After Day One at the LA Open, the MCC squad is 1-1.
Game One: Nilesh stars in MCC win
The first match of the tournament on the Severn ground,
this was always going to be MCC's best chance at a win
before they took on teams loaded with international
players. And the boys came through in wonderful fashion.
It didnt start well for MCC, as the top order collapsed
apart from Sohail (St Louis CC). Despite Sohail's
quickfire 23, MCC wobbled to 38/3 and then slid
horribly to 54/7! But the lower order showed great
resilience - both Bhavneet (Milwaukee United CC) and
Nasir (Flames CC) got into double figures and provided
support from one end.
While they were providing solid support, leading the
charge at the other end was Nilesh (Challengers CC) who
played a complete blinder. Cometh the hour, cometh the
man they say - and in MCC's hour of crisis it was Nilesh
who stood up to be counted. He first stabilized the
situation, and then took complete control of the match
- and by the end he had blasted a fantastic 63 not out
off only 36 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes. Almost
single-handedly Nilesh had turned the game around - he
had piloted MCC from the dire straits of 54/7 to the
relatively safe harbour of 148/8 at the end of 20 overs,
a very competitive score in the conditions.
And he wasnt finished for the game either - after his
batting heroics Nilesh opened the bowling and did
wonderfully well. He clean-bowled the #3 and came
back to dismiss a tailender, to end a fairytale day.
Following Nilesh's example, every MCC bowler chipped
in and the fielders stepped up. Florida's most
dangerous batsman Paul Singh, for example, was runout
by Bhavneet for only 8 - the value of which could be
seen when, in Florida's next game against 3 test-match
spin bowlers, Paul Singh hit 7 sixes in the course of
smashing 71 off 39 balls. Keeper Imran Tailor (AAA CC)
contributed two stumpings off wily left-arm spinner
Subba (St Louis CC), including a quicksilver dismissal
of Florida's most experienced player, former test-batsman
Foud Bacchus. Every bowler contributed - 2 wickets each
for Nasir and Nilesh, 1 each for Shahid (Pak Gym CC)
and Tehsin (St Louis CC), and 3 for Subba. Florida
were dismissed for 128, as MCC won quite comfortably
in the end by 20 runs.
But the clear star of the day was Nilesh Patel - who,
for his 63* off 36 balls and his excellent bowling
spell of 2/22 in 4 overs, was awarded the Man of
the Match in what must surely have been one of the
easiest decisions an adjudicator ever had to make.
Game Two: MCC fall to star-studded Packers
In the second game, MCC took on the international-heavy
Los Angeles Packers, with both teams 1-0 (the Packers,
in the second match at Severn, had already demolished
Florida - Paul Singh's 39-ball 71 had set the Packers
a good 149, but they had made a mockery of the target,
with Azharuddin's 92* and Romesh Kaluwitharna's 52*
leading the Packers to a 9-wicket win with almost 5
overs to spare).
MCC started excellently - facing 2 "normal" (ie non-
international) pacemen, openers Suhail with 21, Ajit
(Wildcats CC) with 26 (including 2 sixes) gave MCC
a fantastic 48-run opening stand. The #3 Afroze
(Bears CC) contributed 21 to extend the good start -
but with former test-match spinners Venkatapathy Raju,
Kumara Dharmasena and Nikhil Chopra coming on, the
match turned in the wrong direction for MCC. A
typically aggressive knock late in the innings from
Shahid Munir (39 off 19 balls with 3 sixes) and a
late flurry from Raheel Akhtar (16 off 9 balls -
both Pak Gym CC) took MCC up to a respectable 147/7
in their 20 overs.
The two Packer stars of the previous game did their part
in the chase - but MCC still fared much better against
them than Florida's All-stars had. Romesh Kaluwitharna
hammered 25 off his first 10 balls, especially going
after Raheel in the second over of the innings - but
Raheel had his revenge by getting the former Sri Lankan
opener in his next over. Azharuddin scored 22, before
Subba claimed the prize wicket of the former Indian
captain. But in the end the international depth of
the Packers would not be denied - Indian
international Rohan Gavaskar with 29* off 19 balls
and Sri Lankan international Kumara Dharmasena with
30* off 18 balls carried the Packers home with 6
wickets to spare.
All in all, despite the loss to the Packers, a wonderful
first day for MCC with that memorable victory against
a strong Floria outfit. With the win, and with a
respectable fight against the Packers, MCC is in
position to possibly advance to the knockout
Quarter-Finals on Day Two. Before that, however, is
a match to look forward to in the morning, against
the defending champions and tournament favourites
Punjab Blues - the team that has 3 international
batsmen in their lineup, and open the bowling with
Adam Sanford and Curtly Ambrose.
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Sadiq
________________________________________________________________
Sent via the WebMail system at midwestcricket.org
171 comments:
thanks for the update sadiq bhai
keep us informed!!
I remember Nilesh's devastating spell in last year's quarter finals against us(Tigers).
Tariq Ahmed run out M. Dalvi 7.
Tariq Ahmed 3 overs 27 runs 0 wicket. Quarter final game against Air India http://www.laopen2020.com/scorecards.php?matchid1=42&action=search&season=2006&schedule=yes.
It is good to be the president.
"T. Ahmed" is Tehsin Ahmed, not Tariq Ahmed. It even says so on the scorecard under fall of wickets.
Do you play in the league or refer to midwestcricket.org website, where the team is posted? As mentioned elsewhere in the blog, kindly mention your name at the bottom of your posts.
-Samarth.
sohail alvi 31 in 38 balls, this was 20/20 right?
Bhai ... 20-20 does not mean that everybody can score at a strike rate of more than 100 ... Also 20-20 does not mean ... opposition bowler will give u loose balls ... We faced some good high class bowlers ... and our performance in the entire tournament was very commendable.
Thanks,
Alpesh
1 win out of 4 games. hhhmmm!! Makes you wonder if the performance by our MMC team was commendable????? If you are playing a 20/20 format cricket match, and as an OPENING batsman you can’t keep your strike rate @ 100% or above 100%, you might as well give up your wicket, it’s not like you don’t have wickets behind you. Another small suggestion, an ALL STAR team is not chosen by the management. Majority of the sports have a voting process, and the players with the most votes are given the spot!!! Perhaps a better team from MCC could have done better at the LA Open.
Whoever you are, you should try facing 6 bouncers an over from Jermaine Lawson (who took a 7-fer in a test vs Aus couple years ago) or try hitting Dharmasena when the ball is turning quickly at about 80 degrees. It's not child's play when you've played all your cricket at matting / astroturf and then you're confronted with a spongy turf wicket - takes some getting used to.
We might have gotten off easy - Shahid Afridi was supposed to star for Punjab Blues as well (at the small cost of $4000 / game, but PCB did not give him permission).
-Raheel.
in any case it cant be said that the performace of the MCC team was commendable in the LA OPEN, we lost badly. One win in four games is crap ok face it, MCC lost!!!
congrats to nilesh, great all around performance bro! after shahid, perhaps the next best all rounder and i have to put my by mehul shani in that category too! now i am playing favorites ;-))
in my opinion few thing are mixed up here. we all should appreciate the fact that some of our players get a chance to pla againts internationl stars. the issue of whether we have picked right combination is something should treat differently but bringing everyone down is not the solution. one thing about turf wickets, i dont think they are spongy like the astro turf at hanover park, in general. they might be low and slow and we should be happy to face international bowler on turf not on matton or astro turf. anyway didnt we know that we going to face lowson and darmasena. you should know they are going to come hard on you. anyway since when Darmasena turn the ball?
I agree with Raheel except what he said about Dharmasena, last I saw him, he couldn't turn a squat on a spinning track.
Watching on TV is one thing and being out in the middle doin it is another. Ask the batsmen who faced Dharmasena, he was getting a lot of sharp turn.
The team that won the tournament (Air India) had mostly young people except 3 internationals. They practiced 7 days a week for this tournament and had a professional coach. Who has time to do that at MCC? We hardly make time for our weekend games and 1 or 2 days a week practice (for some teams).
-R
now you know the value of selecting a team in advance and having them participate in actual games in lieu of practising. this is why people get frustrated. knowingly you are playing against internationals and not preparing yourself and just relying on your weekend warrior menatlity only cuts the mustard in league games!
Faisal
Here are my thoughts..
Announce 4-5 core players before this process starts who will play LA Open not matter what. Make 3-4 teams considering potential LA players. Play 3-4 20/20 matches around 1st or 2nd week of June. Select the rest team members based on this tournament perfromance. This way all potential LA open players get excellent practice and have competitive mind set.
I think we need to first have at least one turf wicket to practice on if we seriously want to be a force at the LA open, or go there (LA) few days in advance to practice. In our first match almost all top order batsmen were out playing the ball too early, having played on matting all season that is only natural.
-R
I'm surprised why everyone has been so harsh on our team. We won one game and lost 3. All three of those teams that we lost to played in the semi finals. You can't expect guys to beat the likes of Azharuddin and Ambrose.
Those of you whining about sohail playing too slow,why don't you go out there and try facing the likes of jermaine lawson, dharmasena and raju. Sohail consistently performed against quality oppositions, let's just give him credit for that.
"sohail alvi 31 in 38 balls, this was 20/20 right?"
whoever wrote this might just be stupidist person on the planet.
Either make us very competitive in the LA open or participate in 50 overs tournament. Otherwise let's not waste time & money. We can spend it for the better use.
There was one gentleman who suggested that Nasir not be included. He went on to suggest that Nasir chose to play for flames only to get selected for 20-20.
Nasir, was one of the stand out performers at the 20-20. He received good feedback about his bowling from some of the stars. Hope this will shut some folks who rely solely on numbers.
-Varma
Dear Varma,
There is no doubt that Nasir is one of the best we have, and we have had him since last 4 yrs. The question was why did he make LA open XI only this year, just like Nilesh. To be honest he did not do anything exceptional in last season and neither has he done anything, to get noticed, this yr. So obvious reason is that he played for Flames and hence he got a chance. Honestly, it is good for him and i am happy for him that he is smarter than most of us. That one gentleman was Adnan, and he had a good point. Nilesh has been best bowler since last 2 yrs. Last yr they did not select him as he could not afford to pay for his trip ( however, actually the whole trip was paid in the end by MWCC). This time around that same gentleman and Mehul had stressed in the AGM that LA open should "OFFICIALLY" be a paid trip so players who are talented and not who can afford can go.
