Congratulations to Muslim Gymkhana and Advancers!!

We have two new Champions today. Muslim Gymkhana lifted the Division 1 Championship by defeating Purdue University while Advancers completed a superb season with a thrilling 12 run win over a fighting IIT to claim the Division 2 Championship. Both IIT and Purdue can be proud today. They played hard and fair, but it was not their day. Both matches were at Washington Park and what a terrific atmosphere we had!. We should congratulate and thank the folks that made all the arrangements at the ground today. There was a large tent ( very important on a hot and fairly humid day), chairs, food, beverages and an impressive turnout. Hats off to all the volunteers!! We got one more final tomorrow and that should bring down the curtain on this 2007 season. We may have to put the whites and the kit away for a few months, but Shekhs tells me that blogging can keep one warm -- you got to listen to the sage -- Lets keep it blogging, folks.

Our New Address!

If you look up at the address bar you may notice that we have a New address!!!
Yes, we are now at www.midwestcricketer.org
Please spread the word...

Elections: 2008

Fellow cricketers,

I wanted to let you all know that I have decided to stand for President of the MWCC in the upcoming elections in 2008. Tariq and his team have done a fantastic job in helping our league get to this level, but with some new leadership and ideas we will be able to elevate this talented league of ours to the next level. I believe that I can achieve this.

I have spoken to Tariq about my intentions to run for office. He appreciates that I let him know and has wished me the very best.

I plan to go through your suggestions in the ideas page and will be providing more information on my team and the agenda in the next couple of weeks. Please feel free to add more thoughts / suggestions to that list.

In the meanwhile if you would like to be a part of my team, please let me know via email at
jaggi@midwestcricket.org

Good luck to all the teams in the Semis and Finals.

Jaggi

Sunday Fun at the old Ballpark

It was a beautiful Sunday to be in Washington Park, and with
the league getting Ground #1 back for the playoffs, it was
fun to have 4 meaningful games in progress at the same time
once again.

I was at Ground #3, umpiring Advancers and Evanston. Evanston
began well, but always lost too many wickets - they were 59/3
in 10 overs to start, and 83/5 in 20. Perrin was their main
performer again, hitting 64 or so out of 139 allout (he had
just hit 2 sixes and 16 off one over, carrying Evanston to
132/6 off 33 overs, when he was runout - and Evanston folded
for 139 soon after). Advancers bowling looked very solid -
Ram and Subashish formed a very effective opening pair, and
the 3 spinners bowled beautifully.

At breaktime we got updates from the other games too -
Milwaukee had collapsed against a rampant United pace attack
of Mehul and Yusuf, and were down to 47/6. CCI were being
held in check by IIT, reduced to 40/5 in 20 overs. And the
Wildcats were 90 odd for 4 in 20 overs. Eventually at lunch
we found that CCI had folded for 75, and the Wildcats got up
to 229 in their 45 overs. Milwaukee had folded for 54 - but
they reduced United to 18/4 in reply (so that was the game
some of us watched at lunch :-) Kabir had claimed 3 wickets
and Wade 1 - Wade was getting monstrous bounce (particularly
remember Mehul fending one off his throat!) However he also
had one go over the keepers head for 5 noballs, and then
Faisal hit him gorgeously for a massively long pulled six
over squareleg that effectively settled the issue.

Returned to umpire the Evanston/Advancers game - Evanston's
bowling is usually quite good, and it started well. They
induced a sitter of a catch second over that was put down,
then got the first wicket soon after. Shakir was dropped
behind soon after coming in as well. But then Shakir and
Khadri (both fasting all day) took over - the Hyderabadi duo
batted gorgeously, dispatching the bowling to all parts of
the field. By the time Shakir was dismissed for 50+, the
game was effectively over as a contest. Paul put the finishing
touches, Khadri remained unbeaten with a brilliant 60+, and
Advancers had looked awesomely good in winning by 8 wickets
with 20 overs to spare!

At the end of our game, we found that IIT had also won easily
in a handful of overs, and United had won their game by 5
wickets in the end. So it was down to one last game - the
first genuinely *good match* of the playoffs, Wildcats vs
Muslim.

When I got there (soon after hearing, with much joy, that
the Cubbies had won 8-0 and the hated Brewers had lost, now
giving the Cubs a 3.5 game lead), Muslim had just lost its
third wicket (Kamran caught at the boundary), and were 50/3
in 12 overs and it was game on. Mehmood and Afroze batted
brilliantly however - Mehmood in particular smacking 3 sixes
in a single over, and looking fantastic. A misunderstanding
(and a great piece of fielding) put paid to his innings
however - Romeen from the boundary to Satish the bowler, and
a direct hit at the batting end that found Mehmood short.
Afroze had things under control, however - it was only when
he holed out at the boundary (after a terrific knock) to
leave Muslim at 165/6 that the game appeared to be genuinely
up in the air again.

It was then that captain Farhat and Rizwan got together, for
a critical 35 run stand that pushed the game towards Muslim
again. The asking rate had crept up to 6/over, but Rizwan hit
2 *huge* sixes off Giri to get it under control again... before
a Giri slower ball clean-bowled him to end the over! It was
30 to win with 3 wickets in hand now (the runrate, after
Rizwan's pyrotechnics, down to less than 5/over however).
The game was now very evenly poised.

Once again, however, the skipper Farhat was involved in a
critical stand - this time with Arif. Once again Arif played
his natural game, playing the big shots, while Farhat kept one
end secure and made sure Satish (bowling beautifully and
searching for the elusive breakthrough) was played out
safely. Eventually Satish got his man, getting Arif to hole
out to Naren - but by then 25 vital runs had been added, only
5 were needed to win, and critically, Satish had run out of
overs.

With 5 runs needed in 2 overs (and 2 wickets in hand), Farhat
defended a ball or two, then dispatched a four over the
drawn-in field, a wide the next ball ended it. Farhat came
in with 70+ runs to win and the scoreboard will show he made
only 23 in the end - but that is where statistics can
sometimes lie, for that innings was worth as much as some
centuries. Entering with 70+ to win, securing one end,
sheparding the lower order, and eventually hitting the winning
runs - it was a Miandad-esque knock, and worth its weight in
gold.

The Wildcats are three-time champs for a reason, they are
probably the toughest team in the league - for a decade theyve
been the hardest team to beat once they put 200 on the board
in a playoff situation. They fought all the way as is their
wont, and came very very close to pulling it off again (but
for some missed catches they actually might have). But that
makes Muslim Gym's victory even more creditable - given the
situation and the opposition, this must surely be the best
win for their club in a decade, maybe ever.

