a couple of earlier games had expressed his desire to be a part of #3 on a regular basis, and was even going to come for nets et al. A good scene, as was only reconfirmed by the events of this game. So Anand, Kabir and Mohan were all in, which in addition to Sriram, Kataan and Bulavar considerably raised the cricketing pedigree of the side, giving us a rather formidable batting line up.

The first game of the season was going to be at YMCA, a ground where our track record had been dismal but had also since become the home of our regular nets. So what was it going to be? To the complete surprise of absolutely no one, we lost the toss. The only plus of this was that Anand went out for it this time, and came back saying that now he well and truly knew that he was an integral part of #3, as he had completed his toss losing duties as well. That said, he took the new ball and settled into a nice spell, but for a few wides. Tony shared the new ball and things drifted along for a bit, before the first breakthrough came. The fielding had generally been tight, and a leg side wide from Anand (which he obviously later declared as intentional!!) was well fielded by Kabir and Tony in tandem. Tony whipped the ball in, and Bulavar caught one of the openers well short.

The second wicket partnership kept going for a while, without really getting away from us. But even though the rate was under control, we needed to pick up a second wicket as the remaining opener was setting himself for a long one. The wicket also came about by way of a run out, but it was a bowler who created it. Mogee (that’s Mohan to the uninitiated) had arrived late and was given the ball at first change and proceeded to work up such a pace that the one drop batsman was scrambling to get off strike. Venkat duly pounced on this uncertainty with a rifled throw to the keeper who completed the formalities. One further incident of note was when Ramesh came on to bowl…. He was on a hat trick, from the last game, remember? What’s more he even induced an edge of his first ball, but I couldn’t react fast enough at slip, denying him the hat trick. He didn’t really find his rhythm after that and by drinks we had only picked up the two wickets.

But directly after drinks, the final blow was delivered. The one guy who could really play, the opener, played one down to fine leg that he thought was four, and was just ambling to the other end. But it wasn’t a four, the ball was fielded and thrown to Bulavar who just rolled it in towards the non striker’s end , but amazingly caught him short of his ground. It was an extremely silly dismissal and we reined things back considerably after that, and they finished on 131 for 7 with Sriram picking up three.

A reasonable target to chase, as Anand and Bulavar went out to open. They started off ok, as the opposition bowling didn’t look too threatening and they fed us a steady supply of extras. But Bulavar soon played a poor shot and Anand too was dismissed by one that crept along the deck. A pity, he was really timing it nicely and looked good for a big one. Venkat also played a rather poor shot, and when Kataan too was out, things were just a little tense at 50 odd for 4. But Indrabeer was in by this time and played an innings that ought to serve as an example to many of us. He kept his cool, displayed excellent temperament, and casually milked the bowling for singles. He was joined by Mohan, who took the other route and smashed it about. One straight four off his bat was enough for Anand to sit back and pronounce the game won, even though there were still over fifty runs to get. He was proved right though, as Mohan smashed a couple more before getting out which then paved the way for Sriram to enter and after picking up a few singles, he finished the game off with a powerful six. A rather comprehensive win, greatly aided by the 47 extras the opposition conceded.

That being that, it was left to Beer to walk off the pitch, raise his bat, and ask us all with his characteristically bemused expression what the fuss was all about…. We were always going to win it, right? To him, we have only this to say: Beer, beer, indrabeer, kundrabeer, badamgeer, dilleku!!!!

In season 3, Game 1, #3 was: Narahoo (c), Kataan, Hui, Druck, Bulavar (wk), Jubbs, Mogee, Indrabeer, Venkat and Anand.

Season Two Wrap Up

2006-09-29T03:10:00.000-12:00

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

2006-09-26T05:14:00.001-12:00

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

2006-09-22T00:46:00.000-12:00

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

2006-09-07T22:24:00.000-12:00

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

2006-09-07T00:06:00.000-12:00

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).

houston?

2006-08-23T11:45:00.001-12:00

houston? are you there?

ok, this is purely an experimental post, dear readers... kindly bear with me, and if this works, I promise you no more long silences of the sort recently experienced.

We are surely good!

2006-07-26T16:20:00.000-12:00

Take a look at this article and feel good about our performances to date...

http://in.rediff.com/cricket/2006/jul/26ducks.htm

- narahoo

Season 2, Game 5 – Tough Match.

2006-06-29T06:26:00.000-12:00

Number 3 vs Nava Durga CC.
Loyola ‘B’, 25 June 2006.

#3 142 for 8 (Sriram 43, Jubbs 40) lost to Nava Durga CC 143 for 6 (Joy 3 wk, Sriram 2 wk) by 4 wickets.

We’re really getting better. Really. This couldn’t have been better demonstrated than in this game, the fifth of our second season. With most of the games we’ve played until now (with the notable exception of the lawyers), the script would actually become pretty obvious to us by about the fifth over of the match. We’d very quickly know how we measured up against the opposition, and would also know whether we’d win or lose, and even by roughly what sort of a margin. And, allowing for a few twists along the way, we’d inevitably be right. Not any more. After this, we know we’re always in with a chance.

Another feature of this one was the welcome return to fitness and action of Tayne. Ya, he’d played a game in Kodi, but the whole atmosphere and weather conditions there were so favourable, that it wasn’t really the harshest of tests. This was the real thing, blazing heat and all. And he came through it with flying colours. Some bowling in the nets, and a valuable all round player is back in action. The unavailability of Bulavar meant a return to keeping duties for me as well.

Won the toss again, which is getting to be very pleasant thing, especially as batting first is by far the better option in this league. As it is in most forms of the game, runs on the board and all that jazz. No Bulavar, no Anand, no Venkat. So no opener, and a slightly weakened batting order. Sriram decided to keep himself in the middle order and went back to one of our original opening options, Jubbs, along with Ramesh. This proved to be an inspired decision, as he gabbed his opportunity with both hands. Late arrivals meant that the opposition took the field with just seven players for the first few overs, but we were unable to capitalize, as their opening bowlers confirmed our initial impression that this was an experienced and capable team. They kept it on a very steady line, and occasionally got surprising lift off a length. The score had crawled along to about 10 runs in six overs, and the lack of scoring had gotten the better of Ramesh who played on, and things were looking pretty bleak as Narahoo went in. As usual, this was the cue for the turnaround, with around 25 coming off two overs. With Jubbs providing solid support, they moved the score along from two an over to five an over by drinks. Sriram tried to really turn it on after drinks, but was bowled for 43 just as he was getting down to it. Kishore walked in and played his mandatory Azhar-esque flick for four, and any fears of a slow down were banished by iii who slammed three successive fours in a subsequent over. By the time he was bowled, for an excellent 40, he was so tired he could hardly stand and spent a little time wandering around in a disoriented circle near the square leg umpire while the opposition waited patiently for him to take strike. Late runs by Rajesh and Joy took us to a competitive 142 for 8 in the 25 overs bowled.

The opposition seemed pretty cocky at the break, giving the impression that batting was their strong suit. They were talking amidst themselves that they’d walk it, with one guy in particular assuming the role of the senior batsman. We walked out determined to make them at least fight for it.

Vik’s opening spell was tight and in his second over, he induced an edge that I safely pouched behind the stumps. A great start! And Sriram, who opened with his off spinners again picked up the main man in the opposition, who was looking ominously relaxed, getting one to rip back into middle stump. The next guy played a few shots too, but succumbed to Sriram’s straighter one, trapped pretty plumb in front. Unfortunately, Vik was cramping up badly and his fourth over went for plenty. Joy immediately came on from his end, picked up the opener with a nasty lifter that looped to Tayne at gully, and Sriram continued wheeling away at the other end. The score was mounting, but the wickets were tumbling too. If not for too many misfields, which were heavily punished by the very rapid outfield, we’d have restricted them even further. A couple of dropped chances didn’t help the skipper’s blood pressure either. At drinks, we felt we were still in it, if only we could pick up a couple more quickly.

I flubbed a run out opportunity to end what ultimately proved a vital fifth wicket partnership, and they raced closer to the target. Suddenly, Joy pulled it back, breaking the partnership and then shattering the next man’s stumps with a superb inswinger. We were right back in it. But in the end the misfields and chances proved costly, as we just didn’t have enough runs to afford the mistakes. Even the skipper put one down towards the close, ending the day on a note of what might have been, as they gratefully scampered the winning runs. We left the field with heads held high, having given a very good team a real run for the money. The diasappointment at not pulling off the win only served as notice of how far we’ve come as a team. Rock on, #3.

#3 was supported at the ground, for the first time in its history, by absolutely no one. Pity, all you guys. You missed a great game.

In season2, Game 5, #3 was: Narahoo (c), Kataan, Joy, Hui, Druck (wk), Jubbs, Kishore, Vik, Tony, Lex and Narendra.

Season 2, Game 4 – Gotta love it.

2006-06-23T00:54:00.000-12:00

Number 3 vs Philips CC.
Loyola ‘A’, 17 June 2006.

#3 143 for 7 (Kataan 28, Sriram 24, Bulavar 23) beat Philips CC 67 all out (Vik 5 wk, Sriram 4 wk) by 76 runs.

Remember Game 1 of the second season? Well, if you do, I might as well save myself the trouble of writing this report. Following what was an almost identical script, #3 brushed off the rustiness and turned in a tight, relentless performance that led to our second win in four games this season. At the midpoint, (this season consisting of only eight games) and a 50% record. Way to go.

Number 16 proved the unlucky one for Kishore, as he missed his first game since the inception of No.3, making way for the return of Narendra. At least we had some continuity in terms of the overall appearance of the team ;-)

At he ground, it all started with the rarest of rare occurrences, winning the toss and batting first. Continuing the desperate experiments, Bulavar went out for the toss, proving the lucky charm this time. He’ll have to do it several more times before we’re convinced, though, such are the scars. Having won the toss, he padded up to open with Anand and again, one of the opening bowlers marked out a really long run up. Perhaps another quick of the level we’d faced in the last game? Within three balls, he had demonstrated that the most serious implication of his long run up was how tired he was going to get, serving up four wides in his first over, and being easily picked off for runs whenever he did manage to get it on target. The other bowler wasn’t much better, and the batsmen back in the hut were licking their lips and queuing up to have a go. Anand sadly was so excited by what was on offer that he played across the line too early and was bowled, but Sriram wasn’t about to let this one go by. He continued his superb form from the last match and was soon stroking it silkily all over the park, adding some powerful blows to the mix every now and then. He raced along to the mid twenties, before succumbing to a poor stroke, edging one behind. We now had a platform on which Ramesh and Bulavar could build and build they did, Ramesh with increasing rhythm and Bulavar grinding it out.

By drinks, it was obvious that we weren’t going to receive the full 30 overs and so the instruction was that with wickets in hand, we needed to push it along. Bulavar went first, for a rather scratchy but valuable 23 and Venkat and Ramesh also fell trying to push the scoring along. Narendra Joy and I ensured that the momentum was not lost wirth some hard running (we even stole a bye to the keeper off the last ball, what fun) and we finished at 143 for 7 off 27 overs.

It was in the field, though, that the party truly began. Vik bowled the first over as usual, and induced an edge that Bulavar unfortunately put down. And Sriram bowled himself at the other end, opening with off spin a la Dipak Patel all those years ago. Again, a missed stumping by Bulavar, and we were a little tense as a couple of boundaries flew off the openers’ bats. But that was about all the opposition were going to get their way. Vik bowled unchanged for eight overs and Sriram for seven. And it was good stuff too. Vik bent the ball both ways and dropped it on a dime pretty much at will on his way to a five wicket haul, including two wickets off successive balls, leading to two slips, a gully and a point for the hat trick ball. By the end, he was bowling with only one fielder in front of the wicket, a mid off, like the famous West Indians of yore. Stirring stuff.

Sriram proved to have the Midas touch today, as bowler and captain. He matched Vik over for over and wicket for wicket. Bowling with a nice loop and sharp turn even with the new ball, he tied the batsmen in knots. Bulavar made amends with one sharp catch and a stumping, a field change produced a catch at the very spot two balls later and I even held my first catch at slip, confirming that nothing could possibly go wrong today. At the end of the 15 over opening spell, we had them 49 for 9. Perhaps the best indication of our total dominance was the fact that the second half of our new ball attack, Joy, bowled his first delivery in over no.19. And that first delivery was all he needed, searing one in at yorker length to pick up an lbw and wrap the match up at 67 all out. Gotta love these corporate teams. And with a beach house party planned for the Sunday, life just couldn’t be better.

P.S.- Continuing with this new sporting Avatar of bikang, the beach house party was highly football dominated.. Pl check out the pics on the bikang blog. Who are these guys?

#3 was supported at the ground by the sudden appearance of Bawb, providing company, commentary and assistance in scoring.

In season2, Game 3, #3 was: Anand, Bulavar (wk), Narahoo (c), Joy, Hui, Druck, Jubbs, Venkat, Vik, Lex and Narendra.

For posterity - and bragging rights

2006-06-20T09:06:00.001-12:00

Ladies and gents,

We the good folk at the BCCB have begun to compile the batting, bowling and fielding stats for #3 games, beginning with season 2. We're using a tool called google spreadsheets to share this with the world.

If you cast your eyes to the top of the sidebar on the right of this blog, you will notice a new link there called player statistics. Clicking on this will take you to a google accounts login page (any email will do to create a login but if you already have a gmail account you can just use that). You should then be directed to the spreadsheet, which has separate tabs for batting and bowling/fielding stats.

You may however need an invite from me to view it (I'm still figuring this out). If it says so, pl tell me the e-mail id you've used to create your google account by way of comment to this post, and i'll send it right along.

If there's a simpler way to do this, I'm listening. The stats will be updated after each match report. Right now, the stats are actually one game ahead, beacuse the report for Game 4 isn't up yet, but i should sort that out by tomorrow.

bees.

Season 2, Game 3 – A Jolly but Disappointing Encounter

2006-06-20T09:03:00.000-12:00

Number 3 vs Agasha Group.
Loyola ‘B’, 11 June 2006.

Agasha Group 219 for 7 (Hui 3 wk, Joy 2 wk) beat #3 158 for 8 (Joy 36*, Jubbs 32*, Sriram 25) by 61 runs.

