Well as we had decided in the six week long break we needed to come up with some good strategies about where we were lacking and the general plan on our preparedness. With the relatively low work pressure on account of the Christmas and New Year week we had some time to quickly have a small team meet on our strategies. We met in the break room over a cup of coffee.
Kaptaan sahab was back from his marriage and a month long India trip. He was initially talking abt going in the semi-retirement mode but it was hardly a week and when we discussed with him what he had missed over a month the itch made its way back and he quickly turned into cricket mode. He was present for the practice match with Apollo just in his first week-end back. With his comeback, however, came back his re-renewed desire to go up the order - even though theres really no room there. Up the order would mean disturbing the intact working upper order. We are thinking of offering him any spot between 1 to 6 except 1,2,3,4,5,6 since they are already occupied ;-). The batting order was- in the sequence- Omair and Sam as openers followed by Ganesh, then Rajender, followed by Vivek or Bosco, followed by Sukrit. Which meant the next available slot was no 7 which in fact was one lower than his initial order. And it seemed it didn't matter that no 7 was actually lower order at least as long as it was single digited!!!
Sukrit was thinking of ordering 2 dozen practice balls - which I thought were enough for next 4 leagues considering the (ir)regularity of our regular(?) practice sessions. While we already had 7 balls left of the previous dozen - which I thought were enough to outlive the LB guys life here. An extra dozen balls I thought were enough to outlive even the Ness guys (considering how fast the preferred vendor changes)and the 2 dozen would live to see the day of exit of the next vendor.
One interesting futuristic thought evolving out of this was how would the team be when we would have been using last remaining of the 2 dozen balls. Sukrit would be part of the league organisers(anyone can guess seeing his enthu and that the organizers are often looking out for guys who take initiatives) while Keshav will still be replying to mails from his iPhone (iPhone8G that is). While Saurabh still realising his dream of moving up the order finally reaching 6, since the Wipro guy at no. 6 was flying back since his knowledge transition to the new Cognizant guy would have been over.
We also decided to order wicket keepers gloves. In the league matches the lack of gloves meant we always were looked down upon as the poorer cousins, who somehow make it and cant afford a kit. The keepers gloves seem to make a team look professional. Atleast our "looks" are professional if not our game. Borrowing from other teams was our Shaan ke Khilaaf. And also against our theory that the keeper doesn't really need a glove to catch/stop a tennis ball. Although the real reason was that we were on a tight budget. Also the lack of gloves made us feel like Milkha Singh -one who has talent and will fight, run and win - shoe or no shoe.
We also decided for the twenty-seventh time this season that we need to practise more. The twenty-sixth such plan for which I had contributed by writing an inspirational mail to the team about the importance of practice had went for a toss because I was watching Avatar in IMax-3D at Harkins Theatre exactly at the same moment as the planned execution time of that plan.
Equations in the league seem to have changed in the past few days with some of the minnows causing upsets by defeating teams at the top of the table and so our path to the knock-outs is now more harder. We now have to defeat not only these so-called under-dogs but also a couple of the top teams to comfortably reach the quarters. We have our next league match next week-end with the Stragglers - the only winless team in the tournament so far and no wonder they are at the bottom of the table. Considering our last win was also against the then bottom-of-the-league team we have hopes, but the only cause for worry is that we are going in this match with absolutely no match practice just hoping they don't do to us what Zimbabwe and Bangladesh did to India in the 99 and 2007 World Cups respectively.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Mix n match
With no match for almost six weeks the best we could do to stay in touch with cricket was to have some practice games. Had a joint practice session with the Apollos team today. This mix and match seems to be a really innovative idea. Its hard to get 11 guys in place on a game day, ever so harder for a practice match. And when you are practicing with only your team you actually need more so we can split and have a decent match. In the past this lack of players forced us to play shorter practice games(6 or 10 overs a side) which forced the batsmen to go all out from ball one -an approach which was the reason for our fall in the league games. With truncated overs, non-regular bowlers bowling and less than 11 fielders, it never matched an actual match scenario. Also the problem of practising within ourselves was that we had got used to each other - to each others strengths and weaknesses. Practice sessions amongst ourselves wasnt actually helping us - the actual match scenario was always a new one coz it was totally different from the practise games and players often had no clue, so we had to learn it the hard way - from the actual league games itself.
We found a solution to all this when we got a proposal from the Apollo guys for a joint practice session. They it seemed faced the same of our problems above. It was nice to play against a new set of batsmen and bowlers. It was also nice to see us win- the feeling is good- even though we know its just a practise match!!!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Cricket for a cause
Well we were supposed to have a month and a half long break from the league, but then it seems the cricketing itch doesnt seem to keep us away from the grounds longer. The Arizona Cricket Association, given their popularity in the east valley, was approached by the Indo American Foundation of Arizona to help them out during their 6th Annual Charity Walk. They arrange a 5K Walk every year to support local shelters in the valley and homeless youths and raise funds for them. And what other better way to garner support amongst the desis here than cricket. They proposed a so called All-Stars game after the Walk, with players from all the teams of the league participating.
All the teams in the league were asked to nominate a few players and two teams were formed. Although it wasn't really competitive cricket we were sure the participants were going to go hard on each other to keep the crowds happy. It also presented an oppurtunity to play infront of some semblance of an audience. Otherwise there is hardly anyone who has time to watch our league games(except the occasional wives).
It was fun to play with and cheer for players who we'd played against in the league, but I'd say it was more fun to play opposite someone wearing a Chandler Bulls T-shirt. You dont know where your loyalties lie. For a moment when I was fielding I was supporting Vivek, who was batting beautifully but incidentally was playing for our opponents - the India XI(we were the Desi XI), and when Sukrit came to bowl while I was batting, well - it was either he or me, coz he was coming hard at me and I had to save my wicket.
Everyone got a chance with the bat or to roll their arms and the result didn't matter, in the end as they say - cricket won.
Here are some of the snaps from the match.
Our own Hero Hiralal - Sukrit executing one of those stylish shots. He seems to be the only one from our team who got a nice close-up solo shot, otherwise the other guys seem to be supporting artists lurking somewhere in the background in the group photos.
Both the teams-
All the teams in the league were asked to nominate a few players and two teams were formed. Although it wasn't really competitive cricket we were sure the participants were going to go hard on each other to keep the crowds happy. It also presented an oppurtunity to play infront of some semblance of an audience. Otherwise there is hardly anyone who has time to watch our league games(except the occasional wives).
It was fun to play with and cheer for players who we'd played against in the league, but I'd say it was more fun to play opposite someone wearing a Chandler Bulls T-shirt. You dont know where your loyalties lie. For a moment when I was fielding I was supporting Vivek, who was batting beautifully but incidentally was playing for our opponents - the India XI(we were the Desi XI), and when Sukrit came to bowl while I was batting, well - it was either he or me, coz he was coming hard at me and I had to save my wicket.
Everyone got a chance with the bat or to roll their arms and the result didn't matter, in the end as they say - cricket won.
Here are some of the snaps from the match.
