Cave Canem

Ashes Report – Mad Dogs and other Englishmen v New York Aussies, July 14, 2007 by Neil Harrison

2007-07-19T18:07:00.000-04:00

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This year the annual Ashes to Ashes game moved from September to Bastille Day, and the Midsummer Classic lived up to its billing with perhaps the best game ever between the two traditional adversaries. A magnificent game of cricket was enjoyed by both sides

and their supporters, ending in the last over, with all four results being possible as the over began. A high quality match featured classy batting, powerful hitting, accurate bowling and some great catches and run outs.

A beautiful summer’s day welcomed both teams to Mad Dog Park in Greenwich where the news that John Cronin would not be playing elicited expressions of profound regret from the English bowlers. Nevertheless, the Aussies had assembled a powerful side blending experienced cricketers with young athletic players. The English, as usual, featured a blend of the overweight and the under-exercised, and Jonas Wilson.

Drew de Carvalho won the toss by calling “Don” with his Bradman coin and the little man from Bowral elected to bat. Ollie Kinsey and Simon Hill opened with some classy shots off Haseeb Sherriff before Kinsey (5) inexplicably scooped a half-drive off Richard Coates to his erstwhile team-mate Neil Harrison at mid-off, where the skipper accepted the chance in his usual low-key manner. The shy and retiring Darren Nicol then joined Hill at the crease and the pair added runs confidently until an aggressive call resulted in Hill being run out for 19 by a laser throw from James Thornton to Jonas Wilson.

Anthony Hendrie came to the wicket at 36-2 and the biggest partnership of the day ensued between Nicol and Hendrie, with steady accumulation being punctuated by a few classy big shots by Darren off John Moore and Jonas Wilson. These two batted until the 21st over when, with the Aussies in command at 110-2, Hendrie was run out for 36 by a smart throw from Thaker. Jerome Whalen came in but was quickly undone by flight and guile as he holed out to Knight at mid-on off the bowling of Harrison, and then shortly afterwards Nicol top edged one to Goodier off Ash Thaker to leave the Aussies at 119-5 after 26 overs.

The remainder of the Aussie innings owed much to Tim Irwin who came in at number 7 to anchor the effort and produced some terrific shots, including a cheeky step-away and hit to square leg off Harrison that evoked memories of Sir Vivian at his best. The English bowlers meanwhile whittled away his partners, Thaker continuing a fine spell by having Wolf caught smartly by Jonas at square leg for 4, and Harrison trapping Saywel lbw for one. Coundrey was then run out and De Carvalho top edged a skier off Wilson that was caught by Harrison coming in from the deep, ushering in a cameo from Frank the Yank Farricker, who remained 2 not out at the end, with Irwin completing a vastly entertaining 40 not out from 24 balls.

Wilson and Haseeb closed the innings with three excellent overs, conceding only ten runs to leave the Aussies at a respectable but by no means unassailable 173-9 off 35 overs. The English bowling and fielding was tidy and accurate throughout, with a special mention going to Ash Thaker for a superbly accurate spell from the “top end” from which he conceded just one boundary. Only five wides were bowled, two byes conceded by Jonas and Robyn Hounsell, and only one catch and one run out were missed in the innings.

Hasseb Sherriff 5-1-21-0;
Richard Coates 4-1-19-1;
John Moore 7-0-35-0;
Jonas Wilson 6-0-32-1;
Ash Thaker 7-0-24-2;
Neil Harrison 6-0-37-2.

Coates and Neil Kimberley opened for the English and began brightly against steady bowling of Darren Nicoland Simon Hill, who drew first blood at 21 when Kimberley popped one up to Drew who took the dolly catch with enthusiasm to dismiss Neil for 6. Coates and Knight then came together at the wicket for what promised to be a crucial stand for England, but the Aussies struck again as Coates was adjudged out lbw for 21 on the front foot as Darren made a polite enquiry to the official. At 36-2 England were in a little bit of trouble and the Aussies were smelling blood, but Thornton joined Knight and runs accumulated steadily as James hit some “handy” fours until Thornton (14) shoveled one from Ron Wolf round the corner but directly at De Carvalho, who took a sharp catch to the amazement of his delighted team mates. Aussie jubilation was unconfined when the next ball from Ron to Robyn Hounsell was hammered back at the bowler who took a splendid reaction catch to dismiss the crestfallen Robyn, who returned to his adoring fan club on the boundary.

At 64-4, England were again on the ropes, but this England team bats long and deep, and 20 overs remained to score 110 for victory. Plus, we have Jonas - so, no problem! Richard Knight and Wilson then pushed the score along to 99, with Knight stylishly contributing a powerful 4 and 6 off Wolf, before Anthony Hendrie’s slow left arm provided a breakthrough with one that kept low and pinned Knight lbw on the back foot for 30, to leave England now 99 for 5 in the 21st over, and Australia seemingly in the driver’s seat.

Moore joined Wilson and this pair steadied the ship, with Jonas hitting a fine straight 6 off Hendrie, before John went for a heave off Irwin and was caught by Hendrie for 9, with England at 127 for 6 off 27 and the Aussies in control as the run rate edged up to 6 an over. Richard Goodier came to the wicket for his first innings in 5 years, and the run rate slowed, prompting Jonas to drive uppishly at Hendrie only to be dismissed by a sensational diving catch from Irwin at cover for a valuable and composed knock of 35. 133 for 7 from 30 overs, leaving a target of 44 from 5, and Goodier was joined by Harrison, not a bad batsman at #9 in a tight situation, but things were nevertheless looking a bit dire for the English.

The next ball from Hendrie was a full bunger, hit for a massive six over square leg by Goodier, before Harrison smashed his second ball through mid wicket for four. 11 off the over and things looked brighter; 31 off 4 overs now. Simon Hill was recalled to the attack and pinged one in short to Goodier who smashed another huge maximum over square leg, but the next ball was a full length ball that removed his leg stump, to Aussie delight. Thaker, another good batsman, duly arrived and he and Harrison traded singles to leave the score at 153-8; 21 off 3 required.

Darren Nicol came back as the other Aussie “death bowler”, and conceded a wide and a single before being hit over his head for a straight 6 by Harrison. But the Aussies struck again the next ball as an acrobatic diving stop and perfect throw by Kinsey produced a stunning run out of Harrison at the bowler’s end.

163-9 as Haseeb Sherriff came in at number 11. Of course Haseeb is a very very experienced cricketer who has opened the innings on many occasions, and he confidently struck his first ball for two. Hill steamed in, and Ash and Haseeb squeezed out some singles under a lot of Aussie pressure as the crowd looked on with mounting excitement. 169-9 off 34 overs, 5 to win off the last over. Darren’s first ball produced a huge shout from all the Aussies, but the umpire’s finger stayed down, and Ash survived to poke a single from the next ball. 4 runs needed from 4 balls… the next ball was missed by Haseeb as Darren roared in from the “Pavilion” end with the game on the line. 4 from 3.. and the next one was dug in a little bit short of a length, and Haseeb swung almost instinctively to leg and the ball took off into the trees at square leg to give England the narrowest and most exciting of victories…

The difference between the two sides on the day was minuscule, the Aussies bowled 12 wides to England’s five, for example, as England executed a difficult run chase with tremendous composure from top to bottom of the order, in the face of some accurate and hostile bowling and fantastic fielding from Australia. A few decisions could have gone either way, but these things all tend to even out over time. It was a great game, played in a generous and sportsmanlike manner by both sides.

Darren Nicol 6.4-0-37-1;
Simon Hill 7-0-32-2;
Tom Saywell 4-0-16-0;
Ron Wolf 4-0-31-2;
Anthony Hendrie 7-0-32-2;
Tim Irwin 6-1-20-1.

Man of the match for England (Tea and Sympathy award) was Jonas Wilson, and Man of the Match (National Australia Bank and Milo Moment) for Australia was Tim Irwin. Richard Goodier (“haven’t played much recently but I’m all right”) was excellent value for the Ploughman’s Pickle award for the most quintessentiallyself-deprecating English performance.

