First time ever in Japan

By Biju Paul

For the first time ever, a Flicx pitch(artificial, portable surface) was used in Japan in a KCL match which was played at the Fujinomiya ground, which, incidentally, was also the first time any team played there. Given below is the report sent to the KCL Organising Committee about the Flicx pitch by Biju Paul.

Although it was a good idea in itself to use one and the Indian Engineers were happy to be part of the history(if it is going to the JCA records at all), it wasn’t the ideal day to use it. The wicket was mowed in the morning but it wasn’t enough to keep the grass under the pitch, with more still poking out of the Flicx. Wet ground conditions made it difficult to mow the grass ideally and as such I’m unable to give a true assessment. In my opinion, we should try this pitch on a strip where the grass is cut to the ground level and on a dry day, definitely not on a wet and foggy day(our match report is coming out soon).

One thing worth mentioning here is the fact that shoes with studs cannot be used on this pitch as I found out myself while bowling a few test deliveries. It was slippery and dangerous as such. I’m not sure if it has got anything to do with my studs. My shoes is a local made(Indian) normal bowling shoes. But one mode of dismissal of our opening batsman(Hit Wicket) illustrates the problem more vividly. He said that as he went backfoot, his right leg slipped and hit the wicket dislodging the bail while dispatching the ball to the boundary. It is important to note that he was using the normal sports shoes without studs.

Because of the problem with my studs on the Flicx, we decided to use only half of the Flicx pitch(only at the batting end) which resulted in creating a local and temporary rule that any ball that does not pitch on the Flicx – on the edge or in front of – should be called a noball. However, it made my bowling figures look messy(not that it was any exceptional this season) with as many as 7 noballs off five overs and a total of 17 noballs by our bowlers. Since the middle of the pitch is the perfect spot to pitch the ball if you are looking for a bouncer or short pitched ball, this rule should be done away with. I’m no McGrath to pitch all 6 balls in an over on the exact same spot. In hind sight, the ball pitching on the edge should be called a ‘dead ball'(since it is a bit unpredictable) – nothing else – and all other balls should be valid.

A word about the Fujinomiya ground. The ground has the potential to become a regular venue with proper maintenance and a diagonally laid pitch, which, I was told, may be done by the ground custodians. Currently, the boundaries on the on and off side are too short for a batsman like me!

In conclusion, we should try this on a dry day with the grass cut to the ground level or no grass at all with different types studded shoes. Since this is a popular type of portable pitch, I have a feeling that it cannot be as bad as I made out in this mail.

50 off 4 overs puts things in perspective

By Biju Paul

I guess, in any match involving a Japanese team and an exapt team, the expats, perhaps, are the strong favourites and finally end-up as the winners barring any upsets. The game between the Indian Engineers and Adore on June 23rd Saturday was no exception to this rule. While any victory is welcome, whoever may be the opposition, my concern about the Kanto Cricket League(KCL) is that from next season onwards we will be seeing a Division I consisting of only expat teams and a Division II consisting mostly of Japanese teams and a few unfortunate ‘gaijin teams’ who are the lesser mortals of the expats. Is that what we are looking for?

Coming back to the match, Engineers were happy to be part of the history of Japanese cricket to be the first team to play on the Flicx pitch. For a report on the Flicx pitch, click here. The drizzle in the morning had left the pitch wet and there always was a threat of rain. After winning the toss(a jan-ken-po had to be done to decide who to call the toss), yours truly put the opposition into bat hoping to knock the Japanese out in less than 25 overs and notch up the required runs in even less number of overs there by avoiding rain. However, the Adore turned out to be tough customers and it is to their credit that they batted well into the 39th over to score 137 runs, 47 of which was scored by their master batsman, Mr. Extras. This included 17 no balls, thanks to the new rule we created at the start of the match in order to use the Flicx pitch.

The most interesting part of the match was when an uninvited guest visited us. The Fog. This forced the umpire to offer lights to the batsmen in the morning session! But they refused and the play continued.

The Engineers sent in Rajat Khanna, a hard-hitting middle order batsman to open the innings along with the regular opener, Sanjeeb Sahoo. This meant that Prasad Pooppully be sent at number 3, instead of opening. The openeres went about their task in a brisk fashion scoring 50 in just 4 overs, which may be a record of sorts. The bowler who suffered most was Hashimoto, who conceded 37 in his first two overs, what eventually turned out to be his only spell.

While Rajat did what he was supposed to do with aplomb, I guess, Prasad was a little upset not being considered as a “hard-hitter”. When he went out to bat, he batted with a vengeance as if to prove a point or two. No prices for guessing who suffered. He did show us that he was capable of hitting hard. He pulled. He drove. All with certainty. What took the cake was the neatly hit six over long on, which, incidentally, was the only six of the match. Prasad remained undefeated with 27 runs when we won the match in the 18th over.

