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..........
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48 comments:
Thanks for starting the thread Aditya.
The Abid Lahiri tourney is my personal favorite. Love the atmosphere, the lights, the colored uniforms, but most importantly, that white ball travels. You hit it and it stays hit. Gives me a false sense of superiority as a batsman, but I'll take it :)
The Wildcats are registered and I last heard that 8 teams were in, hopefully there'll be a few more last minute entries.
Let the fun begin.....
I hope they start it earlier this time so that we can wrap up the final in good weather. Usually it gets really cold and there's a lot of dew on the outfield which aren't the best of conditions especially for bowlers ;).
any luck of having white lights for this night season
Night cricket is my personal fav. too....and for the same reasons...the ambience...the festivities ...
Looking forward to an exciting tourney....
Hi Guys,
I am hoping for some more teams to join, as usualu teams take their sweert time for sending us the required funds and commitments. I know we have the following teams fro sure: -
Wildcats
Pak Gymkhana
Rogers Park
Challengers
Chargers
United
Flames
I don't know what is the status of the payment from all of them, I know Rogers Park and Wildcats are paid up. We can start the tournament with 8 Teams and have a round robin. We'll still have 3 games for each team and the Quarters, Semis and Finals. We don't have to have the same format every year.
So any team interested, please write to President@midwestcricket.org, or Scheduling@midwestcricket.org for your intent. I don't think we will be accepting any last minute entries anymore.
The games should start in a couple of weeks.
Regards,
Shiraz
Shiraz,
One more team has sent an email to management and you to register for the tournament with details including contact information. The team is called "Horizon".
Aditya
We have 12 confirmed teams and we can start our prep for the tournament with them.
If there are 2 or 4 teams intereted and committed until next weekend, we will include them, otherwise we will go with the 12 and start the tourney.
So far we have,
all the above including Horizons, Universal, and Arsenal is interested but not confirmed yet.
We will wait until Next Tuesday to lock the pools and start scheduling. If we don't get anymore requests, we will not be accepting any last minute entries this time.
Shiraz,
I we only have 12 teams what will be the format.
Here is my suggestions for 12 teams
3 groups of 4. top 2 from each group auto qualify's for playoff and 2 wild card's..best NRR to playoffs.
How about 2 groups of 6 and then SF and Final?
Maybe 2 groups of 6..
Top 4 of each will go to QF..
Top 1 of Group A play 4 of Group B..2 will play 3..etc..
so we will have QF, SF and Finals..
Shekhs thats 37 matches! I think Rup's idea is most likely to be implemented as that would be 22 matches.
hmm..see thats why you need to go to school..
I'd rather play more ...
I guess the league can't afford it huh..
My version will have 24 matches
Sheks, unless we have some sponsors for this tour we have got to play limited matches. MWCC is poor right now.
From what i get every came costs us $200.00 for lights.
12 teams at $550.00 = $6,600.00
37 matches at 200.00 = $7400.00
24 matches at $200.00= $4800.00.
looking at the exense for both I think MWCC will go with mines??. then again who knows??. our Ideas never seems to show up?
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shekhs said...
hmm..see thats why you need to go to school..
I'd rather play more ...
I guess the league can't afford it huh..
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Its not just playing more IMHO - groups of 4 are IMHO not great cos you get only 3 games early on. I think the more games you play in a "regular season", the better chances you have of the best teams actually emerging - less affected by a "chancy loss" or whatever. (This is also why, during the international cricket World Cup, I much prefer some format like in 1992 where everyone can play everyone... and then I'd go straight to finals, top 2 teams, not even semifinals. Of course that will never happen due to TV ratings being great for semis etc :-)
Anyway. I think, if we have 12 teams, go 2 groups of 6, 5 games apiece... and then straight semis and finals. Its silly, IMHO, to have quarters - apart from 4 extra games, whats the point of having 4 teams out of 6 going to the "playoffs"? Youre making consistency less important that way. You get to play 5 games in the group stage - if you cant make it to the Top Two after 5 games, tough! Stay home and watch, like the rest of us :-) This will make every group game important too.