In the end it was a fantastic match, one that neither team really deserved to lose. In fact, it was the game of cricket and this year’s charity recipients that were the real winners. The trophy was presented to Neil Harrison as England skipper, but in view of the closeness of the contest, the big jug will spend half of the 2007-2008 off-season at 8 Mile Creek on Mulberry Street. But first there is a little engraving to be done…

Mad Dogs vs UBS (5/26/07) - by JPM

2007-06-05T21:09:00.000-04:00

Haydon won the toss and elected to field, probably in the knowledge that the Dogs were severely under-strength and might be rolled over if we batted first against what are usually pretty strong opposition. The skipper and Smith opened the bowling, the youngster taking a wicket in his first when Dhanu, after one powerful hit for 4 showed the bowler way too little respect and was beaten by an in-swinger that cannoned off the pads into the stumps. Achal then hit a few meaty drives off both bowlers before Haydon delivered that traditional wicket-taking ball, the full toss, to see Achal drive it hard to mid-off where Sood held an excellent drive in front of his thighs, saving himself from considerable damage by the appropriate use of the hands. Baby and Dhwanil then batted really well in a stand of 62, seeing off both opening bowlers and treating Harrison very roughly in his first bowl of the season at MDP. This was more a case of good batting than bad bowling, as both players had a very good eye for anything that wasn't pitched just right.

At the other end, Thomson had a bad case of the yips, failing to find the mat with any regularity in an over containing 10 wides, several double-bouncers, 15 runs and a wicketŠŠ. The latter came about when Moore, sensing the left-handed Baby's frustration at not getting anything to hit, worked out what might happen if Thomson delivered a ball that bounced on the mat and only once, so wandered back into the baseball diamond. The very next legitimate ball was pulled right down the fielder's throat, much to Baby's chagrin and Thomson's glee (funny game, cricketŠ..). Dhwanil then departed in Moore's first over, a low full toss being sliced out to deep cover where Bhuiyan held a very good low catch running in - a somewhat unlucky end to an excellent knock by the UBS skipper. At the other end, Taiwo had the same problems as Thomson, delivering 17 wides and a no-ball in what was nominally a 3-over spell but which turned out be 6 oversŠ.. But he too took a wicket, again to the batsman's disgust, as Bharyan drove a full toss out to Som who took a well-judged catch out at deep mid-on.

At the other end, Moore was providing some stability amidst the mayhem, settling into a well-controlled spell in which flighted balls and quicker yorkers were inter-changed to keep the batsmen off-balance. Rubal eventually lost patience and charged down the track, had a massive heave at a high-flighted ball, struck nothing but air and turned to watch Lawrence flick off just the one bail (earning more style points than for Jonas's "smash all the stumps flat" technique). Two balls later, Diryesh was utterly stuffed by a quicker ball that seemed to be spearing down the leg-side but which swung out late to flatten the off stump. Another quick yorker accounted for Amit, struck on the back foot right in front of middle to give Moore his fourth wicket. Som, in his first game for six years, replaced Taiwo at the top end and showed that he was capable of bowling at this level, generally getting the ball to bounce only once and between the wicketsŠŠ He too took a wicket, Niryander pulling one high to mid-wicket where Moore took a running diving catch (not words written very often). With the score on 168 for 9 from 23 overs, the Dogs were actually in the game at this point, but a bit of UBS-ology then took place as old adversary Nikhil came into bat at 10, clad in shorts and a T-shirt after turning up to watch (and then departing between innings). Nikhil, of course, is a class act and he struck a rapid 28 not out, hitting 12 off Moore's last (rather ragged) over and 18 off Som's as the UBS score sailed past 200.

Haydon came back and kept it quiet, then Harrison ended the innings by bowling Hanif through a wild slog to give himself a deserved wicket. The final UBS score of 205 all out in 27.2 overs owed a great deal to 55 wides and 3 no balls, a pretty disgraceful performance by a Dogs' side. True, UBS are notoriously "stringent" on what constitutes a wide (as, then, are we reciprocally), but if the bowlers can't even hit the cut strip, there's a problem. On the plus side, the fielding was very good, with some excellent catches and stumpings taken.

Haydon 4-0-18-1
Smith 5-0-35-1
Harrison 4.2-0-35-1
Thomson 1-0-15-1
Moore 7-1-37-4
Taiwo 3-0-34-1
Som 3-0-28-1

A challenging total to chase, however, given what looked to be a pretty thin batting line-up. We needed a good start, but didn't get it, as Dhwanil bowled really well, mixing up flight and seam in a challenging spell. Bhuiyan (1, 4 balls) and Lawrence (6, 11 balls) both fell LBW to balls that seemed to genuinely beat them. Haydon was a bit unlucky, timing a cut very well but hitting it head-high to Dhwanil at backward point (, 21 balls, 1 x 4).

Kimberley joined the ranks of Dhwanil's LBW victims (1, 2 balls). Sood and Smith batted steadily in a useful stand of 21 before Sood fell to Dhwanil, hitting a lovely straight six then hitting only air as the bowler teased him to do it againŠ.. (15, 23 balls, 1 x 6, 1 x 4). Moore came and went, never really getting into synch with the situation before driving a catch out to deep mid-off (4, 13 balls). Smith and Harrison put on 35 for the 7th wicket, Harrison batting particularly well, hitting three lovely looking shots for 4 before being bowled on the drive by Baby's left-arm, well-flighted spin (19, 18 balls).

Smith's top-scoring knock of 20 (28 balls), 1 x 4) ended when he drove a return catch to Rubal, but this was a really good knock, illuminated by a glorious off-drive for 4 that was almost a six. Taiwo fell for 0 (4 balls) hitting one straight up in the air but not very far. Som and Thompson then batted on for a more overs, getting some useful time in the middle, before the latter was bowled for 2 (12 balls) leaving Som with 1 not out (13 balls) as the innings closed on 135 all out from 25 overs, a defeat by 70 runs, more than it perhaps should have been, but given the weakness of the Dogs' side, perhaps not unexpected.

UBS bowled 48 wides and 3 no-balls, so no fewer than 103 wides and 6 no balls were delivered (that's 16.3 oversŠ). As noted, UBS are traditionally tight on wides, inviting retaliation, but honestly, there comes a point when we all collectively have to something about this situation and change the prevailing standards.

Frank Officially Announces Bid for Greenwich Top Spot

2007-05-31T11:50:00.000-04:00

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

2007-05-30T01:02:00.000-04:00

"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

2007-05-21T15:16:00.000-04:00

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

2007-05-20T01:02:00.000-04:00

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

2007-05-14T10:22:00.000-04:00

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

2007-05-06T20:59:00.000-04:00

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

2007-05-06T20:39:00.000-04:00

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

2007-05-06T20:31:00.000-04:00

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

2007-05-05T22:20:00.000-04:00

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

2007-05-04T09:18:00.000-04:00

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

2007-05-04T09:15:00.000-04:00

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.

Maddogs Vs Yale - 4/28 by JPM

2007-04-30T13:43:00.000-04:00

The skipper, Tom Haydon, adopted a different attitude to the toss in the rematch with Yale, doing precisely nothing and winning passively. It mattered little, as the Dogs were going to bat either way. Prasanna and Trappler opened the innings, in rather contrasting styles. Prasanna was the first to depart, a characteristically aggressive knock of 16 ending to an excellent low catch by Jimmy at mid-off (13 balls, 3 x 4).

Trappler was out soon thereafter, slicing a high catch that was, to mass amazement on both sides, held one-handed by a back-diving fielder out at third man, the fielder in question being an irregular player in jeans (5, 20 balls). Lawrence and Bannerjee then assembled a stand of 64 in 12 overs, Bannerjee looking a bit rusty with his timing but hanging in there gamely while Lawrence went about his usual business in his usual way, albeit a bit more aggressively than usual. Bannerjee drove a return catch with the score on 98, out for 10 (35 balls), bringing Sood to the crease. By dint of highly aggressive batting, 63 runs were added in the next 6 overs. Sood mowing merrily and running hard in a highly effective innings of 40 from only 29 balls with 3 fours, more than matching Lawrence's own run rate as the great man accelerated, smashing boundaries and picking up singles, seemingly at will. But with a century in his sights, Lawrence swept and missed to depart LBW for an outstanding 76 (49 balls, 3 x 6, 9 x 4). Sood's own terrific knock came to an end with the score on 176 for 5 in the 25th over, as he nicked one to the keeper.

Wilson came and went, mowing a mighty sweep off Jimmy that went very high but not very far to plop back into the keeper's gloves (2, 3 balls). Haydon and Moore settled the innings a little, as there were still 10 overs left, Moore surviving when a ball from Jimmy passed between his middle and off stumps without disturbing a bail - the veteran batsman showing excellent, millimetrically perfect judgment of line in what to leave alone. Haydon was less fortunate, however, feathering the faintest of edges from the same bowler to the keeper (7, from 13 balls). Pratt, on debut, drove a return catch to Jimmy off what was almost a double bouncer (2, 7 balls). Moore and Smith then tried to use the overs up, batting calmly for a few overs until Moore pushed a low catch to cover, Jimmy taking his third excellent catch of the innings, out for 10 (19 balls). Smith then departed LBW for 8 (9 balls, 1 x 4) almost immediately afterwards, leaving Thompson on 3 not out (4 balls) as the innings closed on 218 all out from 33.2 overs.

