My team, NoStars got trashed mercilessly by R.P Singh and Co's Jaguars at WP today. It was a pretty boring game, except when R.P went wild in the end, and even the Jaguars quietly packed up and disappeared without too much visible celebrations.
But, in the ground next to us it was a totally different story. Phoenix, after being bowled out by Challengers for 115 came back to win by 1 run in a sensational game. Hats off to Phoenix! This is a team with a lot of heart. Challengers is a champion team and to pull off a win like that over them takes a lot of effort. I say, watch out for them!
wow, three real close games in Div. 1 this weekend (inculding 2 major upsets).
Phoenix beat Challengers by 1 run (big, big upset!) Purdue beat United CC by 10 runs or so (another upset) Pak Gym beat Milwaukee united by 1 wkt...(wow, i wish i had been there to watch this one)
It seems like that the newcomers phoenix and purdue have a good shot of making it to the playoffs while some of the top teams(based on their record over the years) like wildcats and United CC will have to play out of their skins to remain in the race this time.
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
It was truley the most amazing win experieance while competing against the most highly recognized team!! It was purley the team effort. Keep up the good work Phoenix!!! Samir
I guess United were still celebrating their victory agaisnt Pak Gymkhana. What can one say about that? Beat the best team and then lose to a division II team.
Definitely one of the best matches I've been involved in and a terrific knock by Hassan bhai - 84* as opener, on a turning wicket (it was the Milwaukee CC wicket i.e. matting over turf instead of the regular MUCC ground). He played out maidens when the bowling was good and hit boundaries whenever the runrate threatened to become too steep. Well played MUCC too, who fought till the end.
AAA Vs. Jolly Rovers was a great and exciting game and it came down to the umpire. Making unruly calls the umpire caused AAA the Game. AAA played well bowled well. THe umpire giving 45 wides to AAA is the factor of there lost.
WOW! According to some Illinois Cricket Club cannot win another game... That comment can only come from a jealous IIT player....I am curious to know if IIT beat Illinois when they had the chance?
"I guess United were still celebrating their victory agaisnt Pak Gymkhana. What can one say about that? Beat the best team and then lose to a division II team. "
Phoenix, a Div 2 team? excuse me... your attitude in full show here...u must be from Pak Gym, then.
Ramsundar, to correct you, it was Purdue that beat United CC : )). For people who call Purdue a Div II team, I think they are having a time lag, it is 2006 (not 2005, get an update of your system) and shows that persons attitude towards cricket. As mentioned before if people want to make any comment please reveal your name and make a comment openly with the idea of not belittling anyone or any team. This would auger well for all parties concerned. ---Purdue University CC.
Purdue and Phoenix are no.6 and no.8 in the Division I playoff race. Both teams especially Phoenix (since I wasn't really surprised when Purdue beat United) should be given credit for pulling out the upsets. Pak Gymkhana have bounced back well after last game. they went to Milwaukee under different conditions and beat a very good Milwaukee United side.
Congralutaions to all the teams that won. Unfortunately, we(Tigers) lost both our games. We have to play some really good cricket to stay in Div-1. Got a mountain to climb, just need to make sure we have are well prepared for it. Spoke to some of the Phoenix guys at the night game last night.. obviously, they were thrilled. Congratulations to them on beating the Challengers.
I have been checking out the night games at Hanover Park. Did a small picnic with my family last week, it was great. Good weather, good cricket and ofcourse good food :-).
In our game against Bears, Deepak(ex-Milwaukee United) bowled really well. He had the bears in all sorts of trouble taking 6 wickets. We were trying to defend 106 . Unfortunately, a couple of catches were dropped. If we had caught Afroze(7 wiks down and 15 to get), which was a sitter, things could have been more interesting.
samir what were u thinking tigers beating the bears. Well that prediction of yours didn’t come true.
And what’s up people no mention of the bears in any comments. We have won the last 5 games, and are 3rd in the rankings. Also, I have a question for everyone, do you think if the bears beat MUCC next week would that be an upset???
Bears are playing real good cricket at the moment and with Adeel back in the lineup they are a team to watch out for. The 260+ chase they pulled off against the Flames last week was a big victory for them indeed and could be the defining moment for their entire season.
Also, it would be very interesting to see how the Bears perform in the remaining games. The rest of their schedule is pretty tough with almost all the teams still in the playoff hunt.
Also, it would be very interesting to see how the Bears perform in the remaining games. The rest of their schedule is pretty tough with almost all the teams still in the playoff hunt.
Vasu said... ******************** WOW! According to some Illinois Cricket Club cannot win another game... That comment can only come from a jealous IIT player....I am curious to know if IIT beat Illinois when they had the chance?
********************************
I would be very surprised if one of my team-mates has said this...ICC played a near flawless game against us and deserved to win. There is no scope of jealousy here. I am sure they are one of the real favorites this season. i would like the author of the post tell me the name of that IIT player anyways...
Thanks.. ************************ Well I take that back partly.. after investigation he was not a player but an IIT fan that sometimes unpire games as a rep of IIT. I will not post his name unless he opens up his mouth again...
I think Illinois Cricket Club is still sour from their defeat against Suburban. They blamed the umpire for the loss. And they were most unsportsmanlike in their conduct in that game, shouting obsenities at the umpire and behaving in unruly fashion.
And ICC is a top-heavy team. Once their top 3-4 are gone, they go down in their batting. And same applies for bowling.
Suburban and Lucky XI are two teams i have seen till now which doesn't have any respect for umpires and their decisions.
Suburban is no different from any other team for their unruly behaviour outside the ground. They did not even care about the presence of other teams family members,ladies/children while shouting obsenities at umpire.
Lucky XI players always keep arguing with umpire for each and every dismissal.
----------------------------------- Suburban and Lucky XI are two teams i have seen till now which doesn't have any respect for umpires and their decisions.
Suburban is no different from any other team for their unruly behaviour outside the ground. They did not even care about the presence of other teams family members,ladies/children while shouting obsenities at umpire.
Lucky XI players always keep arguing with umpire for each and every dismissal. ------------------------------------ That must be from one of QC king guys!! Who can only win on their home ground because they have thier own umpire..ha ha ha....well done QC kings...win atleast one game outside Moline, and we'll talk.
And for other teams going to Moline to play QC, beware! When batting, don't let the ball hit your pads. You will be given lbw if u are over 20 runs. and when bowling, don't expect to get any lbws and any ball that a batsman cannot reach is given a wide...!
Good guess...since i am from Moline only i could tell what happened here.
I donot want to repeat here again and again like others about how tough umpiring job can be. But the spirit of the game is same and there shouldn't be any hard feelings at the end of the day.
Decisions can go either way whether it is good or bad. What counts finally is not win or loss but the character of a team. Cricket is not the only life there is a larger life outside.
I just hope you are not the umpire of QC kings. There must be a reason why they have not won outside Moline. Also, in the only game that they lost at home against Capitol, Satha was given lbw when he was given great guns. I agree its a tough job, but so many coincidences makes one think there are other reasons.
When the teams travel for 3+ hours to play cricket, they are passionate about it. They also want to play fair. But having a partisan home umpire, just kills the fun. You set stuff straight at your end, and you might end up winning some respect in the league. Right now, everyone knows, QC can only win with their own umpire ! lol!!!
We didnot request MCC to send a particular guy for umpiring. He may have been chosen because he is the only guy available to come to Moline.
Talk about this..about the umpiring we saw in Chicago match. It is no different..we got 3 decisions which we are not happy about. But we chose not to make a big deal about it because we wanted to play within the acceptable norms of the game.
Praveen Laxmeshwar is a cheating umpire. He gave AAA wide balls which were not even close to being wides. AAA's game is fun to watch but watch out for their umpires. Heads up to the Suburban team: The Umpire for Suburban Vs. Jolly Rovers is Santanam Kasturi. He is on the players list for the Jolly Rovers and he played against AAA last week. Jolly Rovers are fighting to get into the playoffs so watch out they will do anything to get in. If anytema is going to play the Jolly Rovers bring your own umpire from Chicago. HEADS UP TO SUBURBAN CC. AAA team was frustrated with their first lost but dont under estimate there power I have seen them play. They are good. Watch OUT.
To avoid instances similar to the one in the game betweek Pak Gym & Milwaukee United, the main umpire should be given the authority to over rule the leg umpire's decision if and only if the Main umpire can clearly see what happened on the other end in case of clear run outs or stumpings. This is similar to a NO ball rule which the main umpire can over rule if he thinks that leg umpire is not right. This is will maintain lot of sanity and integrity in the game and hopefully teams are not victims of dubious & biased decisions anymore.
All these discussions about the umpiring sucks. What is MCC doing about providing neutral umpires as promised?
We, from Moline, used to play Iowa league before 2006. One of the reasons why we chose to join MCC is because this league is going to provide neutral umpires which is not the case with Iowa.
The umpiring issue should be resolved. Teams outside from Chicago already have an advantage of playing on the same ground and pitch every week, and if they are getting umpires who are there town buddies, it is not fair to the visiting teams; I have witnessed many games in DIV I that have been ruined by umpires from the same city or teams from close by. This is an issue that can be resolved to a good extent. However, as far as to get a neutral leg square umpire is definitely a good suggestion, you have to remember that umpires then will cost $150 per game, and other expenses will probably result in a single game costing MCC $300, which is a lot of money for just one game, and even if the money issue is resolved and we can manage 2 neutral umpires per game, it will be impossible to have almost 50 to 60 umpires a week to umpires games, considering there are 30 games a week.
I agree with the fact that we need neutral umpires. Having same town buddies as umpires is bad. But having team members as umpires is outrageous. If Santanam Kasturi is the umpire in Suburan vs Jolly Rovers game, thats a big shame for MCC. A player cannot be umpire if you want to make the league competittive and fair. The umpire plays for the same team , what a screw up on umpiring committe's part.
Everybody understands that it is very costly. But it hurts if someone just says that somebody won matches because of umpiring.
I strongly believe majority of the decisions are right and probably few decisions can go either way. But it happens to everyone...it takes some character to accept and move on.It doesn't appear to be the case with a sizeable number of individuals who wants to blame somebody else for their loss.
Not every team is commenting about umpires doesn't mean they are all happy with everything.
Santanam is assigned for all games in peoria/bloomington area,margoob bhai will checks to see who is available to umpire the games and updates name on the website for Suburan vs Jolly Rovers game.
lol... I had a chance to read the Pak Gymkhana vs United CC game summary too. I guess Irfan Sohail was the culprit in that game. Great work with the website UCC. I read through all the game summaries and they are all extremely well written. I saw the various different pictures and player profiles as well. Really wish we could do someting like that with our team. good work UCC once again
We can avoid lot of acrimonious exchanges - on and off the field, with neutral leg-umpire.
All teams should volunteer leg-umpires. They can then be assigned to matches. MCC can mandate this rule (to volunteer!). I am not sure about practical aspects, though.
ICC took their loss and went home still happy as we do at the end of every game. We were upset at some of the decisions. As the Captain of ICC i did and will always do my best to make sure my players stays within their limits and be profissional but as all of us know it's very difficult to 100% control everyone's emotions when it looks like all the bad calls are going against you??.
The thing that annoys me the most is that as we were kicking Arsenal's behind last week they were getting condolences from the next door team letting them know that ICC cheats to win. I guess the good guys don't have the balls and guts to say that in ICC face but i asure you if you give them ICC booth to wear when it comes down to respect and fairness the will stand still. Too big and heavy for them. Who is crying I don't know but it's not ICC??. We will let you all know how top, middle and tail heavy when it matters the most.
I will let you all ponder on that for now as we drive towards bringing home the trophy this year??. See you all next week Rup Seenarain ICC Captain
It is interesting to see some of the team dynamics in division-2. One thing that I have seen is a constant complain about umpiring. I can say that we have not received the best of decisions at times, but, that is part of the game. If I have ever noticed anything that the umpire did wrong, I very politely approach the umpire and talk to him about it at the end of the game. Umpiring is the toughest piece to a cricketing season. Umpires cancel out last minute, umpires are not available and Marghoob Bhai ends up staying up late to ensure that an umpire shows up. We need to take ownership of this situation by coming fwd and umpiring games for the league.
Ram, at this point, the logistics of getting two neutral umpires for a game is going to be a nightmare.
United, I read up the purdue game summary. Its sad to see that Dhiraj twisted an ankle, hope he is feeling better now. Please give us an official feedback so that we can talk to away teams about the ground situation.
I will be at the Pak Gymkhana Vs Challengers game for a little bit. Should be a real good game. Good luck to both teams.
Tigers update: we get a much needed week off. Hopefully, all the injured players are available next week for the game against Flames.
------------- I agree with the fact that we need neutral umpires. Having same town buddies as umpires is bad. -------
The league doesnt usually have "same town buddies" as umpires - its often players from another team in the city. Sometimes its just "neutrals" who dont play, however... when other teams play in Chicago, dont they face "same town umpires" as their opponents, usually? Or are Chicago umpires the only ones incapable of bias? :-) Or, if a "Chicago buddy" travels with a team to umpire their away game.. is that any better? Why imply only "outside Chicago" umpires are bad, here?
Its easy to say "we should send umpires from Chicago"... how many who say that are actually willing to travel and umpire an away-game themselves? If anyone is, please let Marghoob-bhai know - Iam sure he will be thrilled :-) We have had enough of a shortage with travelling umpires that one or two games this season have had to have batting-side umpires.
----------- But having team members as umpires is outrageous. If Santanam Kasturi is the umpire in Suburan vs Jolly Rovers game, thats a big shame for MCC. A player cannot be umpire if you want to make the league competittive and fair. The umpire plays for the same team , what a screw up on umpiring committe's part. ----------
There's been no screwup - no team-member has ever umpired his own teams game, I dont think :-) Only once or twice in the past 2 years no umpire has been available for a game (thats like 2 games out of 700)... and then batting-side umpires have had to officiate. But never an umpire from just one team. The Umpiring Committe pays a lot of attention to that (heck, every attempt is even made to avoid *former* teammates umpiring games - but unfortunately that hasnt always been feasible to avoid, due to a severe umpiring shortage).
Santanam's name is there for every game in that area at the start of the week - it gets changed to the real umpire's name midway thru the week. This happens every week - and so far he has never umpired a Jolly Rovers game himself, and he wont this week either (if you look now, you will find that Imran will be umpiring the Jolly Rovers game... but Santanam is still listed as umpiring 2 games on Saturday, which is sort of physically impossible to do :-) But, of course, he wont have to do it - the names will be changed soon enough, once people's availability is determined).
Agreed ICC played better but not giving stumping and run out is preposterous. Its not like this has happened once but twice. Last time two years ago, Rup was way out of his ground and his square leg umpire refused to give him stumped out because he was their only hope of saving the game and he did!!!!
So all "the fairness and respect", I think should be practiced before preaching!!!!
Anonymous said... 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
3. Add Comments section
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.
sometimes umpires make the right calls and players just get carried away. the league should also look closely at the person or team who complained about umpires. if some team whines about every single umpire, then their opinion should be ignored, because those players are just sore losers.
Anon at 10:17am - excellent suggestion. Currently, we have an electronic forum for teams to enter comments while entering scores. It currently is in a free format state without the attribute filters you have mentioned above. Trust me, we get no feedback, absolutely none. We also have a way that teams can enter requests and give us feedback. Till date, we have had 170 requests(score changes, conflicts, name changes, abuses, etc), but only about 2-3 feedback.
Another big issue, in my opinion, is the lack of communication from the team captains/managers to the team members. Team members have come back and asked us questions, the answers to which we would have sent an email out. So, talk to your teams to ensure that the info we send out is reaching you.
So far here are couple of incidents I've been thru as far as the umpiring issues... 1. Phoenix vs United CC - the issue was few questionable lbw decisions went against both teams.(I belive total of 8 lbws given) Phoenix had notified the umpiring comittie. After the committe had reviewed this matter, I believe he hasn't been doing any umpiring so far.
