Finally the Bride!

England has finally won a major international tournament. Yeah England! Due to Michael's run in the Bay to Breakers we've only just seen the match. Not quite the brutal contest I was expecting but a decent match none the less. Seems Australia never really showed up. They ended their overs with a measly 147. England had some brilliant fielding to hold them to that number. Then England calmly went about chasing that down with three overs and 7 wickets to spare.

What happened in our competition? Well, I won despite my trading gaff. If you go to the fanatsy site right now your team will have been "archived" click on the archived team on the left and then scroll ALL the way to the bottom to find a link to the competition to see how you fared. But, here's the breakdown: I won, Katy S hung in there for 2nd despite not having Pietersen on her team, Michael took 3rd followed by Catherine in 4th. Anna had huge gains to move up into 5th while Missy suffered from her absence and wound up in 6th. Arvinder edged out James and Moira held onto that ill begotten 9th place knocking Henry into 10th. Bob took 11th followed by Sandeep, Paul and the Sweaty Teddy goes to Shan S. Here's your final worm:



Thanks all for another fun tournament. Lets do it again soon.......The Soccer World cup is in a month. Who's in?

Next to last worm

A Twenty 20 Ashes Tourney

Well Australia did it!! How? I am not sure. It was one hell of a match though and as Catherine says it wasn't for the delicate. When I last wrote Australia was trying to chase down 191 and the openers had already fallen. Haddin hung in there for a bit, Clarke and D Hussey didn't do much damage but then came White and finally M Hussey. These two started putting up numbers. White managed 43 and M Hussey a whopping 60. But it was tight, and I mean tight. Australia needed 18 runs in the last over! 1st ball to Johnson, 1 run putting M Hussey on the ball. 2nd ball cracks it for a 6! 3rd ball he also cracks for a 6, then a 4 from the 4th ball. Now they are tied!! only 1 run needed off two balls. and let us again turn to the great commentary of cricinfo,

"19.5 Saeed Ajmal to MEK Hussey, SIX, Australianism prevails! What a great dramatic game this has been. Goose bumps! What a heartbreak for Pakistan. Michael Hussey has played like a dream. Whaddaplaayaaaa! He finished the game with yet another big hit. This is the Twenty20 innings of his lifetime. And what a way to finish it in style. He cleared the front foot and swung the ball over long-on. The while ball disappeared beyond the boundary. The Australian dug out erupted in joy. The Pakistani camp is stunned. U N B E L I E V A B L E. Hussey is mobbed by his team-mates. Clarke envelops him with a hug. The entire squad is out there on the ground. Take a bow Michael Hussey. Respect. "

So there it is Australia takes Pakistan moving them into the final with England. Now the game is on Sunday so you all have a day off to carefully consider your trades. Last chance to make a move. You may want to consider choosing some lesser known players as a way to distinguish yourself. We can't all have the Husseys, Nannes, Tait, Morgan, Pietersen, ............

Michael will post a worm soon so you can more adequately set your goals. Good Luck!

D'Oh!

I was blissfully thinking we had a day off of cricket and I could write the blog during morning nap and leasurly make my trades. Enter Michael, "Hey, isn't there a game on today?" "What? Huh? OOh CRAP!" But never fear, quick trades have been made for me and the twins. you'll still have to wait for morning nap for a thoughtful blog of yesterdays doings.................

OK, kid is asleep. So yesterday England tossed Sri Lanka out of the tournament in quick order. Broad and the rest of the England bowlers kept Sri Lanka to a meager 128 with Mathews the only guy to do anything, he hit 58 runs. The top of Englands order was able to dispatch those 128 pretty quickly and they won in 16 overs by 7 wickets. So England continues to dominate and will definatly put up a good fight in the finals on Sunday.

