The decision to go ahead with the game was not taken until late in the afternoon. It had rained for most of the morning, but www.buienrader.nl indicated that there would be a dry spell at the time the game was scheduled.
Fortunately a little longer as well. As usual we were late. So far, that is the only negative observation I have made with regard to the SCC players, they just can’t grasp the importance of adhering to CET, rather than Indian Standard Time.
“Make hay while the sun shines!”. Play while it is still light. Start as early as possible. Bowl your overs as quickly as possible. While on bat, don’t hold long tactical deliberations after every ball with the non-striker. Keep the game flowing.
Having been given the toss bij John Sist, the BHPB captain, Sandy elected to field. BHPB having seen that SCC had given Estec good opposition and beaten De Witte, had no other option than to set SCC a reasonable target.
The opening batsmen in true twenty20 fashion, immediately started slogging. Our poor bowlers were being slaughtered. In no time nr 2 bat, had reached his maximum score of 25. The opener soon followed with the same result.
In order to save as much time as possible, John Sist, had proposed to only bowl from one end. The bowlers were bowling with the wind all the time, but some of ours had difficulty with the dampness of some of the surface of the artificial pitch.
Fortunately, we did manage to take some wickets. Less than could have been taken, as a result of a few dropped catches and missed run out opportunities. We need to put in some practise there.
After 30 overs, BHPB had set us a target of 163 to win. A formidable task.
It must have put too much pressure on our batsmen. Our top order collapsed. BHPB did their utmost to prolong the game. In EBAB style, they rotated their bowlers. Their excellent wicket keeper, on at least three occasions fumbled the ball on purpose to avoid run outs. It was never a match, but it was a lot of fun.
BHPB, had won this league, 4 years in a row, before ending 3rd last year to be precise. They have a side consisting of a number of excellent players, backed up by enthusiastic and sporting team mates.
Unfortunately not only the SCC batsmen did not perform as expected. Even the umpire performed extremely badly. He not only miscounted an over, thus giving a 7 foot bowler to create havoc, but more importantly gave 3 LBW’s. No wonder the second innings ended with a miserly 55 on the score board.
It had become quite cold and windy. Most of the players had become quite thirsty and peckish and were glad to be able to enjoy refreshments and snacks in the clubhouse. Some had to leave earlier than they wanted but duty called. A number kept the third innings alive, until gently requested to leave, because the clubhouse was closing.
Fortunately, we are playing BHPB again later in the season, lets put up a better show then!
Unfortunately I took the wrong camera with me, so this time just a limited number of pictures.
Please: do not forget next training session:
31st May, 15:00 hrs CENTRAL EUROPEAN TIME, GMT+1
Quick ground. If weather does not permit training outside you'll revert to the HALO Hall.
SCC Stars
Tuesday 27 May 2008
Thursday 22 May 2008
26th May 2008, Next match
On Monday the 26th May 2008, SCC shall host the match against the 2007 Champions BHP Billiton.
The match shall be played at:
Sportpark Klein Zwitserland
Klatteweg 113
Den Haag
First ball: 18:30 hrs CET!!!!
For those of you working at the Maanweg, it might be a good idea to bring your cricket kit along to the office and change at the Club. To get there in time by public transport:
Those wishing another form of transport, please click here:
We are looking forward to a great game and a pleasant 3rd Innings!
The match shall be played at:
Sportpark Klein Zwitserland
Klatteweg 113
Den Haag
First ball: 18:30 hrs CET!!!!
For those of you working at the Maanweg, it might be a good idea to bring your cricket kit along to the office and change at the Club. To get there in time by public transport:
Those wishing another form of transport, please click here:
We are looking forward to a great game and a pleasant 3rd Innings!
Tuesday 20 May 2008
SCC defeats Cricket Club De Witte by 6 wickets!
The 19th of May 2008, shall be recorded in the history books as the day that the newly formed SCC, booked its first victory!
