British Officers Cricket Club

BOCC beat St.Agnes & Paul comfortably...

Raj Subramanyam — Mon, 31 May 2010 03:56:33 EDT

...to go 3-0 in the GSCL. We won the toss and batted first. The top 3 (Ameer 61 retd, Negi 22, Shariq 84) contributed handsomely to position us at 160 for 1 at the end of 30 overs. Negi continued his fluency from the last game, till he was caught brilliantly by their keeper, off an inside edge. Shariq in particular, played with exemplary control, shepherding Ameer all along. The dugout was quite surprised at how quickly Shariq reached his 50. A tired heave led to his dismissal. Ameer provided a good start, and then capitalized on the loose balls. However he succumbed to the heat and retired in the 30th over. In the last 10 overs, we went all out and scored 108 runs to finish with 268. Chasing 269 for victory, St.A&P lost 5 wickets in the first 15 overs. However they stuck grimly to their task of playing out the 40 overs. The lack of a spin bowling option was frustrating. However, we bowled them out in the 38th over for 135 runs (Negi clean-bowling #10 & 11; Tahir, Anthony & Kalim also snared 2 wkts apiece). While a major concern is the 47 extras we conceded, our batting pretty much decided the game.

Click on the URL to access the complete scorecard.
We play Queen City at CedarBrook Park in NJ next week. Queen City beat Shawnee yesterday, so they are not to be taken lightly (well, no team can be taken lightly).

BOCC win against Stumperz

Satish Prabhakar — Sun, 30 May 2010 08:19:49 EDT

Highlights: Stumperz 124 all out, 30 Overs- (PK-34, Mehul 20, Rajat- 7-18-4, Klaus- 7-1-18-2).
BOCC 125- 2, 24 Overs(Krish - 53, Kannan- 41 not out).
Click on the subject to read match report

Team for Sun, 5/30/2010 vs Stumperz CC

Krish Pusuluri — Fri, 28 May 2010 07:27:12 EDT

Start time is 11:30 AM. Click on the announcement subject to view the team.

Team for Sun, 5/30/2010 vs St. A & P

Raj Subramanyam — Thu, 27 May 2010 04:54:28 EDT

Please note that start time for this game is 1:00 PM. Click on the announcement subject to view the team.

BOCC Joint Committee Meeting Minutes

Satish Prabhakar — Tue, 25 May 2010 03:32:14 EDT

Gentlemen, The minutes of the Joint committee meeting held on 5/18/2010 is now complete. Please click on the subject to read more. Thanks

Kind reminder

Shariq Khan — Tue, 25 May 2010 09:57:36 EDT

All,

Not that any of you would, but please remember that the information posted on the restricted area of the web site is not to be shared with folks outside the club. This includes teams for coming games, match reports, documents, your login information, etc. Being a member of BOCC comes with a set of responsibilities that includes protecting privileged information.

Thanks, Shariq!

Congrats to the ahmed's

Srikanth Ramanathan — Tue, 25 May 2010 07:44:23 EDT

From Omer:

Zoya Ahmed was born on 05/24/10 at 9:45am. She weighs 8.5 lbs and her height is 20.5 inches. Both mom and baby are in good health.
Regards

Omer Ahmed

BOCC win GSCL fixture against Unity CC

Raj Subramanyam — Mon, 24 May 2010 05:24:58 EDT

BOCC win their second GSCL fixture this season; Click on subject for match report and link to scorecard!

Emphatic win against Villanova

Krish Pusuluri — Mon, 24 May 2010 01:15:10 EDT

Rain? What rain??? Read more

PCL: we were embarassed

Shariq Khan — Sat, 22 May 2010 05:15:48 EDT

Chasing 240, we were bowled out for 68... 'nuff said.

Audio Slideshow: Swining away

Alfred Reeves — Thu, 20 May 2010 09:22:00 EDT

The MCC Museum at Lord's is trying to dispel a few myths, and reveal some surprising connections, in a new exhibition that looks at the shared history of cricket and baseball.

We lost to Liberty CC in a thriller

Shariq Khan — Wed, 12 May 2010 09:12:21 EDT

[I tried to write a report for 2 days but couldn't as it hurts too much, so here is the short/crude version]

We won the toss and put LCC in. Tahir bowled a choking opening spell and even though we took wickets regularly (Raj [3w], Thommo [2w + 4 chances], Rajat [2w] and Tahir [1w of dangerous Q] were on the money) they were able to put up 215/ao in 32 overs. Our fielding was spectacular, as Krish, Negi and Kalim took some very tough catches in 50-mph winds. (Pre-game practice paid off!)

Our chase got to a hiccupy start when we lost Negi & Krish in the 4th over. Raj (81) and I (51) put a 100-odd run partnership but once I got out, Raj was left all alone to get the runs as we lost Nadim, Karthick & Kashif on regular basis. Final stand was between Kalim (12, 3rd highest) and Raj, but once Raj got out to a diving catch in the 39th over, our day was over. Probably the best innings we have ever seen Raj play (and I have seen many!)

Team for Sat, 5/8/2010 vs Liberty CC

Shariq Khan — Mon, 10 May 2010 10:59:57 EDT

Start time is 12:00 PM. Click on the announcement subject to view the team.

Gentlemen, this is a league game and an important one at that; many of us have not played together this year and haven't had much practice, so PLEASE arrive at the ground early and be ready by 11am for warmups and a team meeting. Thanks!

Team for Sun, 5/9/2010 vs Prior CC

Tahir Maqsood — Mon, 10 May 2010 10:59:49 EDT

Start time is 12:00 PM. Click on the announcement subject to view the team.

Cricket Committee Meeting Minutes (Apr-19-2010)

Satish Prabhakar — Fri, 07 May 2010 12:34:04 EDT

Gentlemen, The minutes of the last cricket committee meeting is complete. Please click on the subject to read more.

Weekend wins...actually Saturday wins...

Krish Pusuluri — Thu, 06 May 2010 08:39:56 EDT

Playing at ECG-2 this Saturday, we easily won against Merion in the Festival match (more from T) and against Collegeville.

We lost the toss against CCC and were put in the field. The opposition had a friendly mix of 9 players and they were up against good bowling discipline from JK and T. Since JK was available only for the first hour, we squeezed all 7 overs out from him in a hurry. Giving nothing away, he picked up 2 wickets while T did what he does best...hit the seam consistently and applying pressure. The low bounce ensured the keeper, Shariq had a good workout. With Mrinal finding good movement and wily fox Mike choking the runs, CCC ended up with 139/8 in 35overs as Rajesh also batted for them. Shariq and Chris opened and were soon separated as Chris edged one on to his stumps. It then became the Khan brothers show as Kashif joined his brother. Both seemed to be in a hurry to finish things off as some lusty hitting ensued. Kashif was lbw off a low full toss for 26 and Shariq retired himself after getting to 50. After a brief hiccup when Satish and Amim fell, we reached the target in the 23rd over with Sushi easing all nerves with a solid 15*. All in all a great day and we wouldnt mind a few more of these!

U.K. Tour - August 2010

Mike Thomas — Thu, 06 May 2010 07:03:39 EDT

A couple of spaces have re-opened within the UK touring party. Anyone interested should contact Mike Thomas promptly. Costs are approx. $1200 for a full-time tourist, plus airfare (pro-rated for part-time attendees).

In the next week or two, we will start accepting commitments from a number of guests who have expressed interest. It is anticipated that this will close the list at the optimum 17/18 strength.

Practice

Tahir Maqsood — Wed, 05 May 2010 11:41:34 EDT

We are now practicing at Haverford College on Wednesdays -- 5pm onwards -- weather permitting. . (View map...)

