Frank Officially Announces Bid for Greenwich Top Spot

Farricker vies for top spot - Article from May 30, Greenwich Times: http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/local/scn-gt-a1farrickermay30,0,118703.story?coll=green-news-local-headlines

Cathy and Frank Farricker, with their twin children Alexandra and Christian, 6, stand in front of the Cos Cob School. (Helen Neafsey/Staff photo)May 30, 2007

Here is the Article byBy Neil VigdorStaff Writer

Democrat Frank Farricker entered the first selectman's race yesterday, saying he will make education and smart development cornerstones of his campaign.The town native chose Cos Cob School, which he attended and where his twin children are kindergartners, as the backdrop for his announcement.

"As a parent of two children in this school, you can be assured that I will make education in Greenwich my highest priority," Farricker told about 50 supporters. "Our kids need the best education that we can give them, with the best facilities, the best support and the best teachers. I will work with the schools and the parents, encouraging more communication and involvement, because nobody knows what is best for kids more than their parents."Farricker, 42, who works in real estate management in New York City and is in his fourth year as a member of the Planning and Zoning Commission, became the second person to declare in the race for the town's top office.Board of Estimate and Taxation Chairman Peter Tesei announced his candidacy on May 19 and is seeking the Republican nomination.The Democratic Town Committee will endorse a candidate on July 19. Yesterday, party leaders embraced his candidacy.

"Frank has never shrunk from a challenge," Democratic Town Committee Chairman Jim Himes told the group. "I have no doubt that he is going to run a spectacular race for first selectman."Ned Lamont, who won the Democratic primary for senator last year, also came out to support Farricker."I think Greenwich is lucky to have a candidate like Frank," Lamont said, explaining that the town needs a leader who can anticipate development trends. "You need a first selectman thinking about that. How do you keep Greenwich Greenwich?"Farricker lost a challenge to Republican William Nickerson for the state's 36th Senate District race last year.

Edward Krumeich Jr., who ran with Farricker on the same ticket, introduced the candidate to supporters and took a swipe at his Board of Estimate and Taxation colleague across the aisle."Peter Tesei represents the status quo," Krumeich said. "Unlike being chairman of the BET, where achieving consensus is paramount, the first selectman must lead and provide a clear direction."Responding to Krumeich's comments in a telephone interview, Tesei said he was proud of his achievements as BET chairman and delivered balanced budgets with bipartisan support and modest tax increases for several years in a row."That's how things get done in Greenwich," Tesei said. "That's a form of leadership."Tesei and Farricker are competing for an open seat currently filled by Republican Jim Lash, who will not run for a third term.Farricker described himself yesterday as a successful businessman with deep roots in the community and an extensive background in planning."Understanding the past and protecting our character while we continue to change as all communities do requires real leadership and a keen understanding of what is in the best interests of the town," said Farricker, an executive with The Penson Companies.

Farricker said his experience as a zoning commissioner would give him a leg up in updating the 1998 Town Plan of Conservation and Development, the authoritative guide to growth in Greenwich."I will seek and listen to the input and ideas of everyone in town, and not just the regular interests, so we can manage growth smartly and save what's left," Farricker said.A 1982 Greenwich High School graduate who interned for Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., two years later, Farricker has varied work experience, owning and running a restaurant in Washington, D.C., for four years before getting into real estate. He has a bachelor's degree in East Asian studies from George Washington University and a master's degree in real estate from Columbia University. He lives on Mead Avenue with his wife, Cathy, and their twins, Christian and Alexandra.

Farricker touted himself as a knowledgeable candidate who can manage the day-to-day operations of the town, including complex infrastructure projects."It is so critical that a place like Greenwich have a first selectman who knows how a public safety center is built, how a Hamilton Avenue School is built, and what to do when the best laid plans don't turn out the way they ought have," Farricker said."It's important that we have a first selectman who has been out there in the world, who knows how hedge funds work because he has worked with them, how buildings are built because he's built them, how to manage large organizations because he's managed them, and how to make executive decisions because he's made them."

Wikipedia Takes Dig at World Series League

"Despite all the challenges, the standard of cricket can be very good with ex-test and regional representatives playing in some leagues (eg the Commonwealth League). Like any other weekend sport there are also places for the less-skilled enthusiast to play (eg. the Tri State World Series League)."