With Purdue apparently beating Challengers (reports and
details from Hanover will be much appreciated!), a couple
of very intriguing semifinals are set - St Louis vs
Purdue, and Muslim vs United.

Overall, a very fun day at the old ballpark (except for the
fact that it had to be ruined by Rex and his gang's abysmal
show at night)!
-------

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Playoff Weekend Sept 22, 23 -- Discussion Board

Open board to discuss playoff games on weekend of Sept 22 and 23.

Division Two Playoffs - Sunday

Advancers vs. Evanston: Sun, WP3

Playing on Sunday, as is their wont, will be Evanston - a
veteran team who, as #6 seeds, are having one of their best
seasons in a while.

Evanston's bowling has always been steady to good - that has
never been a problem, what with the pace of Donald (13 wickets
at 3.9 ER this year), and the steadiness of Perry and Anthony
(20 and 16 wickets respectively). This year, there has been
the addition of the canny legspin of Rizwan, and the offbreaks
of Deron (21 and 10 wickets respectively).

But the added dimension that has turned Evanston from a solid
team into a contender is the addition of one man (though some
would say it is actually two men) - and that is Perrin Donieke.
Young, athletic, fast and truly hostile with the ball, Perrin
has been the best bowler in the league this year - yes, he may
be only 3rd in wickets (with 30 wickets in 14 matches), but it
is at the ridiculous economy rate of 2.56, by far the best in
the league. And what makes him "two men" is the batting - with
nearly 400 runs at opener he leads Evanston's run list as well
(and is in the top 10 for all batsmen). In his first year in
the division, he may already be its single best player.

Evanston's batting has sometimes been its achilles heel in the
past, but that has turned around this year - partly, as
mentioned above, by the addition of Perrin, but also by the
turnaround in form for Jim Sajjad (350 runs in 13 games), and
the contributions of several others around them (Steve, Mikey,
Rizwan and Deron have all scored over 200 runs this season,
with Deron coming off a century in the first playoff game).

Waiting for Evanston is #3 seed Advancers, a team that relies
on the strength of its spin, just as Evanston relies on the
strenght of its pace. In Shakir (27 wickets), Khadri (21
wickets) and Pavan (17 wickets) the Advancers possess by far
the best spin attack in the division. Add to that the presence
of pacemen RamGopal (19 wickets) and Saurabh (15 wickets), and
you have one of the best balanced attacks in the tournament -
not least because no less than 3 of the above 5 bowlers
concede less than 4 runs an over! It is an attack with depth
and variety, and has led the Advancers to great success this
season - they have suffered only 2 losses, and even in those
games the opposition only managed 136 and 92 runs respectively!
In fact Advancers can claim to have been very unlucky all year
- but for a rain-rule loss to IIT, they could well have been
the ones already in Division One this season instead of Peoria
(since they actually had the better runrate at the time). That
loss, however, pushed them down to 3rd spot from a potential
first and has left them needing to win the title to make it
to Division One.

The Advancers batting too is deep - they boast 6 players who
have scored fifties, and 5 with totals over 175 - but it
undoubtedly relies mostly heavily on the famous Shakir-Suresh
jugalbandi, clearly one of the top duos in the league. Both,
appropriately, averaged 47 each for the season - Shakir the
league-leader with over 600 runs, Suresh not far behind with
470. Backing them up are Sandeep, Pavan and Khadry, the first
two with over 200 runs for the year and 2 fifties apiece.

Contest to watch: The pace and hostility of Evanston's attack,
against the spin and guile of Advancer's.

IIT vs. CCI: Sunday, WP4

On Sunday CCI will return to the scene of its greatest triumph
- Washington Park, where merely 8 days earlier a young #12
seed, in the playoffs for the first time, had shown up with 10
men, and beaten the loaded #5 seeded Jolly Rovers team boasting
no less than 5 former Division One players. Given the
circumstances and the yawning gap in playoff experience, that
game must surely rank amongst the greatest upsets in recent
playoff history.

The team that authored this remarkable Cinderella-story is a
fascinating amalgam of youth and experience, and, somewhat
unusually in our league, a variety of nationalities and
cultures. The undergraduate skipper Imran leads an outfit
that includes players whose ages range from his 16-year-old
brother Hassan to his professor father Dr. Safdar, and other
personalities as richly varied as Indians from various regions
(Anil, Abhijit and Kushal have been regulars), a couple of
chatty Aussies (Manu and Chris), and a nehari-loving
former-skipper from Lahore (Tanweer). And last weekend, this
motley crew of ten men formed a cocktail potent enough to
derail the heavily favoured fifth seed.

But CCI isnt just a wonderful Cinderella story, it is a team of
talent, discipline and spirit that has played well all year.
The bowling is probably the key - the pacemen (Abhijit and
Kushal, a dozen wickets each this season) were solid and
disciplined last weekend, and skipper Imran has been the
leading wickettaker for the year (with 20). The Khan-family,
actually, contributes CCI's three leading wickettakers for
the year, with paterfamilias Dr Khan and tyro Hassan (18 and
16 apiece), followed by yet another spinner Tanweer (with 15).
CCI also bats a long way down, with 7 batsmen having gotten
over a hundred runs this year, its outstanding performers
being the two Aussies Manu and Chris, along with Tanweer
(though it was the young skipper Imran who probably played
the key innings in the playoff win, blasting a vital 43 at
the end after Manu had provided an excellent start).

Waiting for CCI is IIT, a traditional Division Two powerhouse
that had only two losses all season (one of them a hearbreaking
1-wicket loss to the eventual league topper, Peoria). IIT is
a team all of Division Two has come to know well, and
at the core they remain the same - in Ajay and Laxmi (near
570 and 430 each) they have maybe the two best batsmen in
any team in the division, and theyre capably backed up by
skipper Vasu (310), Pankaj (190) and Akhil (140). It must
be said, however, that the batting doesnt look quite as deep
as in the past, with the loss of batsmen of the calibre of
Ankur, Moyeed and Abhijit over the past couple of seasons.

The bowling has also suffered the loss of a lot of pace bowlers
in the past few years - but is still led by Padmaraju, one of
the finest pacemen in the division - backed up by Mihir, Akhil,
Vijay and Vasu. The strength of the attack, however, probably
lies in its spin bowling - Laxmi, Chakri, Sudipto and Ajay form
a very solid spin quartet, one of the most effective in the
league. All of this, in addition, is backed up by the best
fielding outfit in Division Two - fielding of the calibre
that often lifts the attack to even greater heights.