Toronto Tour

Tahir Maqsood — Wed, 05 May 2010 07:36:39 EDT

Thanks for a very strong response to Toronto tour survey. We will be playing 4 games and a party of 14-15 is ideal. To ensure your place, please send a deposit of $50 (students are exempt) to Chris. This will allow us to begin buying some gifts and expensive 4 piece Kookaburra balls for the tour.

Treasurer comment... Also note that the $50 deposit also helps defray "amber liquid" costs. Please make checks out to "BOCC" and send to 336 W Springfield Road, Springfield PA 19064.

BOCC Over-23 beat Atlantic Under-19

Krish Pusuluri — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 07:49:14 EDT

Sorry for the late report! Driving to the ground, we saw some 10 kids at ECG-1 and probably 20 more enthusiastic lil ones at ECG-2! The U-19 coach was keen on us batting first and we grudgingly obliged. :) Their opening bowlers (incl. a certain Kalim) were nippy but slightly erratic as Extras scored rapidly in the first 7 overs. Shariq, Negi, Mitul, JK scored 20+ each. The highlight was the battle between the Ahmed's. Facing Kalim, Nadim crouched in to a pull shot and top edged the ball onto his helmet as the clanging sound caused some anxiety before everyone realized Nadim was fine and the trash-talk from the sidelines inspired Nadim to swipe a couple of 6's and a few boundaries (a la T20 style), powering us to 189 in 35 . The U-19 used as many as 12 bowlers and of course their ground fielding saved another 20-30 runs. Since they had around 18-19 players, their coach requested that we try and give everyone a chance to bat. And we decided to bowl all 35 overs at a minimum even if they were all out earlier. After a delicious tea by Kenny and Nadim, we took the field. Their 15 and 16 year opening bats were a pleasure to watch, especially the Kiwi kid Cameron, who definitely looks like a future national player. Nice balance, good footwork (although has a propensity to play off the back foot) and a classic bat swing with high elbow. Kenny and Mike picked up two wickets each as Tahir ensured everyone bowled. Mike, unsportingly I thought, caught and bowled Kalim just as Kalim was getting in to his zone. U-19 was all-out for ~120 but we bowled two additional overs so their last two players could have a bat. All in all a fantastic day of cricket that left everone smiling and content that the future of USA cricket is in able hands!

Team for Sat, 4/24/2010 vs Collegeville CC

Tahir Maqsood — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 04:36:57 EDT

Start time is 11:00 AM. Click on the announcement subject to view the team.

Arrival an hour before the game and Match Fees before the start

Tahir Maqsood — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 08:52:49 EDT

Historically players used to arrive at Haverford half an hour before the start of a social game and that is what we mostly played. Since not much work was needed at Haverford and many members used to come for practice, more time was not needed. Considering the need for more work at ECG and many members getting their practice only at the game day, it was recommended by the Cricket Committee that everyone selected should be at the ground, an hour before the start time. This will allow us to set up everything and also get some practice and be game ready. Many members just stroll on the ground a few minutes before or even after the scheduled start and are not ready for the game. This leads to casual mistakes and many dropped catches. If we are in time then we can do a little bit of fielding practice and get warmed up.

Trying to collect match fees after the games is a painful task and chasing members from the club house to pub is not entirely pleasant. It was decided by the Cricket Committee that match fees may be paid before the game. Please put your match fee in your pocket when you come to the ground and this way skipper will be able to pay all the league umpires right away instead of paying out of their own pockets. A personal request is about the gear. It is great to change in the club house but please bring your kit to the ground. Many a times a skipper may want to change the batting order but can not do it as someone has to go to the club house to get his pads etc and that may take too much time. Satish will be sending the minutes out for the complete details of the Cricket Committee meeting.

Youth Cricket Update

Mike Thomas — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 02:02:19 EDT

Gents, the attachments are shortly to be emailed to every club in a 50-mile radius of Philadelphia. Much effort has been invested this winter to translate a wish into action. Please read and if you can, please get active for cricket in your own communities! Hope you will find the History notes interesting! In addition, Coaches are needed to craft a weekly roster through the summer - midweek afternoons or evenings and/or perhaps weekend mornings. A coaching manual is under development and it lends itself to many specific "skill/drill pods" that nearly anyone with experience of playing could lead. I don't need you to commit to a weekly regime, just an indication at this stage that you would be happy to be called on once a fortnight, once a month, 2-3 times a season, or whatever might fit your schedule. Now we don't know whether we shall see 15 kids or 50, or more. At the high end we will be scrambling and I shall return to the well! However for now I just need to get a feel for how much support our membership can give - so please email or call me (even if its "regrets"!). Thanks everyone! Mike T.
Attachment 1: Letter to Editor
Attachment 2: Handout Summary

Happy Birthday Alfred

Shariq Khan — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 11:30:42 EDT

Click here for Photo -- photo courtesy New Castle CC; cake courtesy Betty Reeves :)

Good Start to 2010 Season

Tahir Maqsood — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 08:06:00 EDT

After working hard for a few weeks on the ground and the wicket, it was time to play on it. Good things started with a very uncharacteristic winning of the toss by me. We did not hesitate to bat and Negi began to show his drives in the first over. However trying to do it too often, he lost his stumps on the last ball of first over and a few overs later, Nadim met the same fate. Shariq and Raj put on 76 for the fourth wicket and looked well set but departed soon after the water break. Shariq made a patient 21 and Raj a signature 44. New member Ali followed soon but Krish and Sushi steadied the ship. Krish after hitting two sixes, got caught trying to go for the third. Rajesh and Kalyan did not give much support to Sushi but Mrinal and Kalim connected well and we ended the innings at 164 off 35 overs. Opening the bowlig Kalim was a bit erratic but got the dangerous opening batsman Ehsan. I was able to entice Shuja and Ali took a good catch. Raj took the next two wickets and Mrinal bowled well picking a wicket from his six good overs. Sushant bowled very well and got couple of good wickets. In the mean time New Castle kept up with the run rate and needed 15 from the last three overs. Kalim took another wicket in his second spell and Raj ended up with style with two wickets in 33rd over. A very good game of cricket and winning it was certainly felt great. We fielded very well in general and overall caught most of the high balls. Nadim in particular was solid with two good catches. Raj's one handed catch in gully was a beauty. Overall a very good team effort and day ended with the Birthday celebration of our 86 year young President Emeritus. Betty, Sally and Deborah made sure that ever one got a slice of the cake. New Castle and Shuja were very supportive and enjoyed the birthday. Of course we went to pub afterwards, we had to talk about the game somewhere.

Team for Sun, 4/18/2010 vs Atlantic U-19

Tahir Maqsood — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 08:05:25 EDT

Start time is 12:00 PM. Click on the announcement subject to view the team.

BOCC Constitution

Krish Pusuluri — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 01:51:12 EDT

Gentlemen, This is the updated BOCC Constitution as adopted and approved at the AGM on 02/27/2010. The older Constituition is also currently available in the documents section till 03/31, if you need to compare before being removed. Read more...

Souvenir Silver Jubilee mugs

Mike Thomas — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 01:50:07 EDT

Calling All Members - we're pleased to announce the answer to your gift woes! As one of the first marks of this special Silver Jubilee season, the Club has acquired a limited supply of BOCC 12oz. glass mugs. These will be going on sale at ECG during the Festival, but members should reserve an order ahead of time as the supply may run out quickly. Samples wlll be available at ECG this weekend. Selling at $10 each, or $36 for a set of four, these are unique mementoes and can be reserved by contacting Mike Thomas (mikethomas12566@aol.com) with your order. Read more...

