Coming off the Memorial Day long weekend, it was tough to get back into the swing of things at work. I managed to drink beer and eat with friends on 4 occasions over the weekend, beginning on Friday night. We did not achieve much more than this but really enjoyed relaxing and hanging out with friends. Helped the American beer economy by drinking as much local brew as I could manage - Yuengling, Sam Adams and Magic Hat were all sampled on many occasions. Yuengling is a drinking staple in my house but I have to say the the Sam Adams Summer Ale is another good reason for enjoying this time of the year.
Thoroughly enjoyed watching the Waratahs smash the Sharks on the weekend and go through to the Super 14 final. It will be tough against the Crusaders but if they play like they did last weekend, we have a chance. Also, followed the cricket on the internet as the Directv website said nothing about the Australia v West Indies test. I found out today that I could have been watching it if I had bothered to turn on my TV :-( . I will make sure I am lined up to watch the next match for sure. Only comments on the side are that it is about time Lee and Clark took the new ball and also, we miss Hayden at the top of the order. Like the way we are playing though and should do well for the rest of the series.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
Babel
I had heard good things about the movie Babel and it had been sitting on our DVR for a while so I suggested that we watch it last night. Mindy was not sure, she felt like something uplifting. I did not know anything about it so we decided to give it a go.
"Not uplifting" is an understatement. It follows 4 stories - the adventures of an American couple (Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett) in Morocco; a goat hearding family in Morocco; two kids and their Mexican nanny in San Diego/Mexico; and a deaf-mute Japanese girl. As the movie progresses, the relationship between the 4 stores gets clearer. The movie was full of tension and drama, perhaps too much for what Mindy wanted last night. The acting was excellent, I enjoyed the flow of the movie and felt that it was well written and edited together. Certainly a good movie worth looking at but perhaps not on an evening when you want to watch a "feel good" movie.
Looking forward to getting out of here soon and enjoying the long weekend at the house. The weather is finally getting better so it will be a fun few days.
"Not uplifting" is an understatement. It follows 4 stories - the adventures of an American couple (Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett) in Morocco; a goat hearding family in Morocco; two kids and their Mexican nanny in San Diego/Mexico; and a deaf-mute Japanese girl. As the movie progresses, the relationship between the 4 stores gets clearer. The movie was full of tension and drama, perhaps too much for what Mindy wanted last night. The acting was excellent, I enjoyed the flow of the movie and felt that it was well written and edited together. Certainly a good movie worth looking at but perhaps not on an evening when you want to watch a "feel good" movie.
Looking forward to getting out of here soon and enjoying the long weekend at the house. The weather is finally getting better so it will be a fun few days.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
A Party, Bee Movie
This past weekend was busy as usual. Saturday was Naomi's belated 6th birthday party. Friends from her school and in the local neighbourhood descended on our backyard for a "messy party". This was something that Mindy and Naomi had dreamt up and the name pretty much speaks for itself. There were various stations around the yard – a mud pit; whipped cream; spaghetti noodles; shredded paper; body paint and sprinklers. It all finished with a water balloon fight – I clocked Mindy a beauty right in the face…but wore a handful of mud as a result. All of the kids seemed to have fun – not so sure about the parents having to clean them up! Naomi spent literally the last hour of the party wallowing in the mud pit and getting completely covered in the stuff.
Sunday was the return of our “Young Humanist” group. We had some new families show interest so we will see if we get enough interest to allow it to continue. It was fun and the kids enjoyed playing with the other children that were there, despite Naomi’s initial hesitation.
In the evening we watched the animated “Bee Movie” and pretty much hated it. It was trying to be too cute, some gags aimed at adults that were not appropriate for young kids and it was not really that interesting. The kids sat through it but did not really think it was that anything special, shown by the complete lack of talk/play surrounding the bee theme after the movie. I think that the Pixar folks are the best at getting the balance just right in their animation – kids movies that adults can enjoy. If I was looking to grade the film, “Dee Movie” would have been a more appropriate title.