Ten may have been the New Eleven for CCI last week, as Manu
so memorably put it - but this weekend the Cinderella-team of
the league goes up against a traditional powerhouse that has
been one of the strongest teams in the division all season
long. On Sunday, we'll find out if the slipper still fits.

Contest to watch: Ajay and Laxmi against the CCI bowling.
------------

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Division Two Playoffs - Saturday

Its time to clear the mind of all the controversies of last
weekend, and look forward to one of the best weekends of the
year - quarter-final weekend in the MCC. So far, with
calculators still working overtime in Division One, it is
only the Division Two matchups that are set.

Peoria vs. Jaguars: Saturday, WP2

The #8 seeded Jaguars, coming off a game in which they avenged
a one-sided early-season loss to Madison, take on top-ranked
and presumptive title-favourite Peoria this Saturday.

These are, to coin a phrase, Not Your Daddy's Jaguars (yes,
I know, wrong car-reference :-) But this is a team radically
altered from the glory days of Jatin, Arvind, RP, Amit et al,
who made the Jaguar's a perennial playoff team a few years
ago. There has been an extreme influsion of youth - there are
near half-a-dozen current IIT students on the roster -
bringing with them exuberance, youthful athleticism, and a
touch of playoff inexperience (which made the win over a
very good Madison side all the more creditable). And these
are heavily contributing youngsters led by the movie-theatre-
trinity of Satyam, Shubam and Shameer-um (and Shabri, whose
name doesnt quite fit the old-timey Bollywood movie, but who
is a heavily contributing bowler despite it)!

The Jaguars are a team whose strength is clearly its batting -
and what a strength it is! The only team in Division Two to
top 3000 runs this year, the batting is led by the youthful
rising star Satyam Kaneria (who failed to make a single
century, yet scored nearly 500 runs in double-quick time this
year) and one-drop Ajay Radhakrishnan. But the batting is
very strong and deep and very much a team effort, with no
less than 9 players having made a fifty for the Jaguars
this season. Amongst the nine is paceman Vishal Kundra, a
destructive batsman who also leads the attack paired with his
old pace partner Raish, and the three new-boys Satyam, Shabri
and Shameer, all five with double-digit wickets this season.

Waiting for the Jaguars is Peoria - tanned, rested and ready.
Madhu's team has lost just once this season, and yet shows up
nowhere on the statistical charts! How is this, you may ask?
Because they are a team, and built as such, with different
people given exposure at different times with the playoffs in
mind. (It also doesnt help individual stats if only one batsman
has batted even 9 times this season, with the rest all having
even fewer knocks!) Peoria may have only 2 batsmen who have
crossed 200-runs this season (Madhu himself and Maninder Bola, who averaged 64 in only 7 innings - two of the best allrounders
in the league), but literally everyone can bat in this team
(as was demonstrated by a chanceless fifty by the #10 Vishal
that won Peoria the game against IIT this season, in what was
clearly the game of the year). The true strength of Peoria,
however, strong as their batting is, might well lie in their
bowling - as demonstrated by no less than 7 bowlers in
double-figures in wickets, and a staggering six of them with
economy-rates under 4 runs an over! Kiran, Maninder, Madhu and
Kalyan have all taken a 4-fer this season, and form possibly
the strongest bowling lineup in the division.

Contest to watch: Peoria's league-leading bowling attack
against the Jaguars league-leading batting lineup.

QC vs. Giants: Saturday, WP3

The other Saturday game sees a replay of one of the best games
of the year, the tie played out at Mossville between #2 seed QC
Kings and #7 seed Giants a few weeks ago.
http://www.midwestcricket.org/asp/Score88.asp?id=2745
This is also the replay of a playoff game a year ago, when the
Giants relatively easily upset the higher-ranked QC Kings who
were then in their first season in our league.

The Giants have long been known as a very good bowling side
backed up by perhaps the best gloveman in the division in
Shashi, and that holds true this year as well with 4 bowlers
in double-digit wickets, 2 of them with excellent economy
rates in the mid-3s (Asim and Moatsim). The clear leader
of the attack, however, has been Atif who has had a monster
season - with 33 wickets at an average of 11, he is the highest
wickettaker in the league. The batting has sometimes been a
worry in the past, but is much-strengthened this year with
the addition of the former-Phoenix Omer - who has hit 2
centuries and 300 runs in only 6 games! Vajid too has a century
this year, and over 400 runs to his name, while Yasin remains
one of the best allrounders in the division (with 276 runs and
12 wickets) - his name on the scorecards may have change, but
his performance remains as consistently outstanding as ever.

The Giants came within 10 runs of making Division One last
season, after a terrific run thru the playoffs. With a thumping
win to start this season's playoffs last week, they are a team
brimming with the confidence that they can repeat that run,
and take it a step further this time around - a confidence that
makes them one of the most dangerous teams in this tournament.

Waiting for the Giants are the QC Kings - a team many from
Chicago dont know as well as we should. Their quality is
obvious from the fact that they have lost just once all
season long, and won many contests in dominating fashion. The
QC Kings are a deep and balanced outfit - their batting may
be led by the highly prolific strokeplayer Hari Kiran (who has
scored nearly 400 runs in only 10 matches), but it is a side
with no less than 6 fifty-makers, and 9 who have scored more
than a hundred runs this season, thus one possessing no tail
whatsoever. The bowling too is very well balanced,with 3
bowlers (Satish, Nihar and Pankaj) taking 20 or more wickets
each at impressive averages, and Rahim claiming 17 in only
9 games. In addition this year, QC Kings may have what they
lacked a year ago - a player who knows as much about
Washtington Park conditions as anyone in the league, in the
form of our old friend Dimpy (who, as an aside, also adds
tremendous value to the team with both bat and ball, as
everyone in our league is well aware).

Contest to watch: Hari Kiran against the Giants bowling.
----------------

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Discussion for games played weekend of September 15th

Updates, reports and discussions of both regular season and
playoff games played the weekend of September 15th
-------

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The final week of the 2007 regular season

It seems that all Div 2 games have been completed and the playhoff picture has only just become clear. Congratulations to the top 12 on making the playoffs. Congratulations to Peoria Cricket Club for winning the regular season and qualifying for the promotion to Div 1. One spot for promotion to Div 1 is still up for grabs and there is a lot of talent in all the playoff teams. It's win or go home, so the intensity level is going to be higher, and the quality of games better. Good luck!