Dear Abhay, I certainly will not go to the details of why Nilesh or Nasir were not selected last year 'cos I have no clue about it. I am only talking about this year's selection. My point was that once Nasir got selected, instead of encouraging the chosen players, a selected few started criticising. This certainly doesnt bode well for the team and only manages to put additional pressure on the individual to perform. Team selections always tend to be controversial(it sure is within my own team), those of us that are not selected should atleast make an effort to encourage the players before the tournament.
I have played in a couple of leagues before I settled down in Chicago and have not seen this kind of a strong opposition. Most leagues have people that come together and work.
-Varma
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The team that won the tournament (Air India) had mostly young people except 3 internationals. They practiced 7 days a week for this tournament and had a professional coach. Who has time to do that at MCC? We hardly make time for our weekend games and 1 or 2 days a week practice (for some teams).
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BTW, Air India didnt "practice 7 days a week *for* this tournament".. LA Open is not *that* important in the Indian context :-) Air India was my pick to win the tournament before it began, actually... they are a good team, and they practice 7 days a week *all year* anyway :-)
This was a team without the big names - no Azhar, or Ambrose or any of those people. But it had solid pros, Amre, Dighe, Hirwani -all of whom are active even now, still play, retired from first-class cricket only a year or two ago.
More than that, however, they have great *young* players - and in the end youth matters a lot in these kinds of games. Few people here may have heard of Sushant Marathe for example - but he was India Under-19s keeper and opening batsman a year ago, he made his debut for Bombay as a pure opener last year, and is currently 20 years old. People think he may be a *future* India player - and he is 20 years old, fit, and can run all day unlike some of the odler stars. And he is hungrier, too. This makes a difference when its really hot and you have to play two games back-to-back on two consecutive days. (Our bowling was least effective, stats wise, in the 2nd innings of our 4th match - when Air India made 116 for no loss against us. This cant have been a coincidence, surely? Heat and humidity caused physical problems and cramping etc - even someone as fit as Shahid cramped up and couldnt bowl, since he had been bowling and batting in all matches from the start. You need youth and depth going into this tournament - youth so they dont get tired, and depth so most players can play only 3 games out of 4 maximum, if possible).
In the QFs against us, chasing 119, Marathe made 78* off 42 balls. In the semis, against Azhar's team with Dharmasena, Raju, Nikhil Chopra, he made 65 off 42 balls. In the finals, against Jermaine Lawson, Sanford and Ambrose, he made 62 off 58 balls. The team won all 3 games to win the title. In the end it was talent - but also youth and depth that was served (even Marathe was rested for 1 game, out of the 6 that Air India eventually played).
The team that won didnt have huge stars - but they had excellent *young* players, current Ranji players etc (3 current Ranji players in the bowling attack, including both spinners). And they are a team, they play together in club cricket and office cricket all season long, they werent stars cobbled together for this one weekend as Punjab Blues etc were. And, of course, they practice together all year (and most Ranji players practice every day of the year anyway - there isnt exactly an offseason when youre a professional player).
Against players of this level who are pros, there probably isnt much we can do anyway. But of course we need to give it our best shot. Maybe announce the team 3-4 weeks early, so that hopefully all our best players can be available (even this year if Kiran, Satha, SatishReddy, Mehul, Asif etc had been available, it might have improved our performance even more). Maybe have the 3-4 20-20 games suggested by someone before the LA Open is actually played - start the "night tournament" at Hanover a couple weeks early, with these matches, maybe?
In the end our performance wasnt bad - we won 1 game, and lost 3 games (all to teams that made at least the semis). But if we do everything to maximize our chances maybe it can get even better! We ended up 8th seed going into the QFs this time - maybe the first goal can be to improve on that.
SCCA, for example, was another all-league-players squad - they actually beat Alescon from Trinidad, which had a few fc players and a couple of former internationals. They too lost in the QFs, but they ended 2-2 and were a higher seed than us going in. Washington, another "all-league players" team, didnt have as great a win as SCCA's Alescon win, but they too ended up 2-2 and losing in the QFs. Thats at least something our team too could realistically shoot for, I think (and next year our draw wont be *this* bad since we reached the QFs - not 3 straight "international" sides, anyway :-)
Sadiq
But Sadiq under blog 'raingod...' 5:00 p.m. your entry stated 'My prediction is that Punjab Blues will win it again this year, just as they did last year :-) ' Are you trying to jump on a bandwagon:)? or trying to show you know what you are talking about? And how can you so authoritatively make a statement about Air India practice session?
You need youth and depth going into this tournament - youth so they dont get tired, and depth so most players can play only 3 games out of 4 maximum, if possible).
Is it not what Adnan was saying from the start?
Maybe have the 3-4 20-20 games suggested by someone before the LA Open is actually played.
It is amazing that you sound exactly like Adnan. Have you crossed over?
This is amazing stuff. I went back and dug out Adnan's comments on our L.A. Open squad made prior to the tournament. Compare these with what Sadiq is saying and you will see that both are saying the same thing.
===================================
We need young blood and fresh legs for L.A. Open as we will be playing two games in one day.
I don't think anyone on this blog is mocking the talent pool MWCC contains. The biggest complaint we have is that we have been going to L.A. Open for about two years now and we are still insistent on doing a half you know what job.
Calling potentital candidates two weeks before the tournament is not exactly the way a team should be put together.
The squad should have been put together couple of months in advance.
I still think 2 months is sufficient to put a squad of 14 together and twice a month they play a 20/20 against the rest of MWCC XI to sharpen their skills and to gel with each other. The biggest factor behind a successful XI is the chenmistry between the players.
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But Sadiq under blog 'raingod...' 5:00 p.m. your entry stated 'My prediction is that Punjab Blues will win it again this year, just as they did last year :-) ' Are you trying to jump on a bandwagon:)? or trying to show
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Heh :-) I probably am :-) I didnt even remember writing that, actually :-) I think the Air India prediction came in a phone conversation with someone, I think I said they were my "longshot pick" for the tournament or something - which is not quite the same thing, I know :-) But being a Bombay-fan that was my second favourite team (after MCC of course :-), since Ive heard of or followed most of their players in the U16s and U19s etc. Iam mostly just quite happy they won, especially with the performances of kids like Sushant Marathe etc, and am thus being a wagoneer :-)
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you know what you are talking about? And how can you so authoritatively make a statement about Air India practice session?
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I cant about Air India per se, of course - but Ive seen club and office Div1 sides in Bombay, and pretty much all of them practice *all* the time. You have to, if you want to be an international - and many of these kids hope they will be someday. This is Div1 office cricket in the Times Shield in Bombay - it is a very hard competition, not exactly comparable to league cricket. The players all "work" for a company (Air India in this case), but its usually kind of a nominal "work" -much more cricket than work :-)
It isnt exactly comparable to our practice schedules here.
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You need youth and depth going into this tournament - youth so they dont get tired, and depth so most players can play only 3 games out of 4 maximum, if possible).
Is it not what Adnan was saying from the start?
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Did anyone actually disagree that you dont need youth and depth, though? :-) If the players are good (the basic criteria), you obviously want them young if possible, and you want as many of them as possible :-) But if they are *good* players, you have to pick them no matter what - note, our best bowler in this tournament was Subba, who was the oldest of all our bowlers, obviously (if Subba is reading this... Iam not saying youre "old", Subba, just "old-er", please note ;-) One of the things that hurt our depth in this tournament, for example, was an injury to Tushar, who was in LA but couldnt play - an extra allrounder of his caliber would have helped greatly, enabling maybe 3 players to get an extra game off each.
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Maybe have the 3-4 20-20 games suggested by someone before the LA Open is actually played.
It is amazing that you sound exactly like Adnan. Have you crossed over?
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"Crossed over"? Nobody has died here :-)
Look, I dont know the logistics of it, or what is feasible and what isnt. It would be *nice* to have 3-4 games before the LA Open - but is Hanover available? How much would it cost? And, of course, would any non-Chicagoland players be able to make it to those games? It is an idea that sounds good to me personally, which is what I said - but its up to management to look at the details, and they know more about those details than I do, obviously.
Second, the part I disagreed with Adnan about (I think) was that te team should be picked 2 months in advance and allowed to train - our season *stars* only about 2 months before the LA Open. Asking for availability and deciding a team by early June... that sounds good to me too, but then how do we fit in 3-4 20-20 games in June before that? If we play those games in, say, the first and second week of June... wouldnt that delay the team selection to the third week of June anyway? (And isnt it probably too cold to play night-games before early June, meaning we cant move the schedule up further?)
I think what we all are doing (including me, obviously) is tossing out ideas here on this blog - which is what it is for, IMHO. The feasibility of those things need to be looked at in greater detail by management, obviously - God is always in the details :-)
Sadiq
Did anyone actually disagree that you dont need youth and depth, though? If no one disagreed then why did we not take them?
"Crossed over"? Nobody has died here :-)
Don't worry! you will be, because you are telling the management what should have been done.
You hit it on the head. Management should be open to ideas instead of working a buddy system.
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This is amazing stuff. I went back and dug out Adnan's comments on our L.A. Open squad made prior to the tournament. Compare these with what Sadiq is saying and you will see that both are saying the same thing.
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Come on now, Mr. Anon :-) Saying maybe the squad should be picked 3-4 weeks early (which might help the best players to try and keep this weekend free if possible) is kind of different from saying it should be picked 2 months early (before our season actually begins), no? :-)
I dont actually disagree with Adnan on several of the things he said - but really, some of them are obvious, and not all of them are feasible I think. Like, having the squad play the rest of MCC twice a week for a while or so... ideally it would be great, it would belp the team greatly. But we have a full league schedule, so weekends are out.
And on weekdays... would anyone from out of Chicago be able to come for practice matches? We have unique issues here, being an entire-Midwest league - Satha from Springfield, Sohail from St Louis, Asif from Milwaukee etc, these are all clearly among our best players, all certainties for the side, and we cant really expect them to drive that far to play 20 overs of practice on a weekday evening, can we?
There are surely things we can improve on - nothing is ever perfect, obviously. But not all the things we'd like to improve can be done quite as easily as we'd like them to, Id guess.
Sadiq
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Did anyone actually disagree that you dont need youth and depth, though? If no one disagreed then why did we not take them?