Annual Dinner and Awards Night

Tahir Maqsood — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 03:53:38 EDT

it was so much fun that I forgot to report about it, many apologies. Ernie and Z competed for the most laughs and both did a tremendous job. Alfred made sure that all the awards were there. CL and JK made sure that members were enticed with happy hour and we could start on time. Everything went well and so far no complaints about the awards either. Now for the folks who could not attend for various reasons, here are the winners.

Cricket awards (Decided by the Cricket Committee): Best Batting, Sri;Best All rounder, Raj; Best bowling, Kalim; Most Wickets, Klaus; Rookie, Gavin

Service and Recognition awards: President's Award, Shariq; Spirit of the club, Kenny and Supporter of the year, Lambie.

Thanks to all the members for making it such a wonderful evening. Special thanks to the spouses and new members attending for the first time.

BOCC Win the Atlantic Cup

Zafar Abdullah — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 03:53:30 EDT

What a thriller! Who would have thought that the Atlantic League could have produced such a gripping play-off finale? Come to that, who would have thought that any match would be stirring all involved to such a fever pitch on Nov. 7th? Read more...

Match Report by Mike Thomas

Tahir Maqsood — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 03:53:21 EDT

BOCC reach ACL Final
Against all odds of weather and other alarums, the ACL semi-finals duly took place on Saturday at ECG. A fine event too, it turned out to be, with the cameradie of 43 players (the BOCC only managed 10 on the day!), immaculate outfields courtesy of Ernie’s Friday-night Zamboni, a magnificent tea between (kudos to Tahir and Bonnie Thomas) and two close-fought matches.
Collegeville won the toss and viewing threatening skies and a soaked outfield, elected to invite BOCC to field in the intermittent, fine, misting drizzle. Probably an advantage to the BOCC, boasting as it was a fairly social XI, comprised of 80% bowlers and 40% batsmen!
Setting a fine example, skipper Tahir (5-0-14-2) snatched two early wickets to cause Collegeville to bat with early caution. In true Festival spirit, Tahir then proceeded to bowl seven bowlers in all, though aided by some quite un-Festival-like ruthless efficiency in the field, where nearly every chance in the air was safely taken. Kalim in particular took two very well-judged catches. A Man-of-the-Match performance was provided by Gavin Bastiampillai, to whose flight and impeccable length Collegeville had no answer. His third wicket accounted for the dangerous Kanish (22) and at 54-5 after 16 overs, the BOCC looked firmly in control. On balance, all the BOCC bowlers dealt better with a desperately wet and soggy ball than the batsmen fared with the slow outfield which allowed just one boundary in their innings.
Stout resistance from Mahesh (17) and Kartik (18), founded on some aggressive running, allowed Collegeville to inch forward to 96-6. Gavin was not to be denied however, and rounded off a second spell to finish with 5-16, while Klaus parsimoniously chipped in with 4-0-10-2 at the end.
110 all out in 32 overs – a manageable target perhaps, despite a somewhat fragile-looking batting line up. The BOCC badly needed their top order to succeed – and how well they responded. Shariq (18), Nadim (23) and cementing his MOM accolade, Gavin with a technically superb 25 took us to 73-2. But then it was 86-4 and with Tahir and Bobbi at the wicket, there was that well-known frisson of anxiety amongst the troops. Strange how the team brain responds! Tahir and Bobbi were looking confident, running well with one’s and two’s, but the light was beginning to fail and the opening quicks were coming back: within minutes on the sidelines, Kalim, Kenny, Thommo and Klaus were all padded up and looking nervous.
It was to be the BOCC’s day though. Neither incumbent ever looked in trouble, and Tahir having a true skipper’s innings in making 14* and an increasingly belligerent Bobbi (12*) saw it home in the 31st. over.
A Final and a fine Cup to play for therefore next Saturday. Lets all turn out and give our team great support – it will be November and a long, long boring winter is coming! MT 11/2/09

Awards Dinner/Trophies/AGM

Ernie Precious — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:50:37 EDT

Annual Awards Dinner

I encourage all members of the BOCC to attend the Annual Dinner on November 21. You have already paid for a large part of it with your annual sub and it will only cost you another $10 to be there. Spouses and significant others only cost $10 also. Wine and beer cost $1 each while soft drinks/sodas are free. We have an excellent buffet arranged (25% vegetarian) with hors d'oeuvres during the cocktail hour. It is a fun evening dispersed with humor, reminiscing and good company. Please do come along and socialize with your club colleagues and friends.

Trophies

I am asking all recipients of trophies from the 2008 season to please bring them to the ECG Club House on Saturday, November 7. If you can't be there personally, give it to a friend who will be there. We need all of the trophies for the engraving of the 2009 winners.

Annual General Meeting

We will be holding the AGM in late February 2010 on the morning of the Curry Party. Date to be advised.

Membership Information

Shariq Khan — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:23:22 EDT

New players are welcome to apply to join the BOCC. Come to nets at Haverford College on Wednesdays after 5:00 pm (weather & light permitting.) After two nets you may apply to join the club using the Membership form; also familiarize yourself with our Club Constitution as it is very important for our membership.
Those who wish to learn the game may come along but preference for batting and bowling will go to members and those playing in upcoming matches. At the moment we have 70 playing members so that it is not possible to guarantee matches! (some games are over-subscribed and to get onto the league side you will have to be a strong player.)
Note that we are interested in players who will stay with the club for at least a season and who will contribute to the social side - this means coming for after nets or after game to a restaurant/pub for drinks (non-alcoholic is fine - we want your company!).
Usually there is one league game and couple of social/friendly game each weekend. The cost of joining the club is $150 which includes a club shirt and tie, thereafter its $125 per yr.

Pcl: we won handidly against LVCC

Yatin Modi — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 06:32:48 EDT

BOCC 222/9; LVCC 150-odd a/o.

BOCC won the toss and batted, Sunil and Negi getting us off to a solid start, with Sunil hitting some strong drives, the best a lovely six over cover. He went half heartedly at another though and picked out deepish midoff. A wicket later JK joined Negi and they slowly ground LVCC into the damp clover, staying together for 129 runs before both fell quickly. At that point BOCC were about 190 with 5 overs left. The rest of the BOCC batting played unselfishly against the clever bowling of Kishore, and we scrambled to 222/9. A very good score on a stopping pitch, with a very thick damp outfield.

LVCC seemed to have given up really after that, and didn't really go at our bowling, which was very disciplined, giving few free runs away. By drinks the game was over, with LVCC only about 30 runs for a couple of wickets down. After drinks, Bobby continued his fine spell, troubling the batters with his wobblers, and ended with 3 wickets, which would have been more with just a little luck. He did get some help from Thommo, who pulled off the catch of the season, diving to his left at short cover, onehandedly snatching a hard drive out of the air. Wickets fell pretty regularly during the middle session, and at the last drinks, with two wickets to go aand about 150 needed, it was wrap-up time. The aging legs of BOCC however, after a long very humid day, and some good hitting from Silesh, LVCC's number 8, conspired to keep us waiting until abouth the 38th over to wrap the game up.

Another first for the Club – BOCC win ACL opener

Mike Thomas — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:18:51 EDT

In another first for the BOCC, ECG saw Dynamic CC visit for our first Atlantic Cricket League game. Not only that, but the first time the BOCC had put out three league sides in a single weekend. Read more...

BOCC won a thriller against Wanderers by 17 runs.