Wilson bowled Mahan, a sacrificial non-batsman, with the first legitimate ball of the innings and picked up a second wicket soon after when Makani mistimed a drive straight to Smith at cover for 1.Haydon bowled just as well, but with less luck, as the two seamers kept the early run rate way down in nice, tight spells. Smith and Thompson took over, a much younger pair of seamers. Smith was steady but luckless, bowling a 7 over spell in one go and doing well.

Thompson had some significant radar problems, spraying the ball down the leg-side and keeping keeper Pratt busy, but taking a wicket with a rare straight one when Assad (26), no doubt frustrated, drove a high catch out to Simon at long-on where the sub fielder (on for the relaxing Lawrence) judged it beautifully. Moore replaced Thompson and settled into a nice spell of varied pace but tight line, pinning Suyog LBW for 12 as the batsman misjudged the length when sweeping at a flighted ball. Karan (20) also fell to Moore, Simon holding another well judged catch at deep mid-on. Bannerjee had replaced Pratt by this time, and the erstwhile keeper turned his arm over, delivering capable medium pace and taking 2 wickets, Jimmy lofting a catch first ball to Haydon at mid off and Jayson, later in the innings, bowled.

Thompson and Banerjee combined on the run out of top scorer Usman for 43 (after assorted players had botched at least 4 earlier run outs). Simon, officially twelfth man, was allowed an over as the Yale innings ground down and took two wickets, one bowled, the other LBW as he found the old ball didn't swing but went through nice and straight - a useful lesson for the futureŠ.. So, the Yale innings ended on 149 all out from 30 overs, the Dogs comfortable winners by 69 runs. Another pleasant game, a good early season warm up handled very well by Haydon who again got everyone involved.

Wilson 4-0-9-2
Haydon 4-1-16-0
Smith 7-0-35-0
Thompson 3-0-33-1
Moore 7-1-24-2
Pratt 4-0-22-2
Simon 1-0-1-2

Mad Dogs vs Yale Bulldogs 4/21/07

2007-04-24T10:12:00.000-04:00

The first home game of the new season was played on a glorious spring day, warm, sunny, perfect cricketing weather. MDP was looking in excellent condition, with the pitch newly rolled (thanks James Cox and David Johnson!). With several of the team's superstars (and also Keith and Tony) missing in the West Indies, the social side came out en masse. The skipper, Tom Haydon, did what all Dogs' skippers do, and lost the toss. Bannerjee and Taiwo opened the Dog's innings and the first ball of the season was, predictably, a wideŠ.. With the help of many more of the same, the score had reached 23 in the 4th over when the ball flew off the top edge of Bannerjee's back, his pull therefore ending in the hands of third man, out for 2 (11 balls). Kojima helped Taiwo add another 18 before the former, after batting solidly, attempted a lavish off drive to be caught at mid-off for 7 (14 balls). Taiwo fell two runs later (43 for 3 in over 8), plumb LBW for 15 (20 balls, 1 x 4, 1 x 6), a characteristically inelegant but effective innings adorned by a couple of meatily mowed boundaries. Smith and Sood then assembled the inning's major stand, 49 in 10 overs, in contrasting styles, Smith all technique and elegance, Sood neither of the above, but by hustling and bustling, nurdling and hitting, he picked up runs by various ways, and rapidly. The stand was ended when Sood lofted a catch to leave with an excellent 35 to his credit (35 balls, 2 x 4, 1 x 6, the latter a clean hit over mid on). Prasanna hit his first two balls for 4, then was caught in the deep off the third (8, 3 balls, 2 x 4). Gee, seen that before! Haydon joined Smith, but at 115 for 6 off 21.3 overs, Smith's nice knock ended on 16 (37 balls, 1 x4) when he was stumped off the opening bowler as he dragged his back foot (see below for whether this was a legitimate dismissal). Haydon fell soon after, slapping a lousy long-hop straight to point, a ball he himself should bowl more often to get some wicketsŠ.. (2 from12 balls). This left the Dogs potentially in trouble, 124 for 7 in the 24th over. Moore, soon after coming in, survived a controversial stumping attempt when the 'keeper, who had been standing back to the opening bowler, suddenly ran up to the stumps in mid delivery and removed the bails when Moore missed a near wide on the off-side. Initially given out, the batsman correctly but firmly pointed out that the keeper's stunt was illegal under the Laws of Crickets. After some debate, Moore was recalled from the pavilion to play a nice knock as "closer", ensuring the overs were used up. Major focused on crease-occupancy while Moore pushed singles around more at less at will, and struck 3 fours as well. Major was bowled slogging off the last ball of the penultimate over (4, 16 balls), ending a highly useful stand of 28 in 5 overs. Simon contributed 2 not out (3 balls) in the last over, with Moore also undefeated on 27 (29 balls, 3 x 4) and Santosh not called on to bat. The final total of 160 for 8 off the 30 overs was deemed satisfactory by the more experienced players. The Yale bowling was generally good, and the pitch was playing well but with some irregular bounce, so scoring over 5 an over wasn't at all bad.

Simon and Santosh formed a lively opening attack, both bowling well to keep the early scoring in check. Simon bowled his 6 overs in one spell, taking 3 wickets, all bowled by rapid full length, swinging deliveries to crumble the Yale top order (Bashir for 7, Farooqui for 7 and Sandeep for 18). A few too many wides from each of the openers was the only down-side to excellent spells, Santosh being unlucky not to take a wicket. Major and Haydon then came into the attack, Haydon bowling really well, with excellent control and sharp pace to keep it very tight from one end. Unfortunately, at the other end, Major had a major attack of The Yips, the most dramatic demonstration of the bowlers' curse since the last time Thornton was seen anywhere near a ballŠŠ Alternate deliveries bounced three or four times or sailed over the batsmen's heads as the unfortunate bowler lost his usual control. But ahead the mayhem, opener Hunaiyan was so surprised to receive a nearly normal ball that he charge it, missed and was stumped by Bannerjee for 23, yards down the track. Strange game cricketŠŠ However, by this stage Yale, at 103 for 4 from 16 overs, were well ahead of the scoring rate, and seemed likely to win if enough of their players could stick around long enough. Haydon and Prasanna soon put the screws on, Haydon bowling Rabbani for 5 and Vadera for 12, and taking a return catch from Jimmy for 18, just when the latter was looking to slog his side to \victory. At the other end, Prasanna was almost unplayable, not taking a wicket but proving truly hard to score off, as the run rate was ratcheted right down. Prasanna also contributed to the run out of Khan for 0, with a throw that Bannerjee diverted cleverly back onto the stumps while in a full dive. Moore, on for Haydon, soon bowled Kaytes for 1, and with Kojima and Smith bowling an over each at the end, Haydon was using his resources wisely. Prasanna returned for the last over with Yale 12 short, to ensure that nothing silly happened at the death, and a desperation run-out ensued, Jia being dismissed for 2 by a thrown from Simon to Banerjee. The Yale score of 148 all out from 29.4 overs left the Dogs deserved winners by 12 runs. Haydon handled the game beautifully, getting everyone involved while still ensuring the game was won. Overall, an excellent day. In retrospect, it seemed likely that Smith's stumping dismissal was also illegal, but unlike a 50-year old veteran, a 14-year old wouldn't know the more arcane rules, and the older players didn't really understand what had happened until the second occurrence. Yale played the game in the right spirit, and simply didn't realize that what used once to be legal was outlawed several year's ago - handshakes all around.

Simon 6-0-29-3
Santosh 4-0-16-0
Major 4-0-54-1
Haydon 6-2-17-3
Prasanna 5.4-1-8-0
Moore 2-0-8-1
Kojima 1-0-11-0
Smith 1-0-3-0

Hat trick by a senior Japanese Maddog

2006-12-30T22:46:00.000-05:00

Posting a story from a Japanese Maddog. I have not actually met him but soulds like he is a good bowler. Hide

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Dear David;

How are you? Now you have a new member of family with you, the holidays must be more festive, or hectic? Yet another year is about to end. It seems a year getting shorter as I'm getting older.

