Coming out of retirement Part XIII
First of all, our team finally has its own website cavaliers.criciwiki.com. I've been feverishly entering scorecards from the whole season as well as bugging teammates for photos. Dom snapped a great photo of Errol winding up in an identical pose to the iconic Victor Trumper photo - perfect for the Cavs website header. Isn't it great when sport meets geek?!
Last week ended with the match poised - we were 2 for 26 chasing 165 for first innings points. I'd batted for an hour last week just to survive to stumps. It was a great plan, start the day afresh and build an innings. Unfortunately it unravelled several overs into the day when I fine glanced a delivery into my pads that richoted into the stumps. Bowled after adding only 1 run to my overnight score! And condemned to sit in my fold out chair growing fat on muesli bars while I watched our team bat all afternoon.
Even worse - I didn't have to wait long at all. The Cavs collapsed badly, all out for 90 and conceding first innings points. The opposition came out and lost quick wickets in the pursuit of fast runs. With 90 minutes to go, they declared, setting us 167 runs off 20 overs. Twenty20 stuff! It went without saying the Cavaliers would live up to their name and go for the win.
Our ambitious run chase fell over at the starting blocks when we lost 2 wickets in the first over. A third wicket fell in the 7th ball of the innings and I walked out with the Cavs reeling on 3 for 4. Errol's plan: steady the ship, see how we're going then accelerate. Unfortunately 3 more quick wickets fell and we were suddenly 6 for 22, staring down the barrel of outright defeat. Phil, the offspinner, came out and we hunkered down for the draw. Phil started defensive but after several overs, the tailend instincts kicked in and he started swinging across the line. "Play it straight", I advised. Phil took a big swipe and skiied it to midwicket. "I played it straight," he later told me. "Straight into the air!"
Dom came in with 8 overs to go. Up till that point, I don't recall ever seeing him play a defensive stroke. Facing an off-spinner, I played at a ball outside off, missed it and it struck the pad, deflecting to first slip. The fielders went up. Jim, an elderly umpire who bases his decisions on the loudness of the appeal, raised the finger. Out to a dodgy decision but I was more annoyed at not playing the ball more securely.
7 overs to go for our last two batsman to survive. The rest of the team didn't hold out much hope. But Dom and Jamie hung in there, blocking out over after over. When we started counting down balls rather than overs, our hopes started to rise. Last over, Dom on strike, defending like Dravid. Last ball, he safely blocked and the Cavs survived for another nailbiting draw. Why do so many Cavs games seem to go right down to the last over?! For the statistically minded, you can peruse the match scorecard here.
So a deflating day - out twice in a single day and not bowling an over. But a nailbiting and entertaining finish - what club cricket is all about! Which brings me to my final point. Last week, Vishnu told us an engrossing tale of his own club cricket experience, featuring sledging, getting knocked unconscious and the demise of his team. It also offered keen insights into the culture of Indian club cricket. So if any bloggers have their own experiences of club cricket they'd like to share, whether recent or in past years, please comment here...
| Posted by JC on Wed 20 Feb |  3 comments |
JC,Pity you couldn't bag the first innings points.But you guys really have to look to get as many points as possible when your playing teams that are below you.
and whats the difference between the state shield and the premiership???
Posted by vishnu on 2008-02-20 22:11:23
and whats the difference between the state shield and the premiership???
Posted by vishnu on 2008-02-20 22:11:23
Well, we're bottom of the Premiership table so difficult to find any teams below us.
State shield is a 1 day comp (35 overs per side), Premiership is a 2 day comp (2 innings per side).
We're looking ok for the State Shield, #3 on the ladder. But one of our players is having his wedding day on the afternoon of the final so if we do make the final, well, with half the team invited, a forfeit is likely. Crazy stuff!
Posted by JC on 2008-02-20 22:56:44
State shield is a 1 day comp (35 overs per side), Premiership is a 2 day comp (2 innings per side).
We're looking ok for the State Shield, #3 on the ladder. But one of our players is having his wedding day on the afternoon of the final so if we do make the final, well, with half the team invited, a forfeit is likely. Crazy stuff!
Posted by JC on 2008-02-20 22:56:44
Good to see that the Cavs kept fighting till the very end, memories of McGrath and Lee at Manchester flood back..
Also what was good was that you didn't make a big issue of that crucial poor umpiring decision, maybe some other team would have been calling for poor Jim's head!
Posted by Ajesh Nag on 2008-02-20 23:58:56
Also what was good was that you didn't make a big issue of that crucial poor umpiring decision, maybe some other team would have been calling for poor Jim's head!
Posted by Ajesh Nag on 2008-02-20 23:58:56
Post New Comment
You need to be logged in to post a comment. If you're new, register here. Existing users, login via the right margin.
