Mad Dogs CC finally won a game on the Argentine soil. A wonderful day to play cricket and one of the best cricketing facilities I´ve seen so far. Hurlingham Club has history that dates back to the 18th century.
Mad Dogs CC won the toss and promptly elected to bat. I went in at #3 and scored 37 (50 balls) - (3x4s, 1x6s). Got out to a sweet inswinger by this Aussie bowler Ryon Butta - who is trying to get into Argentina National team.
The outfield is immacculate - just perfect to play your natural strokes as opposed to playing ariel shots like back home in the USA. We put a total of 214/8 in 40 overs.
At the start of the ACA Presidents XI innings rain interrupted the play for about an hour or so. To our surprise, the ground dried up in just under 10 minutes and the play resumed as normal.
I bowled leg-spin and got 1 wicket (7-1-22-1), took a catch in the covers and a stumping (make-shift wicket keeping). We rounded up the ACA Presidents XI for 170 in 39 overs.
Ryon Butta was to take the match away from Mad Dogs CC. The turn of the game is attributed to Mr. Lincoln Harrison bowling a teaser to Ryon Butta who skied it to cover area where Tony Boyke took an awesome catch running backwards.
In my opinion the player who impressed me the most is Mr. Lincoln Harrison - 74 yrs old. The other 74+ old to have played cricket that I know of is Sir Ranjit Singhji (spelling?).
We had a good reception hosted by the Hurlingham Club - snacks and drinks. We came back to our hotel, had dinner at a Mexican joint nearby and went out to an Irish pub called The Kilkenny to celebrate our victory.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Shopping and clubbing
After the game on Tuesday (19-FEB-2008), we got back to the hotel, got fresh and went out to down some drinks and grab a bite. We had a good dinner at this place called El Trepiche - good food and great ambiance. It looked as if most of the boys did not want to behave in this wild city of Buenos Aires. After the meal we stepped out to check out a couple of (night) clubs. The rest of the story is to be censored.
Yesterday (20-FEB-2008) was a rest day and we woke up late (usual after effects of late night partying.) We grabbed a decent lunch at a local joint and discussed how we lost the game the previous day. After the meal we went around downtown Buenos Aires for shopping (and to burn some calories from the heavy meal.) We got back to the hotel to catch a quick nap only to get ready for partying in the evening, again. This time it was not a night club, but a regular restaurant/dance club called - The Museum.
The Museum is a huge place - 4 flights high and has seating for regular dining on the 1st floor until 10:00PM at which point they clean up the floor for dancing. I have yet to visit a club - anywhere in the world - where there are 2000+ people dancing on a Wednesday night, till 4:00AM in the morning. Aptly named "The Museum".
Yesterday (20-FEB-2008) was a rest day and we woke up late (usual after effects of late night partying.) We grabbed a decent lunch at a local joint and discussed how we lost the game the previous day. After the meal we went around downtown Buenos Aires for shopping (and to burn some calories from the heavy meal.) We got back to the hotel to catch a quick nap only to get ready for partying in the evening, again. This time it was not a night club, but a regular restaurant/dance club called - The Museum.
The Museum is a huge place - 4 flights high and has seating for regular dining on the 1st floor until 10:00PM at which point they clean up the floor for dancing. I have yet to visit a club - anywhere in the world - where there are 2000+ people dancing on a Wednesday night, till 4:00AM in the morning. Aptly named "The Museum".
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
First game @ St. Georges
We got ready after a good breakfast to hop on the bus that took us to St. Georges College. After about 30 minutes ride we reached the ground - the ground is just as perfect as the weather to play a good game of cricket. Match was cut short to 40 overs a side, due to delay in the start of the game.
St. Georges team had a pack of young cricketers while Mad Dogs CC has fairly balanced team with an average age of 45.
Mad Dogs CC won the toss and elected to bat first. I went in to bat at #3 - supposedly aka "Sun tan position" (in Brit English). I made 15 (2x4s) in 25 balls got out to a straight forward catch at mid-off. Mad Dogs went on to make 199/7 in 40 overs.
St. Georges team was lead by a Dutch (national team) cricketer - Axela Buurman - a fast medium pace bowler and a top order batsmen. The rest of their team pretty much played around him to secure an easy victory, reaching the target 205/5 in 32 overs.
In my opinion, Mad Dogs CC were less aggressive in field placements and bowling changes that costed them the game.
St. Georges team had a pack of young cricketers while Mad Dogs CC has fairly balanced team with an average age of 45.
Mad Dogs CC won the toss and elected to bat first. I went in to bat at #3 - supposedly aka "Sun tan position" (in Brit English). I made 15 (2x4s) in 25 balls got out to a straight forward catch at mid-off. Mad Dogs went on to make 199/7 in 40 overs.
St. Georges team was lead by a Dutch (national team) cricketer - Axela Buurman - a fast medium pace bowler and a top order batsmen. The rest of their team pretty much played around him to secure an easy victory, reaching the target 205/5 in 32 overs.
In my opinion, Mad Dogs CC were less aggressive in field placements and bowling changes that costed them the game.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Tourist in Buenos Aires
I reached Buenos Aires at 11:30AM local time. Most of my team had already left for sight seeing (a small island near Uruguay) early in the morning. I was all alone and I had the chance to explore the city all by myself.
I set out to check out the downtown Buenos Aires. I put on my tourist hat and strolled around the city for 6 hours - conversing with strangers in my broken spanish requesting them for directions and/or to click a picture for me.
