Issue #113 Lalazar claim KCL; Japanese women reap dividends

Newsletter


December 10, 2010                                                                                              Issue #113

Hello and welcome to this edition of the I.E.C.C. Newsletter.

Index

  • Lalazar claim KCL; Japanese women reap dividends
  • The fine print
  • Asia & EAP news –
  • Indian Engineers’ Japan Cricket Rating – New results
  • IECC poll results
  • Reader’s corner
  • Best of the web
  • Snippet of the month
  • Trivial facts from our Archives

 

Lalazar claim KCL; Japanese women reap dividends

While Pakistan women claimed a historic 10-wicket victory over Bangladesh women in the final of the inaugural women’s cricket tournament in the Asian Games in Guangzhou, it was the Japanese women who surprised many. Given their past performance record, it was a major achievement for the Japanese eves in particular and women’s cricket in Japan in general. On their way to the thrilling victory, Japan stunned Nepal twice to qualify for the semifinal, which they lost to Pakistan, who ultimately won the Gold medal. Here is the brief score card of the tournament performance:

Nepal Women 62/7 (20/20 ov); Japan Women 64/0
Bangladesh Women 111/8 (20/20 ov); Japan Women 57/8 (20/20 ov)
Japan Women 135/4 (20/20 ov); Nepal Women 90/9 (20/20 ov)

Semi-final: Japan Women 61/8 (20/20 ov); Pakistan Women 62/1 (10.4/20 ov)

In the play-off for 3rd place Japan defeated China to claim the Bronze medal. Batting first China scored 65/6 in 20 overs which was overcome by Japan (66/3) with 5 balls to spare. Opener Ema Kuribayashi scored an unbeaten 24 off 55 deliveries to lead her team to a historic victory.

Closer to home, Lalazar claimed the KCL Cup in an almost one-sided match made possible by their captain’s superb bowling performance. Al Karam, who was tipped to win the trophy was weakened by the absence of two of their key players, was completely out-maneuvered by Lalazar captain, Gulzar Ahmed, who claimed 6/15. Batting first, Lalazar scored 217/6 in 30 overs with big contributions from Hamad Barsat (70) and Razzaq Chima (45). In reply, Al Karam started well enough and were ahead of the run chase until the 10th over thanks to Javed Niazi (42), but after he was bowled, Al karam collapsed losing 8 wickets in 10 overs for 52 runs, bamboozled by the bowling of Gulzar Ahmed (6/15) for a final score of 117 all out in 18.5 overs.

Predictabley, Gulzar Ahmed was named Man of the Match for his bowling figures of 5.5-1-15-6.

(With inputs from Robert-Gills Martineau)

Indian Engineers on Twitter

Follow the Engineers at http://twitter.com/ieccjapan/ for live match updates and other cricket updates.

The Fine Print

A U.S woman, who had a fan following of about 300 in her twitter account suddenly discovered that her fan base has swelled to more 7,000 during a one week period when the first Ashes test was being played. The reason ? Her twitter name was “theashes”. That prompted a campaign on Twitter to “gettheashestotheashes” and Qantas Airways then posted the following on its Twitter account “Qantas wants to see theashes in Australia. We will fly her from New York for the Ashes”. Vodafone Australia offered her to pay for her match tickets. She has now started cashing in on her new-found popularity by selling T-shirts with her original tweet when new fans started following her,”I’M NOT A FREACKING CRICKET MATCH”. The 22-year old baby-sitter said that her boyfrind had given her the nick name ‘The Ashes’ a few
years ago.
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A large crowd of cricket enthusiasts watched as Finance Minister Mohammad Omer Zakhiwal and United States Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry laid foundation stones to inaugurate the renovation of the Kabul National Cricket Stadium. Because of the national team’s exceptional success in many international tournaments, cricket in Afghanistan is gaining popularity. More than 100 young women are also currently playing cricket in Kabul and the Afghanistan Cricket Board is about to create a National Women’s Cricket Team for the 2011 Asian Elite Cup Tournament in February 2011. “Cricket in Afghanistan is more than a game. It is a means for bringing Afghan youth from different backgrounds together. It has become a source of pride for ordinary Afghans and an example of their resolve and determination. It is a game that can contribute positively to peace and stability in our country. That is why, today, we are so very grateful to USAID in supporting the construction of the Kabul National Cricket Stadium,” said Minister Zakhiwal. Minister Zakhiwal is also the Chairman of the Afghan Cricket Board. Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the project will employ labor-intensive construction methods to provide short-term employment for unemployed Afghans.
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England cricketer Kevin Pietersen branded Adelaide groundstaff “pathetic” on his twitter feed after they failed to cover the nets during a rainstorm, forcing England to train indoors.Here is his tweet verbatim:# What should a groundsmen make sure he does 2days out from a test match???? # Cover the nets when it rains maybe??? 2:43 PM Dec 1st via UberTwitter# PATHETIC!!!!!!!!!!!!! 2:48 PM Dec 1st via UberTwitter
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New South Wales and Victoria, the powerhouses in Australian domestic cricket, are scouting for Indian investors to pick up stakes in their T20 teams. Cricket Australia had recently approved private investment into state’s T20 sides for their proposed IPL-like T20 League that’s scheduled to kick off rom January 2012. Jamie Stewart, managing director Commune Sports and Entertainment – the company that NSW and Victoria have hired to raise private equity investment- claims at least there big Indian Corporate Houses have shown interest and are in discussions with the Australian domestic sides.”I can’t tell you the names, but many corporate houses have shown interest and at least three of them are in discussions,” said Stewart.
###