Sunday was the return of our “Young Humanist” group. We had some new families show interest so we will see if we get enough interest to allow it to continue. It was fun and the kids enjoyed playing with the other children that were there, despite Naomi’s initial hesitation.
In the evening we watched the animated “Bee Movie” and pretty much hated it. It was trying to be too cute, some gags aimed at adults that were not appropriate for young kids and it was not really that interesting. The kids sat through it but did not really think it was that anything special, shown by the complete lack of talk/play surrounding the bee theme after the movie. I think that the Pixar folks are the best at getting the balance just right in their animation – kids movies that adults can enjoy. If I was looking to grade the film, “Dee Movie” would have been a more appropriate title.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Surprise!!
One of Mindy's favourite musical acts is Madonna. She has been a fan most of her life, growing up in the 80's, even performing some dance routines in front of a video camera many years ago...tapes of which fortunately still exist today! She owns her entire catalogue of music, except for the most recent release but I expect that this will soon be added to the collection. From what I know of her, I would guess that Madonna would slot in right behind the Indigo Girls in her "list of favourite acts"...certainly in the top 5.
So, when I received an email announcement on Monday that there was a pre-sale on Madonna tickets for her upcoming tour if you held a Citibank credit card, I figured it might be a nice surprise for her. There is a show in New Jersey in October, actually the North American kickoff concert, and I figured that would suit. On Monday night, I got the necessary credit card from a drawer (I don't regularly use this one) and set an entry on my email calendar to remind me to get the tickets as soon as they went on sale at 10:00am on Tuesday.
Right at 10:00 I was online reserving two tickets to the show - "best available" - which seem close to the stage with a side view...not perfect, but on the assumption that "best available" meant exactly that, I purchased them. Now anyone who knows my musical tastes will know that a Madonna concert is unlikely to be the highlight of my year but I was excited to know that Mindy would have fun. I guess I was looking forward to the joy I would get from seeing her so happy! All day, I was anticipating getting home so I could let her know, imagining her excited reaction to the news. I told her by phone that I had a surprise for her when I got home, which immediately had her trying to guess.
When I got home, I didn't waste any time. "So what is the surprise?". "On October 4, we will be attending a concert in New Jersey". "AC/DC?". "No. Today I got us two tickets to see Madonna in concert". I then waited for the reaction...and waited...and waited. "Are you serious?" was the reply, not even a smile crossing her face. "Really?" she added. I was somewhat crushed and confused. All of my mental build up of this moment had instantly come crashing down at the reality of her total lack of excitement, enthusiasm or even ANY recognition that she might even be slightly interested in this event. It was as if I told her surprise was that she was getting the chance to watch cricket with me on TV or something. So I was puzzled..."I thought you would be excited. Isn't she one of your favourite performers? When we saw her close the UK Live Earth concert, didn't you comment what a good show she put on?". I think I even suggested that I could sell the tickets if she did not want to go. Then I think she took pity on me and made a few comments about how she was happy that I thought to do something nice...how she will get excited once it hits her that she is going...how she was just not expecting this (do you ever expect a surprise?) etc... All of this was a little too late to save the moment.
So I guess this taught me a lesson about building up my expectations. Perhaps she will get more excited as the date approaches, who knows. Hopefully she likes the new album otherwise it might be tough. I certainly got a reminder about what can at times seem like the punchline of a joke about how simple guys are while women are complex and difficult to figure out. Living with 3 girls shows me how true and real this is!
So, when I received an email announcement on Monday that there was a pre-sale on Madonna tickets for her upcoming tour if you held a Citibank credit card, I figured it might be a nice surprise for her. There is a show in New Jersey in October, actually the North American kickoff concert, and I figured that would suit. On Monday night, I got the necessary credit card from a drawer (I don't regularly use this one) and set an entry on my email calendar to remind me to get the tickets as soon as they went on sale at 10:00am on Tuesday.