How was your cricket season? This year I didn?ft play well at all, even in my low standard. I didn?ft bat often. When I did, I stayed at crease uselessly without scoring many runs. I bowled inconsistently with a lot of full tosses and long hops. However, surprise was installed in our last match of the season in early
November. My bowling started poorly as usual, giving up lots of runs. In my third over, the last over I was allotted, I was hit for two 6?fs, no ball and another 6. And then I got a hat trick. Have you ever seen anyone hit for three 6?fs and then completed a hat trick? I think those three balls were the best balls I ever bowled in any cricket match and certainly the most satisfying. Three identical balls weren?ft freighted but dipped in the end, pitched on the leg-stump and hit top of the
off-stump.(That is how I saw?@(imagined?)) Later my ?ekeeper told me that I bowled 4 decent balls for the whole season, including those hat-trick balls. My skipper told me he hoped I was going to start the next season how I ended this year, but my team-mates' consensus was that I had bowled the last good ball left in me. I hope they were wrong.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and a happy New Year.

Nick

Promotion and recruitment in Tokyo

2006-11-16T23:10:00.000-05:00

I recruited another cricket celebrity to the Dogs. Just came back from a short trip to Japan for a wedding. It was for the captain of the Japanese national cricket team, Mr Tetsuo Fuji, who is also known as the only man in the cricket history to have taken two wickets in two consecutive deliveries from two different arms in any ICC sanctioned international cricket matches. (he did it against Bangladesh when they were an associate country by the way). I was his best man. When asked to give a speech, I also awarded him the cap of the most popular US based cricket team in Japan. The Maddogs CC. This took place in front of 80 plus cricketers who were at the wedding reception (the bride plays cricket as well!!). You know the Dogs are already popular around the globe, but our presence is even stronger now in the Asian region. Be careful who is watching you when we tour Japan in 2008. Hide

Philly weekend in Pics

2006-10-23T19:47:00.000-04:00

A link to the weekend pictures is on the MDCC website main page.

http://maddogscricketclub.googlepages.com/philadelphiaweekendoct21and22%2C06

Enjoy!

Kaustuv

Mad Dogs Vs Merion on 10/22/06 By JPM

2006-10-23T17:04:00.000-04:00

The captain not being Quirk but Lawrence, the toss was won and the Dogs batted. Moore soon departed, yorked by Shaffikool for 4 (15 balls) with the score on 18 thanks mostly to wides from Prashant. Satish and Prasanna then put on a steady 32 against decent but not particularly threatening bowling before Satish sanjayed a horrible full toss from Ayaz to be caught by Parnell for 10 (28 balls).

A major stand of 79 in 14 overs then developed between Prasanna and Achal, neither batsman being troubled and both seeming content to roll the score along fairly steadily without too much fuss or drama. Soon after reaching 50, Prasanna appeared bored with proceedings, the bowling not being good enough to test his skills, and seemed to be attempting to hit catches. His skipper then asked him to retire to give some others a go, the doubly altruistic gesture crediting Prasanna with a not out that moved him to the top of the batting averages (60* from 60 balls, 3 x 4).

The next over, Achal was also asked to retire after a nice knock (41*, 54 balls, 2 x 4). Kimberley was then run out by the length of the pitch in a closing-overs muddle with Parag to leave with 8 (14 balls). Parag batted well in the final few overs to score 22 not out from 26 balls (1 x 4), helped by Simon (6 not out, 11 balls) as the Dogs' total meandered to 176 for 3 off 35 overs.

Simon and Santosh put in good opening spells, immediately putting the Merion run-rate behind the clock. Simon soon removed Charu for 0, who sliced a cut hard but straight to Lawrence at gully. Hounsell batted well, hitting some good shots in partnership with the adhesive Parnell before Santosh nipped one through his gate to bowl him for 18.

The next phase of the Merion innings was dominated by the highly aggressive Prashant, accompanied by a series of less talented partners, against an array of Dogs' slow bowling as Lawrence rang the changes (at one stage, five different bowlers bowled five consecutive overs from one end). One way or another the wickets were whittled away. David fell to Bhuiyan for 3, Kimberley juggling a catch at mid-wicket at least 3 times before wrapping the ball up in his fleece, then leg-spinner Parag removed Parnell after a long knock of 9, thanks to an easy catch to Prasanna off a mistimed shot. Ayaz was stumped by Banerjee, advancing to Parag and missing, and the critical wicket of Prashant (44) fell to the same bowler, a slog out to deep mid-wicket being well held by Kimberley (without any dubious use of the fleece.).

The remaining batsmen were pretty bunny-like, and Parag mowed two of them down in fine style, courtesy of a lobbed catch to Lawrence at short mid-wicket and an easy return catch to finish with excellent figures of 5 for 19. Kimberley took a wicket with a filthy full toss (totally planned - nk) that was top-edged by Martin straight to Simon at square leg, and Moore bowled Danish for 0, the batsman simply missing a straight one. Shafikool, a very decent player, came in at #10, way too low to make an impact. The final total was 111 all out from 29.5 overs, leaving the Dogs comfortable winners by 65 runs.

Simon 5-1-19-1
Santosh 6-1-14-1
Bhuiyan 5-0-25-1
Parag 6-0-19-5
Lawrence 2-0-12-0
Prasanna 1-1-0-0
Moore 3.5-1-6-1
Kimberley 1-0-4-1

Mad Dogs Vs BOCC 10/21 By JPM

2006-10-23T16:58:00.001-04:00

A bright cold day in Philadelphia saw Quirk lose his 13th consecutive toss, a 1:8192 against probability, prompting speculation about parallel universes in which Quirk won 13 consecutive tosses, and also scored some runs - but the odds on the latter were considered just too astronomical to calculate. The Dogs were therefore inserted.

Bhuiyan and Lawrence put on a steady 46 against good swing bowling, Bhuiyan riding some early luck but eventually settling in, and Lawrence looking as formidably solid as ever. The first wicket fell to a run-out, Bhuiyan failing to beat a nice throw from fine leg to be out for 11 (38 balls).

Quirk scored a decent-enough 9 from 18 balls before unaccountably driving one straight to deep mid-off. Kimberley then joined the gradually accelerating Lawrence to add 40 in sprightly style, with a few meaty blows, before he too drove a catch to the deep, this time off the veteran Griffiths to leave with 17 (24 balls, 1 x 4).

Banerjee then promptly ran out Lawrence, never a good idea, soon after the man had reached yet ANOTHER 50, a typical innings of care and power when needed (54, 83 balls, 5 x 4). Moore emulated Kimberley by driving the same bowler to a deep straight fielder (2, 6 balls). Then, as the overs ran out, wickets tumbled: Satish slogged a full toss vertically to be caught and bowled for 8 (14 balls); Ike's first ball for the club knocked his middle stump out; and then in the last over, Santosh was stumped for 3 (5 balls) and Simon caught behind for 0 (4 balls), leaving Banerjee not out on 14 (21 balls, 1 x 4), a useful knock in the closing stages of the innings. The final total of 147 for 9 from 35 overs didn't look to be enough.

Simon took an early wicket, bowling Satish for 2 with a beauty that nipped back nicely. But Hasan and Vikri batted solidly against Simon, Satish and Santosh, scoring steadily to take the score to 60. Moore, on for Simon, made the breakthrough, persuading Hasan to drive in the air to deep mid-off where Bhuiyan judged the catch well, out for 30.

Moore took a second wicket soon after, Turner getting a thick edge to cover, where Harrison held an excellent one-handed catch. The slow bowler was a little unlucky not to take a couple more wickets, as catches were dropped or didn't quite go to hand. Quirk bowled well without luck, and Harrison was responsible for the next wicket, fielding a drive off his own bowling and shying down the stumps at the bowler's end, with Khan out of his ground - sharp work!

But the steady Vikri and the highly aggressive Sri whittled away at the total pretty quickly, Sri in particular taking a liking for whatever was bowled his way. Harrison was unlucky to have Sri dropped in the deep twice in an over off big hits, as the batsman decided the long-handle was the thing to use. The end came soon after Vikri reached a well-deserved 50, with Sri also unbeaten on 38 and the total on 151 for 4 in 30.5 overs. The Dogs were a bit outgunned today.