Former England opener Marcus Trescothick was offered USD 1.56 million if he can send the ball sailing over the stands of the historic Lord’s stadium. The hard-hitting batsman received the offer from his bat makers Mongoose for repeating a feat that has been attained only once in the cricketing history when Australian Albert Trott cleared the 50-foot building during a match for Marylebone Cricket Club
in 1899.
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Former Australia fast bowler Glenn McGrath has re-married in a private ceremony two years after the death of his first wife, Australian media reported. The Seven Network said McGrath married 28-year-old Italian-American Sara Leonardi at their Sydney home in a ceremony that was closed even to former teammates. The network said only close family, including McGrath’s parents, stepmother and two children, James aged 10, and Holly aged eight, were invited. McGrath’s former teammate, leg-spinner Shane Warne, said in a Twitter post on Wednesday “is it true Glenn McGrath got married today? Wow. Wish you all the best my friend.” McGrath had said Leonardi, to whom he became engaged in July, “made him feel alive again” after the loss of his first wife, Jane, to breast cancer.
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Pakistan wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider has claimed to have turned down lucrative offers from the media to give details of his decision to desert his team in Dubai midway through an ODI series and flee to London after receiving death threats for refusing to fix matches. The 24-year-old wrote on his Facebook account that the News of the World tabloid had offered him lots of money for an interview but he spoke to them without taking a penny. “They offered me lots of money but I gave them the interview free of cost but what was surprising was that they said it would be half an hour thing but it went on for one and half hour,” Haider wrote. “They were trying to ask hard questions but I told them they should talk to the ICC about it,” Haider wrote on his account. Haider also wrote on his account that electronic media had also offered him big money for giving interviews but he had no intention of taking money and even if he took, he would ask them to give it directly to a charity.
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Australian spinner Shane Warne, who turned designer with his clothing brand ‘Spinners’, is all set to bring the apparel label to India. The sporty fashion line comprising menswear, boyswear and innerwear was launched down under in 2009 making headway in the ‘Spashio’ (sport + fashion) market. Shane Warne. The 41-year-old cricketer is now keen on expanding it globally, beginning with India. “I’m excited to be launching Spinners by Shane Warne globally. It’s no secret that I’ve always loved India. It’s a beautiful country and the people are as passionate about cricket as I am! “I’ve experienced such strong support from my Indian fans and I’m really looking forward to sharing my range of menswear, boyswear and innerwear with them,” said Warne in a statement. Designed by Warne himself for sporting fans and spectators alike, the collection is in soft, breathable fabrics and includes soft-washed tees, double stitched denim, etc. ‘Spinners by Shane Warne’ is currently available at Target stores in Australia.
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The roof of the north-west stand at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium which is currently hosting the India-New Zealand ODI match came down, injuring four to five people in Jaipur. The incident happened just after New Zealand’s first innings got over here. “The roof came down all of a sudden. Around 4-5 people were injuried but there was nothing serious. It lead to a little scramble in the stands but there weren’t reports of any untoward incident,” a volunteer in the stadium said.
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An “accidental” remark he wished he had never made is behind AB de Villiers’ rapid ascent into the top-rank of the world’s leading batsmen, the South African said. De Villiers scored an epic 278 not out, the highest individual Test score for South Africa, against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi to rise to an all-time high of fifth in the ICC Test rankings. Just over two years ago, De Villiers told a news conference he
wanted to be the best batsman in the world, a comment that was generally greeted with amused scepticism as he had not been a consistently heavy scorer at international level. “I sort of said it by accident, what I meant was that it should be the dream of any international player to be the best in the world, otherwise you’re playing for the wrong reasons. At the time I felt really stupid, I was saying
to myself ‘oh my word, now I’ve gone and put all this pressure on myself’,” De Villiers said. “But I had this vision and I put it out there, I was open and honest and it was the best thing I could have done. I had been in a comfort zone, scoring the odd fifty and just doing well enough to stay in the team.
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Source: Various web and print media