Yet another build up marked by selection problems, but this time at the opposite (and worse) end of the scale. From problems of plenty to acute player shortage in the matter of two weeks, with reasons of work, travel and illness rendering Kataan, Narendra, Tony, Lex, Beer and even Arjun unavailable. So this game saw the addition of yet another player to the #3 fold, Sriram’s pal Mohan, a chap who has quite some cricketing experience behind him. Even so, only ten players assembled at Loyola by the appointed time, with Hui assuring us he’d make it as soon as he could.

Our best strategy obviously would be to win the toss and bat first, giving Hui two further hours to get there. Since we don’t win tosses as a matter of policy, however, that was out of the question, and we started the game taking the field with a man short. And continued from the last game in displaying rustiness in the field. Several wides in the first few overs from Vik and Mohan saw the score rattle along, and the openers were also demonstrating that they rather knew what they were doing. A steady flow of boundaries soon spread the field, and the fielding standards dropped. Even the normally reliable Jubbs put one down in the deep, and Vik rearranging one of the openers’ stumps was a welcome relief. The wides had stopped, but by this time, the ground fielding had touched some abysmal lows, enabling the one drop to just tip and run, feeding the strike to the remaining opener who smoothly progressed to a fifty. We went into to drinks having taken only the one wicket, and Sriram let us have it about the fielding. Almost everyone had messed up simple stops, with many of the balls going for boundaries. We had easily conceded over 30 runs more than we should have, and in 15 overs, that’s a lot of runs. Joy was bowling a tidy spell from one end, and he continued after the drinks break, and ended up bowling his 8 overs on the trot. Mohan took one sharp diving catch off Joy’s bowling after drinks, but runs flowed from the other end, Kishore having been expensive, and Sriram too unable to check the run flow though he did manage to dismiss the opener. Hui had arrived by now, and he was given another decently long spell after the last game. The opposing batsmen seemed determined to give Jubbs some catching practice, consistently picking him out with aerial heaves. He obliged by catching three and Hui turned in his best match haul for #3. But the runs flowed and we were left staring at 219 for 7 in 30 overs. The opposing team proved to be a jolly bunch though, not averse to having a word and a laugh and in particular keeping a steady stream of snide comments going at one of their own batsmen, every time he played a ball.

Anand and Bulavar opened, but our usually reliable opening pair didn’t fire this time, and Venkat was in early. He was displaying some nice form on the speedy Loyola outfield, and when Sriram joined him at the fall of Bulavar’s wicket, we were treated to some quality batting. The opposition’s response was to bring on a new bowler, a chap named Madan, who marked out a run up that was significantly longer than his predecessor’s. Sriram, who was on strike, watched as the keeper took several steps backward, and face up to some genuinely quick, accurate and hostile bowling. He lapped it up, and produced some rasping strokes square of the wicket on the off side, threading the needle even when they placed three men in a ring square on the off. Shades of Ganguly, all economy of movement and pure timing. The bowler responded with typical fast bowler’s aggression and we were being treated to quite a contest. In his third over, Madan produced the best delivery that’s been bowled at #3 in it’s short history and unfortunately it was to Sriram, and cut short an innings of immense potential. It reared up off a perfect length at tremendous pace and flicked the glove on it’s way to the keeper. Too good. We later learned that this young turk bowls for a first division team, and could certainly believe it.

Venkat’s rather promising innings ended in an lbw decision, and Madan then tore one past Kishore’s defences and the game seemed up. I survived a couple of his further overs, even taking a four off him and then wasted all that by getting out to a really dibbly dobbly spinner whose delivery took so long to reach me that I went through about four options in my mind before settling on a ridiculous swipe across the line. A terrible dismissal. But it did bring Jubbs and Joy together for a superb partnership. They started by smashing the spinners who were on at the time, and then handled everything the opposition threw at them, even a second spell from the fiery Madan. Jubbs even shimmied down the track and made to pull, but sadly didn’t connect well. They rained boundaries and even sixes, and though the target was well out of reach, remained unbeaten having taken the score to a very respectable 158 for 8 off 30 overs. Or maybe 32 or 33. By our count, more than a couple of extra overs were bowled, but no one was complaining. We were having a lot of fun watching and yelling at Jubbs to ground his bat.

The post match handshakes were full of joking and banter and bonding between the teams and we were all in a good mood. But somewhere, the nagging feeling that we were under performing, and mounting irritation at the lack of practice is certainly building up. We need a win, having gotten a taste of it a couple of times.

#3 was supported at the ground by Lodd, who left early, and the Wretch, who came late and really didn’t enjoy the sound of pigs being slaughtered. I tell you, the hazards fans have to face these days…Lex was there too, and drew inspiration from Madan to bowl faster in his next game.

In season2, Game 3, #3 was: Anand, Bulavar (wk), Narahoo (c), Kishore, Joy, Hui, Druck, Jubbs, Venkat, Vik and Mohan.

Day 1

2006-06-18T13:35:00.000-12:00

Distance: 51 miles (81 km)
Time: 4 1/2 hours
Top speed: 43 mph (68.8 kmph)
Punctures: 1
Beers: 1 1/2
Rum and coke: 3
Death: complete

Season 2, Game 2 – Seaside Rendezvous

2006-06-17T10:24:00.000-12:00

Number 3 vs Young Stars CC.
Marina ground, 28 May 2006.

Young Stars CC 167 for 9 (Ramesh 3 wk, Hui 2 wk, Narendra 2 wk) beat #3 134 all out (Druck 31, Bulavar 24, Anand 20) by 33 runs.

With a game so soon after our return from Kodi, there was bound to be a tour hangover. I’m not referring to us, but to the weather and surroundings. An afternoon game in Chennai in May is a scary prospect, but this one was played out in almost English conditions. Cloudy skies, a stiff breeze, end even a steady drizzle coming down at one point. A touch of the Caribbean was provided too, by the proximity of the sea, as the ground was just across the road from Marina beach.

We thought we were going to be playing Burma Bazaar CC, and were more than thrilled at the prospect, but the organizer let us down in the end, foisting a team called Young Stars upon us, who upon examination proved to be neither young, nor stars of any kind. Their captain, in particular, was a notably joyless individual, who was easily the surliest opponent we’ve faced in the league.

Another lost toss, and we were in the field as usual. Vik’s unavailability for this game saw Joy and Lex take the new ball, but the lack of nets and the hectic schedule began to tell in this game, I think. Quite a few wides, some misfields, and one boundary ball per over were frustrating the captain no end. Dropped catches saw the openers get a couple of reprieves, including two by me at slip and then Joy picked up one early wicket. The one drop batsman and the other opener then began to take advantage of our generosity in earnest. The one drop in particular looked good, and was turning it on, and by the drinks break things were looking pretty bleak. Narendra and Ramesh had taken over by now, and after Narendra turned in a good-in-parts kind of spell, picking up a wicket but being a bit wayward, he was replaced by Hornie. This was the point that things started to happen for us, Ramesh wheeling away at one end as usual and Hui bowling his longest spell for #3. Two run outs sparked things off, and Hui picked up two and could have had several more. But extras and boundary balls saw to it that even though we picked up wickets, the run rate didn’t fall critically, and we were chasing 167 for 9 in 27 overs. Desperate efforts to take the last wicket so that we’d have the full 30 to play proved fruitless. Still, the mood at the break was that we had a chance.

The opening pair of Anand and Bulavar was reunited, and started off quite well, with Anand in particular looking quite good. The score was moving along quite rapidly, well in touch with the asking rate. But as the bowlers slowed things down, and a steady drizzle started to fall, they started to get bogged down. The frustration built up, and told on Anand who was dismissed trying to pick things up. Sriram and Kataan didn’t fare much better, and both of them as well as Bulavar were dismissed, Bulavar to an lbw decision he didn’t particularly appreciate, but he did play across the line. All the major batsmen gone, and the asking rate well out of reach.

Hopes of victory had now receded, but Jubbs and I put a bit of a partnership together, and suddenly there was Sriram coming on to the field, telling us we needed 60 off 6 overs, and there was an outside chance. Sadly, wickets tumbled in the attempted slog/chase and I was last man out for 31, having only managed to get us in touch, but still over 30 runs away. A disappointing performance, really, and one that reminded us of how big a part nets had played in the rise of #3.

#3 was supported at the ground by the Lodd, dutifully clad in team T-Shirt, and a few clueless golts.

In season2, Game 2, #3 was: Anand, Ramesh, Bulavar (wk), Druck, Narahoo (c), Kishore, Joy, Narendra, Hui, Lex and iiii.

#3's tour of Kodai - The last day

2006-06-04T08:15:00.000-12:00

The mandatory seven roads trip was carried out on the final day, the monday. Weekend over, the streets were safe again and we took full advantage of it with a leisurely walk up the slope and into town. We discussed various options of what we wanted to do, but the choice was no problem. There is a bar, on the road leading up from Taj Villa, we learned, and we set course for it straightaway. Quite a pleasant place, with an assamese bartender and a monitor lizard on the wall (only the lizard on the wall, not the bartender). Sank a few beers and went back to Tibetan Bros. for lunch, did our shopping (chocolates for the most part) and it was back to the lodge to pack for the trip down.The brotherhood of fruit buyers (Lex, self and hui) was initiated

How unlike normalcy the whole trip was (the fact that it happened at all, i mean) was perfectly illustrated on the drive down, as we asked the van driver to play whatever music he had. He played a live album of The Grateful Dead. So with Jerry Garcia for company, we drove down the hill, unleashed the fruit brigade on the town of Oothu, and reached Kodai road well in time. A fond goodbye to Sundar Anna, as we comfirmed with him that he would come down to Chennai and play one game for #3 this season. Watch out for that one, folks.

With no politician's funeral happening, we got our berths etc. with no trouble at all, and had a peaceful ride home. One clap for the whole damn thing. And let us leave the last word to Hui, who on seeing self standing with guitar, luggage and a small cloth bag said : "Look. A rock star, returning home with his fruits."

More Kodi Photos

2006-06-01T02:56:00.000-12:00

More photos - from Jake this time. Very key.

click here.

requires you to register, sign in etc, but worth the blade.

#3's tour of Kodai - Day 2

2006-05-31T17:57:00.000-12:00

Day 2 - 21/05/2006

One thing that completely permeated every aspect of the tour was “the Upendra factor”. If we thought the boys from Katpadi constituted a fan club for Narendra, they couldn’t hold a candle to the entire town of Kodaikanal. And add the presence of Deepa (“Anu” to Kolangal watchers) and you’ve got screaming fans lining the streets. Well, almost. From Sundar Anna, to the opposing team members, to the owners of the house, to the teachers at Sriram’s school, to the general public, they all wanted a piece of the action. The pair of them got stared at, pointed at, and were dragged off to be photographed everywhere they went. The lady who cooked and kept house for us even got a large contingent of her family to dress up and come over for the photo op. The small screen certainly makes stars down here, and don’t let anyone tell you different. God help us all.

Woke up, showered (well, some of us did), pulled on soiled uniforms and we were ready to set out. Hui naturally came in to the XI, but who was to be left out? Well, Palanivel Rajan had taken care of part of the problem. Turned out Anand wasn’t allowed anywhere near the train the previous night as pretty much the entire DMK from Chennai was traveling to his funeral. No Anand, then, sadly. And what Palanival Rajan had started, Tony finished. Even a nuclear explosion couldn’t have gotten him out of bed after the revelry of the previous night, and we left the room with exactly eleven players. Problem solved. Incidentally, he never did turn up at the ground and we later learned that he only woke up at three in the afternoon.

I suppose I do have to report on the game, don’t I? This was a cricket tour, and this is a cicket blog. Ok, ok, here it is. But it wasn’t pretty. As agreed, the toss was academic and we put them in. Sundar Anna walked out to open, along with the top scorer from yesterday. Vik and Joy actually bowled rather well, but it made no difference whatsoever. They spent the first couple of overs running sharp singles, but then the boundaries began. In his second or third over, Vik, our best bowler, bowled one on a nice length, swinging slightly away and Sundar Anna calmly moved on to the front foot and sent it sailing over his head for six. Vik started clapping even before he had completed his follow through, and fears of that century were becoming very, very real.

Joy however provided a double breakthrough. He got Sundar Anna lbw (attempting and missing a rather ambitious shot) and one more, yet another ‘sitter’ by iii (kneeler, actually). Upendra followed up with one in his first over, and at 67 for 3, even given the high run rate, we were doing spectacularly well. That was as good as it got. The fourth wicket partnership tore into us. They started by consolidating and picking up the singles, before slamming Narendra and Lex for a few. By the time the spinners came on, they were ready. They hammered anything and everything to all parts, and if not for the unique outfield limitations, they would have got even more. We reverted to the quicks, with Vik in particular bowling a fine second spell, and we started picking up wickets as the slog was on. But when the no.10 batsman walks in and plays an exquisite cover drive off his first ball, you sort of know you’re outclassed. Hui came on to bowl the last over, and promptly produced the best over he’s bowled for #3, hitting almost perfect lengths. His fifth ball looped nicely, dropped on a dime, spun past the batsman’s swinging blade and knocked middle out of the ground. It was a thing of beauty, and a rare high for us. They didn’t even bother sending a batsman out for the last ball, and finished on 230 for 9 in one ball short of 30 overs, with one guy getting 89.

Sriram and Ramesh opened, our only chance of making something happen. The bowler bowing the second over started with two wide deliveries, bowled one legal ball and then bowled six more wides on the trot. But he’d done more than enough with that one ball, because it induced an edge off Sriram’s bat that was safely taken at slip. Ramesh was bowled early on as well, and on that outfield, the game was pretty much up. Hui was promoted as a pich hitter and completed a decent match for himself by hanging around and not looking totally out of depth. Kishore, batting with a runner, and Indrabeer were the only two who had anything close to a decent tour with the bat across both matches and got a few runs, but it was dismal overall, really. The main highlight being that when iiii walked out with a runner as well, Kishore was still in. So, two batsmen, two runners, and superb confusion all around. It was a hoot. In the end, we didn’t even last the distance, being bowled out for 77 well within our quota of overs. Much happiness and photography followed, and we were off, promising we’d be back, and that we’d put up a better show next time.