Those are the exact words used in a Wikipedia article on Sports in New York. They've obviously not seen the video of last year's final.

Cricket Camp Stamford, CT 7/9 - 7/20

Cricket Camp 2007

Coming this summer - Cricket Camp!

The City Of Stamford and the US Sports Institute will be working together this summer to bring a Cricket Camp to town for youth. Campers will be guided through all technical area of the game with fun drills, activities, batting, bowling, fielding, ball handling, positioning and the rules of the game will be covered. Camp will be open for kids 7-14 inclusive as of the start date of camp (with some exceptions, if deemed appropriate).

Activity # 144097; Where: TBA

When: Week 1– July 9th - 13th / Week 2 –July 16th - 20thTime: 5:00PM - 7:00PM

Fee: $110.00 per wk residents; $120.00 per wk non-residents.

http://www.cityofstamford.org/controls/eventview.aspx?MODE=SINGLE&ID=82, see page 22 which includes sign-up sheet.

For organizers who may want to bring a group the city contact is Rick Bauer 203-977-4645

Mad Dogs vs Hoboken (WSL Game 1) 5/19 - Junior

After numerous early morning calls the May 19th league game was cancelled due to the rain and cold weather. With the sun really never coming out all day and the ground staying saturated the correct decision was made. Let's hope for good weather for the long weekend as we have two games on the calendar.

Maddogs Vs BigCricket Kangaroos 5/12 by JPM

The skipper, Tom Haydon, reverted to normality by losing the toss and the Dogs were asked to bat by the visitors, a motley collection of Australians. Greeted by much sledging, backchat, banter and mild abuse, Thornton and Kimberley opened the Dog's innings. A steady start against decent bowling saw the score reach 26 after 6 overs before Thornton hoisted a high catch to leave with 15 (22 balls, 1 x 6, 1 x 4).

Kimberley fell soon afterwards, bounced out and popping up a catch to the inner ring (8, from 23 balls). Trappler than hung in with Haydon while 29 runs were added in 7 overs; Haydon gradually playing himself into form and batting sensibly against continued decent bowling. Trappler fell LBW for 8 (18 balls, 1 x 4), sweeping and missing as a full toss landed on his leg. Anil, making his debut, joined Haydon and got off to a very cautious start, playing second fiddle in a stand of 38 in 9 overs as Haydon, batting woith increasing confidence and timing, opened up and get the scoreboard ticking over satisfactorily. Unfortunately, with a well-deserved 50 in sight, Haydon played across the line to Wolf and missed, bowled for 46 (63 balls, 6 x 4). Parag immediately ran himself out (0, 2 balls), leaving the Dogs in a spot of bother on 101 for 5 in the 25th over. Anil was still playing himself in, reaching 2 not out from 27 balls, but joined by Wilson, he blossomed, starting to play shots all round the wicket in nice style.

Wilson batted really well, making the effort to settle in before opening up as a very important stand of 73 was assembled in only 8 overs, a stand ended when Wilson fell LBW to Wolf for a very fine 38 (31 balls, 5 x 4). With the innings in its last few overs, Moore fell first ball, lofting a catch off Wolf, and Sood lasted little longer, bowled slogging at Wolf a few balls later (3, 4 balls). But an increasingly confident Anil was still in, scoring 37 more runs off the last 22 balls he faced, ending with 39 not out from 49 balls (2 x 6, 2 x 4), a very good effort indeed. Bannerjee hit hard to score 4 not out from 3 balls, and Smith did not bat as the Dogs' innings closed on a highly creditable 194 for 8 from 35 overs. Wolf, playing against the Dogs, had figures of 6-0-39-4, picking up wickets and being hit in turn, in the last few overs' slog-a-thon.