Srikanth Ramanathan — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:18:47 EDT

BOCC batted first after winning the toss, scored 199 in 40 overs. Sri 56, Mitul 45, Gavin 18, Nadim 13*. Katick was the only batsman who cleared the ropes for a big six but got out trying another big one. At the second break (30 overs) we were 146 for 2, looking very good for 230 or thereabouts. But a couple of run outs (Mitul, Sri and Raj) along with some excellent bowling and fielding by Wanderers kept us down to 199.Again our opening bowlers struck early. Mitul got a two-fer in his second over, clean bowling their opener and one ball later, got their #3 Carl Wright leg before. Next over, Kalim got the other opener caught behind by Vikram, an excellent catch almost at slip. #4 and #5 put on a small partnership and went unbeaten into the 15 over break. The next 15 overs belonged to the BOCC. Every bowling change yielded wickets. Sushi, Gavin, Sri and Raj all snared one apiece to different varieties of spin. Raj was literally unplayable and bowled his leg cutters beautifully and kept the pressure on from one side. Then Mitul was brought on and he sent another middle stump cartwheeling. Vikram took his second catch of the match, and Mitul snared a 4-fer. Our old flaws came to light when we gave their last pair a series of reprieves, but Gavin trapped Flasher leg before to seal the game. This was a very hard fought victory against one of the top teams in the league at their home ground with over 50 supporters, and keeps us afloat with 35 points. It was a wonderful debut for Gavin who took 2 crucial wickets and scored 18 runs. Mitul Patel had an excellent day on the field and is proving to be a wonderful all-rounder for BOCC. It was a great team effort and we played together as a unit. A star team beat a team of super stars. We play Sayreville next Sunday at ECG.

A day of records for the BOCC - an ACL thriller

Mike Thomas — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:18:40 EDT

Forbes Field in Delaware is a pretty easy ground to score 220-230 runs on. A true, dead wicket of slow bounce punishes anything dropped short, while a lightening-fast outfield rewards all firm hits. To score substantially more though needs either talented batting, or some pretty inept bowling. Alas, first in the field against Dynamic CC (not with the greatest batting talent), it was the latter that held the key to their monumental score of 307-3. Ouch!! The motley and continuing assortment of short balls, long hops, half vollies, full tosses and wides made the /Dynamic's operners look good, though in truth, many runs came from edges and cross-batted slogs. 50 came up in seven overs and slowly, a perfect storm evolved Read more...

Best Week Ever

Tahir Maqsood — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:18:34 EDT

I can not recall such a tremendous weekend in BOCC cricket history. First a record second innings total and record win while chasing 307. Highest second innings total before that was 290 while chasing 405 against Tigers. Then a comprehensive win against good friends and rivals Knights. Last but not the least, a very encouraging and morale boosting win against championship conterders Wanderers. It was significant as we were not full strength, we were playing away and it keeps us in the race for the championship (what else should we play for?). Congrats to all the skippers and vice skippers but above all to the players who made it happen. Great wins and hope for more next week. Let us come to practice tomorrow and celebrate afterwards.

Lehigh Valley CC puts one over BOCC

Krish Pusuluri — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 08:07:24 EDT

To put it mildly, it was an interesting day! We arrived at the velodrome ground to see archery competitions in progress. After a 30 minute wait, we ended up heading to the Haines Mill ground, where we lost the toss and took the field for 30 minutes, followed by a 1 hour break as a soccer match took place. And during this 1 hour break, quite a few of the ex-Lansdale CC players showed up (Kishore, Atul, Raj, et al) to play for LVCC. There was grass growing on one side of the pitch and we used only one end to play! Not that we complained as we didnt need to change ends or field settings! Did I mention to add we had only 9 players (incl. Mike's brother-in-law Peter) in the morning? Frentic calls by Kalyan to his friend Dheeren, who drove from Hillsboro, and we had 10 in the field. LVCC kindly provided an extra player as they had 12. We managed to restrict LVCC to 163 in 35 overs which included a hat-trick by Mike (Kishore being the 3rd wicket) on his way to a 5-wicket haul. About our chase, the less said the better. Other than Jon Hoyes (58) none of our batsmen wanted to bat, and we folded up for 134.

LVCC were great hosts, but the last minute game definitely made it hard to coordinate. Moral of the story: Please sign up for the matches in advance. Even a NO will do, but sign up. :)

BOCC fights one out against Masters CC

Shariq Khan — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 07:39:07 EDT

Our batting was seriously challenged against the startup MCCH as their opening bowlers restricted us to 33/3 in 14 overs – accredited to some accurate line-and-length on their part, and bad shot-selection on our part. Gue (23) and Karthick (15) led our recovery from 63/5 to 94/6 in the 28th over. Another flurry of wicket losses and BOCC was 99/8 in 31 overs. (Dire situation from a skipper’s perspective.) Walked in our own version of the “wall” and with some smart shot-selection and running Dravid (21*) and Thommo (14) saved our day to get us to 140.
Defending 140 meant this was not a 40-over game. We had to get them out. Fortunately, our opening bowlers were equal to the task. Gurdish was unplayable and Raj struck twice in his first over to put MCCH on the back foot. Amim (2w) kept the pressure on and at water break MCHH was 30/2 in 13 overs. Mike (3w) struck in his 1st over and got Roland on a superb catch by Ameer. We brought back Gurdish (thanks Raj), and he struck twice in the next over. Some cleanup work and MCCH were bowled out for 67.
A superb, total team effort and as good as a win I have ever witnessed with the club. Click for scoresheet

AGM 2008 Agenda

Satish Prabhakar — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 06:22:05 EDT

Gentlemen, As announced earlier the AGM is on Dec 13th @ Cynwd Club. Please click on the subject to view the AGM agenda. Please note today is the last day for sending any new proposals. Proposals need to be seconded too. Thanks.

2008 Statistics

Satish Prabhakar — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 07:03:03 EDT

Gentlemen, Please click the subject to see the 2008 statistics. The stats are very close to complete. The England tour games are also in today. Some of you mailed me about missing games and I will try to get those scores from the skippers. The total number of missing games should not be more than 3 games. If you have any other issues please email me and I will try to fix the same. Thanks

Annual Dinner Announcement

Zafar Abdullah — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 01:42:46 EDT

The Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony is at hand. All members with their significant others, VPs and good friends of the club are invited to be part of the end of season big bash. This year's event will take place on Saturday November 8th 2008 starting time 7:00 PM at the historic Founder's Hall on Haverford's Campus. Please send your check ASAP - your humble Treasurer thanks you. Read more...

BOCC win a high scorer against SICC

Krish Pusuluri — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 10:54:26 EDT

We lost the toss (as usual) and Staten Island CC had no hesitation in putting us into the field. Their opener, Ben, thwacked some lusty blows on his way to 136 before having his stumps uprooted by a Amim special. Our bugaboo, dropping sitters, came back to haunt us and some pretty insipid fielding saw SICC post 219/4 in 32overs. We tried 8 bowlers (Anas and Javed missed out, sorry boys) and were largely ineffective. Chasing 7 an over is always tricky, no matter how conducive the pitch is for batting. No worries, Vik got things started with a boundary to get the chase started in style, and carried his good form with a solid 57 as we were always in sight of the total. When Vik departed in the 17th over, we still needed another 116 in 15overs. Enter the Animal Amim, who mixed some sublime batting coupled with brute strength to finish the game with a six in the 30th over, helping himself to 80 runs in the process. Our final score...224/2 in 30 overs. Good win team!