2. Phoenix vs Tigers - The umpire gave out to a well settled batsman for what looked to be a caught & bowled but it was actually a bump catch. I was keeping and saw what exactly happened. My immediate reacation to the umpire was that the batsman wasn't out (Although it's debatable wether I should have said anything knowing today's cricket is way different:) ) The umpire then turned down the decision and the batsman ended up scoring in 50's. I'm sure there were mix reactions in our team :)
If there are any concerns reagarding umpire decisions, I think it's the best approach to notify the comitte with details rather than trying to resolve the matter on the field. The captain or someone has to take the initiative to calm the situation before it gets ugly specially if the players are there with the families & kids. Samir
I remember that Sameer and I highly commend you for talking to the umpire and telling him that the ball bounced off the ground before the bowler caught it. Not many would have done it !! More power to you.
With all the umpiring controversies in our league, I read this in today's cricinfo..
1992 Another series-levelling win for England - and another umpiring controversy. At Headingley, Pakistan were furious when Graham Gooch was given not out, despite being a long way short of his crease on a run-out appeal. Gooch went on to make 37, and the eventual scoreline - 99 for 4 - suggests a comfortable win, but this was anything but. It was a blistering, snarling match, notable for Neil Mallender's eight wickets on debut, Salim Malik's majestic, not-out innings of 82 and 84, and an astonishing England collapse. In the first innings they were 292 for 2 ... and all out for 320 as Waqar Younis reverse-swung it all over the place. The last six batsmen managed only two runs between them.
Here's the most recent article from indiatimes.com *****10 batsmen out for ducks***** LONDON, July 26: It could not get worse for a local cricket team of North Yorkshire. Ten of its players were out for ducks, leaving the team with a total of 5 -- all of which were scored through extras.
It was definitely a day to forget for bottom of the table Goldsborough Second XI in their match against Dishforth.
Interestingly, all the ten wickets fell to catches, each batsman having managed to strike the ball.
Undeterred, the team set about defending their meagre total and snapped up two quick wickets without conceding a run.
Their hopes were dashed, however, when the third batsman for Dishforth, the home side, earned victory for his team through the only runs to come from the bat in the match.
The match is thought to be the lowest scoring game in the 112-year history of the Nidderdale and District Amateur Cricket League in North Yorkshire.
Wisden Almanack, the cricketers' bible, described Disforth's feat as very rare.
Chris Lane, Wisden's managing director, said it was also amazing that every Goldsborough batsman had been caught.
"Having all put bat to ball, it's quite extraordinary that they didn't manage to get a single run," he said.
But records show the batting failure was exceeded in the Midlands in 1931 when Shepstone's XI were all out for only four extras.
Goldsborough's runs were achieved through four byes and a leg bye in fewer than 12 overs against the division four leaders.
Peter Horseman, captain of the losing team, said it was a "surreal and embarrassing experience."
"We could have got a run but the batsman had just been hit on the foot the ball before and he turned down the chance.
"When we were naught for four I jokingly said it would be strange if we were all out for ducks."
Dishforth's captain Steve Wilson said: "It was really tough for them. Everything they hit just went wrong.
"At one stage 12 batsmen had been in without one of them scoring a run. It was all getting a bit bizarre."
The miserable batting performance created a stir on Goldsborough Cricket Club's official website. One contributor wrote: "I know it was wet on Saturday, but nobody expected so many ducks."
Kudos to the United team for having an excellent website.when it comes to the love of the game, I guess we can safely say that each one of us in the league is completely enamored by the sport, but the united guys take it to a nice level.(they are probably the only team in the league that shows up a good hour before the game!) BTW, do you guys take turns in maintaining the site or the poor newbie every year gets shafted? ): romeen
Our website was designed by Souvir (After Crash Media) and Ritesh Kothari. Day to day updating is handled by Ritesh.
Apart from that, newbies are assigned status of KIT BOYS, to assemble team accessories. You can check with Samarth, Ravi, Dhiraj, etc etc,...its pretty much slavery for new boys. UCC is easy team to get into, and its very hard to stay in. All the new boys are abused by seniors.
Narishma, I have always asked my players to be as fair as possible cause the last thing I want to tarnish ICC image is people like you and your team and teams like your's calling us cheats based on one game or one decision given the fact that you all made some more poor decisions than ICC umpires. To clear the records on this here is what happened last week. 1)Stump out. the batsmen came down the wicket was beaten in flight. He stopped his advance turned around and grounded his bat. It looke close from outside. You all tought he was out the umpire said was close and give the batsman benifit of the doubt. 2)The run out was never out. From outside, the batsmen was clearly pass the leg umpire by the time the stumps were broken. you all thought he was out cause you never saw the batsman who was running wide of the wicket to avoid injury on the dangerous grounds near #3 wicket. I politely addressed Swetal on this at the break and let him know how i felt about sending off the square leg Umpire on these two decisions. You all said it ok don't worry then now you want to call us cheats?. I guess it does not take a lot to call someone names when they are not standing in front of you. Two years ago. I recall the incident but not too clear what exactly happened so i will not address it but i will let you know that ICC or My reputition was not built around one or two game/decisions. i guess we have courage and nerves to say we practice what we preach.One thing for sure I know i have never done is request a fellow cricker to leave his position in the game cause my team fells he is cheating????. This is my take and i stand by it Rup
Rup, As you said ICC's reputation was not built on one or two games. Go ask the Peoria guys how they feel. No two teams can have the same impression about a team.
We were chasing 270 against Peoria and fell short by 3 runs. There was six which was declared as a four by the fielder in the last over which we accepted. Of course we protested but did not belittle our opponents.
Thanks for putting everything on the record. We too had fielders from square leg to wicket keeper who will vouch for the stumping and run out.
Clearly, reputation has to be built over a period of time from experience!!!!
United How is Dhiraj's condition? He'll be needed against the Wildcats this weekend. Its unfortunate that you guys lost the Purdue game. Especially since you have tough games coming up.
Mildcats!!- I like that,thats funny!I'm gonna use that one, my teammates will love it!
Has age caught up with the 'cats?I wish we could blame it on age.As we all know, we are only 6 months older than the age when we were champions!! Funny game this!The other teams have definitely caught up though, i'm sure nobody will argue with me if i said that the quality of cricket in the league has skyrocketed in the past few years. having said that, we have clearly underperformed in this season thus far.Its probably a combination of several things that has led us to do only one thing well this season and that is - suck!So, any comments/ suggestions are welcome. Now the question is in the second half of the season can we get out of suckville?the only thing I can vouch for is the determination of my teammates, i've known and played with the same bunch of guys for 8 seasons now and I know they are tough competitors and they'll fight to the bitter end.But only time will tell if the 'cats have any roar left in them. romeen
Hey Romeen, I think your just hearing from guys who have probably lost to you in years past who are now taking shots at you. Still, I am seriously hoping that you guys lose and don't make it to the playoffs. One less team to worry about!!!
How old are the Wildcats anyways? I'm guessing most of them must be in their mid to upper 30's. If you consider that to be old then I should have retired 10 years ago.
Anonymous said... United How is Dhiraj's condition? He'll be needed against the Wildcats this weekend. Its unfortunate that you guys lost the Purdue game. Especially since you have tough games coming up.
unfortunately Dhiraj will not be available this weekend, we will have to push on without him. even more unfortunate is the fact that this is a pivotal game for both cats and us, it seems whom ever loses this game is looking at long odds of going to the post season. you can never underestimate the heart of a champion, so our guys will have to perform at their maximum to compete with a veteran club like the wildcats. after compteting against these guys for so long, they have definitely earned my respect and i value their commitment to winning year in and year out. but come this saturday will be trying our darndest to beat them. Good Luck cats! Faisal
I read several comments about the QC Kings' inability to win away games and how they exploit the home umpire's bias.
I think it is unfair to say that the QC Kings are home bullies. Yes, they have a better understanding of the wind, the pitch, and the ground conditions, but there's a lot more to them than just that. They have some very talented players who have the potential to turn a match around almost anywhere on any given day.
Secondly, I am not exactly sure they ask for favors from the home umpire. I have personally received a horrendous decision from this umpire sometime ago, but I have never doubted his integrity. He really wants to do a good job but is really hampered by an average cricketing aptitude. I hope the MCC will evaluate him objectively and take appropriate corrective actions.
One thing that I was a little peeved about though was the uneven playing surface. This ground is an injury trap, what with the steep slope on the left side. I am not sure this ground meets the kind of standards the MCC would like to brag about. The MCC must help the QC Kings find a new ground because this one isn't suitable for cricket one bit. Or even golf for that matter!
I would encourage everyone to enjoy their away game with the QC Kings and play without any fear or grudge. One thing about the QC Kings is that they are great hosts and will do everything to make you comfortable. Play hard but treat them with the respect they deserve.
best game of the year will be played at hanover park this week. guess who's playing. pak vs challenger. pak will beat challenger. good luck mahesh, daxx, tushar, sanjay and ofcourse bhavesh. all challenger bowler get ready for big sixes and fours. whoever wins will be the true champion and best team in mcc. this both team deserve to go for la open not the team tariq has been sending it.good luck boys.
hello mcc, can you guys vote on this. i think challenger lost to phoenix was intensionaly. i think pak lost to ucc so challenger thought losing to phoenix will get them back to where pak is and then aginst pak they have equal challenge and get rid of some of that winning string. i still think challenger is most respectful and they are the true champion. they been playing excellent since they came to this leage. we all have seen their game. is it true that they have played to phoenix with 3 different regular umpire. wow tariq how did you manage to do that. you need to get your act together. start sending your umpire to games. was it really a mcc game that was played. still challenger or phoenix did not say anything to mcc. guys that's a true sportmanship from both team.
both teams are champs, they are a team that consist of players who can be stars on any given day. One thing for sure, it is bound to be an exciting game, and especially the fact that it is being played in HP might make the game a huge run fest. Good Luck to both teams!!!
"i think challenger lost to phoenix was intensionaly. i think pak lost to ucc so challenger thought losing to phoenix will get them back to where pak is and then aginst pak they have equal challenge and get rid of some of that winning string."
That logic makes a ton of sense! (*hand on the forehead*)
Phoenix beat Challengers in one of the most exciting games that I have ever played. Mahesh Parikh was the only real threat and after his dismissal, the latter batsmen just caved in to the pressure. THEY DID NOT LOSE INTENTIONALLY. Give the credit where its due.
hello mcc, can you guys vote on this. i think challenger lost to phoenix was intensionaly. i think pak lost to ucc so challenger thought losing to phoenix will get them back to where pak is and then aginst pak they have equal challenge and get rid of some of that winning string. i still think challenger is most respectful and they are the true champion. they been playing excellent since they came to this leage. we all have seen their game. is it true that they have played to phoenix with 3 different regular umpire. wow tariq how did you manage to do that. you need to get your act together. start sending your umpire to games. was it really a mcc game that was played. still challenger or phoenix did not say anything to mcc. guys that's a true sportmanship from both team.
-on the comment on challengers losing to phoenix, author must be retarded.
Alright, let's mull this possibility of Challengers throwing the Phoenix game!!!You get the other team all out for 113. Ohh.. Great!!! you feel good about yourself and everybody in the team thinks it is going to be a cakewalk, considering the vaunted batting line up that Challengers have. The much to their dismay, they lose 5 quick and cheap wickets... At this point do you think the entire Challengers team was thinking that this game is going to be a cakewalk???
I dont think any team will or can lul will themselves into thinking that the game is theirs for the taking in this scenario. And i am quite certain no team with a zero loss record will tarnish their image and their impeccable record with a loss. It was probably a batting collapse triggered by an agressive Pheonix team. Congrats to Phoenix on an impressive victory but i am quite sure the Challengers will comeback strong especially with a game against Pak Gym this weekend.
--------- is it true that they have played to phoenix with 3 different regular umpire. wow tariq how did you manage to do that. you need to get your act together. start sending your umpire to games. was it really a mcc game that was played. --------
This was just one of those unfortunate things.
Joe Greene was scheduled to umpire this game, at Washington Park, as he has thousands of times before. However he had a car-accident on the morning of this game on the way to the ground and could not make it.
Since it was already past 10am and obviously there was no "backup umpire" standing by.. the suggestion was first made to have batting-side umpires stand in this game. After some discussion it was decided to have neutral players from different grounds stand-in as umpires whenever they could.
I believe 2 players were used in the first half of the game in this way. Then, the NoStars/Jaguars match ended early next door, and Alpesh Gohil of Nostars (who is a regular umpire in our league, and has officiated most weekends this year) took over and umpired the rest of the match (and thus was, literally, the Third Umpire :-)
Just one of those things IMHO - couldnt be avoided, and not likely to happen again. Nobody can really guard against emergencies (and/or car accidents umpires are involved in).
"hello mcc, can you guys vote on this. i think challenger lost to phoenix was intensionaly. i think pak lost to ucc so challenger thought losing to phoenix will get them back to where pak is and then aginst pak they have equal challenge and get rid of some of that winning string. i still think challenger is most respectful and they are the true champion. they been playing excellent since they came to this leage. we all have seen their game. is it true that they have played to phoenix with 3 different regular umpire. wow tariq how did you manage to do that. you need to get your act together. start sending your umpire to games. was it really a mcc game that was played. still challenger or phoenix did not say anything to mcc. guys that's a true sportmanship from both team."
-- Very interesting argument -:)
I hope other teams use the same logic and loose matches with us -:)
whoever wrote the post that challengers be ready for some sixes and fours. Just so you know we go into every game knowing batsmen have bats, so there might be sixes and fours. I don't know who you are and what you do as far as cricket goes but not one player in challenger thinks we are invincible. One thing promised you will get run for your money. Tushar
Hey Tushar, i don;t think anyone from our team wrote that - there are some trouble makers on here who write shit for the hell of it! Good luck on Sun (not looking forward to 92 F temperatures :( ).
"I think muslim gymkhna is gonna take the title this time, their players just keep hitting 100s."
And rest of the middle order batting keeps failing. The fact is that Muslim Gymkhana is far too inconsistent to ever be successful in the playoffs. From the looks of it, they may make it to the playoffs but will lose the very first game. I was looking at their team stats and voila, it has been those three brothers who have been carrying them. Other than them, they have picked up a few new players along with their captain. The captain Farhat has been having a horrendus season so far. May be the age factor is catching up to him. He's been constantly batting in the middle order and failed may be with an exception of Purdue. The other two new guys, Arbab and Saud are unknown so far to the league. Muslim Gymkhana's bowling is what I fear. They have now added a one of the better spinners to go with Kamran and Rizwan. On their day, they could be deadly. I was looking at their scorecards, and with an exception of Pak Gymkhana, no one have scored more than 200 runs against them. So say, if they were to score in the vicinity of 225 to 240, they will win 9 out of 10 times. But their batting is brutal, it's a well known fact. Half the times, they'll barely score 150.
AAA has had a sensational start leading from last year. Having won 9 out of 10, AAA is looking to be the champions of Division Two. Bilal Patel, Imran Taylor, and their skipper Hafez Adam Menk have carried the team on their shoulders. These 3 players being on the top 15 in batting have mastered the opposition and frustrated all types of bowlers. AAA is mixed team with batsmans: excellent batsman from 1-11. Last week Hanif Patel cracked a half century but to no prevail. AAA is moving on up so one loss will not defeat us within. We will make a comeback and it will be seen Saturday night.
Lots of good games this weekend. Obviously everyone is all excited about the Pak Gymkhana Challengers game who are no.1 and 2 in the points table. But there are three other games that will be just at interesting and intense. Milwaukee United vs Bears who are no.3 and no.4 respectively will be a good game too. Phoenix (no.7) after their sensational win against the Challengers will look to build on the momentum by beating Muslim Gymkhana who are no.7. But if I had to watch one game it will be the United CC and Wildcats game. This will be the most intense game of the year with two of the most experienced teams in the league who are fighting to stay alive. Remember last year, United were in the same situation which the Wildcats are in right now and managed to make it to the playoffs last. I won't be surprised if the defending champs do the same.
