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2006 Season Articles     |
 08~09/04/2006::
Kanto Cricket League:
Newly promoted Shizuoka Kytes C.C. make last year's Millennium C.C. sweat for their win: D-!: Shizuoka Kytes C.C.: 164 (34.3 overs) (M. Sharpe, 57; Munir Ahmed, 4/32) Millennium C.C.: 167/7 (36.5 overs) (N. Miyaji, 37; K. Matsuhisa, 36; Arbab Mohammad, 3/35) Millennium C.C. won by 3 wickets. Scorers: N. Harrison & R-G. Martineau Check Scoresheet HERE>> Robert-Gilles Martineau writes: On a sunny if blustery day everyone almost came on time. Had a few new supporters on whom Porno vainly tried to impress his licentious ways. Team in good spirits. Everything’s fine. A little detail had escaped most of our members’ attention though: the opposition, nothing less than last year’s Champions had taken no chances, and had brought their best team, whereas the Kytes were missing their star batsman, Robb “Monogamist” McKenna (work), our new second-strike bowler, Benjamin “Tomo” Tomlinson (work) and a valuable if not idiosyncratic all-rounder, Todd “Elephant” Phillips (blood clot taken out barely in time, or we would have to go through a funeral instead of a cricket game-serious!) Ashley “Ashy” Harvey almost screamed for all to hear that he had won the toss and elected to bat. The new opening partnership of Joel “Pants” Chamberlain and Arbab “Kojak” Mohammad could not wait to assail the opposition. Bilbo had asked Sharpy to warn the batsmen that the Millennium CC’s opening bowler Yuta Matsubara (Japan National Team) could swing the ball in appreciatively. Apparently the two Ozzies have a communication problem as Pants was bowled through the gate after only 4 balls. Came in Skipper Ashy who looked good after a couple of boundaries off the same bowler when he played another swinger on his stumps. 17/2. Matthew “Sharpy” Sharpe opted for attack and sent the first ball over the boundary. Kojak emulated him in a more sedate way and the two had added 88 runs, bringing the score to 105 in 18 overs when Sharpy (57-11 fours) could not resist chasing a wide ball from Razzaq Cheema and got caught behind. Then bad luck and bad discipline disrupted the solid base that had Millennium in trouble. Kojak (28) got out lbw in spite of an edge. Kunwar “Samir” Mahender (7 – the first time he scored less than 45 runs in the KCL) could not resist wildly swishing his bat at wily Munir Ahmed and got caught on the boundary. Lalith “Larry” Prelis, after two unsuccessful attempts to get himself out, finally managed to offer his wicket on a platter while an aghast Subo had to watch him all the way walk to his end. Bilbo later enquired what language the two Sri Lankans used for communication. Subo replied that Larry does not speak between wickets… Subodha “Subo” Gunawardene played well enough until he threw the bat at Munir and gave away an easy catch. Nicholas “Porno” Shannon had enough time to score a 4 and a 6 before Munir had the last word. Matthew “Curly” Ryan was unlucky not to score a 6 against poor bowling and got caught on the boundary instead and Benjamin “Ben Ben” Wooler got a duck for his last game in Japan. Total: 164. Not much to defend against a team who successfully chased 281 last year on their way to stardom. But our new Skipper would have none of it and had his players running on the pitch in a refreshingly aggressive mood. The opposition was likewise minded and Munir struck a 6 off Sharpy’s second ball, but the burly Ozzie struck when he had Mohammad Rizwan plumb lbw with the last ball of his over. Then Kojak did the same with the last ball of his over to get rid of the dangerous Munir Ahmed. The battle was on! But it was a Japanese player who proved to be the undoing of the Kytes that day, namely K. Matsuhisa, who in between some good shots had some incredible luck to amass 36 runs in 81 balls (Bilbo actually enquired on his marital status - not married actually). S. Kanzaki and Skipper T. Fuji helped him along before being ousted by good balls from Ashy and Curly. Curly got rid of the dangerous Razzaq Cheema helped by Larry’s mid-riff catch (someone said the ball got actually stuck between two rolls of fat). Arbab finally got the best of plucky K. Matsuhisa. Score: 125/7 for 32 overs. Anything could happen. Unfortunately for the Kytes, N. Miyaji (37) and Y. Matsubara, after seeing the troublesome Curly off hit out at the tiring Ashy and Subo to reach 167 with 19 balls to spare to the cheers of a relieved Millennium team. The Kytes did their best to win the game but they fell to a more disciplined and experienced team who nonetheless sweated a lot before they reached safety. A very exciting game, which augurs well for the future of both teams. Man of the Match: Munir Ahmed Newcomers Al Karam C.C. and Gunma
Eleven Star C.C. mercilessly humble their opponents. Tokyo bay Districts
C.C. start on a positive note:
Gunma Eleven Star C.C.: 295/6 Asif
S. Butt, 106; Ishafiq Ahhmed, 45; Syed Shaib U Din, 50; H.Takahashi, 3/63)
Tokyo Bay Districts C.C.: 140 ("4.1 overs) (Wides, 40;
Y. Fukuyama, 4/29)
Tokyo Bay Districts C.C.: 140
Tokyo British Embassy C.C. starts
the campaign for promotion with easy win over Paddy Foley's C.C. 2nd XI:
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