Mike the "Dogs" Killer

Tahir Maqsood — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 10:54:19 EDT

Wily wolf Mike was involved in 8 out of 9 dismissals and we just enjoyed the mastery. Winning the toss Mad Dogs generous skipper Neil Harrison (our ex club member) allowed us to bat first. Shariq and Ali gave us a good start and Vikram, Peter and Mike made some quick runs towards the end. We finished at 157 and in the end that proved enough. Mike started with a run out and then took a very good catch off my bowling. JK bowled well but without much luck. They played Ali's initial overs very carefully and tried to hit Mike. This allowed Mike to take three quick wickets. Jealous of his success and to give Mad Dogs and other club members like Eijaz a game, we took Mike off. We could not keep him away from action as he took a catch of Shariq's bowling. Seeing that we just brought him back to the attack and he finished Mad Dogs innings by snapping the last two wickets and they were all out for 131. Peter did a very good tea and also took two very good catches. Kenny could not play due to his illness, hope he is feeling better.

Hillside down BOCC 2-0

Krish Pusuluri — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:14:36 EDT

Despite battling 50's from Vik on Saturday and Z on Sunday, our lack of firepower in chasing was evident as we were blanked chasing 238 on Saturday (reaching 200) and 197 on Sunday (reaching 155). The bright side was that the tea's were fantastic and Hillside turned out to be a great side, who played hard and drank beer harder.

Fall Cricket

Tahir Maqsood — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 10:14:32 EDT

Last weekend was the perfect cricket weather and soon we will miss both the cricket and good weather. We only have 13 available players for two very good visiting teams from Staten Island and Mad Dogs. Please make yourself available otherwise we may have to borrow from other area teams and that is not good.

Competitive cricket is over for us though we won against Knights last Sunday but a freak loss to a relatively weak Hawks team kept us out of Semifinals. As suggested by Nadim we were playing against Knights October team as they seem to have different players for each game. We won the toss and elected to bat. Raj batted brillintly for his undefeated 97 and batted for 35 overs. It was mixture of caution against some accurate bowling in the beginning and some majestic aggression towards the end. We finised on 173 and needed to bowl real well aginst Sohail, Jay and other area cricketers. Kalim accounted for Jay in his first over and we got two more quick wickets. However Sohail did change the complexion of the game and threatned to take it away from us (yet again). JK made him hurry on his backfoot and ball went on to hit his stumps. That was the turning point and afterwards Vik with 3 wickets and Raj with 2, made sure that they don't have any chance of a comeback. We won by 30 odd runs. Well done ten member team (handicap 15-20 runs in the field) and hope we can take the late season form into next year's GSCL and local competitions. Did I forget to mention that you guys need to sign up for the coming Saturday's games.

0-2, we stink

Tahir Maqsood — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 09:37:49 EDT

We lost a close social game on Saturday and did not measure up to a very raw and enthusiastic Hawks team on Sunday. It appears that everyone is sick of playing cricket and we are just trying to go through the motions. Regardless of the performance, everyone gets one to two games per weekend and then we don't show up to play. Almost no one comes to the ground ahead of time to set up and we are almost never ready for the start of game and busy with minutia. On a rainy day when no one thought that we could play cricket, we got the game started a little late and reduced the game to 30 overs. We lost the toss but bowled very well early on and had the opposition restricted to 42-4 in first 15 overs. We could not maintain the pressure but still contained them to 142 in 30 overs. Less than five runs an over on our home ground seems fairly easy but nothing has been easy for us lately. Raj and Krish gave us a good start but when rain caused the game to be stopped after 5 overs, we lost our momentum. Too many plans and a self induced pressure to get to a good run rate in the first 15 overs resulted in the loss of four quick wickets. Karthik and Yatin stopped the bleeding and built up a very good 46 run partnership. In the last 10 overs we only needed 60 runs and that is usually not a big task. Karthik got out to a tentative stroke, Satish ran himself out and Ian did not quite hit a ball, that was there to be hit and soon we were out of the game. kalim got bowled soon afterwards and Rishi was LBW on the first ball that he faced. Yes we needed 60 runs in the last 10 overs and we got 9 to be exact. We need to think and plan extensively. Will publish the agenda for the cricket committee meeting on the website and request the club members to give their honest feedback (and of course that will be confidential). I will take that to the cricket committee meeting first and then report to club committee.

Party for Toronto Tourists on Saturday, 4 October

Nadim Ahmed — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 09:37:04 EDT

Immediately following the game against the Toronto tourists this Saturday, Mike Ezekowitz is hosting a party at his house for the tourists. BOCC members are also invited. Please respond to the survey to indicate your attendance. Mike's address is: 214 North Ithan Avenue , Villanova , 19085

BOCC 1-1 in D-Cup

Jon Kennon — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:28:12 EDT

BOCC were crushed by Warriors in game 2. Asked to field we bowled quite well, but a lot of catches were dropped, and a big hitting partnership in Warriors middle order put us under the kosh (Dharmesh T hit a patient, and often, fortunate, 73). Finally, Rajat held the main man Baba at cow corner under a ball that must have come down with snow on it, and from then on things fell away for them, they ended on 208. Our batters consistently gave their wickets away, and Warriors held all their catches. Something worth noting was their approach in the field, they consistently bowled wide of off stump (often very wide), and umpire Kurshid was consistently lenient on this (for both teams) - not many of our club are willing or able to play a cut shot, which basically means in this situation, we cannot score. Then they bowl one out of 6 in our hitting zone, and we throw everything at it, popping the ball up to be caught quite simply. The cut shot is not a difficult shot to play once you get your head around it, but you need to practice it - ask somebody to do some throw downs to you for 15 minutes at several nets sessions (next year, or in the spring at a tennis court) - and you will have a new shot to play. I digress. We meekly crumbled to be all out for 89, the bowling was ok, but nothing special.

Collegeville CC are PCL Champions

Shariq Khan — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:27:30 EDT

Congratulations to them on behalf of British Officers.

BOCC 1-0 in D-Cup

Jon Kennon — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 10:58:56 EDT

On an extremely hot day, BOCC won the toss and batted against Villanova, Vik and Amim having a good opening stand, and initially turning the strike over very well considering the oppressive conditions. Raj joined Vik and they too had a good stand, until Raj had a rush of blood after hitting a six. Rajat and Vik struggled a bit, as Vik was knackered by this time, and chose to fall on his own sword somewhat. JK came in determined to up the running, and promptly caused Rajat to be runout, stuck behind the bowler on a quick single. Shariq joined JK and another productive partnership saw us to 172-4 after 35. Tahir and Raj opened the bowling and had early breakthroughs, one for Tahir was a lovely catch by Raj at gully, and one for Raj a sharp one at midwicket by Satish. The bowling was rotated quite rapidly, as it was still brutally hot, but the wickets came fairly regularly, and Nova never truly threatened. MOM Vik bowled a great long spell to capture 3 wickets, and they ended about 30 runs short, with 8 wickets down.

Barbecue Bash Feedback

Nadim Ahmed — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 10:58:48 EDT

Thanks to all for contributing to such a fantastic evening. It was wonderful to see such a terrific turnout, and was a good sign for future club social events. (Tahir was definitely the Grill King!) Special thanks to Vikram and Ashwini for their gracious and abundant hospitality in hosting the event, and also to lil' Arjun for being such a great host!

General fixtures announcement

Krish Pusuluri — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 07:06:42 EDT

We had to cancel Hillside yet again, lack of members and the goal to have folks attend the BBQ, forced our decision. With abundance of games locally, traveling for social games seems to be a dying tradition, which is a cause for concern since our primary ethos is social cricket. As can be seen from this weekend's only game, we have signed up for the Delaware Cup as opposed to playing in the PCL T20. This gives us the flexibility to involve a wider membership as also an opportunity to play against different teams as compared to PCL.