Meanwhile, todays match is happening right now and it is not looking to good for Australia at the moment. Pakistan racked up a whopping 191 runs with half centuries from both the Akmal brothers. Then their bowlers took out Australias openers in the first 2 overs. So now it is up to Haddin and Clarke to get something going. Keep fingers crossed (you can decide what you are crossing them for)

Just the worm

Ready for the Semis?

Well there is no cricket today but this is your opportunity to really make some wise moves with your team. Lets recap yesterday: India had a strong showing in the opening inning of their game putting up an impressive 163 only giving up 5 wickets. Gambhir (41) and Raina (63) both gave great performances. So Sri Lanka had their work cut out for them. Sri Lankas two openers both went quickly and it didn't look good but then things turned around for them Starting with Dilshan (33)and Sangakarra (46) followed by Mathews (46) and Kapugedra (37). But things were tight right up until the end. With 5 overs left Sri Lanka needed the same number of runs that India had gotten in their last 5 overs. Then they needed 13 runs in the last over. Just 6 balls. 19.1 - 6! 19.2 - 1, 19.3 - 2, 19.4 - 1. Just three more needed. 19.5 - OUT! 3 needed from the last ball. Nehra to Kapugedera, SIX!!! Sri Lanka WINS advancing them to the Semis knocking India out.

The second match was no where near as exciting. I think it is best summed up by the freindly folks at cricinfo, "West Indies saved their worst for last as they were knocked out of their home tournament with a crushing six-wicket defeat by Australia. The hosts were in trouble as soon as the captain Chris Gayle fell second ball and flopped to 105, which their unbeaten opponents eased past in 16.2 overs." So Australia moves on to the Semis.

Here is the way things are: England will take on Sri Lanka on Thursday. Sri Lanka has been playing well but I have to say that England is on a serious rampage and my money is on them. Then On Friday Australia will take on defending champs Pakistan. Pakistan got through (climbing over the dead bodies of South Africa) but their play has been patchy so I think Australia is the team to beat here.

In our humble competition there are many questions to be answered: Will I hold first place? Can Missy and Katy S trust me to care for their teams? Will Catherine or Anna surprise Michael? Will Henry and James stop with do-si-do and make a move? Can Moira embrace Australia and finally get out of 10th place? Does anyone read this thing? What happened to Paul and Bob? I mean really Paul, you couldn't walk, surely you could have plotted cricket moves. Will Michael grace us with his worm?

So take your time, plan you moves, read the cricket news, gear up, harass Michael for a worm and I'll see you all tomorrow. Katy

My loss could be your gain

The sad news (for me anyway) is that South Africa has been eliminated, voted off the island, fired, sent home. I will be playing sans captain for the rest of the tournament. So here's your chance to swoop in and overtake me.

Here's the skinny on todays matches: the first game was Pakistan and South Africa. Here's what the commentators had to say after Pakistan's innings, "South Africa sizzled at the start. The Akmal brothers broke free. Afridi too indulged himself. Langeveldt starred in the end." Umar Akmal scored 51 runs leading Pakistan to a total of 148. South Africa should have been able to beat that with a bit of gumption (and Langveldt certainly had some getting 4 wickets!), but I guess the gumption was in short supply for the rest of the team cause even with AB de Villiers getting 53 they could quite muster enough runs to win. Saeed Ajmal also had 4 wickets so bonus points if you had him. Pakistan are through to the Semis in the E2 slot and will face the winners of group F (probably Australia)

In the second match New Zealand batted first and put up 149 for England to chase. Not a bad total, Pakistan did it with 148. Taylor had 44 runs but nothing to shocking from either side with this opening inning. Then England goes up minus Pietersen who went home to see the birth of his son. Congrats Pietersen. (this by the way cost Michael a trade cause he didn't know. HeeHee) I didn't get to see any of this match but looking at the scorecard it looks like maybe it was a bit blah. No big numbers coming from the English inning either but enough to get them the win and a spot in semis as the winners of group E. They will play the F2 team (most likely Sri Lanka)

In our matches: Big Brother is spending to much time in the outhouse - somebody throw him a magazine. The volcanoes, dusters, and Drag Ons are all having a pivot dance with Jimminy while the Chartham Strikers are taking out Gophers left and right. Then there's the Hillbillies looking to show the Strikersjust how to cook up some Gopher stew. The Mind Magician has put the Chiloquin to sleep and teh Wackey Wanstead Wicket Winners should just give up and take the Right Brothers out for a pint. Here's the worm:

Mother's Day

Since its Mothers day I am not going to say much but normal blogs will commence tomorrow, I promise.