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Two young bowlers were taken this time to LA - Nasir and Raheel. Do you remember everyone on this blog agreeing wholeheartedly with those selections, and saying what a great thing it was? Because I dont :-) I remember only complaining that it was bias that resulted in selection. Or do people only want young players from *their team* to be selected? :-)
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"Crossed over"? Nobody has died here :-)
Don't worry! you will be, because you are telling the management what should have been done.
You hit it on the head. Management should be open to ideas instead of working a buddy system.
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I dont think anyone is telling the management what to do - I certainly am not :-) What we're all doing on this blog, I think, is throwing out ideas, suggesting possible improvements. A lot of those ideas may be silly, some may be unworkable. But maybe a good one will come along once in a while, and then it can be adopted - thats why management is management in any field, so they can pick and choose the right ideas to follow, no? :-)
When the new pitches were relaid at Washington Park, there was much dissatisfaction expressed on this blog about the gravel runups, and how they were not working at all. Jaggi (on behalf of management) even responded to it on here, remember? And when a few good ideas were thrown out and found to be workable, management adopted them and fixed the problem. Almost everyone Ive talked to in the past couple of weeks who has played on the new runups at Washington Park has been very very happy with them - most seem to think it is not only a vast improvement on the gravel, but it is also a vast improvement on the way runups were at WP for the past decade.
This is an example of how things worked, and how management "was open to ideas" and fixed a problem, no? Did anyone offer praise for it? Of course not (not me either) - we all expect management to fix problems, we only point out things that are *not* working :-) The only thing that happened when the runups were fixed was that Hari's "New pitches at Washington Park" thread on this blog died a peaceful death and the complaints stopped - thats why being in management is said to be a thankless job, after all :-)
Sadiq
Yeah! but my thing is that how come management is not thinking along those lines. Just as we are bouncing ideas I am sure management can put their heads together and come up with a defined process of selecting players. Why does it have to be a push and a shove? Why does management needs to be constantly reminded of their duties?
as I had mentioned earlier, announce the 5 core players so the issue of last minute selection won't pop up. for the remaining squad , have them play 3-4 20-20 matches and annouce the whole team. Yes it's understandable that its challenge to schedule these matches, but nothing happens without any commitment.
I think this is an excellent suggestion.
Everyone, all these suggestions are good, but I think more than team selection, we should try to devise a way to practice on turf wickets - it is very different than matting and astroturf. It took me an over to come to terms with it, by which time Mr. Kaluwitharna had taken 18 off 5 balls (he got out on the 6th). You definitely need to practice on those sort of wickets before going in for matches. Our batsmen (most of em anyways) were out playing early in the first match, because the ball was stopping after hitting the deck.
If you glance at the scorecards, the Air India and Packers matches look very one sided. It was a lot closer than that - we had both the Packers' openers out inside 4 overs and Azharuddin was looking edgy (Myself, Nasir and Shahid beat him a few times with Shahid also hitting him in the ribs). Also vs Air India that lefty opener Marathe(?) was very edgy early on against Nasir who was bowling really well. We only had 2 seamers in that match Nasir and Nilesh. Shahid had a cramp and I was not playing, which meant there were 3 spinners - and being brought up in India on Indian wickets those batsmen were used to facing spin and they just cantered home.
I am sure if we practice on turf wickets we would stand a better chance at the next LA Open.
-Raheel.
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Raheel said:
Everyone, all these suggestions are good, but I think more than team selection, we should try to devise a way to practice on turf wickets - it is very different than matting and astroturf. It
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It sure is different - but this is again something that, IMHO, is not really feasible to do, is it? There is no way to really prepare a turf wicket in Chicago without spending ridiculous amounts of money (which the league doesnt have) - and you cant really go to LA early during a work week either, can you?
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Raheel said:
going in for matches. Our batsmen (most of em anyways) were out playing early in the first match, because the ball was stopping after hitting the deck.
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Most players have played on turf back home before coming here anyway, at least to a little extent I think. And at least last year our batsmen adjusted beautifully to the turf, and batted very very well indeed - our batting was nowhere near as good this year (but all the scores from all the teams were down this year, actually - last year Punjab Blues hit up 240 in 20 overs a couple of times, this year 150 was a defendable target, I dont think anyone even hit 200 all tournament).
The slightly disappointing thing to me was that our scores actually went down as the tournament progressed. In the first game our top order didnt do well, but Nilesh's heroics bailed us out and carried us to a match-winning 147. In the second our opening pair (Sohail and Ajit) were great, and then Shahid was excellent to get us to 148 again. But in the last 2 games we actually dropped to 112 and 119 allout - a factor of better attacks too, maybe, but still a little disappointing IMHO.
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Raheel said:
If you glance at the scorecards, the Air India and Packers matches look very one sided. It was a lot closer than that - we had both the Packers' openers out inside 4 overs and Azharuddin was looking edgy (Myself, Nasir and Shahid beat him a few times with Shahid also hitting him in the ribs). Also vs Air India that lefty opener Marathe(?) was very edgy early on against Nasir who was bowling really well. We only had
2 seamers in that match Nasir and Nilesh. Shahid had a cramp and I was not playing, which meant there were 3 spinners - and being brought up in India on Indian wickets those batsmen were used to facing spin and they just cantered home.
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You obviously saw it and I didnt, Raheel, but even so I'll debate some of the above with you :-) We made only 119 against Air India - they made 120 for no loss in 16 overs. Yes, maybe they were edgy early and all... but its kind of hard to make a case that that game was close in any way, no? They did have a pretty long batting lineup, after all.
As for the spinners-vs-pacers thing... our best bowler (figures wise) even in the Air India game was Subba (4-0-21-0)! In fact, he was our best bowler all tournament long! The pitches in LA seem to favour spin in general - last year and this year both, spinners seem to do the best job in containing and getting wickets from all teams, usually. You have, of course, a perfectly understandable bias towards fast bowlers ;-).. but if you look at our top few bowling stats:
O R W Avg Econ
Subba 15 84 4 21.0 5.60
Nilesh 12 80 5 16.0 6.67
Shahid 5.2 35 1 35.0 6.73
Nasir 12.3 106 3 35.3 8.62
Afroze 1 9 0 0 9.00
Tehsin 8 75 1 75.0 9.38
Bhavneet 5.1 45 1 45 9.61
Bhavesh 2 20 0 0 10.00
Raheel 3 38 2 19.0 12.67
After the first 3 bowlers, the economy rates drop off precipitously! And Subba's economy rate is more than a full run better than *anyone* else! To me this indicates that we really badly missed someone like Asif (Milwaukee) and/or Bakshi (Pak Gym), both of whom were selected but had prior committments for the weekend.
Meanwhile, while Iam at it, a quick look at our batting stats too:
M Inn Runs Avg
Shahid 4 4 96 24.00
Sohail 4 4 81 20.25
Nilesh 4 4 70 23.33
Afroze 4 4 58 14.50
Ajit 4 4 44 11.00
Bhavesh 3 3 30 10.00
Bhvneet 4 4 29 9.67
Tehsin 4 4 23 5.75
I.Tailor4 3 19 9.50
Nasir 4 2 16 --
Raheel 1 1 16 --
Subba 4 3 7 3.50
Once again, its the batting stats that look more disappointing, in my opinion - especially given last year's batting performances.
The pitches were definitely better for batting, its true, but we were putting up big scores last year in almost every single match. I dont know if any bowlers can really be expected to defend 112 and 119 in these games, no?
BTW, from both these sets of stats, Shahid and Nilesh really stand out - Shahid is the top rungetter and 3rd most economical bowler; Nilesh is 3rd rungetter and 2nd most economical bowler! Last year it was Shahid who was almost single-handedly carrying our LA side at times, he has clearly been the best allround player in our league for a while now - but it is wonderful to see that another excellent allrounder has stepped up to support him so well this year!
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Raheel said:
I am sure if we practice on turf wickets we would stand a better chance at the next LA Open.
-Raheel.
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I dont disagree with this at all - but again, I cant see how our league would be able to do it. It is a very different form of wicket, but we cant make one... and going to LA early would surely be impossible for most people (heck, already 4-5 of our best players didnt go to LA even for just the long weekend!)
Sadiq
Sadiq bhai, your analysis is pretty good, but economy rates do not tell you how comfortable batsmen were against certain bowlers. They might have patted the ball back to a spinner or placed it in a gap for a single, while a slash off Nasir might have been edged and flown for 4, but it could have resulted in a wicket. When your batting is not firing you need attacking bowlers who can take wickets, keeping the economy down when you're defending 110-120 runs is never going to do any good, once the batsmen are settled, they can milk the bowling.
Having said that Subba definitely bowled the best of all bowlers. Shahid was injured for last 2 matches and was playing as a batsman only - that hurt us bad.
-R
it appears that raheel guy consider himself as a big star. it's funny to see his comments on azar and all. also no wonder he cries againts economy rate. he got wacked for 38 in 3 overs. get real dude.
Raheel,
It would have done us the job had you targeted the stumps rather than Azhar's ribs. lol
heck, already 4-5 of our best players didnt go to LA even for just the long weekend!)
=================================
I would not change my plans either, if I am contacted two weeks before dude.
Guys,
Two players weren't able to make it because of the wedding in their family, and as all of you know in that scenario 2 weeks or 2 months, the result is going to be the same, because I'm pretty sure you all are aware that wedding is scheduled long before that. So instead of talking about same thing over and over guys, let's move on.
Tushar
"Raheel,
It would have done us the job had you targeted the stumps rather than Azhar's ribs. lol"
That was Shahid not me ... read that piece again please.
-R
Anyways, as Tushar said let's move on, LA Open 20-20 is over, we'll talk about it again in a year's time - good luck to everyone in their regular MCC season ;).
-R
"Raheel,
It would have done us the job had you targeted the stumps rather than Azhar's ribs. lol"
That was Shahid not me ... read that piece again please.
-R
--------------
I once targeted baby ribs at chillies
So now that LA Open is over and Chicago Open is on... Who will win it this year...... My money is on challengers
challengers and pak gymkhana look like the favourites. Yet you can't underestimate United or the Wildcats. They are playoff tested and will always be hard to beat come september.
my lottery ticket is on Phoenix!!!
Lets talk Division II. I think Roop and company will finally get out of Division II this year by winning the Division II championship.