BOCC vs Knights

Jon Kennon — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 07:31:15 EDT

BOCC won the toss and batted. We started very badly, not adjusting very well to the slow damp pitch and outfield, and the red stone Knights were using as a ball. Then Sushi played a really well paced innings (73no), and in partnerships mainly with Satish and Thommo, saw us to 149. That was plenty as it turned out, as once Yatin bowled Jay around his legs(!) for not many, they were never going to threaten. We crushed them by about 70 runs. We took all our catches. Sushi picked up 3 wickets to complete a nice day for him, he probably got lucky when he got home too.

Message from Sateesh "Very-nice-eh"

Krish Pusuluri — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 07:30:51 EDT

Folks, Apologies for not making it to the ground before leaving Philly. Without car I could not move anywhere and I could not rent a car in time which killed my mobility. On top of it I had to vacate the apartment by that Sunday. Enough about excuses, I would like to thank all BOCC for the hospitality and friendship during the last 2 seasons and definitely miss you great bunch of guys. I have moved to Sacramento, yet to settle in a place. Though I found a cricket team here, it will not be the same as BOCC, my home team. Please post my message to all and if any of you guys are in Sacramento give me a buzz.
My personal id: var_sat@yahoo.com
Cell# 610-350-7156

Updates

Tahir Maqsood — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:30:33 EDT

Half the club did not show much interest in 20-20 or social fixtures and appeared thirsty for some competitive and proper cricket. Bearing that in mind we agreed to participate in Delaware cup that will start in two weeks time. GSCL knockout and 20-20 is still a mystery and we will consider it when we get the schedule. PCL 20-20 will start in two weeks as well. They are some good social fixtures against Toronto, Mad Dogs and Hillside and that gives us a fairly full late season. Tentatively we are committed for PCL 20-20 but depending upon the feed back, that can change as well. Please keep your skippers posted with your views. Tomorrow we will have our last Thursday practice of 2008 season. College will take over after this week and if there is enough interest, we can continue with Monday practices. Vikram's pool party is in two weeks and a trip to NY to play against Hillside is on the same weekend. Don't get in the fall mode and stay involved.

BOCC win against Lehigh CC

Mike Thomas — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 12:39:20 EDT

Is it possible to win comfortably and ugly at the same time? Read more...

Reality Check

Tahir Maqsood — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:22:30 EDT

After two fairly comfortable victories against fairly inexperienced teams, we were feeling quite confident. Though Collegeville does not have much depth in their batting but we did not take early wickets and they won the game by 8 wickets. We seemed casual and overconfident in our batting and our top order collapsed against decent but by no means extraordinary bowling. Sri was bowled playing a defensive stroke, Raj chased a wide ball and Shariq played all around a full pitched delivery. Jk played with caution but Gurdish and Vik departed quickly as well. After seeing Harish and Charlie off, Jk relaxed a little and played a shot withhout moving his feet and got out for 23, making us 59-6. Yatin and Sushant played well and later Ali and Karthik also kept the innings going. We played full 40 overs for 127 runs. This looked decent but by no means intimidating to any opposition. We had to bowl exceptionally but we did not deliver in that department either. My first two overs were hopeless and though Gurdish bowled well but did not get any wickets. JK, Sri and Raj all bowled well but without any success. Ali troubled both Kumar and Chandan but we could not take our catches and they had an opening partnership of 100 runs. Yatin coming in late bowled with fire and Sri took a very good catch to dismiss Chandan, after he had completed his fifty. Another consolation late wicket and some late pressure made us feel a little better towards the end. We lost this game mostly due to our poor batting and to some extent our lack of penetration in our bowling. This year very few members have come to practice and this was evident when we were batting as we were struggling against some fairly straight forward bowling. Most of us are fairly average and social players and without hard work we look very mediocre against good teams. If we have to compete at a good level, we need to work hard and play with more dedication. See you at the practice.

Collapse hands victory to Combined Islands

Jon Kennon — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:22:24 EDT

CICC 137 all out. BOCC, from 3-82, collapsed to 124 all out. The causes: 1. Two set batsmen failed to finish what they had started (mea culpa). 2. The remainder tried to win the game with one six, when about 5 runs per over were required. It is hard to hit a six when you first get to the crease, it is a very low percentage approach, and there are more ways to play an innings than just trying to hit the cover off the ball. We did practice that other method on Tuesday night, but most of the playing team were not there, unfortunately.

Knights avenge PCL defeat in a friendly game

Krish Pusuluri — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:22:13 EDT

To cap off a losing weekend, we lost the friendly to a fairly decent Knights on Sunday. Knights put on 222/6 in 35overs, aided by Chaminda's 85, his highest against BOCC, aided by 7-8 dropped catches. In reply, our batting never really took off until Deepak(35) and Omer (74*) strung together a 100+ run partnership to take us to 166/6. On the bright side, we batted the entire 35overs and denied them an outright win. Report from the skipper here...

Back on Track

Tahir Maqsood — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:47:00 EDT

After a few close losses in PCL, we got back on track on Saturday by beating Blue Hens comprehensively. On a hot and muggy day, the hosts decided to field first after winning the toss. Raj and Krish soon made them realize that they mean business and punished every bad ball. They kept the run rate around 6 runs an over and shared an opening stand of 186 runs. Raj after making a remarkable century (first ever at Blun Hens by any player) was the first one to go. Krish had separation anxiety and followed him soon. In an effort to increase the run rate we lost some quick wickets and finished at 244 in 40 overs. It was a very good total at a fairly big park and Blue Hens were never in contention. Yatin took the first and JK the second wicket fairly quickly. Ali and I accounted for the next five wickets and Rajat ended their misery with last three wickets. Krish also took three catches and Ali took two good deep catches. Thanks to Cyril who came to watch the game and to Lambie who kept a perfect scorebook. It was a good day for us and we are back in the play off mix again. Still need to win at least two of the last three games to ensure a place for the quarter finals. View Scorecard...

BOCC slide past Villanova CC in Turbo Cup

Krish Pusuluri — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:46:50 EDT

Villanova won the toss and put on 138/9 in 30 overs, Raj picking up 3w and Sateesh, Yatin & Amim 2w each. None of the Nova batsmen really got going as our bowlers applied pressure and were backed up by almost spotless fielding as we held on to difficult catches and looked aggresive in the field, for the most part. The hot and humid conditions translated to bowling changes and 3 players donning the keeper's gloves. Although Nova are an enthusiastic bunch in the field, chasing 138 should have been a relatively comfortable total as Sunil laced 3 boundaries in the first over to get us going and set the pavilion's mind at ease. A wicket in the second over evened things out for Nova. Raj and Yatin chipped in with 20's as we were in control needing 9runs from 3.3overs with 5 wickets in hand. Krish decided to make the game interesting by throwing his wicket away and ducks by the next three batsmen meant our last man, Sanjay, went in with 5 runs to win in less than 2 overs. A couple of wides and crazy running saw us through with 4 balls remaining. All through this fiasco, skipper Shariq (with 36*), at #6, was playing a very responsible innings and keeping a cool head, biffing the bad balls with glee. Well done skip! We decided to stir things up for Alfred & Betty, who had come down to watch a good game of cricket!