West Indies beat India and Australia creamed Sri Lanka.

Check the worm for our results.

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers and I'll catch you tomorrow. Katy

Thanks a lot Steyn, Morkle and Akmal

Thanks for nothing. Big exciting games today that Michael saw but I did not. I tried to get Michael to write the blog tonight so that he could add all kinds of color commentary but he refused. So you get my analysis based on Cricinfo.

Game 1: I just watched the highlights of the last over which is where all the drama was so I know a few things. Anyway, New Zealand bats first and don't really put anything exciting together. Only racked up 133 runs. So you're thinking this is probably not a problem for Pakistan. Enter Salman Butt (any of you gluteal inclined folk still have him?) He was one of the opening batsmen and stayed all 20 overs racked up 67 runs. U. Akmal on the other hand went out for a duck. Thanks Akmal. In the last over they need 11. Then 7 from 4, then 3 from 2, then 2nd to last ball Pakistan gets a bye (a run but there was no hit) so now Rehman is on strike not Butt. Rehman has just come in recently, Butt has been there all day and doing well. But bad luck they get Rehman for the last ball. He hits it, New Zealands Guptil catches it, New Zealand wins by 1 run!!

Game 2: England is up first. They put up a pretty good number 168. Kieswetter (41) and Pietersen (53) had a good little partnership going. This is also where Steyn concedes 50 runs earning him -5. Thanks Steyn. So now South Africa is chasing 168 but they never really get anything going. Duminy did ok with 39 but no one else and here is where A. Morkle goes out for a duck! Thanks, Morkle. Englands bowlers did well with both Swann and Sidebottom (again with the gluteal guys)each had 3 wickets. So England won by 39 runs.

That's it for the professionals folks, now how about us? Well we have our own super eight rounds going. Michael is battling with the more mature ladies for 2, 3, 4, and 5th. Someone should tell him to be kind to his elders and not make fun of them when they can't read the rules and make needless trades by mistake. Then Anna and Arvinder are in a tight competition for 6th. Henry and James are battling for 8th while Moira plays solitaire in 10th. Paul, Bob, Sandeep, and Shan are all hoping to avoid the sweaty teddy award, who will succeed? Don't believe me, check out the worm.

Finally, tomorrow we have India v. West Indies and Sri Lanka v. Australia

If you didn't have Jayawardene you're a fool

So this will be a short blog owing to the fact that I'm tired - really tired.

Australia beat India as their first 3 batsmen went wild. Cheers to Watson, Warner and Hussey. Then the hits kept coming as Nannes and Tait each got a 3 wicket haul. Sorry India.

Sri Lanka beat The West Indies mostly owing to Jayawardene. He was the first in and went 98 not out! He batted all 20 overs!! Amazing. Malinga and Mendis each had 3 wickets to bravo to them. Sorry West Indies.

Michael, Henry and Sandeep all moved up in the rankings and Missy Had Jayawardene as her captain so bravo to them. everyone else? check out the worm.

Tomorrow Pakistan V. New Zealand and England V. South Africa. Go teams!