Our own Hero Hiralal - Sukrit executing one of those stylish shots. He seems to be the only one from our team who got a nice close-up solo shot, otherwise the other guys seem to be supporting artists lurking somewhere in the background in the group photos.
Both the teams-
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Getting mauled
Before the start of the match we were joking around as to how this game can be compared with an Australia vs Bangladesh encounter. Somewhere in our minds we also liked that comparison since the Bongs had managed to stage an upset once and I'd be lying if I said we didn't nurture that ambition of hoping to emulate their feat. What happened on the ground in our match against the Rodeos - the defending champions - though was a complete whitewash which certainly has brought this feeling of utter hopelessness. We were outplayed in every department of the game. We had a few losses in the earlier games also but we always had some positives out of every match. Especially our bowlers, who bowled well whatever the quality of opposition. But today our two top bowlers who had bowled consistently throughout the tournament and were in the top rankings amongst bowlers in the league were thrashed for 42 and 43 runs in their quota of 5 overs and went wicketless. Watching their balls sail above our heads and land well past the boundary was a terribly discouraging sight for the outfielders. One of the opposition batsman sprinkled salt on our wounds by hitting a half century - only the second of the league. To hit a 50 with the limited amount of strike available in a 20-20 is certainly commendable.
Our batting brought back old memories of batsmen parading to the pitch and returning to the pavilion as if in a hurry. While our fielding cant go any lower with as mush as 6 easy catches dropped. After giving us a few lessons in cricket in the match it was good to also get a few words of symapthy from the opposition team. Their captain, after the game told us that it was their fourth year in the league and they were the champions last season but they were no different than us in their first year.
So with our hopes of doing a David to the Rodeos Goliath finally dashed we look forward to our upcoming games. The teams we are going to play henceforth aren't that stronger and so the future isn't that bleak. We also have no match for a long time now - our next game is almost a month and half away in Jan. But with the budget allocation season for next year coming up for our projects, we also are not sure how many of us will be there till then ;-). We plan to regroup as a team and replan our strategies. Try to get rid of our technical deficiencies and upgrade our game to a level where we could compete with the best teams. And I hope I don't have to write posts about hopelessness again.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Win at last!!!!
The sweeeeeeet taste of success.......finally. Yea thats true we won our first game of the league, albeit against the minnows of the tournament - Tempe Ganpats. But then given our show in the league before this match I felt we also were one of the weaker sides and that made this - a clash between the underdogs, as interesting as any encounter between any of the top teams. While we were languishing at the second last position in the table the Ganpats were even worser - rock bottom.
The win also was more sweeter since it came unexpectedly. We were not supposed to play the Ganpats until first week of December and today they were scheduled to play Phenoms instead. But then Phenoms showed their unavailability and we were offered to prepone our match against Ganpats. Thats how we replaced the Phenoms as Ganpats opponents today and could taste our first win. We were already a bit down with the back-to-back defeats and our next match was scheduled against the Rodeos the defending champs and so a third loss on a trot was on the cards. But thanks to the turn of events we ended up opening our account in the points table. The beating against the Rodeos awaiting us next weekend is not gonna feel that bitter now :-).
But then everything isn't too gloomy for the Bulls. We haven't been clicking as a team but some of our individual performances, especially the bowlers, have been awesome. The Waqar-Wasim rivalry is certainly helping the team :-). Its good to see some of our guys move higher amongst the top 5 in the rankings list of batsmen and bowlers in the league(You will have to scroll down to the Tennis Ball Division if you happen to take the effort of clicking those links -also since the list is subject to change its possible you may see our guys move lower in that list as days go). And this considering our stats for one of the matches hasn't even been counted due to uploading issues.
Finally we also got a chance to uncork the Champagne bottle that has been waiting to spill from the past two matches.
Aey Ganpat Chal Daroo Laa..........
Sunday, November 8, 2009
That empty feeling.........
Thats how I'd sum up our emotions after todays match - our second match of the league also our second consecutive defeat. As far as our league campaign is concerned, well, still 10 more matches to go and 5 to win for a quarterfinal berth.
When the blog was started I had decided to post after every game to keep our friends in India and elsewhere updated. But then when we lost our opening game I thought to give it a skip for the first match because that wouldn't have been a fitting start to our so called - sojourn to victory.
After losing the second match though and with the third match scheduled with Rodeos the defending champs, the first post wud have had to wait for a month more. To avoid replying to those innumerous queries about "Whats up with Chandler Bulls" in orkut scraps or mails I have decided to give it a go however nauseating it is to relive those painful memories of whats happening with Chandler Bulls.
So while the first match we lost by a whisker the second was abject surrender. I thought we were a good team with good bowlers and good batsmen. Bowlers who could bowl 5 or 6 great balls an over except a bad ball or two here and there. Batsmen who could play shots except a bad one here and there. But then we realized in the end its this ball or two that sometimes is the difference between the two teams. Their bowlers unlike ours hardly give this ball or two and their batsmen unlike ours hardly fail to capitalise on this ball or two.
On a lighter front, I also somehow feel our fortunes seem linked with that of the Indian team. The day we lost our first match by 2 runs, the Indian team lost their first match by 4 runs. In our second match our batting simply collapsed reminiscing of India's 27/5 exactly on the same day.We ended up scoring the lowest score by any team in the league till now.
But while alls lost for the Indian team, theres still hope left for us. No cause is lost until there is but one fool left to fight for it. And I know I am not the only fool in this team.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Chandler Bulls Match schedule & Points Table
Guys, Its really nice to see support pouring in from every corner. For some of our frineds who arent with us and follow our team and who've been asking us "What next?", heres the schedule of Chandler Bulls matches and where we stand in the league.
Final Points Table
The top 8 teams move to the knockout stage(qualify for the quarterfinals).
| Date | Home Team | Away Team | Result Summary | Score Card |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 Oct | All Stars | Chandler Bulls | Lost by 2 runs. ALLST:105/9 (20) CBUL:103/10(20) | Score Card |
| 8 Nov | Chandler Bulls | Phenoms | Lost by 65 runs. PHE:120/8(20) CBUL:55/10(14.1) | Score Card |
| 15 Nov | Tempe Ganpats | Chandler Bulls | Won by 6 wickets. TEM:93/9(20) CBUL:94/4(17.3) | Score Card |
| 21 Nov | Rodeos | Chandler Bulls | Lost by 77 runs. ROD:145/4(20) CBUL:68/10(17) | Score Card |
| 9 Jan | Stragglers | Chandler Bulls | Lost by 5 wickets. CBUL:59/10(14) STR:65/5(12.5) | Score Card |
| 30 Jan | Terminators | Chandler Bulls | Won by 5 wickets. TER:63/10(17.4) CBUL:64/5(19.2) | Score Card |
| 6 Feb | Chandler Bulls | Silverlining | Lost by 27 runs. SIL:83/10(18.4) CBUL:56/10(17.3) | Score Card |
| 6 Mar | Warriors | Chandler Bulls | Lost by 111 runs. WAR:163/7(20) CBUL:52/10(11.5) | Score Card |
| 14 Mar | Chandler Bulls | Crusaders | Won by 2 runs. CBUL:85/8(20) CRUS:83/9(20) | Score Card |
| 20 Mar | Chandler Bulls | Laveen | Lost by 4 wickets. CBUL:91/7(20) LAV:93/6(15.2) | Score Card |
| 27 Mar | Apollo | Chandler Bulls | Lost by 1 wicket. CBUL:89/10(19.4) APL:90/9(18) | Score Card |
| 3 Apr | Chandler Bulls | Suns | Won by 42 runs. CBUL:147/6(20) SUN:105/10(19.1) | Score Card |
Final Points Table
The top 8 teams move to the knockout stage(qualify for the quarterfinals).