In that sense, I think it would be nice if there are only 12 teams - the format we have for groups of 4, IMHO, isnt that great anyway. (It would be better if it was straight semis.. but then 3 games only is too little to start with, chance affects it a bit too much IMHO... 2 groups of 6 each would make for a better tournament in general).
c8w
Thats what I suggested Sadiq bhai ... I'd rather have 2 groups of 6 each and then Semis + Final, but I don't think we would have that many night games!
What about (4 groups of 3) + QF + SF + F? This gives only 19 games. I guess this is not favorable because 4 of the teams end up getting only 2 games each? Rup's solution (25 games) is probably a good trade-off then.
I personally like the QFs, because you then will have some more teams competing.
You guys are right...the numbers wont let us have any QFs.
"if you cant make it to the Top Two after 5 games, tough! Stay home and watch, like the rest of us :-) "
I certainly dont hope to do that Sadiq.. :-)
Even without QFs, the 2 groups of 6 format still yields 33 games. So does the league want 33 or 25? Or fewer?
-Samarth.
Shiraz can settle this I think ... what's the league's take on this Mr. Shiraz ;)? How many matches can we afford in the night tournament?
Evertime I look up we want to play more cricket and we ain't got monies to spend to play more cricket.
CricketW, it's all about the expense.
If we go 5 games each then the we will have to increase fees to about $1000.00 per team..unless you can get some sponsors.
How much cricket is enough cricket?
Don't you think others will get upset at paying for no benefit if we have to run this tour (AL) on Negative.
Isn't the chance of making the playoffs through Wild Card at
3 games more interesting than playing 5 games to Semis?
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Southpaw said...
Even without QFs, the 2 groups of 6 format still yields 33 games. So does the league want 33 or 25? Or fewer?
-Samarth.
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Taking Rup's numbers in account (ie 200 dollars for lights for every game, which sounds close to what Ive heard too)...
2 groups of 6, 5 games apiece, then straight to semis (IMHO the fairest format, and to me the most interesting too) leads, as you say, to 33 games.
33 games x $ 200 = $ 6600
12 teams x $ 550 = $ 6600
Is that poifect or what? :-)
So here is what it works out to... for the 550 entry fee (same as last year), everyone gets to play 5 games instead of their usual 3 (2 extra bonus games!) Every game matters, cos only 2 teams are making the semis - hopefully fewer walkovers like there have been the past few years. Better chance of the best 4 teams progressing onto the semis (less chance of a fluky QF loss or whatever).
I still think this is the format to go with, personally... but it is all dependent on 12 teams too (at the moment we have only 11).
c8w
Is there a exact date when will be the first game? Any schedule yet fetch out?
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Rup said...
Evertime I look up we want to play more cricket and we ain't got monies to spend to play more cricket.CricketW, it's all about the expense.
If we go 5 games each then the we will have to increase fees to about $1000.00 per team..unless you can get some sponsors.
How much cricket is enough cricket?
Don't you think others will get upset at paying for no benefit if we have to run this tour (AL) on Negative.
Isn't the chance of making the playoffs through Wild Card at
3 games more interesting than playing 5 games to Semis?
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Rup, as I just posted above... there is no loss in money here - even last year's fees (no inflation!) lead to exactly the expenses needed, which is perfect for a non-profit tournament :-) Heck, with everyone getting 2 extra games, maybe there *should* be some inflation in fees from 550 anyway... but there is no reason to increase fees here! They stay at 550, and everyone gets 2 extra bonus games!
As for the wildcard format... I dont like it myself, but thats just me. You have 3 groups of 4 each.. and 2 out of 4 teams are already going to the quarters (half the teams of each group into quarters - too big a ratio IMHO, to start with). And then you *add* 2 wildcard teams to that! So a team can finish 3rd out of 4 teams in their group, and still make the playoffs? Why should you make the playoffs if you finished 3rd out of 4 competitors? You end up with 8 out of 12 teams going to the playoffs - thats 66% of all teams advancing. That devalues the "regular season" in any sport IMHO, it makes it worth very little.