Wilson struck immediately for the Dogs, the somewhat fluffy-looking Stym gloving to 'keeper Parag for 1, and Haydon also struck in his first over, plucking out Brown's off stump for 3. Blomfield also fell to Haydon for 7, a slash to Kimberley at slip being juggled at least 3 times as the fielder fell backwards and used assorted body bits to keep the ball in the air while supine, culminating in throwing the ball away allegedly in control of its final motion (yeah, a fair catch, it just looked a bit hard to distinguish between the juggle and the discard phaseŠ..). At this stage, the Kangaroos were in trouble at 14 for 3, particularly as Haydon and Wilson were bowling very well in opening spells that put their team right on top. A curious, and potentially important incident then occurred: Thornton had departed injured, having bruised his hand dropping a slip catch off Wilson, to be replaced by Herman Smith who was, not unreasonably, wearing black shorts (and showing very shapely legs underneath them). Whelan played the ball towards him at square cover and hared off down the pitch, to be sent back, very reasonably, by his partner and run out easily. The gruntled batsman claimed, however, that he had thought Herman was the square leg umpire (at square cover???), and after some "discussions", Haydon did a very honorable thing by allowing him to continue batting. This act of courtesy looked to be costly, as Whelan, accompanied by Nicol, put on 62 in good style, both players showing they good bat. Smith (junior) and Moore were in the attack at this stage, the youngster starting very well but perhaps tiring a little as his skipper abusing all sorts of international regulations designed to protect youth by bowling him straight through for 7 overs. A few too many wides ensued, and some boundaries slogged off his last over gave Smith worse figures than he deserved; he did his job well in a numerically thin bowling line-up. At the other end, Moore delivered a highly economical spell, landing both his slower and quicker balls consistently on the right line and length and giving nothing away, to keep the scoring rate in the Dogs' favor. Wilson had traded the keeper's job with Parag, and took a stumping when Whelan (21) charged Moore, was beaten in flight and missed, to have all three stumps smashed flat by the enthusiastic, but scarcely stylish, new keeper.

Bell was soon pinned LBW by Moore's quicker ball, which kept a bit low, to leave for 4. Nicol reached his 50 but then mowed a rank full toss from Parag out to the running Haydon who took an excellent catch at midwicket. Hart smashed another Parag full bung hard at Anil at square leg, the fielder sticking a hand out and finding the ball lodged in it, to his seeming surprise. Just to prove he could get a wicket with one that bounced, Parag then bowled Thompson with what may have been a googly; he bowled some sharply turning deliveries and looked menacing when he got the ball to land in the right places.

By this stage, the Kangaroos' batting involved Wolf and rabbits, and with the scoring rate mounting, Haydon thought it safe to bring Kimberley onto bowl. Wolf hit well, giving raise to some momentary alarms for a couple of overs, but there was too much to do and Wolf perished for 24 when he mowed Kimberley to backward square leg, where Trappler held onto a hard hit, over his head, toppling backwards quite spectacularly.

Kimberley then put on a highly passable Harrison impression, by having a spat with an umpire over what constituted a wide. The Harrison-impersonation continued when Kimberley noticed the umpire instructing last man Celardi what end of the bat to hold and where to place the rest of it; scenting blood, Kimberley eschewed his characteristically high-flighted filth for the simple expedient of the straight one - very ruthless, utterly a la HarrisonŠŠ The Kangaroos' final score of 160 all out from 31.4 overs left the Dogs deserved winners by 34 runs. Haydon once again handled the side well, balancing the need to get most people into the game with the desire to win. The Kangaroos were decent, enthusiastic, and rather noisy opponents who ended up being out-sledged by the wit of the Dogs.

Wilson 4-1-10-1
Haydon 5-0-17-2
Smith 7-0-52-0
Moore 7-1-18-2
Parag 5-0-33-3
Kimberley 3.4-0-25-2