As if it knew of the victory, the unwanted guest came back again for the second time within minutes of close of play, this time thicker and permanently, making any further play impossible, if we were to. That would have meant that the match be abandoned and the two teams share the points, which would have been a travesty of justice. Anyway, the Lady Luck was with the Engineers, probably because of the excess number of bachelors in the team.

On the way back, in a beer drinking ceremony in the team bus(a 10 seater van in which, at times, we pack up to 13 human beings), Man of the match was awarded to Sanjeeb Sahoo for his 37 and 3 wickets.

For those who don’t know yet, our Statistics are available here. Sriram Sampath leads the pack with an astonishing average of 97.7!

Oh, What a Win!Sriram scores his first century

By Prasad Pooppully

The Enginners defeated YC&AC at the YC&AC ground close to Yokohama on Saturday, 10^th June, for the first time. And what an occassion the classy Sriram Sampath chose to score the first century of his cricketting career, something which he has been threatening to do for the past few seasons.

Thanks to the absence of Silvester, all the IECC players reached the ground well before 10:30. Although the match was supposed to start at 11:00, it started at 11.15 – still on schedule by Indian standards. The ground was beautiful and lush green with about 2 inches of grass all over the place, even tempting many to take diving catches during practice. The weather was cloudy but it was pleasant for a good game of cricket.

Yet again, I am told, the rotation policy had to be used to select the eleven out of 16 available players. Biju won the toss, 3^rd time in a row this season, and elected to bat. Yours truly opened the batting with Sunil, the star and steady IECC opener. He played cool while at the other end I was struggling to read the line of Mark Ferris, their opening quickie. Engineers lost their first wicket at the score of 13 when I was caught brilliantly at short mid wicket of a shot which unfortunately stuck to the outstretched left hand of the fielder who was in a close catching position, depriving a long first wicket partnership. Vishwa walked in but, before he could get in terms with the bowling of opening bowlers Mark and Kamaran, was out without scoring. He got an inner edge on to his stumps of a Kamaran delivery. Score 14/2 in the 7^th over. In came the tall standing Sriram Sampath to join Sunil. And what a memorable innings this man played! As usual, he took quite few deliveries to get off the mark. But once he got going, there was no stopping.

Sriram was timing the ball perfectly and in his company Sunil also began to accelerate the scoring. Sriram went uppish many times both on the on and the off side and clearing the boundaries at ease. While the action was happening at one end, the other end was held tightly by Sunil who deserves a praise for keeping his cool and taking singles and twos and punishing the lose deliveries. Between the two, a real partnership (stop thinking guys, I meant Cricket partnership) was building. At the half way stage(20 overs) the score read 78/2. Given the opponents, this did not look very comfortable but in the circumstances we could not have hoped for better. The drinks break must have affected Sunil’s concentration and he was out caught and bowled to a tired looking short. Sunil scored 41 and more importantly held the innings together and put on 70 runs for the third wicket. Solid batting – no wonder he shares the same first name with the legendary Gavaskar.

Rajat Khanna, a debutant for the Engineers, joined Sriram and the two kept the scorers busy. Rajat hit some powerful shots but did not last too long. Sriram was becoming increasingly menacing for the YC&AC bowlers. But the stick was reserved for Alok Rakyan, the spin bowler who was thrashed for four consecutive boundaries by Sriram, on either side of the wicket with the result that bowler changed the bowling from Spin to Pace, with some success too. Rajat in the meantime fell to Alok’s bowling caught at deep gully. He had scored 10 and together with Sriram put on 41 runs for the forth wicket. So dominating was Sriram that Rajat accounted for only a quarter share of the partnership. Ashok, the star from Fuji match against Sri Lankan Lions, replaced Rajat but was out the very first ball he faced. The interesting thing about that dismissal was that everything was same except for the batsman and his score- it was the same ball, same shot, same fielder at the same position! Things looked different all of a sudden. Engineers 125/5 at more than halfway stage, Alok on a hat-trick and a pall of gloom fell on Biju’s face. But the only respite was Sriram was going great guns. Next man Ganesh Tajave avoided the hat-trick and did his bit by giving Sriram good company and rotating the strike. Jagan joined Sriram after the fall of Ganesh’s wicket and I think this was the most entertaining period of the innings. Sriram was in full flow and the two put on a 50+ run partnership for the 6^th wicket. Sriram picked up momentum and he moved into the 90s with couple of fours and sixes. While his score was at 98, he hit a six which fell right over the scorers’ tent, to make sure we were scoring correctly. What a way to bring up the first century of his career! We are all sure that there is many more to follow. This is also the first century by any IECC player. Sriram exemplified the phrase Fortune favours the brave and took chances in hitting the bowlers all over the ground.