Yea Muslim Gymkhana is inconsistent. The captain Farhat hasn't scored a decent innings all season long. Unless they develop a strong middle order, they will keep collapsing.
"I was looking at their scorecards, and with an exception of Pak Gymkhana, no one have scored more than 200 runs against them"
They were bowled out for 135 against Purdue in the first innings and Purdue chased that score down in 32 overs. They were bowled out for 140 agaisnt Milwaukee United in the first innigns and Milwaukee United chased that score down in 25 overs.
Their bowling is not as good as your saying it is. Plus I highly doubt if Imran or Mehmood will score centuries and the elite teams in division I. Personally i think they only have two good batsman, Fawad and Kamran other than that its all downhill. They aren't making it out of the first round.
ok guys here we go again....my predictions are for this week's game (If this predictions come true on a regular basis, then I might open my hot line $9.99/perdiction) :)
div I Milwaukee United beats Bears Wildcats beats United Chargers beats Royals Phoenix beats Muslim Gym St Louis beats Milwaukee and.....here u go... Challangers beats Pak Gym
too many games for div II so can't spare that much time here... good luck to all div II teams cricket lover
Narasimha Please stop crying... ICC dont cheat...Get that nonsense out your system... I have said it once and I will say it again.. If I have to cheat to win I rather go home a loser everday... Thanks Proud ICC player Challenor Jack
Narasimha did you say this too? .. Anonymous said... I think Illinois Cricket Club is still sour from their defeat against Suburban. They blamed the umpire for the loss. And they were most unsportsmanlike in their conduct in that game, shouting obsenities at the umpire and behaving in unruly fashion.
And ICC is a top-heavy team. Once their top 3-4 are gone, they go down in their batting. And same applies for bowling.
No crying here !!!
*** Man stop it.. You dont need to go on crying.. the bottom line is this.. if we play your team 100 times you will win 2 games... one because we were trying to give you all hope and the next time we were too drunk from partying... Ok put that in your pipe and smoke it.. :)
Challengers will win as a team and loose as a team, i don't understand why so many other annoying anonymous coward individual not coming out with their full identity and tell everyone what ever he/she/it has to say, say it openly. by the way by beating challengers don't think that shive you win world cup, try to remember bangladesh beat australia, by that mean bangladesh is not world champion. on perticular that day you guys had that game. do not under estimate any other team. and by the way playoffs are coming will see and good luck for future.
Anonymous 11:07 AM get off your kool-aid, Mahesh don't bowl. He keeps the wickets. So before you use this blog for BS reasons get your S*** straight and come out of closet. Tushar
First of all how about mateen from surburban, I stood up there and watched him appeal for an LBW when he later tells me he knew it wasnt an LBW, so why tell hell appeal-------wait that cant be cheating he was trying to test the umpire and maybe get a sly cheating out. Second of all arsenal is a nasty team doesnt matter how hard you try to be nice to them they will spit on you because they are stuck up, and no one respects a team like that. Thats why its necesarry for them to cheat to compensate for the politics also why no one cares what Narasimha says, why dont you go run for government office or something they could use you
AAA and ICC are execptional and well experience teams that can pick out any slight injustice that has been commited to them, Their just that good so for anyone to argue that they are cheating teams (and the high official umpires will back me up on this) is pure insanity. The only people that really complain on these blog writtings like Narasimha are the weaker teams fight for 11 and 12 cause god nows they cant back it up with playing cricket. (It sounds like Narasimha is still sour from two years ago when rup destroyed them, he says they cheated but when doesnt the word cheat come out from his mouth.
"They were bowled out for 135 against Purdue in the first innings and Purdue chased that score down in 32 overs. They were bowled out for 140 agaisnt Milwaukee United in the first innigns and Milwaukee United chased that score down in 25 overs.
Their bowling is not as good as your saying it is. Plus I highly doubt if Imran or Mehmood will score centuries and the elite teams in division I. Personally i think they only have two good batsman, Fawad and Kamran other than that its all downhill. They aren't making it out of the first round."
Actually, Purdue had lost 7 wickets by the time they chased the total and Milwaukee United had lost 5 or 6. Their bowling is certainly is not as strong as Pak Gymkhana, but definetly one of the better bowling sides in the league, and deadly when they are on. As for the batsmen, I agree that batting is extremely weak. Their captain is performing very poorly yet continues to bat in the top order. The only game he didn't bat on top was against Pak Gymkhana and we all know why he did not. He was too afraid of getting out cheaply, and yet he managed it even when he batted at no.11. However, Imran and Kamran can be extremely dangerous on their days.
"by the way by beating challengers don't think that shive you win world cup, try to remember bangladesh beat australia, by that mean bangladesh is not world champion. on perticular that day you guys had that game."
Sanjay, they beat the only remaining unbeaten side in the league and people weren't given credit to them. I don't think Shiva was rubbing it in. I'm sure he was just annoyed by the 'intentional loss' theory of that retard. Challengers are one of the favourites to win this year similar to last year, but they aren't unbeatable, infact no team in Division I is unbeatable. There is no AUSTRALIA in this league, and I assure you, Phoenix is no Bangladesh either. Good luck this weekend.
Tushar/Sanjay, You guys should not take it too personally about what Shiv has said. As far as I know him, he would be less carless about rubbing it on (unless you guys took it in that sense), I think he was just annoyed by the previous comments (about Challangers loosing on purpose).
There's not a such thing as Australia or Bangladesh in MCC (Sanjay you should know that better since you've been playing for the league for a long time :) ). You guys are a great team and it was our honour to beat the team like Challangers. No one is trying to accuse you guys for loosing, at least Phoenix!! Good luck for the playoffs and the rest of the season. Samir
My comments were purely based on the game that was played that day.... I know the potential of Challengers and its overwhelming.. each of the team members is capable of taking away a game on their day..... BUT we will be ready for future games too..... WILL fight it out even if we ended up meeting in the play offs.... WE have the confidence NOW to take on anyone.... but we are not underestimating any of the opponents....so good luck this weekend
sanjay patel said... Challengers will win as a team and loose as a team, i don't understand why so many other annoying anonymous coward individual not coming out with their full identity and tell everyone what ever he/she/it has to say, say it openly. by the way by beating challengers don't think that shive you win world cup, try to remember bangladesh beat australia, by that mean bangladesh is not world champion. on perticular that day you guys had that game. do not under estimate any other team. and by the way playoffs are coming will see and good luck for future.
If you believe phoenix is like Bangladesh team, then why make a following statment, "do not under estimate any other team?" Why would team like Bangladesh underestimate Australia? hmmmm let's be real!!!!
How can anyone compare Phoenix to Bangladesh. They have beaten St. Louis and the Challengers. They should have probably beaten United as well if it weren't for the umpire. They even got Pak Gymkhana out for 155, this is when Pak Gymkhana was on a rampage. The only disappointing games they had were against the Tigers and Purdue which they probably should have won. I'm not saying they are a favourite to win the championship. But calling them Bangladesh is just idiotic.
Shiva I'm happy that the game against us boost your confidence level. As far as future games are considered, we look forward to seeing you. Good luck to you guys for the rest of the season. Anon 8:28 AM Talk to challengers when you are ready to come out of the closet, or else just stay in there and please don't address us. CHALLENGERS
"challengers when you are ready to come out of the closet"
Tushar and CHALLENGERS, you guys got the whole "coming out of closet" thing a bit mixed up. It wont do you guys any good if that guy who posted all those comments came out of the closet.
Samir, Milwaukee United beats Bears Wildcats beats United Chargers beats Royals Phoenix beats Muslim Gym St Louis beats Milwaukee and.....here u go... Challangers beats Pak Gym
Your last prediction about the Bears was also incorrect...
Anon 8:56 am, since you are scared to say who you are, we don't think you can do us any good anyways. Anon 9:09 am you can compare us to whoever you want, don't make a damn of difference here. As far your opinion goes it's ANON anyways CHALLENGERS
Whoever posted the comments about phoenix being close in every game. that's why they are in div.1, most of the games are close in div.1 at one stage or other.
I don't think Shiv meant Mahesh is the only player teams have to be concerned about. I think he was just talking about that one match. We know Challengers have lot of talented cricketers like Tushar, Daxx, Bhavesh, Nilesh, Mahesh. I have seen enough of your matches to know even #11 in your team could score a 50.
I don't think we are relatively that bad to be Bangladesh of Div1. Since we are a relatively new team, I did expect someone in the blog to make that comparision of Bangladesh beating Australia -:)
"Whoever posted the comments about phoenix being close in every game. that's why they are in div.1, most of the games are close in div.1 at one stage or other."
So if they stay close in all the games they aren't Bangladesh right? As far as I know Bangladesh gets blown out by pretty much every team in international cricket.
Some of the best cricketers in the league started off with Suburban, for some reason people just keep moving out of suburban. I remember in 2002 they had a really good team ( Shahid Munir, Mateen Syed were playing for them ). The following year they were a totally different team. Last year they were a very good team also but, again this year it's a different team. If somehow they can retain people they would be a very good team and could easily beat some teams in Div1.
Samir, Common man you have us losing again, I sure hope ur prediction is wrong, our game has been changed from Lindsay park to Lincoln Park, We have a good chance their..
Stop answering the blogs that are ANON, man you guys dont have to prove anytihng to anyone, Phoneix is a good team but that doesnt mean they are better than you guys, just because they beat you on that particular day. I sure do wish you both come face to face in the playoffs, that would be some game. Good Luck this week!!!
Phoenix, Just a bit of advice: you guys are young and this is your first year in Div I. just because you guys beat challengers doesn't mean you should go around beating your chests and flaunting it. any team can beat another on any given day. The next game against challengers, just be carefull they might put up 300+ on you guys. take it graciously and act like you have been there before.
Tushar etc. thats why I've stopped replying to anaonymous posts, some ANON told me I was like a 12 year old but didn't have enough balls to put his name at the bottom. No use getting worked up because of some cowardly a-holes.
Hey, anybody checked umpire for pak vs challengers game. Joe Green !!! I am sure pak has no problem with this as there is nobody of that religion in Challenger's team. Whatever happened to the player who made such comment. Hello management?
Guys, I'm not getting worked up, neither am I trying to put phoenix down, if you read my earlier post. i did mention that phoenix is good team and that's why they are in div.1. Venu I have utmost respect for everyteam that plays in this league, be it div.1, 2 or 30/30, or night. Challengers don't underestimate anyone and we take loss graciously. I never said we are unbeatable. Guys and one more thing we don't think about the game that is over, atleast not this year. guys good luck to everyone for rest of the season. Phoenix no hard feeling. Bears thanks for the post. Raheel see you on sunday in that scorching heat. Tushar
We recently played an Abid Laheri game against MDS and one of their leg-umpires called the batsman run-out. The batsman was out and leg-umpire had no qualms in raising the finger (not the middle one).
Hats off to that leg umpire.
There were few posts regarding a third rate leg-umpire from Pak Gym winning the game for his team recently. While one of the Pak Gym players stopped responding to ANON comments, he can very well comment about decision in that game.
It was a direct hit and the fielding team usually gets excited about those - umpire called it a not out. The same umpire had earlier given Irfan out (a bowled decision around the legs, which the first umpire had not been able to see) - the first umpire asked the leg umpire and he gave it out (correctly) - now if he were a cheat he would've said that he was not able to see that either and the first umpire would have to give the benefit of the doubt to the batsman. Irafan at that point was playing at 36 and looking in good form.
On another note, what is your problem with Pak Gym? Are you from Eagles? We do have a game coming up - show your talents over there!
Mr. Talented is not happy. With figures of 4 overs for 41 runs against a Div II team (MDS), hope you are not talking about your own exceptional talent. Its good you don't have all the talented players like yourself, else that game would have been finished in 16 overs.
Thanks so much for this blog idea, you wake up and come to work on time and visit the site and check out all the comments, im sure everybody in Midwest that visits this blog will vouch for how entertaining the experience is to visit the blog daily. All the interesting views, ideas and the arguments back and fourth, by the time you are finished reading the latest comment posted, as soon as u refresh there is an another comment waiting, awesome idea...
Great point from The Bears on the Blog. Kudo's to Jaggi and the others who help him. I am hooked on this one now. I checked this blog site 4-5 days ago and now I am on it every 10 mins. I am really sorry to say this, but PEOPLE GROW UP !! When you point ONE FINGER towards someone FOUR gets pointed back at you...
I think this blog needs to used in more constructive way by MCC members by posting things that need fixing by management or things, few posts brought up, 'bad' conditions of grounds. This certainly should NOT be used for 'trash' comments on other team or posts that arise from personal vendetta against certain team..but most comments are nice and dicussion very positive..Kudos to Jaggi, Hari and MCC management for their great 'innovative' idea to bring MCC family together....through a discussion 'blog'..I am hooked..
This blog is a great tool for all of MCC to see some of the issues we still have. Thanks to all who is working on this to keep it going. Since i have been visiting this blog i have seen too many comments about decisions or about umpiring and the effect it has on our game. I have spent some time reviewing the umpires and i feel we do not have enough of our top players umpiring. Division 1 is supposed to be the more talented and good guys but I don't seem to see too many division 1 popular players umpiring??. Division 2 has a lot of umpires but there Stats are not what you will call good quality players. I feel if we have more quality players umpiring matches there will be less arguments on decisions cause there is more respect given with consideration that the umpire is a good player with lots of experience. "talent & experience make for sound decision making". A player who play a couple of game or 5 or 6 game with no statistics tell you a lot of his knowledge and ability to play the game and will only lead to poor decision making. Then again i could be wrong but so far my take seem to be true??. I will like to see every talented player in this league umpire at least two game a season. I know a lot of us probably don't need the monies but MCC can sure use your help and charity if you so care to.
I do not know if MCC ic currently using Captains reference only or just anyone can sign up and say I want to umpire. I think captains reference will be a great way to eliminate some inexperience umpires??
ICC has two of us umpiring. Myself and Raj Bhagwandeen. Two of our most experience players. Can't wait for this Sunday to be back in the field under the heat trying to take off any stripes or spots them Jaguars holding on to.
See you all next week or maybe tomorrow evening if time spare. Rup
Raheel Thanx for the explanation. You make it sound simple. But there are some who feel the decision left a bad taste. I do not have a problem with Pak Gymkhana. But there's a general opinion about few teams crying over umpiring decisions and remaining quiet over leg-umpiring decisions! Hence my query.
Unfortunately my schedule won't allow me to play the night tournament. I would try my best to stop by and say hello!
"some ANON told me I was like a 12 year old but didn't have enough balls to put his name at the bottom. No use getting worked up because of some cowardly a-holes."
Raheel, does that mean your not 12? I'm shocked!!!
Bears, Lets see how you guys fare this weekend against Milwaukee United. Nothing against your team, but you haven't really beaten any elite opponent. Although I gained a lot of respect for you team after you chased down 260 against the Flames. Win , and I am sure everyone will be talking about the Bears next week. Unless afcorse, someone from Pak Gymkhana cheats or curses at an umpire, which is very likely to happen. Then they'll get all the attention.
You should hear both sides of the story before passing judgements like "third rate leg umpire won them the match" - if the umpire were a cheat he wouldn't have given that bowled decision either which was very unclear from front on as it was a legspinner who spun it from round the legs of the batsman. We have only lost one game in the season so far and that has not been on the back of leg umpiring decisions, its by playing good cricket.