Right at 10:00 I was online reserving two tickets to the show - "best available" - which seem close to the stage with a side view...not perfect, but on the assumption that "best available" meant exactly that, I purchased them. Now anyone who knows my musical tastes will know that a Madonna concert is unlikely to be the highlight of my year but I was excited to know that Mindy would have fun. I guess I was looking forward to the joy I would get from seeing her so happy! All day, I was anticipating getting home so I could let her know, imagining her excited reaction to the news. I told her by phone that I had a surprise for her when I got home, which immediately had her trying to guess.
When I got home, I didn't waste any time. "So what is the surprise?". "On October 4, we will be attending a concert in New Jersey". "AC/DC?". "No. Today I got us two tickets to see Madonna in concert". I then waited for the reaction...and waited...and waited. "Are you serious?" was the reply, not even a smile crossing her face. "Really?" she added. I was somewhat crushed and confused. All of my mental build up of this moment had instantly come crashing down at the reality of her total lack of excitement, enthusiasm or even ANY recognition that she might even be slightly interested in this event. It was as if I told her surprise was that she was getting the chance to watch cricket with me on TV or something. So I was puzzled..."I thought you would be excited. Isn't she one of your favourite performers? When we saw her close the UK Live Earth concert, didn't you comment what a good show she put on?". I think I even suggested that I could sell the tickets if she did not want to go. Then I think she took pity on me and made a few comments about how she was happy that I thought to do something nice...how she will get excited once it hits her that she is going...how she was just not expecting this (do you ever expect a surprise?) etc... All of this was a little too late to save the moment.
So I guess this taught me a lesson about building up my expectations. Perhaps she will get more excited as the date approaches, who knows. Hopefully she likes the new album otherwise it might be tough. I certainly got a reminder about what can at times seem like the punchline of a joke about how simple guys are while women are complex and difficult to figure out. Living with 3 girls shows me how true and real this is!
Monday, May 12, 2008
Bachelor Weekend
Mindy and the kids went down to Virginia for her cousin's graduation party, so I experienced life as a bachelor for the weekend. Apparently, what this entails is watching some TV, reading a book, playing cricket and cleaning up the house - quite the way to take advantage of my "single status" for the weekend!
Cricket on Saturday was a total disaster. Our team was significantly less than full strength and 1/2 of the guys out there (me included) were limping around, carrying some sort of injury. I actually bowled OK in the game (7 overs 2/8) but we gave them too many runs on a tricky pitch. Batting, I was going well before edging to the slip (17) but we were one partnership short of getting the runs. Kind of frustrating as we should beat this team in our sleep (perhaps that was the problem).
In the evening I watched "American Gangster", the based-on-fact story of Frank Lucas, a drug lord in New York in the 70's. Denzel Washington played the part very well and Russell Crowe was also good as the cop investigating him. It was an interesting story and from all I have read about the real people involved, remained pretty close to the actual events that happened. Kind of long but I did not find it dragged out too much. Anyone who likes gangster/mob type films will probably like this I would figure.
Sunday was Mother's Day. Mindy spent it in the company of our two children, driving all day back from Virginia. I spent it cleaning up the house a bit and waiting around for their arrival. We bought her a new juicer as a gift (something she had requested), I know, quite romantic, right? At least I had enough sense to not buy her a mop and bucket! I have another surprise in the works but not sure if I can make it happen yet, so perhaps a juicer will only be the start of the fun.
Cricket on Saturday was a total disaster. Our team was significantly less than full strength and 1/2 of the guys out there (me included) were limping around, carrying some sort of injury. I actually bowled OK in the game (7 overs 2/8) but we gave them too many runs on a tricky pitch. Batting, I was going well before edging to the slip (17) but we were one partnership short of getting the runs. Kind of frustrating as we should beat this team in our sleep (perhaps that was the problem).
