Driving home from work on Friday, there was a maniac truck driver. He was driving 80 miles an hour (speed limit is 65), honking at anyone who was driving more slowly than him and passing in the "slow lane" of the 3 lane highway we were on. It was quite ridiculous actually.
However, right at that moment, I passed a sign - "Report Aggressive Drivers, Dial #77". I called and was put through to the State Police who took down a description of the truck, the licence plate etc and said they would follow up on it. Not sure if he got a ticket but I imagined him getting pulled over and told to slow down by a cop which considering the hurry he seemed to be in, would have certainly ruined his day.
Saturday brought the 3rd Mad Dogs WSL game for the year...and we are now 3-0 with 3 crushing wins. In all 3 games our opposition have been bowled out for less than 100 but this was the biggest win of the year. Westchester batted first and we took a series of regular wickets without there being a major collapse. In the end, they were bowled out for 83, a score we knew we could chase. Of course, I got one of the few truly good balls they bowled - one angled in on my pads that swung late to pitch on middle and hit off. I was the only idiot to get out as we knocked off the runs with about 15 overs to spare. Things are looking good for us this season. All other teams have at least one loss and we are well on the way to qualifying for the final after missing out last year.
The game finished nice and early, so early in fact that one bloke on our team suggested a 10 over match to finish out the day. That idea was shouted down by a group of us already enjoying the beer and ready to head out to the pub for a few more. I mean, seriously...what was he thinking???
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Monday, May 25, 2009
Cricket and Drinking
This weekend is the Memorial Day long weekend. We get Monday off work which pretty much marks the beginning of summer. When asking about what a co-worker had planned for the long weekend I was told that he planned to install a sprinkler system; wire his house for high speed internet and a whole series of other errands. I remarked that it is amazing how much you can get done when the first two items on your "to-do" list are not "Cricket" and "Drinking".
Saturday was the cricket part of the weekend. We were playing our 2nd WSL match of the season and wanted to continue our good form. Additional motivation was the fact that we wee playing Columbia University, typically a bunch of wankers who have made the final in our league for the last 3 years (getting beaten every time...twice by us!). Batting on a tricky pitch, we lost a few early wickets but were managing to keep the score ticking along thanks to a few wides, some aggressive running and cashing in on the odd loose ball. I was done in by the pitch - had a ball stop on me and played an incredibly poor shot as a result. We did have a couple of nice partnerships and got our total to 163 from our 35 overs. I always thought that it would be enough and so it proved. We never let them put together a partnership and by the drinks break we had them at 4/70 after 17 overs. The game was kind of still in the balance so it was key that we started well...so I guess us taking 3 wickets in the first 7 balls after the break would qualify. At 7/70, the game was pretty much over and they limped to 100 before getting bowled out. A few beers after the game ended a quite enjoyable afternoon.
Sunday brought the drinking part of the weekend. A BBQ at Gary's house involved much beer; cooked meat and great company. Mindy drove home and I crashed in bed, waking with the expected dry mouth and splitting headache.
Monday was a day with the family. Running up and down the street helping Naomi learn to ride her bike and trying to avoid the parades etc that are always held on Memorial Day. Not that I am against Memorial Day...but the parades end up being incredibly dull and pointless actually, with the main participants being local kid baseball players and firemen. Feeling pretty tired after Sunday so we will likely have a relatively early night I guess. I know the kids are pretty much out of it and will certainly crash when we put them down (I hope!).
Saturday was the cricket part of the weekend. We were playing our 2nd WSL match of the season and wanted to continue our good form. Additional motivation was the fact that we wee playing Columbia University, typically a bunch of wankers who have made the final in our league for the last 3 years (getting beaten every time...twice by us!). Batting on a tricky pitch, we lost a few early wickets but were managing to keep the score ticking along thanks to a few wides, some aggressive running and cashing in on the odd loose ball. I was done in by the pitch - had a ball stop on me and played an incredibly poor shot as a result. We did have a couple of nice partnerships and got our total to 163 from our 35 overs. I always thought that it would be enough and so it proved. We never let them put together a partnership and by the drinks break we had them at 4/70 after 17 overs. The game was kind of still in the balance so it was key that we started well...so I guess us taking 3 wickets in the first 7 balls after the break would qualify. At 7/70, the game was pretty much over and they limped to 100 before getting bowled out. A few beers after the game ended a quite enjoyable afternoon.