(And also, IMHO, it is inherently unfair.. every year one or two groups have one team that is badly overmatched... a couple years ago there was a team that got hit for 350 or so in 20 overs by the Challengers! Whichever group that team is in, it is assuring all other teams in their group of making the playoffs, just because of hte margin of their losses assuring good net-run-rate for their opposition. Thats not fair to other wildcard competitors in stronger groups either IMHO).
Personally, I vote for 2 groups of 6, with 2 teams going to semis. Everyone plays 5 matches... maybe raise the fees to 600 or so if you wish (600 for 5 games each is better than 550 for 3 games each, and it is natural inflation over last year... look at gas prices to compare ;-), even 650 would be reasonable, really. That leaves 600 extra dollars for misc expenses if neccessary (or 1200, if the fees are 650). And, really, 5 games per team is not too much cricket surely?
c8w
c8w,
Please dont give them any ideas...on raising the fees..
we'll have to start taking loans soon to play Cricket...
:-)
shekhs im wit u i like qfs too as it gives a chance to the underdog to upset the favs.
QF for a league with 12 teams.
Are you kidding me?
Sadiq, your calculation is flawed. $200 is only for lights. What about other AL expenses such as umpires' fees? Or are you suggesting that what you do is not worth a dime? ;-)
-Samarth.
Samarth..The umpires have never been paid for the night tourney.
Samarth, I believe the umpiring for the Night Tourney is voluntary / mandatory. Love of the game kind of thing!!!
As far as fees is concerned, they should REDUCE the fees from $550 to $400! Because they upped the regualr season fees to $2400 to account for the "legal" issues, but I don't recall that there is a lawsuit any more!
As for formats, I think the 2x6 + SF & F is best as it should reduce any confusion / unfair advantages as mentioned above.
Also, start the tournament early might get us a look into some of the talent prior to the LA Open. Wouldn't that be a novel idea?
Rup, as I just posted above... there is no loss in money here - even last year's fees (no inflation!) lead to exactly the expenses needed, which is perfect for a non-profit tournament :-) Heck, with everyone getting 2 extra games, maybe there *should* be some inflation in fees from 550 anyway... but there is no reason to increase fees here! They stay at 550, and everyone gets 2 extra bonus games!
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Jaggi are you absolutely sure we don't pay fees for the night cause I tought we paid $40.00.
Covering for lights alone is not good enough.
c8w, Who will pay for the 66 ball @ say 12.00 each= $792.00. Trophies will cost close $700.00 (cheap ones). food for the fianls $200.00.
+ a couple hundred for NW & my Drinks::)))))
To promote cricket you have got to give the weaker teams a chance to fell they have succeeded. This way the will not quit on you or break up but try to get stronger and stay on.
I think we lost some team from last year cause they feel it's not worth playing the tour as the will get knocked out early. so we need a format that give them an outside chance of making the playoff's which they will fight for.
The night tour is a wonderful thing and unless we do what necessary to keep teams on board this will end up at a few good teams left anf no night tour?. Playing a tour at our level with only Semis and Finals will kill it.
Hi Guys,
With $550 Dollars per team, we broke even for 3 Games per team in the Round Robin + QF, SF and Final, with free neutral umpires, Thank You Vishaal and Sadat, last year.
We have 12 teams and we will go with Rup's scenario of 3 groups of 4 Teams with Top 2 Teams from each group and 2 Wildcards qualifiers for QF's. That would be the most effective.
We have 10 Team confirmed:
1. Challengers
2. Chargers
3. Flames
4. Muslim Gymkhana
5. Pak Gymkhana
6. Horizons
7. Rockers
8. Rogers Park
9. United
10. Wildcats
and 2 spots open until this Friday:
Prospective Teams for those 2 spots are:
1. Chicago Giants
2. Universal Cricket Club
3. Arsenal
4. Phoenix
and any other team that will send us an e-mail confirmaton for intent to participate at: nightcricket@midwestcricket.org no later than Friday.
We are envisioning a start for the Tournament on Monday 18th of June 2007, which is next week. We will be driving fr a warm final and get the games done as soon as possibble.