I would like to say few words about this whole UMPIRING stuff going on here. How about the TEAMS playing each other showing some sportsmanship on their own? It is the Team's responsibility anyway. Just do your part and see how others are reacting, soon this whole mess will clean itself up. Have you guys ever thought about this?
some people have all the time in the world or have no life:) i randomly check this site and find werid and interesting comments from known player and many,many anon. y i dont know, like raheel said they dont have balls or whatever dont matter play the game be respectfull towards the ump no one is perfect u win or loose same umps are there randomly so dont blame them, as far muslim winning or loosin or inconsistently or blah blah captain this or that mr anon y dont u worry about ur team and let us worry about ours we have a better record then last year, and half the season still remians. we dont care if our captain scores or three brother are doing things if u look at any team take 2or3 main players out they are nothing from pak to st louis u cant have 11 all star and if u did u wouldnt make it like the world 11 vs autralia this is a team game not a captains or 3 brothers or 3 friends "11" my friend 11 is the key so let muslim worry about muslim keep ur anon predictions to yourself thank you very MUCH!!! moe muslim i have balls:)
Raheel let dogs bark, that's their job. You do what ever needs to be done by team and play just a player and do best job that you can perform. Don't worry some stupid will give comments even if you do best job. Sanjay
Guys, I was looking at the point table and then the remainder of the schedule for the bottom four playoffs team and the season looks very interesting. I believe pak, challengers, bears, mil. united pretty much secured playoff berth. other four teams remains to be seen. It's probably going to be probably best second half in MCC history. Tushar
I think that Q.C kings just cannot stand losing. The only out that Lucky XI asked about was a caught behind that was given out for H. Polli. The bat was nowhere near the bat yet umpire still gave it out. They are sore losers. I hope that they lose the rest of their games and dont make the playoffs becauase if they do then any team that they will face is going to be hearing a lot bulls***.
I have one suggestion. You know how there are lots of players looking teams and teams looking for players in the offseason. Maybe you guys can have a way by which players can put their names, contact information, and other information in general(teams, runs scored, batsman, bowler etc) on the MCC website. I remember last year I desperately wanted to play for some team but couldn't get in touch with anyone since I didn't know anybody. There are about 50 teams in the league, I'm sure there would be someone that might want a decent and dedicated cricketer in their team. I don't think any other league in the country has done this in the past. We could be the first one's to do so. let me know what you guys think.
I will keep myself ANON for a reason and I also respect your support for your Team.
Pak Vs Mil United game: If the leg umpire would not have given out for a clear bowled decison than it would have been the dubious decision of the year.That was not a favor by the leg umpire and does not mean that he can compensate somewhere else. I have played against Milwaukee United and know how well behaved they are with everyone and a team which has not been involved in any controversy ever.They have always played clean cricket and their leg umpires have never hesitated in giving out in close situations. At the end of the day what matters is that one's conscience is clear that they won cleanly. Let's all of us try to play good cricket without any bad feelings...we all love this game.
"I was looking at their scorecards, and with an exception of Pak Gymkhana, no one have scored more than 200 runs against them. So say, if they were to score in the vicinity of 225 to 240, they will win 9 out of 10 times"
LOL...Phoenix scored 261 against Muslim. And Phoenix actually bowl better than they bat
Phoenix is not beating thier chest for their win against the challengers but we are running high on confidence on that and even if we meet again and you score 300+ runs we know we may be able to beat you up on that too. It is you guys who needs to stop falunting that you are the best team in div 1 and posting nast comments like this . be a man a accept that the best team won. if you were the best what hjappened to you with Pak Gym team. It seems you are chokers of Div 1.
Anon 7:53 am, thanks for the big label. Like I said we take our losses graciously. You would know that if you ever played us. We never claimed we are invincible and just for your information CHALLENGERS has been in the league for four years and 2 championship and 2 semi losses don't seem too shabby to me. Let us know what have you done lately? Thanks for giving us challenges. We look forward to it. Tushar
well if you took your losses graciously why are the phoenix team being compared by your teammates as a bangladesh team and your team as austrailia. phoenix team players have never said that they are a good team and yours is not, just that they gave u guys a run for your run chase and they ended up being the better of the two teams that day.And I personally know that could could give you a good challange any day if you two meet up. This is MY prediction that Phoenix will atleast come up to the Semi finals, They just need to improve on thier fielding, otherwise why would they have the TOP batsman, catcher and bowler within the top 15. How many do you have? A meager 2-3 , Phoenic has atleast 5 in the TOP 15.
Tushar, Phoenix were the runners up last year in Division II. The year before that was their first year in the league. So I guess you must consider yourself lucky that Phoenix were not playing Division I, otherwise you can kiss your two championships goodbye :)) comeon man, your teammates made a big deal out of somethign that was so trivial. Sanjay patel was the one who took the first shot by comparing Phoenix to Bangladesh.
Div. 2 player I don't look to get personal and take cheap shots, but with a scum bag like you who is giving phoenix way more importance and disrespecting other 16 div. 1 teams. What the heck do you think phoenix is? Rest of the world eleven. I don't know if you are from phoenix or their affiliated div. 2 team. But you are making way too much of this and you need to shut up and mind your own damn business. By the way let me know where do you stand in the standing in div. 2. Tushar
I do not play for any team and am not disrespecting any of the teams here just giving credit where it is due, you may be a good team just does not mean that your team mate can put other team players down, talk to your team first before calling me a scum bag it look like your team has one.This does not mean that I am a phoenix fan I am also a Pak Gym Fan, I am also your team Fan, I jsut do not liek it when one team says bad about the other team. I am just a spectator who knows cricket.
hey i didn't write that previous post (ANON 9:55am)
Tushar, How exactly am i dissing the other 16 teams in Division I? You guys couldn't chase down 114 against Phoenix. Pak Gymkhana just toyed with your team and your telling everyone about your two championships...have you no shame? You asked what has Phoenix accomplished, and I gave you a breakdown. If your teammate can compare Phoenix to Bangaldesh, then whats wrong with me comparing Phoenix to "Rest of the World XI". Both those statements are equally idiotc. First, take Sanjay Patel aside and explain to him not to post worthless garbage then come and talk to me.
I am not here to defend Phoenix. I am sure they can handle themselves. Personally, I just want them to do good because they played Division II last year and are now doing pretty good in Division I. It makes us Division II guys feel a little bit better about ourselves. Also, I'm a bit annoyed by the arrogance shown by some of these Division I players who think too much of themselves. Obviously Division I is better, but that doesn't mean Division II SUCKS.
Division II player, not to get into your argument or whatever, but I have seen both sides of the coin - I played in Div 2 for one year (2003) with IIT, we lost in the final. Along the way there were some good teams and some really pathetic ones. I remember this one guy came to the crease and asked the umpire for guard by holding the bat parallel to the crease instead of perprndicular! And a bowler (from the opposition) also once asked me why we shine the ball!
There are some good teams/players in Div 2 but majority of them are hopeless in my opinion. Take Rup of ICC, he's also a Division II player but is class!
after the team looses, then division I player comes up with an idea of comaring the loosing team to Bangladesh!! :) I think this scenario is worst than those two you have mentioned about div II players (may be this particular person who was trying to compare needs to shine his brain and hold his thought parellel :)
2nd thing I remember a team captain from div I kept on arguing with the umpire about not giving away wides because he could not connect :) 3 balls he argued and 4th ball he gets out!! now go figure who's hopeless!! :)
"Middle and leg" guard is sometimes taken by having the bat parallel to the crease. So, it is not totally absurd to have the bat parallel to the crease!
sometime when batters want the mark between middle and leg, hold the bat parallel to the crease and align with leg stump and then turn perpendicular. that gives you between middle and leg. that is a one way to do it.
so watch and learn rather than step on others because they are division II.
here is a piece of advise....may be you have forgotten this.
every fool look like a pundit untill they open their mouth. so try to be a pundit.
'sometime when batters want the mark between middle and leg, hold the bat parallel to the crease and align with leg stump and then turn perpendicular. that gives you between middle and leg. that is a one way to do it.'
Unless they don't turn it perpendicular in which case it is some dumbass who had nothing better to do on weekends and decided cricket would be a fun outing.
Oh well, may be they have their own technique - Imran Khan admitted to not measuring and marking his bowling run up on his test debut (he simply used to walk back a few steps and run into bowl!), so may be we have more talent in Div 2 than I thought - apologies!
well ppl listen up...Raheel is the same talented great player who payed for IIT in 2004 Div 1, and his talents relegated IIT back to Div 2.
Raheel, we all believe u have some great players in ur team. But trust me, we have no doubts, we have plenty of players better than u in Div 2. i was going through your record in Div2 in 2003,and Div 1 in 2004, its nothing to boast about Mr Talented. Ur alma mater IIT is still struggling to reach Div 1. And trust me , Div 2 playoff teams are not inferior to any Div 1 team. Royals, Milwaukee United, Phoenix and Purdue has proven it. But if u wanna live in fool's paradise, don't expect help from us.
I simply said that there are good teams and some pathetic ones in Div 2 (which is true), when did I say that Div 2 play off teams are crap?! You guys just like getting personal and all and then don't tell who you are so you can criticise my record but hide yours.
Also cricket is a team game, Pak Gym has been #1 in Div 1 throughout the season so far, where are your teams?! Just trying to put some perspective into this conversation, let's see where you and your team are that your attacking my record. As for the clown comment, if you had any balls whatsoever you would put your name down or say that to my face! Like Rup (Div 2) said in his post "you know what they call a guy who walks with his mouth and has no Balls to back it up???. the last census show to have lots of them on Broadway Ave, Chicago."
I didnt post anything earlier about you. Agreed, there are a lot of bad teams in Division II who should probably be relegated to 30-30, that way all the leagues will be competitive. What I was angry about is the attitude shown by some Division I players against Division II. Earlier Tushar bragged about his two championships and 2 semi final appreances and asked the Phoenix players "Let us know what have you done lately?" Now maybe Tushar is ignorant or just plain stupid, but he should know that Phoenix were one of the top two teams in Division II that is why they are playing Division I.
Division II player
ps. you sure that guy that asked you "why do you shine the ball?" wasn't Sanjay patel? I know he played Division II that year
You should hear both sides of the story before passing judgements like "third rate leg umpire won them the match" - if the umpire were a cheat he wouldn't have given that bowled decision either which was very unclear from front on as it was a legspinner who spun it from round the legs of the batsman. We have only lost one game in the season so far and that has not been on the back of leg umpiring decisions, its by playing good cricket.
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Raheel - On the same lines, its unfair to castigate Sridher Jagath in the game u played against United. As far as decisions are concerned, I would tend to give benefit of doubt to neutral umpires than those leg-umpires who are downright cheats.
I'm with Tushar on that one, 2 championships is no joke - I think I will know that as well as anyone having lost last year's final. As for Phoenix, ok they have a 6-4 record and they beat some good teams including Challengers by one run, but they did brag about it too. As someone pointed out earlier that IIT got relegated to Div 2 after 2004 (which was at the request of the captain, as a lot of players either left the team or moved away from Chicago area and there were 2 teams below IIT) - we won 3 matches in that season one of which was against (surprise surprise) Challengers! And it was not a one run win, rather comprehensive. Thats the only match Challenegers lost that season and we only beat Muslim Gym and Hoffman Estates (now Chargers) after that. Moral of the story: winning one match against a top team does not prove anything. If Phoenix do make it to the playoffs then I don't think anyone will deny that they are indeed a good team.
Where exactly did you see me bad mouthing Div 2 playoff teams? I just said that some teams are really really bad. Why do you think IIT failed to win more than 3 matches in Div 1 - because the competition is much stiffer and the teams are much better! Hope this answers your questions and clears it up a bit.
"Raheel - On the same lines, its unfair to castigate Sridher Jagath in the game u played against United. As far as decisions are concerned, I would tend to give benefit of doubt to neutral umpires than those leg-umpires who are downright cheats."
I thought we had put the 'umpiring controversies' behind us, apparently not. Well if you have labelled the leg umpires as 'downright cheats' anyways, then why are you surprised when they favor the batting team? Aren't they doing what you're expecting them to do?
Just to put things in perspective about Div 2: Rivercity was #3 team last year. Most of their players moved to form Peorica CC and were pre season favorites. They are indeed very good team, but are facing some stiff competition and are in the middle of the points table in Div 2.
So, I just have 2 points to make: 1. Div 1 have much better teams in totality. But the Div2 playoff teams are good enough to get respect they deserve.
2. Div 1 players genereally do not show the respect to Div2 teams who move up to the higher ranks. And its perfectly ok as they have to prove they belong to Div 1 and earn respect rather than beg for it.
"Yeah...u are right, Sanjay Patel. Let the dogs bark; and u my friend, your job is to contribute your janitorial talent to our facilities, rather than this blog."
234 comments:
1 – 200 of 234 Newer› Newest»My team, NoStars got trashed mercilessly by R.P Singh and Co's Jaguars at WP today. It was a pretty boring game, except when R.P went wild in the end, and even the Jaguars quietly packed up and disappeared without too much visible celebrations.
But, in the ground next to us it was a totally different story. Phoenix, after being bowled out by Challengers for 115 came back to win by 1 run in a sensational game. Hats off to Phoenix! This is a team with a lot of heart. Challengers is a champion team and to pull off a win like that over them takes a lot of effort. I say, watch out for them!
wow, three real close games in Div. 1 this weekend (inculding 2 major upsets).
Phoenix beat Challengers by 1 run (big, big upset!)
Purdue beat United CC by 10 runs or so (another upset)
Pak Gym beat Milwaukee united by 1 wkt...(wow, i wish i had been there to watch this one)
It seems like that the newcomers phoenix and purdue have a good shot of making it to the playoffs while some of the top teams(based on their record over the years) like wildcats and United CC will have to play out of their skins to remain in the race this time.
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
So far these predictions are coming true :)
Samir
It was truley the most amazing win experieance while competing against the most highly recognized team!! It was purley the team effort. Keep up the good work Phoenix!!!
Samir
I guess United were still celebrating their victory agaisnt Pak Gymkhana. What can one say about that? Beat the best team and then lose to a division II team.
Pak Gym vs MUCC
Definitely one of the best matches I've been involved in and a terrific knock by Hassan bhai - 84* as opener, on a turning wicket (it was the Milwaukee CC wicket i.e. matting over turf instead of the regular MUCC ground). He played out maidens when the bowling was good and hit boundaries whenever the runrate threatened to become too steep. Well played MUCC too, who fought till the end.
-Raheel.
AAA Vs. Jolly Rovers was a great and exciting game and it came down to the umpire. Making unruly calls the umpire caused AAA the Game. AAA played well bowled well. THe umpire giving 45 wides to AAA is the factor of there lost.
WOW! According to some Illinois Cricket Club cannot win another game... That comment can only come from a jealous IIT player....I am curious to know if IIT beat Illinois when they had the chance?
"I guess United were still celebrating their victory agaisnt Pak Gymkhana. What can one say about that? Beat the best team and then lose to a division II team. "
Phoenix, a Div 2 team? excuse me...
your attitude in full show here...u must be from Pak Gym, then.
Ramsundar, to correct you, it was Purdue that beat United CC : )). For people who call Purdue a Div II team, I think they are having a time lag, it is 2006 (not 2005, get an update of your system) and shows that persons attitude towards cricket. As mentioned before if people want to make any comment please reveal your name and make a comment openly with the idea of not belittling anyone or any team. This would auger well for all parties concerned.
---Purdue University CC.
Purdue and Phoenix are no.6 and no.8 in the Division I playoff race. Both teams especially Phoenix (since I wasn't really surprised when Purdue beat United) should be given credit for pulling out the upsets.
Pak Gymkhana have bounced back well after last game. they went to Milwaukee under different conditions and beat a very good Milwaukee United side.
Congralutaions to all the teams that won. Unfortunately, we(Tigers) lost both our games. We have to play some really good cricket to stay in Div-1. Got a mountain to climb, just need to make sure we have are well prepared for it.
Spoke to some of the Phoenix guys at the night game last night.. obviously, they were thrilled. Congratulations to them on beating the Challengers.
I have been checking out the night games at Hanover Park. Did a small picnic with my family last week, it was great. Good weather, good cricket and ofcourse good food :-).
they went to Milwaukee under different conditions and beat a very good Milwaukee United side.
Yeah Right!
Say thanks to the Pak Gym leg umpire.