Simon 6.5-1-24-1
Satish 4-0-16-0
Santosh 3-0-20-0
Moore 7-0-31-2
Quirk 5-0-19-0
Harrison 4-0-26-0
Ike 1-0-4-0

Mad Dogs Vs BOCC 10/21 By JPM

2006-10-23T16:58:00.000-04:00

testing to see how it works

2006-10-15T17:51:00.000-04:00

typing to see what happens

End Of Year Stats

2006-10-09T16:53:00.000-04:00

Any thoughts on whether the stats from the "Dogs in their prime" v "Dogs over the hill" game should count in the season tally? I think that certainly the stats gained by the "Over 40s" should count as there is no question of the legitimacy of the opposition but is it really fair to count us taking the wickets of a few old-timers or dispatching some military-medium pace bowling to the fence??? Any opinions??? :-)

Follow Up - Space Available!

2006-10-09T10:37:00.000-04:00

Still short two players for Saturday, and one for Philadelphia... Let me know if you want to play

Neil K

10/7 One Last Change by NK

2006-10-06T10:36:00.000-04:00

Now a game vs Westchester - but they have 9 guys, so we will sub them 2...

At least we have a real opposition for a real game

N

10/7... Change in Schedule - By Neil K

2006-10-05T09:46:00.000-04:00

Tri City got cold feet about the drive down, so its time for us to make make the best of a tough situation.

With loads of people available, it seems that the best alternative may be to play an intrasquad game, rather than just cancel.

Please let me know if you have any additional ideas on players - we are at around 15 currently - with a goal of 20 or so.

I have reached out to Yale to see if any of their lads may be interested etc.

Look for updates

Neil

Neil H - our multitalented captain

2006-10-04T23:24:00.000-04:00

I found an article in the website of Japan's Indian based cricket team, confirming our captain Neil Harrion's multi skills. Not only being a an excellent captain and a slow bowler who bowls like "throwing a pie", as quoted by one opposition, he is reportedly an excellent unmpire. Please see the link below where Neil Harrison umpires in the women's international cricket games between Japan and Papua New Genia. Neil, we thought your recent trip to Japan was for a conference, and not for following Japanse girls!

http://www.ieccjapan.com/newsletter/newsletter67.htm

Also, take look at another article on the same page taking about some international athletes like Kapil Dev, Mike Gatting, Dion Nash, Pat Symcox, Devon Malcolm, Ray Bright, Clive Rice and South African rugby World Cup winner, Joel Stransky have recently got together for a charity cricket game in Tokyo. Sorry, Tony and Keith, I had the invitations from Japanese Cricket Association for you guys but I failed to forward it to you.

Hide

Needed-info from Members for new webpage

2006-10-04T14:06:00.000-04:00

Maddogs,

Need info from you for a webpage that I am creating. This page will be linked from the main Maddog cricket club page and is designed to introduce MDCC members.

What I need from you-

Photograph-if there is a particular photograph of yourself you would like to put on this page. Default will be a photo of you taken by me.

Country of origin, district, state etc

Interests other than that of cricket

Most importantly-if you would like to include funny wisecracks about your fellow dogs. These will be edited for content!!

Please send this over to kab2022@med.cornell.edu

Kaustuv

The Bunny Coefficient

2006-10-04T10:31:00.000-04:00

Agree with Neil, let's keep these off emails.

This weekend, Philadelphia, Sarasota and Grenada

2006-09-29T14:28:00.000-04:00

1) Match this weekend is Vs Fairfield: If you cannot play, please contact Neil Harrison directly... we do have additional players available - but they do need some notice

2) Philadelphia 10/21-22...- Please make sure that your availability is current. I have made a reservation for five rooms at the Hilton in Valley Forge (we stayed there last year).

3) Sarasota 1/12/07 - 1/15/07...

Current Travellers are

1 Neil Kimberley
2 Ed Palmer
3 Keith Lawrence
4 Tony Boyke
5 Kaustav Banerjee
6 Jonas Wilson
7 John Moore
8 Neil Harrison
9 Prasanna (provisional)
10 Hide Kojima (provisional)
11 Open

I have my flight - cost is $218... booked today! I encourage you to get yours too. There are later/earlier options for anyone interested.

Dep 1/12 from LGA to TPA on American 1005 at 8:35am
Return on 1/15 from TPA to LGA on American 1282 at 7:05PM

4) Grenada:

We have one opening left (for either one person or one couple) on the Grenada Trip for 4/14 - 4/22: Includes 4 world cup games. Costs per person around $1500 ($600 for airfare, $300 for tickets, $600 for the bed).

Maddogs Vs Yale at MDP on 9/24 by John Moore

2006-09-27T12:10:00.000-04:00

Mad Dogs vs Yale September 24

In a battle of the Ivy League, Cornell's Moore beat Yale's Jayson in the initial battle of the coin toss, Jayson's losing call, Quirky, being, for the record, tails (just so that you don't have a clue what to do next time). The Dogs elected to bat in what was initially a 35 over game that became shortened to 30 overs when rain threatened (but mostly held off). Kimberley and Banerjee put on a rapid 25 for the first wicket against some initially wayward bowling, wides being nobly supported by a couple of powerful pulls behind square from Kimberley.

Banerjee was the first to go, for 3 (10 balls) when a ball deflected off his pads towards his stumps; the batsman's frantic efforts to knock the ball away with the bat proved successful, but only at the expense of the bat itself breaking the wicket - a tough dismissal. Taiwo then came in, and promptly received a succession of full tosses that he mowed away to leg with glee and gusto, in great baseball style. Anything that pitched was missed or blocked, according to whether or not the ball might have hit the stumps, anything that didn't was hammered to the fence. Kimberley fell with the score on 49, bowled by a nice slower ball (14, 23 balls, 1 x 4). Yale's best bowlers were now on, various combinations having been tested in what was a group of players unfamiliar to each other, for the most part, but Sachin and Khattak now bowled fast and straight, well enough to mow through the Dogs' middle order.

The score had reached 69 when Herno Smith was trapped LBW for 2 (13 balls), then one run later, Taiwo's bold knock came to an end with a catch to the deep, out for an incredibly valuable 30 (26 balls, 1 x 6, 5 x 4). Johnson's attempt to reach 1000 runs by the end of May had unfortunately petered out several months earlier, but he did achieve his secondary ambition of scoring one run by the end of September when he got off the mark first ball. Emboldened by success, he immediately added a second but, flushed with ambition, he then drove a catch to mid-off (2, 5 balls). Chavan was yorked by Sachin (1 from 6 balls) and much the same happened to Kojima (1, 5 balls). Moore and Wolf then settled for defense, picking off the occasional run and aiming to see off the more dangerous bowlers, which they did with some success, taking the score from 81 for 7 to 102 when Wolf was bowled for 8 (19 balls, 1 x 4).

Moore then farmed the strike for a while with young Thomson at the crease, reaching double figures for the first time in about 2 months and even hitting a four (must be the new batŠ..), before receiving a totally useless waist-high full toss from slow left-armer Jimmy, a delivery that should have been Prasanned into the dumpster but which was instead carefully Sanjayed straight to deep square leg (12, 23 balls, 1 x 4). Thomson and Oosthuizen represented the Dogs' last hope, and boy, did they bat sensibly, adding a really useful 18 for the last wicket in 5 overs, taking singles and drawing a few extras (nice job, lads). Oosthuizen was the last man out, hitting a catch off Jayson for 9 (11 balls), with Thomson on 9 not out (18 balls). The final total of 127 all out from 25.3 overs looked a little low for comfort, but was considered to be defendable if we bowled well.

Wolf and Oosthuizen opened the bowling for the Dogs, the youngster flattening Yosh's off stump with a lovely ball with the score on 5. Both bowlers did well initially, but Sachin and Imran proved themselves to be pretty good players, and played some powerful shots, enough to cause both bowlers some grief and necessitate their replacement by Chavan and Kojima after 7 overs, with the score on 39 for 1. The new pair did very well, bowling steadily to some carefully constructed fields. Various ploys were attempted, particularly by Chavan, who was prepared to gamble to take a key wicket, or even double bluff a bit.

One such bluff even worked, a long-off being sent back, a nice full bung bowled at just the right height, and a catch being driven out by Imran to long-on; no matter, as Oosthuizen judged the catch beautifully right on the fence to get rid of a good looking player for 13. Soon after, Kojima bowled the other danger man, Sachin, for 23, and did the same to Sachib for 1, while Chavan chipped in with two wickets, bowling Khattik for 6 and pinning Arjun for 4. Another wicket then fell to Kojima, who bowled Geordie for 4, with another ball that dipped in flight, forcing the batsman to play back and not forward, the consequence being to miss a ball that squatted a little, good bowling and not just a bad bounce, Hide! By virtue of really good bowling, Chavan and Kojima had whittled gradually and economically through the Yale middle order in 12 really good overs.