Redemption

So, two good matches today. First was Pakistan and England. Pakistan batted first and there was pretty steady wickets falling throughout. No one really able to get any super high numbers. The one Pakistani batsman of note, Afridi. He went in and then went right back out carrying with him a huge Golden Duck! First of the tourney I believe. So bummer if you had Afridi. Despite that they ended their 20 overs with 147/9. Then England took their place at the bat and it was really more of a loss by Pakistan than a great win by England. Don't get me wrong England played well, I'm not saying otherwise (Geez Catherine don't get so touchy, they're lovely gents). But Pakistan missed a LOT of fielding opportunities that they should have had. Especially my man Saeed Ajmal. He dropped a bunch and just plain missed a bunch and one point it looked as if he might need to catch a ride home with England rather than ride the bus with Afridi. But anyway, his crappy fielding was England's gain and they easily won by 6 wickets! Of note: Pietersen who finally showed up at the tourney with 73 runs and Ajmal did gain back some redemption with a good time bowling earning two of the wickets and a 5.14 econ rating (I was kinda shocked they let him try). So England gets props and next they will take on South Africa on Saturday - I hope no family rifts form from that one!

The second match of the day saw South Africa and New Zealand but you'll have to wait till later for my great commentary as Sean is crying. I'll be back...........

OK, I'm back. Here's the scoop: SA batted first and pretty much went wild. AB de Villiers got 47 then ol' Albie went 40 off of 18 balls! Let me do the math for you....that's 2.222 runs for each ball - pretty amazing stuff. SA ended up with 170 and only dropped 4 wickets. Then New Zealand came up and they made a go of it but couldn't quite muster enough umph. They fell short by 13 runs and Oram had a duck. So South Africa wins.

In our competition Bob made gains, as did Paul (maybe my slight jab was enough to light a fire...) Missy, Katy S, and Michael surged while Catherine was a bit flat leaving her in the weeds. The worm? Michael got a new camera lens and has been playing with it all night - you might not get a worm. Things are getting tight with trades, make sure you plan ahead you don't want to be left out cold in the end.

Tomorrow Australia and India followed by Sri Lanka and the West Indies. Good Luck everyone.

Nannes Aplomb

Ok so we finally had a full day of games, Yeah! Missy came over and we watched both games with Sean - it was a good day. It began with Australia taking on Bangladesh. Australia was up to bat first and I have to say did not start out well at all. It got to 65 for 6. How was Australia going to get out of this mess? Enter M. Hussey and Smith. The finally got a good partnership going and left Bangladesh with 141 to chase. Now comes Australia's turn to rack up wickets left and right. The first two went out for ducks and the third eked out 1 run. The man of the match if you ask me was Nannes who had a four wicket haul and an econ rating of 4.0. SO if you had Nannes - good on you. Australia was able hold Bangladesh off and won by 27 runs.

In the second game South Africa was batting first and Afghanistan played a great inning holding South Africa to 139 runs. None of the SA batsmen did anything huge. Kallis was the biggest scorer with 34. Hats off to Afghanistan for keeping things in reach - sort of. Once the innings changed Afghanistan went from holding their own to dropping all their wickets. It began with wicket after wicket, leaving Afghanistan at 32 for 8! But then they had a few guys hang in there and would up with 80 runs. So SA won by 59 runs. South Africans of note today were the three bowlers Steyn, Langeveldt, and M Morkel. Morkel got 4 wickets!

SO, the first round comes to an end and we are all hoping the we can finally leave the rain behind. Teams that are advancing: A1 Pakistan, A2 Australia, B1 Sri Lanka, B2 New Zealand, C1 South Africa, C2 India, D1 West Indies, D2 England. Tomorrow we have Pakistan V. England and South Africa V. New Zealand.

For us? Well check out the worm:



As you can see we have 2 groups kinda forming. If you're in the bottom group NOW is the time to make the jump before it gets out of control. Come on Paul, Don't make me change your name to the Lame London Legless Losers. And watch out for the Chiloquin cause they are starting to surge. In the top group JiminyPivots and the Dusters were both a bit flat while the Volcanoes, Big Brother, The Hillbillies and The Drag Ons all had a pretty steep slope. The top? Michael thinks I should mention that I am currently ranked 22 in the Global Competition but I think that's a bit like gloating so I'll just say that I managed to hang on to the lead.

