Irvine Willows

For the past few weeks, reminiscing our memorable games, we unwittingly found ourselves driving to the Alton Athletic Park (even though it was closed the previous week) only to return to Oak Creek Elementary and find ourselves relegated to a corner, forced to play on the off. There are definitely some upshots of this self-calibration, as now we increasingly find ourselves trying to turn the bat to slice or angle the ball to the point or watch the ball and then try to play the shot on the off. That's quite nice! The weather was awesome, slightly nippy but very bright. Special mention to Rajesh for being the first one at the AAP and then at Oak Creek too. After 15 minutes of wait he slowly started seeing folks arrive. If not for him we would be at home kicking ourselves for not getting up early. Team A: Abhijeet, Bala, Vamshi, Amit and Rajesh Team B: Chandru, Senthil, Rishi (new guy), Siddharth and Anand Team B won the toss and elected to bat. I think Rishi opened the

The day began on a slightly sour note, but Chandru’s email turned it around for the better. Seeing his email I decided to put on my shoes and knew where I wanted to be in the next 15 minutes. When I got to the field I saw Bala locking his bike. I was thinking, he too must have read the email. Chaitanya also did an about turn and was already on the field along with Rajesh, Partha, Pankaj, Chandru and Gaur, the new guy. We decided to go with Chandru’s gut and play a match with 4 per team. We had to share the ground with the soccer team, which in fact added to the fun quotient. Given the number of players and with an eye to prepare and train ourselves we decided to keep leg-side off limits and play only on the off. Chandru went a step ahead and even cordoned off the area by placing cones straight down the field till the boundary line. Honestly I didn’t think I would enjoy the game as much but after 2 hours I was left wanting for more. Team A: Bala, Pankaj, Rajesh and Chandru

When we reached the ground the girls baseball team was just assembling. They were there with their coaches and parents and siblings. We still took a chance and dared to occupy the main baseball ground … and as it turns out luck favors the brave. We had a decent turnout. We began the game with 5 players each and then Senthil joined us in the second over and then halfway through the first innings we got 4 more players and that breathed life into the game and we had an entertaining game Team A: Chandru, Abhijeet, Dharmendra, Pankaj, Siddharth and Sanjib Team B: Rajesh, Pratik, Amit, Bala, Senthil and Anand Common player: Raja We got 2 new players Madhu and Jitesh (they both batted from Team A, so I am not sure how the team got divided after they came over. Maybe Team B got an existing player from Team A and the 2 new guys went to Team A … something like that. Team A won the toss and elected to bat. I think Siddharth opened the innings with Abhijeet. They first over fetch

The extra hour did make me feel rested, but to tell you the truth I would rather have the gray sky with the fog and slight chill. It was nice and bright when we got to the field and we even got to see the sun this time. Despite being the second day of Diwali the faithful were there and we had a great game of cricket. And thanks to Pankaj, who got Diwali goodies (chakalis, besan laddoos and kaju katli) we had an impromptu get together right there on the field sitting crossed legged enjoying the sweets and each others' company while discussing next Sunday’s plan of action. Team A: Rajesh, Venki, Dharmendra, Sanjib and Rohin Team B: Chandru, Pankaj, Partha, Senthil and Anand Sanjib left after the first match. For the second match, Chandru went over to Team A and Raja played for Team B. I hope I got the team composition right, because I don’t see Team B getting what it was promised after the first game ... a reshuffle to even things out. As you can see Team A was too

I experienced a very surreal moment this past Sunday while driving to the ground. As you know it was quite foggy. Entering my car I cranked up the radio and was immediately treated to an Elton John rendition of ‘I guess that’s why they call it the blues’. All I needed now was a cup of hot coffee, with the windows rolled down and fresh morning air splashing across my face I would have been teleported to a different world. It was quite amazing … well maybe I am exaggerating a bit … but you get the idea. It felt awesome to drive down a near empty Culver Drive (which is a mini feat in itself) with fog covering the horizon and lights from the lamppost trying to burrow their way through the water laden air. Needless to say it was an ideal day for a game of cricket. Two Sundays in a row we are being treated to  some fabulous weather.  Team A: Rajesh, Dharmendra, Partha, Abhijeet and Ramesh Team B: Chandru, Pankaj, Amit, Rohin and Anand Siddharth was the common player in first

Everytime I write this paragraph I think how the weather will be next time, will it be better than what we experienced today? You can be rest assured that the weather that we had  this past Sunday’s was amazing. It just cannot be beat. The sun came out exactly at 9:30 AM when we started the second game. The sky was gray with no trace of white and the sun was nowhere to be seen. It was slightly nippy, but perfect for a game of cricket. We could just keep on bowling and running and yet not have a bead of sweat run down our forehead. I guess this is how it must feel at Lords playing in the English weather  (I have been rehearsing this line since I left the ground on Sunday … I had to say it!). The weather wasn’t overshadowed without a reason, for we had a dispute in the first match, where the result came under much scrutiny. The cloud cover suddenly moved from above into within and that’s a pity because it was an absolute cracker of a match where both the sides played some fabulou

The Rohin Effect! After a break of 3-4 weeks Rohin was back and the impact was pretty visible on the field. Standing at Mid-wicket he was instrumental in cutting-off the quick singles that helped Team B put pressure on Team A.  The Dharmendra "a.k.a" McGrath Effect! We all have spoken about his control - but coming back on the field after 3-4 weeks people would have expected a bit of rustiness. However 3 wickets - two of them were Venki & Siddharth (both bowled) confirms how well he bowled. The Opener - Pratik! For the record books of Irvine Cricket Club - Pratik got the dual record when he opened the innings for Team A while batting & bowling. Pretty near to getting the "Sir" title. Kudos to Irvine Cricket Club! Imagine - 12 balls & 12 runs to get. Pankaj & Dharmendra going strong in the chase. Batting Team decides that all the team members need a chance to bat - out goes Pankaj and in comes Chandru.  It’s hard to believe but

The weather was just perfect. Like last week, it was slightly chilly when we started, but within half an hour it warmed up, maybe it was a result of all the running and stretching that w were doing. There was no cloud cover, but it didn’t matter as the sun was not beating down on us. It was just up there enjoying itself. There was slight glare but it wasn’t too bad. As if to honor the cricket gods who had bestowed such marvelous weather we had a great turnout and befittingly was followed by a cracker of a game. Team A: Rajesh, Venki, Siddharth, Pratik, Gunjan, Amit, Partha and Ram Team B: Arvind, Abhijeet, Pankaj, Senthil, Dharmendra, Chandru, Rohin and Anand We had a near-full house which implied we could play only one game and this meant we all had to come up with our A-game as there would be no second chances. Team A won the toss and elected to bat. The start was a bit slow and it was more a result of some fine bowling than lack of intentions from the batsmen. Th