With the Yale score on 79 for 7, the Dogs were on top. But Jimmy and Syog proved themselves to be two useful batsmen who had probably come in a little late in the order, by accident or design. They scored fairly fluently off Chavan's and Kojima's last few overs, and played well enough to cause some flutters in the Dogs' psyches, particularly with bowling changes now due. With the score approaching 100, the Dogs did not have much margin for error. Johnson relieved Chavan and bowled a steady enough over. Moore was more or less forced to bring himself on in place of Kojima. Jimmy immediately slogged a four just out of the reach of a couple of fielders, so Moore floated another one up, a little fuller and a little wider, and the mis-timed off drive ended right in the hands of Thomson, who judged the catch really well, Jimmy gone for 22. Suyog then mishit a pull that dropped agonizingly between three converging fielders.

Johnson was gracious enough to cede his bowling spot to young Smith, who conceded a four to Suyog but then swung another beauty through Jayson's rudimentary defense to take out the leg stump, nice ball son! By agreement, since Yale had only 10 men, the last man was allowed to continue batting with a runner, so with the score on 109 and Suyog batting well, the game was not over. But Moore drifted an outswinger onto Suyog's pads, plumb LBW, but not given. Avoiding a Harrison moment, Moore knuckled down and flicked an off-cutter into the same pads next ball, and this time the right decision was made, Suyog out for 16, game over, Yale all out for 109 from 22.3 overs. The Dogs were winners by 18 runs, the exact margin of Thomson's and Oosthuizen's last wicket stand. This was a really good game, enjoyed by all 21 players, good memories.

Wolf 4-0-23-0
Oosthuizen 3-0-16-1
Chavan 6-0-25-3
Kojima 6-1-27-3
Johnson 1-0-6-0
Moore 1.3-0-6-2
Smith 1-0-6-1

WSL Match Report By NK

2006-09-26T12:12:00.000-04:00

Decided to make a big deal out of the match report... hope everyone gets to see it!

N

WSL Win For MDCC

2006-09-23T21:40:00.000-04:00

A big day at the MDP... look out for coverage on the website tomorrow...

Frank for (State) Senate By NK

2006-09-21T12:44:00.000-04:00

Went to a fundraiser for Frank Farricker's State Senate campaign at the Bubble Lounge in Tribeca last night. Depsite running against a republican incumbent of 8 terms, he believes that his chances are pretty good, and his campaign is going well.

Apparently his opponent is not campaigning, despite a track record of not authoring any legislation over the last 16 years!

Not only does Frank have a website, campaign workers and an aggressive meet and greet campaign (5am at Old Greenwich station), but he will be on local cable soon too!

He hopes to stop by the final on Saturday - and we will work on a press event as part of the over 40 vs under 40 game on 10/28.

If you want to help Frank win his seat, go to the http://www.farricker2006.com website to make a donation.

Cup Final Fever by NK

2006-09-21T12:36:00.000-04:00

The tension mounts... before Finals day. And now we have the added bonus of Boyke's roti to follow the game. Let's hope there is no "revenge of the roti" like we got in Nevis!

Sunday is coming together too. Yale looks like they will be short a couple of guys, so we will be figuring out some arrangements on the day.

New website up and running (by NK)

2006-09-19T23:08:00.000-04:00

After the first few hours of our website we have started to not only get our local players logging on... bout someone in France too! Anyway, welcome to anyone from the MD world, great to have you along.

Also announced the team for Saturday today. Again 18 players available, only 11 places: A real challenge for DQ (skipper). But its a great team, and we have every chance of success in the final!

Come on lads...

Maddogs Vs Westchester 9/17/06 By Neil Harrison

2006-09-19T09:26:00.000-04:00

Do you believe in miracles?

The members of the Mad Dogs CC Super Sunday Extra Occasional XI obviously do. This time last year, a severely under-strength MDCC team came up against a solid Westchester CC squad and chased a score of 230, with a big innings from Tom Haydon and some classic late-night heroics from future State Senator Frank "the Yank" Farricker, as Herman Smith and your correspondent watched from "The Hill" while supping on VB left over from the Ashes game.

But, I digress. This weekend, Westchester came to town once again, and with all the posh players resting deservedly after their fine win over Columbia in the League, it was once again left to Neil Kimberley to cut and paste a team from the back pages of his address book.

The team sheet had a delightfully unpredictable air on Saturday morning - young guys, old guys, and some new guys nobody had ever heard of. Surely, lightning couldn't strike twice, could it??
The day dawned, as most do, with the sun coming up over MDP, revealing yet another damp, slow, pitch and long outfield.

Neil Harrison won the toss and inserted Westchester, mainly due to the fact that only 5 of the oppo had got their arse down to the field and it was already 1pm. With the Dogs lacking their first seven choice wicket-keepers, Parag was elected keeper and he proceeded to do a very tidy job, prompting us to wonder if he might be able to hold a bat. But more of that in due course. WCC began steadily against accurate spells from Aussie guest Ron "Thumper" Wolf and Wian Oosthuizen, who was relieved by Herno Smith. The younger Springbok made the first breakthrough at 33-0 after Wolf had been unlucky to have a difficult chance spilled at mid off (sorry, mate!). Praveen had changed bats twice and inspected the ball in an attempt to understand his inability to time anything, but now he misplayed Herno's trademark in-swinger and was trapped in front for 17.

Anand replaced Wolf and began an excellent spell of bowling, allowing little width and changing speeds well to keep both batsmen under wraps. Sudhir joined Upul in a watchful partnership of 36, finally broken by a lovely slower delivery from Anand, bowling Sudhir neck and crop, a just reward for his best spell for the club. Oscar came on at the pavilion end, and got a bit of tap, although he was unlucky as one of the fielders crept in and had the ball bounce behind him for 4 - a massive no-no - leading to a team lecture from the stand-in skipper. Jimmy, a guest from Yale, took over with some very slow left arm spin and immediately bowled Upul - one of nature's opening bats, whose innings had exhibited all of the sparkle of Chris Tavare at his finest, or John Parnell on an off day. At 96-3, WCC were still going well, and Dushyant came in to cream Jimmy into the dumpster a few times, prompting some impromptu coaching sessions from the skipper, who is familiar with being hit into the dumpster. Anand's fine spell ended and Sukesh then bowled tidily from the top end, removing Prashant courtesy of a nice catch at deep cover by Herno. At 113-4, big tonka Sachin entered, wearing brown pants and he and Dushyant proceeded to treat Jimmy rudely.

Harrison finally entered the attack at 132-4 after 25 overs, and removed Dushyant with a one-handed diving caught and bowled, mere nanometers from the turf, that was eerily reminiscent of John Moore's effort at Hoboken, except that this catch was actually difficult and athletic rather than merely comedic. The batsman thought about questioning the catch but fortunately went on his way and world peace was therefore maintained. Sachin promptly smeared a couple of fours with shots that were really good for a guy in brown pants.

Two less than classic hoiks off a length from Sachin then somehow eluded the mid-wicket fielder, eliciting several muffled expletives from the skipper, who then proceeded to bowl the always vicious and frequently deadly "you're not f***ing going to hit me for four again today, you ******* in brown trousers" quicker ball. This is a close relative of Prasanna's "I didn't make many runs today so I'm going to stuff this ball right up your nose" ball, but of course it is nowhere near as good. Still, Sachin was completely stuffed and 100% plumb LBW, complete with the usual war dance, leaving WCC at 165-6.

Ben and Vikram were then removed by Harrison (caught and bowled) and Smith (nice catch by Ron Wolf in the deep), while yet another massive tonka Saad played some great "shottis" as the innings closed on 196-8 at the end of 35 overs. The Dogs fielding was creditable given the warm weather and the bowling was also good in an "everyone gets a couple of overs and you get an extra one when your mum shows up to watch" kind of way, (or your Dad, in the case of Sukesh..)

Bowling:

WOLF 6-1-24-0,
OOSTHUIZEN 4-0-14-0,
SMITH 4-0-36-2,
ANAND 7-1-16-1,
OSCAR 2-0-22-0,
JIMMY 4-0-35-1,
SUKESH 3-0-12-1,
HARRISON 5-0-35-3.