Lunch at the school again, but no meditation point chilling this time, as half the guys were headed back to Chennai on the night train. The specter of rain had loomed large over both matches, but as with all other things, it just fit neatly into place it stayed away just long enough began to gently drizzle as we completed lunch and made for some enjoyable rain football post lunch. By the time we got back, batch 1 was all packed and ready to go. Good byes and last minute upendra snaps done, they were off. They apparently had a fun drive down, but I’ll leave it to someone else (Wretch? Beer?) to write about that.

Booze scored by Tony this time. He had to do something, we weren’t going to let him spend an entire day chilling without leaving the room. A more chilled but equally enjoyable night, where we were entertained by the truly inimitable T Rajendar among others (somebody post the youtube links, these guys need to see that shit). But as the evening wore on, we realized that the late Palanivel Rajan wasn’t done with us. Frantric phone calls were flying between Kodai Rd, Kodai and Chennai as we realized the tickets for these guys weren’t confirmed and the rush of politicos meant that the EQ scene was also tough. Classic ‘call Kishore’s mom’ scenes ensued and all the guys finally got berths, though on the next train which was a couple of hours later. They passed the time cutting at the station, I’m told, so all’s well that ends well, I suppose.

#3's tour of Kodai - Day 1

2006-05-30T00:24:00.000-12:00

Day 1 - 20/05/2006

Woke up bleary eyed, shaking off the mists of sleep in a hurry with Sriram’s warning that the train would stop at Kodai Road for just two minutes hanging heavy over our heads. Having woken up, we then learned that the train was about an hour late. As we were to later discover, the cause of the white dhoti brigade, newly elected DMK MLA Mr.Palanivel Rajan was on the same train as us and had suffered a heart attack somewhere before Dindigul, leading to the delay while this emergency was attended to. He later succumbed to the attack, may his soul RIP. This unfortunate event was to affect our tour in unanticipated ways, but more on that later.

Disembarked at Kodai Rd. without any hassles, piled into the van and set off up the hill. I can say without hesitation that it was by far the least intoxicated ride up that hill that any bikganger has ever undertaken, with even cigarettes being banned by the rather stiff van guy. This didn’t dampen the enthu, though several people used the van drive as an opportunity to catch up on more sleep, and as we were already late we reached our destination without stopping anywhere significant. Got down from the van, picked up our luggage, and then we saw it. The Slope. A 300 metre stretch that from that moment on punctuated every decision we made regarding leaving the room and returning to it. It pretty much ensured that if we left and returned once in a day, wild horses couldn’t drag us out again. All thoughts of quickly nipping down to seven roads etc. were banished.

The first trek to the house was downward, but we knew full well that we’d be coming back up, with the kit, in about an hour’s time. Oh well, what the hell, we set off. On the way we saw one lodge where we hoped we’d be staying. That’s because it was called Babes Palace. I kid you not, Babes Palace. It wasn’t where we were staying though, we were staying further down the dreaded slope in an independent house. Initially we went in the ground floor and stashed our bags in a couple of rather run down looking rooms, and some rather nervous glances were exchanged. Soon, however, the upstairs floor was cleared and we moved into three rooms and a hall that lifted spirits a bit. We had the run of the place, and once we were supplied with some nice tea and idlis for breakfast, we changed into our brand new team uniforms and set off up the damned slope again. We had made the acquaintance of Sriram’s coach and our host for the trip, Sundar Anna. He let us know we were really late by this point, as we had to finish the game by a certain time and peak season traffic in Kodai didn’t help. A mixture of cabs and bikes finally got us to our Captain’s alma mater, Bhavan’s Gandhi Vidyashram. We entered a picturesque little ground, dotted with trees on one side and with a road running on the other. The pavilion actually had tree trunks and logs for seating, apart from a few stone benches. The outfield was very heavy though, and had a stream (canal? gutter?) running around it. There was even a ditch on one side of the wicket that counted for 2 runs if the ball got stuck in there (remember 2s rule on top T?). Boundary hitting here was definitely going to be a problem for us. Not so for them, as we soon found out.

We met the opposition, lost the toss (which was not filmed in any way whatsoever) and fielded first. Tony played in this game, a welcome comeback from injury, and Hui sat it out. Vik and Joy shared the new ball, and the first few overs reminded me how long it had been since I had kept wickets. Improved a bit later, but Bulavar was missed. We started off ok, then we dropped a couple, with Narendra and Ramesh failing to get the measure of things and the openers made us pay. Anything marginally short was powerfully dispatched, and the score rattled along. Lex came on replacing Joy and bowled some nice tight stuff, picking up one opener and inducing an edge from their one drop which I held. At the other end, the old fox Narendra had also picked one up, with Joy breaking our jinx by holding a skier. But repeated trips to the boundary and into the water was making the ball heavier and more slippery, and our spin attack, so often our trump card, was rendered ineffective. This was to prove decisive in both games, as we failed to check the run scoring even though we did pick up several more wickets. Sriram in particular managed to get several of their batsman holing out in the deep. Tony made amends for a dropped catch by getting rid of their top scorer, one of the openers, with an almost identical catch, and they finished up at 168 for 9 off 25 overs. The only other incident of note in the field involved, inevitably, iii. A cracking pull shot dipped on him at deep square leg, and made full on contact with his knee, producing a sharp knocking sound and leaving him on the floor in agony. We feared the worst, but thank heavens, he was hobbling about again in a bit and even took the field. Trust iii to sit still.

Special mention must also be made here of the cheering squad, led admirably by Jake. Her voice screaming “we want another one….” is still ringing in my ears, and she’s certainly putting in an early bid for the fan award for season 2. And she doesn’t even live in Chennai.

When our turn to bat came, Ramesh padded up with Indrabeer, who finally, in his fourth game for #3, got a chance to bat. And he looked easily the more comfortable of the two, a testament both to his good play and to Ramesh’s uncharacteristically scratchy effort. Ramesh was dismissed early, and Kishore at one down continued his good form from the Loyola game. Beer was also dismissed after an innings that clearly established him as a potent batting weapon for #3 in the future, but the outfield told on us, and inability to find the boundaries meant the asking rate climbed rapidly. Sriram went in at four, as usual timed it sweetly, and struck one mighty six. But his next attempt stayed within the field of play and was well caught. We had to try to score heavily and as a result lost wickets regularly until Joy walked in and played a bit of a blinder, cracking several boundaries to finish on 18 not out, our top score. One six zoned in on a van parked on the adjoining road and broke a window. Luckily no one was hurt, but by the time we finished (90 for 9 off 25, for the record) the van guys were trying to enter the school. We sat back and let Sriram and his school guys handle it, the watchman and one of the Staff counterblading them until they left. Not even a single rupee changed hands. Wow.

Well, normally after a game, we would troop off to respective homes to shower and maybe meet up later. But this was KODI. Ha ha. Here, the match is followed by an excellent lunch, served in the school canteen, and a walk up to this amazing spot called Meditation Point. That’s the rocky area in the photos, which has a spectacular valley view to rival any tourist spot in the town. And this is within Narahoo’s school campus. The dogs. After some oms, some silence and a rather silly (though long and detailed) discussion about how we could turn the electrified fence into a barbecue grill, we went back to the entrance via the school flower garden.

Yes, we were tired after the match, but did that stop us from playing full court, five on five basketball? Of course not. And some football thereafter? Nah. Who are these sports freaks? Bikang? You’ve got to be joking.

Back to the house, some guys went off to the lake, etc. and some of us went back down the slope. Which means that we then settled in the room and didn’t even dream of leaving it again. Sriram was dispatched on Sunder Anna’s bike to pick up booze. And when he returned, we dug in with a vengeance. What a bash! Two laptops playing music on speakers that we carried from Chennai (we even had two sets of speakers), cricket match on TV, oms, aziz, dancing (with the wretch around, can dancing be far behind?)….. we rocked the joint. Sundar Anna was going to captain the team the next day, and he challenged us that he would score a hundred off us if we let them bat first. And so it was decided the toss would be academic.

As some of the guys started to turn in keeping the match in mind, Tony, Quai, Kishore and me continued into the wee hours, giving Lodd an education in the music of Van Halen. What can I say, bikes, it was a classic night, where we ended up eating chappatis with chutney and sugar. A true bike event.

What a long post. But what a long day.

OD in Kodi May 2006 snaps

2006-05-29T04:02:00.000-12:00

Bikes,

Uploaded some snaps of recent OD in Kodi. More to follow... nsoi...

http://photos.yahoo.com/drckhoj

- Narahoo

#3's tour of Kodai - Prologue

2006-05-28T22:34:00.000-12:00

Let me begin by apologizing for the neglect of this blog over the past couple of weeks - I had actually taken my computer along to Kodi with grand plans of live blogging etc. but it ended up functioning mostly as an oversized mp3 player. Having finally gotten around to it, I'll report on the tour in the form of a 4 part diary, and put up installments as and when I can. So here we go with part 1.

Anticipation was at fever pitch as we made final preparations including lightening the kit down to one bag. At a team meeting the previous day we had identified ways of selecting the XI for each game from the existing squad of 14 - disucssions that were to ultimately prove unnecessary. As the evening wore on, we suffered our first setbacks - Venkat dropped out and Anand had sudden work pressures which meant that he could only try and join us on Sunday morning for the second game. Certainly solved some of our selection problems, but created worse ones by weakening the batting considerably. Nevertheless, the spirit was high, cutting was procured and we met at the station amidst droves of white shirt - white dhoti types, another factor that was to impact some aspects of our tour. Who would've thought?

The train ride was incident free ( Kodai veterans will know exactly what i mean ;-) ) and was livened up by the distribution of #3 T-shirts to all players and fans. Aziz, cutting and general camaraderie prevailed, only slightly tempered by the knowledge that we had a match the following morning. Some new nicknames were established, including 'Lex' for Rajesh who some felt looks like the young Luthor in the 'Smallville' TV show. We settled down for the night, knowing that whatever the next few days had in store, we were going to have a blast.

News Today reports

2006-05-10T20:52:00.000-12:00

http://www.newstodaynet.com

Hopefully we will find brief scores of matches we play posted under the section 'City Sports'.
Need to check archives also, any volunteers ?

#3 - Going places.

2006-05-10T06:11:00.000-12:00

Oh my, so much to post, so little time. So Wretch says that #3 has arrived. Having arrived, one might say that the next step is to go places. Ok, so we will. We'll go to Kodi. Hahahahahahaha, that's right ladies and gents, #3 is off to Kodi for a two match tour!!!!!! And this is no distant plan, this is bloody reality... tickets booked, acco arranged, ground and opposition all lined up!

Here are the details... in another Sriram ignited intitiative, (what on earth is this man doing to us???) #3 is playing two games against local opposition in Kodi, set up by Sriram's coach at his old school, Bhavan's Gandhi Vidyalaya, at the school grounds. A squad of 14 players (Narahoo, Kataan, Kishore, Jubbs, Druck, Joy, Narendra, Vik, Hui, Anand, Indrabeer, Rajesh, Tony and Venkat) and, unbelievably, 7 supporters, dare i say fans, (Wretch, Lodd, Deepa, M-Lux, Self, Quai and Jake) with a potential eighth in Supraja (Mrs.Captain to the uninitiated) will descend upon the quaint hill station and play two mtches on the 20th and 21st of May, with a small contingent staying back on the 22nd too. Bikang? Initiative? You better believe it, baby.

Overseas bikes, i eagerly await your comments.

Tough match!!!!!!

Season 2, Game 1 – A New Hope (taa taaa, ta ta ta taaaa, taa....)

2006-05-09T05:36:00.000-12:00

Number 3 vs Smart CC.
Loyola College 'B', 7 May 2006.

#3 174 for 4 (Narahoo 54, Ramesh 33, Druck 26*, Kishore 21*) beat Smart CC 89 all out (Vik 3 wk, Ramesh 3 wk, Joy 2 wk) by 85 runs.

OK, season 2. Is there any point to all this? Are we killing ourselves in this blazing heat for any reason at all? The answer, my friends, is blowin' in the wind, and is an emphatic and overwhelming YES. Read on, read on, and you'll see.

The first game of season two was also the first true home game for members of our team, specifically Zeb and Indrabeer, famous alumni of Loyola College. The dancers were back, taking the place of the Bangalore bound iii and the unavailable Arjun. And no sooner did Narendra walk into the ground, than he was surrounded by fans. For you poor foreigners, who do not have access to the wonderful TV show 'Kolangal' let me enlighten you. Narendra plays a psyched character named 'Upendra' in this show, who has recently acquired a gun and is on the run from the cops. This seems enough to give him cult hero status amongst college students from far flung regions such as Katpadi.

The other team assembled and they looked pretty fit, giving rise to worries that this was another Rookies like team. Time would tell. Kishore proved to be our lucky man, as we won the toss and decided to bat first, a decision influenced by the fact that only 8 of the opposition had turned up meaning that they would be three fielders short. The only complication was that regular opener Kataan had returned from Mumbai just that morning and was delayed, so Narahoo padded up to open with Bulavar.

The first few overs were marked by a steady flow of extras, and the openers were looking pretty comfortable in spite of the bowlers working up a decent pace. A needless run out put paid to Bulavar's innings and Venkat at one drop missed a straight one and was bowled. Around 50 was on the board in decent time, but two quick wickets set us back a bit. Ramesh had arrived by now, and walked in at two down. And then the fun began. Sriram responded to the introduction of spin taking 18 off one over, with one six and three fours. and he piled it on from there, raining boundaries all around the wicket and even running a sharp two to the loud applause of the audience, particularly the Upendra fans. He kept this up and crossed his fifty (#3's second) as they came into drinks at 96 off 13 overs. He was looking good for plenty more but was bowled in the second over after drinks for a 54 that had gone a long way towards demoralizing the opposition. I walked in next, and gave Ramesh enough support to take his score to 33 and the team along to about 130 before he was caught at point. So all the recognized batsmen back in the pavilion, the field closed in and the opening bowler was back on. But if it was iii and Narendra who demonstrated the improving middle order capabilities in the rookies game, it was the turn of D and Z this time. Kishore and I managed an unbeaten 40 plus partnership, with both of us remaining not out on scores of over twenty, helping the team finish on a fantastic 174 for 4 off 25 overs. And with Kabir, Narendra and all the others to come, we were disappointed that the full 30 weren't bowled.