Mad Dogs vs Haverford (PICF) (5/4/07) by JPM

The Dogs took on the students by fielding 6 PhDs or MDs plus a couple of Bachelor degree recipients against a team yet to achieve such august levels of scholarship. Unfortunately, 5 of the Dogs were over 50ŠŠ.. whereas most of the students definitely weren't., and athleticism can count sometimes. On a roll now, Quirk won his second toss of the day, putting Haverford in. Shesthra, a young Nepali, showed he was a terrific young batsman, playing some glittering shots against Boyke and Quirk. Boyke, however, immediately bowled Newman for 0, and Quirk settled into a good spell, getting his leggies to bounce nicely and forcing even Shesthra to play him with care. Kamran Khan hit lustily but was well caught in the deep by Quirk off Harrison, who was bowling well in relief of Boyke. But there was no stopping Shesthra who brutalized Lawrence unmercifully for a couple of overs. Lawrence did remove McVaugh for 5, expertly caught by Harrison in the deep. Shesthra then retired on 54 not out, but Khan took over, slogging an obviously stiff Moore out of the attack. Harrison then forced the aggressive Khan to retire hurt for 35, a bottom edge landing on an already damaged toe. Davies (1) was then nicely caught by Kanoff off Harrison, running backwards to pouch a top-edged sweep. Another tremendous catch, this time by Trappler off Prasanna, the fielder jumping and toppling backwards to hold a high drive, removed Zegeye for 3, and Harrison took an outstanding return catch off a hard drive to get rid of Lundquist for 1. With the overs running down, concern arose that, by taking too many wickets, we might allow Shesthra to return, a situation exacerbated when Prasanna bowled Collett for 0. Indeed, in the last over, Harrison was forced into the unusual, heretical cry of "drop it when a ball was lifted to the normally safe hands of Prasanna, who obligedŠ.. The Haverford total of 141 for 8 off 25 overs was formidable but less than Merion had taken off us.

Boyke 5-0-27-1
Quirk 5-0-22-0
Prasanna 5-0-13-2
Lawrence 3-0-32-1
Harrison 5-0-26-3
Moore 2-0-22-0

Again, a good start was needed, but Lawrence was bowled first ball by Kamran Khan. Moore, interrupted in the midst of urinating, raced to the crease to replace him (if such a thing is possible), and batted steadily while watching Bannerjee, slice to gully off Shesthra (2, 6 balls), then Prasanna, snick to the keeper off Manny (1, 4 balls) to leave the Dogs in the mire at 10 for 3 off 5 overs. Quirk and Moore then put on 30 in the next 5 overs via sensible batting before Moore somehow missed a straight one to depart for 14 (28 balls, 1 x 4). Boyke played some cavalier, never say die shots on his way to a rapid 18 (10 balls; 4 x 4) before lofting the inevitable catch, off left-arm spinner Sultan. Quirk then fell for a good 17 (31 balls), nicking to slip off the returning Shesthra's first ball. The quicky then ran amok among the Dogs' lower order, bowling Taiwo (0, 3 balls), Kanoff (0, 4 balls) and Trappler (3, 5 balls) on his way to splendid figures of 5-2-8-5. Santosh was the last to go, top edging a catch off Sultan for 1 (5 balls), leaving Harrison on 3 not out (4 balls) as the Dogs' innings closed on 74 all out from 17 overs, a defeat by 67 runs.

Maddogs Vs Littleton (PICF) 5/5/07 - By JPM

The weary Dogs were energized by the youthful vigor of Wilson (not a sentence one writes very often, but in the context of the Festival squad, all is relative.). Quirk's run of toss wins came to an end at 2, so the Dogs fielded on a scorching morning at Merion.

The Littleton openers went off like the proverbial rockets, scoring at over 10 an over for the first 6 or so overs, smashing boundaries to all parts of the ground and prompting a re-shuffling of the bowling attack. Boyke, who had turned an ankle, and Santosh being replaced by Wilson and Quirk. Wilson was smashed for 3 fours, and Quirk was also attacked as the slog-fest continued. Eventually, Das retired for 53 scored out of 75 in about 8 overs, which reduced the run rate a little, helped By Quirk and Wilson settling into a groove of sorts.

Quirk took the first wicket with the score on 102, Fernando being nicely stumped by Bannerjee for 10 as the batsman advanced and missed. The next wicket fell to a strange run out, Kulkarni driving Quirk into the covers where Boyke made a half stop, deflecting the ball out to Moore in the deep, who flicked the ball up to Wilson, who fired a return to Quirk, who beat the rather confused batsman to the stumps in a foot race to be run out for 35 (1/4 run-out credits to each contributor). But still the Littleton batsmen poured on the runs. Wolf bowled a couple of decent overs at a bad time to be bowling, Quirk ended a very useful spell, and Prasanna and Harrison did all they could to stem the tide.