We come down to the final week of the regular season for Div 1. The late-peaking Royals have just joined the playoff race with a impressive victory against fellow contender Rogers Park. It seems, by all accounts, that Muslim Gym has made the playoffs if they have been awarded the game against Pak Gym. As of now, it seems like there are 6 teams vying for the last 3 playoff spots with Muslim Gym, United, and Roger's Park holding their destiny in their own hands. Pak Gym, Phoenix, and Royals will need to win their final games and will need some help for the above teams if they are to make the playoffs. However, nothing can be confirmed as yet because no official announcement has been made on the status of the Muslim Gym vs Pak Gym game and the decisions taken regarding the incident that occurred during the game. This decision will have major implications on an already murky playoff picture.

At the bottom of the Div 1 table AAA, Capitol, and Flames are fighting to stay in Div 1. If the Flames upset St Louis, they will be safe, but a loss could spell doom for them depending on NRR. Capitol has played out all their games and will have to wait and watch to see what unfolds. If AAA win their remaining 2 games, they could avoid relegation if the Flames lose to St Louis and their NRR is better than both Flames and Capitol.

Despite being the last week of the regular season there is everything to play for. It's a must win situation for all teams. There are favourites for each of the situations, but as usual, nothing can be taken for granted.

After all, this is Cricket!

The Division Two Playoff Picture

The regular season reaches its climax for Division Two this
weekend, with the final round of matches - and the playoff
picture, as usual, is still not entirely clear.

The top of the table is almost set - Peoria takes on Universal
this weekend, and a win will assure them of top seed as well
as automatic entry to Division One. The next 3 seeds, assured
of byes, are also set - Advancers, IIT and QC Kings will all
finish in the top four, they cannot be caught by anyone else.
The next 3 teams in the current standings are also assured of
playoff spots - Evanston, Jaguars and Madison - totalling 7
(out of 12 possible spots available for the playoffs).
Evanston will probably drop 2 points, their "tie" against
Jolly Rovers probably being ruled a loss, but are still assured
of the playoffs with 36 points.

After that, things get interesting - especially with not all
teams having updated their results. The next 4 teams (spots 7
thru 11) all have 32 points apiece, and all have 1 game left.
The Giants, CCI and Jolly Rovers have un-updated scoreboards
(Lucky has updated everything, and have finished their
schedule) - however both Giants and CCI are actually still at
32 after 13 completed games at the moment. With Jolly Rovers,
we have had no news of their match a few weeks ago against
Tigers... fellas, please let everyone know, it affects several
other teams too :-)

And finally the battle for the last playoff spot... Raiders
and Springfield are both at 30, Collinsville at 28, and
Illinois at 26, all with 1 game left (Collinsville has
not updated their loss in the last game yet - they have 30
from 13 games, not 12).

The big games to watch this weekend are as follows:
Springfield vs Warriors: A home win for Springfield will push
them to 34, and almost certainly into the playoffs. A walkover
will suffice too.

CCI vs Advancers: A very difficult home assignment for CCI,
who have a poor run-rate despite being at 32 points. A win will
see them make the playoffs... but only a win may suffice, due
to the poor run-rate. If they lose, they must hope for 2 of
the Raiders, Springfield and Collinsville to also lose this
weekend.

Giants vs Raiders: One of the best contests of the entire
weekend - Giants, at 32 points and a good runrate, are almost
in barring a disaster this weekend. Raiders, at 30 points,
have to have a win - and just a win will probably be enough. Also the most even contest in terms of table-positioning, an
8-win team taking on a 7-wins-and-1-rainout team in a do-or-die
game!

Collinsville vs QC Kings: A hard away-game for Collinsville,
who lost a huge contest at CCI last week. Still, a win could
take them to 32 points, and into a run-rate battle for the last
playoff spots.

Jolly Rovers vs Madison: This game really is crucial only if
Jolly Rovers lost to Tigers... of which we are still unaware,
weeks later :-) If it was a win (or even a rainout), Jolly
Rovers are probably already safely into the playoffs (with
34 or 36 points going into this last game).

Illinois vs Chicago: A real longshot for Illinois - they can
get to 30 points with a win, and 11 teams already have 32.
However, if Springfield, Raiders and Collinsville all lose and
ICC beats Chicago... we could have one of the most dangerous
#12 seeds in the history of the Division Two playoffs!

These above games will probably decide the playoff spots.
IMHO the cutoff will most likely come at 32 points this
season... everyone with 32 *could* make it, but there is a
strong chance that one 32-point-team will be left on
the outside looking in based on runrate (CCI has the poorest
runrate of any of the 32-point-teams currently - given that
they missed out on the playoffs two years ago on runrate,
they will surely be very very keen to upset the Advancers
this weekend, to get to 36 points and make very sure!)
-----------

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Discussion of games played weekend of September 1st

Discussions and reports of games played the weekend of
September 1st

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Predictions, Discussions, and Reports for games played between Aug 24 and Aug 31

Predictions, Discussions, and Reports for games played between Aug 24 and Aug 31.

Reports and discussions of matches played weekend of August 18th

Actual match reports, updates and discussions for games
played this weekend

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Blogger Ball

Discussion related to organization of the very first edition of Blogger Ball!

Discussion for games played weekend of August 18th

Predictions, updates and analysis for games played the
weekend of August 18th

Discussion for games played weekend of August 11th

Predictions, updates, analysis and discussion for games
played on the weekend of August 11th
--------

The Race For Number One

With new rules instituted this year, it seems the Regular
Season Champion of Division Two will automatically advance
to Division One at the end of the season (to be joined by
the winner of the playoffs). Given that, the Race for Number
One has assumed immense proportions this regular season.

At the moment, it is neck-and-neck - no less than 4 teams
are tied at 32 points with an 8-1 record! They are Peoria,
Advancers, IIT and QC Kings. The following are their
remaining schedules:

Peoria CC: IIT, Illinois, Warriors, Tigers, Universal
(all games in Mossville)
Advancers: Universal, Collinsville (away), IIT, Arsenal, CCI (away)
IIT: Peoria (away), Lucky, Advancers, Warriors, NoStars
QC Kings: SIUE (away), Arsenal, Raiders, Giants, Collinsville
(last 4 in Moline)

The big game is this weekend, with IIT visiting fellow-Big-Four
team Peoria. After that Peoria takes on the dangerous Illinois.
Advancers have their biggest test playing fellow Big Four IIT
in 3 weeks, and then the dangerous Arsenal. IIT, obviously,
has yet to play both Big Four teams (Peoria and Advancers).
QC Kings seem to be the ones with the easiest schedule, not
playing any of their Big Four brethren - but they do play
four dangerous sides in SIUE, Arsenal, Raiders and Giants,
three of them at home. (Overall, too, it must be said that
the QC Kings probably ended up with the easiest schedule
in retrospect - they will end the regular season without
having played any of Peoria, IIT or the Advancers. Everyone
else has played one of the 4, with IIT having played 2 of
the 4).