AAA has upper hand, Illinois always collaspe in the playoffs
Hey any comments regarding the bears, what do u guys think are they contenders to be one of the top 3 teams. Any suggestions or comments?
Even Capitol won't make it from Div 2...bcuz, just like Illinois, they compete with South Africans for being chokers.
"Anonymous 4:03Pm" Thanks for your confidence in us.
Thanks.
Pak gym, wildcats, united are playoff tested and lot of other teams are very good in div. 1 and as you guys know, once the playoff roles around it's knockout and on any given day any team can beat anybody.
But again thanks for the vote of confidence.
Tushar
"Even Capitol won't make it from Div 2...bcuz, just like Illinois, they compete with South Africans for being chokers."
if thats the case then every team that doesn't win the title should be considered to be chokers...so except for Wildcats and Purdue, all other teams are chokers. That includes, AAA, Capitol, Illinois, Pak Gym, Challengers blah blah blah....
comeon man, atleast attempt to make sense sometimes.
only time will tell if the Bears are actually contenders. I just looked at their schedule and they haven't really beaten any "quality" opponents. Their wins have come against Milwaukee Cricket Club, Chargers, Rogers park and Purdue. I'll draw my conclusion after they play their next 4-5 games. Till then, the Bears are still a mystery to me.
Right on the money abt the bears, I was there when they lost to the wildcats, there balling attack is amazing, but their batting is equally disappointing. They couldn’t score 17 runs with I believe 7 wickets in hand to win that game...have to wait and see!!
Talking about mysteries I think the real mystery has been defending champions Wildcats' early form. They hardly beat the Bears and lost to Purdue and Muslim. They used to be close to unbeatable 1-2 seasons ago.
On the other hand, Muslim has beaten the Wildcats, St. Louis CC, and the Tigers. Other than the Tigers, who are now getting out of their early season funk, both the Wildcats and St. Louis CC are very tough opponents. However, they have lost to Purdue, a game they should have won. From the games they have played so far, it seems as they are talented enough to potentially make it to the playoffs; however, their inconsistency doesn't bode well for them. From now on, they have relatively easier schedule as they have already played the Wildcats, Pak Gym, Milwaukee United, and St. Louis CC. I guess it'll be interestinf to see how they fare in remaining of their games.
Muslim has to be the most dangerous team. They have a bunch of explosive players who can rip apart any batting or bowling lineup. It just surprises me how inconsistant they are. As was mentioned earlier, they beat some really good teams. But then got blown out against the other teams.
Hey "Anonymous 10:00am"
Chokers, by definition are those who perform very well in regular season before succumbing in the playoffs. Illinois and Capitol fit the bill perfectly.
Does it sound sensible to your esteemed brains?
"Chokers, by definition are those who perform very well in regular season before succumbing in the playoffs. Illinois and Capitol fit the bill perfectly."
So that makes Pak Gymkhana and Challengers the biggest chokers in the MWCC?
"one man" team can never win the title. Perfect example would be Capitol.
pak gymkhana almost choked vs Phoenix game, but at the end somehow managed to win. The only team I believe is constistent is Challengers. But it will be still interesting since it's a knockout scenario.
Pak Gymkhana - has a fair chance
Perdue - can upset
Phoenix - have good potential but their batting order is not up to their full potential like its known for.
Wildcats - somehow this year something is missing in them
Muslim Gymkhana - Little bit overconfident
Bears - Needs more strenght in batting
Challengers - holds fair chance because of their balance in all department
Tigers - may not make it to the playoffs
Rogers Park - ??
divII
AAA - fair chance this year due to their consitency and balance in their team
Illinois - good team but somehow will come up short as far as winning the title
QC Kings - not sure since they're new in the league but so far they have been fairly consistent, have a feeling they will make it to the final
Eagles - may not be able to make it to the semis but good thing about them is they can beat any team on given day.
Capitol - will be interesting to see how they can reach to the semis or final with one-man show.
This "choking" thing is ridiculous and very subjective, anyone who loses a game can be called a 'choker' the way you're going about it. Pak Gym beat Phoenix by 65 runs - if thats 'almost choking', I dont know what a convincing win is - by 100-200 runs atleast? Challengers beat St. Louis by 3 runs after scoring 116, will you call those two teams chokers too? Ridiculous. Cricket is a team sport and someone has to win and someone has to lose on a given day - choking has nothing to do with it !
Raheel.
I agree with Raheel. I guess we hold the title of "Chokers" if loosing one IMPORTANT game counts. We have lost 4 finals in last 4 years (including night tournament), but at the same time, we did reach there and other 16 did not. Also, last yr we were 1-6 and i am sure just like this yr (3-4), everybody had/has counted us out. We never thought we would make the playoffs last yr. Infact to be honest, last yr after 1-6, till the last 2 games we never went in to win, so that we could make the playoffs. We just went in and played basic cricket, fortunately we ended up on the right side. Cricket is very funny game. It just takes couple of games to turn things around for good teams. Challengers and Pak are the most consistent teams around and I can put money on the fact that they will be in last four. But last 2, can be anybody.
Also, winning is all that counts, whether its 1 run, 100 runs or 1 wkts or 10 wkts. At the end of the day result is "WON" or "LOST". I guess the idea is to improve every game. If you repeat same mistakes again and again and hope for different result then according to Mr. Einstein, "u r insane".
Mehul
United Cricket Club
this year United will have a tougher road to make it to the playoffs. Out of their last seven opponents, 5 are very good (Pak Gymkhana, Wildcats, Bears, Muslim and St. Louis). Last year they had a much easier schedule.
That said, i still think they'll make it to the playoffs.
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Anon said:
"Chokers, by definition are those who perform very well in regular season before succumbing in the playoffs. Illinois and Capitol fit the bill perfectly."
-------
This is a perfectly silly thing to say, at least for Capitol IMHO. After all, everyone "succumbs", except one team every year, no? If you seriously underperform in the playoffs that may be one thing - but Iam not even sure Capitol has done that!
In 2004, Capitol went 7-5 in the regular season (plus a rainout and a walkover), and made the playoffs as the 11th ranked team out of 12! They actually upset the #6 ranked AAA squad in the prequarters, and, playing the back-to-back game the next day in the quarters, lost to the eventual champions Royals.
In 2005 Capitol went 9-5 in the regular season and was the #9 ranked side (out of 12) going to the playoffs. They played the higher-ranked #8 seed, Jaguars, in the pre-quarters - and lost by about 25 runs if I remember correctly (I was umpiring that game :-)
Thus in the past 2 years Capitol has lost only to a higher-ranked opponent in the playoffs - and once they actually upset the first higher ranked opponent that they played before losing!
In which world does losing to a higher ranked opponent ever qualify as choking? Did AAA and Phoenix choke against Purdue last year, for example? Of course not - Phoenix was #5 seed, AAA was #11 seed, and both upset higher ranked teams before eventually losing to the #2 seed Purdue. Even if you want to be overly critical, you cant possibly consider this "choking" in any way whatsoever.
Sadiq
------------
divII
AAA - fair chance this year due to their consitency and balance in their team
Illinois - good team but somehow will come up short as far as winning the title
-----------
The thing about Div2 this year is, the regular season champion gets an automatic entry into Div1 next season. For this vital prize, AAA and Illinois are in great position, as they are the only 2 unbeaten teams to date. Even if they lose once (which they well might), they have good run-rates and are thus in better position than anyone else at the moment. Its a good position to be in.
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QC Kings - not sure since they're new in the league but so far they have been fairly consistent, have a feeling they will make it to the final
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It looks an excellent side, with great depth - they dont seem to play the same XI every week, but every week a couple of the new guys do really well too. I think they may well be playing more than one league, and have very good depth - it will be interesting to see what their real "first XI" can do, when they do play together.
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Eagles - may not be able to make it to the semis but good thing about them is they can beat any team on given day.
Capitol - will be interesting to see how they can reach to the semis or final with one-man show.
--------
BTW, these are hardly the only contenders in Div2 - there are many others :-)
There is IIT, for instance, who were regular season champs last year, and have lost only once so far this year (to Illinois, the current #1 ranked side). They have lost a lot of players, but with Lakshmi still around and Ajay Gandhi returning last week, they can hardly be counted out.
Then there is Peoria - considered the strongest team in the division going into the season (last year Rivercity was the #3 ranked team in Division One, and 7 of those players are currently playing for Peoria CC in Div2). They started 0-2 and are currently 3-4... and will need to get on a streak to make the playoffs. But if they do get to the playoffs while on a winning streak, they will be one of the most dangerous teams out there.
Then there is MDS - also considered one of the strongest teams going into the season. They too started badly, but have now recovered to 4-3 (beating Peoria last weekend).. and with the brilliant Nasir Yemani having now joined the team, they may well be poised to go on a run.
Then there is Arsenal, currently also with only one loss (that coming last weekend to IIT - before that they too were unbeaten). Another veteran side with good balance and depth, entirely capable of making a run in the playoffs.
And so many others - Suburban, Giants, Jaguars, NoStars, all who made the playoffs last year, have seen success in the past, and know what its like to win when it counts.
Three years ago in Div2, IIT was ranked #5 in the regular season - and they made a playoff run and finished second. Two years ago Purdue and Rising Stars were by miles the best two teams in Div2 - and both were upset in the playoffs, by Milwaukee United and Royals respectively. Last year Purdue and IIT were the cream of the crop - and Phoenix, ranked #5 in the regular season, made a wonderful playoff run to finish second (and AAA, ranked #11, upset two teams and went all the way to the semis).
There is a bit of a history of upsets in the playoffs in Div2, which will give hope to pretty much any team that makes the Div2 playoffs. (And it also makes winning the regular season championship this year more important than ever before).
Sadiq
good breakdown of all the teams Sadiq. And right on the money about "Choking"
Even in Division I last year, the Wildcats win wasn't just a fluke. They went 9-5 in the regular season, finished 4th and beat Milwaukee United, Challengers and Pak Gymkhana. Three of the most talented teams in the MCC. You can't win three games in a row and call it a fluke. That is why I dn't think Challengers or Pak Ghmkhana should be labeled as chokers. They lost to a very good and experienced Wildcats side. There is absolutely no shame in that.
Sadiq, why don't you breakdown the Division I teams for us.