| Rank | Team Name | Played | Won | Lost | Tied | Penalty | Points | Net Run Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rodeos | 12 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 110 | 1.32 |
| 2 | Apollo | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 80 | 0.56 |
| 3 | Laveen | 12 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 75 | 0.32 |
| 4 | Terminators | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 74 | 0.89 |
| 5 | Silverlining | 12 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 70 | -0.07 |
| 6 | Phenoms | 12 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 64 | 0.39 |
| 7 | Warriors | 12 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 0.44 |
| 8 | Crusaders | 12 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 50 | -0.34 |
| 9 | All Stars | 12 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 50 | -0.42 |
| 10 | Stragglers | 12 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 40 | -0.22 |
| 11 | Tempe Ganpats | 12 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 40 | -0.36 |
| 12 | Chandler Bulls | 12 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 40 | -1.28 |
| 13 | Suns | 12 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 15 | -1.09 |
Saturday, October 31, 2009
....Eek saathi aur bhi thaa
Well it was great to see many encouraging comments the first day the blog was published. The most supportive ones came from the team though who I guess must have been surprised to suddenly see their faces staring at them from the pages( because they were never asked for the snaps I grabbed those from their orkut pages or team photos). But then along with the bouquets come the brickbats. Some of our ex players, although happy to see the struggling sapling that they had left us with grow in a tree, were sad to see their names and contributions missing(and for some- the photos) in all the hullabullah. These are people who played with us somewhere over a period of these two seasons but who gradually left us for various reasons like job changes or short business trips in the first place or shallow Pearson pockets :). Yes they are no more in the current team but they spent considerable time with us and their contribution in keeping Cricket Pearson alive cant be fogotten(I am using this name since the name Chandler Bulls wasnt even coined when they were there). So heres a quick trip down the memory lane for some of our forgotten heroes. And sorry guys no snaps and also trying to keep it short considering the huge number and the reader boredom factor. Also I hope I don't make it sound like an obituary (what with the title and the series of - he "was" this and he "was" that). Also the order is chronological, since thats the way my brain outputted search results when asked to search :-)
Sudesh - One of the founding fathers. Very fast bowler and a good batsman. I still remember the shivers through the timber that my hands felt while playing his bullet low full tosses(attempted yorkers).
Shiju - Undoubtedly the best all rounder to have ever played. Great Jigarbaaz player.
Rajesh B - Mulundcha stud. Beautiful bowling action. Graceful batting style and a great pull shot.
Shashi - Shashi bhai generated immense power in his bowling. The same power was on display in some of his shots. A back injury ended his promising cricketing career.
Leela - Bowled with the same intensity even with those extra pounds on.
Hemant - Just waited and waited and then out of thin air produced a sweet timed long-on stroke.
Mishraji - Great catcher. Good all rounder.
Phani - Supported in some of the struggling lowest periods.
Neetendra - Best batsman to have ever played in the two years. His off side shots were simply out of the world. Single handedly won matches on his batting alone.
Rajkumar - Good bowler. Great attitude and great enthu.
Rajesh D - Another player with jigar. Hand him the ball in crunch situations and he never failed. But interests other than cricket kept him out of the field ;-)
Ashwini - Great bowler.
Ajay/Vijay- The Waugh brothers of our team. Twas good to share some stock tips with them on the ground.
Sajiv - Played with passion, enthusiasm and a very good attitude.
Jaikrit - A talkathon and a laugh riot on the field.
Arun (Dada) - Dada is a great player and will play well however big the break between his games. His kids and office work keep him too busy to come more often.
Sathesh- One match wonder.
Sam- Mr kool. Mr Dependable. Like Sachin his mere presence in the team is enough in keeping the team on a high. If Sam is still there we are so confident- Sam abhi baki hai, bhaiyya.
Mayuresh - One of the most technical batsman to have played with us. And for once the season ball experience was useful.
Honorable mentions-
Riju, Mahesh, Sumanth, Santanu, Rohan, Bosu, Rajsekhar, Hiren, Manish.
Although they are not with us now in our campaign, I am sure there wishes for our team will always be with us-
Saatheeyon tumko miley Jeet hi Jeet sadaa
Bas itna yaad rahein.......eek saathi aur bhi thaa....
Sudesh - One of the founding fathers. Very fast bowler and a good batsman. I still remember the shivers through the timber that my hands felt while playing his bullet low full tosses(attempted yorkers).
Shiju - Undoubtedly the best all rounder to have ever played. Great Jigarbaaz player.
Rajesh B - Mulundcha stud. Beautiful bowling action. Graceful batting style and a great pull shot.
Shashi - Shashi bhai generated immense power in his bowling. The same power was on display in some of his shots. A back injury ended his promising cricketing career.
Leela - Bowled with the same intensity even with those extra pounds on.
Hemant - Just waited and waited and then out of thin air produced a sweet timed long-on stroke.
Mishraji - Great catcher. Good all rounder.
Phani - Supported in some of the struggling lowest periods.
Neetendra - Best batsman to have ever played in the two years. His off side shots were simply out of the world. Single handedly won matches on his batting alone.
Rajkumar - Good bowler. Great attitude and great enthu.
Rajesh D - Another player with jigar. Hand him the ball in crunch situations and he never failed. But interests other than cricket kept him out of the field ;-)
Ashwini - Great bowler.
Ajay/Vijay- The Waugh brothers of our team. Twas good to share some stock tips with them on the ground.
Sajiv - Played with passion, enthusiasm and a very good attitude.
Jaikrit - A talkathon and a laugh riot on the field.
Arun (Dada) - Dada is a great player and will play well however big the break between his games. His kids and office work keep him too busy to come more often.
Sathesh- One match wonder.
Sam- Mr kool. Mr Dependable. Like Sachin his mere presence in the team is enough in keeping the team on a high. If Sam is still there we are so confident- Sam abhi baki hai, bhaiyya.
Mayuresh - One of the most technical batsman to have played with us. And for once the season ball experience was useful.
Honorable mentions-
Riju, Mahesh, Sumanth, Santanu, Rohan, Bosu, Rajsekhar, Hiren, Manish.
Although they are not with us now in our campaign, I am sure there wishes for our team will always be with us-
Saatheeyon tumko miley Jeet hi Jeet sadaa
Bas itna yaad rahein.......eek saathi aur bhi thaa....