They wouldnt have won this one if not for a "spectacular, absolutely wonderful " decision by one of their mates (leg umpiring) that saved their ass.
They won the game but lost respect.
In our game against Bears, Deepak(ex-Milwaukee United) bowled really well. He had the bears in all sorts of trouble taking 6 wickets. We were trying to defend 106 . Unfortunately, a couple of catches were dropped. If we had caught Afroze(7 wiks down and 15 to get), which was a sitter, things could have been more interesting.
samir what were u thinking tigers beating the bears. Well that prediction of yours didn’t come true.
And what’s up people no mention of the bears in any comments. We have won the last 5 games, and are 3rd in the rankings. Also, I have a question for everyone, do you think if the bears beat MUCC next week would that be an upset???
Bears are playing real good cricket at the moment and with Adeel back in the lineup they are a team to watch out for. The 260+ chase they pulled off against the Flames last week was a big victory for them indeed and could be the defining moment for their entire season.
Also, it would be very interesting to see how the Bears perform in the remaining games. The rest of their schedule is pretty tough with almost all the teams still in the playoff hunt.
Also, it would be very interesting to see how the Bears perform in the remaining games. The rest of their schedule is pretty tough with almost all the teams still in the playoff hunt.
Purdue - Sorry for the mix-up.
" ...And what’s up people no mention of the bears in any comments. We have won the last 5 games, and are 3rd in the rankings. "
bcuz...You guys win games and don't lose respect... (ha..ha..ha)
They wouldnt have won this one if not for a "spectacular, absolutely wonderful " decision by one of their mates (leg umpiring) that saved their ass.
They won the game but lost respect.
so how come no man of match for umpire this time, Pak?
Any guesses, who was the second umpire?
Irfan sohail?
NO WAY!! How about Bakshi?
damnnnnnnnnnnn. LOL!!!
"samir what were u thinking tigers beating the bears. Well that prediction of yours didn’t come true"
I tried to get most of my predictions right :) Congrats to Bears!!!
Why Pak Gymkhana are always in the loop of controversies?
Samir
Except Farman, the rest will never give a run out from square-leg umpire position.
Raheel, any idea why the man of the match(as posted in the summary) is not Hasan? He hit a six in the final over, right?
"......do you think if the bears beat MUCC next week would that be an upset??? "
Yeah, that will be an upset!!
guys big game next week...
Pak Gymkhana vs Challengers. This is as big as it gets. Any predictions?
y are pak gym the most hated team in the leauge ? think hard ????? if u are smart u really dont have to or do u?
Vasu said...
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WOW! According to some Illinois Cricket Club cannot win another game... That comment can only come from a jealous IIT player....I am curious to know if IIT beat Illinois when they had the chance?
********************************
I would be very surprised if one of my team-mates has said this...ICC played a near flawless game against us and deserved to win. There is no scope of jealousy here. I am sure they are one of the real favorites this season. i would like the author of the post tell me the name of that IIT player anyways...
Thanks..
************************
Well I take that back partly.. after investigation he was not a player but an IIT fan that sometimes unpire games as a rep of IIT. I will not post his name unless he opens up his mouth again...
I think Illinois Cricket Club is still sour from their defeat against Suburban. They blamed the umpire for the loss. And they were most unsportsmanlike in their conduct in that game, shouting obsenities at the umpire and behaving in unruly fashion.
And ICC is a top-heavy team. Once their top 3-4 are gone, they go down in their batting. And same applies for bowling.
No crying here !!!
Can anyone from United talk a little about their game against Purdue? Looks like Mehul didnt get the support from some of the other batsmen.
http://unitedcricket.org/scorecards.asp
you can read the entire game summary here!
Faisal
ps let us know how our site looks.
Suburban and Lucky XI are two teams i have seen till now which doesn't have any respect for umpires and their decisions.
Suburban is no different from any other team for their unruly behaviour outside the ground. They did not even care about the presence of other teams family members,ladies/children while shouting obsenities at umpire.
Lucky XI players always keep arguing with umpire for each and every dismissal.
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Suburban and Lucky XI are two teams i have seen till now which doesn't have any respect for umpires and their decisions.
Suburban is no different from any other team for their unruly behaviour outside the ground. They did not even care about the presence of other teams family members,ladies/children while shouting obsenities at umpire.
Lucky XI players always keep arguing with umpire for each and every dismissal.
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That must be from one of QC king guys!! Who can only win on their home ground because they have thier own umpire..ha ha ha....well done QC kings...win atleast one game outside Moline, and we'll talk.
And for other teams going to Moline to play QC, beware! When batting, don't let the ball hit your pads. You will be given lbw if u are over 20 runs. and when bowling, don't expect to get any lbws and any ball that a batsman cannot reach is given a wide...!
Good guess...since i am from Moline only i could tell what happened here.
I donot want to repeat here again and again like others about how tough umpiring job can be. But the spirit of the game is same and there shouldn't be any hard feelings at the end of the day.
Decisions can go either way whether it is good or bad. What counts finally is not win or loss but the character of a team. Cricket is not the only life there is a larger life outside.
I just hope you are not the umpire of QC kings. There must be a reason why they have not won outside Moline. Also, in the only game that they lost at home against Capitol, Satha was given lbw when he was given great guns. I agree its a tough job, but so many coincidences makes one think there are other reasons.
When the teams travel for 3+ hours to play cricket, they are passionate about it. They also want to play fair. But having a partisan home umpire, just kills the fun. You set stuff straight at your end, and you might end up winning some respect in the league. Right now, everyone knows, QC can only win with their own umpire ! lol!!!
Time will tell who wins where.
We didnot request MCC to send a particular guy for umpiring.
He may have been chosen because he is the only guy available to come to Moline.
Talk about this..about the umpiring we saw in Chicago match. It is no different..we got 3 decisions which we are not happy about. But we chose not to make a big deal about it because we wanted to play within the acceptable norms of the game.
Don’t surprise if QC kings Umpire says following words, in his introduction speech, to guest team.
“Let’s meet with my team”
Grow up kid...else sit in kindergarten..
I am not replying to any anonymous posts anymore - if you need a reply have the balls to post your name at the end of the comment. Good day!
-Raheel.
Praveen Laxmeshwar is a cheating umpire. He gave AAA wide balls which were not even close to being wides. AAA's game is fun to watch but watch out for their umpires. Heads up to the Suburban team: The Umpire for Suburban Vs. Jolly Rovers is Santanam Kasturi. He is on the players list for the Jolly Rovers and he played against AAA last week. Jolly Rovers are fighting to get into the playoffs so watch out they will do anything to get in. If anytema is going to play the Jolly Rovers bring your own umpire from Chicago. HEADS UP TO SUBURBAN CC. AAA team was frustrated with their first lost but dont under estimate there power I have seen them play. They are good. Watch OUT.
To avoid instances similar to the one in the game betweek Pak Gym & Milwaukee United, the main umpire should be given the authority to over rule the leg umpire's decision if and only if the Main umpire can clearly see what happened on the other end in case of clear run outs or stumpings. This is similar to a NO ball rule which the main umpire can over rule if he thinks that leg umpire is not right. This is will maintain lot of sanity and integrity in the game and hopefully teams are not victims of dubious & biased decisions anymore.
All these discussions about the umpiring sucks. What is MCC doing about providing neutral umpires as promised?
We, from Moline, used to play Iowa league before 2006. One of the reasons why we chose to join MCC is because this league is going to provide neutral umpires which is not the case with Iowa.
The umpiring issue should be resolved. Teams outside from Chicago already have an advantage of playing on the same ground and pitch every week, and if they are getting umpires who are there town buddies, it is not fair to the visiting teams; I have witnessed many games in DIV I that have been ruined by umpires from the same city or teams from close by. This is an issue that can be resolved to a good extent. However, as far as to get a neutral leg square umpire is definitely a good suggestion, you have to remember that umpires then will cost $150 per game, and other expenses will probably result in a single game costing MCC $300, which is a lot of money for just one game, and even if the money issue is resolved and we can manage 2 neutral umpires per game, it will be impossible to have almost 50 to 60 umpires a week to umpires games, considering there are 30 games a week.
I agree with the fact that we need neutral umpires. Having same town buddies as umpires is bad. But having team members as umpires is outrageous. If Santanam Kasturi is the umpire in Suburan vs Jolly Rovers game, thats a big shame for MCC. A player cannot be umpire if you want to make the league competittive and fair. The umpire plays for the same team , what a screw up on umpiring committe's part.
Everybody understands that it is very costly. But it hurts if someone just says that somebody won matches because of umpiring.
I strongly believe majority of the decisions are right and probably few decisions can go either way.
But it happens to everyone...it takes some character to accept and move on.It doesn't appear to be the case with a sizeable number of individuals who wants to blame somebody else for their loss.
Not every team is commenting about umpires doesn't mean they are all happy with everything.
Santanam is assigned for all games in peoria/bloomington area,margoob bhai will checks to see who is available to umpire the games and updates name on the website for Suburan vs Jolly Rovers game.
Truly a wonderful effort by United CC to maintain a website and update the league on their weekly games.
Kudos to Samrat for his reporting and the United team for making it a joy to read their game summary...
lol...
I had a chance to read the Pak Gymkhana vs United CC game summary too. I guess Irfan Sohail was the culprit in that game.
Great work with the website UCC. I read through all the game summaries and they are all extremely well written. I saw the various different pictures and player profiles as well. Really wish we could do someting like that with our team.
good work UCC once again
We can avoid lot of acrimonious exchanges - on and off the field, with neutral leg-umpire.
All teams should volunteer leg-umpires. They can then be assigned to matches. MCC can mandate this rule (to volunteer!). I am not sure about practical aspects, though.
Just a thought...
ICC took their loss and went home still happy as we do at the end of every game. We were upset at some of the decisions. As the Captain of ICC i did and will always do my best to make sure my players stays within their limits and be profissional but as all of us know it's very difficult to 100% control everyone's emotions when it looks like all the bad calls are going against you??.
The thing that annoys me the most is that as we were kicking Arsenal's behind last week they were getting condolences from the next door team letting them know that ICC cheats to win.
I guess the good guys don't have the balls and guts to say that in ICC face but i asure you if you give them ICC booth to wear when it comes down to respect and fairness the will stand still. Too big and heavy for them.
Who is crying I don't know but it's not ICC??. We will let you all know how top, middle and tail heavy when it matters the most.
I will let you all ponder on that for now as we drive towards bringing home the trophy this year??.
See you all next week
Rup Seenarain
ICC Captain
You tell them rup. You are a 100% right about everything.
It is interesting to see some of the team dynamics in division-2. One thing that I have seen is a constant complain about umpiring. I can say that we have not received the best of decisions at times, but, that is part of the game.
If I have ever noticed anything that the umpire did wrong, I very politely approach the umpire and talk to him about it at the end of the game. Umpiring is the toughest piece to a cricketing season. Umpires cancel out last minute, umpires are not available and Marghoob Bhai ends up staying up late to ensure that an umpire shows up.
We need to take ownership of this situation by coming fwd and umpiring games for the league.
Ram, at this point, the logistics of getting two neutral umpires for a game is going to be a nightmare.
United, I read up the purdue game summary. Its sad to see that Dhiraj twisted an ankle, hope he is feeling better now. Please give us an official feedback so that we can talk to away teams about the ground situation.
I will be at the Pak Gymkhana Vs Challengers game for a little bit. Should be a real good game. Good luck to both teams.
Tigers update: we get a much needed week off. Hopefully, all the injured players are available next week for the game against Flames.
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I agree with the fact that we need neutral umpires. Having same town buddies as umpires is bad.
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The league doesnt usually have "same town buddies" as umpires - its often players from another team in the city. Sometimes its just "neutrals" who dont play, however... when other teams play in Chicago, dont they face "same town umpires" as their opponents, usually? Or are Chicago umpires the only ones incapable of bias? :-) Or, if a "Chicago buddy" travels with a team to umpire their away game.. is that any better? Why imply only "outside Chicago" umpires are bad, here?
Its easy to say "we should send umpires from Chicago"... how many who say that are actually willing to travel and umpire an away-game themselves? If anyone is, please let Marghoob-bhai know - Iam sure he will be thrilled :-) We have had enough of a shortage with travelling umpires that one or two games this season have had to have batting-side umpires.
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But having team members as umpires is outrageous. If Santanam Kasturi is the umpire in Suburan vs Jolly Rovers game, thats a big shame for MCC. A player cannot be umpire if you want to make the league competittive and fair. The umpire plays for the same team , what a screw up on umpiring committe's part.
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There's been no screwup - no team-member has ever umpired his own teams game, I dont think :-) Only once or twice in the past 2 years no umpire has been available for a game (thats like 2 games out of 700)... and then batting-side umpires have had to officiate. But never an umpire from just one team. The Umpiring Committe pays a lot of attention to that (heck, every attempt is even made to avoid *former* teammates umpiring games - but unfortunately that hasnt always been feasible to avoid, due to a severe umpiring shortage).
Santanam's name is there for every game in that area at the start of the week - it gets changed to the real umpire's name midway thru the week. This happens every week - and so far he has never umpired a Jolly Rovers game himself, and he wont this week either (if you look now, you will find that Imran will be umpiring the Jolly Rovers game... but Santanam is still listed as umpiring 2 games on Saturday, which is sort of physically impossible to do :-) But, of course, he wont have to do it - the names will be changed soon enough, once people's availability is determined).
Sadiq
Agreed ICC played better but not giving stumping and run out is preposterous. Its not like this has happened once but twice. Last time two years ago, Rup was way out of his ground and his square leg umpire refused to give him stumped out because he was their only hope of saving the game and he did!!!!
So all "the fairness and respect", I think should be practiced before preaching!!!!
--Narasimha
Anonymous said...
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
3. Add Comments section
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....
sometimes umpires make the right calls and players just get carried away. the league should also look closely at the person or team who complained about umpires. if some team whines about every single umpire, then their opinion should be ignored, because those players are just sore losers.
Anon at 10:17am - excellent suggestion. Currently, we have an electronic forum for teams to enter comments while entering scores. It currently is in a free format state without the attribute filters you have mentioned above. Trust me, we get no feedback, absolutely none.
We also have a way that teams can enter requests and give us feedback. Till date, we have had 170 requests(score changes, conflicts, name changes, abuses, etc), but only about 2-3 feedback.
Another big issue, in my opinion, is the lack of communication from the team captains/managers to the team members. Team members have come back and asked us questions, the answers to which we would have sent an email out. So, talk to your teams to ensure that the info we send out is reaching you.
So far here are couple of incidents I've been thru as far as the umpiring issues...
1. Phoenix vs United CC - the issue was few questionable lbw decisions went against both teams.(I belive total of 8 lbws given) Phoenix had notified the umpiring comittie. After the committe had reviewed this matter, I believe he hasn't been doing any umpiring so far.
2. Phoenix vs Tigers - The umpire gave out to a well settled batsman for what looked to be a caught & bowled but it was actually a bump catch. I was keeping and saw what exactly happened. My immediate reacation to the umpire was that the batsman wasn't out (Although it's debatable wether I should have said anything knowing today's cricket is way different:) ) The umpire then turned down the decision and the batsman ended up scoring in 50's. I'm sure there were mix reactions in our team :)
If there are any concerns reagarding umpire decisions, I think it's the best approach to notify the comitte with details rather than trying to resolve the matter on the field. The captain or someone has to take the initiative to calm the situation before it gets ugly specially if the players are there with the families & kids.
Samir
I remember that Sameer and I highly commend you for talking to the umpire and telling him that the ball bounced off the ground before the bowler caught it. Not many would have done it !! More power to you.
With all the umpiring controversies in our league, I read this in today's cricinfo..
1992
Another series-levelling win for England - and another umpiring controversy. At Headingley, Pakistan were furious when Graham Gooch was given not out, despite being a long way short of his crease on a run-out appeal. Gooch went on to make 37, and the eventual scoreline - 99 for 4 - suggests a comfortable win, but this was anything but. It was a blistering, snarling match, notable for Neil Mallender's eight wickets on debut, Salim Malik's majestic, not-out innings of 82 and 84, and an astonishing England collapse. In the first innings they were 292 for 2 ... and all out for 320 as Waqar Younis reverse-swung it all over the place. The last six batsmen managed only two runs between them.