Sadiq,
Upsets are done only when the other teams choke :)
Sadiq,
Upsets are done only when the other teams choke or else you wouldn't label it as "upset" :)
Anonymous,
I don't know where you got your definition of chokers from, but according to you every team and every player that have ever played any sports, be it a team or individual sport is choker according to you. Everybody team or individual have at some point in their game not performed at their best or other person or team have performed better than them and not acheived desired result.
To me that is not "CHOKER", it's called being outperformed.
And whoever you are, why don't you tell us who you are.
Tushar
By 'choking' you are implying that a higher ranked or better team screws it up against a lesser opponent right? Hence the 'upset' - why do you call it choking rather than giving the credit to the team that won on that day simply because they played better cricket. When Bangladesh beat Australia last year, did Aus choke? or did Bang play out of their skin (Ashraful 100) to win? Did England win the Ashes or did Australia simply "choke"? I've said it before and I'll say it again - it's ridiculous.
-R
chockers are those who perform well in the regular or less pressure situation and then crumble at crunch games. no one can label anyone based on one game but if any team keep crumbling at crunch games after doing well in regular season, one may call them "chockers". it's less to do with winning or losing but the way they perform at important games.
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Sadiq,
Upsets are done only when the other teams choke or else you wouldn't label it as "upset" :)
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OK, even if you believe this (I dont)... but *even* if you believe it... Capitol was *never* upset by a lower-ranked opponent, not in the last 2 years. They actually beat a higher-ranked opponent once, but they only ever lost to teams that were higher ranked than them to start with!
Thus, if Capitol was *never* upset, how did it ever choke? Surely losing to someone who did better than you in the regular season too and was thus higher-ranked is considered "normal", and thus cant be considered choking? It would be choking only if the higher ranked team lost, even by your definition, no? :-)
Sadiq
Bangladesh beating Australia is not a 'choke' its more of a fluke.
But teams do choke, for example, Pak Gymkhana loss to the Wildcats last year was some what of a choke. I was there watching that game, and pretty straight forward catches were dropped because the players seemed nervous. The Wildcats on the other hand seemed very composed and took full advantage of the dropped catches. That is one thing experience and good leadership can bring to your team. Pak Gymkhana had the upper hand in that game till the last 10 overs of the second innings. Only time will tell if they have learnt from their mistakes.
So I guess according to anon.. Challengers choked against Wildcats in semi-final last yr? ...every team drops tonnes of catches every year...like IIT did against phoenix last yr...ITS JUST ONE BAD DAY...pak dropped catches in finals and took all in semis...infact, wildcats dropped shahid and hasan early in the game, so i guess if they had lost, they would be chokers...
this anon...guy needs to know more about cricket then just make comments that make no sense
The biggest chokers are United CC who have made it to the finals 3 times and have lost every time. If any team in our league can be compared to hansie cronje's South africa in terms of choking in crunch matches, it is United CC.
I think Cronje's teams chokes cause most of them were eating green paper and passing out bricks which they used to build fancy houses and in some cases passing it out the same which the used for other luxs. He screwed over a wonderful team I say??????????
i guess we will never know if the team for whom u play are "chokers" or not, since looks like u never made it that far...did ur team make last 8 or is it that u just sat outside and watched the fun...
Mehul
UCC
How can we be 'chokers' when we were never a favorite to win the whole thing and the teams we lost to were all ranked higher than us.
and who are these "WE"...i fail to understand y "WE" is not letting us know who "WE" is.....i am sure any team would rather be in top 2 then bottom 5...
M
UCC
Anonymous,
I'd rather be in top 5 every year and get to semis or finals and lose and be labeled as choker in your eyes rather than not make playoffs at all, because to me that seems to be your problem. You can't make playoffs so you are calling all this other very good teams chokers.
UNITED : Made it to div1 finals 3 years in a row. last year after 1-6 they made it to semis. To me that's herioc not choke job.
PAK GYM : Won night 2 years in a row and played a game that could have gone either way in the finals last year.
WILDCATS : Won 3 Championship in last 5 years.
CHALLENGERS : 2 championship in 4 years.
All this above mentioned teams have played very good cricket for last 4-5 years. Not to forget other teams, who day in and day out surprise everyone.
So unless you reallly want to come out of shell, stop with this choker crap, because you ain't proving damn thing.
Tushar
Some interesting posts here :)
I belive overall this ranking system is good only till the playoffs start. It just looks good on the paper when it shows who are the top teams. I remember in 2003, Springfield had not lost any regular season match and then they lost one to Eagles (I was the keeper and still remember watching how TarunReddy started hammering) but Eagles ended up beating Springfield :) (http://www.midwestcricket.org/asp/Score88.asp?id=604)
Springfield (ranked #1) had lost to IIT (ranked #5) just like last year's scenario where IIT were ranked #1 vs Phoenix (#5). (BTW I do not recall IIT dropping many catches, I think they collasped after scoring 120/2 in 20 overs to 197 all out)
I cant say much about Divsion I teams since I haven't followed much of their games. But I'm sure it must be somewhat like what I have mentioned about division II scenario.
I believe in our league no teams should be considered as chokers as anyone can take away the game in playoffs. It just a matter of who's having the best & worst day. Goodluck & best wishes to all the team.
Samir (Phoenix)
You can't call any team "chokers". But there have been instances where teams have perfomed badly because of pressure. Which kinda qualifies as a choke. The Challengers losing in last years semi-finals can't be called as a choke, since they were completely outplayed by the Wildcats. It was probably just a bad day for the Challengers. But Pak Gymkhana weren't having a bad day. They were in complete control of the game and they made silly mistakes b'cos they were under pressure. That can probably be called as a "choke". That doesnt mean Pak Gymkhana are "chokers" they just had a stretch of 30-40 minutes where they didn't perform well under pressure against a very composed Wildcats side. I'm sure even the Pak Gymkhana players must be beating their heads against the wall thinking "how the hell did that happen?"
I don't mean to take any credit away from the Wildcats, they played a great game but the biggest reason why they won was because they held their nerve till the very end and that can only come with experience.
n e ways, this whole "choker" arguement is pretty stupid. Teams learn from their mistakes, and a team like Pak Gymkhana will know how to handle itsself in a similar pressure situation.
peace
The biggest chokers are Muslim Gymkhana, they talk too much smack and fail to back it up, what could be a bigger embarrasment than that?
its good to see MCC is well prepared to compete against players lik azharuddin(the former captain). we should apreciate there effort and tried to make the MCC leagues in more professional ways such as providing proper grounds and every thing.for example we play at a ground like braves park where the MCC officials dont pay much attention. that is our home ground and we want to help it much as possible to make it as much comfortable for any team.
"The biggest chokers are Muslim Gymkhana, they talk too much smack and fail to back it up, what could be a bigger embarrasment than that?"
Dude, quite frankly STFU. u don't know what you are talking about. Muslim has already beat some good teams and may make the playoffs. They are one of the better teams in the league. Stop pulling things out of your rear end. Actually, Farhat and other Muslim Guys are pretty modest and down to Earth and never talk trash. As for being a choker, how could that be? they barely stayed in Div I after last year.
Why are some teams reducing the playing overs from 45 to 40? I can understand if there is rain. But if a team shows up late for a game, they should be penalized heavily. Whats the point of having 45 over games if teams at their will can change the required number of overs. I know some teams have to travel to places like St. Louis which are really far away, but that is somethign that everything has to learn to live with. I hope the league starts taking stern action against teams that show up late for games which ends up reducing the number of overs. Awarding the toss to the opposition is not good enough.
Please revisit my definition of chokers (Anon, 11:19pm; Anon 5:44pm) with references to Illinois and Capitol in Div 2.
Now, read the break-up of contenders by Anon 8:11pm (not my post). What does it say about Illinois and Capitol?
We can possibly replace "very" with "CONSISTENTLY" to the definition to make it more accurate.
Here we go again...
"Chokers, by definition , are those who perform CONSISTENTLY well in regular season before succumbing in the playoffs. Illinois and Capitol fit the bill perfectly."
Given the history of performances of Illinois and Capitol, aren't they chokers?
IMHO, they are.
please! this whole "chockers" thing rotten now. let it go.
I guess United are again going to prove their doubters wrong.
They just beat Pak Gymkhana the no.1 ranked team in the league before this week.
They still have a pretty tough road with games against tough opponents like the wildcats, bears st. louis and Muslim gymkhana. royals and purdue aren't that bad either. It will be interesting to see how United performs against all these teams.
United CC is one of the toughest teams in the league indeed. Anyone who calls them chokers is being a fool.
Anonymous said...
The biggest chokers are United CC who have made it to the finals 3 times and have lost every time. If any team in our league can be compared to hansie cronje's South africa in terms of choking in crunch matches, it is United CC.
I would consider last sundays game a crunch match! it was a must win to even remain in the playoff hunt...
Good point by Anaonymous regarding shortening from 45 to 40 overs in the recent blog. The league should definately look into this situation.
One another thing they should put it on their to do list is about walk-overs. Each year there are at least 2-3 minimum teams who give walk-overs. They should be either penalized or transferd to 30 overs since it effects the rest of the teams who are scheduled to play and it becomes disappointing of not playing according to the scheduled matches.
and the other thing is about chucking, why are there so many chuckers in the league?
F.
right on the money about the chuckers...there are a lot of bowlers that blatantly CHUCK. it is such a disadvantage to the batsman if the bowler is allowed to chuck the ball.
here we go again...
Is it always umpire's fault that Pak looses a game? Give me a break... One of the pak players kept on shouting at the umpire from outside after given out LBW (if you see the scoreboard, nobody is shown out in such a manner)...is this what these umpires come for to spend their weekends on? I agree that every player has a right to show SOME dissatisfaction (upto a point of dropping one's pants down to show where the ball hit him), but there has to be some respect shown...the best example that i have always been amazed by, is from (the likes of) Kiran and Adnan's reaction when they are given out...they look at the umpire and just walk off.....i am not saying that everybody should be like them, but there has to be some kind of penalty brought on to individuals who behave in such disrespectful manner...upto a point of mentioning me that its due to Sridhar's (umpire) religion that he is favoring us? I would only say one thing to such individuals ...GROW UP...
if you are unhappy from the umpiring, you file in a report after the game....just like phoenix did w.r.t. our game against them...
should pak be let off because its one of THE most veteran team in the league, or should they be leading by example? i would really like to know what management and umpiring committee's input on this matter is and ofcourse, RAHEEL, ur take on this matter, as u r an avid blog writer and surfer, i am sure u will read this...
