FNCC square the score with Karlshruhe Lions

Its been nearly two weeks since we played the Karlsruhe Lions Blues (KLB) and memory is starting to cloud the proceedings. There was much anticipation of this game. First reason was that we playing at our home ground on a Saturday -- this is first time the Freiburg city granted us ground access on a Saturday (actually full weekend). Second we want to rectify the errors in our performance on our away game to KLB home ground.

We were all very positive, as Vijay and Fayas returned to the team and reinforced the batting. Also it was encouraging that we were a full XI. On the contrary the KLB were suffering from the hangover of the victory and also missing a player. As it became evident later they had some serious miscalculations about FNCC.

KLB Innings
Vijay asked KLB to bats first. We thought that they batted well because they had a target in mind in the previous game. Also they were likely to caught on their backfoot (literally) on out wicket. After our first encounter, we knew the danger men from the KLB. The first of those Ahmed opened the innings. I and Saghir started off in our typical economical style. Ahmed misjudged a ball in the third over and was bowled without attempting a shot. This was a perfect start. From that time on, KLB were really struggling and soon were in the run rate pressure. After second spell of Bala and Nila, Vijay brought on Srinath and Shrath. Srinath started off in style and took a wicket off his veru first ball. 

Then he and Sharath shared five wickets and wrecked the middle order. The KLB were really startled as neither they were keeping the wickets in check and nor scoring runs. The run rate was steady around 4 an over. Wickets tumbled regularly and in the absence of any meaningful partnership, despite pretty generous help from extras, they were hanging around 90 runs at the loss of eight wickets. 

At that point came a cameo from Shivramen (I think) who scored some sixes and tried to get the KLB to a decent score. Besides him only Waheed showed some sense and hung around a while while seeing his teammates getting out.

Eventually, the set the target of 135 in 35 overs. It was a modest target. But FNCC is always a bit wary and are as a personality trait not confident until its really done. 

FNCC Innings
Fayas and Vijay opened. And it was a treat. KLB batsmen failed to read the speed and length of the bowling earlier. But while bowling they could not find the right line length. Fayas and Vijay matched each other and clinically cut through the bowling. While the two were batting run rate hovered around 7.5. Fayas was especially pretty to watch in his flawless shot all over the off side. Vijay was brutal and efficient if not as pretty.

Once Vijay departed, FNCC were in a very safe state. But we did not want to let go. Vishav and Fayas and then Fayas and Rehan continued to dominate the bowling and more than anything broke the confidence of the fielding side completely. They were just begging that we finish the game. Eventually FNCC romped home in the 17th over and completed one of the most emphatic victory for the FNCC. 

The aftermath
The worst thing in any contest is to underestimate the counterpart. KLB did that and paid a serious price for that. We learned in the course of the match that they had planned to leave Freiburg by 1600hrs to join in some BBQ. They were of course confident to leave with a win. They had made a completely wrong impression of our team. Not a way to play cricket.

FNCC were really good on this particular day. Almost everything worked. But you are only as good as the opponent. And I think the quality of KLB on that day only suppressed the actual quality of our team effort. But these one-sided games are not worth it in any case.

FNCC would show that in the next day against St. Gallen.

Spirit of Cricket League: A new initiative for organising cricket in south Germany

Cricket has by now formed deep roots in the brains of most people from the Indian sub-continent. When these people move to mainland Europe they organize in small groups to play cricket. Some bigs cities have multiple teams and enough financial resources to maintain and run a league like setup. But usually participation in these leagues is very expensive which prevents smaller clubs from participation. Moreover, in most cases, these leagues reflect the inflated egos of those who are at the helm and often the playing experience is not great. I have written earlier about whether or not to participate in these leagues. 

Overall I felt that it was necessary to have an organised setup for cricket but the existing style of the league was not optimal for maximising cricket. In my view of a league I did not see the need for the registration membership fees, as the league was not to provide any facilities such as ground or cricket equipments or for that matter a prize money. Neither I felt the need for a central body to organize the games, because on any day it is the umpires who are entrusted with the responsibility to run the game in a smooth fashion. Now when the laws of the games are decided at the international level, there is no need for central bodies at our amateur levels to enforce those.

Based on our previous experience we (FNCC) had decided not to play in any league and waste money. But as I was arranging fixtures, Waheed Ahmed of the Cricket Lions Karlsruhe proposed to initiate a parallel league. This suggestions, reignited our previous idea of having a cricket league which is free from from centralised rules and monetary overload.

So together with Waheed, we started asking other clubs. The initial response was not that great. Possibly because most active teams were already committed to the existing leagues. However, suddenly towards the end of the season earlier this month, Cricket Lions Karlsruhe, TSG Rohrbach Stallions CC and FNCC agreed to play home and away fixtures. As such it might be considered as a three-club tournament. But the matches are distributed over several weeks and we plan to have a final. More importantly, these matches are being played within the framework of the Spirit of Cricket League. 

The main goal of the Spirit of Cricket League is to play cricket like gentlemen, without any dispute. We aspire to maintain the spirit of the game, hence the name. This is a hazy concept but we all know a large part of the spirit of the game lies in respecting the decisions of the Umpires and to respect fellow players. 

Unlike other leagues, there are no registration or membership fees. 
We think that the two playing teams should decide on the paying conditions. Standard league setup tries to enforce centralised rules for match duration etc. But we think that the two playing teams decide on the match conditions on a given day. Such subjectivity (ambiguity) regarding matches is part of the beauty of Cricket. 

By freeing the league from financial overload we think that we will attract more teams.

