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.
Had he mera nam to kahin bhi nahi he
ReplyDeletemen neetendra Khare
Kudos to Ganesh for starting a very interesting blog.. M sure to follow it ...
ReplyDeleteGuriqbal
Excellent representation of the team! Thank you Ganesh
ReplyDelete