Easily our best team batting performance, but what would we do in the field? The answer took fifteen deliveries. We had already pegged that this team would probably rely on just a few batsmen, and Vik got things rolling by picking up one of their main players with his first ball, a faint snick snapped up behind the stumps by Bulavar. The batsman hung around and protested he hadn't hit it, but it seemed pretty straightforward to most of us. And things only got better when Joy picked up two in his first over (including a Jonty like airborne catch by Venkat at point) and Vik picked up two more in his next. Our new ball attack had decimated the opposition to 3 for 5 within three overs! Game over, one might say, but one had to keep reminding Kabir and Vik that the game isn't over till the last ball is bowled ;-)

The incredibly tight fielding performance continued... smart high catches from Vik and Joy and Ramesh's now almost mandatory 3 wicket spell kept things speeding along. And then the captain tossed the balll to Narendra, who didn't disappoint his fans, ending an annoying ninth wicket partnership by splattering the batsman's stumps, to the loudest applause of the day from his fan club. He even obligingly struck a gun pose, something that might soon come to equal the famous "Bebeto baby" celebration. Hui came on for a spell after a while and bowled with some nice control. He was rewarded with the final wicket, another smart take by Bulavar behind the stumps, and that was that. 89 all out, and a whopping 85 run victory. The after party was a big one, trust me, and involved a Michael Schumacher victory, a projector, two bottles of Scotch, Tequila, Egg Dosais.... enough said.

#3 was supported at the ground by the Wretch, balajing Satish Kumar, and the legion of Upendra fans.

In season2, Game 1, #3 was: Ramesh, Bulavar (wk), Druck, Narahoo (c), Kishore, Joy, Narendra, Venkat, Hui, Vik and Kabir.

End Of Season 1 - Report

2006-05-08T23:02:00.000-12:00

No:3,

Congrats on the completion of our first season of cricket. Hope this is the start of many more seasons... Continuing to my mid season post, I present my assessment of individual and team performances for the second half.

Despondency has turned into hope. Surely. Rich improvements in most aspects of the game and attitude has helped #3 raise the bar. That has resulted improved showing in recent matches. A good indicator being that in our last 3 games we have bested our previous highest team total twice. Shows that solidity is building.

Individual performances (in alphabetical order)

Anand (a.k.a. FOXPRO):

Still not at his best. Needs to fire more often and travel less on business. Very good at the top of the order and handy bowler. Imparts knowledge during nets that most find useful.

Arjun:

Played only a couple of matches. Batted very low in the order. Deserves a chance higher up. Bowled very well in the final match and picked up 3 wickets. Fielding needs to improve.

Bulavar:

Has become a solid opening bat. Safe at one end. Able foil to Kattan / Anand. Keeping standards have dipped. Too many easy takes being muffed. Cannot be blamed fully as hardly any practice. Most of the nets were at YMCA and that did not allow for any practice. Which makes it even more important for him to do the basics right. Good performance otherwise.

DruckB:

Batting has definitely improved. Striking it much better now. Only towards the end of the season though. His biggest problem is remains his fitness. Affects both his batting and fielding. I mentioned this in the mid season report and again now. Not much has changed on this front. A better second half though. One of the 3 providing solidity in the middle order.

Hui:

Underused to be honest. Still needs to develop a lot more control. Once that is done we can look at finer aspects like flight and variation. Batting - he is still nets bradman only!! Safe fielder once he gets to the ball.

Indrabeer:

Teams lucky mascot. Participated in both the wins we had this season. Had not much to do in both these matches!! Good fielder though. Rest of his talents, if any, are untested.

Joy:

Has come on as a fine new ball bowler. Swings the ball prodigiously and has decent control. Batting wise still untested. Agile fielder and getting safer with his catching.

Jubbs:

Has displayed that he has the wares to handle this level of cricket. Unfortunately only in the nets. Match performance still below par. Useful net bowler. Good fielder and safe catcher. Pouches 'em sitters quite well!!!

Kattan:

Inspite of what others might have to say, for me a season of batting underachievement. Guy is capable of much more. Bowling like a dream. Superb control and ability to take wickets. Safe fielder but dubious catcher of late. Otherwise a fully deserving MVP. Well done kattan.

Kishore:

Has improved in all departments of the game. Batting still his weakest as he has the habit of playing very late (top-t hangover). Bowling with pace and control. Has disconcerting bounce which surprises batsmen (me included!!). Fielding has just improved out of sight. Superb second half of the season. Well done father!!!

Narendra (a.k.a. old fox):

Lost a bit of interest earlier in the season. Has come back strongly though. Another bowler with a knack of picking up wickets regularly. Good gentle inswing that can trouble most batsmen. Batting except for 1 match has been a washout. Has more potential than what the stats indicate. Par fielder. Still among the fittest in the team. Needs to control the temptation to appeal almost every ball. Could be counter productive against umpires who get annoyed.

Rajesh:

Another good find thanks to Hui. Good steady seam up bowler. Very accurate and difficult to get off the square. Missed him in the last two matches because of mad cycle expedition he has undertaken. Needs to get a cell phone too!!!

Sriram:

Mediocre season. Not much in the second half except for a 50. Not enough at all. Has to do better. Bowling ok. Fielding ok. Fitness dismal.

Tony:

Was unfortunately unavailable for most of the second half. Sad.

Venkat:

Missed most of the second half. Came back for the last 2 matches. Fluent batsman. Good fielder. Just gr8 to have him back. Lends a lot of solidity to the batting order.

Vik Adi:

Battling fitness concerns. But still a very potent opening bowler. Good control and lift from the surface. Moves the ball yards. Genuine wicket taker. Claims to possess better batting skills than I am crediting him with. Time will tell!!! Fielding is a worry. Very slow in the field.

Closing comments:

Nets has been regular except since the onset of summer vacation. Goating of nets continued till team meeting was called and issues were thrashed out. Since then there have been no nets!!!
The next season promises to be harder as it will be played during the hot part of the year. So fitness will play a critical role. General fitness has to improve. But a good positive trend shows that we have learnt our lessons in all departments. I have good reson to believe that we will have a better than 50% record in the coming season.

The next season is already underway. Druck will update all on the latest happenings.

COME ON GUYS!!! WE CAN WIN!!!!

- narahoo

Season One - The Awards Show

2006-05-05T05:05:00.000-12:00

Good news. Season two starts in two days, on the 7th of May, 2006. Bad news, that makes for a really short off season. No nets, no relaxation, no fitness, but, encouragingly, much enthu for new season.

As part of end of season wrap ups (and i hope the captain will chip in with his two bits worth), i thought i'd start a thread which will get everyone's interest and participation.

And so, presenting, the SEASON 1 AWARDS....... all pl free to add your own categories.

Season MVP : And the winner is... Kataan.... a fine all round performance, effective bowling, a strong run of scores at the beginning and end of the season, major contributions to both wins, and mostr importantly, the one and only "magic ball"....the only issue is that this exempts him from individual skill awards

Attendance Prize : To Narahoo and Zeb, the only two who managed to play all matches. Special mention for Zeb, as he managed this even taking into account birth of Nayge.

Bowler of the season : The winner is Narendra, for consistent wicket taking and generally effective performances.

Batsman of the season : Tough one, with the captain in contention, definitely, but for high impact performances, in spite of limited appearances, i'd say the award goes to Venkat. Feel free to chip in with opinions, everyone.

Fan Award : While i feel that anyone who actually showed up for our games deserves an award, the truly dedicated fan awards go to Lodd and Wretch, for being there, keeping the faith, and most importantly providing cheer (though sometimes silent), refreshment and amazing spirit. Thanks, guys.

Ok, done with the straight ones. It's up to you guys to come up with the more offbeat ones, cricketing and otherwise, and to debate and discuss these. Enjoy.

Game 10 – Season Finale.

2006-04-27T22:18:00.000-12:00

Number 3 vs Fatima Jewellers.
Sindhi College, 23 Apr 2006.

I’m trying out a new format, where the result and brief scores will appear at the end. Let me know if it works, esp people in other places.

The fantastic journey that was our first season was to finally draw to a close, and we had to really earn it. Narahoo told us that we’d be playing at Sindhi College, ‘somewhere near Koyambedu’. Turns out it’s in Maduravoyal (how many of you guys know where that is?), a long, long drive away. Three starters from last game, Narendra, Joy and Anand weren’t available, but the places were duly filled by Bulavar, Arjun and, making his second appearance, Indrabeer. The stage was set.

Continuing our desperate player rotation in the hope of winning at least one toss, iii went out this time. No surprises there, though, and we were to field first on easily the hottest match day of the season. Oh well, what the hell. Vik was slightly unsure of his fitness levels, so the skipper decided not to risk it, and handed the new ball to Kishore. He struck with his fourth ball, a snorter that reared up off a length, collected a glove and was pouched by Bulavar behind the stumps on the second attempt. A good start. When Arjun, in the next over, got a wicket off his second ball (a leg stump full toss hit straight down the skipper’s throat at square leg) and we followed this up with a run out off the very next, a buzz of optimism began to spread through the team. Arjun bowled a neat four over spell, keeping it tight and picking up wickets at regular intervals, one of them a ‘sitter’ taken by iii. By which I mean when the ball headed in his direction, he sat down and awaited the ball, which reached him some time later. I’ll leave it up to the team to describe how funny this really was, I’m cracking up just typing this. Sriram and Ramesh came on in tandem, and a despite a stubborn 25 run ninth wicket partnership, our bowling was clearly too much for them to handle, and they folded for 82 all out in the 16^th over. A highly competent performance, symbolized by Kabir’s excellently judged catch at long on off Sriram. No errors to speak of, really but for a few wides and byes.

Kataan and Bulavar (in spite of 15 overs of keeping with a busted knee) walked out to open with instructions to finish the thing off and return. And while they set about attempting to do just that, the party was beginning at the team hut. Vik insisted that we’d already won, but was regularly reminded that it’s not over till the last ball has been bowled. And Kabir, encouraged by a delighted Sriram, was initiating a non stop flow of some of the poorest PJs ever heard. I’m not even going to try and list them, maybe the team can do this for us. In the middle the opening pair went on their merry way, and constructed a solid 49 run partnership before Ramesh was out to an ugly heave across the line. Venkat joined Bulavar and seemed in some kind of hurry. Strokes all around the wicket saw him rapidly overtake Bulavar before he was bowled with just six to get. Sriram walked in, played a sublime flick to the mid wicket fence off his first ball, smashed one ball right at a poor innocent little goat, and finished the game off with another boundary.

Our second win, and a thoroughly dominant performance, albeit against considerably weak opposition. What the hell, we were there not too long ago. All in all, a great way to finish the season, and a day which left Kabir wondering what all this talk of losing was all about. Seems to him all he needs to do is turn up and pad up as the winning runs are hit.

It's been a blast, folks. Pl chip in with end of season thoughts, one and all.

Fatima Jewellers 82 all out (Ramesh 3 wk, Arjun 3 wk) lost to Number 3 86 for 2 (Venkat 21, Ramesh 18, Bulavar 18 n.o.) by 8 wkts.

#3 was supported at the ground by a Sari clad Lodd, several goats and one thirsty dog.

In game 10, #3 was: Ramesh, Bulavar (wk), Druck, Narahoo (c), Jubbs, Kishore, Venkat, Hui, Vik and Kabir.

#3 picks up landmark first win?

2006-04-24T01:26:00.000-12:00

I just picked this up from the bikang blog. Harini said something about the first #3 victory?? Have we broken the veritable newcomers/freshman jinx? :)

All I can say, irrespective if you guys won or not - but you guys have been playing and training like true ninjas (you know what I mean, Koidy).

Go 3#.

AXE out.

Hmmm...

2006-04-21T05:13:00.000-12:00

Taking a step following the strategery post in expanding the scope of this blog to the more theoretical and abstract issues in cricket, take a look at this extremely interesting article on cricinfo..

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/wisdencricketer/content/story/244941.html

comments, anyone?

while on the subject of comments, what's with the silence following match reports? Come oun, guys, opinions and inputs are what make this blog worthwhile......

Game 9 – Déjà Vu

2006-04-15T09:23:00.000-12:00

Number 3 vs Rookies (again).
Pachaiyappas ‘B’, 15 Apr 2006.
Rookies won by 79 runs.

The second game in a row against repeat opposition. But the build up was as incident packed as one could wish. Firstly, a no holds barred team meeting was called on Top T to discuss far reaching issues such as nets discipline, the future direction of the team and various other things. And as Sriram called Blue Sky Lakshmi to confirm the match, he was told that we’d be playing Rookies. Again. At Pachaiyappas B. Again. So that called for only one name, the man who got us going against Rookies last time around – Venkat. Only problem, he had moved to Poona, remember? Sriram still had his Chennai mobile number, and called it on a lark. Guess what? He picked up the phone, he’d been in Chennai for a month, and was itching to get back to action. He was in, and then, to complete the XI, Vik decided to defy his back injury and wield the new ball. All set to go.

Pachaiyappas B, and in a desperate attempt to win a toss, I walked out with the opposing player. No luck whatsoever, we were fielding first, so what else is new. Bulavar wasn’t available for today’s game, so I wore the big gloves. Vik and Joy shared the new ball, but were up against truly formidable opposition. We felt from the last game that Rookies were the best opposition we’d faced in the league, and they proceeded to confirm this beyond any doubt. Since just about half their team had shown up and they didn’t have their kit, they borrowed two pairs of pads and a bat from us and dismantled our new ball attack in spectacular fashion. Compounded by the fact that Kataan was stuck at work meaning that he was late and we had to take the field with 10 players, the new ball session was trouble from the word go. Vik, Joy and Anand were summarily dismissed by drives, cuts and pulls to the tune of over 10 runs an over. Narendra shrugged off two sixes of his first two deliveries to pick up one of the openers in his first over, and bowl a decent spell. But still, by the drinks break, they had scored nearly 150, at close to 12 an over. In keeping with the Déjà vu theme, as in the last game, the introduction of the spinners slowed things down somewhat – Kataan had arrived by now and bowled the best spell that #3 could muster, getting two and keeping the score down to some extent. Sriram picked up his mandatory couple of wickets, but they still went on their merry way, with one batsman registering the highest score against us of the season, a staggering 97. They finished on a spectacular 241 for 7 off the 25 overs we bowled in the time allotted.