Prasanna bowled Dwaram for 46 and Aprat for 12, while Harrison's excellent spell was rewarded when Bannerjee stumped Kolaraja for 21. The last wicket fell to a sacrificial run out off the last ball of the innings, Bannerjee doing what was necessary. The final total of 201 for 6 was less than it looked like at one stage, more than it might have been had the fielding been sharper and the catching better, with Wilson and Harrison being the unluckiest bowlers from that perspective. But this was an understandably tired, and old, Dogs side.


Boyke 2-0-16-0
Santosh 2-0-17-0
Wilson 5-0-46-0
Quirk 5-0-34-1
Wolf 2-0-17-0
Harrison 5-0-37-1
Prasanna 4-0-36-2

Obviously, we needed a fast start, and to some extent Lawrence and Quirk provided it by putting on 23 in the first 2.3 overs, before Quirk was run out for 5 (6 balls) attempting a tight single. Prasanna hit hard but not for long enough, being bowled for 10 (7 balls, 1 x 4), attempting a rather lavish pull-drive (OK, a slog to most of usŠ). Boyke was caught in two minds, never a good idea for a "natural" and snicked a catch to the keeper for 5 (5 balls), Wilson was very harshly adjudged LBW far down the track for 1 (4 balls), and the same fate, albeit a lot closer to his stumps awaited Taiwo (2, 3 balls), leaving the innings in an official mess at 75 for 5 in the 11th over.

Lawrence had contributed the lion's share of those runs, the old war-horse resuming normal service in yet another classic, and classy knock, going through all his range of shots and batting chancelessly until he was forced to retire on 51 (36 balls, 5 x 4) soon after being joined by Moore. Accompanied now by Wolf, Moore played much his usual game, lacking the power to score at over 8 an over against well spread fields on a large ground. Wolf's game was much the same, scoring at 5 or 6 an over with no problem but the required rate of over 8 being that bit beyond him too. Both players batted sensibly, hitting what they could and generally running well, in a stand of around 65 in about 11 or so overs, before Wolf pulled across the line and was blatantly LBW for a good 23 (30 balls, 1 x 4). Moore ground it out to the bitter end, receiving 45 balls and remarkably failing to hit any of them for 4 on his way to 40 not out. Hazrrison contributed 4 not out from 5 balls at the end as the Dogs' innings closed on 155 for 6 from 25 overs, leading to a loss by 46 runs.

OK, the record shows we had a 1-3 record, the same as last year, but we had a very old squad shorn of some leading lights and very thin on class batting. The bowling was stronger, the fielding average considering the toughness of the schedule and the fitness levels of the players. But everyone enjoyed themselves, and Quirk did a great job of getting everyone involved to the greatest extent possible, commensurate with trying to win all the games (and with a 2-2 toss record, he turned an important corner!)

Mad Dogs vs Merion (PICF) (5/4/07) by JPM

A beautiful morning at Merion saw a team of stiff Dogs, or Dogs' stiffs, turn up for game 2 of the PICF. Quirk, to universal amazement, won the toss, breaking a monstrous losing streak. The Dogs fielded, Boyke and Santosh opened up against Niv and Parnell, who batted in very different styles in an opening stand of 77, Niv batting powerfully, Parnell nudging and nurdling. Santosh had some wides' trouble, and Niv struck a few fours. Boyke was extremely steady, but luckless against both openers. Harrison and Quirk replaced the seamers, and also bowled well, Quirk taking the first wicket by going for the old Merion-roof ploy, lobbing as nice juicy full bung at Niv who, somehow, failed to connect fully and succeeded only in lobbing a catch to Harrison on the deep midwicket boundary, where the fielder judged a tough catch with aplomb to dismiss the key batsman for 32. Parnell fell soon after, advancing to Quirk and missing to be stumped by Bannerjee for 31. Connell and Joss put on another 26 before Moore replaced Quirk and saw his first ball struck hard and high by Joss, but right down Prasanna's throat at deep mid-wicket to leave for 15. Harrison had bowled cannily but without luck and was replaced by Prasanna, who bowled Connell for a hard-hit 23, and then persuaded Khan (6) to slog him into the pavilion, to be out under ground rules (caught "Roof") and with a 10-run penalty to boot. Moore then got rid of Hounsell, caught and bowled off a high-skied top-edge for 3. Nuttal and Witchell then batted through the closing overs carefully and steadily against some tight bowling by Prasanna and Moore, before Moore had Nuttal stumped on the charge off the last ball of the innings. The final total of 148 for 7 off 25 overs was a lot better for the Dogs than it might have been.

