Pirates of the St Lawrence versus Sukhdeo’s Select: A Guyanese XI
Saturday 19 June 2010

Pirates of the St Lawrence and Sukhdeo’s Select battled through a bibilical flood on Saturday, only for the match to be drowned out after just 50 overs. The opportunity was there for a full game, but with the opposition arriving more than an hour and a half late, any chance of a win was washed away by late afternoon.

The Rocket Phil Roche got the Pirates off to a flyer. After the first two balls of the match were pulled for four by the glove-and-box-less Mohammed Saddick, Roche produced a meteor that crashed into the top of off stump.

Leaky Fawcett bowled with good control to Mahesh Ramkissoon, keeping him to singles. But at the other end, Raja Sukhdeo looked to flay his fellow Pirates. The score passed 50 in the 9th over, with several edges travelling to third man.

Anti-Pacers Wisden and Chowdhury tangled the batsmen up in knots. Wisden struck in his first over, bamboozling Ramkissoon with an even slower ball that rapped him on the pad dead in front. Chowdhury followed suit, enticing Sato into a chip to Bell at short midwicket.

The wickets brought the Sukhdeo twins together. The Pirates braced themselves for a bruising half-hour, but the lack of pace caused all sorts of problems for the batsmen. Raja was bowled by Wisden playing a day too early. Hari, probably for the first time in his career, failed to hit a boundary. He hacked Chowdhury to cover where Roche swooped to claim a sensational catch.

At 87 for 5 in the 17th over, the Pirates were straddling the Sukhdeos. St-Jean then had Shafik caught in three minds as he spooned a ball straight back to the bowler.

But with time aplenty to go, Naresh Ramkissoon and Willy mounted an infuriating fightback as the bowlers tired in the heat. Balls soon began to disappear into the forest.

Bell pegged down one end and had his reward when Willy slapped one to St-Jean at extra cover. The sticky-fingered Saint spilled the ball, only to gobble it at second attempt.

Daddy Sukhdeo then teased the cover and midwicket rings, stealing singles and overthrows at will as the Pirates lost the plot. Phil MacLeod restored some sense, firing the ball in from the squareleg boundary to run out Sukhdeo coming back for a second.

The Highlander MacLeod was soon in the action again, removing Naresh this time, as Roche once more dived forward at cover to take a sizzling catch.

Saywick clubbed Bell into the woods but fell in the legspinner’s next over, stumped smartly by Marie Aime’e.

Matt Legault, testing his new action, picked up the final wicket in the 34th over as Birbal attempted a hoik too far, skying to MacLeod in the covers.

Sukhdeo’s Select, with the aid of 31 extras, finished on 191 for 11, thirty runs too many after some uncharactestic sloppy fielding from the Pirates, a plague of wides, and one or two loose balls that need chopping.

As the players crammed all that they could into their stomachs for lunch, the skies darkened. Further delays ensued, as the opening batsmen returned for second and third servings while they should have been helping themselves out in the middle. By the time Hari Sukhdeo began his run up in the first over, the sky looked like something out of a Tim Burton set.

Hari and Willy got the ball to bend at pace. Sundar was the first to fall victim, gunned out lbw for a duck to a ball that may have continued past leg stump.

Ed Palmer looked determined to run himself out as the rain arrived, haring down the wicket when the twins, salivating at the opportunity, had the ball in hand. He succeeded on the third attempt. Willy struck Bell on the inside of the knee. The Scotsman doubled over in agony while Palmer set off like a lunatic. Bell, collapsing on the ground, with the last air in his lungs, bellowed, ‘Nooooooooooooooo!’ only to find himself in a race with Palmer for the crease at the wicketkeeper’s end. Palmer eventually turned and was run out at the bowler’s end by Raja Sukhdeo. Bell was left writhing on the ground like a snake.

Phil Roche, his hair frizzing in the deluge, chopped and glanced his way to 7 before retiring hurt because of wet spectacles. Philippe MacLeod joined Bell at the crease but there was further delay as no one wanted to umpire in the rain.