Gypsies guests and top batters Sukesh and Mahesh got the Dogs off to a breezy start, at about 4 an over, chasing a target of about 6.5/over. But Sukesh departed to a catch for 14 after playing a few lovely shots, and Mahesh followed for 19, victim of the first of three direct hit run outs, as WCC fielded remarkably well throughout. Kimberley made 4, but unluckily perished in similar style (mine actually wan't my fault - ed) to leave the Dogs on 59-3 after 15 overs. Anand played two great shots but like Sukesh popped one up and was gone for 11 at 68-4 off 17 overs. At drinks, the Dogs needed 125 off 17 overs - a tall order.

Harrison joined Parag, and uncharacteristically went for his shots. After being dropped twice, the two settled into a pattern of pushing singles off the accurate spin of Saad and a variety of other bowlers, using three MDCC approved methods - the Palmer (a gorgeous cover drive that gets stuck in the long grass), - the Quirk (a sort of scoopy shovelly chip between the fielders on the leg side), and the Moore (dangle the bat outside the off stump and dobb it down to backward point), together with a new variant, the Harrison (bunt it sideways between wicket-keeper and bowler and dive in at the other end. This all worked remarkably well, and the score ticked on to 107-4 off 25, still 90 needed off 10, but no panic as yet.

At this point it became apparent that Parag is, in fact, useful, as he added a couple of pulls for 4 before launching a signature MDP six over the trees at the top end, and with a bit of tip-and-run, suddenly the runs were coming at about 9 an over!! But the partnership ended at 128-5 as the pair attempted one audacious single too many - Harrison was thrown out for 21 by a whisker as he launched himself desperately into the end zone. One wonders on occasion if he is playing the same game as the rest of usŠ At this moment an executive decision of masterly proportions by Kimberley pre-empted Aussie star Wolf and brought Aussie-American Jimmy to the wicket. The first ball was crunched through mid-off with authority, as they say, prompting a couple of raised eyebrows back in the pavilion. 65 needed off 6 overs. Do you believe in miracles? Herman Smith was taking no chances and immediately located all the beer that remained in the cooler Sukesh's Dad and Wian's Dad Andries seemed to have the scoreboard updated on every ball.

The sense of anticipation was palpable. At this point, Parag unloaded off Sachin, cracking three excellent fours. 51 needed off 5. The next over from Praveen went for 5, as Jimmy and Parag hit some long singles. 46 off 4 required, with the light fading rapidly. Too much to do, surely? Dushyant returned from the bottom end and Jimmy promptly put him over the cage for 6 with a stroke of considerable power, and some solid umpiring by Neil K helped move the board as the bowler produced three wides and a no-ball, all totally legit guv'nor, same for both sides and no whingeing please -14 off the over! The watching Dogs smelled an upset, as Herman guzzled yet another defenseless tinnie as the pile of beverage carcasses behind him grew steadily. 32 off 3 now, with Parag hitting selectively and surely now seeing the ball as big as the harvest moon behind the church. (I made that up, but it is rather atmospheric).

Praveen's next over produced a splendid 4 from Jimmy and a massive 6 from Parag over the bowler's head. Classic hitting. Only 19 required now off 2 overs, surely??

But Dushyant's next over was solid, clamping the batsmen to three runs and a bye. One over, 15 to win, well, close but no cigar, right? Praveen's off spin provided the last over, first ball - amazingly - a dot ball, then a single by Parag. 14 off 4 balls, then Jimmy creamed a 2 and a 4, 8 from 2 balls. A single left MDCC needing 6 to tie and 7 to win off the last ball. Perhaps a series of wides, or overthrows might save the game? Surely not. For some odd reason that he will never understand, Praveen grooved one right down Main Street, that Parag hit straight over mid-on for a massive six. Game tied!! Pandemonium.!! Parag finished with a magnificent 73 not out, and Jimmy with 28 not out, for an unbroken stand of 68 off 43 balls. Unf***ing believable.

I looked around for a beer, but Herman and Andries had drunk each and every one of them. We stuffed the mat in the hole, and vanished into the darkness - and no-one slept a wink that night, reliving every ball, every catch, every shot.

Do you believe in miracles??

Maddogs on Hide's Japanese Website By Neil K

2006-09-18T20:38:00.000-04:00

Just got the new website up on google (http://maddogscricketclub.googlepages.com), and wanted to see if Google had indexed us yet: typed in maddogs and cricket into google and presto, Hide's Japanese website came up on the "bewitchment of cricket". Here is the translation courtesy of google. (FYI this may only be good for Firefox)

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.jca-cricket.ne.jp/03/column.php%3Fc_ID%3D000001%26c_i_ID%3D000040&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=4&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dmaddogs%2Bcricket%26hl%3Den%26hs%3DP7S%26lr%3D%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official

Maddogs Vs Columbia Sept 16, 2006 By John Moore

2006-09-18T10:09:00.000-04:00

Mad Dogs vs Columbia (League) September 16

The Mad Dogs won the final league game of the season, thereby
topping the table and gaining home-field advantage for next week's
final against the same opposition: Columbia. Quirk by tradition, lost
the toss, and the Dogs were inserted on a damp, slow pitch. Lawrence
and Palmer got the innings off to a slow but steady start against
testing bowling, neither batsman being at his most fluent, but both
hanging in there. Palmer extended his streak of dot-balls (over three
games) to 35 before getting off the mark with a rasping cut. He was,
however, the first to fall, with the score on 33, bowled for 11 (30
balls) by an excellent in-swinging yorker - no shame there! Quirk
attempted to add some vim to the innings, but found timing also hard
to achieve, and soon lofted a catch (2, 10 balls). Coates, however,
is batting at his very best right now, and set about the bowling in a
wonderful knock, hammering three 6's and a four in a cameo innings of
pure power but also considerable skill. Despite giving Lawrence a
dozen overs start, he passed his score in a mere 3 or 4 overs, on his
way to 34 from only 17 balls before an outstanding innings fell to a
good catch in the deep. Prasanna took over from Coates and also
played an aggressive knock while Lawrence kept the innings solid at
the other end. A four and a six were accrued by Prasanna, as he
dominated the bowling, but as so often, he played one lavish shot too
many, and was bowled for 16 (14 balls) by one that kept a little low.
Thornton and Haydon theoretically represented real power at numbers 6
and 7, but both suffered rare failures, Thornton adjudged to have
snicked a catch to the keeper of a spinner, in a flurry of bat and
pad, to leave for a second-ball duck, Haydon bowled for 1 (8 balls).
All the more reason for Lawrence to be keeping chugging along, which
he was doing, while gradually becoming adjusted to a new bat and
finding his timing as he passed yet another important 50. His solid
knock ended with a catch to long-on for 56 (80 balls, 8 x 4). Sood
played an excellent, sloggers-knock in the closing overs, trusting
his eye and chancing his arm very effectively to tally 27 not out
from 25 balls with 1 x 6, 2 x 4. Moore added 5 from 6 balls before
driving to cover, Kojima hit a catch first ball, and Boyke sliced a
catch in the last over (6, 7 balls, 1 x 4) as the innings ended on a
competitive 194 all out from 34.3 overs.

Boyke then took an early wicket, having Ratesh plumb LBW for 6, and
Haydon did much the same to Aptiva (0) at the other end, and then
doing a mini-Harrison as a rather better shout was turned down,
probably on the grounds that it's not just done for the first three
batsmen to all fall LBW...... But Haydon bowled well, as did Boyke.
Sarian and then put on the major stand of the Columbia innings, 69,
in fine style. Coates was hit out of the attack, his bowling not
helped by the recurrence of a shoulder strain. Fortunately, Quirk
made a critical breakthrough, bowling Sarian for 40 with his second
ball, and he and Prasanna then reined in the Columbia innings from a
winning position at 123 for 3 to a catastrophic collapse. Vishnu fell
to Quirk for 43, a rank full-bung being mis-hit straight at Thornton
on the mid-wicket fence - a bad ball, but a fair reward for a really
good spell, overall. Prasanna then rattled out 3 quick wickets, two
courtesy of really sharp, skillful stumpings by Palmer, the third a
jaffa of a leg-break that bowled Ajay all ends up. The Columbia
innings was now wrecked, but Quirk kept the pressure on, noting that
Harrison was not playing so bringing on another off-spinner,
Lawrence, to replace him on the bunny-hunt. Lawrence's first ball was
lobbed nicely back to him, and his second was another rank full-toss
swatted out to Thornton at mid-wicket. No hat-trick, but a third
wicket fell to Lawrence in his second over, when the last Columbia
batsmen flicked a catch to Sood at square-leg, who took it nicely,
one-handed. The score of 141 all out in 26.5 overs left the Mad Dogs
winners by 53 runs, the last 7 wickets crashing for only 18 runs.