Our host the Cricket Club of the prestigious The Nieuwe of Littéraire Sociëteit De Witte, plays its home matches on the lovely grounds of HCC. A really beautiful setting. For practical purposes, “De Witte” plays all its matches on an “artificial” grass ground. This ground is huge, two adjacent soccer fields with a pitch in the middle. Only hard hits would reach the boundary.
An hour prior to the start of the match, threatening clouds, had assembled over The Hague, but fortunately a strong wind drove the clouds away from the cricket ground and when the game started it was sunny and chilly.
Our hosts batted first and lost their first two wickets at 16. The rules in this league, state that batsmen retire not out at 25 and the gentlemen Vissra and Koets both reached this excellent target. It must be noted that Mr. Koets had played his last match 15 years ago! Mr. Peters, also had a good knock. Having first gone out for a duck, he was allowed back in and scored a confident 13, before being run out. Most of the dismissed hosts were run out, which either says something about our fielding or their running or a bit of both;-)
Last Saturday, the weather had forced our coach Job to revert to an indoor training while he had planned batting and fielding practise outside. It was more than fortunate that he managed to do so at such short notice, for we surely should have lost, had this training session not taken place. Anyway, we dropped 6 catches. Some extremely difficult ones. The saying goes “Catches, win Matches”!
De Witte, collected 102 runs of their 20 overs. Our most efficient bowler was Vineet, conceding only 18 runs of his 5 overs. Agni followed closely with 20 of the same number of overs.
Our opening bats Agni and Naresh, both played a splendid innings, both retiring at the maximum score of 25. Naresh, at one stage fell while taking a run and lay prostrated, flat faced on the ground, as the ball rolled to short mid wicket. Seeing this, he valiantly dashed to his crease, barely making it in time. Hilarious!
Our run rate was equal to that of our hosts; there was a match on!
Vineet, who had bowled so well, played a commendable innings and quite rightly was eying our umpire, for being too lenient on wides. Just prior to this over, one of our hosts, had requested him to ask some of our boys who were blocking the view of the score board to move. 97 runs after 17 overs it read.
The umpire, who last played cricket when the majority of the SCC side had not been born, shares the view of his slightly older colleague Norman Longdon, with whom he had stood against Estec, that in the judication of wides in this league, specially those on the leg side, the bowlers ability should be taken into consideration. The bowler was working hard and bowling to the best of his ability and the batsman was going for the ball and missing it, well within reach: not a wide was his reasoning. The same batsman, by the way, who had prevented a number of wides from being scored by dispatching balls, which had landed outside the pitch, to on and off side. But the rule in normal Dutch Limited overs, does not take the batsman into account. A ball that misses the stumps outside leg stump is wide!
The umpire got the fright of his life when in the next over with 4 balls to go and a score of 99 on the board, a wicket was taken by John Fullard, an old hand, but still an excellent and accurate medium pacer. The umpire heard some member of the opponents urge his bowler to continue in this fashion, there were just 4 balls to go. He glanced at the score board which still read 17 overs, it had not been updated.
Next man in was Marius. Taking the place of Thijs vd K, who had pulled a muscle while sprinting to get to a ball which had been hit in the air while we were fielding. Hard luck Thijs, get well soon and I am sure you’ll get a chance to hit a couple of sixes. One is never too old to learn, you have the build of a menacing fast bowler and Job and Sjoerd, could surely give you some pointers, if you are that way inclined.
Marius, who had amused as all, in his first ever match, when he was bowled by a full toss.
It must have been obvious to the opposition that Marius lacks batting experience for they all moved in. John Fullard, ran up in determination and bowled at good pace right at middle stump, Marius did not blink an eye and clipped it firmly to the off side and ran 2.
The next ball, was bowled similarly, took an edge and allowed the batsmen to complete the winning runs.