Friday, October 30, 2009
Strategies
Today there was an interesting discussion on internal strategies, I learned about the upcoming changes. I felt good to know about the periodic review of each team member's performance, I guess it helps in getting the best out of the player. As I was thinking about strategies, I came across this helpful article, I liked the art and strategy of batting particularly!
The league starts...
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Know the Bulls
Here's a brief intro of all the Raging Bulls of the CB team(in alphabetical first name order)-
Guys, the views expressed here are genuine observations about you and your skills interspersed with some tongue in cheek comments and I hope they are taken in good spirit. If you find anything out of taste just let me know - I will immediately put it in bold so others can know which specific portions you had objections on :).
Ananta
Abdul Qadir of the team. The only spinner (self confessed) in the team(and probably in the league). He is one of the founding fathers of Pearson cricket, on account of being present on the first day and still lasting( the other being me and Saurabh). His favorite shot is the leg flick(kalaai ka upayog)with his favorite light bat(à la Azar). Although some detractors claim that it is his favourite shot because that is the only shot he plays. But to be honest after seeing him play for so long I can tell you that if you put it in his slot he never fails with that flick. As for his balling we all remember how he made a fool of the batsmen by bamboozling them with his tempting but effective flighted deliveries. His runup to pace ratio is amongst the highest in the team(the other being me). In fact he will win the "Spinner with the biggest runup" award hands down - if they have one. He once used to lead the Test side(not the side which played like Test match but "Test"ing team side) against the developers. He has turned to coaching(solicited or otherwise) these days(even when he hasn't retired). In the league, we are afraid he would give coaching to the opposition team during the match. A good stragetist(and I'm serious this time) and a person with great enthusiasm for the game. One of Ananta's pastime is coin collection. He aims to collect coins of all the 55 states of USA. He also loves to follow American Football, and going by his IM logo seems to be a Cardinals fan.
Bosco
He seems to be the only one who fits the label "bull" in our team(and don't look at the person above for comparison).
Bosco came to our team purely by chance (he's not anyone's friend's friend). I think we were playing in Tempe one day and he just walked in and said "Can I play". He impressed the first day with his all round abilities. But its his breathtaking humongous sixers between long on and midwicket that are a treat to watch. Thank god I am not a bowler. He also is a man of few words. His total word count for any day would be less than 10. He is one of the two proud owners of the Xtra Large sized team T-shirts.
Ganesh
Well what can I say about me. I am very much like Ganesh Mali.
Ab khud hi apni tarif kaise karu. The only pure batsman(some pessimistic people call it non-allrounder) left in the team since Keshav has also started bowling these days. In the good ol' days when I used to bowl I used to compete with Ananta for the highest runup to pace ratio. But to tell you the truth I sincerely felt my bowling wasnt that bad. A proof being that the players liked it so bad to see me bowl I still remember them chanting my name "We want Ganesh-Ganesh" when our captain was in double minds as to who should bowl. I was a bowler in demand. Its a different story that those players were from the opponent team. It takes such skills to get appreciation even from the opponents. As for my batting yea its true that I can hit a ball or two. Some detractors (read Gaurav) call that "andhi"(blind). But I say that if I can play that kind of shot with my eyes closed imagine what I can do if I keep them open. Infact I did try that sometime only to see the furniture getting disturbed, so decided better to keep the eyes shut than the sight of stumps all over the place. In my spare time, I love to write blogs like this that no one reads.
Gaurav
Only bowler with a season ball experience(although we don't know how that is useful here). His fielding skills can be compared to my bowling. He sets high standards and aims for quality.He will stop the ball only if the batsman shows some skill and aims and hits it straight to his hands. Otherwise he wont bother to move for any unskilled shots. He is our Wasim Akram (Waqar Younis being Venkat) because he bowls left handed and opens the bowling(and the similarity ends there) and I never said the relationship between Waqar and Wasim was also a similarity. He's fond of trekking(this photo he had uploaded in his trek album although the back ground may feel like he is standing on the sand mound behind his house). He feels he can contribute to the team with his batting also and we should encourage that. We totally agree on that and although he never had his score in double digits we encourage him by handing him with a double digited batting order. He held the coveted post of no. 11 batsman in our first league match (Venkat grabbed the bat and raced off to the pitch as soon as the 8th wicket fell). Jokes apart - About his bowling well how many 5-fers do you see in a 20-20 match. He almost got one in our first league match, almost got an hattrick and almost won us the match with the bat coming at no. 11. His man of the match award was missed by two runs(it is awarded to a player from the winning team and we lost by two runs). Competes in half marathons, loves playing online chess and is a gymaholic.
Keshav
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Keshav happens to be another Mr Kool guy in the team. He is famous for his rocket hits to the long-on - his favorite region. He was the perennial opener in practise games only to find that spot being taken over by Omair and Saurabh in the league. In his earlier days don't expect him to turn up for a game if he has replied I am in. Although this trait changed over time. His promptness in replying to team mails is exemplified by the "Sent from my IPhone" signature in his replies which are amongst the first to arrive. He does give a feeling sometimes that he has learnt fielding and running between the wickets from the Inzamam School of Fielding and Running. He showed glimpses of Rahul Dravid in the first league match ;-). Always carries cricketing business on the field with a smile on his face.
Omair
Opening batsman of our team. Some ppl refer to him as the left-handed David Boon although dont refer him by this name on his face for obvious reasons. He is famous for depositing the bowlers above mid-wicket for really huge sixers. "Oye Cheetey" is what you get from him if you happen to bowl a beauty (and he happens to be in the fielding side). The first person to hit a sixer in our team(Cant wait to tell you that the bowler was Saurabh). He is the one who made the side "international"(he hails from Pakistan). He makes you realise you are in US by suddenly turning to an American accent. Being a doc you'd expect that typical meethi-chhuri flavour in his talk, but in his case the chhuri is absent.
Onkar
One look at his bowling action or batting style and you just get a feeling you are seeing a thorough professional. He just jumped in the team and in no time became the opening bowler on account of his consistent line and length bowling. His sensational close-in catches on the first day with us were matched only by Srinivas. On week-ends he tries to shuffle his time between travelling and cricket. Hates being referred to as Ness wala (although only one person refers him that way). Even I hate to refer him that way. Trust me. Really. Ask me to describe him and I'd say his favourite drink would be - NessCafe and his favourite celebrity - Ness Wadia. He seems to be the only enthusiast from the Ness gang(errr.....I mean to say amongst the group of our friends who stay in SpringHill). I also think that the ness-esity of bringing him in the team might be because the bosses(Saurabh/Sukrit) might have thought that Venkat and Ganesh's bowling and batting responsibilities should be slowly transitioned to him :).
Parag
He is another man who carries out his business with minimal fuss. While bowling Parag utilises the natural advantage that his height offers causing the ball to bounce more and discomforting the batsmen. He has an extra ordinarily powerful leg side shot in his repository which he has good control over and can play to the best of the bowlers. A complete team man who I never saw cribbing for bowling or batting in these two years.
