8dulkars vs the Forest on the Moon (FOTM)
15-Apr-08

8dulkars: 98
Forest on the Moon (FOTM): 68
8dulkars won 3 skins

8dulkars had a less-then-perfect preparation for this game, against the strangely-named stalwarts of “Forest on the Moon”. Our chief coordinator, the mercurial Myoo, openly warned us all that a lack of player-support was threatening 8dulkars’ commitment to the season: we were on the verge of being withdrawn from the competition. A desperate trail of emails circulated during the previous week, highlighting falling numbers & an apparent lack of interest. What was going on? The Sword of Damocles had been suspended above the bare & vulnerable neck of 8dulkars. How could a team with the proud history of ours, a winning record of champions, be reduced to this? Cruelly, we had also been drawn to play “Forest of the Moon”, a team including some outstanding players, perhaps the best of the competition. Was this to be our demise; our journey’s end?

Team for next match on Wed 23rd April at 21:30 is:
Prem, Tom, Rohan, Vish, Johann, Rajendra, Vik & Kevin

Good luck team!

BTW - next match is on Thursday 1st May at 8pm.

8dulkars vs the Bros
12-Feb-08

8dulkars: 164
Bros: 174
8dulkars won 2 skins

The Bros were this week’s opposition team. They had some good bowlers, but 8dulkars managed their attack with relative ease, posting a large total. The tragedy for us was the Bros batting line up. They demonstrated something I raved & ranted about several games ago: the remarkable benefits of playing simple straight shots, pushing for the nets, taking safe singles, protecting the wickets with an obsessive passion. Does this technique work? Well, we only took 3 wickets during Bros’ entire innings & our total was overhauled with no particular effort.

8dulkars vs the Wily Coyotes
5-Feb-08

8dulkars: 142
Wily Coyotes: 123
8dulkars won 3 skins

This week’s match, against the Wily Coyotes, produced the closest result for a while. The Coyotes had several high quality players, but their efforts were completely offset by its team’s under-performing assets. We batted first, delivered some solid partnerships, although our last pair proved modest in its contribution. 8dulkars bowling & fielding was solid, rather than spectacular. At least we demonstrated some spirited support in the field: when a wicket was taken, we all came together to congratulate, revel & reflect. This is great for 8dulkar’s morale, & undermines the confidence & solidarity of the opposition. 8dulkars prevailed again, winning 3 skins & the game. If they were the Wily Coyotes, then on this night, we were the frustrating, unobtainable Roadrunners. Beep beep!

8dulkars vs the Frogs
24-Jan-08

Frogs: 99
8dulkars: 191
8dulkars won 3 skins

8dulkars vs the other guys
17-Jan-08

the other guys: 112
8dulkars: 175

Our second match for 2008, against an unnamed team of poorly-prepared sub-continent enthusiasts, featured a strong return-to-form of 8dulkars’ sense of passion & motivation. This was a refreshing change from the previous game. This time, we actually wanted to win.

Tom's match report:

Our first match for 2008, against Joe & sons, lacked 8dulkars usual fire & venom.

Team for next 7 rounds:

Thursday 10th January (@ 8pm)
Prem, Anupam, Arv K, Sid, Rajendra, Rohan, Tom & Naresh
Standby: Vishy, Myooran & Arv S

Thursday 17th January (@ 9:30pm)
Myooran, Prem, Arv K, Naresh, Raj, Arv S, Rohan & Tom
Standby: Anupam
Unavailable: Vishy & Sid

Ramsy's last game and we farewelled him in style with a good win against Forest on the Moon (FOTM). In summary, they got 122 and we got 134.

3rd placed 8dulkars took on the team coming first (BROS). We won the match and 2 skins (131 vs 85). But it was much tougher than the scores indicated.