Mehul
UCC
I encourage all team captains and umpires to give us feedback regarding any incident. Any individual found guilty will be fined.
Hey Jaggi, saw you bowl your heart out yesterday man. First time, I saw you in action and I was pretty impressed. Your action reminds me of chris harris from NewZealand. You got Tigers back into the game, but unfortunately, didnt have support(except Priyank) from the other end. Why did u have a spinner open and have him come back after the treatment he got. Also, why did you come on to bowl only in the 11th over?
Mehul,
That was unfortunate indeed, it was not only ugly but disturbed the concentration of the batsmen in the middle. Captain Rashid bhai talked to the team afterwards about it. Different individuals react differently to being given out wrongly, but that sort of an outburst is uncalled for.
On the flip side, there has to be some sort of evaluation of the umpires. I have seen plenty of players being banned but never any action taken against incompetent umpiring, what does the management do about the complaints lodged against the umpires? Take a look at it and throw it in the garbage? I'm not saying that we would've won were those two dismisals not given, but they did hurt us pretty badly (both top order batsmen). The caught behind of Bakshi (of Mehul's bowling incidentally), the thud of the pad could be heard outside the ground and that lbw (which is recorded as ct behind on the scorecard) hit the upper thigh and was clearly sailing way over the stumps.
"..is this what these umpires come for to spend their weekends on?"
No, but they do get paid $75 and in my opinion they should make an effort to earn it otherwise no one is forcing them to go out there in the middle - they can chill at home!
Whoever brought religion into the whole mix did it in very poor taste - there is no place for religious / racial talk in cricket. You should probably complain about that more than the outburst at the umpire.
-Raheel.
Raheel,
Religion crap was brought on by one of your players (i am not too keen on making him famous) and i am sure you will know if you ask them. Dude, as far as decisions are concerned, not too many batsmen think that they are out. If you ask me honestly, I am pretty sure bakshi nicked the ball (and you have some serious ears if you can differentiate between thud of the pad and an edge from 60 yards away) and the LBW decision was 50/50 as he was trying to pull with bent knee (he is famous for doing that if anybody knows how he plays). I am sure you don't want to mention about Mazar's caught behind which was not given by the umpire. ITS ALL PART OF THE GAME.
Regardless, if you said that "Rasheedbhai spoke with the team after that game" why did you guys had to blame the umpire for everything in the summary. You guys played poor cricket in chasing and there is no doubt about it. Accept it and move on.
"I have seen plenty of players being banned but never any action taken against incompetent umpiring, what does the management do about the complaints lodged against the umpires? Take a look at it and throw it in the garbage?"
Can you suggest one of these incidents? I would love to know who was banned due to misbehavior and against which umpire there has been complains. You guys complained like crazy for Sadiq and he is never given a pak gam to officiate since semi-final 2004. Do you think Sadiq is a bad umpire as well? You guys need to be less cry babies and move on man. I admire lot of pak gym player's cricketing abilities, which i wish i had, but this ability of blaming umpires is the one i would rather not have.
Mehul
UCC
It was so hot outside on Saturday I would not have umpired for any amount of money. In fact most people in the league with exception to students don't umpire for money. I don't know how many matches you umpired but, it's not an easy job. I had Sridhar Jagat as umpire for couple of matches last year and I definitely think he is a good umpire. Probably he made some mistakes in your match, some times even the best umpires do mistakes in a match and it's impossible to eliminate those mistakes. Your own team mate Mohammed Bhakshi whom I consider a very good umpire made some mistakes when umpiring our matches ( in previous seasons ) by not giving some of my team mates out when they were out caught behind or LBW. He probably gave benefit of doubt to the batsman but, my point is some times you make mistakes. Even international umpires make mistakes, if you umpire enough matches you will realize that yourself. Another problem is lot of people in the league don't want to umpire Div 1 matches, lot of people don't want to deal with pressures of umpiring a Div 1 team. You are making it even worse by giving man of the match to an umpire and scaring off lot of people who are willing to umpire a Pak Gym match.
Raheel,
It was so hot outside on Saturday I would not have umpired for any amount of money. In fact most people in the league with exception to students don't umpire for money. I don't know how many matches you umpired but, it's not an easy job. I had Sridhar Jagat as umpire for couple of matches last year and I definitely think he is a good umpire. Probably he made some mistakes in your match, some times even the best umpires do mistakes in a match and it's impossible to eliminate those mistakes. Your own team mate Mohammed Bhakshi whom I consider a very good umpire made some mistakes when umpiring our matches ( in previous seasons ) by not giving some of my team mates not out when they were out caught behind or LBW. He probably gave benefit of doubt to the batsman but, my point is some times you make mistakes. Even international umpires make mistakes, if you umpire enough matches you will realize that yourself. Another problem is lot of people in the league don't want to umpire Div 1 matches, lot of people don't want to deal with pressures of umpiring a Div 1 team. You are making it even worse by giving man of the match to an umpire and scaring off lot of people who are willing to umpire a Pak Gym match.
Raheel,
One last thing...
Myself and Kiran umpired yours and wildcats game last yr night semis. I over heard your teammates saying one of the umpire sahi banda hai (good, "Kiran") and the other one is not so fair guy (obviously pointing out to me, as i have had heated moments on the field with you guys earlier). I am more close to wildcats team players then Pak gym, even then i am sure you remember my calling no-balls to Madhu Reddy which eventually got you the game. Madhu gave 20 runs in the 18th over with 6 noballs. Dude, we all TRY to play fair as much as possible, its just happens that you make mistakes. Anyway, good luck with rest of the games.
Mehul
UCC
Mehul,
You need to move on - we're unhappy about umpiring errors and thats the way it is - you won, good for you, stop posting 3 posts / hr. The outburst was against the umpire, not you, he can complain to the management about it just the way we will let our displeasure known.
-R
I guess Mr. R is not happy with honest things said by Mr. M, though Mr. R did not answers any of the questions listed above, he wants Mr. M to stop saying anything about his dear team. Its interesting to see how people change their opinions about everything when things fall on their butt.
Imran Syed made another hundred. It was 151 this time. 15 or 16 sixers. MuHaHaHaHa.
i have seen losers but raheel takes the cup. i remember sometime back he proudly presneted the margins they have beaten other teams and he had tried to make it look like he was trying to stand up for phoenixs. dont cry baby. it's ok. you lose sometime.
yea he drags down his whole team in the mud. people think he represents the team. so be careful raheel my friend. dont make any comments your team wouldn't condone. because people will identify your comments with Pak Gymkhana not just with you.
If Capitol and Illinois are Chokers from Div 2, then Pak Gym folks are cry babies in Div 1.
What happened to Jehangir Butt. Isn't he playing this season?
"You guys complained like crazy for Sadiq and he is never given a pak gam to officiate since semi-final 2004. Do you think Sadiq is a bad umpire as well?"
Sadiq Yousuf is one of the best umpires in the league...anyone who thinks he's bad should stop playing cricket.
Anonymous said...
Mehul,
You need to move on - we're unhappy about umpiring errors and thats the way it is - you won, good for you, stop posting 3 posts / hr. The outburst was against the umpire, not you, he can complain to the management about it just the way we will let our displeasure known.
-R
I beg to differ Raheel, the outburst was directed towards my team mate's religion, and that my firend is unaccebtale. NO WE WILL NOT MOVE ON. I as the captain have to defend my team, and I guess you are doing the same! But to bring religious epitaphs into sports is uncalled for and I hope your team will aplogize for this behavior or reep the repurcussions from the league, which i seriously doubt you guys will face. Knowing this organization as well as i do!
Faisal
UCC
Pak Gym has been playing the league for a long time with the players who have good cricketing brain & spirit. If they're raising an issue about the umpiring then there must be something to it otherwise they wouldn't be talking about it, it's something to think about.
that's fine but they went further then that and isulted my players!!
F.
just let it go and MOVE ON if you guys really love this game. If they have done anything harsh to you guys then I ask for the forgivness, the game has to be played with good cricketing spirit, so lets all move on and enjoy this game while paying some respect to the game. let's leave indiviudal ego on the side.
Well said! There is something to be said about losing with dignity.
F
I have an excellent suggestion, let's build 3rd umpire committee. If there's any controversies, then main umpire can call the 3rd umpire on cell phone, explain the situation, consult with the 3rd umpire, ask players to take a small break, chill out while the decision is being made!!!! come onnnnn....just move on, umpiring is a though job and all the decisions should be respected wether it's right or wrong.
I don't see how this situation would have been solved if there were a 3rd umpire. I mean, the 3rd umpire doesn't have any television replays to watch at. The main umpire would be the best person to make the decision in this type of situation.
Instead, I think some sort of disciplinary action should be taken against such players. Like how Technical fouls are given in basketball and yellow and red cards are given in football.
Say the player persistantly argues with an umpire, he should first be given a warning. The second warning would directly result in the player being thrown out of the game. The player should also be suspended for the next game and fined. Umpires should have ultimate power. They are after all 'neutral' umpires. If umpires feel insecure, it affects their ability to make the right calls. They are bound to be influenced by shouting players.
The situation with Pak Gymkhana and United is unfortunate. Its best if the captian of the team formally apologizes for the behavior of his players on the field. If not, then I am pretty sure everyone will lose respect for the entire Pak Gymkhana squad for the mistake made by one short-tempered bonehead.
OK guys (Faisal, Mehul and all the "anonymouses"),
This is what I wrote:
"That was unfortunate indeed, it was not only ugly but disturbed the concentration of the batsmen in the middle. Captain Rashid bhai talked to the team afterwards about it. Different individuals react differently to being given out wrongly, but that sort of an outburst is uncalled for."
...and...
"Whoever brought religion into the whole mix did it in very poor taste - there is no place for religious / racial talk in cricket. You should probably complain about that more than the outburst at the umpire."
I did not condone any of the actions (shouting at the umpire and bringing religion into play). We felt the umpiring was incompetent (there's a difference between being biased and incompetent) and that is our view! UCC can lodge a complaint against individuals - that is their right. Furthermore, I was not part of Pak Gym in 2004, so I only know the Sadiq Yusuf incident by hearing about it from different people. I personally didn't have any problems with Sadiq bhai, he umpired a lot of matches when I played for IIT.