Sunday brought the drinking part of the weekend. A BBQ at Gary's house involved much beer; cooked meat and great company. Mindy drove home and I crashed in bed, waking with the expected dry mouth and splitting headache.
Monday was a day with the family. Running up and down the street helping Naomi learn to ride her bike and trying to avoid the parades etc that are always held on Memorial Day. Not that I am against Memorial Day...but the parades end up being incredibly dull and pointless actually, with the main participants being local kid baseball players and firemen. Feeling pretty tired after Sunday so we will likely have a relatively early night I guess. I know the kids are pretty much out of it and will certainly crash when we put them down (I hope!).
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Old Dogs Triumph
The Mad Dogs scored a victory in the first WSL match of our 2009 season. The victims were a group of largely young guys from Fairfield county. Our home pitch is quite tricky, slow, low and inconsistent early in the season and so we were not happy about losing the toss and having to bat first. Keith and I were very cautious but managed to advance the score to 52 before losing the first wicket. In fact, I was also dismissed in the same over but this was a solid foundation for the rest of the team.l We eventually limped to 133, which was likely to be enough but you never know...
Well, they batted as you would expect young guys to play, and ended up 5/50 after about 12 overs. A steady stream of wickets continued, punctuated by one decent lower order partnership, before the were eventually bowled out for 97. Beer and pizza after the game were all the more sweet as a result.
Well, they batted as you would expect young guys to play, and ended up 5/50 after about 12 overs. A steady stream of wickets continued, punctuated by one decent lower order partnership, before the were eventually bowled out for 97. Beer and pizza after the game were all the more sweet as a result.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Philly Wrap Up
My annual pilgrimage to Philadelphia for a 4 day cricket festival is now over. The end result was that our team had 3 wins, 2 losses and a rain out. However, the teams that we beat were pretty bad so the record flattered our performance a little. A combination of missing a few players and having a few others underperform, yours truly being a prime offender. In fact, I not only played the worst game of my life on Friday...but cannot imagine how I could play any worse. Bowled two shocking overs, dropped FOUR catches and was bowled for 6. now the only positive was that I did get a good ball, so I can live with that...but the catches drove me nuts. I normally would not drop 4 in a season, let alone in a game, so hopefully my quota for 2009 is now well and truly done.
The dinner on Saturday night was a lot of fun. I got well and truly blitzed on red wine so that makes any evening a lot of fun. Derek Underwood was the guest speaker, a really nice guy, but not the best speaker. However, what was a lot of fun was that after the dinner, we all went back to the hotel bar, and got to spend about an hour talking to him...just Derek and the Dogs. I made it up to my room at about 2:30 (I think) and grabbed a few hours sleep before waking up for the Sunday morning game. Clearly, 3 hours sleep was nowhere near enough so for once in my life, I was glad to see grey skies and rain everywhere. Staggering down to the lobby, I located some team mates and found that the game had in fact been cancelled. I spent the next few hours sitting in the lobby, chatting and drinking coffee while moving through the "still drunk" and into the "hungover" stage. It was then time to head home, grabbed a quick, late breakfast and hit the road, getting home about lunchtime.
All in all, a lot of fun for the 4 days, I just wish we all (and me in particular) had played a little better...
The dinner on Saturday night was a lot of fun. I got well and truly blitzed on red wine so that makes any evening a lot of fun. Derek Underwood was the guest speaker, a really nice guy, but not the best speaker. However, what was a lot of fun was that after the dinner, we all went back to the hotel bar, and got to spend about an hour talking to him...just Derek and the Dogs. I made it up to my room at about 2:30 (I think) and grabbed a few hours sleep before waking up for the Sunday morning game. Clearly, 3 hours sleep was nowhere near enough so for once in my life, I was glad to see grey skies and rain everywhere. Staggering down to the lobby, I located some team mates and found that the game had in fact been cancelled. I spent the next few hours sitting in the lobby, chatting and drinking coffee while moving through the "still drunk" and into the "hungover" stage. It was then time to head home, grabbed a quick, late breakfast and hit the road, getting home about lunchtime.
All in all, a lot of fun for the 4 days, I just wish we all (and me in particular) had played a little better...
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