Towards the evening I was so exhausted that I was itching to taste the local "cerveza" - Quilmes. Later I grabbed some food, I got back to the hotel by around 11:30pm and hit the bed for my 1st cricket game in Argentina.
I set out to check out the downtown Buenos Aires. I put on my tourist hat and strolled around the city for 6 hours - conversing with strangers in my broken spanish requesting them for directions and/or to click a picture for me.
Towards the evening I was so exhausted that I was itching to taste the local "cerveza" - Quilmes. Later I grabbed some food, I got back to the hotel by around 11:30pm and hit the bed for my 1st cricket game in Argentina.
Plight for the flight
My flight was to leave at 3:50PM (17-FEB-2008). I reached the airport at 1:40PM, checked in my luggage, grabbed a quick bite and was waiting at the gate only to realize that the flight was delayed by an hour and the new time of departure is at 5:30PM. Little worried, I went to the counter to check alternate routes to reach Chicago so that I can safely board my 8:10PM (9:10PM EST) flight to Argentina. To spice things up, there were no alternate flights - all flights going into Chicago were delayed due to bad weather.
At 5:20PM EST we were all seated and ready to taxi only to hear the captain say "we will have to stay seated on the tarmac and the next update whether we fly out today or not will be relayed to us at 6:40PM EST." The lady next to me was worried and called her son-in-law to confirm the status of outbound flights from Chicago. The flight from Chicago to Argentina was to leave on time 8:10PM CST. There were 8 other passengers that were going to Argentina. They were letting people choose to get off the plane to stay back in NJ or stay on baord. I told the captain that I would like to get off the plane if we do not start by 6:40PM EST.
At 6:35PM EST we got the go ahead and our flight took off at 6:50PM EST. The captain said he will do his best to take us safely by 7:45PM CST and that the only thing we could hope for is we might make the 8:10PM CST flight - before reaching the destination airport, captains normally radio in on their position to request the connecting flights to wait, if they can.
The crew was kind enough to let all 8 passengers bound to Argentina to move to the front of the plane and sit in the 1st class. The crew announced that the connecting flight to Argentina was to leave from gate H15. We made it into Chicago at 7:45PM CST and we taxied to gate H17. We hopped off the plane at 8:00PM CST and hurried to board our connecting flight to Argentina.
All in all it was one eventful start of the journey to the Southern Hemisphere.
At 5:20PM EST we were all seated and ready to taxi only to hear the captain say "we will have to stay seated on the tarmac and the next update whether we fly out today or not will be relayed to us at 6:40PM EST." The lady next to me was worried and called her son-in-law to confirm the status of outbound flights from Chicago. The flight from Chicago to Argentina was to leave on time 8:10PM CST. There were 8 other passengers that were going to Argentina. They were letting people choose to get off the plane to stay back in NJ or stay on baord. I told the captain that I would like to get off the plane if we do not start by 6:40PM EST.
At 6:35PM EST we got the go ahead and our flight took off at 6:50PM EST. The captain said he will do his best to take us safely by 7:45PM CST and that the only thing we could hope for is we might make the 8:10PM CST flight - before reaching the destination airport, captains normally radio in on their position to request the connecting flights to wait, if they can.
The crew was kind enough to let all 8 passengers bound to Argentina to move to the front of the plane and sit in the 1st class. The crew announced that the connecting flight to Argentina was to leave from gate H15. We made it into Chicago at 7:45PM CST and we taxied to gate H17. We hopped off the plane at 8:00PM CST and hurried to board our connecting flight to Argentina.
All in all it was one eventful start of the journey to the Southern Hemisphere.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Start of the tour to Argentina
I am all excited about the upcoming tour to Argentina. I have been doing some reading about Argentina and some places to visit there. Lets see how well I can manage both cricket and tourism in Argentina.
A part of my cricket team (Maddogs Cricket Club) is about to land in Argentina now. I start on 17-FEB-2008 to reach Buenos Aires on the morning on 18-FEB-2008. I will miss out on the "Tango" dance at the bar on Sunday, because I will be arriving couple of days later than most of the team.
A part of my cricket team (Maddogs Cricket Club) is about to land in Argentina now. I start on 17-FEB-2008 to reach Buenos Aires on the morning on 18-FEB-2008. I will miss out on the "Tango" dance at the bar on Sunday, because I will be arriving couple of days later than most of the team.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
An offer up for grabs
One fine morning, I received an e-mail from Neil, VP of Marketing at Cadbury-Schweppes here in Stamford, CT. We had played some cricket last fall and he stored my contact information in his good books.
The offer was to go to Argentina with their team for a week to play 4 games and relax 3 days on the warm beaches of Buenos Aires. I had some vacation time left to burn (use it or lose it - kinds) and I jumped to grab the offer.
I took care of all the prep work that goes into being a cricket player in another country plus the tourist, on the off days.
The trip is scheduled to start on 17-FEB-2008 and come back home on 25-FEB-2008. I am really excited to be part of this voyage on my first trip to a Latin American country.
The offer was to go to Argentina with their team for a week to play 4 games and relax 3 days on the warm beaches of Buenos Aires. I had some vacation time left to burn (use it or lose it - kinds) and I jumped to grab the offer.
I took care of all the prep work that goes into being a cricket player in another country plus the tourist, on the off days.
The trip is scheduled to start on 17-FEB-2008 and come back home on 25-FEB-2008. I am really excited to be part of this voyage on my first trip to a Latin American country.
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