What happened next, is highly irregular in Dutch cricket, elated visitors swarming the field, cheering their team mates and clapping them on their backs. Our hosts, took it graciously in good sporting spirit and took no offence. No offence was meant; but in “Rome do as the Romans”, wait for the batsmen to step out of the field, give them a hand show your appreciation by giving them a hand, do the same for the fielding side. Words of encouragement and sympathy are also acceptable; then shake hands and thank you opponent for the game.
Our hosts offered us ample refreshments and “broodjes” and after the third innings, we collectively went to Kashmir. That Indian restaurant in the Javastraat in The Hague, where the proprietor was willing to accommodate us even at this late hour (22:30 hrs) and served a buffet meal, which was quite agreeable to our pallets, as usual one might remark!
The meal ended just after midnight.
Cricket is a team effort and you were all men of the match. Specially those of you who did not get a game, but made yourself useful as scorer, spectator or even batsman and fielder with the opposition. But in this game a “Man of the Match” was appointed by Paul at the request of our Captain Sandy.
He gladly awarded the honour to Agni Nagaraj for his general conduct, as player and umpire. Bowling very well and batting an excellent Innings.
I conclude by determining that although it was a win by 6 wickets, in fact it was an extremely close game. An enjoyable one at that. We thank our hosts for their sportsmanship and hospitality and should eagerly reciprocate!
De Witte - SCC, 19th May 2008
Our host the Cricket Club of the prestigious The Nieuwe of Littéraire Sociëteit De Witte, plays its home matches on the lovely grounds of HCC. A really beautiful setting. For practical purposes, “De Witte” plays all its matches on an “artificial” grass ground. This ground is huge, two adjacent soccer fields with a pitch in the middle. Only hard hits would reach the boundary.
An hour prior to the start of the match, threatening clouds, had assembled over The Hague, but fortunately a strong wind drove the clouds away from the cricket ground and when the game started it was sunny and chilly.
Our hosts batted first and lost their first two wickets at 16. The rules in this league, state that batsmen retire not out at 25 and the gentlemen Vissra and Koets both reached this excellent target. It must be noted that Mr. Koets had played his last match 15 years ago! Mr. Peters, also had a good knock. Having first gone out for a duck, he was allowed back in and scored a confident 13, before being run out. Most of the dismissed hosts were run out, which either says something about our fielding or their running or a bit of both;-)
Last Saturday, the weather had forced our coach Job to revert to an indoor training while he had planned batting and fielding practise outside. It was more than fortunate that he managed to do so at such short notice, for we surely should have lost, had this training session not taken place. Anyway, we dropped 6 catches. Some extremely difficult ones. The saying goes “Catches, win Matches”!
De Witte, collected 102 runs of their 20 overs. Our most efficient bowler was Vineet, conceding only 18 runs of his 5 overs. Agni followed closely with 20 of the same number of overs.
Our opening bats Agni and Naresh, both played a splendid innings, both retiring at the maximum score of 25. Naresh, at one stage fell while taking a run and lay prostrated, flat faced on the ground, as the ball rolled to short mid wicket. Seeing this, he valiantly dashed to his crease, barely making it in time. Hilarious!
Our run rate was equal to that of our hosts; there was a match on!
Vineet, who had bowled so well, played a commendable innings and quite rightly was eying our umpire, for being too lenient on wides. Just prior to this over, one of our hosts, had requested him to ask some of our boys who were blocking the view of the score board to move. 97 runs after 17 overs it read.
The umpire, who last played cricket when the majority of the SCC side had not been born, shares the view of his slightly older colleague Norman Longdon, with whom he had stood against Estec, that in the judication of wides in this league, specially those on the leg side, the bowlers ability should be taken into consideration. The bowler was working hard and bowling to the best of his ability and the batsman was going for the ball and missing it, well within reach: not a wide was his reasoning. The same batsman, by the way, who had prevented a number of wides from being scored by dispatching balls, which had landed outside the pitch, to on and off side. But the rule in normal Dutch Limited overs, does not take the batsman into account. A ball that misses the stumps outside leg stump is wide!
