A fan's tale of 2009's Cricket for Charity tournament
By Tushar Tendulkar
Until Oct 3 2009 my dream of winning any form cricket tournament ended with buzzing of my alarm clock. But on Oct 4 2009 6:00 pm as soon as Somnath (Devil's Tail) spooned catch to Satish (Hunts County) on the penultimate delivery of the tournament. My dream had permanently morphed into reality and the date was carved in golden letters on my memory board.
Tournament
I do not know the exact details of the origins of this wondrous idea, however the purpose was crystal clear, to raise as much donation as possible for Dana-Faber Cancer society while enjoying game of cricket and to baptize newbee's into the religion of cricket.
There was lot of ground work to be done before the start of the event and also during the day of the event. As soon as the event was declared .The organizing committee and the drone bees (volunteers) got into the action. Each volunteer was assigned a unique task; some flew to staples to collect trophies and certificates, while others got busy arranging for the hardware (Tables, Chairs, Sound arrangements), negotiating with the sponsor of the events and yet another group busy collecting $$ nectar (Donations).
Few practice sessions were held a week before the start of the tournament, this was to allow teams to assess their core strengths and strategize before the big event. Practice session also worked as "Cricket clinical for beginners" acquainting the novice to the basics of cricket. However the real agenda for this practice sessions was to Scout and rope in star performers. CTS Cricket commissioner (Harshil) enforced strict measures to ensure a fair and balanced trading, it was due to this regulations. Hunts County saw losing Ram to their rivals (Devil's tail).
Weather God was in a very good mood on OCT 4’Th and blessed us with the perfect day for the game of cricket, However OCT 3'rd had played a part of spoil sport. It had rained heavily on the eve of the event and cricket pitch made most of the rain opportunity, by clogging as much water as possible. Event organizer had to bribe the pitch with 20 bags of sand and gravel and pamper it with a ground roller and cricket mat before it consented to proceed with the event. River Front ground looked handsome in its green grass jacket.
3 teams Charlie French (Blue Team), Red Devil's (Red Team) and Hunts County (Green Team) were pitted against each other in round robin league matches (6 over per Side). With top 2 teams sweating it out in the finals. Each team had a rooster of min 25 players idea was to have separate teams (team a & b) for each league match. (So as to spread the blame of loss on maximum members, rather than limiting to 11 players: However Official Version quoted "To maximize participation"). For the trivia junkies who are wondering about the odd team names, let me enlighten you by the fact that all the 3 names are actual cricketing gear company names. While team players were warming up for the matches’ .Team Managers and Captain were slogging out the team compositions (batting and balling order). Supporters of each team was busy setting up the support camps and flaunting some eye catching banners. As the event progressed support camps became more and more vocal be it cheering for their own team or booing their opponents.
I have been advised to avoid word "betting” hence let me rephrase and say there was some serious raffling to determine the sequence of winning teams. If I remember correctly green box had collected the maximum tickets .Also there were few other regular raffling counters with some attractive prizes like Swiss Knife, Wine Opener, Cooking Set etc
The league
1'st Match
The inaugural match was played between Charlie French (CF) and Devil's Tail (DT). CF won the toss and elected to bat. The highlight of CF innings was the 'Huddle' ritual performed just before the start of the match. In 6 overs CF managed to score 29 runs, this was also helped by some sloppy fielding from rival team. RD team approached the winning total with caution and had few hiccups (wickets) early on .However fireworks in the late innings - courtesy Jr) Ram (4 *1 and huge 6) ensured RD their solitary win in the tournament.
2'nd Match
Hunts County (HC) won the toss and invited Devil's Tail to bat. Some tight bowling and good fielding by HC meant DT run tally would not exceed 33 runs. HC batsmen overtook the run tally in 6’Th over with few balls to spare. 2 catches by Scott Witter (DT) and brilliant one handed catch by Krishna (DT) deserve a special mention.
3'rd Match
HC fielded their B team against the CF (which also had few changes), batting first HC piled up 42 runs in 6 overs.CF team tried it's best to achieve the target; however losing wickets at regular interval did not help the winning cause .CF found themselves content with 2'nd runner up certificate.
