Irvine Willows

What an awesome day it turned out to be. We had a near-record turnout, everybody who signed-up and promised that they would come, showed up. By the time the two teams were formed there 8 players a side with one common player. We had couple of newcomers too. It was quite gratifying to see current and former superstars fight it out to claim the top spot. While nobody expected one of the newcomers to give them a run for their money, it made for a great competition ideal for vetting the talent assembled at the park. Swigging our favorite poison this easily could have been one of our fantasies, with one minor difference ... it was actually happening. You could literally see everybody on their toes trying to upend the other person. And that was good as everybody's game was taken to the next level. Unfortunately I had to leave early so couldn't enjoy the entire game, but was there long enough to verify for myself the reputation that preceded one of our new comers. The da

Throughout the game, this past Sunday, I kept saying to myself that I should definitely write about the weather and how it was just awesome. The sun did peek out a few times but quickly went back behind the clouds for some much needed rest. Now only if the clouds could shed some of the water and bring some actual relief to the entire region and not only to the 10 cricket enthusiasts at 255 Visions. When I got to the field a practice session was already underway and from the looks of it I felt I should have got there sooner. Every batsman had a quota of 10 deliveries and he could hit anywhere and anyhow. To tell you honestly, it felt quite liberating, otherwise normally during such practice   sessions you try to rein in a bit and just play the ball. But not this time, everybody was having a go. It felt quite nice, I too let myself go! This is how the death overs and powerplay of T20 must feel like, trying to hit on every single ball. We had a decent crowd and two very entertaini

It was really cold when I woke up in the morning, I quickly checked the thermostat and it read 67. Normally it tends to be colder inside the house during the day, so I was hoping that it would be warmer outside. Still not to take a chance and ruin a day’s worth of play spent shivering in the cold I threw a track pant in the back seat and headed to the park. When I got there I couldn't have been more pleased, it was warm and sunny. Chandru and Dharmendra were already there and by the time we got the kit to the ground more followed. I wanted to see how we performed today especially after last Sunday's near perfect performance and dare I say.... I was slightly (nah ... thoroughly) disappointed. I gave it a lot of thought whether I should be critical or just be facile about the whole affair, but I felt so dejected after the second match that I just had to put it out there. If we continue to perform the way Team B played in the second match and Team A in the first match, we can