Rajender
Chandler Bulls Sehwag. Unfortunately he doesn't get to bat in Sehwag's position. On his day there is no stopping Rajender. The moment his batting grip changes and the stance becomes a bit stiff, you know the next ball is going to travel. Although in our initial days he sometimes used to give a skip to the week-end session and do a Gabbar on Monday - "Kitne aadmi they"? Rajender started the good custom of voluntaring to bring in drinks for the team. A courtesy not shown by even teams that have been playing since 4 years. His bowling is a bit on and off. It clicks on most of the days but doesn't on some days. Although his short pitch balls seem to be tempting, they are mixed with raw pace and a little bit of spin and often end up as catching practice for the fielders in deep.
And remember the name is Rajender, not Rajan mind you.
Saurabh
Captain of the team. This blog could have easily been named guptakifauj.blogspot.com instead. When I said he is in the team as captain, it virtually means only captain. I mean I don't remember the last time he scored some runs and he bowls only to fill vacant spaces as he is the wicketkeeper. He does get some wickets with his bowling but then even Dhoni gets one out of the blue moon. He developed his wicket keeping skills while keeping as part of the batting side and stumping his own colleagues to get his batting turn. He resolved the dispute of multiple batsmen claiming the opening position by promoting himself to that spot. Well I must say I need to write atleast something positive abt Saurabh- so here we go - He is going to be unavailable for two league matches on account of his marriage. So guys go get your opening slots.
In his spare time he spends lots of time on the share market. His orkut profile picture also happens to be a bull - the Wall Street Bull, although his portfolio is a perennial bear whatever the market condition.
Srinivas
He is the Jonty Rhodes of our team. If you thought being out of the game for six months due to injury happens only in international cricket think again. Yes he fractured his fingers on his debut while diving to stop a ball and then was out of the game for six months. Well the rest wasn't recommended by the doctor but enforced by his wife. He returned to cricket but his fielding instincts didn't change. Still diving at the slightest sight of a ball in air. As they say with Jonty he doesn't take catches. He creates them. Of late he has developed as a pinch hitter with his favorite shot being the sweep. Again a person with tremendous enthusiasm for the game, he loves to discuss about any cricket game being played. He has inherited this passion for following the game from his father. Since he is our manager now (not the cricket manager - but the manager in office)I can go on and on abt Srinivas but have to stop because of space constraints.
And btw Badminton happens to be his other love.
Sukrit
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I used to think I am the person with the greatest passion and enthusiasm for the game in our group until I met this guy. Imagine what a person can ask his newly wed wife to bring from India on her first voyage - Stump Base. We also came to know from some secret sources that he sometimes asks her to keep wickets while he practices those yorkers in the park behind San Ventura. His contribution off the field is unparalleled. He streamlined the accounting process with innovative ideas like Buxfer (I was a complete disaster at it). He also along with Rajender started the drinks practise. The red-white ice chest that we have been using every single day not only for keeping the drinks cold but also occasionally as stumps at the non-strikers end - is courtesy Sukrit. The list of what he has done and is doing for our team is endless and would have overshadowed what a fine player that he is. Although he is in the team as vice-captain, he certainly is not just a vice-captain. One of our main strike bowlers with a big heart who bends his back when the team needs it, a really good hard hitting batsman, a fielder who gives his all and dives without a second thought to stop the ball even to save just a single or to reach in the crease(his 4 set of torn jeans are testimonials), and above all a cool-headed strategist. His deadly yorkers and straight batted monster hits down the ground are legendary.
Sushil
If Rahul Dravid is the wall in front of the stumps, he is the wall behind the stumps. He is Adam Gilchrist, Dhoni, Moin Khan, Adam Boucher and Sangakkara all mixed in one. While batting when he hits the ball, it goes a long way. Hits his shots with super power like Gilchrist. His aggressiveness though is restricted only on the field. His Marathi is of typical Kolhapuri andaz but unlike them without the arrogance and the brashness. He has been on and off the team and joins only when his family of two young kids permitting.
Venkat
Well there are skilled players who walk in your team and you feel good to get such a talent in the side. But if you ask me, for Venkat his greatest achievement is not that he is a great fast bowler but that he was a complete zero only one year ago. Not many people will believe this seeing him today. But that is the truth. He was one of the worst bowler around who you would never ask to bowl. But with his sheer will power, and the will to be a good bowler at any cost he is where he is today. He knew ppl considered him a dud in bowling and he was determined to prove them wrong. And he did acheive that. Most good players you see in the team are good because they have been playing since kids. But here was one homegrown talent that I saw before my eyes in becoming a McGrath. Today he just decides to get a wicket and gets it. He believes in getting wickets solely(like Waqar who loved bowled and lbws). As for his batting skills his favorite batting shots are the Thumka shot and the free butt massage shot which are his copyrights. He has been promising us since the past one year that he will bat well today - Aaj to chakka marega re.... And we are still waiting. Gaurav is his closest friend in the team. They miss each other dearly if one of other is absent.
If not playing cricket he can be seen playing tennis.
Vivek
The stud who shud have been Bollywood hero but lost his way to software industry and now to our cricket team. This guy brings in a lot of enthusiasm to the team. He started his career with our team in a very low profile manner. But suddenly transformed in a hard hitting batsmen who hits at will and a good medium paced bowler with a deadly leg cutter that batsmen often leave as wide down the leg side but often see the leg stump uprooted. I still remember the day when it all changed for him. Till then Vivek used to be a batsmen who used to live a few balls, score off a couple of them and then gave away his wicket. But on that fateful day on Anderson Jr Highschool, he hit Gaurav Bhole to four consecutive fours(still a record) and announced himself to the world. Speaking of records well he also helds a not so mentionable bowling record for wides :). He maintains his stamina with cigarettes and brings his own energy drink(need ID) to the ground ;-).
Guys, the views expressed here are genuine observations about you and your skills interspersed with some tongue in cheek comments and I hope they are taken in good spirit. If you find anything out of taste just let me know - I will immediately put it in bold so others can know which specific portions you had objections on :).
Ananta
Abdul Qadir of the team. The only spinner (self confessed) in the team(and probably in the league). He is one of the founding fathers of Pearson cricket, on account of being present on the first day and still lasting( the other being me and Saurabh). His favorite shot is the leg flick(kalaai ka upayog)with his favorite light bat(à la Azar). Although some detractors claim that it is his favourite shot because that is the only shot he plays. But to be honest after seeing him play for so long I can tell you that if you put it in his slot he never fails with that flick. As for his balling we all remember how he made a fool of the batsmen by bamboozling them with his tempting but effective flighted deliveries. His runup to pace ratio is amongst the highest in the team(the other being me). In fact he will win the "Spinner with the biggest runup" award hands down - if they have one. He once used to lead the Test side(not the side which played like Test match but "Test"ing team side) against the developers. He has turned to coaching(solicited or otherwise) these days(even when he hasn't retired). In the league, we are afraid he would give coaching to the opposition team during the match. A good stragetist(and I'm serious this time) and a person with great enthusiasm for the game. One of Ananta's pastime is coin collection. He aims to collect coins of all the 55 states of USA. He also loves to follow American Football, and going by his IM logo seems to be a Cardinals fan.Bosco
He seems to be the only one who fits the label "bull" in our team(and don't look at the person above for comparison).Bosco came to our team purely by chance (he's not anyone's friend's friend). I think we were playing in Tempe one day and he just walked in and said "Can I play". He impressed the first day with his all round abilities. But its his breathtaking humongous sixers between long on and midwicket that are a treat to watch. Thank god I am not a bowler. He also is a man of few words. His total word count for any day would be less than 10. He is one of the two proud owners of the Xtra Large sized team T-shirts.