In spite of the huge score conceded, the consensus was that it was an extremely improved performance in the field. Hard running and decent pick ups, keeping fours to twos and twos to ones, and one excellent high hard swirling catch by iii amply demonstrated that all the practice we’ve been putting in is having some effect. Special mention for Kishore whose outfielding has improved out of sight.

All right, the batting. Ramesh and Anand opened, and there was that déjà vu again. Anand got out in the third over with the score at 30 and Venkat joined Ramesh. Would you believe it, we were up with the asking rate after 7 overs, scoring close to 70 runs. Venkat even played his famous “hook shot against rookies” that is now part of #3 folklore on his way to a scintillating 30, and when he fell Sriram joined Ramesh. They took the score to over 90, but by now the match clinching spell was in progress. Two medium pace bowlers, bowling to carefully set fields (one of them bowling accurately with just two on the leg side) pegged the scoring back and when Ramesh fell for our top score of 39, capping a fine all round performance, we were well and truly behind the eight ball.

We weren’t done yet, though. Maybe a fallout of the team meeting, maybe not, but the middle order (the real rookies – we’ve got to get those guys to change their team name) came good today. Jubbs stuck around for a well played 18, and Narendra walked the talk, slogging his way to 25 hard hit and hard run runs. Kishore and I played a couple of overs to clout a few, pushing our score to a new high – an extremely respectable 162 for 7 off 25 overs. Not only was this our highest score to date, it was also the only occasion we’ve not been all out apart from the win.

All told, a very competent performance, one feels. To quote Greg C, in terms of “execution of skills” and “sticking to the process” probably our best performance, one that would have brought us a win against most of the teams in this league. Turning it on at the right time is the challenge now. The learning for me is that the practice is paying off. Keep at it, everyone

#3 was supported at the ground, as is now customary by the lovely Lodd, providing refreshment and support for the team and eye candy for the opposing team and the Pachaiyappas faithful.

In game 9, #3 was: Ramesh, Anand, Druck (wk), Narahoo (c), Jubbs, Kishore, Venkat, Narendra, Vik and Joy.

Strategery from Overseas

2006-04-07T01:43:00.000-12:00

guys,

request one and all to check out inis's comment on game 8, and thought i'd start a separate thread to discuss it.. very very interesting, and opinions from all #3-ers would be highly welcome....

inis, firstly congratulations on your team rockinG it in your league... a true wagh for that. Hope to say the same for #3 next season. Also, super that you took the effort to document your team strategery for us.

one clap for the land of batting world records.. (hey come to think of it, it sounds lightly like the SA national team also copied your team's plan in THAT game....)

Game 8 – Turf Match

2006-04-02T08:30:00.000-12:00

Number 3 vs Crown Tapes CC (again).
Pachaiyappas ‘A’, 26 Mar 2006.
Crown Tapes won by 62 runs.

More than five weeks since Game 7. These long, long breaks are doing us no good at all. They’re frustrating and, I think, extending the learning curve quite a bit. When the organizers finally called to confirm the game, two points of note emerged. Firstly that we were playing a team we had already played (we’re pretty certain the organizer manojed, even though he claims they have two entries or some such crap) and secondly, we were going to play our first ever match on a proper turf wicket – just like the big boys do. To give you some idea of how key this is, even our illustrious captain had played all of six or seven matches on turf wickets prior to this in his entire career.

Glad to be playing again, we were welcomed by the sight of a nice, green, well manicured outfield. We resumed acquaintance with the Crown Tapes boys (remember Jose, he of the no off side?) and the skipper went out to toss amidst much camaraderie. Need I say it? We lost the toss and were asked to field.

Rajesh and Joy formed our latest new ball pairing, and immediately served notice to the openers, the opposing captain and the agricultural Jose that this was a very different #3 attack indeed. Tight lines, sharp swing and a fair pace meant that their wild swinging yielded little or no result, and soon after I put one down at slip (the first instance of a forgettable day for me at that position) Rajesh decided he didn’t want my help and knocked one opener’s stumps out of the ground and picked up the one drop batsman lbw. Joy at the other end trapped the captain in front, a slightly contentious decision, but the wicket was ours anyway. Narendra and Kishore kept up the attack and Narendra scalped the opposition’s best batsman just as he was beginning to look dangerous. I could have spared Kishore a frustrating three over spell at a guy who played only the cut shot, and missed, to every ball, but I put down another sitter. Nevertheless, they shared three wickets between them and we had the opposition 80 for 6 at the break.

The no.7 batsman however, played the innings that probably made the difference in the end. He smashed 39 hard hit runs, including 22 of Hui’s only over, before a couple of the ‘magic balls’ that only Kataan can bowl started the wickets falling again, and they ended up at 157 for 9 off the 25 overs that were allotted. Gettable, but at least 35 runs more that they should have got, we felt. But overall, a tight fielding and bowling performance, and a tidy game behind the stumps for Bulavar.

Our regular opening pair of Kataan and Bulavar was reunited, and for the first few overs, they showed us wthe way with a solid 40 run opening partnership. Kataan was looking particularly good, but an ankle injury that Bulavar had sustained slowed him and, ultimately, the partnership down. He was bowled in a bid to accelerate the scoring and we needed more than seven an over. In the end, this proved too much, and in hindsight I wonder if the truncated game caught up with us a little quicker than we realized. For the record, Jubbs went in one drop and never really found his timing, I got run out (again), and Sriram was bowled shortly thereafter, having struck a couple of crisp boundaries. Ramesh had gone by this time too, for a well compiled 34, and when Kishore also failed to get the measure of the wicket, the game was pretty much up. Some late order resistance from Arjun and Hui for the last wicket, including a couple of sweetly struck boundaries ended with another run out, and our innings ended at 94 all out. Disappointing, in spite of the praise we received from the Crown Tapes guys. They left saying that we had improved out of sight from the last game, and were eagerly awaiting our entry for the next season. Hope they weren't just being polite, we'd love to prove them right when we next meet.

Learnings? Our bowling and fielding disciplines are looking pretty much up to Blue Sky standard, I would think. Batting remains another matter altogether. The experienced guys need to fire together, and the newbies need to put their hands up and move on to bigger things. Hopefully, more regular match play should help in that direction. Keep the faith, people.

#3 was supported at the ground by Lodd and the Wretch, who surpassed themselves by providing water, glucose, biscuits and watermelon for the hungry. May you live long and prosper. Also in attendance were injured #3 paceman Vik (the result of a heroic trek across cricket grounds from Teachers B northwards) and local Sreesanth lookalike Din Din, who shot no video footage whatsoever.

In game 8, #3 was: Ramesh, Bulavar (wk), Narahoo (c), Druck, Jubbs, Kishore, Arjun, Narendra, Hui, Rajesh and Joy.

Class is permanent, presence is temporary.

2006-03-24T01:45:00.000-12:00

Stop the press!! It’s happened!!! One clap for the persistence of Jubbs and Narahoo. Six months after the inception of #3, the elusive DJ RAVE has finally made it to the nets!!! And what’s more, he duly demonstrated the truth of the old cricketing adage “Class is permanent, but you just have to get the f***er to show up!” The skipper decided not to expose him to the new ball just yet, as he hasn’t played in a while, but he promptly picked up the ball and knocked Narendra’s middle stump out of the ground with his first delivery. Having bowled a nice straight spell, he then padded up and looked completely the part, moving smoothly forward for the drives and unleashing a couple of smart pulls to the short ones.

The excruciatingly long interval since our last match, though punctuated by regular nets and consistently improving skills was definitely getting to us. But awe inspiring events such as these will ensure the #3 party never stops.

Rave completed a memorable debut by springing for the price of the post net refreshment, several glasses of #3’s proprietary sports drink, lime-salt-7up.

Fast bowlers of #3, take note

2006-02-21T01:48:00.000-12:00

"I have been working a lot on my core strength but I still haven't got the Brett Lee arse yet. If you have a look at Bichel, Kasprowicz, Lee and Flintoff - the powerful lads - they seem to have the big arse."

Victorian paceman Shane Harwood on what it takes to become an international fast bowler

Game 7 – Milord! What a game!

2006-02-20T17:36:00.000-12:00

Number 3 vs Madras High Court Employees
Pachaiyappas ‘C’, 18 Feb 2006.
High Court Employees won by (a mere) 25 runs.

At last, a truly competitive, exciting game of cricket, packed with incident, ebbing and flowing and keeping the spectators interested down to the very end. Well, almost to the very end. About the only thing wrong with today was the end result. We’re having to work really hard to earn our second win – and we are, we are.

The day before the match was dramatic enough, with the recruitment of our first overseas professional, the owner of the ‘dazzling comet’ himself, Mapuchi 2000 aka Axe 3:16. The late unavailability of Hui in addition to Vik and Joy being out of town meant Hui’s pal Rajesh came into the scheme of things, and he completed the eleven which assembled at Pachaiyappas. The toss duly lost, we were in the field again, which suited us fine, mainly for what one might call non-cricketing reasons. Much to the amusement of the umpire and the other team, our dear captain had a flight to catch – to the US. So he wanted to field first, open the batting and then leave immediately. Little did we (or the opposition) realize what an impact this was to have on things. But more on that later.

Tony and Arjun shared the new ball, and started steadily enough, the main incident of note being a hard drive straight back to Arjun which he was unable to hold on to. Fortunately, just as that batsman was beginning to make his reprieve count, they set off for an ill conceived run which saw iii swooping down on the ball and effecting a run out. One down with about 35 on the board, and a good period in the field for number 3 followed. Rajesh was bowling a good tight spell from one end, and Narendra replaced Tony from the other. But for a couple of wayward overs from him and some uncharacteristically sloppy work by Bulavar behind the stumps, they would have scored next to nothing until the drinks break. Practically none were coming of the bat, and the fielding was adequate too. Narendra tightened up after the break, and in tandem with Rajesh kept the runs in check until, inevitably, another run out followed, with me doing the honours this time. But then came the first of the many turning points. The opposing captain came in and proceeded to hammer the bowling to all parts. Sriram went for 16 in one over, and all the bowlers suffered. As wickets were falling at the other end, he kept up the barrage, the danger of serious injury to the boundary riders increasing with every shot. Kataan, however, won an lbw appeal against him in the middle of an excellent spell – a vital wicket, the skipper gone for a blazing 44. We dragged it back a bit amidst the usual tumbling of late wickets and a slightly expensive final over left the score at 173 for 9 at the end of the thirty overs, with four for Kataan. A par score given the outfield and the short square boundaries. A pat on the back for the fielders – with a special mention for Kishore and a brave rookie performance from Mapu.

We’d started late as it was, so keeping his flight in mind, Sriram walked out to open with Ramesh. And he batted like he had a flight to catch. The early signs were that he was going to slog a few and throw his wicket away, but in the third or fourth over, something snapped. The kitchen sink heaves he was playing were replaced by a magnificient straight six. And another. Between scrambling to save their lives and cries of “Who’s the Kataan?”, the pavillion was collapsing into war whoops and peals of laughter. For the next few overs, we were treated to some of the most sublime yet savage displays of hitting the blue sky league has had to offer, and it all came from Narahoo’s bat. The team fifty came up with Ramesh having contributed all of 8 runs. He was shaping up well too before his innings was cruelly cut short by a rather needless run out. As it turned out, Sriram wasn’t planning to hang around much longer either. He was getting late for his flight, you see. So another six, his fourth, brought up his (and, obviously, #3’s) first fifty of the season. Unfortunately he was bowled off the very next ball for a magnificent 55. Within the next 90 seconds he had gotten his pads off, wished us good luck and left the building.

Sriram’s dismissal this season has usually been the cue for the rest of the order to fold up, but not this time. With around a hundred runs still to get, Bulavar and I decided to stay at the crease and graft, and let the runs take care of themselves. And it was working, too. Extras, nudged singles and twos and the occasional aggressive shot from Bulavar (one square cut merits particular mention) kept us very much in touch and by the break, we needed just 70 off 15 overs, with 7 wickets in hand. But a couple of overs after the break I played back to one I should have been forward to, and lost leg stump. Iii was next, and despite his loss a little while later, we were still very much in the hunt. Things were getting just a bit tighter, and when Bulavar edged to the keeper, ending an outstanding innings of 23, the pendulum had swung again. We were still in touch, the target never really getting much worse than run-a-ball, but a bit of panic set in, a run out and some mistimed slogs resulted in us being dismissed 25 runs short with nearly three overs left. In terms of rate, still very gettable but our inexperience probably got the better of us in a tight chase. No dishonour there. As a team, probably our best performance apart from the win.

And for a game with so many twists and turns, there was one final sting in the tail. As we were gathering in the evening for the mandatory post match drink, guess who shows up? Narahoo, very much not in the US. The damn airline cancelled his flight!! I object, your honour, I object.

#3 was supported at the ground by Jake, Lodd and the Wretch. So near, yet so far, poor things.

In game 7, #3 was: Ramesh, Bulavar (wk), Narahoo (c), Tony, Druck, Jubbs, Kishore, Arjun, Narendra, Rajesh and Axe.

Baby #2 for #3

2006-01-26T20:06:00.000-12:00

Star all rounder and Gillespie lookalike, Kishore is now proud father of baby girl. That makes it 2 baby girls for #3 team members. Indian womens cricket team alert!! Total best wishes for Kishore, Raje, aunty and of course baby from all at #3.

What is there!!

Wish me luck boys

2006-01-25T01:16:00.000-12:00

hello there #3

keeping with the spirit of the game, i have now become a worthy member of the Emirates Aviation College Cricket Team also known as EAC. Tomorrow is my first match of this season. I get to be opening bowler and will bat at #8.

peace

PSJ

farewell team

2006-01-18T21:36:00.000-12:00

fellow #3's

it has been fascinating being part of this team, and yet it is really sad that i have to leave, a rather premature exit. We have come a far way from where we began and the team is shaping up really well, a little here and there, then we can be on our way - Winning.

Come on Come on boys, you guys keep this going and i'll join you guys in 11 months time, guess will have to really fight to find my way back in to the team then.

All the best for future games and thank you Sri, for making this happen and for everything else.

So long boys...............