BOCC takes another nailbiter from Shawnee

Jon Kennon — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:29:31 EDT

BOCC lost the toss and were put in the field. Bowling with little impact initially, and 'supported' by the usual sloppy fielding, we were looking down the barrel of a huge target at the first drinks break. In the second session, very nice spells from Ali, Sri, and Mitul tightened things up again, without managing to make large inroads into the Shawnee batting order. The final 10 overs yielded 90 runs, thanks to the wickets in hand enabled slogathon. The final score, 4/234. The run chase started badly, with Deepak playing across the line to a slower delivery to be caught at midwicket. This was followed by a superb partnership between Mitul (98) and Amim (68). Both played their best innings' of the season, with magnificent lofted driving the major feature for both, Mitul also pulling the ball with extreme prejudice. BOCC were put into a very safe position by this pair, until a flurry of wickets added late drama. Ali remained calm though, and in combination with several others, got us to the final moment, at which point Sushi, facing his first ball, sent it straight into the treetops, to give us victory by 3 wickets, with an over to spare.

Cricket in Philadelphia

Jon Kennon — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 10:10:24 EDT

Apparently we are famous - includes video of BOCC vs MoBay. http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/?inc=article&id=356&x=pitch-perfect&_c=a-e and also... http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/jun/10/ussport.cricket - nice one, Arthur!

Rain saves GWIA

Jon Kennon — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 10:08:05 EDT

BOCC were asked to switch venues this/next week, so after many phone calls, we made the long drive up to Bloomfield NJ for our last 30 over game until August. The weather started out fine and humid, and after luckless captain K lost another toss (7 in a row, none yet won this year), BOCC were asked to field - go figure. After a wild start with the opening few bowlers struggling with the swinging white ball on a dead pitch (1/82 in 10 overs), Mitul, Yatin and Sri all bowled great spells, running through the bulk of the batting order. Kalim and Amim wrapped things up well to have GWIA all out for 173, a really fantastic recovery. Our chase began badly, with Sunil falling early, but JK and Mitul had a good quick partnership of about 50, which put us in front of the required rate, with clouds looming. A couple of quick wickets put the brakes on, and as a result we fell behind the asking, when the skies opened in the 14th over - game abandoned (15 required for a result - timing is everything), and after 30 minutes of soaking we swam for the cars, making an opportunistic stop at Shalamar to make the trip worthwhile. This shared result puts us 2.5/3, and in with a very good shot of making the semi finals in this competition, with just 2 division 2 teams left to play.

BOCC ambush Collegeville CC in Turbo Cup

Krish Pusuluri — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 10:07:52 EDT

Winning the toss and batting first, we reached 156/9 in 30overs against a full strength CCC bowling. At 18/2 in 8 overs with our new opening pair back in the hutch, we did a good job scoring 100 runs between the 9th and 20th overs, aided by a couple of 30's and a plucky 20 from Peter. With only two frontline bowlers in Klaus(1/28) and Vik(2/15), we needed the team to fire in the field. Both of them choked the scoring as CCC were at an identical 18/2 after 8overs. Rajiv "show-off" Mallick plucked a one-handed catch at backward square leg to get things going, as Omer (3/33) and Karthik (2/32) applied the brakes further. Vik was unplayable throughout his two spells, picking the crucial last wicket as CCC folded for145 in 27overs. Man to man, we were outmatched by CCC. Yet, the commitment exhibited by all the 11 players more than outpaced their individual contributions. Well done boys, and remember the mantra "Have fun."

Basher somehow managed to have a perfect scorebook between quenching his eternal thirst and egging us on in his own inimitable style! Klaus had everyone in splits by calling a wide off his own bowling even before the umpire could make up his mind.

Toronto Tour

Tahir Maqsood — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 08:10:44 EDT

Great response so far for Toronto tour. Now we have 13 players available for all four days and 3 for three days. Current selection formula is,

Number of games= Number of days available minus one. This way we have 45 availabilities for 44 possible slots. This is very close to a perfect number with only one extra availability and so many factors can fix this easily. Time to get excited and talk about social events. Will update if there are any changes and please drop in a line if there are any questions.

BOCC 2-0 in GSCL30 comp.

Jon Kennon — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 08:10:34 EDT

What should have been a simple victory turned into the tensest of games, in the end squeaking home with one wicket in hand. BOCC lost the toss again (what is it with these heads-less coins?) and again were asked to field (so the coin toss is purely academic), we bowled well, with the bowlers assisted by some good fielding, a low bouncing pitch and a velcro style field. We had them all out for 76 in 20 overs - Yatin 4/16, JK 3/22. Really the less said about our chasing effort the better, their bowling was quite good, though nothing extraordinary, but we lost wickets with monotonous regularity. The only one to stick around was Satish P, who made a determined 21, finally undone by his dodgy running between the wickets. Sateesh V got us home with a hoick over midwicket, and a relieved Thommo at the non-strikers end. History records the result, not the details, so a great win - if memory serves me correctly!

BOCC lost to Haverford by 4 wkts

Shariq Khan — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 08:10:29 EDT

Put into bat first we scored 196/9 in 40 overs. Yatin [48*] and Raj [40-ish] were not so well-supported by the rest of our batting cast even though they dropped 10+ catches. In reply, Gurdish (was unplayable) and Kalim (2w) [just keeps getting better every game] started us off very nicely. Yatin (3w) removed Kamran in the 15th over to restrict them to 54/4. However, despite Raj bowling really well, our 5th bowling option became our weakest link -- along with my inability as a skipper to get Sohail's crucial wicket. Sohail (84*), to his credit played a calculated and careful innings and hit the winning runs in the 38th over. A tough loss that will be hard to forget quickly as our next PCL game is not until 7/12. Sorry T!

BOCC lose to Collegeville in Turbo Cup

Chris Lawrence — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 08:10:23 EDT

The less said the better about this match as an overmatched BOCC side lost heavily to Collegeville. After I lost the toss (again) Collegeville chose to bat and piled up 223 in their 30 overs as our lack of bowling depth was cruelly exposed (Klaus apart who bowled really well giving up only 15 runs off his 6 overs). Having to chase at almost 8 an over was always going to be almost impossible as apart from Sunil and Sid (who continued his 6 hitting) with a brace of 30s there wasn't much to write home about about with the batting as BOCC were all out for 130 in the 28th over. As Tahir would say, all the more reason to recommit to regular practice

Hind CC replaced by Pak-Am CC in the Turbo Cup

Krish Pusuluri — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 07:14:27 EDT

Pak-Am CC (aka Cousins XI) will be filling in for all the games Hind CC was scheduled to play in the Turbo Cup.

An overall losing weekend for BOCC

Shariq Khan — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 07:51:35 EDT

Saturday we lost to Knights CC by 6 wkts (BOCC 129ao)
Sunday we lost to Eclipse CC by 75 runs (ECC 268, BOCC 193ao)
Recurring theme: dropping catches! (5+ on Saturday; even more on Sunday)

BOCC beat Prior CC by 5 wkts in PCL

Shariq Khan — Mon, 26 May 2008 12:18:26 EDT

Prior won the toss and elected to bat. Prior scored 191 in 40 overs with Vish Shahade scoring a century (114) while Satish Varanasi took 3-34 for BOCC. Nadim Ahmed had 3 catches for BOCC. In reply BOCC scored 192 for 5 in 35.2 overs with Nadim Ahmed remaining not out on 41, followed by Jon Kennon (34) and Raj Subramanyam (34). Nadim was adjudged Man of the Match for batting and wicket keeping performance. View scorecard...