Asia & EAP News

Cricket Legends Leave Their Mark on PNG

Nine former Australian or International Test players including, the World Record holder for Test wickets Mutiah Muralithuran and former England Captain Adam Hollioke descended on Port
Moresby to take part in five Days of activity to build and promote Cricket and to support both World Aids Day and the “Don’t Drink and Drive” campaign. Six of the Legends then joined 70
talented PNG national players, emerging talents and young hopefuls in the Weekends 20 over round robin tournament, The Pacific MMI, Motor Vehicles Insurance Ltd Don’t Drink and Drive”
Bash. The event culminated in a LIVE televised final on Sunday afternoon. World record holder Muttiah Muralitharen, was in PNG lending his support and considerable profile to all pre-
promotion activities including World Aids Day, a Port Moresby Supa Clinic, a Cricket PNG dinner on Wednesday evening and also in Lae on Thursday as well as talent identification clinics and
involvement in the BSP schools cricket program in Port Moresby and Lae.

Fiji named ICC EAP U17 hosts

Cricket in Fiji has received a huge coup after being named as hosts for the 2012 International Cricket Council East Asia Pacific Under 17 tournament. This will be the first time in 11 years that
Fiji has hosted a competition of this calibre and is a direct reflection of the resurgence of cricket in this country. Cricket Fiji high performance manager Steve Jenkin said this was a huge
achievement for the game in Fiji and the tournament represents an exciting opportunity for our young cricketers.”This is an exciting moment for Cricket Fiji and we’re delighted to be named as
hosts,” Jenkin said.

Announcements

Beer for Books celebrates 100,000 books

Indian Engineers C.C have been one of the early supporters of the Beer for Books(http://www.beersforbooks.org/), a simple idea made possible and has become a world event by a Tokyo based
recruiter, Gary Bremmerman. The basic idea of “B4B” is that you find a cool bar/restaurant in your neighborhood which agrees to donate 100yen for every drink sold on a specific night, you
invite all your friends, and every 100yenfunds a high quality local language book for kids via Room to Read.

B4B recently crossed the 100,000 book milestone at the Nakameguro Taproom on Monday, November 29. Also, on October 20th the 1st ever B4B in a country where Room to Read LLP books
are published, Vietnam, raised US$2,300.00.

For more details log on to their website: http://www.beersforbooks.org/

Indian Engineers’ Japan Cricket Rating – New results

Results as of November 30:

Here is the latest top 10 (last month’s ranking in brackets):

1 Lalazar (1)
2 Tokyo Giants (2)
3 Tokyo Wombats (3)
4 Al Karam (4)
4 Adore (5)
5 Indian Engineers (5)
6 Serendib (7)
7 Wyverns (7)
8 Shizuoka Kytes (8)
9 MAX (10)
10 YC&AC (11)

We encourage all teams to send us your result statistics regularly so that your team’s rankings remain as accurate as possible. We are in a position to obtain the results of the official tournament matches on our own but we are looking for the results of the friendly matches.

Readers’ Corner

IECC Poll results

Will England retain the Ashes?

Yes 50%
No 50%
Can’t say 0%

Take the new poll:

We will leave the poll unchanged for this month for our readers to have second thoughts 🙂

Visit our home page today to vote!

Best of the Web

We recently stumbled on this cricket game website:

http://www.sporteecricket.com/

Snippets of the Month

Note: Beginning the Issue #39 (May 6, ’04), we bring you some interesting snippets from the cricket world, to celebrate the fourth anniversary this Newsletter and first anniversary of our popular “Trivial Facts” series. The same will be published on the front page of our website too.

Who is he? He’s a nobody.” – Kevin Pietersen about John Buchanan.

Trivial facts (from our Archives)

New Zealand’s Chris Martin holds the dubious record for scoring max number of pairs in Tests – five.

That’s all in this edition ! !