Game 6 – Small steps on a long, long road

2006-01-18T03:33:00.000-12:00

Number 3 vs My Club
14 Jan, 2006. Chennai Medical College.
My Club won by 120 runs

The first game of the New Year. I’ve spent a long time pondering this match report and made several false starts, and I can safely say it’s been the most difficult one to write yet. Statistically, our worst defeat of the season so far – and yet, I’m not feeling nearly as negative as after the Christmas day game. I think it comes from the realization that we put a fair percentage of the skills we’ve been working to develop on display here, but were beaten by a better and obviously more experienced and fitter team. Less wides, reasonably tight fielding, including two run outs, improved keeping by myself and definitely more time in the middle for newbie batsmen zeb, iiii, tony and myself were some of the gains. The main short term learning seems to be that in the batting department, our big guns NEED to fire for us to compete – not unlike Indian teams of not too long ago. However, I think I’ll stick to the report of events, and invite my team-mates’ opinions on the interpretation of what all this means for #3. Comments please, guys.

Pongal day, and a match against the guys who put us on to the Blue Sky league, captained by Sriram’s friend Poonam. We gathered at the MMC a ground and went through the usual warm up routines, and then lost the toss and were in the field – again. (Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think we’ve batted first in only one of the six games so far). Ganesh’s absence caused Sriram to take up the gloves once again for the new ball, to be followed by me after the drinks break. Vik struck in the very first over, inducing an edge, and when Tony splattered the other openers’ stumps in his second over, we were ecstatic. But the next pair, the captain Poonam and the aptly named Manoj forged a strong partnership, picking the singles and hammering anything even slightly off line to the boundaries in spite of the exceedingly damp outfield. The same outfield also contributed to a very wet ball, much to our quicks’ annoyance. Fifteen overs gone, and a hundred up. Sriram the golden arm introduced himself into the attack, and picked up a wicket in his first, after which we picked up the wickets regularly (including a now characteristic bowled-round-the-legs dismissal by hornie) but couldn’t really keep the run rate down. The lack of wides meant we finished the overs in time, and also picked up the last wicket in the final over, leaving them at a challenging 209 all out. Visesh on his return to the team for a farewell game turned in a fair spell, as did all the bowlers, but a large total none the less.

Our other returnee, Anand walked out to open with Ramesh and showed intent from the word go. And the bowling didn’t look frightening either, but it was pretty disciplined, and the sluggish outfield began to have it’s effect with even good shots returning no more than a single. Anand then slashed at one only for the gully fielder to pull of a sharp catch, what was to be the first of several sharp fielding performances from the opposition. The move to promote Narendra as pinch hitter sadly lasted just one ball, and Ramesh went soon after in almost identical fashion to Anand. Tony fell too, and the skipper walked in to join iii at the crease. We were well behind the asking rate by this point and he had no choice but to play the big shots. He timed the ball better than anyone else on both teams, but when shots played on the ground just refused to move, he had to go the aerial route. Unfortunately, with his first aerial shot, he picked out the man on the mid wicket fence and walked back, bringing back with him any hopes of a challenge on the target. I walked in determined to get batting practice if nothing else. But Jubbs was run out from another one of those sharp pieces of fielding, a blistering direct hit at the keeper’s end from mid on and then Kishore, finally, managed to hit the first boundary of our innings, defying the molasses-like outfield. In a futile attempt to imitate his shot, I skied one only for Manoj – again – to take a diving catch. Visesh provided Kishore enough company to last until the last over, among the clatter of other wickets, but Kishore’s stumps were rearranged and that was that. 89 all out. A huge defeat, but as I said right at the top, it's not left as bad a taste. As batsmen, we’re determined to go back into the nets and figure how to get the damn thing off the square, but it’s a good positive determination. I hope. Help me out here, fellow members of #3.

#3 was supported by the ever faithful Lodd and the Wretch, and a first time visitor in Vicky. Keep the faith, guys, you will be rewarded. That’s a promise.

In game 6, #3 was: Anand, Ramesh, Tony, Druck (wk), Narahoo (c), Kishore, Hui-yappa, Jubbs, Narendra, Psaignn and Vik.

Game 6 - Photos

2006-01-18T03:28:00.000-12:00

Preparing for battle

Running repairs

Opening up

Pitch invasion

The last hope walks in

The team hut

Mid season buzz

2006-01-10T01:09:00.000-12:00

It almost feels like the beginning of a new season. The weather's sunny, the christmas day debacle seems a lifetime ago, and #3 at the nets is almost unrecognizable from the first half of the season.

I'm reluctant to say it, but could the thrashing have been good for us? Was it the proverbial kick up the rear that we needed to turn things around? Only time will tell. What i can report, however, is that for the first time, we've had three net sessions in a week. The batsmen are all looking more positive and confident and are learning how to get the ball off the square. We're actually starting to look at run making as opposed to survival. The next challenge is to execute this in a match scenario. I'm sure a totally different set of problems awaits , but the signs are definitely there that more runs all through the order are on the cards. Can't wait to see how it pans out.

On the bowling front, the resources are looking healthier than ever, with the usual suspects and new discoveries contributing. Joy has been a revelation, bowling with fire and accuracy. The quicks overall have looked to improve their control, and are consistently moving the ball in the air. The spinners too are landing it on the spot often enough. (While on the subject of spinners, I must mention here I's buddy... a guy who popped up at our net a couple of times to bowl off spin. The mere sight of him seemed enough to drop the red mist over I's eyes, and he would consistently play only one stroke to him - huge lofted straight drives. And he connected pretty much all of them. A couple of days of this and the guy stoped showing up.)

With a nice energy buzzing through the team, game 6 just can't get here fast enough. Come back after Pongal to read all about it.

GAME 5 - A Christmas gone sour

2005-12-27T02:30:00.000-12:00

Number 3 vs Kotak Mahindra Bank
25 Dec, 2005, YMCA 'A', Nandanam
Kotak Mahindra won by 84 runs

The horror, the shame. An abysmal batting performance, shambolic running between the wickets, a spectacular collapse, the worst session of the season. As batsman after batsman walked back, we could scarcely believe what was unfolding before our eyes - a great chance to notch up our second victory was disappearing before anyone could say "Hui-yappa" (which Jubbs did, repeatedly, much to the amusement of the other team and the bemusement of ours.)

It could have all been so different. What a pity I titled the match report for game 3 “A game of two halves”. If any game merited that description, this was it.

With the yuletide spirit (and probably the remnants of several other spirits) running strong within #3, we lost the toss and were put in to field. And right from Ganesh's first "come oun, come oun" it was a blast. Loud chatter, and a searing first spell from Vik kept the mood right up there. 'Dizzy' Zeb shared the new ball and but for a surfeit of wides, turned in a decent spell. The runs weren’t coming, the batsmen’s frustration levels were mounting and things got heated up. A diving stop from Arjun on the boundary led to a long and unnecessarily protracted argument between their batsman and the umpire about whether the ball had crossed the line (the first of several, actually. All the ICC directives about dissent haven’t made in impact on the Blue Sky league, it would appear). As with any argument with an umpire at any level of cricket, there could only be one winner. The batsman duly played a frustrated swipe to be trapped plumb in front – dizzy picking up his first of the season. And so it continued. Sriram wheeled away at one end, picking up a six wicket haul including an unnecessarily juggled catch by iii for which he copped a memorable earful from the skipper. Tight spells from Tony and Ramesh backed up by an excellent fielding performance saw us dismissing them within the stipulated time, giving us the full thirty overs to bat. Vik completed an all round good day in the field by holding a tough high catch and then cleaning up the last man to leave them 122 all out, which would have been evenm less, barring the unforgivably large number of wides- again.

A chaseable target, we thought. We’d get there coasting at four an over, we thought. Job done, we thought. Never again. Lesson well and truly learned. Since you’re reading this, I’ll assume you’re a part of or a friend of #3, and mercifully keep it short.

Ganesh and Ramesh started out steadily enough, moving the score along to 18 in five overs of innocuous bowling. Then Ramesh played a cut shot a little too early and gently lobbed it to point. And that, so to speak, was that. That was all it took for the whole damn house of cards to come crashing down. In the blink of an eye, Ganesh and I were sent back to the pavilion in identical fashion – run out in the complete absence of calling, inexcusably bad cricket on all counts. Sriram walked in livid, and then the unthinkable happened. He completely lost sight of a straight one and was bowled. For a duck. I guess it had to happen sometime, and it only goes to prove that as a batting side we rely too heavily on too few. One more run out and less than fifteen minutes later we were shaking hands with a group of spectacularly happy bankers who had just received a totally unexpected Christmas present. A pathetic 38 all out, in less than fifteen overs.

Slowly picking ourselves up, we left the YMCA grounds – stunned, feeling lower than ever before as #3, and having been brutally made aware of the long road ahead. Halfway into the league, and a 1 – 4 record. Back to the trenches, boys. We’ve got a lot of hard work to do.

#3 was supported by silent cheers and messages from Lodd and the wretch, and very vocal input from the inimitable Sanjeev Singh. Thanks for being kind after the match

In game 5, #3 was: Ganesh (wk), Ramesh, Tony, Druck, Narahoo (c), Kishore, Hui-yappa, I, Ling, Arjun and Vik.

An honest mid-season analysis

2005-12-25T23:05:00.000-12:00

No:3,

I am posting this report subsequent to our crushing defeat in the 5th match. This post shall not dwell on our performance in this match - I leave that to seasoned match report specialists like Druck and Jubbs. This review shall focus on our performance to date - as individuals and as a team. Feel free to add, contradict, clarify... All ratings are on a scale of 1(poor) to 10(sublime).
We have played 5, won 1 and lost 4.

Let me first look at the three main aspects -

FIELDING: (6.5/10)

An area where a lot of improvement has been seen. The last 2 matches our fielding has been really good. Few missed catches and fewer misfields. Ganesh as keeper has added quite a bit. Regular nets should see us raise the bar. Fear of the leather ball has to be eliminated. That can come only thru practise.

BOWLING: (6.5/10)

A mix really of good and bad. The pacers (Vic, Tony, Kishore & Narendra) are getting better with every match. Vic is easily the most impressive. But the rest are not far behind. A major area for concern are the wides. A combination of nets and some common sense during matches should see us achieve that. To better illustrate the case inpoint - match 5 we would have chased close to 90 runs if we discount the wides. That puts much less pressure on the batsmen. The 4th team we played against returned the favour by bowling hajaar wides too. Not every team is that charitable. The spinners are doing well. Containing the flow of runs and getting wickets. Hui needs to be bowled a lot more and we should see that really soon. He seems to be getting more control on his loop and continues to spin the ball viciously. Anand's return for the next match will add to the options.

BATTING: (3/10)

Very little to cheer about. The inconsistency is quite disheartening. We need to appreciate that the game is a lot different from our terrace cricket. I cannot overemphasize the importance of nets here. Nets is not, i repeat NOT, gajji time. It is where you build technique and correct flaws. If we manage to regularise nets to about 3 times a week, I plan to change the way nets are structured and give extended nets to batsmen. 7 minutes a head is not cutting it. Maybe bat only 4 batsmen during each nets session. Give each of them a solid 15-20 minute session.
This will only help iron out technical problems. However, it will not help improve temperament which forms a vital part of batting. How to pace ones inning, how to manage a run chase, how to put up totals. All of these needs application of common sense. All of us are quite well educated in the finer aspects of cricket thanks to our passion for the game. However we hardly seem to apply any of this during a game. The string of runouts in game 5 being an example. Venkat, Anand and to an extent myself seem to be the only people who have had a decent run. The rest also need to put their hands up. And let me assure you it is not a lack of skill that is a problem.

INDIVIDUAL performances:

Sriram: (5/10)

A mixed bag really. 2 stumpings and 1 run out in 5 innings indicate that I was responsible for my dismissals. This could be both good and bad. It indicates that I am able to handle the bowling but also indicates that I need to improve physical fitness. Bowling wise I have over performed. A mixture of bad batting, disciplined bowling and luck have lead to this. A bonus really for the team. My goal for the season - atleast 1 hundred and some more consistency. Fielding/fitness needs to improve. Catching is ok.

Ramesh: (4/10)

A performance below par. I know this guy is capable of a lot more. Just needs to attend more nets and not think of himself as an Afridi. I know this guy used to be as destructive but he has aged!!! Needs to focus more on team needs. Bowling - Hardly any bowling done except for match 5 where he did a decent job. Fielding and catching - par.

Ganesh: (6/10)

A significant addition to our team. Added a dimension to our batting too. Keeping was slightly tardy in match 5 but I shall attribute that to a bad day. Shows a lot of promise as a bat too. Needs to use the nets better for honing his keeping skills.

Venkat: (6.5/10)

Wonderful bat. Sad to see him go but hopefully he will be back. Gave a lot of solidity to the top order. A good fielder and a decent bowler. Needs to control line and length better. Not too much to complain.

Anand: (6/10)

Again an asset to the team. Good solid opening bat and handy bowler. Slightly slow in the field but still faster than younger blokes like me. Not attending nets - only sore point.

Narendra: (5/10)

Good bowling performance in matches played. Needs to control his line. Batting wise an underachiever. Ofcourse he hasnt been given enough opportunities either. Highest enthu among all players. Something we can all learn from.

Joy: (4/10)

Again a slightly unfair score but he hasnt played all that much. A good fielder. Needs to improve batting and display bowling skills. Unavailable for most nets which is unacceptable.

Kishore: (3/10)

Very bad season thus far. Batting has been a disaster. He is capable of much much more. Primary problem is fear. Needs to get hit a couple of times before he realises it does not cause too much pain!!! Have been trying but unsuccessfull!!! Bowling has improved. A natural outswing bowler. Seems to have found his length in the last nets and match. Bowled well in match 5 . Tires easily and needs to build stamina and muscle strength. Fielding has improved and in match 5 it was commendable. Did a lot of running and saved a few runs. Pat on the back for that performance. Catching - the worst in the team. Even a blind man is more likely to hold catches. Kick up the rear for that. Will sort him out in the nets - thats a promise!!!!

Druck: (3/10)

Batting - disappointing. Needs to convert his talent into performance. I know he has the stuff but is getting out quite easily. Physical fitness is a liability. Needs to work on this furiously. Fielding - has not been tested so far. Unfortunate to have suffered an injury but did not miss much action thanks to all the rain. But needs to work harder on his batting and mobility.

