Minneapolis 2010

Day 1

 

A rather depleted squad set off from Winnipeg in the early hours of Friday September 3rd for our third visit to the International Cavaliers Tournament in Minneapolis. At the border crossing the officials asked the purpose of our visit & I am surprised that they let us in, as of the party there, 2 were semi cripples with 1 blind guy, supposedly to play some games that include running & a hard ball
Unlike the 2 previous years the weather looked very dubious for an evening game when we reached Bryn Mawr Park. The captaincy for the evening was handed to our tactical expert, Karl & he spoke at length to the team before the game about how he wanted us to bat & bowl, I don't remember a word of what he said but he certainly looked sincere while he was talking. As the evening was cloudy we restricted the game to 15 overs each. The Brits Pub boys batted 1st but my memory appears to be as bad as the score keeper as large chunks of the game are missing. Stewart Higgins opened the innings & made 30 before he was bowled by Rob who earlier was nearly badly injured when a skied ball just missed his head & fell behind him. Jack Okell (sic) was not out 27 at the end of the 15 overs for a Brits Pub total of 85. One of the more interesting bowling performances was by Phil, who is down in the book as Fella. We are not surprised by his high elevation deliveries that sometimes stray off line but one ball on Friday was really wide but couldn't be called as it didn't reach the batting crease.
The skipper was keen to let everyone "get a feel for the pace of the wicket" so as soon as a pair was getting settled they were called in & replaced by the next pair. That is all except Philip who was bowled for 0 & Hein who just made 1. Sid set the tone for his weekend with 2 big sixes before he was "retired".Finally the skipper decided that we declare when the scores were equal, for a tie.
It took a little juggling with the pencil & eraser to get the right score but it worked out right in the end.
After the game we met up with the opposition in the Brits Pub but had to cut the evening short as we had to support the "meet & greet" session at The Local. It seemed that for most of the evening it was just the organizers & the Taverners there, until the Brits Pub crew came along & some Lions called in after the Twins game.

 

Day 2

Saturday dawned bright & clear but a little on the cool side as the team gathered in the foyer for a scheduled 9:00 AM start. Rob decided after his brush with injury to go shopping with the ladies, at the end of the day I am not sure that that was the safest decision. Philip who had pulled up lame on Friday also begged off.

On reaching the ground we found that we were facing Bhakta 2 but that the pitch was nowhere near ready. We managed to recruit a local player, Devin, & so after a short struggle with yours truly, Karl stood down.
The games were to be played with 15, 8 ball overs, no re-bowling for wides & changing ends only every 5 overs.
As Martin was still a little fuzzy, Chomo took charge of the coin toss & won, Thinking to take advantage of the long, wet grass we batted 1st. Sammy opened with Hein & was more  concerned that he had not seen any beer coolers & was soon bowled for 1. Sid then joined Hein & as has happened too frequently ran Hein out for 6.
Nigel then joined Sid & all our indoor activities came to fruition with a lot of quick singles & turning the single into 2. During this spell there were very few dot balls. This effort was telling on Sid so that he resorted to the big hit to long on, this provided some respite as he lost 3 balls into the bush & the organizers had to scramble to provide a suitable replacement. The 3rd wicket put on 122 runs & ended with Sid, going for another big hit, pulling the ball onto his stumps, out for 94.
The running continued but at a slower pace as Martin was not yet up to speed & was run out for 14. Nigel & David played out the last couple of overs bringing the Taverner total to 200 for 4.
Bhakta got off to a reasonable start thanks in part to our acquired bowler Devin who trying too hard bowled several wides but he did have a hard chance at slip dropped by yours truly. After 3 overs that were about on track but their running lacked the skill or suicidal abilities of the Taverners. Martin put himself on after a couple overs & soon got results 1st a very good catch on the boundary by Devin & then getting 3 wickets bowled. I would mention the names of the batsmen but it would only cause confusion as they are all Bhaktas. The Bhakta team really didn't recover from this quick loss of wickets finally succumbing to be all out in 13 overs for 114.
Bowling:-  Martin 4 for 17, Nigel 1 - 5, Sid 1 - 13, Chomo 1 - 14, David 1 - 28, & Devin 0 - 25
Comment of the day from one of the younger Bhakta players probably 25 years old in front of the Taverner bench " I am too old for this".... much laughter & geriatric wheezing from the Taverner team.
As the game finished by 11:00 we were free to go, with no game until Sunday but smoke from the BBQ Jerk Chicken & the full coolers kept us around supposedly watching the Lions game.
Next item on the agenda Lawn Bowling at the Brits Pub in the evening at which at Nigel & myself were unstoppable conquering all comers although I must admit we did avoid playing the ladies as food was on the horizon.

Day 3 looked to be a hectic affair if we managed a win in our 9:00 AM game, this would mean 2 more games in the afternoon.