Who will emerge from this Race for Number One? Predictions,
analysis etc - especially from teams who have played more
than one of the Big Four this year - would be great to
read! And over the weekends, rapid updates on the games of
any of the Big Four would be greatly appreciated as well...

Written by Sadiq Yusuf

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Discussion for games played during weekend of August 5th

Predictions, updates, results and match reports, for games
played during the weekend of August 5th.

________________________________________________________________
Sent via the WebMail system at midwestcricket.org

Discussion for games between July 28th and Aug 3rd

Discussion and predictions for games played from July 28th to Aug 3rd.

Incident on July 23rd-Mon

I was very disturbed by a select few in the crowd that had assembled to watch the Horizon Vs Pak Gymkhana 20/20 game. Instead of watching a fascinating game, a select few engaged in abusing the patrol officer. They abused him in local language and then decided to something really mature: honk and laugh at him as they drove away.

I was standing right next to him as they engaged in this wonderful bit of showmanship and was really ashamed. What could I possibly tell an officer who gets abused by our own cricketing fraternity? The patrol officer was planning to talk to the park district management and revoke our license to play at Hanover Park. At the end of the day, we were able to convince him that these were the actions of a select few.

I am quite sure that none of our players would have done something so irresponsible. I strongly urge each and every player to ensure that the guests they bring also behave responsibly. Driving away and honking at the patrol officer is definitely not funny and does not reflect well.

It takes a long time to build a relationship with a park district. Hanover Park district officials have been very supportive of cricket and our league. It is upto each and everyone of us to ensure that this is a long lasting relationship.

Hope this is a one time incident.

Discussion for games between July 21st and 27th

Discussion and predictions for games played from July 21st to July 27th.

POLL: Should MWCC Participate in future LA Open 20/20 Events?

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Discussion for games played in the LA Open

Word has just filtered through that MWCC lost a thriller by
a wafer-thin margin in their first game in the LA Open.

MWCC batted first, and scored 143 in their 20 overs. The
top rungetters were Amit and Madhu with 43 and 30 respectively.
Both Sohail and Satha hit a couple fours early each before
being dismissed.

In reply Ventura XI got home thanks to their WI-international
Leon Garrick, who carried them to victory with 4 wickets and
3 balls to spare. MWCC apparently felt they had Garrick out
early (caught-and-bowled by Amit), but much to their chagrin
it was ruled a bump-ball. Asif apparentely bowled beautifully,
conceding only 1 boundary in his 4 overs and picking up a
wicket as well. A couple more chances were given to Garrick
(it was supposedly fielding that was one of the biggest reasons
for MWCC's loss), and it finally came down to 18 needed off
the last 2 overs. It was eventually about 11 needed in 7
balls, when Nasir (bowling the penultimate over) beat
everyone, batsman and keeper, off the last ball of his over
that went for 4 byes! It was thus down to 7 off the last over,
and Ventura XI made it with 3 balls to spare.

More updates (from anyone who gets them) and updates to follow
in the discussion-section of this thread.

Written by Sadiq Yusuf

________________________________________________________________
Sent via the WebMail system at midwestcricket.org

LA Open 2007 Poll

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Discussion for games played during weekend of July 7th

Discussion and predictions for games played during weekend of July 7th.

________________________________________________________________
Sent via the WebMail system at midwestcricket.org

Key amendments to MCC Rules and Regulations w.e.f. 07/02/2007

• 30/30 Division - Limit on players who are registered in Div 1 and Div 2 (Currently Clause 8…8.6)

• 30/30 division teams shall be permitted to add to their roster players who are also registered to play in Division 1 or Division 2, subject to the following conditions;
• At any given time, the number of such players (registered with other teams) shall not exceed 5
• Of the 5 registered players, no more than 3 players shall be permitted to play in any game
• Players once registered cannot be changed or transferred at any cost

• Walk-over Rules (Currently Clause 16.1 – Points table)
• Teams awarding walk-over for any reason whatsoever shall be penalized 4 points. In order to get the full points, Teams receiving walk-overs in matches should make sure that a minimum of 7 players are present at the ground when the decision is made by the umpire about the walk-over. The umpire is required to make sure that the players (at least 7) are already registered players of that team. No exceptions or assumptions shall be made.

Win	4 (Four) Points
Walk-over Received	4 (Four) Points (to the team receiving the walkover) subject to umpire’s report
Tie	3 (Three) Points to each team
Loss	0 (Zero) Points
Walk Over Given	- 4 (Negative Four) Points (to the team failing to show up) for any reason whatsoever

• Playoff Qualifications Rule (Currently clause 8.9)
• Players who have not played a minimum of 3 games in the regular season are not qualified to play in the playoffs, unless;
• In the opinion of the MCC committee, the player was injured during most part of the season and such medical or illness has been properly supported by documentation and approved by the committee.
• If not for the match or matches that were rained, the player would have completed the required number of games to qualify for playoffs. In such rained out matches the following shall be taken care of;
• It shall be the responsibility of the captains to handover the list of players for the match to the umpire before the play is called off.
• The player should be one who is already registered in the website and he should be physically present on the ground at the time the match is called off
• The umpire shall make sure that the players are registered and fax his report promptly to the committee clearly stating the players who were physically present at the ground.

• Mandatory umpiring
• It shall be mandatory on all teams to contribute to the league umpiring and the following conditions shall apply,
• Each team shall provide volunteers (both main umpire and leg umpire) for 2 matches.
• The main umpire and the leg umpire shall officiate for the same match and will go together as a team
• Of the 2 matches, one shall be a local game and the other an outstation game
• No payment shall be made to the umpires for these two matches.
• Lunch shall be provided by the host team
• For outstation games, the umpires shall be provided transportation by the visiting team
• TEAMS CAN CHOOSE A DATE OF THEIR CHOICE, FAILING WHICH THE LEAGUE SHALL ASSIGN THE DATES FOR EACH TEAM. DATES ONCE ASSIGNED SHALL BE FINAL AND TEAMS FAILING TO ASSIGN UMPIRES ON THAT DAY WILL BE CHARGED $200 FOR EACH VIOLATION.
• The mandatory two match quota shall be completed before the penultimate game of the season

• Mandatory Umpire Certification
• The league shall takes steps in a staggered manner to make sure that only certified umpires are assigned for all matches. Accordingly,
• All umpires will be required to undergo certification in order to be able to officiate in the league
• It shall be mandatory on all teams to make sure that at least one member of the team is certified in umpiring by MCC by the start of the next season.
• It shall be mandatory on all teams to make sure that at least two members of the team are certified in umpiring by MCC by the end of the next season.