That said and done, all the "anonymouses" (I don't know if it's one person or multiple) calling me names such as loser etc. please sign your name at the bottom, if you don't then it is super cowardly and you my friend(s) are the loser(s). I have never attacked anyone personally, it is just low.
And if any of you are wondering, I am writing on behalf of Pak Gymkhana CC and not "dragging" anyone in the mud.
-Raheel.
------------
Raheel wrote:
That was unfortunate indeed, it was not only ugly but disturbed the concentration of the batsmen in the middle. Captain Rashid bhai talked to the team afterwards about it. Different individuals react differently to being given out wrongly, but that sort of an outburst is uncalled for.
----------
This is well said Raheel, and
I agree with it entirely. There
should be no place whatsoever for
the sort of stuff that supposedly
took place on Sunday (I say supposedly because I dont know,
I wasnt at WP so Iam only going
by what you guys are saying).
But outbursts of the sort
that supposedly took place
cant be allowed to happen
IMHO - else nobody will ever
be willing to umpire. Iam glad Rashid-bhai talked to his own team about it - he is fulfilling his role as a captain by acting on it, and deserves congratulations for it.
---------
Raheel wrote:
On the flip side, there has to be some sort of evaluation of the umpires. I have seen plenty of players being banned but never any action taken against incompetent umpiring, what does the management do about the complaints lodged against the umpires? Take a look at it and throw it in the garbage? I'm not saying that we would've won were those two dismisals not given, but they did hurt us pretty badly (both top order batsmen). The caught behind of Bakshi (of Mehul's bowling incidentally), the thud of the pad could be heard outside the ground and that lbw (which is recorded as ct behind on the scorecard) hit the upper thigh and was clearly sailing way over the stumps.
-----------
Being an umpire, this part I completely disagree with, even without being there :-)
Of course there is evaluation
of umpires. Sridhar is one of
the better and more experienced
umpires we have - that no doubt
is why he was given such a big
game to officiate in! Sridhar
umpired plenty of games last
year, he umpired the First
Division Playoffs as well. This
year he has umpired at least
4 or 5 *big* games in Division
One (including Milwaukee United
vs Challengers - which was a
clash of two unbeaten teams
two weeks ago). He is captain
of the Eagles, he is in the
Umpiring Committee of our
league, he was a major part
of the "Rules committee" that
wrote the playing-rules of
the league this year. The
statement above seems to
indicate that he is someone
newbie who didnt know the rules
or hadnt umpired before or whatever - that part is
completely and utterly wrong!
He is experienced, knows the rules very well, and everyone has evaluated him as being a very good umpire in the past. (I myself have umpired with him in some games that required 2 umpires - and Ive always thought he was a very good umpire myself. We did the Div2 semifinals together last year, for example).
Now, once again, I wasnt there.
Did he make mistakes? Maybe he
did - who doesnt? The conditions
were brutal this weekend, its
easy for anyone (players or
umpires) to make mistakes.
(I umpired Madison-IIT in
completely awful conditions on
Saturday. After the match the
IIT captain, Arka, told me
in his opinion I wrongly gave
him out - he said his bat hit
his pad, but not the ball, and
I gave him caught behind. The
Madison fielders, on the other
hand, think he edged it. This
is a bloody hard decision to
get right at the best of times,
and sounds a bit like the
Bakshi decision youre talking
about above... and Iam sorry,
but *nobody* can say from
outside the field that it was
definately "thud of pad" and
not "thud of bat", nobody on
earth has ears that good :-)
But, when I gave Arka out this
way, he didnt object, he didnt
say "I never hit it", he sort
of looked at me for half a
second and then walked... so
I figured he wasnt thrilled,
but I still wasnt sure if he
was just disappointed to be
out or at the decision, I found
out only later. There was none
of this "shouting from outside"
that seems to have happened in
your game on Sunday. Arka is one of IIT's best bats, and his getting out put them in trouble - but I never heard a word of abuse or complaint.
Maybe there were mistakes - but
every player makes mistakes too
(didnt you bowl a single short
or wide ball all day, Raheel?)
It is fair to evaluate an
umpire, and you can say he had
a bad day if you like - but
you can only really evaluate an
umpire (same as with players)
on the basis of several matches.
And Sridhar has a very good
knowledge of the rules and has
umpired very well several times
before - even if he made mistakes
on Sunday (which I dont know,
not having been there), that
hardly makes him a less-than-good
umpire.
----------
Raheel wrote:
"..is this what these umpires come for to spend their weekends on?"
No, but they do get paid $75 and in my opinion they should make an effort to earn it otherwise no one is forcing them to go out there in the middle - they can chill at home!
---------
Heh :-) Do you really think people do it for the money? On days like this weekend, especially? :-)
Sridhar umpired a game in Madison a while ago, for example. He drove there himself, stayed overnight at a hotel, umpired the next day, and drove back. With gas the price it is now, and with the hotel cost, it probably cost him more than the 90 bucks he got paid to umpire just to make the trip itself :-) Does anyone really think he did that for the money? Or to do a game the league needed done?
Sridhar played a game in Urbana on Saturday. He came back Saturday night, and umpired the Pak-United game on Sunday. On Monday morning he was flying home to India! He hardly umpired for the 75 bucks - he did it because he loves the game and is dedicated to this league, and because a quality and experienced neutral umpire was needed for a hugely important game like Pak vs United. He didnt *want* to umpire on Sunday - but the league wanted him to, because he has expereince and has done big games, and an experienced umpire was needed for Pak-United. He did the league a service because he was requested to, he doesnt deserve to be abused for it.
---------
Raheel wrote:
Whoever brought religion into the whole mix did it in very poor taste - there is no place for religious / racial talk in cricket. You should probably complain about that more than the outburst at the umpire.
-Raheel.
--------
This is very well said again Raheel, and I agree with it completely. If there was any religion or race mention of the umpire brought into the outburst at all, the person who did it should IMHO be suspended for a few games at minimum. Bringing religion or race into an umpiring allegation is far worse than just yelling or shouting, and deserves a far bigger penalty - if you do that you are alleging the umpire was *cheating*, and cheating for the lowest of reasons, not just making a mistake. And even besides that there is no place for bringing religion or race into a cricket match.
Again, I wasnt there on Sunday, so I dont know if religion was brought into the matter; I dont know what was said, or who said anything regarding Sridhar's religion. BUT IF IT WAS ... I really think the management needs to act and crack down on it. As an umpire I feel strongly about this - we should not allow people to make religious or race or national allegations against neutral umpires. A mere 50 dollar fine wont deter anyone either - any such allegations against umpires IMHO should be met with a suspension for a game or two, no matter when it happens, no matter who is involved (even if the person making the allegation is President, or Secretary, or anyone else in management - luckily our management IMHO isnt made up of the types of people
who will bring race or religion into things). Cracking down on it and showing it wont be tolerated in our league is the only way to stop it happening again to other umpires in the future.
Sadiq
Sadiq bhai, I haven't seen Sridhar umpire before so I do not know if he's a veteran or a newbie, I can only comment on what we saw and on that day he was incompetent in my opinion ofcourse (I'm saying incompitent or making mistakes intead of accusing him of any bias towards or against a team). I guess even international umpires make mistakes, but the truth remains that it hurts someone and on sunday it was Pak Gym who were on the receiving end. I have already stated that shouting on the umpire and bringing religion/race onto the cricket field is wrong and was the act of one individual rather than the entire team.
That was me up there .. as if there was any doubt ;).
-Raheel.
with all the respect on what you've said Sadiqbhai, put yourself into player's shoes!! If the umpires are there for the love of game (just like as you have explained about Sridhar), consider all the players are there for the love of the game.
Majority of the players playing in MCC are very passonate about the game or else they would not be spending the whole on the field. One bad decision can upset any player (some players do have capacity to swallow it, some don't). It's very easy to be carried away when something like this happens (at pak gym vs united game) since the weather was unplayable & both teams watned to win. I have seen wrost decisions made by the umpires but still players do walk away with the positive attitude.
It is also umpire's job to make sure the decisions are given properly or else things like this will always repeat (specially at the level we play)
there may be issues with umpiring. there may be issues with palyers unruly behabiours. but the bigger problem than that PAK GYMKANA lost one game and we all have to their excuses day and night. teams win teams lose. they are not the first team to lose a game because of umpiring error if that was the case. this is part of the game and what they should do just stp crying and move on. meanwhile we all can rub it little bit.
"stp crying and move on. meanwhile we all can rub it little bit."
This is not that sort of a messageboard! Go rub it somewhere else! ;)
In my opinion, there are talented teams and there are talented teams that are good. Pak is only talented, but their ugly face shows up when they lose. Last year, they fought with each other, blamed umpires, blamed everybody but themselves when they lost, and now they are crying after they lost one game.
Raheel, I guess u dont understand how it is to be an umpire. I strongly suggest that u do one game to realize what a tough job it is. I have not seen anybody as dedicated as Sridhar and the least that u and your team can do is to show some appreciation.
When u lose, lose with dignity.. am a fan of your team's cricketing abilities, but this blaming game has left a very poor taste in the mouth.
-Arun
United better get over this Pak gymkhana crisis....they have a tough schedule coming up. After this week they have games against the Wildcats, Bears and St. Louis.
I think everyone makes a big deal about Pak Gymkhana being talented. They might have the best player in the league, that still doesn't mean that their entire roster is filled with superstars who can never lose. In my opinion, Challengers, Milwaukee United, United CC and the Wildcats are just as good (even on paper).
"That said and done, all the "anonymouses" (I don't know if it's one person or multiple) calling me names such as loser etc. please sign your name at the bottom, if you don't then it is super cowardly and you my friend(s) are the loser(s). I have never attacked anyone personally, it is just low."
nice comeback Raheel...I liked the "Super Cowardly" remark. I used to use that with my friends when I was 12 years old.
Sadiq,
Your defense of Sridher is well taken, but at the same time, please be reminded that this is going to fall on deaf's ears.
I have not seen an individual more dedicated to the cause of Umpiring than Sridher. The reason why he willingly became part of the committee is to improve the umpiring standards. He keeps telling us the same thing. Don't complain, do something about it...like volunteering to umpire for few games.
He is leading by example, no doubt.
There's a saying in Tamil that goes... Kazhudhaikku teriyuma karpoora vaasanai.