Hui: (3/10)

The most promising talent in the team. Can really turn the ball a long way. To be completely honest I have seen few bowlers in all of my cricketing days who turn it so much. A natural talent that needs to be nurtured. Long bowling stints at the nets is what will give him both control and confidence. I want him to settle into a rhythm before we unleash on poor unsuspecting batsmen. Will be a match winner if he lives up to potential. Batting - shows a gift for timing in nets. Has not achieved much in matches. Lack of opportunity can be a reason - he will get his share. Physical fitness needs to improve a lot.

Vic Adi: (5/10)

Our best pace bowler by a distance. Tremendous away swingers. Good control and pace. Needs to improve his fielding and mobility. Very slow on the field. Batting - no real chance to prove his mettle. If the rest of the "batsmen" continue to flounder like this he will get his turn real soon. Good season so far.

Quarter Tony: (5/10)

Fastest improvement in overall skills. Has really upped his bowling and is batting solidly. Needs to start finding the gaps and push the scoring. But atleast he is hanging around which I cannot say abt the rest. Fielding is just fine. Calling needs to improve...

Jubbs: (3/10)

No contribution really in the batting department. Needs to improve quickly on his technique. Tendency to play across the line will land him in trouble often. Nets is his only saviour. Has the potential to handle quick bowling. If he improves a potential top order batsman. Needs to take nets more seriously. Safe fielder. Juggling catcher and drops few!!!

Psaignn: (4/10)

Sad to see him go after just a couple of matches. Good bowler and lovely fielder. Hope he will be back in No: 3 soon.

DJ Rave: (0/10)

Continues to be a ch..th. Failed to turn up for any of the nets, leave alone matches. Still hoping that a miracle will happen someday...

Well thats about it for the half season. Post your comments and observations - however true and cruel they might seem. It will only help if we are self-critical.

Our record for the season stands at 1-4. It would be great to write another review at the end of the season without much alteration to the right hand side of that equation.

All the best guys!!!

The return of No.3

2005-12-24T03:32:00.000-12:00

Wah... The season is over. The season has restarted.

Finally, Chennai sees some sun. (Never, never did i ever think i'll have reason to type that.) And the immediate result? No.3 has matches scheduled on Christmas Day, New year's Day , and every other holiday till the end of Jan. Up, boys, and at 'em.

The 'resumption nets' which happened today were marked by some sharp fielding practice from Narahoo (singling out Kishore for some rough treatment, poor guy), variable bounce on the St.Bede's pitch. and the return from injury of Jubbs and myself.

The bowlers turned in a decent performance, with Vik extracting sharp bounce, Tony and Kishore getting some significant movement in the air and off the pitch, and Hui bowling Ganesh round his legs (leading to a new name, combining "Hou" and "Warnie" - Horny! Sorry, Hui.). Some of the batsmen, including, inevitably the skipper, showed some good timing. All good signs in the leadup to our next game, tomorrow, against Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Wish us luck, and come back for the match report and photos.

2005-12-20T16:46:00.000-12:00

No:3,

Blue skies beckon. Dare i say "nets"???

- narahoo

backlog photos - from game 2

2005-12-16T05:31:00.000-12:00

Need that strength!!

Team Talk

Practice before the game

In the field

Narahoo turns it on

Wah!

A loyal fan dreams of being in the team

Tempting Fate

2005-11-30T23:45:00.000-12:00

All right. We have to know.

We've had sunshine in Chennai for a week, cyclone warnings notwithstanding. The cyclone has been poised on the coast for three days now, as if waiting for a sign from us. So being the good guinea pigs that we are, we'll take the bait.

#3 has scheduled a net session. Something that over the past months has almost invariably signalled the start of unprecedented levels of rainfall in Chennai. To compound matters, an international cricket match (Ind vs SL, 1st Test) is also scheduled to start at the MA Chidamabram stadium - another sure fire rain bringer in recent times.

Will the rain Gods respond to the challenge?

Watch this space.

cheer up, boys... kill 'em

2005-11-20T22:01:00.000-12:00

One big factor in the win was the spirit on the field which could be summed up as 'never say die, but say pretty much anything else you can think of'.

Some examples included Ganesh's non stop vocal performance behind the stumps (and even while batting, according to Venkat!), Vikramadi providing the first ever instance of a bowler sledging during his run up, and the loud cheers of 'idea game, idea game' when an overthrow led to a pinched single where there was none.

The match also saw Narahoo raise his bat to the pavillion for the first time this season... not for a high score, or a boundary or six (all of which he has provided plenty of), but for a quick single he called for. Will wonders never cease??

GAME 4 - Victory at last, and Super Saturdays!

2005-11-20T17:04:00.000-12:00

# 3 vs. Verizon Software CC.
19 Nov, 2005, Teachers "B"
#3 won by 6 wkts

#3 finally had a whiff of the sweet smell of victory after a tigerish display on the field and some solid sensible batting helped them comfortably beat Verizon CC.
Supporters of #3 were hoping for a double whammy! A maiden win and an India win. Their hopes were rewarded in style.
Some incisive and accurate seam and swing bowling in the previous two net sessions prompted the skipper to entertain thoughts of fielding first. The team was also pretty certain that the opposition was most definitely going to bat first in case they called right. Bang on. Verizon won the toss and elected to bat.

Verizon innings.

No 3 s opening bowlers were licking their lips and looking to exploit the early morning conditions. But that was not to be. They struggled to control the ball and unleashed a barrage of wides. Tonys opening over had five and Venkat who promptly replaced him couldnt do much better. Vikramadi at the other end was the only one able to maintain some sort of discipline and constantly trouble the batsmen, even though the wide problem did not totally elude him.
The batting team got off to a flier of sorts getting 48 on board in just 6 overs in which a staggering 25 came of wides.

And then Vik landed the double blow. An ungainly heave resulted in their opener spooning a simple catch to Tony at cover. Two balls later a corker of a delivery ripped through the one drop batsman's defence and disturbed the woodwork. 48 for2. No. 3 was definitely back in the game.
Vik continued to probe, Narendra was introduced into the attack but the wides kept coming albeit lesser in frequency. Their batsmen started to grow in confidence and a partnership was building. A sharp piece of fielding from Venkat and some excellent glovework by Ganesh broke the partnership that was assuming dangerous proportions. At 78 for 3 drinks were taken.

The run rate was still excellent but it was apparent that if the bowlers were able to cut down on wides and field tight the chances of restricting Verizon were still very good.

As the ball got older the bowlers found it easier to land it in the right areas and run scoring became more difficult. Narendra started bowling consistently well and Sriram introduced himself at the other end to put a lid on the scoring rate.

And then came the moments of magic. A stunning direct hit from the long on fence by Joy after a "strategic" misfield from Kishore, another superb piece of fielding by venkat of his own bowling, running across and throwing the stumps down and a brilliant running catch of a swirling top edge at slip by Narendra off the bowling of Sriram. Coupled with some superbly accurate wicket to wicket bowling by Narendra resulting in two clean bowleds , No. 3 was well and truly on top. 103 for 8. Some late order hitting by the no 9 batsman pushed the score to 130 when Ramesh took a well judged catch at the extra cover boundary.

At this point #3 was under time pressure and it looked like only 26 overs could be completed within the stipulated time. Veriz0ns gameplan was obviously to block out the last couple of overs and avoid getting all out so that #3 had only 26 overs to chase the requisite number of runs. But that was not to be as sriram did the no 11 in the last over before close thereby ensuring his team got the full quota of 30 overs to chasedown 133.

It was much improved performance on the field after the horrors of the previous game. Misfields were limited to 2 , one of them resulting in a wicket and not a chance went abegging save for an extremely difficult edge to keeper Ganesh. It would be have been cruel to put that down as a dropped chance. The keeping was excellent as well resulting in just 4 byes in the whole innings. The wides were the only sore point in the whole performance. A staggering 40 in a total of 133.

#3 innings.

At the start of the innings it was clear that steady sensible batting would have to be the order of the day and if they just played through the 30 overs without losing too many wickets they would be home comfortably.
Openers Ramesh and Ganesh walked in with just that on their minds. The Verizon opening bowlers also seemed to be bitten by the "wides" bug as they sprayed the ball about. The openers had to just stay and not try anything fancy. And they did just that as the score raced to 50 in less than 9 overs. They were aided by a couple of dropped chances , one for each batsman. Ramesh departed soon after, bowled playing a tired shot for en extremely valuable but uncharachteristically scratchy 17. Kishore came and went soon after, playing across the line to a straight delivery. Narendra departed as well after swatting a crisp boundary, paying the price for trying to hit every single ball. Venkat walked in and quickly settled in after initial moments of jitter and quick admonitions from the skipper.
Ganesh who was batting sensibly and holding up his end soon was bowled by one which kept low. It was a precious knock considering the circumstances.
Sriram joined Venkat at the crease with his team in a spot of bother. But with just 60 to get and the team's most experienced pair at the crease it was never going to be a huge problem. Venkat, under strict instructions from his captain to curb his natural attacking instincts played straighter and straighter as his innings progressed and proved almost impossible to dislodge. Both the batsmen just picked the singles on offer and inched towards the target without any trouble at all. Soon enough was enough and Sriram belted a couple of boundaries. Game set and match No.3.
Both batsmen remained unbeaten, Venkat on 27 and Sriram on 29, steering the team home with 2.3 overs to spare. All said and done a very well managed chase and an impressive total team performance.
There were several contenders for man of the match. Venkat for his brilliant fielding and innings of great charachter, Sriram for his fine all round performance and Narendra for his outstanding spell of medium pace bowling which broke the back of the Verizon innings. It finally went to Narendra.
The team missed the services of injured Druck and Hainn. They were joined by Iiii who dislocated his finger at nets the previous day. Ganesh and Indrabeer were roped in as replacements.
The team will now go into the next game knowing they are on the up. A few issues, notably the wides bowled upfront, have to be looked into in depth. That apart this wonderful display on the field and the fast maturing batting line up augur well for this team's future.
The team proceeded to Narahoos house to celebrate and cheer team India on to a wonderful win. One celebration was followed by another as inees' bachelor party was taken out into the wee hours in the morning making for a truly Super Saturday.

#3 was supported by Iiii, Druck, Thili and Arjun. Thanks guys for the support and cheer!.

In Game 4, #3 was: Ramesh, Venkat, Indrabeer, Kishore, Sriram (c), Tony, Ganesh(wk), Huiyyaps, Narendra, Joy & Vik.

GAME 3 – A game of two halves

2005-11-04T21:02:00.000-12:00

Number 3 vs Rookies,
1 Nov, 2005, Pachaiyappas College ‘A’.
Rookies won by 62 runs.

What a day. We went through a complete range of emotions during this one, a game played on Diwali day. The league organisers had called up the captain the previous day asking if we were up to a match and he sceptically said he would check if we could muster an eleven. Arriving at Studio, it took him all off three minutes to receive enthusiastic confirmations from the entire team!! We were playing a match on Diwali, and it was the skipper’s ‘Thalai Deepavali’ to boot. One only wonders what the in laws had to say.

The roller coaster ride began as we walked in to Pachaiyappas college, to see our opponents from the previous game playing the morning match. Greeting them, we watched them fall short of the target as our opponents began to assemble. Rookies, did they say? Rookies, my ass! The group assembling was a bunch of young, fit and apparently well experienced players. They won the toss, chose to bat, and proceeded to confirm our worst fears. Vik’s first over was tight but comfortably negotiated. The fourth ball of Vishesh’s first was slamed over fine leg for six, and a hard slap down the wicket in his next over made contact with his little finger, and broke it. An inauspicious beginning, followed up by what was our worst fielding performance since the inception of Number 3. By some distance.

Dropped catches, misjudgements, misfields… they all served to fuel the confidence in the batsmen’s strokes. The captain’s temper was rising, our shoulders were drooping and by the tenth over they were swinging at everything and we were ambling along like zombies on the perimeter, walking to pick up balls that didn’t reach the boundary and rolling throws in. In hindsight, this was probably where we let ourselves down the most. We let go of the best thing we have going for us, our morale. As a result, even when balls did go up in the air, no one believed that they would be taken. And with the exception of one by the captain, none of them were. Anand and Sriram kept things as tight as they could by taking the pace off the ball, Visesh came back and bowled a decent second spell in spite of his broken finger, but by the time we had finished bowling the 29 overs we managed, they had rattled up a massive 219 for 3. The mood at the innings break was easily the lowest we’ve felt as #3.

Then, it happened. The performance that turned the mood right around. Anand’s eight over spell had tired him out a little too much to open, and Venkat (back in for the unavailable Narendra) opened the innings with Jubbs. They walked out to face an overconfident side, not short of a few words. Mistake. Sufficiently wound up, Venkat let loose. A snorter accounted for iiii, caught at slip, but Kishore stayed in for a bit. And Venkat decided that he didn’t quite like their aggressive, three slips and a gully field and decided to spread it around by scoring boundaries all round the wicket. One hook shot in particular stood out, and was applauded long and hard. Kishore holed out but that only meant a well rested Anand went in. This partnership began to seriously worry our opposition as Venkat continued on his merry way and Anand settled in to a lovely rhythm, timing and placing the ball to perfection. At the end of the 12^th over, believe it or not, we were up with the asking rate of 7 an over. Venkat’s wicket for an excellent 37 set off celebrations in the opposing ranks, but poor devils, Narahoo was next. A quick bowler was brought on specifically to get his wicket. Two thumping straight fours took care of that, his spell lasting only one over. And amazingly, the scoring rate continued. The hundred was up, and in good time too. We were right back in it, and in fine voice again.

But the fall of Sriram put paid to any dreams of the miracle victory. I managed to heave a couple which pushed our total beyond 150 for the first time, but wickets tumbled in the slog. Anand was left stranded, last man out for a superb 42 to a sharp catch by one of their fielders who had been Rhodes-like throughout, and we finished at 157 all out. We had lost the match, but the handshakes and their reactions showed that we had earned their respect. From a team who had been picking and choosing which singles to run and fighting among themselves to get at our bowling, they knew they had been in a scrap.

The Diwali bash at Kishore’s house turned out to be a celebration, after all. (And how!!)