Day 3

 

Sunday morning the team gather in the foyer for our early start, but Martin is M. I. A. Eventually Karl goes & wakes the sleeping beauty. Meanwhile the usual ribald & politically incorrect banter is passing between the team members, I think to the disgust of the poor individual seated with us with his Bible on the table.
Our opponents for the morning were the MCA Cavaliers, the local team, Chomo again takes the toss as Martin is still asleep, he wins & we bat again.
I am suffering from the exertions of putting on my socks so further replacements are required, Sammy's dad Richard & Uncle Loach come to the rescue & locate a player but have to drive off to pick him up.
Hein & Sammy again open the innings & Sammy is soon out but he did triple his previous effort. Sid joined Hein with the promise of no run outs, he started well but was caught in 2 minds & bowled for 11. Meanwhile Hein was pushing the score along steadily. He was joined briefly by Nigel & David who both succumbed to Golden Ducks. Keith then joined Hein & together they took the score to 101 before Keith was bowled for 18. By this time our replacement player Bim had arrived & after Chomo was out for 4 he joined Hein with only a few balls left, he was forced to go after the ball early on & was out caught for 2. Devin & Hein played out the overs finishing at 124 with Hein carrying his bat for 49.
MCA start off in fine form taking 28 off of the 1st 2 overs but then David produced  fine 8 ball maiden & the MCA team showed how unprepared they were for this limited over cricket having 4 players run out looking for stupid runs or through indecision. Bim our pick up recruit bowled a very tight 3 overs allowing just 11 runs from his 24 balls. Only 2 bowlers were credited with wickets but the bowling was tight & the run rate constricted forcing some silly run outs. Looking for 19 from the last over MCA was limited to 10 giving Taverners a win by 9 a close game well played in the best cricketing tradition
Bowling:-  David 0 - 30, Martin 0 - 33, Bim 1 - 11, Sid 1 - 16, Chomo 0 - 22, Nigel 0 - 11
This victory placed us in the semi final against Milwaukee
Again Taverners win the toss & elect to bat presumably to allow time for the copious quantities of Jerk Chicken & Curried Goat plus all the fixings to be digested.
For this game we acquired one more player from the local team Osagi from Nigeria.
He opened with Hein but the scoring was more difficult against this stronger side with Hein being caught out for 7 in the 4th over. Bim joined Osagi & they pushed the score along until after 8 overs we were still on 55. At this point Osagi was bowled for 12 & Sid joined Bim  & accelerated the scoring for a few overs eventually Bim was out bowled for 33 Sammy joined Sid for a short time finally being out for 1/3 of his previous total. The last 3 overs saw Nigel (NO 2) & Sid (NO 40) together who saw the score after the 15 overs to 126 for 4
 The MCA side included a former Jamaican West Indian Test Batsman, Garret, who proceeded to show the difference in ability & vision where he could go down the wicket before the ball was delivered & chose his spot to play to. Taverners bowlers bowled well but could not penetrate this more experienced batsman. He could have wrapped up the game earlier but he was lazy & somewhat arrogant & only took runs from boundaries being eventually run out for 88
MCA finally wrapped up the game in the 13th over but not before Sid took the only wicket of the innings.
Bowling:- David 0 -20, Bim 0 -26, Martin 0 - 24, Osagi 0 - 26. Chomo 0 - 10,  Nigel 0 - 16, & Sid  1 - 2.
This loss put us into the 3rd/4th pace playoff against the other Winnipeg side Lions, a game that is much like kissing your sister. Neither side particularly wanted to play the game but the organizers insisted.
This time we picked up a further player Shabba one of the chef team. The players were either tired, hung over or under the influence of the superb hospitality, but probably a bit of each. So for our 5th game of the weekend we were not up for the game. Nigel (NO 22) & Chomo (19) were the only batsmen to score many runs but we did give wickets to Roy Singh ensuring him of the bowling trophy. Taverners out for 81 from the 12 overs.
Taverners approached their bowling by giving an over to anyone on the field so that after 10 overs Lions had scored the runs & we could watch the climax of the Milwaukee MCA game that went right down to the wire with MCA the victors .
 At one point in the game Sid had had enough & I was dragged onto the field in mufti to field out the last few overs.
In the gathering darkness the awards for the weekend were made with Sid picking up one of the batting trophies for his ability to score runs & according to the speech lose balls.
The event wrapped up with a final get together at the local but once again, apart from a brief visit from the Milwaukee side, the only people there were the organizers & the Winnipeg contingent, minus Sid who was left asleep in the Hotel.
A remembrance of the trip was Sid in his newly purchased Brits Pub jacket checking I/Ds of young ladies looking to enter, unchallenged by the 2 bouncers at the door.
Thanks to Sid's early demise we were able to get away early, on the road for 7:30 & after getting the GPS lady to direct us north & not south we made good time. Passing Albertville we saw 4 cars in the parking lot & we thought at the time how much time has that saved.
Finally made a gas/pee/feed stop in Fargo at Denny's. the lot was full of Manitoba plates & the wait was 45 minutes, so we drove 300 yds & went to Appleby's no one there.. There must have been a 10% off sale at Denny's. Within the hour we were on our way. At the border the guy asked the regular questions but the answer.. a cricket competition prompted a " How did you make out" question. Then directed at Sid, he asked "who do you play rugby for", no questions about purchases & in no time we were on our way. Back in the Peg for 3:15.