Translated, this means, A donkey cannot appreciate the smell of incense sticks. That's the case with Pak Gymkhana.
They are cry babies. No doubt about it.
Regarding the comment about religion, Mehul - u think such types are going to grow up? No way dude. There are many such types camouflaged. You have heard just one of them. Unless the league comes down heavily on them (like a 1-year ban), attitudes will not change.
I think karpooram literally is camphor, which may be used in incense sticks...
-Samarth.
Samarth - Yeah you are right.
Why should United get over this Pak Gymkhana crisis? They screwed Pak royally and now Pak has to exhibit their capabilities on the field, not by making accusations in this blog.
"nice comeback Raheel...I liked the "Super Cowardly" remark. I used to use that with my friends when I was 12 years old."
You know what I learnt at 12? To put my money where my mouth is. So come out and tell everyone who you are. Scared are ya?
-R
sridher knows nothing about umpiring....he might be very dedicated but not very good in making decision on the spot.....
well then u know jack shit about cricket.
I would somewhat agree to Ananomous (11:44pm), his dedication is always appreciated but needs to be more consistent and take his time to give away crucial decisions. Lakshmi players like you doesn't suit talking like this. It just shows pure ego which will eventually hurt your perfomance. So let the others share their opinions just like you do, but without abusive language.
Sridhar has been working very closely with the management on a number of issues and I have tremendous respect for his cricketing knowledge. At the same time, he is only human and there is a possibility that he may have made a mistake. There is also a possibility that that the decision was correct and players tend to not agree with certain decisions. I dont think it is right to blame a loss on an umpire.
Sadiq said it right when he talked about Sridhar's commitment. His commitment plus his knowledge of the game makes him one of the most respected umpires in my opinion.
At the same time, we realize that we need to improve the standards of umpiring in this league. In the off-season, we are planning to train umpires etc.
If anybody has information on training material/umpire certification exams etc, please contact us. We are looking for volunteers to come fwd and help this league.
Raheel said "No, but they do get paid $75 and in my opinion they should make an effort to earn it otherwise no one is forcing them to go out there in the middle - they can chill at home!"
I very strongly object to this statement. Considering that we have close to 30 games in a week, I know how tough it is for us to get people to come out and umpire for us. I strongly suggest that you talk to Marghoob Bhai(who, by the way is doing an outstanding job) about how tough it is to get umpires consistently. Most umpires also play and that means cricket takes over their weekend's completely.
I would show a lot more appreciation for the work our umpires do.
Raheel,
I would strongly suggest you start umpiring some games. After all you have ears like a bat, when you can decipher thud of a bat from a pad all the way from the sidelines. And you can tell an LBW from there as well. That kind of inate ability will make you the best umpire in the world and this league will only benefit. so how about it, i say stop playing cricket and become a full time ump.
The league needs you buddy!
This suggestions are just to improve our league, not to offend our umpires.
1. Create a form or electronic database (preferabally electronic database for more convineance) for evaluation purposes after the end of each game which has to be filled out by the captains.
2. Attributes/filters can be:
LBW decisions, caught behind, run outs
a. Very satisfactory
b. satisfactory
c. somewhat
d. non satisfactory
Evaluate this database after every 2-3 weeks by the umpiring committe and if the umpires fall in category c or d, then the comittie can have somekind of program set up for them to be trained.
This might be our beginning step....
Anon 8:24 am,
Your opinion is well taken, but hasn't this umpiring thing by Pak Gym gone overboard? I am not sure which team u play for, but then they have to get a life and move on to the next game...its fast approaching.
Sridher may have made mistakes. We all do. Isn't that how we get out or drop a catch or misfield or bowl wides and noballs?
It does not augur well to
go on a rampage on a umpire well respected by his colleagues and the management.
"You know what I learnt at 12? To put my money where my mouth is. So come out and tell everyone who you are. Scared are ya?"
Raheel,
That is the difference between you and me. I read these blogs cos i'm bored out of my mind. You do it to prove a point. But don't worry, few years from now when you turn 15, you'll look back at this day and laugh at how stupid you were.
Does that sound cool to you? or super cool? or super duper cool? or n e of that kindergarten lingo that you haven't grown out of?
It's all good taking shots at someone while hiding Mr. Anonymous - seems like you haven't learnt to be courageous even at 40.
"I read these blogs cos i'm bored out of my mind."
I don't think there was any doubt about that, but thanks for clearing that up. You need to get a life grandpa (since I'm 12).
I would like to know who I'm conversing with, tell us your name, it's not that hard, people like Faisal, Mehul, myself, Jaggi, Sadiq bhai etc. have been doin it - try it. Don't be ashamed of your name, it's not your fault, your parents' may be!
-R
Faisal, that thud was real loud and I can judge the height of the lbw from sideways better than front-on. I'm not interested in umpiring so I don't do it, but if someone is interested and enjoys it, he should do the job correctly - I'm sure Mr. Dicky Bird (Sridhar) would agree with me on that one!
-R
No one is blaming the loss on those 2 decisions. It did hurt us badly, but there is no guarantee that the batsmen would not have been bowled the very next ball. United CC did outplay us - well played. The issue is with the umpire, not United or any player.
I don't know who said that we blamed the umpires for last year's final loss (Arun was it?), we blamed ourselves, umpire doesn't have anything to do with dropping dollies (about a dozen!) and the fighting amongst players - in Punjabi culture thats just an exchange of views ;). And as for Ramsundar, I'm not interested in what you do with donkeys and incense sticks in Tamil-land!
-R
'No one is blaming the loss on those 2 decisions'-take a look at weekly summary and see whom you have nominated for man of the match.
And as for Ramsundar, I'm not interested in what you do with donkeys and incense sticks in Tamil-land!
-R
there comes religion and ethnicity. nice move raheel. look like leg cutter
one bad fish can ruin the whole ocean, feel sorry for Pak Gymkhana!! :)
Raheel,
Its a nice reflection of your teams biology!
ain't a leg-cutter. It turns out to be a full-toss going down the legside for 4 wides.
Pak Gymkhana is a great team and we all have the respect for you guys, keep up the good work and focus on your games. May the best team win!
Ramsundar, our team's biology is perfectly fine you should worry about yours - I will not stoop to your level and compare South Indians with some random animal (as you have done with us and donkeys)! You talk about not bringing religion and race into the discussion and then .. what are you doing?
I'm done posting on this subject .. new article anyone?
-Raheel.
Let's start a new one.
How about say, playoff prospects (div 1 and div 2) or All star Div 1 vs All star Div 2 teams?
any other topics in mind?
need to start a new thread though...
Lots of people seem to be overly concerned about United, and abt our game vs. Pak Gym.
Someone said "United must get over Pak Gym crisis". Then someone replied "Why should United get over Pak Gym crisis?"
What is this "crisis, crisis"?? I didn't even realize there was a crisis and I am in the United team!! Something re religion was said, I don't even know what was said, and Mehul and Faisal are taking it up.
It is not like we are debating this "crisis" in our mails or in our night games... In recent mails in our list, ppl are talking about middle-east war, gas prices, upcoming Purdue game, etc., etc.... Whatever was said to Mehul, he and the captain are old enough to handle it appropriately without any "crisis" in the team. Others care about other things. What is this "crisis" BS? Our team has a "crisis" that its members are not aware of, right after we beat the top team?
People have created a crisis in their own mind, it seems...
Also, someone else mentioned stuff about Pak Gymkhana's talent. We did not make such disparaging remarks about Pak Gym's talent even after we beat them. We are well aware of their talent. Strength on paper means nothing, they are 7-1, Challengers are undefeated, and we are 4-4, and we are aware of this. We didn't make any comments about anyone's talent. Someone ("Anonymous", probably should be called "Anony-mouse") is shooting a gun from United's shoulder.
-Samarth.
good one sammy...."anony-mouse"...hehehe
Mehul
ok I have a new topic in mind, what about JOe Green?? hehehehe. If he reads this blog then I can say few nice things about his umpiring skills and sing as Raheel or Lakshmi....hehehe
any predictions about who will win this week's match?
this week:
Phoenix beats Challengers
Perdue beats United
Muslim Gym beats Rivercity
Roger Park beats Tigers
Pak Gym beats M. United
Chargers beats Milwaukee
Tigers beat Bears
no way will the Challengers and United lose this week.
I think Milwaukee United will beat Pak Gymkhana.
division II:
jaguar beast no stars
IIT beats Elgin
springfield beats cci
advancesr beats warriors
Illinois beats Arsnel
eagles beats suburban
aaa beats jolly rovers
collinsville beats peoria
deccan beats lucky
chicago cc beats mds
raiders beats madison
evanston beats continental
capitol beats QC
whether I sing or dance or play, I am Ram and not Lakshmi!
I'd be interested (and play in one of them) in the following games:
Illinois vs Arsenal
Eagles vs Suburban
Deccan Blues vs Lucky
Capitol vs QC
It would be very interesting to see how much QC and Illinois score against their opponents.
This forum was designed to give us all a platform to discuss about cricket. Lets use this constructively and not use any ABUSIVE language.
Why was Tariq Ahmed's comments removed? What did it say anyway?
Two comments were deleted. First was the comment with the foul language and second was the comment someone posted in Tariq's name.
This is getting ridiculous guys. There are some real good discussions going on, but a few are abusing this. We have to now look into monitoring, pre-registering a chosen few etc etc.
I do agree with Sadiq bhai's explanation. It's not easy being an upmire and no matter how hard you try to be fair...you are still at risk of making a bad call.
I have seen umpires like Sadiq Bhai bad calls who have been umpring for a long time. I have made unintional bad calls myself (which the batsman or the bowler made me realize later!).
I beleive that whoever acts rude to the umpire should be banned for a few games or rest of the season.
Juggi Bhai,
Is midwest taking any actions to stop this kinda behavior because i heard CRICKET IS SUPPOSED TO BE GENTLEMEN'S GAME????
Umpring is a tough job and umpires should be respected not ridiculed!
And may be there should be a rating for umpires so that people who dont know about umpiring and do it for other purposed could be removed!
If we receive any report of bad behavior from teams towards umpires, we will definitely take action. We cannot take disciplinary action till we get an official report from the umpire.
Yes, this off-season we will do a lot of work with respect to umpire training/certification etc. We will need a lot of help for the same. So, please make sure you volunteer some time for the league during the off-season.
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