The umpire got the fright of his life when in the next over with 4 balls to go and a score of 99 on the board, a wicket was taken by John Fullard, an old hand, but still an excellent and accurate medium pacer. The umpire heard some member of the opponents urge his bowler to continue in this fashion, there were just 4 balls to go. He glanced at the score board which still read 17 overs, it had not been updated.
Next man in was Marius. Taking the place of Thijs vd K, who had pulled a muscle while sprinting to get to a ball which had been hit in the air while we were fielding. Hard luck Thijs, get well soon and I am sure you’ll get a chance to hit a couple of sixes. One is never too old to learn, you have the build of a menacing fast bowler and Job and Sjoerd, could surely give you some pointers, if you are that way inclined.
Marius, who had amused as all, in his first ever match, when he was bowled by a full toss.
It must have been obvious to the opposition that Marius lacks batting experience for they all moved in. John Fullard, ran up in determination and bowled at good pace right at middle stump, Marius did not blink an eye and clipped it firmly to the off side and ran 2.
The next ball, was bowled similarly, took an edge and allowed the batsmen to complete the winning runs.
What happened next, is highly irregular in Dutch cricket, elated visitors swarming the field, cheering their team mates and clapping them on their backs. Our hosts, took it graciously in good sporting spirit and took no offence. No offence was meant; but in “Rome do as the Romans”, wait for the batsmen to step out of the field, give them a hand show your appreciation by giving them a hand, do the same for the fielding side. Words of encouragement and sympathy are also acceptable; then shake hands and thank you opponent for the game.
Our hosts offered us ample refreshments and “broodjes” and after the third innings, we collectively went to Kashmir. That Indian restaurant in the Javastraat in The Hague, where the proprietor was willing to accommodate us even at this late hour (22:30 hrs) and served a buffet meal, which was quite agreeable to our pallets, as usual one might remark!
The meal ended just after midnight.
Cricket is a team effort and you were all men of the match. Specially those of you who did not get a game, but made yourself useful as scorer, spectator or even batsman and fielder with the opposition. But in this game a “Man of the Match” was appointed by Paul at the request of our Captain Sandy.
He gladly awarded the honour to Agni Nagaraj for his general conduct, as player and umpire. Bowling very well and batting an excellent Innings.
I conclude by determining that although it was a win by 6 wickets, in fact it was an extremely close game. An enjoyable one at that. We thank our hosts for their sportsmanship and hospitality and should eagerly reciprocate!
De Witte - SCC, 19th May 2008
Friday 9 May 2008
Training Halo Hall 17th May 2008, 15:00 hrs
Dear cricketers,
As we discussed and agreed, we will have our Satyam Cricket team
training this weekend. Please block your calendar date and make sure that we will be there in time.
Inform prior if any one is not able to make it.
It will be appreciable if every one will update contact number.
(Training session with all round coach Job van Bunge on Saturday, the 17th May 2008.
Starting 15:00 hrs, Ground: Indoor Hall Halo.)
Laan van Poot 363
Den Haag
It is just a short walk to the Quick ground, I suggest you collectively jog, to arrive there all set for a good session;-)
BTW guys Marcel de Jong of Estec has done a really great job, a flattering write up, an excellent scorebook, and to make it complete the score card. Thanks Marcel!
As we discussed and agreed, we will have our Satyam Cricket team
training this weekend. Please block your calendar date and make sure that we will be there in time.
Inform prior if any one is not able to make it.
It will be appreciable if every one will update contact number.
(Training session with all round coach Job van Bunge on Saturday, the 17th May 2008.
Starting 15:00 hrs, Ground: Indoor Hall Halo.)
Laan van Poot 363
Den Haag
It is just a short walk to the Quick ground, I suggest you collectively jog, to arrive there all set for a good session;-)
BTW guys Marcel de Jong of Estec has done a really great job, a flattering write up, an excellent scorebook, and to make it complete the score card. Thanks Marcel!