In the evening I watched "American Gangster", the based-on-fact story of Frank Lucas, a drug lord in New York in the 70's. Denzel Washington played the part very well and Russell Crowe was also good as the cop investigating him. It was an interesting story and from all I have read about the real people involved, remained pretty close to the actual events that happened. Kind of long but I did not find it dragged out too much. Anyone who likes gangster/mob type films will probably like this I would figure.
Sunday was Mother's Day. Mindy spent it in the company of our two children, driving all day back from Virginia. I spent it cleaning up the house a bit and waiting around for their arrival. We bought her a new juicer as a gift (something she had requested), I know, quite romantic, right? At least I had enough sense to not buy her a mop and bucket! I have another surprise in the works but not sure if I can make it happen yet, so perhaps a juicer will only be the start of the fun.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Under the Banner of Heaven
I finally finished the Jon Krakauer book "Under the Banner of Heaven". It is loosely about the story of a murder in Utah committed by Ron and Dan Lafferty that was divinely inspired. However, in the process of looking at this "inspiration", it digs into firstly the culture of fundamentalist mormons and then expands as a general history of the mormon faith in general. It is an interesting story and worth a read, however, much of it is kind of "heavy going" as a lot of names and places are thrown around. I would have done better to devote more time to it per sitting...but often this is difficult with two small kids! :-)
The most interesting discussion in the book for me was around the discussion of whether Ron Lafferty, who believed (in short) that God told him to commit these murders, was insane. The ultimate answer was that he was not but the potential implications of an insanity verdict were quite large. The follow on from such a decision would be to label anyone who believes they communicate with God as insane (prayer?) ... including the current president, many world leaders and a huge chunk of the population. In a world, and especially a country where having a personal connection with God is considered a virtue, to label someone insane for acting on that (perceived) connection would have been interesting to say the least.
It was strange timing in some ways as I was reading about the fundamentalists around the same time of the recent raid on the fundamentalist compound in Texas. This is the same sect that the book looks at in detail. Many of their poligamist practices are nothing more than child abuse, rape and/or incest - completely offensive in all respects.
The early history of the mormons is also quite interesting - I had no idea there was that much bloodshed and persecution over those times. I do challenge anyone who has not been brought up in that faith to listen to the story they believe and maintain a straight face however...quite an interesting tale.
Certainly read this book and be amazed at just what goes on in some of these communities.
The most interesting discussion in the book for me was around the discussion of whether Ron Lafferty, who believed (in short) that God told him to commit these murders, was insane. The ultimate answer was that he was not but the potential implications of an insanity verdict were quite large. The follow on from such a decision would be to label anyone who believes they communicate with God as insane (prayer?) ... including the current president, many world leaders and a huge chunk of the population. In a world, and especially a country where having a personal connection with God is considered a virtue, to label someone insane for acting on that (perceived) connection would have been interesting to say the least.
It was strange timing in some ways as I was reading about the fundamentalists around the same time of the recent raid on the fundamentalist compound in Texas. This is the same sect that the book looks at in detail. Many of their poligamist practices are nothing more than child abuse, rape and/or incest - completely offensive in all respects.
The early history of the mormons is also quite interesting - I had no idea there was that much bloodshed and persecution over those times. I do challenge anyone who has not been brought up in that faith to listen to the story they believe and maintain a straight face however...quite an interesting tale.
Certainly read this book and be amazed at just what goes on in some of these communities.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Philly Day 4
The final day of the festival brought our final game against the "NY Aussies" team, containing a number of regular members of our cricket team. Bragging rights for the year were at stake so it was taken seriously on both sides.
I won my 3rd toss and batted first. Pretty much everyone chipped in over the course of the innings, and we were bowled out for 160 in the final over. I was not out at the end, I think I scored about 10-15 coming in at #8. On this ground (Merion Cricket Club), this would be enough if we bowled and fielded well.