• Advancing to Division I for next season (Currently Clause 27)
• Regardless of number of teams in the conference the winner of Division II Finals and the Top Seed from Division II Regular Season standings shall move to Division I. However, if the winner of Division II and the Top seed from Division II regular season are the same, then the Winner and the Runner-up of Division II shall move up to Division I.

Go West, Young Men!

The MCC team to the LA Open has been announced. It is
as follows (taken from the LA Open link on the main
page):

Player Name Team Name
Sohail Alvi - Captain St. Louis RH Batsman
Shahid Munir - VC Pak Gym RH Bat/Bowl
Satha Sivapragasam Capitol RH Batsman
Maninder Bola Peoria RH Bat/LA Bowl
Afroze Siddiqui Bears RH Spin/Bat
Amit Kumar St. Louis RH Spin/Bat
Asif Mahmood Milwaukee LA Spin/RH Bat
Raheel Akhter Pak Gym RH Fast Bowler
Imran Taylor Lucky XI Wkt Keeper
Nilesh Patel Challengers RH Bat/Bowl
Nasir Mehmood Flames RH Fast Bowler
Madhu Reddy Peoria RH Bat/Bowl
Dakshesh Patel Challengers RH Bat/Bowl

Following players were contacted but are not avaibale due to their personal engagements.

Player Name Team Name
Satish Reddy Wildcats
Bhavneet Sarna Milwaukee United
Kiran Kambhampati Flames
Ajay Ghandi IIT
Wade Allen Milwaukee
Ajit Ramaswami Wildcats
Tehsin Ahmed St. Louis
------------

A quite similar team to last year, and one (similarly)
that could have been even better if some of the players
contacted had been available to actually go.

Views and Comments? Brickbats and bouquets? Feel free to
write in, to our new LA Open thread (as if our blog ever
needed that invitation :-) And meanwhile, Good Luck to
Our Boys in their adventure out West - may you do us
proud!

by Sadiq Yusuf

sadiq@midwestcricket.org

Discussion for games played during weekend of June 30th.

Discussion and predictions for games played during weekend of June 30th.

Would you like to see measure put in place to prevent 'Chucking' in the MWCC?
	Yes
	No
pollcode.com free polls

Discussion for games played during weekend of June 23rd

Discussion and predictions for games played during weekend of June 23rd.

Abid Laheri Night Tournament 2007 - Predictions

The night tournament is nearly upon us. Sixteen teams, all with the dream of winning this prestigious tournament, have signed up and are all tied for first place currently. However, that is going to change drastically as the tournament begins and some teams start to separate themselves from the pack. Lets look at the groups:

Group A a.k.a The group of Death a.k.a The group of Champions with winners from the last 4 years, Pak Gym and Challengers. They are the clear favourites to emerge from this group into the playoffs, but then cricket is not a game of favourites. Could we have some surprises in store?

Group B, considered one of the easiest groups by some, though they do have the previous runner-up and favourites from this group, the Flames. Could they finally win it all, or will one of their group-mates upstage them?

Group C, considered the other easier group. Muslim Gym is probably the favourite based on their big-hitting batsmen, but who knows enough about Phoenix, Rivercity, or Smokin Aces to rule them out? This is not a group to be taken lightly.

Group D, also known as The other group of Death. The Wildcats look in imperious form so far, and are the definite favourites to emerge from this group. United is another perenial contender, but don't rule out Arsenal or Anjuman who are just as capable.

So, where does that leave the blogging enthusiasts? Who can predict the tournament champions? Who has the inside track on the upsets in store for us? Can anyone provide some information about the other, lesser known teams - the players, the potential, the style? The tournament is so close, and yet so far.....

Discussion for games played during weekend of June 16th

Discussion and predictions for games played during the weekend of June 16th.

Abid Laheri Night Tournament 2007

The season is in full flow and already certain teams look like they are playoff sure-shots, others look like they are out of it, and some have aspirations to make the playoffs. The blog has heated up. The MidWest Cricket Conference has come alive this summer, as it does every summer.

And to add to the spice of rivalry and competition is the Abid Laheri Night tournament. A favourite for most of our members, this bowler-bashing, six-hitting, single-spurning, spin-massacre of a tournament should be starting up within the next couple of weeks. Of course, the midwest cricket conference web page hasn't been updated, no clear communication passed on - but then that has become the norm instead of the exception. Either way, it doesn't dampen the spirits of the true cricket enthusiasts who concern themselves more with playing the game than managing it.

So, therefore, here is the first of what will probably be many posts (not all by me hopefully!!) for the 2007 Abid Laheri tournament. Who are the teams playing this year? Last years champs the Challengers? The year before's champs, Pak Gym? Flames? Who else?

Also, is anyone looking for a team? Or is a team looking for someone? Lets get the discussions, predictions, and general mud-slinging started! And oh yes, the tournament should start soon too..........

Discussion for games played during weekend of June 9th

Discussion and predictions for games played during weekend of June 9th.

Do you Mange your team? ..Read on..

Here is something for the hardworking Team Managers and Captains. The Management of my team has always used web based tools to try and make the day to day running of the team ( scheduling, collections aka begging + threats, announcements, etc). For us it has been a combination of google groups and zoho sheets. I know some other teams uses web calenders, evites and other web based spreadsheets. In spite of all these tools, I had always felt that someone should try and pull all this togther in to one web based application. So, it was interesting to run in to a web site devoted just to Team Management. I was ever more excited to see that they had an offering dedicated to manage cricket teams. I have been testing it ( it is still in beta). Try it out. It is called Team Snap.

What tools do you use to mange your teams? Lets share some of the good ideas here.

Discussion for games played during weekend of June 2nd

Discussion and Prediction Board for games played during weekend of June 2nd

MVP of May - 07 Season

For the month of May-07, we had 22 games in Div-1, 34 games in Div-2 and 8 games in Div-30/30. We had 2 centuries in Div-1, 5 centuries in Div-2 and 1 century in Div-30/30.

Div-1MVP: Sohail Alvi(St Louis)

Sohail leads the division 1 table with 31 points. He is yet to be dismissed this season with scores of 91*, 53* and 35* for a total of 179 runs and has helped St Louis to a 3-0 season. Sohail is followed by the two members from the other 3-0 team: Milwaukee Cricket Club. Romesh Kadlec has 22 points, followed by Asif Mehmood with 21 points.