Here's the most recent article from indiatimes.com
*****10 batsmen out for ducks*****
LONDON, July 26: It could not get worse for a local cricket team of North Yorkshire. Ten of its players were out for ducks, leaving the team with a total of 5 -- all of which were scored through extras.
It was definitely a day to forget for bottom of the table Goldsborough Second XI in their match against Dishforth.
Interestingly, all the ten wickets fell to catches, each batsman having managed to strike the ball.
Undeterred, the team set about defending their meagre total and snapped up two quick wickets without conceding a run.
Their hopes were dashed, however, when the third batsman for Dishforth, the home side, earned victory for his team through the only runs to come from the bat in the match.
The match is thought to be the lowest scoring game in the 112-year history of the Nidderdale and District Amateur Cricket League in North Yorkshire.
Wisden Almanack, the cricketers' bible, described Disforth's feat as very rare.
Chris Lane, Wisden's managing director, said it was also amazing that every Goldsborough batsman had been caught.
"Having all put bat to ball, it's quite extraordinary that they didn't manage to get a single run," he said.
But records show the batting failure was exceeded in the Midlands in 1931 when Shepstone's XI were all out for only four extras.
Goldsborough's runs were achieved through four byes and a leg bye in fewer than 12 overs against the division four leaders.
Peter Horseman, captain of the losing team, said it was a "surreal and embarrassing experience."
"We could have got a run but the batsman had just been hit on the foot the ball before and he turned down the chance.
"When we were naught for four I jokingly said it would be strange if we were all out for ducks."
Dishforth's captain Steve Wilson said: "It was really tough for them. Everything they hit just went wrong.
"At one stage 12 batsmen had been in without one of them scoring a run. It was all getting a bit bizarre."
The miserable batting performance created a stir on Goldsborough Cricket Club's official website. One contributor wrote: "I know it was wet on Saturday, but nobody expected so many ducks."
Kudos to the United team for having an excellent website.when it comes to the love of the game, I guess we can safely say that each one of us in the league is completely enamored by the sport, but the united guys take it to a nice level.(they are probably the only team in the league that shows up a good hour before the game!)
BTW, do you guys take turns in maintaining the site or the poor newbie every year gets shafted? ):
romeen
Hey Romeen.. whats going on with the cats? Age catching up to you guys?
The WILDcats are MILDcats now :)
just joking though.
Lion is most dangerous when wounded.
nowadays it seems lions are more detorious when wounded :)
Our website was designed by Souvir (After Crash Media) and Ritesh Kothari. Day to day updating is handled by Ritesh.
Apart from that, newbies are assigned status of KIT BOYS, to assemble team accessories. You can check with Samarth, Ravi, Dhiraj, etc etc,...its pretty much slavery for new boys. UCC is easy team to get into, and its very hard to stay in. All the new boys are abused by seniors.
Mehul
UCC Senior
Narishma,
I have always asked my players to be as fair as possible cause the last thing I want to tarnish ICC image is people like you and your team and teams like your's calling us cheats based on one game or one decision given the fact that you all made some more poor decisions than ICC umpires.
To clear the records on this here is what happened last week.
1)Stump out. the batsmen came down the wicket was beaten in flight. He stopped his advance turned around and grounded his bat. It looke close from outside. You all tought he was out the umpire said was close and give the batsman benifit of the doubt.
2)The run out was never out. From outside, the batsmen was clearly pass the leg umpire by the time the stumps were broken. you all thought he was out cause you never saw the batsman who was running wide of the wicket to avoid injury on the dangerous grounds near #3 wicket.
I politely addressed Swetal on this at the break and let him know how i felt about sending off the square leg Umpire on these two decisions. You all said it ok don't worry then now you want to call us cheats?. I guess it does not take a lot to call someone names when they are not standing in front of you.
Two years ago. I recall the incident but not too clear what exactly happened so i will not address it but i will let you know that ICC or My reputition was not built around one or two game/decisions.
i guess we have courage and nerves to say we practice what we preach.One thing for sure I know i have never done is request a fellow cricker to leave his position in the game cause my team fells he is cheating????.
This is my take and i stand by it
Rup
Rup,
As you said ICC's reputation was not built on one or two games. Go ask the Peoria guys how they feel. No two teams can have the same impression about a team.
We were chasing 270 against Peoria and fell short by 3 runs. There was six which was declared as a four by the fielder in the last over which we accepted. Of course we protested but did not belittle our opponents.
Thanks for putting everything on the record. We too had fielders from square leg to wicket keeper who will vouch for the stumping and run out.
Clearly, reputation has to be built over a period of time from experience!!!!
--Narasimha
United
How is Dhiraj's condition? He'll be needed against the Wildcats this weekend. Its unfortunate that you guys lost the Purdue game. Especially since you have tough games coming up.
Mildcats!!- I like that,thats funny!I'm gonna use that one, my teammates will love it!
Has age caught up with the 'cats?I wish we could blame it on age.As we all know, we are only 6 months older than the age when we were champions!! Funny game this!The other teams have definitely caught up though, i'm sure nobody will argue with me if i said that the quality of cricket in the league has skyrocketed in the past few years. having said that, we have clearly underperformed in this season thus far.Its probably a combination of several things that has led us to do only one thing well this season and that is - suck!So, any comments/ suggestions are welcome.
Now the question is in the second half of the season can we get out of suckville?the only thing I can vouch for is the determination of my teammates, i've known and played with the same bunch of guys for 8 seasons now and I know they are tough competitors and they'll fight to the bitter end.But only time will tell if the 'cats have any roar left in them.
romeen
Hey Romeen,
I think your just hearing from guys who have probably lost to you in years past who are now taking shots at you.
Still, I am seriously hoping that you guys lose and don't make it to the playoffs. One less team to worry about!!!
How old are the Wildcats anyways? I'm guessing most of them must be in their mid to upper 30's. If you consider that to be old then I should have retired 10 years ago.
this sunday : challengers vs pak gymkhana who will win this match ? any predictions and why ?
Anonymous said...
United
How is Dhiraj's condition? He'll be needed against the Wildcats this weekend. Its unfortunate that you guys lost the Purdue game. Especially since you have tough games coming up.
unfortunately Dhiraj will not be available this weekend, we will have to push on without him. even more unfortunate is the fact that this is a pivotal game for both cats and us, it seems whom ever loses this game is looking at long odds of going to the post season. you can never underestimate the heart of a champion, so our guys will have to perform at their maximum to compete with a veteran club like the wildcats. after compteting against these guys for so long, they have definitely earned my respect and i value their commitment to winning year in and year out. but come this saturday will be trying our darndest to beat them.
Good Luck cats!
Faisal
I read several comments about the QC Kings' inability to win away games and how they exploit the home umpire's bias.
I think it is unfair to say that the QC Kings are home bullies. Yes, they have a better understanding of the wind, the pitch, and the ground conditions, but there's a lot more to them than just that. They have some very talented players who have the potential to turn a match around almost anywhere on any given day.
Secondly, I am not exactly sure they ask for favors from the home umpire. I have personally received a horrendous decision from this umpire sometime ago, but I have never doubted his integrity. He really wants to do a good job but is really hampered by an average cricketing aptitude. I hope the MCC will evaluate him objectively and take appropriate corrective actions.
One thing that I was a little peeved about though was the uneven playing surface. This ground is an injury trap, what with the steep slope on the left side. I am not sure this ground meets the kind of standards the MCC would like to brag about. The MCC must help the QC Kings find a new ground because this one isn't suitable for cricket one bit. Or even golf for that matter!
I would encourage everyone to enjoy their away game with the QC Kings and play without any fear or grudge. One thing about the QC Kings is that they are great hosts and will do everything to make you comfortable. Play hard but treat them with the respect they deserve.
~ Jaguar forever
who is the best umpire in mcc.
Sadiq is the better one of them all.
J Greene
J Green??? goli maro bheje mein...dhichaaooooo
A few names come to mind when we talk about the best umpire in the league. I am sure of one thing.
Sadiq is no where near the best umpire of the league
best game of the year will be played at hanover park this week. guess who's playing. pak vs challenger. pak will beat challenger. good luck mahesh, daxx, tushar, sanjay and ofcourse bhavesh. all challenger bowler get ready for big sixes and fours. whoever wins will be the true champion and best team in mcc. this both team deserve to go for la open not the team tariq has been sending it.good luck boys.
hello mcc,
can you guys vote on this. i think challenger lost to phoenix was intensionaly. i think pak lost to ucc so challenger thought losing to phoenix will get them back to where pak is and then aginst pak they have equal challenge and get rid of some of that winning string. i still think challenger is most respectful and they are the true champion. they been playing excellent since they came to this leage. we all have seen their game. is it true that they have played to phoenix with 3 different regular umpire. wow tariq how did you manage to do that. you need to get your act together. start sending your umpire to games. was it really a mcc game that was played. still challenger or phoenix did not say anything to mcc. guys that's a true sportmanship from both team.
both teams are champs, they are a team that consist of players who can be stars on any given day. One thing for sure, it is bound to be an exciting game, and especially the fact that it is being played in HP might make the game a huge run fest.
Good Luck to both teams!!!
"i think challenger lost to phoenix was intensionaly. i think pak lost to ucc so challenger thought losing to phoenix will get them back to where pak is and then aginst pak they have equal challenge and get rid of some of that winning string."
That logic makes a ton of sense! (*hand on the forehead*)
Phoenix beat Challengers in one of the most exciting games that I have ever played. Mahesh Parikh was the only real threat and after his dismissal, the latter batsmen just caved in to the pressure. THEY DID NOT LOSE INTENTIONALLY. Give the credit where its due.
Shiva
Phoenix
I think it does make a little sense. Dont think Chall lost intentionally but may be took Phnx lightly and paid the price.
hello mcc,
can you guys vote on this. i think challenger lost to phoenix was intensionaly. i think pak lost to ucc so challenger thought losing to phoenix will get them back to where pak is and then aginst pak they have equal challenge and get rid of some of that winning string. i still think challenger is most respectful and they are the true champion. they been playing excellent since they came to this leage. we all have seen their game. is it true that they have played to phoenix with 3 different regular umpire. wow tariq how did you manage to do that. you need to get your act together. start sending your umpire to games. was it really a mcc game that was played. still challenger or phoenix did not say anything to mcc. guys that's a true sportmanship from both team.
-on the comment on challengers losing to phoenix, author must be retarded.
Challengers lost intentionally? Whoever wrote this hope doesn't play cricket or else I'd feel sorry for that team :)
Alright, let's mull this possibility of Challengers throwing the Phoenix game!!!You get the other team all out for 113. Ohh.. Great!!! you feel good about yourself and everybody in the team thinks it is going to be a cakewalk, considering the vaunted batting line up that Challengers have. The much to their dismay, they lose 5 quick and cheap wickets... At this point do you think the entire Challengers team was thinking that this game is going to be a cakewalk???
I dont think any team will or can lul will themselves into thinking that the game is theirs for the taking in this scenario. And i am quite certain no team with a zero loss record will tarnish their image and their impeccable record with a loss. It was probably a batting collapse triggered by an agressive Pheonix team. Congrats to Phoenix on an impressive victory but i am quite sure the Challengers will comeback strong especially with a game against Pak Gym this weekend.
---------
is it true that they have played to phoenix with 3 different regular umpire. wow tariq how did you manage to do that. you need to get your act together. start sending your umpire to games. was it really a mcc game that was played.
--------
This was just one of those unfortunate things.
Joe Greene was scheduled to umpire this game, at Washington Park, as he has thousands of times before. However he had a car-accident on the morning of this game on the way to the ground and could not make it.
Since it was already past 10am and obviously there was no "backup umpire" standing by.. the suggestion was first made to have batting-side umpires stand in this game. After some discussion it was decided to have neutral players from different grounds stand-in as umpires whenever they could.
I believe 2 players were used in the first half of the game in this way. Then, the NoStars/Jaguars match ended early next door, and Alpesh Gohil of Nostars (who is a regular umpire in our league, and has officiated most weekends this year) took over and umpired the rest of the match (and thus was, literally, the Third Umpire :-)
Just one of those things IMHO - couldnt be avoided, and not likely to happen again. Nobody can really guard against emergencies (and/or car accidents umpires are involved in).
Sadiq
"hello mcc,
can you guys vote on this. i think challenger lost to phoenix was intensionaly. i think pak lost to ucc so challenger thought losing to phoenix will get them back to where pak is and then aginst pak they have equal challenge and get rid of some of that winning string. i still think challenger is most respectful and they are the true champion. they been playing excellent since they came to this leage. we all have seen their game. is it true that they have played to phoenix with 3 different regular umpire. wow tariq how did you manage to do that. you need to get your act together. start sending your umpire to games. was it really a mcc game that was played. still challenger or phoenix did not say anything to mcc. guys that's a true sportmanship from both team."
-- Very interesting argument -:)
I hope other teams use the same logic and loose matches with us -:)
Venu
(Phoenix)
whoever wrote the post that challengers be ready for some sixes and fours. Just so you know we go into every game knowing batsmen have bats, so there might be sixes and fours. I don't know who you are and what you do as far as cricket goes but not one player in challenger thinks we are invincible. One thing promised you will get run for your money.
Tushar
which teams from div 1 will make playoffs?
I think muslim gymkhna is gonna take the title this time, their players just keep hitting 100s.
Hey Tushar, i don;t think anyone from our team wrote that - there are some trouble makers on here who write shit for the hell of it! Good luck on Sun (not looking forward to 92 F temperatures :( ).
-Raheel.
"I think muslim gymkhna is gonna take the title this time, their players just keep hitting 100s."
And rest of the middle order batting keeps failing. The fact is that Muslim Gymkhana is far too inconsistent to ever be successful in the playoffs. From the looks of it, they may make it to the playoffs but will lose the very first game. I was looking at their team stats and voila, it has been those three brothers who have been carrying them. Other than them, they have picked up a few new players along with their captain. The captain Farhat has been having a horrendus season so far. May be the age factor is catching up to him. He's been constantly batting in the middle order and failed may be with an exception of Purdue. The other two new guys, Arbab and Saud are unknown so far to the league. Muslim Gymkhana's bowling is what I fear. They have now added a one of the better spinners to go with Kamran and Rizwan. On their day, they could be deadly. I was looking at their scorecards, and with an exception of Pak Gymkhana, no one have scored more than 200 runs against them. So say, if they were to score in the vicinity of 225 to 240, they will win 9 out of 10 times. But their batting is brutal, it's a well known fact. Half the times, they'll barely score 150.
AAA has had a sensational start leading from last year. Having won 9 out of 10, AAA is looking to be the champions of Division Two. Bilal Patel, Imran Taylor, and their skipper Hafez Adam Menk have carried the team on their shoulders. These 3 players being on the top 15 in batting have mastered the opposition and frustrated all types of bowlers. AAA is mixed team with batsmans: excellent batsman from 1-11. Last week Hanif Patel cracked a half century but to no prevail. AAA is moving on up so one loss will not defeat us within. We will make a comeback and it will be seen Saturday night.
S.Menk
Lots of good games this weekend. Obviously everyone is all excited about the Pak Gymkhana Challengers game who are no.1 and 2 in the points table. But there are three other games that will be just at interesting and intense. Milwaukee United vs Bears who are no.3 and no.4 respectively will be a good game too. Phoenix (no.7) after their sensational win against the Challengers will look to build on the momentum by beating Muslim Gymkhana who are no.7. But if I had to watch one game it will be the United CC and Wildcats game. This will be the most intense game of the year with two of the most experienced teams in the league who are fighting to stay alive. Remember last year, United were in the same situation which the Wildcats are in right now and managed to make it to the playoffs last. I won't be surprised if the defending champs do the same.