Ganesh
Well what can I say about me. I am very much like Ganesh Mali.Ab khud hi apni tarif kaise karu. The only pure batsman(some pessimistic people call it non-allrounder) left in the team since Keshav has also started bowling these days. In the good ol' days when I used to bowl I used to compete with Ananta for the highest runup to pace ratio. But to tell you the truth I sincerely felt my bowling wasnt that bad. A proof being that the players liked it so bad to see me bowl I still remember them chanting my name "We want Ganesh-Ganesh" when our captain was in double minds as to who should bowl. I was a bowler in demand. Its a different story that those players were from the opponent team. It takes such skills to get appreciation even from the opponents. As for my batting yea its true that I can hit a ball or two. Some detractors (read Gaurav) call that "andhi"(blind). But I say that if I can play that kind of shot with my eyes closed imagine what I can do if I keep them open. Infact I did try that sometime only to see the furniture getting disturbed, so decided better to keep the eyes shut than the sight of stumps all over the place. In my spare time, I love to write blogs like this that no one reads.
Gaurav
Only bowler with a season ball experience(although we don't know how that is useful here). His fielding skills can be compared to my bowling. He sets high standards and aims for quality.He will stop the ball only if the batsman shows some skill and aims and hits it straight to his hands. Otherwise he wont bother to move for any unskilled shots. He is our Wasim Akram (Waqar Younis being Venkat) because he bowls left handed and opens the bowling(and the similarity ends there) and I never said the relationship between Waqar and Wasim was also a similarity. He's fond of trekking(this photo he had uploaded in his trek album although the back ground may feel like he is standing on the sand mound behind his house). He feels he can contribute to the team with his batting also and we should encourage that. We totally agree on that and although he never had his score in double digits we encourage him by handing him with a double digited batting order. He held the coveted post of no. 11 batsman in our first league match (Venkat grabbed the bat and raced off to the pitch as soon as the 8th wicket fell). Jokes apart - About his bowling well how many 5-fers do you see in a 20-20 match. He almost got one in our first league match, almost got an hattrick and almost won us the match with the bat coming at no. 11. His man of the match award was missed by two runs(it is awarded to a player from the winning team and we lost by two runs). Competes in half marathons, loves playing online chess and is a gymaholic.Keshav
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Keshav happens to be another Mr Kool guy in the team. He is famous for his rocket hits to the long-on - his favorite region. He was the perennial opener in practise games only to find that spot being taken over by Omair and Saurabh in the league. In his earlier days don't expect him to turn up for a game if he has replied I am in. Although this trait changed over time. His promptness in replying to team mails is exemplified by the "Sent from my IPhone" signature in his replies which are amongst the first to arrive. He does give a feeling sometimes that he has learnt fielding and running between the wickets from the Inzamam School of Fielding and Running. He showed glimpses of Rahul Dravid in the first league match ;-). Always carries cricketing business on the field with a smile on his face.Omair
Opening batsman of our team. Some ppl refer to him as the left-handed David Boon although dont refer him by this name on his face for obvious reasons. He is famous for depositing the bowlers above mid-wicket for really huge sixers. "Oye Cheetey" is what you get from him if you happen to bowl a beauty (and he happens to be in the fielding side). The first person to hit a sixer in our team(Cant wait to tell you that the bowler was Saurabh). He is the one who made the side "international"(he hails from Pakistan). He makes you realise you are in US by suddenly turning to an American accent. Being a doc you'd expect that typical meethi-chhuri flavour in his talk, but in his case the chhuri is absent.Onkar
One look at his bowling action or batting style and you just get a feeling you are seeing a thorough professional. He just jumped in the team and in no time became the opening bowler on account of his consistent line and length bowling. His sensational close-in catches on the first day with us were matched only by Srinivas. On week-ends he tries to shuffle his time between travelling and cricket. Hates being referred to as Ness wala (although only one person refers him that way). Even I hate to refer him that way. Trust me. Really. Ask me to describe him and I'd say his favourite drink would be - NessCafe and his favourite celebrity - Ness Wadia. He seems to be the only enthusiast from the Ness gang(errr.....I mean to say amongst the group of our friends who stay in SpringHill). I also think that the ness-esity of bringing him in the team might be because the bosses(Saurabh/Sukrit) might have thought that Venkat and Ganesh's bowling and batting responsibilities should be slowly transitioned to him :).Parag
He is another man who carries out his business with minimal fuss. While bowling Parag utilises the natural advantage that his height offers causing the ball to bounce more and discomforting the batsmen. He has an extra ordinarily powerful leg side shot in his repository which he has good control over and can play to the best of the bowlers. A complete team man who I never saw cribbing for bowling or batting in these two years.
Rajender
Chandler Bulls Sehwag. Unfortunately he doesn't get to bat in Sehwag's position. On his day there is no stopping Rajender. The moment his batting grip changes and the stance becomes a bit stiff, you know the next ball is going to travel. Although in our initial days he sometimes used to give a skip to the week-end session and do a Gabbar on Monday - "Kitne aadmi they"? Rajender started the good custom of voluntaring to bring in drinks for the team. A courtesy not shown by even teams that have been playing since 4 years. His bowling is a bit on and off. It clicks on most of the days but doesn't on some days. Although his short pitch balls seem to be tempting, they are mixed with raw pace and a little bit of spin and often end up as catching practice for the fielders in deep.And remember the name is Rajender, not Rajan mind you.
Saurabh
Captain of the team. This blog could have easily been named guptakifauj.blogspot.com instead. When I said he is in the team as captain, it virtually means only captain. I mean I don't remember the last time he scored some runs and he bowls only to fill vacant spaces as he is the wicketkeeper. He does get some wickets with his bowling but then even Dhoni gets one out of the blue moon. He developed his wicket keeping skills while keeping as part of the batting side and stumping his own colleagues to get his batting turn. He resolved the dispute of multiple batsmen claiming the opening position by promoting himself to that spot. Well I must say I need to write atleast something positive abt Saurabh- so here we go - He is going to be unavailable for two league matches on account of his marriage. So guys go get your opening slots.In his spare time he spends lots of time on the share market. His orkut profile picture also happens to be a bull - the Wall Street Bull, although his portfolio is a perennial bear whatever the market condition.