Div-2MVP: Suresh Paul(Advancers)

Suresh leads the division 2 points table with 31 points. He scored a total of 228 runs with one century - 138* and 5 and 85*. Suresh is followed by Sanjiv Patel with 25 points and Ajay Gandhi-IIT, Madhu Reddy- PCC, Nirav Nayak-Raiders and Vishal Patel-Raiders all with 22 points.

Div-30/30MVP: Nirav Patel-Deepark and Shahzad Rashid-Hammond

Nirav and Shahzad lead the div-30/30 points table with 23 points. Nirav scored 94 and bagged 5 wiks against South Barrington. Shahzad scored a century-100 and 84 for a total of 184 runs and bagged 2 wiks. They are followed by Hardik Patel - DeePark and Ahmed Lakhani - Strikers with 11 points each.

Discussion Board for games played during weekend of May 19th

Discussion Board for games played during weekend of May 19th

The role of the Captain???

Captains play a huge role in a team, not only for binding a team and helping get the right combination, but also for the strategic aspect of the game. The blame for a sub-par season / tournament falls on the captain and rightly so. A bad decision by a captain could result in a lost game. Not playing enough bowlers in a Test match, and although your team puts up a decent score, you can't get 20 wickets to win the game. Choose to bat second in the World Cup semi-finals on a newly laid out pitch, and then watch Sanath Jayasuriya turn the ball square and make you look like a fool! Don't know how to handle an English attack with reverse swing, and you lose the Ashes for the first time in 20 years! There are countless such instances of poor captaincy that come to mind.

But how often does good captaincy come to mind. Not often, simply because it could mean putting a short mid off in place and thus not allowing the opposing batsman to play his shots freely. So instead, he can't score at will, and then gets out after a sub-par performance, and your team wins the game. The captaincy is rarely credited, but a simple act like that could have huge implications on the game. Bringing on the spinners at the right time. Making subtle field placements. Changing your bowlers effectively. Having a strategy to implement if the opposition is going hammer and togs at you. Very few captains have shown true accumen for such a role. Great captains are but a few, and when they come around, everyone else is dwarfed by their presence. I think of people like Imran Khan who moulded the Pakistan team, Stephen Flemming who out-thought so many rivals, Steve Waugh who perfected the art of mind games, Saurav Ganguly who brought a fighting spirit and results to the Indian team, and Hansie Cronje who understood the fine art of angles and field placement. There are many more who I haven't mentioned, but who were great leaders.

But remember, a captain isn't necessarily a great player. Take Mike Bearly vs Ian Botham. The latter is one of the greatest all rounders of the game, but a poor captain. The former was a decent batsman, but an outstanding captain. Is Tendulkar a great captain, or just a great player? Can the same be said for Lara? Is Ricky Ponting a good captain? Or does he just have great talent around him?

Those are some of the things that I want to hear your opinions on. Also, what about our very own MCC league? Who is a good captain in our league? What makes him such a good captain? Is he a good leader? Does he understand the game? Are his field placements spot on? Does he take risks that often pay off?

Who would fall into the list of top 10 captains?

Live Score Updates: Need your help

This weekend please send score updates to mcclive(at)googlegroups.com during and/or after your game. If you subscribe to the service you can get the live scores in your email as they come in. Otherwise you can see them on the top-right corner of the blog. Note that the subject line in your email is what we see on the blog. Thank You.

update: Since this did not work in the manner it was envisioned, I have removed this group from the blog.

MCC Grounds

We have close to 20 grounds in our league including the 7 in Chicagoland. While Hanover Park has the best facility in the Chicagoland, it is a pleasure to play in St Louis and Mossville(home of PCC). Which ground do you like the most and which do you dislike and why? How have the grounds been this year so far?

Discussion Board for games played during weekend of May 12th

Discussion Board for games played during weekend of May 12th

MCC Live -- Real Time Scores - an experiment

There are weekends when I have sat at home waiting and wondering what the score was for my team and other games where my friends are playing. Today is one such. I'm sure many of you may have been in similar situations before. So, rather than wait and hope, I'm trying a new experiment on our blog that hopefully should help us get the game scores out sooner to folks like me who are sitting at home and changing diapers.

Here is what I have done. I set up a group called [mcclive(at)googlegroups.com]. I left it as an open group so that anyone can post a message by sending an email to the above address. Then I took an RSS feed of the messages and put it on a module on the upper right corner of the blog. So, if all goes well we should be seeing scores and news as they are posted. If you are at the ground please send emails with quick score updates to the above address.

You can also get these scores in your email capable phone/mobile device by signing up as a member for this group. You can control the messages from the group's settings. If people actually start sending messages to this address we may have a really cool feature - live score updates of all games. Let's see how this experiment goes.

Update: The live RSS Feed is not working. Can one of you IT Scientists please help me? I need the url of the message feed. I have tried it a number of times without success. If you know how to do this please post the url here. Thank You!

New Update: After much tweaking the live feed is working....except that it is not updating as new messages come in. While those who are subscribed will be getting the scores/news immediately in their inbox the blog window is getting updated slowly. I will keep testing and tweaking. If any of you know what the problem is please help.

Pick an umpire

Its a thankless job..this umpiring..but, lets be grateful to these brave souls who take the time and effort to do this. Who all deserve to be in a fictional MWCC Elite Panel?

Discussion Board: Weekend of May 5th

Discussion Board for games played during weekend of May 5th

We fight unto death... or maybe just the last wicket!!

Rivalry. It is an integral aspect to any competitive sport. No sport can really grab the imagination if there are no rivalries between teams / players. Because when there is a rivalry, the tension is palpable, the skill level a notch higher, and the effort that little bit more to win against your rival. And it's not just the players, but even the crowds that will get sucked up into the spirit of the moment and for that short period of time become a part of the game itself.

American football has rivalries - Packers vs Bears, Buccaneers vs Panthers, Colts vs Titans, Rams vs Seahawks, Ravens vs Steelers, and ofcourse, 'skins vs 'boys! Baseball has Yankees vs Red Sox, Yankees vs Mets, Cubs vs Cardinals, Cubs vs Whitesox, etc. And of course, cricket has it's share of rivalries - England vs Ozzies, All Blacks vs Ozzies, India vs Pakistan, South Africa vs Ozzies, and then the individual ones - Tendulkar vs McGrath, Tendulkar vs Shane Warne, Donald vs Dravid, Lara vs McGrath, Flintoff vs Ponting, Atherton vs Donald, Richards vs Botham, etc. This list is endless.