Offside Action
Action on the ground was equally matched with the action off the ground. Tom Hawks (Cheerleading team) from Glastonbury entertained the teams and spectators with some amazing acrobatic and cheer leading routines and brought an exciting and rare element to the game of cricket. At times, they were the best performers on the ground and received strong cheering from all the three teams.
It’s the spectators that turn a good event into a great event and they turned out in plenty to support their teams. More than 200 people turned up for the event and the atmosphere was electric during the key moments of the games.
While adults were slogging it on the field, Kids were having merry time with the Billy the Clown and treating themselves to some artistic face painting. I did notice quiet a few Batmen and human Butterfly's hovering around the field.
Cricket was not the only menu available on the ground, Food Stall from Tandoori Nights had quiet a variety to offer from Bhel, Pav bhaji, Indian Burger (vada pav) to Chilli chicken
Finals
HC lost the toss and were sent into bat. It looked like DT had a solid game plan to restrict HC run rampage. Plan seemed to work wonders, as HC could sum up only 9 run in their first 3 overs. A late surge lead by Ranga with good support of other middle order batsmen’s ensured HC respectable score of 31. (HC’s lowest total in the tournament).
DT resumed their innings with caution and some sensible batting, for the first 2 overs it seemed DT were cruising towards the championship. However Ranga put on breaks on DT by balling a dream over, his bowling analysis read as 1-0-1(Overs-Runs-Wicket)
At the end of 3'rd over Score card read as 18 runs required off 18 balls. DT batsmen approached the total with caution and managed to apply pressure on the opponents by skimming few quick singles. Pressure was quickly catching on with HC fielders who made mockery of a simple run out chance and also allowed an extra run in a tight situation.
As the final over approached DT required 6 runs in as many balls. HC all rounder Rajeev requested to bowl last over and team captain Syed did not deny his wish.
It seemed Rajeev wanted to redeem for his poor form with the bat in finals. Limping thru (Rajeev had pulled his leg muscle during league match). Rajeev displayed a brilliant balling, restricting opponent batsmen to just 4 runs in as many balls and followed by a dot ball.
Tension was flaring up between 2 teams, DT manager even requested for scorecard audit to ensure there was no leak in that department. Commentator compared the rivalry between DT and HC to the India-Pakistan (Red Sox vs. Yankee's).
There was dead silence as Rajeev prepped up to ball the last delivery to Somnath. The moment resembled western movie gun draw scene.
Rajeev balled ...Somnath played the cut ...Satish caught the ball in the air...Green T-shirt swamped the field. There was an ear deafening Hooray for the winning team.
HC were the crowned champions of the first edition of "Cricket for Charity" .Brian O'Connell presented trophy to the winning team. Tom Mika showered the team with sweet Moet Champagne and also team was awarded bonus dinner invitation at Tandoori Nights. They say winner takes it all; HC team manager Haminder also grabbed the top prize (ipod) in raffle. Awards in Individual categories were swept by RD team members. All rounder Jr Ram collected the Man of the Tournament ward from Mark Esposito Where as Scott Witter collected award for the Scott Witter won the New Bat on the Block trophy awarded to the most impressive first-time cricket player (Scott lead category for maximum number of catches by single player -3) .Team also pocketed 50 movie tickets for their eye catching Banner campaign.
Charlie French team might have missed the berth in finals, but they put up a strong challenge to the other two teams and made it a highly competitive tournament. The team outraced the other two teams in the charity fund raising contest and raised $1850 for a noble cause and was duly awarded 50 movies for their effort.
I would like to thank and acknowledge the encouragement and support received from CTS and HLI leadership to make this event a grand success.
Also salute to all the Volunteers, Scorers, Umpires, Cheer leaders and spectators for making this an unforgettable moment.
As the day folded, the Charity Fund counter read at $5800+ and it provided a perfect ending to a wonderful event under clear skies. Every body returned home with an everlasting memory of the event and pledges to make this event bigger and better in the coming years.
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