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
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
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