Boyke 3-2-2-0
Santosh 2-0-23-0
Harrison 5-0-31-0
Quirk 5-0-38-2
Prasanna 5-0-32-2
Moore 5-0-24-3

Still, that kind of total would take some getting, and a good start was important. Lawrence and Trappler put on 24 in the first 5 overs before Lawrence unaccountably mowed a catch off Parnell to midwicket to leave for only 6 (12 balls). Santosh joined Trappler, and an excellent partnership of 34 was assembled in the next 5 overs, as Trappler pulled and pushed his way to a Dogs highest score of 30 in great style (well, maybe not great style, but with great effect!). Santosh too batted very well, driving and chipping runs with good skill, in an important stand that was ended when Trappler was marginally stumped off Long (30, 38 balls, 1 x 4). Prasanna came in at 58 for 2 to play what looked to be a critical anchor innings as he took the trouble to settle in. But for some strange reason, Prasanna chipped a comfortable catch to mid-off off Joss, to depart for 6 (9 balls). Quirk was the last front-line batsmen, but he too fell cheaply, run out for 5 (10 balls) off a sharp single, with the score on 91 in the 16th over. Santosh then fell, bowled on the drive for a thoroughly good 27 (32 balls). Moore joined Harrison at 103 for 5 off 18.3 overs, 46 wanted from 6.3 overs, achievable, but not if many mistakes were made. The two batsmen were, fortunately, pretty experienced in this kind of run chase and were also used to batting with each other, which helps when the chips are down. Mostly ignoring all sorts of rather dubious advice from their watching team-mates, and from each other, they whittled away at the total, steadily and consistently, and without too many scares. Singles were pushed, wides claimed, a few 2's were scampered, the opening bowlers rebuffed. Moore drove a powerful 4 to relieve some late pressure, Harrison ran some ultra-sharp singles, to bring the requirement down to 4 from the last over. A push from Moore to gully, a wide, but a couple of dot balls, left the Dogs still needing 2 from 3 balls. But with field brought in, Harrrison smashed a low full toss back past the bowler for 4 to take the Dogs home with 2 balls to spare. 151 for 5 from 24.4 overs, with Harrison 20 not out (30 balls, 1 x 4), Moore 19 not out (19 balls, 1 x 4). A nice, deserved win.

Frank Farricker for First Selectman of Greenwich

The Greenwich Times today broke news that Mad Dogs member Frank Farricker, appears to have solidified support within the "Greenwich" Democratic party for a run at the town's top spot of First Selectman (think Mayor of Greenwich.) Farricker in commenting added that he was 90 percent sure he will run for first selectman in November, though he will issue his official announcement by the end of next month.

See the following link for the full article: http://www.greenwichtime.com/news/local/scn-gt-a1monahansaturdaymay05,0,2253997.story

Touring Thoughts for 2008 - by NK

It is at this time of year that we generally start to think about future touring plans... when and where through Fall 2008.

We have had some places under consideration for a while:

1) Japan - Hide is able to provide us with a unique entry into a unique place. The upside is playing/seeing a truly unique place: The downsides - costs look very high, weather is very unpredictable, we have to travel in the summer. Timing - Labor Day 2008, length of tour - 12 days: Price estimate incl air - $3500 per person

2a) Argentina - We have had multiple positive reports about Argentina - great clubs, great hospitality, and a tour operator who can help us (website). The downside is that they want most of the payment in advance.
2b) Chile: Just discovered their website - (http://www.cricketchile.cl/ Grounds and philosophy look like they are a good match for us. Downside - tough to get to Santiago.

For both trips - Timing - President's Day, Length of Tour - 10 Days. Estimate incl air - $2500 per person

3) England - either Devon/Dorset or Cambridgeshire: Many of our non-English members have requested a trip: Lazy summer days, cream teas, a decent pint, and as much cricket as we can handle make this sound like a great destination: The downside - $2 to the pound, and (potentially) the weather. Timing - July 4th 2008, length of tour 11 days. Estimate $2500 per Person inc air

4) Hong Kong - A recent addition to the list: Great grounds, fun teams, potentially a trip to China? Maybe?? Timing unknown, length of tour unknown HKCC Estimate $2500 per Person inc air

5) Holland - I hear this is a great destination - fun clubs, and all the pleasures of Amsterdam. Timing - July 4th 2008, length of tour 11 days. tour. Estimate $2500 per Person incl air
Opinions? Ideas? Let's discuss!