Srinivas
He is the Jonty Rhodes of our team. If you thought being out of the game for six months due to injury happens only in international cricket think again. Yes he fractured his fingers on his debut while diving to stop a ball and then was out of the game for six months. Well the rest wasn't recommended by the doctor but enforced by his wife. He returned to cricket but his fielding instincts didn't change. Still diving at the slightest sight of a ball in air. As they say with Jonty he doesn't take catches. He creates them. Of late he has developed as a pinch hitter with his favorite shot being the sweep. Again a person with tremendous enthusiasm for the game, he loves to discuss about any cricket game being played. He has inherited this passion for following the game from his father. Since he is our manager now (not the cricket manager - but the manager in office)I can go on and on abt Srinivas but have to stop because of space constraints.And btw Badminton happens to be his other love.
Sukrit
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I used to think I am the person with the greatest passion and enthusiasm for the game in our group until I met this guy. Imagine what a person can ask his newly wed wife to bring from India on her first voyage - Stump Base. We also came to know from some secret sources that he sometimes asks her to keep wickets while he practices those yorkers in the park behind San Ventura. His contribution off the field is unparalleled. He streamlined the accounting process with innovative ideas like Buxfer (I was a complete disaster at it). He also along with Rajender started the drinks practise. The red-white ice chest that we have been using every single day not only for keeping the drinks cold but also occasionally as stumps at the non-strikers end - is courtesy Sukrit. The list of what he has done and is doing for our team is endless and would have overshadowed what a fine player that he is. Although he is in the team as vice-captain, he certainly is not just a vice-captain. One of our main strike bowlers with a big heart who bends his back when the team needs it, a really good hard hitting batsman, a fielder who gives his all and dives without a second thought to stop the ball even to save just a single or to reach in the crease(his 4 set of torn jeans are testimonials), and above all a cool-headed strategist. His deadly yorkers and straight batted monster hits down the ground are legendary.Sushil
If Rahul Dravid is the wall in front of the stumps, he is the wall behind the stumps. He is Adam Gilchrist, Dhoni, Moin Khan, Adam Boucher and Sangakkara all mixed in one. While batting when he hits the ball, it goes a long way. Hits his shots with super power like Gilchrist. His aggressiveness though is restricted only on the field. His Marathi is of typical Kolhapuri andaz but unlike them without the arrogance and the brashness. He has been on and off the team and joins only when his family of two young kids permitting.Venkat
Well there are skilled players who walk in your team and you feel good to get such a talent in the side. But if you ask me, for Venkat his greatest achievement is not that he is a great fast bowler but that he was a complete zero only one year ago. Not many people will believe this seeing him today. But that is the truth. He was one of the worst bowler around who you would never ask to bowl. But with his sheer will power, and the will to be a good bowler at any cost he is where he is today. He knew ppl considered him a dud in bowling and he was determined to prove them wrong. And he did acheive that. Most good players you see in the team are good because they have been playing since kids. But here was one homegrown talent that I saw before my eyes in becoming a McGrath. Today he just decides to get a wicket and gets it. He believes in getting wickets solely(like Waqar who loved bowled and lbws). As for his batting skills his favorite batting shots are the Thumka shot and the free butt massage shot which are his copyrights. He has been promising us since the past one year that he will bat well today - Aaj to chakka marega re.... And we are still waiting. Gaurav is his closest friend in the team. They miss each other dearly if one of other is absent.If not playing cricket he can be seen playing tennis.
Vivek
The stud who shud have been Bollywood hero but lost his way to software industry and now to our cricket team. This guy brings in a lot of enthusiasm to the team. He started his career with our team in a very low profile manner. But suddenly transformed in a hard hitting batsmen who hits at will and a good medium paced bowler with a deadly leg cutter that batsmen often leave as wide down the leg side but often see the leg stump uprooted. I still remember the day when it all changed for him. Till then Vivek used to be a batsmen who used to live a few balls, score off a couple of them and then gave away his wicket. But on that fateful day on Anderson Jr Highschool, he hit Gaurav Bhole to four consecutive fours(still a record) and announced himself to the world. Speaking of records well he also helds a not so mentionable bowling record for wides :). He maintains his stamina with cigarettes and brings his own energy drink(need ID) to the ground ;-).
The Chandler Bulls - How it all began
As I begin recollecting the story of the birth of cricket in Pearson, let me spare a moment here to tell you why we thought that having a blog dedicated to our cricket team would be nice. I must accept that the idea of a blog to follow our cricket team - The Chandler Bulls came to us only when we came across a similar blog started by the defending champs of the league - The Rodeos. Before tasting the waters of the league we were confident enough to think we would be the champs this season - so the need for a blog came naturally ( to explain our sojourn to victory - Rodeos style :-) ).
Reserved grounds and flood-lights
The real difference came when we went day-night. Playing under the lights was like heaven. Our first experience of a flood-lit ground was simply out of the world. Every single of our 20s something-30s something faces were lit like kids that day. It may not feel as attractive now probably because we've played so often. But that was when everyone really started enjoying to come to the grounds. Earlier the thought of a cricket game meant getting outside the cozy confines of our homes and driving down to the ground and then the scorching sun awaited to sap you down and give a nice tan. Now it meant nice breeze, breathtaking view of the flash-lights at the ground, a feel-good feeling and most importantly no sun to burn you down. The night time game also meant there was no break for cricket in summer.
The first day
As they say Let us start from the start then. For guys working in Pearson, cricket started because of the enthusiasm shown by two of our cricket mad colleagues - Shiju Mathew and Saurabh Gupta. Cricket was impossible to think about in this country where the game is virtually unknown and we had no idea then as to how we would set the basic kit in place. And without at least a bat we couldn't even think of starting(ball wasn't a problem since we could always use a tennis ball). We simply did what they do in this country when something is hard to find- get them from offshore. Both Shiju and Saurabh then spent their precious suitcase spaces for cricket bats when they flew from India. As soon as the bat was in US, there was a scramble for a ground where we could play. To start off with we decided to play on the tennis courts in our community complex - Villa Fiesta. So our first formal session of cricket in Pearson was on 14th Dec 2007. We were happy to find at least 8 people present on that day and we had a nice game. We decided not to hit shots in the air, because this wasnt India and the residents response on broken windows would have been entirely different. Although Saurabh couldn't control (.....well some habits never change -remember first league match) and did hit one out of the court which fortunately for us only ended up landing on the parking lot roof. Only Ananta, me and Saurabh are left of those 8 people now (Well Ashok was also there but he didn't really like the idea of having to field two hours for two minutes of batting and so he is not amongst the ones who are "left" but the one who has "left").