Yea Muslim Gymkhana is inconsistent. The captain Farhat hasn't scored a decent innings all season long. Unless they develop a strong middle order, they will keep collapsing.
"I was looking at their scorecards, and with an exception of Pak Gymkhana, no one have scored more than 200 runs against them"
They were bowled out for 135 against Purdue in the first innings and Purdue chased that score down in 32 overs.
They were bowled out for 140 agaisnt Milwaukee United in the first innigns and Milwaukee United chased that score down in 25 overs.
Their bowling is not as good as your saying it is. Plus I highly doubt if Imran or Mehmood will score centuries and the elite teams in division I. Personally i think they only have two good batsman, Fawad and Kamran other than that its all downhill. They aren't making it out of the first round.
Who r these Bears?
ok guys here we go again....my predictions are for this week's game (If this predictions come true on a regular basis, then I might open my hot line $9.99/perdiction) :)
div I
Milwaukee United beats Bears
Wildcats beats United
Chargers beats Royals
Phoenix beats Muslim Gym
St Louis beats Milwaukee
and.....here u go...
Challangers beats Pak Gym
too many games for div II so can't spare that much time here... good luck to all div II teams
cricket lover
Thanks Raheel, and good luck to you guys. I know it's going to be one hot day.
Tushar
Narasimha Please stop crying... ICC dont cheat...Get that nonsense out your system... I have said it once and I will say it again..
If I have to cheat to win I rather go home a loser everday...
Thanks
Proud ICC player
Challenor Jack
Narasimha did you say this too? ..
Anonymous said...
I think Illinois Cricket Club is still sour from their defeat against Suburban. They blamed the umpire for the loss. And they were most unsportsmanlike in their conduct in that game, shouting obsenities at the umpire and behaving in unruly fashion.
And ICC is a top-heavy team. Once their top 3-4 are gone, they go down in their batting. And same applies for bowling.
No crying here !!!
***
Man stop it.. You dont need to go on crying.. the bottom line is this.. if we play your team 100 times you will win 2 games... one because we were trying to give you all hope and the next time we were too drunk from partying...
Ok put that in your pipe and smoke it.. :)
Challengers will win as a team and loose as a team, i don't understand why so many other annoying anonymous coward individual not coming out with their full identity and tell everyone what ever he/she/it has to say, say it openly. by the way by beating challengers don't think that shive you win world cup, try to remember bangladesh beat australia, by that mean bangladesh is not world champion. on perticular that day you guys had that game. do not under estimate any other team. and by the way playoffs are coming will see and good luck for future.
sorry for the typo Shiva, and I gaurantee you Shiva, If we face you in the playoffs, You will feear lot more players than Mahesh.
Tushar
Anonymous 11:07 AM get off your kool-aid, Mahesh don't bowl. He keeps the wickets. So before you use this blog for BS reasons get your S*** straight and come out of closet.
Tushar
First of all how about mateen from surburban, I stood up there and watched him appeal for an LBW when he later tells me he knew it wasnt an LBW, so why tell hell appeal-------wait that cant be cheating he was trying to test the umpire and maybe get a sly cheating out. Second of all arsenal is a nasty team doesnt matter how hard you try to be nice to them they will spit on you because they are stuck up, and no one respects a team like that. Thats why its necesarry for them to cheat to compensate for the politics also why no one cares what Narasimha says, why dont you go run for government office or something they could use you
AAA and ICC are execptional and well experience teams that can pick out any slight injustice that has been commited to them, Their just that good so for anyone to argue that they are cheating teams (and the high official umpires will back me up on this) is pure insanity. The only people that really complain on these blog writtings like Narasimha are the weaker teams fight for 11 and 12 cause god nows they cant back it up with playing cricket. (It sounds like Narasimha is still sour from two years ago when rup destroyed them, he says they cheated but when doesnt the word cheat come out from his mouth.
"They were bowled out for 135 against Purdue in the first innings and Purdue chased that score down in 32 overs.
They were bowled out for 140 agaisnt Milwaukee United in the first innigns and Milwaukee United chased that score down in 25 overs.
Their bowling is not as good as your saying it is. Plus I highly doubt if Imran or Mehmood will score centuries and the elite teams in division I. Personally i think they only have two good batsman, Fawad and Kamran other than that its all downhill. They aren't making it out of the first round."
Actually, Purdue had lost 7 wickets by the time they chased the total and Milwaukee United had lost 5 or 6. Their bowling is certainly is not as strong as Pak Gymkhana, but definetly one of the better bowling sides in the league, and deadly when they are on. As for the batsmen, I agree that batting is extremely weak. Their captain is performing very poorly yet continues to bat in the top order. The only game he didn't bat on top was against Pak Gymkhana and we all know why he did not. He was too afraid of getting out cheaply, and yet he managed it even when he batted at no.11. However, Imran and Kamran can be extremely dangerous on their days.
"by the way by beating challengers don't think that shive you win world cup, try to remember bangladesh beat australia, by that mean bangladesh is not world champion. on perticular that day you guys had that game."
Sanjay, they beat the only remaining unbeaten side in the league and people weren't given credit to them. I don't think Shiva was rubbing it in. I'm sure he was just annoyed by the 'intentional loss' theory of that retard. Challengers are one of the favourites to win this year similar to last year, but they aren't unbeatable, infact no team in Division I is unbeatable. There is no AUSTRALIA in this league, and I assure you, Phoenix is no Bangladesh either. Good luck this weekend.
Division II player
Tushar/Sanjay,
You guys should not take it too personally about what Shiv has said. As far as I know him, he would be less carless about rubbing it on (unless you guys took it in that sense), I think he was just annoyed by the previous comments (about Challangers loosing on purpose).
There's not a such thing as Australia or Bangladesh in MCC (Sanjay you should know that better since you've been playing for the league for a long time :) ). You guys are a great team and it was our honour to beat the team like Challangers. No one is trying to accuse you guys for loosing, at least Phoenix!! Good luck for the playoffs and the rest of the season.
Samir
Sanjay / Tushar
My comments were purely based on the game that was played that day.... I know the potential of Challengers and its overwhelming.. each of the team members is capable of taking away a game on their day..... BUT we will be ready for future games too..... WILL fight it out even if we ended up meeting in the play offs.... WE have the confidence NOW to take on anyone.... but we are not underestimating any of the opponents....so good luck this weekend
Shiva
Phoennix
sanjay patel said...
Challengers will win as a team and loose as a team, i don't understand why so many other annoying anonymous coward individual not coming out with their full identity and tell everyone what ever he/she/it has to say, say it openly. by the way by beating challengers don't think that shive you win world cup, try to remember bangladesh beat australia, by that mean bangladesh is not world champion. on perticular that day you guys had that game. do not under estimate any other team. and by the way playoffs are coming will see and good luck for future.
If you believe phoenix is like Bangladesh team, then why make a following statment, "do not under estimate any other team?" Why would team like Bangladesh underestimate Australia? hmmmm let's be real!!!!
How can anyone compare Phoenix to Bangladesh. They have beaten St. Louis and the Challengers. They should have probably beaten United as well if it weren't for the umpire. They even got Pak Gymkhana out for 155, this is when Pak Gymkhana was on a rampage. The only disappointing games they had were against the Tigers and Purdue which they probably should have won.
I'm not saying they are a favourite to win the championship. But calling them Bangladesh is just idiotic.
Shiva I'm happy that the game against us boost your confidence level. As far as future games are considered, we look forward to seeing you. Good luck to you guys for the rest of the season.
Anon 8:28 AM Talk to challengers when you are ready to come out of the closet, or else just stay in there and please don't address us.
CHALLENGERS
"challengers when you are ready to come out of the closet"
Tushar and CHALLENGERS, you guys got the whole "coming out of closet" thing a bit mixed up. It wont do you guys any good if that guy who posted all those comments came out of the closet.
Samir,
Milwaukee United beats Bears
Wildcats beats United
Chargers beats Royals
Phoenix beats Muslim Gym
St Louis beats Milwaukee
and.....here u go...
Challangers beats Pak Gym
Your last prediction about the Bears was also incorrect...
If you compare Phoenix with Bangladesh then since you guys lost to Bangladesh, should Challangers be compared with non-qualified ODI nation?
Anon 8:56 am, since you are scared to say who you are, we don't think you can do us any good anyways.
Anon 9:09 am you can compare us to whoever you want, don't make a damn of difference here. As far your opinion goes it's ANON anyways
CHALLENGERS
i'm surprised that the entire Challengers team has gathered at 9 in the morning to answer blogs
challengers don't get together at 9 in the morning, it's challengers opinion as a team, i thought you would have that much common sense.
Tushar
Whoever posted the comments about phoenix being close in every game. that's why they are in div.1, most of the games are close in div.1 at one stage or other.
Tushar,
I don't think Shiv meant Mahesh is the only player teams have to be concerned about. I think he was just talking about that one match. We know Challengers have lot of talented cricketers like Tushar, Daxx, Bhavesh, Nilesh, Mahesh. I have seen enough of your matches to know even #11 in your team could score a 50.
I don't think we are relatively that bad to be Bangladesh of Div1. Since we are a relatively new team, I did expect someone in the blog to make that comparision of Bangladesh beating Australia -:)
Venu
(Phoenix)
"Whoever posted the comments about phoenix being close in every game. that's why they are in div.1, most of the games are close in div.1 at one stage or other."
So if they stay close in all the games they aren't Bangladesh right? As far as I know Bangladesh gets blown out by pretty much every team in international cricket.
any views about resurgence of suburban in last 2 years? They used to be minnows, but are now a decent/good team in Div 2!!
Some of the best cricketers in the league started off with Suburban, for some reason people just keep moving out of suburban. I remember in 2002 they had a really good team ( Shahid Munir, Mateen Syed were playing for them ). The following year they were a totally different team. Last year they were a very good team also but, again this year it's a different team. If somehow they can retain people they would be a very good team and could easily beat some teams in Div1.
Samir,
Common man you have us losing again, I sure hope ur prediction is wrong, our game has been changed from Lindsay park to Lincoln Park, We have a good chance their..
Bears
Sanjay & Tushar,
Stop answering the blogs that are ANON, man you guys dont have to prove anytihng to anyone, Phoneix is a good team but that doesnt mean they are better than you guys, just because they beat you on that particular day. I sure do wish you both come face to face in the playoffs, that would be some game. Good Luck this week!!!
Bears.
Phoenix,
Just a bit of advice: you guys are young and this is your first year in Div I. just because you guys beat challengers doesn't mean you should go around beating your chests and flaunting it. any team can beat another on any given day. The next game against challengers, just be carefull they might put up 300+ on you guys. take it graciously and act like you have been there before.
Tushar etc. thats why I've stopped replying to anaonymous posts, some ANON told me I was like a 12 year old but didn't have enough balls to put his name at the bottom. No use getting worked up because of some cowardly a-holes.
-Raheel.
"No use getting worked up because of some cowardly a-holes."
that coming from raheel is very genuine
Hey, anybody checked umpire for pak vs challengers game. Joe Green !!! I am sure pak has no problem with this as there is nobody of that religion in Challenger's team. Whatever happened to the player who made such comment. Hello management?
Guys,
I'm not getting worked up, neither am I trying to put phoenix down, if you read my earlier post. i did mention that phoenix is good team and that's why they are in div.1. Venu I have utmost respect for everyteam that plays in this league, be it div.1, 2 or 30/30, or night.
Challengers don't underestimate anyone and we take loss graciously.
I never said we are unbeatable. Guys and one more thing we don't think about the game that is over, atleast not this year.
guys good luck to everyone for rest of the season.
Phoenix no hard feeling.
Bears thanks for the post.
Raheel see you on sunday in that scorching heat.
Tushar
To anon at 11:31am,
Phoenix is not looking for you advise, I am sure.
They are not flaunting their victory against Challengers either. Read comments posted by their players.
So don't shut up, but open up and let us know who the hell you are.
We recently played an Abid Laheri game against MDS and one of their leg-umpires called the batsman run-out. The batsman was out and leg-umpire had no qualms in raising the finger (not the middle one).
Hats off to that leg umpire.
There were few posts regarding a third rate leg-umpire from Pak Gym winning the game for his team recently. While one of the Pak Gym players stopped responding to ANON comments, he can very well comment about decision in that game.
Ramsudar,
It was a direct hit and the fielding team usually gets excited about those - umpire called it a not out. The same umpire had earlier given Irfan out (a bowled decision around the legs, which the first umpire had not been able to see) - the first umpire asked the leg umpire and he gave it out (correctly) - now if he were a cheat he would've said that he was not able to see that either and the first umpire would have to give the benefit of the doubt to the batsman. Irafan at that point was playing at 36 and looking in good form.
On another note, what is your problem with Pak Gym? Are you from Eagles? We do have a game coming up - show your talents over there!
R
Mr. Talented is not happy. With figures of 4 overs for 41 runs against a Div II team (MDS), hope you are not talking about your own exceptional talent. Its good you don't have all the talented players like yourself, else that game would have been finished in 16 overs.
Jaggi,
Thanks so much for this blog idea, you wake up and come to work on time and visit the site and check out all the comments, im sure everybody in Midwest that visits this blog will vouch for how entertaining the experience is to visit the blog daily. All the interesting views, ideas and the arguments back and fourth, by the time you are finished reading the latest comment posted, as soon as u refresh there is an another comment waiting, awesome idea...
Thanks
Bears
It all starts again tomorrow. This is one of the reasons I am exited about the weekends. Keep yourselves hydrated and enjoy, it will be HOT!!!.
Read few comments, thanks for the input on Phoenix, whatever it is :)
--Mitul (Phoenix)
Great point from The Bears on the Blog. Kudo's to Jaggi and the others who help him. I am hooked on this one now. I checked this blog site 4-5 days ago and now I am on it every 10 mins. I am really sorry to say this, but PEOPLE GROW UP !! When you point ONE FINGER towards someone FOUR gets pointed back at you...
Thanks,
Vipul
I think this blog needs to used in more constructive way by MCC members by posting things that need fixing by management or things, few posts brought up, 'bad' conditions of grounds. This certainly should NOT be used for 'trash' comments on other team or posts that arise from personal vendetta against certain team..but most comments are nice and dicussion very positive..Kudos to Jaggi, Hari and MCC management for their great 'innovative' idea to bring MCC family together....through a discussion 'blog'..I am hooked..
This blog is a great tool for all of MCC to see some of the issues we still have.
Thanks to all who is working on this to keep it going.
Since i have been visiting this blog i have seen too many comments about decisions or about umpiring and the effect it has on our game.
I have spent some time reviewing the umpires and i feel we do not have enough of our top players umpiring.
Division 1 is supposed to be the more talented and good guys but I don't seem to see too many division 1 popular players umpiring??.
Division 2 has a lot of umpires but there Stats are not what you will call good quality players.
I feel if we have more quality players umpiring matches there will be less arguments on decisions cause there is more respect given with consideration that the umpire is a good player with lots of experience.
"talent & experience make for sound decision making".
A player who play a couple of game or 5 or 6 game with no statistics tell you a lot of his knowledge and ability to play the game and will only lead to poor decision making. Then again i could be wrong but so far my take seem to be true??.
I will like to see every talented player in this league umpire at least two game a season. I know a lot of us probably don't need the monies but MCC can sure use your help and charity if you so care to.
I do not know if MCC ic currently using Captains reference only or just anyone can sign up and say I want to umpire. I think captains reference will be a great way to eliminate some inexperience umpires??
ICC has two of us umpiring. Myself and Raj Bhagwandeen. Two of our most experience players.
Can't wait for this Sunday to be back in the field under the heat trying to take off any stripes or spots them Jaguars holding on to.
See you all next week or maybe tomorrow evening if time spare.
Rup
Raheel
Thanx for the explanation. You make it sound simple. But there are some who feel the decision left a bad taste. I do not have a problem with Pak Gymkhana. But there's a general opinion about few teams crying over umpiring decisions and remaining quiet over leg-umpiring decisions! Hence my query.