And we did bowl and field well, again, everyone chipping away and taking wickets on a regular basis. I was involved in two run outs, one hit to my right at cover and the batsmen setting off for a suicide single...and another when they tried an all-run 4 and I was the cut off thrower who got it to the keeper in time to get him out. The highlight of the innings was the confrontation between Patrick (a Mad Dog playing for the other side) and Bert, our young West Indian fast bowler. Much had been said (by Patrick) about how Patrick was going to dominate (tongue in cheek I think) so here was the time to prove it all. Bert got him with the classic 1-2 punch - a set up ball, short of a length over the stumps at great speed, pretty much cut him in two...followed next ball by the fast yorker - Patrick jumped out of the way (I think he was backing away as the ball was about to be released) and it crashed into the base of middle stump. Tony literally doubled over with laughter and Patrick managed a smile as he trudged back to the pavillion. A great way to end a fun festival.
So overall, it was a lot of fun - 3 wins from our 5 games and everyone had a chance to get involved. Our play improved over each game and, despite a horror first day, we played quite well overall. Now our regular season starts as we prepare to defend our World Series League championship.
I won my 3rd toss and batted first. Pretty much everyone chipped in over the course of the innings, and we were bowled out for 160 in the final over. I was not out at the end, I think I scored about 10-15 coming in at #8. On this ground (Merion Cricket Club), this would be enough if we bowled and fielded well.
And we did bowl and field well, again, everyone chipping away and taking wickets on a regular basis. I was involved in two run outs, one hit to my right at cover and the batsmen setting off for a suicide single...and another when they tried an all-run 4 and I was the cut off thrower who got it to the keeper in time to get him out. The highlight of the innings was the confrontation between Patrick (a Mad Dog playing for the other side) and Bert, our young West Indian fast bowler. Much had been said (by Patrick) about how Patrick was going to dominate (tongue in cheek I think) so here was the time to prove it all. Bert got him with the classic 1-2 punch - a set up ball, short of a length over the stumps at great speed, pretty much cut him in two...followed next ball by the fast yorker - Patrick jumped out of the way (I think he was backing away as the ball was about to be released) and it crashed into the base of middle stump. Tony literally doubled over with laughter and Patrick managed a smile as he trudged back to the pavillion. A great way to end a fun festival.
So overall, it was a lot of fun - 3 wins from our 5 games and everyone had a chance to get involved. Our play improved over each game and, despite a horror first day, we played quite well overall. Now our regular season starts as we prepare to defend our World Series League championship.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Philly Day 3
Today we had an afternoon game against Germantown cricket club. Jonty Rhodes was playing for them as a guest player so we were all looking forward to the challenge. I won the toss and we batted, Keith and I opening as usual. This time, he got run out early calling for a suicide single and getting sent back. Richard came and went, falling to a skidding ball that kept low. Then Richard (#2) and I shared in a long partnership.
Jonty Rhodes was a first change bowler for them and showed why he had only bowled 3 overs in his test career! He bowled medium pace outswingers but not menacing enough to cause too muhc trouble. One over I took him for 10 runs, including a pull over square leg and a seuare drive through point. After that shot he remarked "Where is my backward point? Oh yeah, he is bowling!". It was nice to watch him throw himself around in the field and you can certainly see why he was one of the best in this area. Certainly a really nice guy and a pleasure to play against.
In the game - Richard scored a 50 and then had to retire (festival rules) and I followed a few overs later bringing up my landmark with a 6 over mid-off. 54 from about 45 balls was my final tally. Our team then continued on quite well and we ended up with about 210 from our 25 overs.
With the ball, our guys did well, taking a couple of early wickets and bringing Jonty to the crease. Our two West Indian pacemen (Bert and Tony) were then summoned and while bowling well, were unable to get the breakthrough. Jonty eventually retired after hitting a nice 50, include a few very nice shots through square leg off Tony. He showed what a test player can do against mortals like us!
In the end, we won the match, getting them all out for about 120 or so. So now we are 2 wins from our 4 games and looking forward to playing the "NY Aussies" tommorrow, a team that has a few of the extra Mad Dogs among their ranks. They have been talking a big game and giving us a hard time about how badly they expect to beat us...but hopefully we get to put them in their place tomorrow.