As they say Let us start from the start then. For guys working in Pearson, cricket started because of the enthusiasm shown by two of our cricket mad colleagues - Shiju Mathew and Saurabh Gupta. Cricket was impossible to think about in this country where the game is virtually unknown and we had no idea then as to how we would set the basic kit in place. And without at least a bat we couldn't even think of starting(ball wasn't a problem since we could always use a tennis ball). We simply did what they do in this country when something is hard to find- get them from offshore. Both Shiju and Saurabh then spent their precious suitcase spaces for cricket bats when they flew from India. As soon as the bat was in US, there was a scramble for a ground where we could play. To start off with we decided to play on the tennis courts in our community complex - Villa Fiesta. So our first formal session of cricket in Pearson was on 14th Dec 2007. We were happy to find at least 8 people present on that day and we had a nice game. We decided not to hit shots in the air, because this wasnt India and the residents response on broken windows would have been entirely different. Although Saurabh couldn't control (.....well some habits never change -remember first league match) and did hit one out of the court which fortunately for us only ended up landing on the parking lot roof. Only Ananta, me and Saurabh are left of those 8 people now (Well Ashok was also there but he didn't really like the idea of having to field two hours for two minutes of batting and so he is not amongst the ones who are "left" but the one who has "left").
Desert Breeze
Even though we played a subdued game with the restrictions, that one session did what it was destined to do - ignite the never ending hunger for cricket amongst Pearsonites. Suddenly just a couple of games wasn't enough, we wanted more. Since the Villa Fiesta courts were private we decided to play on public courts and the one that we knew was the Desert Breeze tennis court. When we arrived there we saw that a better option would be to play on the almost empty Desert Breeze Park instead(the best part was no restriction on the shots on this really big ground). Thats how our romance with Desert Breeze started. The day was Jan 4th 2008. And in case if you are just wondering, the exact dates are coming from my mailbox archives geee :).
As days passed we made efforts to move the concept as close to real cricket as possible. (We'll I must say now after two years that this process may still be continuing - just remember the chair that we used for stumps till almost a couple of months ago).
As the word spread more people started to pour in and there was a time when we had almost close to 18/19 people. That number couldn't be matched even in the second season, well thats partly contributable to the healthy Pearson-Lionbridge relationship in the first year ;-). We had the luxury of batting side sitting out their part of the innings and runs all over the park(I mean backside was allowed). We often played SMNG vs PSN(no need to tell who used to win hands down) to have some sense of real competition. Shiju and Saurabh were also partly responsible for the big number, because they were the ones who pushed people for cricket with their incessant phone calls when most preferred to sleep through the morning hours after a late Friday night.
The wane
Even though we played a subdued game with the restrictions, that one session did what it was destined to do - ignite the never ending hunger for cricket amongst Pearsonites. Suddenly just a couple of games wasn't enough, we wanted more. Since the Villa Fiesta courts were private we decided to play on public courts and the one that we knew was the Desert Breeze tennis court. When we arrived there we saw that a better option would be to play on the almost empty Desert Breeze Park instead(the best part was no restriction on the shots on this really big ground). Thats how our romance with Desert Breeze started. The day was Jan 4th 2008. And in case if you are just wondering, the exact dates are coming from my mailbox archives geee :).
As days passed we made efforts to move the concept as close to real cricket as possible. (We'll I must say now after two years that this process may still be continuing - just remember the chair that we used for stumps till almost a couple of months ago).
As the word spread more people started to pour in and there was a time when we had almost close to 18/19 people. That number couldn't be matched even in the second season, well thats partly contributable to the healthy Pearson-Lionbridge relationship in the first year ;-). We had the luxury of batting side sitting out their part of the innings and runs all over the park(I mean backside was allowed). We often played SMNG vs PSN(no need to tell who used to win hands down) to have some sense of real competition. Shiju and Saurabh were also partly responsible for the big number, because they were the ones who pushed people for cricket with their incessant phone calls when most preferred to sleep through the morning hours after a late Friday night.
The wane
Things changed however and as the numbers dwindled(as did Pearson-LB interaction) so did the interest of those who were left, summer started and I went back to India. Cricket in Pearson also took a forced summer break.
I came back at the end of summer and we started hitting weather.com every Friday for the week-end temperature predictions to check for bearable playing conditions. There were a few supra enthusiasts present for the first week. But they didn't turn up for the second week, probably our idea of bearable conditions didn't match theirs. This continued for few weeks and we even had to fake the numbers for those who were interested in "Kitne aadmi they?". I remember one day only me, Saurabh and Ananta turned up. We ended up playing under-arm in the baseball player's pavilion. That was real embarrassing and to conceal that we had to tell everyone that there were 8 guys. Fortunately as winter returned cricket season again went full gear.
I came back at the end of summer and we started hitting weather.com every Friday for the week-end temperature predictions to check for bearable playing conditions. There were a few supra enthusiasts present for the first week. But they didn't turn up for the second week, probably our idea of bearable conditions didn't match theirs. This continued for few weeks and we even had to fake the numbers for those who were interested in "Kitne aadmi they?". I remember one day only me, Saurabh and Ananta turned up. We ended up playing under-arm in the baseball player's pavilion. That was real embarrassing and to conceal that we had to tell everyone that there were 8 guys. Fortunately as winter returned cricket season again went full gear.
Reserved grounds and flood-lights
A few other mentionable milestones were when we decided to go all legit by booking grounds(Well I will accept credit for catalyzing that when one day I almost hit one of the kids who were playing nearby and btw they had a booking).
The loss of Lionbridge guys was filled(no-no not by Ness) by some of our friend's friends(Keshav, Ajay et al) from outside Pearson. So we were not really a Pearson-only team now. Well we never were one actually in the first place because of Gaurav, but then he atleast was an ex. The entry of Omair finally made our team - "international"(For starters - he's from Pakistan). As a kid I always dreamt of playing international cricket one day. I can die in peace now.
The loss of Lionbridge guys was filled(no-no not by Ness) by some of our friend's friends(Keshav, Ajay et al) from outside Pearson. So we were not really a Pearson-only team now. Well we never were one actually in the first place because of Gaurav, but then he atleast was an ex. The entry of Omair finally made our team - "international"(For starters - he's from Pakistan). As a kid I always dreamt of playing international cricket one day. I can die in peace now.
The real difference came when we went day-night. Playing under the lights was like heaven. Our first experience of a flood-lit ground was simply out of the world. Every single of our 20s something-30s something faces were lit like kids that day. It may not feel as attractive now probably because we've played so often. But that was when everyone really started enjoying to come to the grounds. Earlier the thought of a cricket game meant getting outside the cozy confines of our homes and driving down to the ground and then the scorching sun awaited to sap you down and give a nice tan. Now it meant nice breeze, breathtaking view of the flash-lights at the ground, a feel-good feeling and most importantly no sun to burn you down. The night time game also meant there was no break for cricket in summer.The league
Finally after playing for so long amongst ourselves we thought we were ready to take on any other team of desis in and around Phoenix. We knew of a few cricket leagues being played around but most of them were played with season ball. Someone told us about a tennis ball league but unfortunately it had already started. Fortunately it was only the short summer league and the real league the longer winter league was about to start. Every single day after that we played was for "league practise". We thought we were good enough to be the champs and we defeated one of the established team Suns in pre-season friendly. But the next friednly game against the defending champs showed us where we stood. As of writing this blog we had lost our first match of the league against the All Stars, a side which finished bottom of the table last year. But thats when the bull goes wild. These teams have waved the red cape and enraged the bull which is now ready to gore whoever comes in way.
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