Unfortunately, he fell victim to the local rule at YC&AC(rule to protect the neighbourhood from flamboyant batsmen where a batsman will be declared out if the fence was cleared on one side of the ground, which in other ground would have been 6 runs instead). This rule was known to us at the start itself and to most of us it didn’t matter -But not Sriram, who was timing the ball so well that he had to check his shots from one particular end to avoid being caught by that rule I am sure he is pleased with the way he got out. I am sure that Kamaran who got quite a bit of stick from Sriram was relieved in getting Sriram out although he did not deserve the wicket. In his knock of 104 he hit 10 fours and 4 sixers. And what a knock it was – a really memorable one!

YC&AC were wrong when they thought, if at all they did, that after Sriram was gone they could wipe the tail and prevent additional damage. Biju and Ashok Sharma fell victims while trying to accelerate the score which was now past 200. Another entertaining partnership came from the 10^th wicket pair. Last man Rahul joined Jagan and the two began hitting the bowlers and clearing the boundaries with ease. As many said, an innings of this order was overdue from Jagan. At the other end Rahul was even more effective and he scored an unbeaten 17 runs off just 8 balls. The pace of scoring was so quick that the scorers themselves had difficulty in keeping pace leave alone the bowlers. Of the final ball of the innings, Jagan was out for 26. The last wicket partnership added 24 runs in less than 3 overs. The final tally at the end of 40 overs was 230 all out which, interestingly, was about 30 runs more than the team’s target score of about 200 at the beginning of the match. Although at midway stage there were even talks of 160 ~180 being good scores. But the final tally was excellent. The highest ever score by the Engineers against any team and the fact that we batted for 40 overs in its entirety is notable.

Any total over 200 against the current bowling attack that the Engineers have is a daunting task. YC&AC openers started well by unsettling the opening bowlers with a couple of well hit fours before Ashok Kumar struck back by unsettling the off stump of one of the openers with a quickie. In came Kamaran, the pillar of YC&AC batting. He looked good especially on the offside and some of the drives through cover/point were of top quality. Meanwhile Ashok produced a delivery which took the edge of the other opener’s bat and was travelling like a bullet over slips, but Sriram plucked it from the air at slips but not before the ball bounced a couple of times off his hands. A super catch! This brought Mark, the other batsman on whom YC&AC depended a lot to get them through such situations. The two batsman batted sensibly and got the score to 85/2 at the half way stage which compared well with the IECC score of 78/2 at the same point. Soon after the break, Mark mis-hit a Rajat delivery and the ball ballooned behind the wicket. Sriram ran from the slip position shouting “Mine”, to the square leg area to take the catch comfortably. A pricey wicket and what can be called the turning point of the match, especially after the century he scored in one of their previous matches. However, Kamaran, undeterred by the loss of Mark, continued to put pressure on the bowlers with some exquisite shots off back foot. But Biju brought in the man of the day – Sriram to fire in his deliveries. And so he did – one of which sent Kamaran’s middle stump cartwheeling, which prompted the ‘keeper Sunil to describe it as the ‘ball of the century’. Kamaran had scored 41 and he was the top scorer for YC&AC. With that wicket the match was almost ours and the resistance was fading. From then on YC&AC never looked like winning although some batsman came and hit a few shots here and there.

For a change, the Engineers fielding was good and almost all catches were taken including 3 catches by Sriram himself. Then Ashok Sharma ran out a tail-ender with a direct hit – well, about two yards away from the wicket! Ashok Kumar picked up 3 wickets while Ashok Sharma took 2 in 3 overs giving away just 13 runs. Rajat got 2, including the prized wicket of Mark. Rahul produced good spell of pace bowling and gave away just 17 runs in 7 overs. What a coincidence he had also scored the same no. of runs that he gave away, with only difference that he scored in 8 balls whereas he gave away in 42 balls. Good performance – Rahul! Vishwa, Ganesh and Jagan – all bowled well but went wicketless.

YC&AC were bowled out for 185 runs in the 38^th over of their innings. Giving a victory margin of 45 runs to the Engineers. This is the first ever victory for the Engineers against YC&AC. I heard Biju mentioning that YC&AC were in a losing streak this season and they really were looking forward to defeating us and regaining their winning ways – Now they need to try someone else to reverse their trend.

In the final analysis it was Sunil’s solidity, Sriram’s flamboyance in batting and his outstanding overall performance, Jagan’s controlled aggression and Rahul’s swashbuckling knock at the end and couple of good partnerships that helped in putting up an unbeatable total. I would say, we beat them in all parts of the game – batting, bowling and catching.

Sriram’s century and the win was celebrated at a bar in Yokohama with frozen beer and hot snacks. Such wins and celebrations will soon give Silvester a cause for worry. But I don’t think we should be bothered by it and let’s keep winning. If we bat to our potential and with the current bowling side that we can be proud of, we are no underdogs against any team. Opponents Beware! The Engineers have started winning and we are liking it!

LET’S DO IT AGAIN & AGAIN& AGAIN & A..G..A..IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII..NNNNNNNN