For teams that are confirmed, please send your scheduling requests to nightcricket@midwestcricket.org and cc: shiraz@midwestcricket.org and tariq@midwestcricket.org
Once the schedule is made, it becomes really difficult to re-schedule, so please provide your requests and we will try to accomodate as much as possible.
We will have games scheudled for 2nd and 3rd of July and also possibly 4th of July if teams are interested to play. Therefore I request all teams to notify us of availability to play during the Independence Day Week or not and if so than what days during that week you would be available to play.
I hope I have clearified most querries, if not, please feel free to call me @ 847-909-5996 or write to me @ the above mentioned e-mail addresses or Shiraz.Najam@gmail.com
Regards and Thanks,
Shiraz.. thanks for updating us on the blog. Looking fwd to the tournament.
Shiraz, thanks for the update. Has a lot of anxious people waiting.
Is there going to be an opening ceremony?.
Love to stop by and meet some of the guys.
Rup
Rup,
Thats a cool idea about an opening ceremony.
Since all teams are local, we should have an opening ceremony of sorts before the first game this Monday.....hmm...this is if Arsenal's response of a YES made it in on time.
Baah...if you getting 'em beers, I will be in regardless !
Like i asked earlier we need to budget some $$$ for my drinks.. seeing my req was late and if the get an opening ceremony you can say I will put the beers on my Tab this time.
Keep your fingers crossed
Rup
Smoking Aces are looking for a top order batsman or a all rounder for Night Cricket Tournament please email us if you are interested.
email: atifmshaikh@gmail.com
We have 15 confirmed teams for Abid Laheri Tournament. They are listed as follows:
1. Anjuman
2. Arsenals
3. Challengers
4. Chargers
5. Smoking Aces
6. Flames
7. Horizon
8. Muslim Gymkhana
9. Pak Gymkhana
10. Phoenix
11. Rockers
12. Rogers Park
13. United
14. Universal Cricket Club
15. Wildcats
There will be possibly three groups of 5 each, with 2 teams qualifying from each group and 2 wildcards.
Possibbly QF's, SF and Finals.
We can also have 2 team from each group and byes to the top 2 for the Semis.
It is still under review as well as groups.
So far we are looking at the last week of August for a Final and festivites.
We are considering a closing ceremony as we would have gained some momentum by then. Opening Ceremony cannot be put together in such short notice.
Regards,
Shiraz
Shiraz said,
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There will be possibly three groups of 5 each, with 2 teams qualifying from each group and 2 wildcards.
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I like this format. Keep the wild card in place. This will make every team fight to the end cause even if you end up 3 of 5 you can still make the play offs.
============================
We are considering a closing ceremony as we would have gained some momentum by then. Opening Ceremony cannot be put together in such short notice.
========================
Shiraz, it is not the first time we are organizing a night tournament.
Adnan Baig
United Cricket Club
Indeed it is not the first time we are organizing a Night Tournament, although, teams have been complacent as usual to send in their intent to participate, let alone the recievables. Therefore I believe it will be a task to get the games started next week, rather thna planning for a Opening Ceremony.
Speaking of that, it is really unfortunate that our tournaments lack festivities. We as a unit need to get togather and change that. I hope the bloggers will help generate some momentum this year to make our events successful.
Shiraz,
Could you provide us with an update on the schedule if it's ready and also have the website link updated?
My last recollection was that the tournament was going to start today, but I assume that this has changed.
Looking forward to getting more details on the tournament at the earliest. Thanks.
Groups for Abid Laheri Night Tournament are up on the web. We will definitley be having our frist three games next week starting Monday through Wednesday. Check It out..
Regards,
Shiraz Najam
847-909-5996
Shiraz,
It states that Each team will provide 1 neutral umpire for 2 games during the course of the tournament.
Are we playing only 2 games per team? Thanks.
Samir
Shiraz,
Can you let us know when the schedule will be out.
Players who work evening will need to address their schedules to play.
Can we have this up by this evening?
Thanks
Rup
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