#3 was supported at the ground by the Crutch, Self, Bawb, Arup, Victor P and Anand. Thanks for being there guys, every cheer helped bring the spirit back.

In Game 3, #3 was: Jubbs, Venkat, Anand, Kishore, Sriram (c), Tony, Druck(wk), Huiyyaps, Visesh, Joy & Vik.

Injuries rock #3

2005-11-04T03:19:00.000-12:00

Opening bowler Hainn and keeper/batsman druck(local julius) have fallen into the injury list. Hainn broke his little finger during our third game last sunday (match report to follow) , trying to stop a full blooded drive on his follow through. The ball took his finger and hit the stumps and crashed into the stumps but unfortunately the opposition batsman was firmly grounded in his crease. Reports say that Hainn is in the recovery process and should be fighting fit in 6 weeks or so.
Keeper /batsman druck(local julius) suffered a freak knee dislocation at nets on thursday. Druck who padded up to bat after a good keeping session suddenly collapsed onto the ground letting out a loud scream. Reports say he'll be out for 3 to 6 weeks.
#3 wishes the two of the a very speedy recovery and a quick return to the field

Numbers 4 and 5?

2005-11-02T01:24:00.000-12:00

Just wanted to point out that there certainly is a a world beyond Number 3. This is a bccb blog not just meant for this team, so please post on any bikang related cricket happenings, opinions, etc. worldwide.....

And dudes from #3, please add your own posts regarding matches and happenings. the official report is merely one perspective on it (neutral though it tries to be).. other viewpoints can only make the blog more interesting....

GAME 2 - Harsh realities

2005-11-01T18:04:00.000-12:00

Number 3 vs Crown Tapes CC
30, Oct, YMCA A, Nandanam,
Crown Tapes CC won by 5 wkts

Note: All my posts from now on will be in the first person. Referring to myself as “Druck” in match reports made me feel a bit like Julius Caesar in the Asterix comics. Hope it goes down well with you guys, the few people who actually read these.

The soaring spirit of #3 was brought back down to earth just a little in game 2, as a poor batting performance and a couple of dropped catches showed us just how far we need to go to be competitive in this league. Still enjoying ourselves thoroughly, we nevertheless left the YMCA grounds with a greater feeling of dissatisfaction than the first time around – perhaps the realization that we could actually be winning these matches if we executed the basic disciplines well enough had something to do with that.

Unprecedented levels of wet weather (the most rainfall in 40 years in Chennai, I’m told – didn’t we just know something like this would happen) scuppered any hopes we had of getting in lots of practice before game 2. We were restricted to one net session on the Saturday preceding the game, where I had a horror session as ‘keeper, and fielding all round left a lot to be desired. A lengthy bowling spell in the nets for Narendra, Kishore, Visesh, Tony, Huiyyaps and Narahoo was the best return from this one.

On matchday, the skipper again won the toss and this time, we chose to bat. The absence of Kaataan, on paternity leave, gave Jubbs the opportunity to open with Anand. Sadly, it wasn’t to last long, he was out lbw early on. Kishore went in at one drop and was soon seeing the ball well. An ill conceived second run put paid to his promising innings, and it was a steady procession towards the dressing room (tree, actually) from then on. Anand fell, Tayne played a patient innings for no score, and then I joined the captain in the middle with strict instructions to play forward and stay in. Tragedy struck soon after as a well set Sriram was run out at the bowler’s end, ambling a single. Half the side gone, less than 50 on the board and 15 overs still to play. Some trench warfare from me, visesh and vik (ending in yet another run out when I called vik for a suicidal run) pushed the total up to 77 all out, the only saving grace being that we managed to play out 29 overs.

Just how little the opposition thought of the target was made evident by their choice of opener, one Jose, an uncomplicated batsman who did not seem aware of the existence of an off side. His simple, rustic heaving should have had no effect on us at all, but I grassed a straightforward chance behind the stumps off vik’s second ball and we paid the price. The ball flew off the bat - edges, meat, handle and all - and they knocked off more than half the target in five overs. Sriram’s captaincy was one thing that was completely on the ball today and he quickly slowed the game down by introducing Anand and himself into the attack. Three quick wickets, and we had pegged the scoring rate back.

But in the end, we simply didn’t have enough on the board. A further dropped catch at square leg later, the target was down to ten. One final piece of inspired captaincy, however, provided our brightest spot of the match. Sriram threw the ball to Huiyyaps, and to cries of “bowling, Shane” he settled into a nice loop, dropping the ball in nice areas and spinning it viciously. After twice collapsing in a tangle of arms, legs and bat, one of their batsman sliced a ball that looped slowly to Jubbs who juggled the ball and held on for a truly celebratory moment.

The formalities completed shortly thereafter, we were left to rue the run outs and dropped catches that prevented us from being competitive. They had knocked off the runs in 15 overs, with five wickets to spare. Some hard work lies ahead of us, but the best thing about Number 3, the fantastic spirit around everything this team does, remained firmly in place – and accompanied us to the now mandatory post match beer.

#3 would again like to thank Jake, the Crutch, Sunder and Self for taking the time and trouble to support us at the ground. Jake in particular for virtually being our 12^th man (woman??) and also carrying out photography duties.

In Game 2, #3 was: Jubbs, Anand, Kishore, Sriram (c), Tony, Druck(wk), Narendra, Huiyyaps, Visesh, Joy & Vik.

First Lady of #3

2005-10-25T03:50:00.000-12:00

Hard hitting opening batsman of #3 Ramesh a.k.a. Kaataan and his wife Priya are proud parents of a baby girl as of the 22nd of October. Congrats from the whole team. When's the party?!?!

Check this out...

2005-10-20T18:06:00.000-12:00

http://www.allaboutsrilanka.co.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=303

Srilanka here we come....

Tips and Message for Wicket Keepers

2005-10-19T21:56:00.000-12:00

I have been thoroughly enjoying my role in the team as a wicket keeper. The wickets in south Africa are green and bouncy. Most of the matches the bounce has been true and that makes it a bit more enjoyable behind the stumps. I was reading the following thing on the web and thought i ll share it with whoever is going to keep wickets for number III

There are two approaches 1. stand too far back and 2. close to the stumps.

STANCE TOO FAR BACK :

1. Mostly for a pace bowler or swing bowler.
2. To prevent Byes.
3. To take Catches.
4. On bouncy wickets or for Bouncers.

CLOSE TO THE STUMPS

1. To sustain the pressure on the batsman.
2. On a turning pitch.
3. For Spinners.
4. Keep the body low, do not get up.
5. Lift the body with the bounce of the ball.
6. It is easy to get up, difficult to go down, keep the position low.
7. Try to dismiss the batsmen when they err just for a moment.
8. Be sharp on the leg side.
9. On side movement, keeper has to move on side, watching the line of attack of the ball, DO NOT MOVE AFTER THE PITCH, it is too late.
10. Move on the leg side early to sight the ball, otherwise it stops the vision.

But most importantly i have realised that if you lose faith in the match behind the stumps your bowlers never going to get the confidence. Whatever happens make sure the team morale is high. And theres no better place to follow the game than behind the stumps. I think it is very very important for the keeper to give vital tips to the bowler and point out certain weakness of the batsman. I think it would be good to work out certain signals with the bowlers espicially spinners.

Rock on Number III.

Inis

Rain scuppers first post match net session

2005-10-18T06:10:00.000-12:00

The much awaited scheduled nets for wednesday shall not happen due to "cityile heavy rains" most of Tuesday, thus upsetting many of the members of No.3.
"why on earth didnt it rain like this the year before last when we didnt have water in the building" said the team's most Jason gillespie lookalike, Kishore as wicket keeper DruckB nodded in approval.
Skipper Narahoo joined by a few others took out special prayers to make sure the rains stayed away for the rest of the week. "God willing, the rains should keep away for the rest of the week so that the team can get match fit in time for next Sunday" said he hopefully.
"Its to do with cricket only...remember how it rained here the day we were going to cream the Aussies....and then never rained after that!!.....its all a curse", lamented key swing bowler Narendra just as RJDave was trying to tell one of the juniors in the team that it was wrong to teach daddy how to fuck.
All this rain did not seem to affect leg spin prospect and late order supremo Huyiapps. "Anyway we should be able to play on a cement wicket tomorrow. Rains or no rains!" stated he, aptly capturing the mood of the moment.

match1 | photos

2005-10-17T22:12:00.000-12:00

Standing:(Left) Ramesh, (Right) Venkat
Sitting:(L-R) Jubbs, Huiyapps, Vikramadi, Narahoo, Anand
Squatting:(L-R) Narendra, druckb, kishore

Narahoo involved in some serious seasoning of the bat

Standing:(Left) Ramesh, (Right) Venkat
Sitting:(L-R) Jubbs, Huiyapps, Vikramadi, Narahoo, Anand
Squatting:(L-R) Narendra, psaignnn, kishore

Narandra getting some pre match batting practice from psaignnn

Team Debut causes waves

2005-10-17T19:24:00.000-12:00

Team No. 3's promising debut brought in boquets from bikang professionals from across the globe.
Wicket keeper/bat, Inees currently playing for a Durban based team called in to offer words of encouragement and advice for the team members during a break during his net session at Kingsmead.
Good wishes also poured in from injured players Merc (currently recuperating from a back injury) and Anand (who opted out due to a shoulder injury)
The team team also missed the services of key players RJDave(who had to drop out in the last minute citing family reasons) and Mr.Tane (who was enjoying some beef fry back in the Motherland).
Star batsman Arun Caddy sent in his best wishes via email(ooh....emails..)
Bondhil, currently playing in a Bay area league was unavailable for comment.

GAME 1 - A promising beginning, and great fun all round.

2005-10-17T07:59:00.000-12:00

Number 3 vs ING Vysya
16 Oct, 2005, Teacher's B, Saidapet
ING Vysya won by 35 runs.

A landmark day in bikang cricketing history, which saw the 'blue sky' league debut of Number 3, bikang's first ever honest to goodness cricket team. And we weren't half bad either. The presence of friends and well wishers, a full-on performance on the field, some amazing team spirit and a loss that only ensured we were all itching to get back to the nets made for a thoroughly entertaining and fulfilling day's cricket. But first things first, here's how it happened.

Amidst much happiness and not a little nervousness, #3 showed up at Teacher's B in our spanking new whites and proceeded with the warm ups. Captain Narahoo, much encouraged by what he saw at the nets the previous day, won the toss and chose to field first in a slightly delayed start. Vikramadi was handed the new ball, and proceeded to get a fair amount of lift off the pitch, the ball thudding into keeper Narahoo's gloves. And when Ramesh ran one of the openers out of the third ball of the match, we were off to the best possible start. Visesh shared the new ball and promptly picked one up in his first over, a faint edge smartly taken by the captain behind the stumps. #3 was in da house! But by now, what was to prove our biggest problem was already making an appearance - far too many wides down leg, several of which ran down past the keeper for byes... a problem that would have been far worse were it not for tireless work by Huiyapps at deep fine leg. A partnership was now building, and some worries were developing for the captain. And then he threw the ball to Narendra.

Narendra's first ball swung away wickedly from a perfect line, in a manner that drew gasps from the keeper and slip, and would have had his good friend Srinath nodding in approval. It wasn't long before he had the batsman chipping one to short mid wicket, where jubbs held a smart, tumbling catch (There was, of course, the mandatory ribbing from the rest of the team about whether the dive was really callled for, but the applause was well deserved.) Another one down, and in his next over Narendra shattered the next man's stumps, ushering in a well deserved drinks break.

We were in serious over rate trouble by this point, and ran the risk of shortening the game even further. Designated 'keeper druck took over the gloves, and Narahoo and Anand combined for a few overs of efficient spin. The Vysya team decided to go for it, and a few dropped catches proved a bit costly (Kishore making up for it with a fine take at shoulder height off Narahoo). Vik returned to pick up his first wicket, Sriram ended up with three during the slog, and restriciting them to 141 for 8 off the 21 overs we bowled was a good effort, considering the rustiness of all our bowlers. We were in with a chance, and also had the makings of a really potent attack for future games.

Those chances improved dramatically in the course of a well constructed opening stand of 40 between Anand and Ramesh, coming in good time. Smooth strokes from Anand and some lusty hitting from Ramesh, including a magnificient pulled six in the second over had the Vysya team anxiously checking the score after every over. But Anand's legs were giving out on him, and shortly after playing the shot of the day, a perfect straight driven four, he was caught off a tired looking shot. Venkat went in at the slot of #3 for #3 and brushed off the effects of a hard running outfielding performance with a smooth innings.

The dismissal of Ramesh soon after paved the way for an Arjuna Ranatunga-esque performance from the captain. Some walked singles and a couple of non responses to calls from Venkat later, the team hut (or bench, to be more accurate) was getting jittery and began to make some polite enquiries as to his plan. His response? Step out to the spinner and smack him for a clean straight six. Only sixty to go now, off 45 balls.

Sadly, it wasn't to last. Venkat holed out and Sriram was stumped off a leg side wide, some smart work by the opposition 'keeper. And the inexperience of our middle order showed, with Druck, iii, Psaignn and Vik getting out to wild heaves in the face of a mounting asking rate. Four wickets for two runs in the space of two overs.

Kishore at the other end showed us what we should have been doing, placing the ball into gaps and running hard. He found a willing partner in Huiyyaps, whose sensational running, including a dive to gain his crease and complete a two, drew much appreciation from the other team. The target now was to get to a hundred, and to keep the excitement,at 98, huiyapps was caught at short third. Nine down! Narendra walked in at number 11 and seven runs off the final over, all run, saw us finish at 105 for 9 off our designated 21 overs. Short by 35 runs.

Defeated, but by no means disgraced, Number 3 is already looking ahead to two weeks' practice, and our next match on the 30th of October, 2005. You'll find the match report right here on this blog a few days after that.

#3 would like to especially thank Sam, Muskaan, Self, Joy and Deepa's Dad for taking the time and trouble to watch and cheer for us. And Sam sorting out refreshments after the match was the act of a true king!!!

#3 is (in batting order) .. Anand, Ramesh, Venkat, Narahoo(c), Kishore, Druck(wk), iiiii, Psaignn, Vik, Huiyyaps and Narendra.

We also eagerly await the return of Tayne and DJ Rave for the next game.

See ya then

For #3,
Koidy.