Jonty Rhodes was a first change bowler for them and showed why he had only bowled 3 overs in his test career! He bowled medium pace outswingers but not menacing enough to cause too muhc trouble. One over I took him for 10 runs, including a pull over square leg and a seuare drive through point. After that shot he remarked "Where is my backward point? Oh yeah, he is bowling!". It was nice to watch him throw himself around in the field and you can certainly see why he was one of the best in this area. Certainly a really nice guy and a pleasure to play against.
In the game - Richard scored a 50 and then had to retire (festival rules) and I followed a few overs later bringing up my landmark with a 6 over mid-off. 54 from about 45 balls was my final tally. Our team then continued on quite well and we ended up with about 210 from our 25 overs.
With the ball, our guys did well, taking a couple of early wickets and bringing Jonty to the crease. Our two West Indian pacemen (Bert and Tony) were then summoned and while bowling well, were unable to get the breakthrough. Jonty eventually retired after hitting a nice 50, include a few very nice shots through square leg off Tony. He showed what a test player can do against mortals like us!
In the end, we won the match, getting them all out for about 120 or so. So now we are 2 wins from our 4 games and looking forward to playing the "NY Aussies" tommorrow, a team that has a few of the extra Mad Dogs among their ranks. They have been talking a big game and giving us a hard time about how badly they expect to beat us...but hopefully we get to put them in their place tomorrow.
Philly Day 2
Day 2 involved a match against the Philadelphia Cricket Club. These guys are the nicest group of cricketers you could play against, who give 100% despite not having much of a cricket background. It was a good chance for us to make sure that all of the guys in our squad would have a chance to get a bat and/or bowl for the festival. We basically turned our order around and let our bowlers show us what they could do with the bat and went from there. A steady flow of runs on a very tricky pitch kept things moving and a nice innings from Richard at the end to bump up the scoring rate gave us a good total. I came out to bat with 4 balls left at the non strikers end. In the end I faced two balls, a two out to extra cover and an all-run 4 to fine leg. 160 runs was enough.
They began their chase effectively with a couple of bigger hitters in their top order but a steady flow of wickets ensured our total was never in danger. Keith, our opening bat/keeper, took 5 wickets including a hat trick, so he certainly enjoyed the afternoon. We had them out for about 90 and recorded a comfortable win.
In the evening, we had the festival dinner where Jonty Rhodes spoke. He gave a very nice talk, very much from the heart, and I thought he was one of the better speakers we have had at the festival. Afterwards, back to the hotel bar until they kicked us out at 2:00. Saturday afternoon brings us our game against a team with Jonty so we are all quite looking forward to that.
They began their chase effectively with a couple of bigger hitters in their top order but a steady flow of wickets ensured our total was never in danger. Keith, our opening bat/keeper, took 5 wickets including a hat trick, so he certainly enjoyed the afternoon. We had them out for about 90 and recorded a comfortable win.
In the evening, we had the festival dinner where Jonty Rhodes spoke. He gave a very nice talk, very much from the heart, and I thought he was one of the better speakers we have had at the festival. Afterwards, back to the hotel bar until they kicked us out at 2:00. Saturday afternoon brings us our game against a team with Jonty so we are all quite looking forward to that.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Philly Day 1
First day of the Philly festival and we were all looking forward to the two challenging games ahead of us. The game started on a bad not with two of our players putting in the wrong ground's address into their GPS and so were 20 minutes late in getting to the game. Fortunately, we were able to stall enough to allow them to arrive.
We were playing the ANZACS (champs from the last two years)...which you would think would contain several players from my part of the world. They took the field with a South African and 10 Indians, their one Aussie sitting out this match. Losing the toss, we were sent in and I opened with Keith. Their opening bowling was average medium pace stuff and I hit a couple of 3's from the first over. 2nd over - smash a wide one to a fielder on the edge of the ring, while cursing myself for not placing it a little better, I hear Keith call "Come!". I start to run, he sees that I was slow in reacting, so stops, so I then stop, then realize that we are both now pretty much stuck and so I take off for the far end, hoping for a poor throw. Unfortunately I was caught short by a couple of yards...so a horrible start.