Haydon 5-0-22-1
Boyke 5-0-31-1
Quirk 7-0-31-2
Coates 3-0-35-0
Prasanna 5-0-16-3
Lawrence 1.5-0-3-3

What a weekend!

2006-09-17T21:52:00.000-04:00

Two great games in two days: On Saturday our best forged a 50 run win on a dodgy track, and on Sunday the most perfect day saw a motley band of hounds chase 196 runs to tie the game on a last ball six by Parag Holiakar.

After all the crap this week, weather, dropouts, disgruntled people etc etc... Great to play with a great bunch of guys and find a way to chase a big total. Something to keep the heart warm in winter.

Bloody weather

2006-09-15T12:59:00.000-04:00

Was at the ground late yesterday, standing water on the baseball diamond - and halfway down the wicket...

We nee at least six hours of drying to guarantee a game on Sat...

Sept 16/17 Weekend

2006-09-14T21:29:00.000-04:00

Tough one here... 17 guys on Saturday and 9 on Sunday. Both games should be fun, but we need more people to sign up.

2006-09-14T21:14:00.000-04:00

Maddogs Tour of Rhode Island

2006-09-14T21:06:00.000-04:00

Mad Dogs vs St. Columba's (Game 1): Sept 9

St Columba's won the toss and batted, the Dogs opening up with Boyke and Coates. The batsman ran very aggressively to pick up short singles, but this tactic cost them the first wicket, as Moore ran in from cover, dived to pick the ball up and threw down the stumps at the bowler's end, while supine, to nail Summit short of his ground. That merely initiated the major stand of the innings, Mayur and Imran putting on 98 in fine style against an array of decent bowling but, unfortunately, some sub-par fielding. Harrison finally removed Imran LBW for 31, celebrating in his usual demented dervish style by running around further and faster than anyone else did all day during the actual game. Wickets then fell gradually as Mayur continued to dominate the innings. Boyke, returning for a second spell, trapped Sandeep LBW for 1, then a nice piece of fielding by Rian Oosthuizen and Banerjee ran out Bhanu for 17 (Banerjee had taken over as when Palmer was incapacitated by a ball in the right shoulder from Prasanna). Coates, also back for a second spell, flattened Khalid's stumps, then Mayur's fine innings of 80 ended via a superb running catch by Prasanna out at long on, off Boyke. Smith took two well-deserved wickets in the closing overs, one clean bowled, the other courtesy of a good catch by Ossthuizen off a low drive to mid-off. Langston, with 22 not out, shepherded the final total to a challenging 208 for 8 off 35 overs.

Boyke 7-1-35-2
Coates 7-1-31-1
Prasanna 7-0-28-0
Oosthuizen 3-0-26-0
Lawrence 4-0-27-0
Harrison 4-0-27-1
Smith 3-0-24-2

Lawrence and Coates responded with an excellent opening stand of 48 in 6 overs, with some powerful shots, particularly from Coates. Lawrence had had the lion's share of the strike, and was just settling into his best form when he popped a leading edge back to bowler Bhanu to leave with 22 (29 balls, 2 x 4). Unfortunately, the wheels then fell off the innings: Prasanna smashed his first ball like a rocket, but right at midwicket who somehow clung on; Moore was pinned LBW for 1 (4 balls); Smith was run-out in a mix-up over a single (1, 11 balls); Kimberley hit a return catch (0, 2 balls), then Coates was yorked for 19 (29 balls, 4 x 4). This flurry of wickets left the innings wrecked at 59 for 6. Banerjee and Harrison then repaired some of the damage with an excellent, feisty stand of 72 in 14 overs, as St. Columba's rotated the bowling attack. Banerjee pulled with power, hitting several meaty leg-side fours, and Harrison drove a couple of his own through extra cover. Both played very well. The stand was ended when Harrison was bowled for a season's high 17 (40 balls, 2 x 4). Another flurry of wickets followed: Boyke LBW for 1 (4 balls); Banerjee bowled for a Dog's best knock of 48 (57 balls, 1 x 6, 5 x 4), a really good knock. With Palmer still incapacitated, Andreas Oosthuizen joined his son to add 13 for the last wicket, the elder statesman rolling back time with one big hit for 6 before lobbing a catch to cover (6, 8 balls), leaving his son on 4 not out (9 balls). The final total of 154 all out from 31.5 overs left the Dogs losers by 54 runs.

Mad Dogs vs St. Columba's (Game 2): Sept 10

In the second game, the Dogs batted first, with Coates and a now-fit Palmer putting on 32 for the first wicket. Palmer was not at his most fluent, but hung in there against good quality new ball bowling for nearly 9 overs before being bowled for a rather lengthy duck, perhaps setting a new Dogs' record for consecutive dot-balls faced (25, to be precise). Prasanna came in meaning business after Saturday's disappointment, and he and Coates went after the bowling with a vengeance, putting in 46 in 7 overs with their trademark boundary shots to the fore. Prasanna was eventually bowled for 22 (24 balls, 1 x 6, 3 x 4). Kimberley replaced him to play a feisty knock, lit up by several meaty leg-side shots in a really good stand of 40 with Coates, whose good form continued. Kimberley's excellent innings of 22 (23 balls, 1 x 6, 2 x 4) ended when he lobbed a catch. Coates fell soon thereafter, LBW for a thoroughly impressive 57 (63 balls, 2 x 6, 7 x 4) that glued the early part of the innings together. Kojima wasn't at his most aggressive in his innings of 2 (12 balls) which ended with a flying stump. Chavan and Banerjee then added 41 in good style in the closing overs, hitting hard and running well to drag the total towards competitive heights. Both players did very well, Banerjee carrying on from his previous day's heroics. Chavan eventually drove a boundary catch (19, 28 balls, 2 x 4); Banerjee was bowled for 24 (27 balls, 1 x 6, 1 x 4). Harrison felt supremely confident with his new-found batting skills and promoted himself up the order - but was bowled first ballŠŠ.. In the last couple of overs, Trappler was run out for 1 (3 balls), a victim of the circumstances. Moore added 2 not out (3 balls), Rian Oosthuizen 1 not out (3 balls), smith did not bat. The total was 176 for 9 in 35 overs (we had agreed to bat 12).
Prasanna and Chavan opened the bowling for the Dogs, the former in his faster style, the latter in his slower. Prasanna splattered Langston's stumps in his first over, and another nice piece of fielding by Oosthuizen, with a return to Prasanna, did for Pawan as the short-singles' policy created another victim. Mayur, as on the previous day, dominated the innings, hitting very powerfully and, in general, running very well (he at least managed to preserve himselfŠŠ). An important stand with Imran was ended when Harrison took a nice low return catch, but Mayur then smashed Harrison out of the attack with a sequence of leg-side sixes. Coates, in a vigorous and effective spell, bowled Harsh and should have had Mayur to a snick that Palmer held well but the umpire turned down. When Mayur survived a line-call for a stumping that all but the umpire knew was out, we had a feeling we'd need to take quite a few wickets to win this oneŠŠ The runs mounted steadily, but we were still just about in the game, if only we could get Mayur out. Prasanna came back on and induced a snick from mayur, which Palmer couldn't cling onto (mind you it was traveling, and going up). Heads fell, but they rose next ball when there was an almost exact repeat, and this time Palmer held on to get rid of Mayur for 91. Kojima then bowled Buana with a nice little nip-backer, giving renewed help. With Mayur gone, Harrison felt it safe to re-introduce himself into the attack, immediately being rewarded with the wicket of Videt, thanks to a very sharp stumping by Palmer as the batsman's foot dragged. Moore also chipped in, bowling little floaters and causing Sandeep to top-edge a leg-side shot that was beautifully held by Kojima on the run. Unfortunately, that was that, and two veterans, Paresh and Khalid, batted very sensibly to knock off the last 20 runs needed, taking the score to 177 for 8, from 33.4 overs. St Columba's just about deserved to win, but Mayur's two "lives" and another blatant snick off Prasanna in the closing overs that also was not given did mean the Dogs always had an uphill task; these decisions, in effect, determined the outcome.

Prasanna 7-0-34-2
Chavan 5.4-0-32-0
Coates 7-0-32-1
Harrison 5-0-30-2
Kojima 4-0-21-1
Oosthuizen 1-0-10-0
Moore 4-0-21-1