Unfortunately my schedule won't allow me to play the night tournament. I would try my best to stop by and say hello!
"some ANON told me I was like a 12 year old but didn't have enough balls to put his name at the bottom. No use getting worked up because of some cowardly a-holes."
Raheel, does that mean your not 12? I'm shocked!!!
Bears,
Lets see how you guys fare this weekend against Milwaukee United. Nothing against your team, but you haven't really beaten any elite opponent. Although I gained a lot of respect for you team after you chased down 260 against the Flames.
Win , and I am sure everyone will be talking about the Bears next week. Unless afcorse, someone from Pak Gymkhana cheats or curses at an umpire, which is very likely to happen. Then they'll get all the attention.
Ramsudar,
You should hear both sides of the story before passing judgements like "third rate leg umpire won them the match" - if the umpire were a cheat he wouldn't have given that bowled decision either which was very unclear from front on as it was a legspinner who spun it from round the legs of the batsman. We have only lost one game in the season so far and that has not been on the back of leg umpiring decisions, its by playing good cricket.
Peace,
-Raheel.
I would like to say few words about this whole UMPIRING stuff going on here. How about the TEAMS playing each other showing some sportsmanship on their own? It is the Team's responsibility anyway. Just do your part and see how others are reacting, soon this whole mess will clean itself up. Have you guys ever thought about this?
Thanks,
Vipul
Vipul,
if that were the case then you wouldn't need an umpire at all. Its not a perfect world, these days winning means everything.
Who ever you are "At 5:11 PM, Anonymous said..."
If this is the case than I am sorry to say you have LOST it already!!!
Thanks
Vipul
some people have all the time in the world or have no life:) i randomly check this site and find werid and interesting comments from known player and many,many anon. y i dont know, like raheel said they dont have balls or whatever dont matter play the game be respectfull towards the ump no one is perfect u win or loose same umps are there randomly so dont blame them, as far muslim winning or loosin or inconsistently or blah blah captain this or that mr anon y dont u worry about ur team and let us worry about ours we have a better record then last year, and half the season still remians. we dont care if our captain scores or three brother are doing things if u look at any team take 2or3 main players out they are nothing from pak to st louis u cant have 11 all star and if u did u wouldnt make it like the world 11 vs autralia this is a team game not a captains or 3 brothers or 3 friends "11" my friend 11 is the key so let muslim worry about muslim keep ur anon predictions to yourself thank you very MUCH!!!
moe
muslim i have balls:)
Raheel let dogs bark, that's their job. You do what ever needs to be done by team and play just a player and do best job that you can perform. Don't worry some stupid will give comments even if you do best job.
Sanjay
Guys,
I was looking at the point table and then the remainder of the schedule for the bottom four playoffs team and the season looks very interesting. I believe pak, challengers, bears, mil. united pretty much secured playoff berth. other four teams remains to be seen. It's probably going to be probably best second half in MCC history.
Tushar
I think that Q.C kings just cannot stand losing. The only out that Lucky XI asked about was a caught behind that was given out for H. Polli. The bat was nowhere near the bat yet umpire still gave it out. They are sore losers. I hope that they lose the rest of their games and dont make the playoffs becauase if they do then any team that they will face is going to be hearing a lot bulls***.
JAGGI and rest of management,
I have one suggestion. You know how there are lots of players looking teams and teams looking for players in the offseason. Maybe you guys can have a way by which players can put their names, contact information, and other information in general(teams, runs scored, batsman, bowler etc) on the MCC website. I remember last year I desperately wanted to play for some team but couldn't get in touch with anyone since I didn't know anybody. There are about 50 teams in the league, I'm sure there would be someone that might want a decent and dedicated cricketer in their team. I don't think any other league in the country has done this in the past. We could be the first one's to do so. let me know what you guys think.
Guys, the credit for the blog goes to Hari.
Anon at 10:14am, good suggestion. I will forward your suggestion.
We definitely are getting a lot more traffic now and a lot of good suggestions.
Raheel,
I will keep myself ANON for a reason and I also respect your support for your Team.
Pak Vs Mil United game: If the leg umpire would not have given out for a clear bowled decison than it would have been the dubious decision of the year.That was not a favor by the leg umpire and does not mean that he can compensate somewhere else. I have played against Milwaukee United and know how well behaved they are with everyone and a team which has not been involved in any controversy ever.They have always played clean cricket and their leg umpires have never hesitated in giving out in close situations. At the end of the day what matters is that one's conscience is clear that they won cleanly. Let's all of us try to play good cricket without any bad feelings...we all love this game.
Cheers !!!
"I believe pak, challengers, bears, mil. united pretty much secured playoff berth"
Bears are a long way from securing a playoff berth. Looking at their schedule, they are going to have to fight it out with the other teams.
"I was looking at their scorecards, and with an exception of Pak Gymkhana, no one have scored more than 200 runs against them. So say, if they were to score in the vicinity of 225 to 240, they will win 9 out of 10 times"
LOL...Phoenix scored 261 against Muslim. And Phoenix actually bowl better than they bat
Phoenix is not beating thier chest for their win against the challengers but we are running high on confidence on that and even if we meet again and you score 300+ runs we know we may be able to beat you up on that too.
It is you guys who needs to stop falunting that you are the best team in div 1 and posting nast comments like this . be a man a accept that the best team won. if you were the best what hjappened to you with Pak Gym team. It seems you are chokers of Div 1.
Anon 7:53 am, thanks for the big label. Like I said we take our losses graciously. You would know that if you ever played us. We never claimed we are invincible and just for your information CHALLENGERS has been in the league for four years and 2 championship and 2 semi losses don't seem too shabby to me. Let us know what have you done lately?
Thanks for giving us challenges. We look forward to it.
Tushar
well if you took your losses graciously why are the phoenix team being compared by your teammates as a bangladesh team and your team as austrailia. phoenix team players have never said that they are a good team and yours is not, just that they gave u guys a run for your run chase and they ended up being the better of the two teams that day.And I personally know that could could give you a good challange any day if you two meet up. This is MY prediction that Phoenix will atleast come up to the Semi finals, They just need to improve on thier fielding, otherwise why would they have the TOP batsman, catcher and bowler within the top 15. How many do you have? A meager 2-3 , Phoenic has atleast 5 in the TOP 15.
Tushar,
Phoenix were the runners up last year in Division II. The year before that was their first year in the league. So I guess you must consider yourself lucky that Phoenix were not playing Division I, otherwise you can kiss your two championships goodbye :))
comeon man, your teammates made a big deal out of somethign that was so trivial. Sanjay patel was the one who took the first shot by comparing Phoenix to Bangladesh.
Division II player
Div. 2 player I don't look to get personal and take cheap shots, but with a scum bag like you who is giving phoenix way more importance and disrespecting other 16 div. 1 teams. What the heck do you think phoenix is? Rest of the world eleven. I don't know if you are from phoenix or their affiliated div. 2 team. But you are making way too much of this and you need to shut up and mind your own damn business.
By the way let me know where do you stand in the standing in div. 2.
Tushar
I do not play for any team and am not disrespecting any of the teams here just giving credit where it is due, you may be a good team just does not mean that your team mate can put other team players down, talk to your team first before calling me a scum bag it look like your team has one.This does not mean that I am a phoenix fan I am also a Pak Gym Fan, I am also your team Fan, I jsut do not liek it when one team says bad about the other team. I am just a spectator who knows cricket.
hey i didn't write that previous post (ANON 9:55am)
Tushar,
How exactly am i dissing the other 16 teams in Division I? You guys couldn't chase down 114 against Phoenix. Pak Gymkhana just toyed with your team and your telling everyone about your two championships...have you no shame?
You asked what has Phoenix accomplished, and I gave you a breakdown. If your teammate can compare Phoenix to Bangaldesh, then whats wrong with me comparing Phoenix to "Rest of the World XI". Both those statements are equally idiotc. First, take Sanjay Patel aside and explain to him not to post worthless garbage then come and talk to me.
Division II player
oh yes and one more thing,
I am not here to defend Phoenix. I am sure they can handle themselves. Personally, I just want them to do good because they played Division II last year and are now doing pretty good in Division I. It makes us Division II guys feel a little bit better about ourselves.
Also, I'm a bit annoyed by the arrogance shown by some of these Division I players who think too much of themselves. Obviously Division I is better, but that doesn't mean Division II SUCKS.
Division II player
Division II player, not to get into your argument or whatever, but I have seen both sides of the coin - I played in Div 2 for one year (2003) with IIT, we lost in the final. Along the way there were some good teams and some really pathetic ones. I remember this one guy came to the crease and asked the umpire for guard by holding the bat parallel to the crease instead of perprndicular! And a bowler (from the opposition) also once asked me why we shine the ball!
There are some good teams/players in Div 2 but majority of them are hopeless in my opinion. Take Rup of ICC, he's also a Division II player but is class!
-Raheel (Pak Gym - Div 1 ;) )
now let's talk about the other side of the coin
after the team looses, then division I player comes up with an idea of comaring the loosing team to Bangladesh!! :) I think this scenario is worst than those two you have mentioned about div II players (may be this particular person who was trying to compare needs to shine his brain and hold his thought parellel :)
2nd thing I remember a team captain from div I kept on arguing with the umpire about not giving away wides because he could not connect :) 3 balls he argued and 4th ball he gets out!! now go figure who's hopeless!! :)
"Middle and leg" guard is sometimes taken by having the bat parallel to the crease. So, it is not totally absurd to have the bat parallel to the crease!
Well I'm glad you're happy in Division II, going by your attitude you'll probably stay there too - have fun.
R
hey division I player RAHEEL,
sometime when batters want the mark between middle and leg, hold the bat parallel to the crease and align with leg stump and then turn perpendicular. that gives you between middle and leg. that is a one way to do it.
so watch and learn rather than step on others because they are division II.
here is a piece of advise....may be you have forgotten this.
every fool look like a pundit untill they open their mouth. so try to be a pundit.
Raheel gets hammered throuout the ground and this how he takes his frustration out :)
'sometime when batters want the mark between middle and leg, hold the bat parallel to the crease and align with leg stump and then turn perpendicular. that gives you between middle and leg. that is a one way to do it.'
Unless they don't turn it perpendicular in which case it is some dumbass who had nothing better to do on weekends and decided cricket would be a fun outing.
R
Oh well, may be they have their own technique - Imran Khan admitted to not measuring and marking his bowling run up on his test debut (he simply used to walk back a few steps and run into bowl!), so may be we have more talent in Div 2 than I thought - apologies!
R
well ppl listen up...Raheel is the same talented great player who payed for IIT in 2004 Div 1, and his talents relegated IIT back to Div 2.
Raheel, we all believe u have some great players in ur team. But trust me, we have no doubts, we have plenty of players better than u in Div 2. i was going through your record in Div2 in 2003,and Div 1 in 2004, its nothing to boast about Mr Talented. Ur alma mater IIT is still struggling to reach Div 1. And trust me , Div 2 playoff teams are not inferior to any Div 1 team. Royals, Milwaukee United, Phoenix and Purdue has proven it. But if u wanna live in fool's paradise, don't expect help from us.
AG
I still cannot believe that pak dropped nasir for this talent. With his jumping-jack walk he does look like a clown walking on the field.
I simply said that there are good teams and some pathetic ones in Div 2 (which is true), when did I say that Div 2 play off teams are crap?! You guys just like getting personal and all and then don't tell who you are so you can criticise my record but hide yours.
Raheel Akhtar Pak Gymkhana 10 56.1 3 265 17 15.59 4.72 4-11
This is what I have done so far this season, it's not great but its not half bad either - lets see what your story is!
R
Also cricket is a team game, Pak Gym has been #1 in Div 1 throughout the season so far, where are your teams?! Just trying to put some perspective into this conversation, let's see where you and your team are that your attacking my record. As for the clown comment, if you had any balls whatsoever you would put your name down or say that to my face! Like Rup (Div 2) said in his post "you know what they call a guy who walks with his mouth and has no Balls to back it up???. the last census show to have lots of them on Broadway Ave, Chicago."
Raheel
Raheel,
I didnt post anything earlier about you. Agreed, there are a lot of bad teams in Division II who should probably be relegated to 30-30, that way all the leagues will be competitive. What I was angry about is the attitude shown by some Division I players against Division II. Earlier Tushar bragged about his two championships and 2 semi final appreances and asked the Phoenix players "Let us know what have you done lately?"
Now maybe Tushar is ignorant or just plain stupid, but he should know that Phoenix were one of the top two teams in Division II that is why they are playing Division I.
Division II player
ps. you sure that guy that asked you "why do you shine the ball?" wasn't Sanjay patel? I know he played Division II that year
Next time you guys see Sanjay Patel, tell him that if you shine the ball on the seam then the ball swings in a zig-zag fashion.
Raheel Wrote...
You should hear both sides of the story before passing judgements like "third rate leg umpire won them the match" - if the umpire were a cheat he wouldn't have given that bowled decision either which was very unclear from front on as it was a legspinner who spun it from round the legs of the batsman. We have only lost one game in the season so far and that has not been on the back of leg umpiring decisions, its by playing good cricket.
---------------------------------
Raheel - On the same lines, its unfair to castigate Sridher Jagath in the game u played against United. As far as decisions are concerned, I would tend to give benefit of doubt to neutral umpires than those leg-umpires who are downright cheats.
I'm with Tushar on that one, 2 championships is no joke - I think I will know that as well as anyone having lost last year's final. As for Phoenix, ok they have a 6-4 record and they beat some good teams including Challengers by one run, but they did brag about it too. As someone pointed out earlier that IIT got relegated to Div 2 after 2004 (which was at the request of the captain, as a lot of players either left the team or moved away from Chicago area and there were 2 teams below IIT) - we won 3 matches in that season one of which was against (surprise surprise) Challengers! And it was not a one run win, rather comprehensive. Thats the only match Challenegers lost that season and we only beat Muslim Gym and Hoffman Estates (now Chargers) after that. Moral of the story: winning one match against a top team does not prove anything. If Phoenix do make it to the playoffs then I don't think anyone will deny that they are indeed a good team.
Where exactly did you see me bad mouthing Div 2 playoff teams? I just said that some teams are really really bad. Why do you think IIT failed to win more than 3 matches in Div 1 - because the competition is much stiffer and the teams are much better! Hope this answers your questions and clears it up a bit.
R
"Raheel - On the same lines, its unfair to castigate Sridher Jagath in the game u played against United. As far as decisions are concerned, I would tend to give benefit of doubt to neutral umpires than those leg-umpires who are downright cheats."
I thought we had put the 'umpiring controversies' behind us, apparently not. Well if you have labelled the leg umpires as 'downright cheats' anyways, then why are you surprised when they favor the batting team? Aren't they doing what you're expecting them to do?
R
Yeah...u are right, Sanjay Patel.
Let the dogs bark; and u my friend, your job is to contribute your janitorial talent to our facilities, rather than this blog.
Just to put things in perspective about Div 2: Rivercity was #3 team last year. Most of their players moved to form Peorica CC and were pre season favorites. They are indeed very good team, but are facing some stiff competition and are in the middle of the points table in Div 2.
So, I just have 2 points to make:
1. Div 1 have much better teams in totality. But the Div2 playoff teams are good enough to get respect they deserve.
2. Div 1 players genereally do not show the respect to Div2 teams who move up to the higher ranks. And its perfectly ok as they have to prove they belong to Div 1 and earn respect rather than beg for it.
Suburban
(div 2)
Raheel - I have not labelled leg-umpires as downright cheats...my reference is only to those who are downright cheats.
"Yeah...u are right, Sanjay Patel.
Let the dogs bark; and u my friend, your job is to contribute your janitorial talent to our facilities, rather than this blog."
Ramsundar are you addressing me?
R
No...(ha..ha..ha)
why raheel, are you janitor?
Well people have called me all sorts of names on here so 'janitor' won't be too surprising! :-p
R
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