Things did not get much better for the Dogs. Our middle order, except for one nice partnership, did nothing and we were bowled out for 86. We did our best to defend this but a miracle would be needed and none came. I bowled shockingly - probably the worst I have ever bowled - but managed two wickets (one from a horror delivery and another from probably the only good ball I bowled in my spell). So, off to a losing start.
Our second game was against Toronto who had also sent a good team to the festival. Again, losing the toss but this time they batted first. Our bowlers all did a good job, especially Bert and Tony with the new ball (Bert taking a wicket with the fist ball of the match), although we let them get away a bit in the final 10 overs. We were chasing 160 to win, a tricky total but one we should reach if we bat well. Keith and I opened again with Keith taking strike. He proceeded to edge a waist high catch to the keeper from the first ball...dropped! Then 2nd ball, edged to 2nd slip...dropped! Then he settled down a bit. I hit a 3 and then a nice boundary but mistimed one to midwicket to be dismissed for 8. Our middle order dod better in this game but not well enough, falling about 15 runs short. So two losses to start things out ends any chances of making the final, but still some fun days ahead.
Met the festival celebrity after the match - former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes. He could not have been a nicer guy - friendly, funny, talkative and very down to earth. Our team must have chatted to him for about 30 minutes about all manner of subjects - cricket, baseball, travel, IPL etc...and it was a lot of fun. After this, dinner and beer at a local pub for relaxing and taking the piss - many GPS and other navigation related comments were hurled in the direction of James and Tom and then back to the hotel to nurse our sore muscles and joints for tomorrow's game.
We were playing the ANZACS (champs from the last two years)...which you would think would contain several players from my part of the world. They took the field with a South African and 10 Indians, their one Aussie sitting out this match. Losing the toss, we were sent in and I opened with Keith. Their opening bowling was average medium pace stuff and I hit a couple of 3's from the first over. 2nd over - smash a wide one to a fielder on the edge of the ring, while cursing myself for not placing it a little better, I hear Keith call "Come!". I start to run, he sees that I was slow in reacting, so stops, so I then stop, then realize that we are both now pretty much stuck and so I take off for the far end, hoping for a poor throw. Unfortunately I was caught short by a couple of yards...so a horrible start.
Things did not get much better for the Dogs. Our middle order, except for one nice partnership, did nothing and we were bowled out for 86. We did our best to defend this but a miracle would be needed and none came. I bowled shockingly - probably the worst I have ever bowled - but managed two wickets (one from a horror delivery and another from probably the only good ball I bowled in my spell). So, off to a losing start.
Our second game was against Toronto who had also sent a good team to the festival. Again, losing the toss but this time they batted first. Our bowlers all did a good job, especially Bert and Tony with the new ball (Bert taking a wicket with the fist ball of the match), although we let them get away a bit in the final 10 overs. We were chasing 160 to win, a tricky total but one we should reach if we bat well. Keith and I opened again with Keith taking strike. He proceeded to edge a waist high catch to the keeper from the first ball...dropped! Then 2nd ball, edged to 2nd slip...dropped! Then he settled down a bit. I hit a 3 and then a nice boundary but mistimed one to midwicket to be dismissed for 8. Our middle order dod better in this game but not well enough, falling about 15 runs short. So two losses to start things out ends any chances of making the final, but still some fun days ahead.
Met the festival celebrity after the match - former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes. He could not have been a nicer guy - friendly, funny, talkative and very down to earth. Our team must have chatted to him for about 30 minutes about all manner of subjects - cricket, baseball, travel, IPL etc...and it was a lot of fun. After this, dinner and beer at a local pub for relaxing and taking the piss - many GPS and other navigation related comments were hurled in the direction of James and Tom and then back to the hotel to nurse our sore muscles and joints for tomorrow's game.
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