So, in our small world of the MCC, what are the big rivalries? Wildcats vs MUCC? Satha vs Rup? Pak Gym vs Muslim Gym? Madison vs AAA? Asif Mahmood vs Shahid Munir? Challengers vs Phoenix? Ok, so the last one might be a stretch, but from what I hear and see, it could build up into one. I'd love to read and hear about the rivalries from the opinion of memebers and bloggers. Individual, or team - whatever they are.

If nothing else, it'll spice up some of the games this season. Rivalries. Gotta love them......

New Intitiatives ??

Last year one of the most successful intiatives launched was the Midwest Cricketer Blog. It was a wonderful idea, giving members of the league a place to voice their opinions and to share insights. Hopefully, some of the ideas will lead to new initiatives this year as the league tries to build upon itself and improve it self.

One of the problems last year was that some of the good ideas came out too late. Too late to have the All-Star game. Too late to really have a fantasy league. Too late to have an MCC banquet. Ok, so scratch the last one from the list, but you get the point. Lets start that discussion early this year, and lets see if we can get some of those ideas in motion. Here is what I have so far:

1. All-Star game
2. Fantasy League
3. Improving the mats (astroturf anyone?) at Washington Park, and elsewhere
4. Holding an MCC Banquet this year
5. Weekly awards / recognition for outstanding performances
6. Greater dialogue with the Administration on league matters
7. Greater participation in externally held events
8. Mandatory Umpire's seminar / training to improve umpiring
9. Improving practice facilities, etc.
10. Cutting the grass on the grounds

What else do you guys think we should do to improve our league and the standard of cricket? Are we doing enough to expand the league? I think it would be great to get a bunch of ideas and pass them onto the management and then have them provide feedback on what they plan to do about them. So please, do suggest any ideas you have, build upon these ideas, but provide constructive suggestions that can be used and implemented.

written by Aditya Burman

Season 07

Welcome to Season 07. Hope you all had a great off-season.
I loved the world cup, even though Team India lost out the way they did. There were some amazing memories.. the spirit of the Irish, the monster called Hayden, Gilchrist's (and ponting) innings when it matters the most, Collingwood's catches, Gibbs six sixes, Malinga's spell to Taylor, Tamim and Ashraful's innings, ... I can keep going on.

Back to our league. There have been quite a few changes that I wanted to update you all on.

A few of you knew this earlier.. I officially stepped down as the General Secretary of our league at the second AGM. I have a lot of personal commitments for this year and didnt want to take up the role knowing that I couldnt do justice to it. I will be transitioning all my responsibilities to my replacement.

I switched teams this season. It was a hard decision to leave the Tigers after playing for 5 years. I have met some amazing people and will cherish their friendships. I will be playing for Phoenix.

People on the move(unconfirmed):
Athreya: Tigers to Phoenix
Vinod: Tigers to Wildcats
Anand: Tigers to Royals
Jaggi: Tigers to Phoenix
Naveen: Tigers to Phoenix
Venkat: PCC to Flames
Rupesh: Royals to Challengers
Sheks: No Stars to Challengers
Ankur: Flames to somewhere in the westcoast
Mateen: from Flames to United
Imran: from Chargers to NoStars
Farraz: NoStars to Acers

If you know more, leave a comment.

Recruiters Wanted!

This is that time of the year when teams are desperately searching for players. Mostly the requirements are "talented, experienced, committed and willing to dish out some money". I understand the importance of quality players and how they can immediately benefit the team, I also feel that most "we need to get better this year" teams are discounting the impact of another key contributor. This person or persons in some cases can significantly alter the quality of the team not by their on field skills, but by their ability to hunt, corner, persuade and sign up key talent. Look at any of the top teams and you will notice that they have a very effective recruiter somewhere in the roster - in fact some teams have more than one. These guys can take a bottom feeder team in to the play offs and maybe beyond by their sheer salesmanship. So, I hope that explains the sign " Recruiters Wanted" outside my door and not "Players Wanted"

We are back!

Greetings! The Midwest Cricketer is back with a new look. Another exciting MWCC season is just around the corner. The latest word is that the real business starts in early May. Anyone out there ready to write about what we can expect in 2007? Which teams have loaded up? Which ones have shrunk? send it in...editor@midwestcricket.org

MCC 10/10 Indoor Night Cricket 2007

The tournament started on Friday the 12th of January as planned with 2 games on Friday and 3 games on Saturday. The atmosphere was festive and as I walked into the field I saw a bunch cricket enthusiasts some there to play, some to watch and some in a bleak hope of replacing a missing team member from one of the teams (No such Luck).

There were approximately about 100+ people there (players and spectators). It was so nice to see a lot of people endorsing the dire need of cricket in the winter months of Chicago. My team and I were motivated enough from the first weeks play that we have no doubt that this will be a Midwest Legacy for years to come.

9 out of 12 Teams played during the week. We had players from Midwest Cricket, American Cricket, Lot of Cricket and No Cricket. A team from workplaces and friends getting together was also a way to go. We had United Airlines, which comprised of colleagues getting together to experience a new dimension of the person they share a cube/office with. We also had teams like CSI Chicago which comprised of friends from different walks of life taking a break from Poker Nights to indulge in their favorite sport to watch before this day. Besides this we had some teams from MCC: Rockers, United / Chargers and Wildcats combined. There were also new teams from different places like Karachi Blues, De-Paul and a couple of teams from ACC: Rising Stars and UIS.

In all we had 5 games involving 9 teams and approx 100 overs of cricket played in 5 hours spread over 2 nights. The game was very different from our current high paced 20/20, so much so, that proper scoring was becoming a hassle. Each game of 10 Overs Each finished in 60 minutes or less and as soon as 1 was done, the next one was ready to go.

The place is great for cricket, playing and watching. It is warm enough for the spectators and not too hot for the players. Enough for one of the teams able to score 77 runs in 10 overs and good enough for bowlers to have 1 team dismissed for less than 30. Ideally anything over 60 (6 runs an over) would be a competitive game.

Please come and join us to enjoy watching cricket in Chicago this weekend and for the next 11 weeks until the first week of April on Friday 11-1 and Saturday 10-1 at night. The address of the place is: 25W075 North Avenue, Carol Stream, IL

I will upload some picture from this week to the MCC Blog. Come! You might even be able to pick a game if one of the guys is short.

Regards,

Shiraz Najam
847-909-5996