As the teams will grow we hope to make an executive committee involving one member from each of the teams. This committee will ensure that smooth running of the setup and will manage the schedule and scores. Perhaps in time to come we will introduce the Fair-Play award for individuals to rise above the win-loss attitude and play the game of cricket for the sake of cricket.

The experiment is underway. FNCC and CL Karlsruhe have already played their first game. Another club from Freiburg has expressed the desire to participate in this new setup. 

We hope that the SoC league will grow rapidly in the coming season and will no longer be the secondary event of the season. But for that to happen much depends on the the three teams: Cricket Lions Karlsruhe, TSG Rohrbach Stallions CC and FNCC. If they can set an example this year the idea would gain momentum. 

If you are interested in joining please leave a message. 

Cricket Lions Karlsruhe prevail over FNCC: Spirit of Cricket League gets underway

This has been a curious season. Most of the matches we have played this season have been one-sided. We lost twice to Zurich Nomads without showing any fight. But we defeated Pak Freiburg, Winterthur, Ravensberg, Uster in one-sided matches. Not that I dont like stamping authority over other teams but close matches have their  own charm and nothing beats they way adrenaline flows in such tight situations. Last Sunday our away game quite close to becoming a close match. Despite the loss FNCC showed that they can fight.

It was the first game of the new experiment in the organisation of cricket in South of Germany. 

FNCC visited Karlsruhe. As has been the norm for this season that we lose one key player just before the match. This time Vijay could not travel with us and we were left with 10 players. With incomplete team, unknown playing conditions and a rather fast bouncy pitch, it was clearly going to a big struggle for the FNCC. 

FNCC Innings

Saghir who was standing in for Vijay wanted to bowl first, considering that we were a better side while bowling. But he lost the toss and CLK invited us to bat first. Vishv and Rehan started off well. Vishav was especially looking good. Rehan was starting to get to grips of the game but was apparently give out caught behind, wrongly, by me. But I was convinced that he had edged the ball.

That brought in Balaji, who was in superb form with a 50+ score in the previous game. But he was finding it difficult to read the bounce. But the runs were coming the form of extras, so there was not much concern. Despite a scratchy batting from Balaji (who eventually scored 31), Vishv kept is cool and steadily kept the score ticking. Vishv finally got out after scoring 28 runs in the 16 over. But that started the typical FNCC collapse. Saghir who was starting to look dangerous, was out caught when a ball took the leading edge. After that it was as if FNCC players just did not know how to bat. 

CLK's slow bowlers were suddenly appearing top-class spinners and a pitch, highly suited for batting was turned into a spinners' paradise. Soon the score was 129 for 8, it was around 65 for 2 after 16th over. Sharath and I joined at the wicket with seven overs to go. We just wanted to play all the overs. Things worked out in our favor and we added 40+ runs in seven overs. We ended our innings with 175 for 9. I scored 32 runs, which surprised me most of all. But the ball was coming on the bat well. A lot of credit of that partnership goes to Saghir who was umpiring and kept motivating us. During this partnership Sharath got his hand injured as he dived to make home for a single that was not needed. 


CLK Innings

176 in 35 overs was not a big total on that wicket but we were more confident. Saghir and I started off our defence in positive manner. While I was economical Saghir was devastating. He too two wickets in his first over. CLK was on the back foot. Nila came in for the 7th over and quickly claimed one. But from then on Ahmed and Omar slowly took the game away from us. 

FNCC bowlers could have done better but Ahmed steered the batting really wisely. He was defensive on the first and second balls, attacking on the 3rd and 4th but then was looking for a single on the last two. This way he not only protected his partner, but kept the score going. In between there were few economical overs but the asking rate was too low to climb to an alarming level.

This partnership was broken around 23rd over. Ahmed had a rush of blood and he hit me for a six on midwicket. We exchanged looks. And he could not keep from the temptation of hitting me again, Nila took a nice catch. One more wicket fell in that over and Omar was dropped by Imtiyaz. We saw there was a chance. But again besides, Saghir there was no venom in the bowling. Imtiyaj, Bala, Balaji, Nila, Shrath, all tried hard. Saghir even gambled with Rehan. But all were good in patches and consistency was lacking. 

Saghir had the challenge of keep the two us bowl in small spell while hoping that there will enough left at the end. But the 6th and 7th wickets took too long to fall. In the end they needed two runs in the second last over with three wickets remaining. 

The aftermath
We lost, but we fought. I think it was really important to see if FNCC can put up a fight. It was a very good show by a team of 10 players. 

I hope that our bowlers got a good lesson. Later everyone of us thought we were another 20 runs short. Perhaps thats too wishful. On that pitch we should have scored at least 250, given that we had 52 runs in extra. Batsmen need to take up more responsibility. They need to be aware of the match situation.

Saghir led from the front. He was unlucky with the bat but with ball he was just perfect. I should have done better. With such a score, being economical is not an option (I bowled 7 overs for 14 runs). My 3 wickets came a bit too late. Vishv and Balaji contributed with bat. But we need more from other players. In batting, Bala, Rehan (who was unlucky), Imtiyaz and in bowling Nila and Sharath have to step up their game. Finally, playing with 10 players is never an option, so even those who did not make themselves available should feel responsible for our loss. 

Despite the loss we enjoyed the game. The hosts were quite good. I wish that they had given us an extra fielder but then it was not their fault that we showed up one short. Also I think teams should refrain from discussing umpires' decisions. 

The new initiative is on its way with a near perfect start. Lets see how it proceeds. Tomorrow we take on the CLK for a return fixture. I am sure it will be a more intersting match -- if the rain gods decide not to come to the ground.