With the bowlers unable to grip the ball, and the batsmen unable to grip the bat, the crowd was in for an entertaining session. Bell almost killed Legault for the second week in succession as his bat flew over the infield. The crowd called for abandonment, but Bell, halfway to the boundary, after a plea from the bowler, had a change of heart and ran back for more. He then slipped trying to dispatch a beamer and removed a bail as his bat crashed into the stumps. Unable to hear the umpire’s call in the driving wind and rain, he simply replaced the bail and carried on.

MacLeod, lapping up the opportunity, unleashed his cover drive, but boundaries were near impossible to find as the ball kicked up puddles in the field. The Highlander eventually fell for 4.

Marie Aime’e, wearing a cricket sweater for the first time in her life, looked perplexed at the conditions, but began solidly, milking the ball through midwicket.

At 54 for 3 in the 17th over, the crack of thunder sounded, and the players ran from the field like scared animals. Huddling for warmth under the tent as the heavens opened, with women and children in the middle, it looked as though the teams would have to bed down for the night. Cap’n Bell raised everyone’s spirits by reminding them they’d have to take the tent down before leaving.

Pirates of the St Lawrence versus Sukhdeo’s Select: A Guyanese XI
Saturday 19 June 2010
The Candy Fields, Mont-Saint-Hilaire
Match type: 35 overs per side
Weather conditions: Bright, hot, blistering then f@*!ing wet
Result: Match abandoned due to biblical flood

Sukhdeo’s Select: A Guyanese XI Innings

Mohammed Saddick (wk) b Roche 8 (2×4)
Raja Sukhdeo b Wisden 42 (6×4)
Mahesh Ramkissoon (wk) lbw Wisden 13 (1×4)
Sato ct Bell b Chowdhury 1
Hari Sukhdeo (c) ct Roche b Chowdhury 7
Shafik c&b St-Jean 2
Naresh Ramkissoon ct Roche b MacLeod 36 (1×4, 2×6)
Willy ct St-Jean b Bell 20 (3×4, 1×6)
Bhajooram Sukhdeo run out (MacLeod/Bell) 7
Tony Saywick st Aime’e b Bell 12 (1×4, 1×6)
Ray Nowrang not out 5 (1×4)
T Birbal ct MacLeod b Legault 3

Extras 31 (Byes 0, Leg Byes 0, No Balls 6, Wides 25)
Total 191 for 11 in 33.2 overs

FoW (1-8, 2-55, 3-56, 4-87, 5-87, 11-191)

Bowling

Phil Roche 5 overs, 1 maiden, 1 wicket, 21 runs
Tim Fawcett 4 overs, 0 wickets, 26 runs
Tom Wisden 5 overs, 2 wickets, 29 runs
Erfan Chowdhury 4 overs, 2 wickets, 12 runs
Matt Legault 3.2 overs, 1 wicket, 16 runs
Hugue St-Jean 3 overs, 1 wicket, 35 runs
Angus Bell 6 overs, 2 wickets, 22 runs
Philippe MacLeod 3 overs, 1 wicket, 12 runs

Pirates of the St Lawrence Innings

Ed Palmer (wk) run out (Raja Sukhdeo) 2
Sundar Krishnan lbw Hari Sukhdeo 0
Angus Bell (c) not out 25 (1×4)
Phil Roche retired hurt (wet glasses) 7
Philippe MacLeod b Birbal 4
Marie Aime’e (wk) not out 3
Tim Fawcett DNB
Matthew Legault DNB
Hugue St-Jean DNB
Erfan Chowdhury DNB
Tom Wisden DNB

Extras 13 (Byes 1, Leg Byes 3, No Balls 4, Wides 5)
Total 54 for 3 in 17 overs

Bowling

Hari Sukhdeo 5 overs, 1 wicket, 12 runs
Willy 4 overs, 1 maiden, 0 wickets, 8 runs
T Birbal 4 overs, 1 wicket, 18 runs
Mohammed Saddick 4 overs, 0 wickets, 12 runs