Lets play cricket already

So the last four matches have all been ruined by rain. The dreaded Duckworth-Lewis struck again crowning New Zealand winners over Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe were at 58 for 1 doing a fine job of things and then Oram made a brilliant field move taking Masakadza out. After that the wickets just fell one after the other and Zimbabwe ended their inning all out at 84! Should be no problem for New Zealand to chase 84 but the rain prevented them from really getting the chance. The win anyway and move on to the next round.

Then the England game began. England was up first and put up a modest 120 runs. The Irish fielders had something to be proud of as did my man Morgan who was the only real big hitter for England with 45. Ireland goes to bat and everyone is thinking they might actually be able to chase 120. But we'll never no cause after 3 overs it began to rain. The game was called a draw giving Ireland and England each 1 point. So England goes thru since they had a much better run rate than Ireland.

So what is the lesson here? Well, if you could predict who would win the coin toss you could just plan on one side batting and the other being washed out. Stock up on batsmen from the coin toss winning team. Anyone know how to rig a coin toss?

In our tourney I, Katy Robinson, defending champ, have taken the lead. I credit it all to my Zimbabwean picks - to bad I now have to ditch them. With all these half matches it seems like everyone is sort of jockeying around their same spot and no one is has really been able to put the gas on except Moira's Hillbillies (anyone know how to make moonshine?). Here's hoping to dryer weather.

Tomorrow Australia v. Bangladesh in a must win for Bangladesh and South Africa V. Afghanistan where the winner moves on.

Who is Duckworth and what is a Lewis?

So lots of rain and not a lot of cricket today as both matches were rained out and the winners determined by some arcane mathematical algorithm called Duckworth Lewis. It began with Sri Lanka who put up 173 for Zimbabwe to chase. Jayawardene made a century! Only like 3 others have done that in Twenty20 matches. Then Zimbabwe needed to get 44 from 5 overs but only managed 29. So Sri Lanka wins. It was not a total loss as my sleeper Zimbabwean bowlers did quite well for me. In the next game England put up a staggering 191 (I'd like to note my pick of Eoin Morgan was brilliant as he had the highest score for England with 55) then WI were declared the winners with 60 runs from 6 overs. Why? Who knows.

In our match Duckworth was no where to be found as Missy's Dusters shot to the top plugging up the works for Catherine's Volcanoes. Seems to me that Missy is playing fast and loose with her captain changes (Raina yesterday and Jayawardene today). Hope she doesn't run out of trades before the end. My stealth Zimbabwe choices propelled me into second and I'm wearing a mask so the dust shouldn't be a problem - Watch out Missy!

Tomorrow lets hope for sunny skies as we watch New Zealand take on Zimbabwe and England hopes for redemption over Ireland.

Date Night

Tonight was date night so this will be short. I didn't see either game really but did catch Raina going wild in the early part of the day. Hurray for Raina! Boo to those who have him as captain (Missy). Other than that South Africa lost to India but this shouldn't impact their chances of moving on and Australia trounced Pakistan big.

Lots of movement in our part of the world. Catherine made a huge leap to first place overtaking Missy on her way. I'm sure Missy is miffed as she was all a dither over the fact that Raina was her captain. Bob has an interesting strategy that involves no trades and seems to be working quite well for him.

Tomorrow Sri Lanka returns against Zimbabwe while The West Indies take on England.

I squirm, you squirm....

we all squirm but where's the worm?!? Come on Michael get going on that worm! (he's sitting their munching on watermelon complaining how one needs at least 3 scores to make a worm - seems to me that only two points are needed for a line....)