6) Estonia - Junior's alternate tour. This is an Ice Cricket Tour. Sarasota and the beach in January, Estonia and the ice in February? Two dates to pick from January 31 to February 3 or February 28 to March 2. Price less than $1,000. Length of tour 4 days. http://www.icecricket.co.uk/base.html

Neil

Mad Dogs vs ANZACS (PICF) (5/3/07) by JPM

The ANZACS were somewhat misnamed, the Dogs fielding more Antipodeans than they could. But despite the limited connection with Australasia, the ANZACS turned out to be a pretty good team. Quirk lost his 14th straight toss, so the Dogs fielded at Philadelphia CC, just as they would have done had Quirk called correctly.

Boyke and Moore opened the Dogs' bowling, with combined ages of 101. Boyke's first over disappeared for 13, Moore's for 9, so looking ugly early. But the veterans reined the batsmen back a little by bowling accurately to carefully set fields. Moore removed Vithland for 11, an outside edge looping high to Quirk at point, then bowled J Botha for 1 with an inswinger that the new batsman missed completely. Pa Patel had been batting with hyper-aggression before Boyke trimmed the top of his off stump with a nice ball to send him back for 25. Moore and Boyke completed their good spells, to be replaced by Wolf and Harrison, who also bowled steadily, exceptionally so in the case of Harrison's early, tight overs, as ANZACS retrenched by batting steadily.

Prasanna replaced Wolf and removed Persaud for 23, a hard clip off the toes being well held by Moore above his head at square leg. Harrison then bowled Pr Patel for 25, and Prasanna got rid of K Patel for 17, to a toppling, high catch in the deep by Quirk a nice effort. Harrison's last couple of overs were slogged hard by Mackay, who then took a very long handle to Quirk, slogging him over and through the one side four times in an over on his way to 35 not out. Prasanna picked up 3 wickets at the death, bowling Rajaram for 7, D Botha for 4, before Percival ran down the wicket to the last ball of the innings, missed and carried walking as Bannerjee removed the bails.

The ANZACS total of 165 for 9 from 25 overs was pretty daunting due to the late acceleration. A rather venerable Dogs side dropped several catches, which didn't help.

Boyke 5-0-27-1
Moore 5-0-28-2
Wolf 3-0-15-0
Harrison 5-0-30-1
Prasanna 5-0-27-5
Quirk 2-0-28-0

We needed a good starft, and got one as Prasanna swatted the first ball for 4, and took another one off the same over. An early 4 for Lawrence saw the Dogs race to 17 from the first 2 overs. But the bowlers regained control, and the first wicket fell at 28 in the fifth over when Prasanna was run out in a calling muddle (19, 14 balls, 4 x 4).

Quirk found it hard to settle in his first innings of the season, but performed some complex mental calculations and decided he needed to start hitting the ball hard. Unfortunately, this tactic generally works best when the ball goes a long way in the horizontal plane, not a vertical one, and the skipper was caught for 2 (13 balls). Taiwo got his innings over with quickly, LBW for 0 (2 balls), before the Dogs last hope fell to another runout, Lawrence erring in the call and paying the price (13, 26 balls, 1 x 4). Harrison contributed a nice 4 through the covers before slogging round a straight one (9, 16 balls). Moore hung around for a few overs without looking convincing, surviving a stumping from the stood-back, ball-shying keeper only because it was a no-ball, but after putting on 20 with Santosh, Moore's pull went only to slip, out for 11 (25 balls). Santosh hit a catch for 6 (16 balls), Kanoff was bowled for 3 (7 balls), and the limping Bannerjee, batting with a runner, was run out for 3 (7 balls). Wolf, who had batted well, ended with 10 not out (20 balls), Boyke with 0 not out (0 balls), as the innings ended on 93 for 9, 74 runs short. To be blunt, we unfortunately didn't have the batting depth.