Season 2010 - Week 3

Wow, what a week of cricket we had - full of upsets, some valiant efforts, and highly competitive cricket. United, an early season favorite are winless after 2 games. Last year's champion Challengers look like the team to beat in Div 1. The Eagles fought hard but were unable to surpass the brilliance of Sohail from St Louis. Phoenix pulled off a huge upset by beating Pak Gym, the Siddique brothers from the Chargers continue some their awesome form, and AAA have got off to a quick start in pursuit of their first Div 1 playoff appearance.

Meanwhile, in Div 2 Rogers Park took out a contender for the regular season Div 1 spot in the Titans. Jaguars, another contending team relied on their strong batting to take out a tough Hammond team, while Arena continued their dominance with a big win over the Giants. The rivalry game of the week, ICC vs Evanston ended up as a lop-sided affair with ICC smashing a mammoth total and skittling out Evanston quickly.

Div 30-30 has a few teams making bold statements such as the Nighthowlers making a big statement with their domination of the Rockers. Fenders also have got off to a quick start with a close win against Devonshire. Desi Tigers are also looking strong with a win against the Advancers. The biggest statement however was made by South Barrington with a huge win over MWCA.

This week there are some important games in each of the Divisions. Nighthowlers have a chance to continue their dominance with a win against a good Chicago Cricket Club team, as do the Desi Tigers vs MWCA, and DeePark XI. Meanwhile, the race to Div 1 continues with Illinois needing a win to stay within striking distance of the current table toppers as do the Titans against a very good Hammond team. Teams for two political heavy weights (the President and Vice President) the Challengers and Muslim Gymkhana square off this weekend. Another important game in Div 1 will be between two good, but winless teams - United and Eagles. This will be a good chance for one of them to get back on track while the other will have a bigger hole to climb out of.

However, the statement game of the week has to be between the Flames and Peoria. Both are pre-season favorites for many to make the playoffs and go deep. This should be a very competitive game and give some indication as to who could prove to be a tough challenge for the current champions.

Season 2010 - Week 2

The 2010 MwCC season kicked off last week due to the leniency of the rain-gods. Fortunately, only 1 game was rained out. We had some wonderful cricket with some close games between Pak Gym and the Chargers, Evanston and Jaguars, Hustler XI and Advancers, and Rogers Park and QC Kings. Some other games were dominated by Arena, Flames, Challengers, Fenders, South Barrington, Titans, and Hammond. There were some very low scoring games totaling under 100 for the day, and high scoring games totaling over 400 for the day. Some of the usual suspects jumped out with an early win, while others struggled a bit. One thing for sure, Cricket is back in the midwest and with a bang! Now it's time for week 2 and things are only going to get tougher. Teams are shaking off the rust, and the competition level is going to be right up there with some big games this week.

In Division 1, Challengers vs United could be a pre-cursor for things to come. Wildcats vs Milwaukee will be another meeting between 2 perennial playoff teams and AAA vs Rovers will give us some insight about how strong AAA is looking.

In Division 2, Rogers Park vs Titans will definitely have implications on the race to (or back to) Division 1 for both teams. Illinois vs Evanston will renew a rivalry between two primarily Caribbean teams whereas Jaguars vs Hammond will also impact the race to Division 1.

In Division 30/30, Chicago Super Kings vs Juggernauts will introduce two new teams to our league, while Rockers vs Nighthowlers will showcase two potential playoff teams competing in a hard-fought game. Fenders have a chance to continue against Devonshire on the back of their big win last weekend.

Good luck to all the teams and get ready for another bruising weekend of competitive cricket - weather permitting!