Well there was one good match and another match. Afghanistan really tried to make a go of it but fell hard. They put up only 115 before going all out. India was easily able to chase it conceding only 3 wickets. In the more exciting game Pakistan hung on to beat Bangladesh. The two openers for Pakistan, Akmal and Butt went for 73 a piece and set Pakistan up with a nice total of 172. But Bangladesh did not go quietly and they had Pakistan biting their nails as the duo of Ashraful and Al Hasan put a big dent in the numbers. But once Al Hasan went out the wickets just get falling.

In our exciting little tourney: The Outhousers are really starting to stink things up for the rest of us increasing their lead by 70 points over Anna's JiminyPivots. And watch out cause Arvinder has made a huge jump up into 3rd place. My strategy of picking Afghanistan's up and coming star did not work out when he went out for a DUCK! Ooh well, I will be bringing it tomorrow so get ready!

Next matches are: India v. South Africa and Australia v. Pakistan

Sammy anyone?

Well, the first day has finished up with some exciting cricket. New Zealand took down Sri Lanka in a close match winning by 2 wickets with just one ball remaining. appraently it was a real nail biter. It wasn't all bad for Sri Lanka and if you had Jayawardene you picked up some points. On the other side McCullum (nathan that is) did quite well and some guy named Ryder. Brendan McCullum went out for a duck so bummer if you had him. Look for Ryder on Catherines next sqaud. As for the other game, West Indies easily beat Ireland by 70 runs. And none of the Irish really did anything of note except the youngest kid in the tournament. Dockrell is all of 17 and managed to come up with 3 wickets. However, Sammy for the West Indies was the hands down points scorer for the day. He has 3 wickets, like 4 catches, and 30 runs. SO did you have Sammy??? You may want to snatch him up. Rampaul also had a good showing for the West Indies.

So how's it going so far in our tournament? Well Katy S's Outhousers took an early lead with 151 points. Followed closely by Anna and Missy. But its early folks so they should not get to comfortable at the top! If you want so inside dish let me just say that Michael has a top secret strategy - if you read this very quietly I will share it with you........he plans to pick players that will earn a lot of points....shhhh....don't tell him I let the cat out of the bag. Personally I think with 100 trades it is going to come down to some of the less popular players who surprise us. So look for the next Sammy or Ryder and you could be on top.

Tomorrow we see Afghanistan (did you know they had a team?) play India and Bangladesh will take on the defending champs Pakistan.

Confusion and Excitment

Ok, so here's the confusing part. I know that my mom and I both got emails from cricket web saying that the competition was starting and mentioning that they were making a change with all rounders. The email said you would get 7 batsmen, 1 wicketkeeper, and 3 bowlers. No all rounders - they were all going to be classified as batsmen. So I went to cricket web and checked my team. Sure enough it now has my 2 all rounders classified as batsmen and I looked to see what my choices were if I wanted to make some trades - again it was as the email said with all the old all rounders now slotted in with all the batsmen. BUT, when I look at anyone elses team it says they have opener1, opener2, 3 batsmen, 1 wicketkeeper, 1 all rounder, and 4 bowlers????????? I don't get that at all. SO......check your teams. Just to be sure you've got the players you want in the slots you want.

Other than that I am getting pretty excited to get this party started. I am looking forward to once again showing Paul just who is the better cricket fan. Good Luck to everyone and may you have all your ducks in a row - I'm planning on NO DUCKS!

Welcome Back

Hi all, so it is that time of year again where I sit down on a semi daily basis to ramble about cricket. I certainly never thought my life would come to this - I blame Michael. So as you can tell I have dusted off the old blog and we're getting ready for some new fun. I haven't asked him but I certainly hope Michael will be dusting off the worm, its not a proper tournament without a worm.

Ok, so if you haven't already done so you need to make a team and join the competition. Go to the cricket web site (link on the right), log in (you can log in with your old info if you remember it), create a team for the ICC World Twenty20 2010, then once you have a team click on "user comp - join", enter the user competition key 1271432164, sit back relax and plot your next move.

Games begin April 30th but the trash talk can begin now!