Wednesday 7 May 2008
ESTEC teaches newcomer SCC a lesson!
Later than planned, some of the kit had arrived and Opa Paul turned up later than intended, our squad arrived at the Ajax grounds in Oegstgeest, where our hosts and first opponents in the league play their home games.
We started to bat and it immediately became obvious that we are in desperate need of some batting practice. Just joking;-)
With valiant efforts of AK, Agni and the rest of the team, we managed to scrape together the impressive total of 81 runs. Quite good, considering that ESTEC was so kind to allow to of our batsmen to come back in for another try, after having gone out for a duck the first time.
The game was played in the best spirit of the game.
At almost 43 years of age, Marius played his first official cricket match. He totally misjudged a full toss. He stood there making no attempt to play the ball as it landed on middle stump! The fielding side took pity on him and did not appeal, while the excellent umpire at the bowlers end, with great sense of humour, called a No Ball. To the delight of the crowd, Marius and his fellow batsman then illustrated how important communication between batsmen is, as Marius was run out.
Good bowling by AK, Senthill, Sanket and Agni, could not prevent us from losing our first game. Nevertheless, it was an extremely pleasant experience.
Our hosts presented us lavishly with refreshments and snacks for our first 3rd Innings. If this kind of hospitality is representative for the league, we are all in for a great time and a wonderful cricket season.
Since both ESTEC and us, have no game planned on the 27 July 2008, we intend to invite them to play us again so that we can reciprocate at our home ground. I’ll keep you informed, when we have formal confirmation from Andy.
The evening ended later than planned, because we evaluated our performance at Kashmir in the Javastraat, where the salted lassi flowed generously.
ESTEC-SCC
We started to bat and it immediately became obvious that we are in desperate need of some batting practice. Just joking;-)
With valiant efforts of AK, Agni and the rest of the team, we managed to scrape together the impressive total of 81 runs. Quite good, considering that ESTEC was so kind to allow to of our batsmen to come back in for another try, after having gone out for a duck the first time.
The game was played in the best spirit of the game.
At almost 43 years of age, Marius played his first official cricket match. He totally misjudged a full toss. He stood there making no attempt to play the ball as it landed on middle stump! The fielding side took pity on him and did not appeal, while the excellent umpire at the bowlers end, with great sense of humour, called a No Ball. To the delight of the crowd, Marius and his fellow batsman then illustrated how important communication between batsmen is, as Marius was run out.
Good bowling by AK, Senthill, Sanket and Agni, could not prevent us from losing our first game. Nevertheless, it was an extremely pleasant experience.
Our hosts presented us lavishly with refreshments and snacks for our first 3rd Innings. If this kind of hospitality is representative for the league, we are all in for a great time and a wonderful cricket season.
Since both ESTEC and us, have no game planned on the 27 July 2008, we intend to invite them to play us again so that we can reciprocate at our home ground. I’ll keep you informed, when we have formal confirmation from Andy.
The evening ended later than planned, because we evaluated our performance at Kashmir in the Javastraat, where the salted lassi flowed generously.
ESTEC-SCC
Monday 5 May 2008
Welcome !
This temporary blog, informs you of training and match venues of SCC.
Why temporary? There are plans to publish a blog on the Company site. So, in due course, this blog shall cease to exist. As long as is required, you'll be able to be informed of all SCC activities here.
Enjoy,
Marius
PS :
Anyone on the team, wanting to post cricket related articles here, is very welcome. Just send me your article and I'll post it.
Here are some pictures of our preparation for the season.
SCC training
Why temporary? There are plans to publish a blog on the Company site. So, in due course, this blog shall cease to exist. As long as is required, you'll be able to be informed of all SCC activities here.
Enjoy,
Marius
PS :
Anyone on the team, wanting to post cricket related articles here, is very welcome. Just send me your article and I'll post it.
Here are some pictures of our preparation for the season.
SCC training
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