The epitome of a happy spring

Zafar Abdullah — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 01:08:36 EDT

Although it was ridiculously cold today, we had a wonderful game!
Germantown was short a few people and BOCC came to rescue by providing two players and the game was on. In BOCC skippership tradition I lost the toss and they chose to bat. GCC scored a respectable 139 in 35 given their line-up. Almost everyone bowled and some spectacular catches were made (Pe'ah). After a wonderful lunch and Master's review, we went in to bat with style and put up solid initial runs thanks to Alberto Raffo and Gue who seemed to be on fire but got out to a great catch in the covers - a blazing shot was snapped up by the GCC's squash coach for 20 runs. Raffo made 46, support by me with a 41 everyone else pitched in as well and we ended up winning with a few overs to spare! In great GCC tradition we retired to the bar where we were treated to a few rounds of liquid sustenance which brought an end to a wonderful day of playing cricket with age old friends! It is going to be a wonderful summer!
z

First Blood

Zafar Abdullah — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 09:53:07 EDT

The weather was in the 40s, windy and bone-chilling. Cousin's won the toss and batted their entire 35 overs making 158. George, their 1 down, made 60 odd. Almost everyone bowled well but Amim's bowling stood out the most. He got the first 5fer (5 overs 2 maidens 17 runs and 5 wickets) of the season. Fielding was good and some brillaiant catches were held to remove some dangerous batting. We chased 159 pretty comfortably, thanks to a quick 50 not out from JK, Shariq - 29,Vik - 17 not out and Amim - 11 not out. Well done boys!

Titans 1, BOCC 0

Krish Pusuluri — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 09:40:01 EDT

On a beautiful day that defied the weatherman, we surrendered "meekly" with only one batsman getting to double-digits. We lost the toss and a strong East Coast Titans put up a competitive 184/8 aided by our generosity in the field and some good batting by their skipper(who got a fifty) and one of our ex-BOCC players. Sushant picked up 4 wickets, Peter 2 , Rajat/Sateesh 1 each. In reply we were shot out for 60, thanks to some injudicious shot selection. At least the rust from the winter hibernation has been dusted off and there can be no more excuses! We owe them one.

Are you game ready?

Tahir Maqsood — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 09:38:38 EDT

Gentlemen, spring is here and first game of new season will be on April 5th. We have had few practice sessions thanks to JK and we will have another one on Sunday at ECG. We can begin to practice every Monday at Haverford as well. Time to get your whites out and get ready for the season. Please pay your dues if you have not done it already and begin putting your availabilities as well. PCL will have their annual meeting on April 5th and hopefully they will announce the schedule soon afterwards. GSCL promised the schedule by mid February and I hope that we will get it by mid April (wishful?). We do have festival schedule and almost 8 players are already fully committed for the all the games and other fun social activities. Jonty Rhodes will be playing for us on Friday and the festival dinner will be on Saturday. Toronto tour dates are all finalized and August will be the UK cricket tour. Lots of cricet ahead of us but are you ready? Put your availabilities in and we will know.

PCL AGM

Zafar Abdullah — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:44:24 EDT

From Mike Thomas:
PCL AGM: Noon, Sat April 5th
Address:Woodlawn Library, Twenty20 West Ninth Street,Wilmington, DE 19805

Teas for this weekend's game

Zafar Abdullah — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 01:16:15 EDT

NOTICE TO ALL PLAYING MEMBERS:
No teas will be provided for this weekend's social games so please bring your own sustenance for the 20 minute change over between innings. Water will be provided. There will be an outing to Brother Paul's for a brief social post game. More on the topic of tea later... Krish and I will inform our guests of this decision made by the cricket committee (quorum). Any questions? Then please email or contact Tahir, John and/ or me.

Cricket Committe Meeting

Tahir Maqsood — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:13:30 EDT

Under the new constitution the first Cricket Committee meeting was held on Thursday, February 7, 2007. Since the meeting was held priorty to Thirsty festivities, members were diligent about not taking too much time and active agenda was taken care of by 7PM. Highlights are

-GSCL: Early start to the season and a longer season with more games in Knockout tournamen. JK and Sri have been in touch with the league officials and discussing all the key issues. They are also in touch with all the key players and planning for interesting practice drills. More information to come from their office close to the season.

-PCL: Two teams have pulled out and two to four teams are on the fence. Fines, special favors, increased charges and quite a few other minor issue resulting in dissatisfaction. Future of PCL not very clear right now but BOCC is very much committed to the PCL and have paid the dues. Considering the uncertain future of PCL and fewer members able to paly two games, proposal of second BOCC team in the competition was unanimously voted down. Discussion about six regular PCL players keeping their spots if they are performing well and five open spots to GSCL players ensued. No final decision made at this point. Email sent to Shuja encouraging an early AGM meeting. Will keep everyone updated with the developments.

-FESTIVAL: Jonty Rhodes will be the chief guest and will play for BOCC on Friday morning. Haverford College won't be taking part in the tournament for the first time. Some discussion about 6-7 fully subscribed members playing all the games and other spots open on the basis of merit ensued. No final decisions yet. Will update.

TOURS: Dates of all three tours finalized and on the web now. Members encouraged to take note of this and try to come to most if not all the tours. Zafar to poll all the members about their possible availability pattern.

PRACTICE: Will discuss with Haverford authorities and keep everyone posted. Separate practice schedule to be announced later.

SECOND ECG PITCH: Great enthusiasm about the second wicket, Mid to late March probably the best time.

KIT: Apart from wicket keeping gloves, nothing else needed. Ernie made aware.

Committe Members Present: Tahir, JK, Sri, Shariq, Z, Krish and Satish. Intruders: Klaus and Ernie. Alfred sent his apology.

Annual Dinner 2007 and Game Pictures

Tahir Maqsood — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 08:56:59 EDT

Last order of business ... enjoy the pictures!

BOCC AGM 2007-Minutes

Mike Thomas — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 08:56:48 EDT

From M.T: Gentlemen, please find attached the Minutes of the BOCC AGM held on December 2nd, 2007, which include the elections of Officers for the 2008 season.
Since that event, the new Club Committee has recently met and full Minutes of that meeting will be published shortly. A key item on this latter agenda was the selection of captains and vice-captains for the 2008 season and I am pleased to report the following outcomes in the interim..

There was considerable discussion between Club Committee Officers and individual members.
Some 20 different names were considered in depth arising from direct or indirect nominations.
The Club Captain was most diligent and objective in his own researches, in canvassing for nominations and in his presentation of recommendations.
The Club Captain was most diligent and objective in his own researches, in canvassing for nominations and in his presentation of recommendations.
In the event, the same names were on all the Committee's lips and I am pleased to report that the following selections ALL gained a unanimous vote and support from the whole club committee.

GSCL Captain - Jon Kennon
GSCL Vice Captain - Sri Ramanathan
PCL Captain - Tahir Maqsood
PCL Vice Captain - Shariq Khan
Social Captain - Zafar Abdullah
Social Vice Captain - Krish Pusulari
Congratulations to all, and lets make the 2008 season one to remember!
Mike Thomas"

Cricket Anyone?

Shariq Khan — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 03:27:45 EDT

October issue of the Smithsonian Magazine has a detailed article on cricket in America and talks about the contributions of the BOCC, Alfred Reeves and the C.C.Morris Library. Following is an excerpt:

Sitting at a long wooden table in Haverford's C. C. Morris Cricket Library, the largest collection of cricket literature and memorabilia in the Western Hemisphere, Alfred Reeves, 81, is dressed in an immaculate blue blazer. Reeves immigrated to the United States from his native Yorkshire in 1978 and eventually settled in Philadelphia. "I went for a walk one evening near the Merion Cricket Club [near Philadelphia], and I was sure I heard a cricket ball and bat," he recalls. "So I put my whites on and climbed over the wall of this famous cricket club, dropped on the other side and said, 'I just arrived from England. Do you mind if I join in?'"

Read the full article here...