Glenmore Victoria Tour 2013 – Part 1

My favorite time of year where bat & ball, pint glass and beer and golf club and tee come together for the annual Glenmore Cricket Tour to Vancouver and Victoria.

This year we played an unprecedented 4 games organized exceptionally well by club stalwart Trevor Defreitas. A massive thanks has to go out to Trev who has organized the tour for 6 years in a row, selflessly spending a huge amount of his time making sure that those of us lucky enough to get in on the tour have an absolutely amazing time.

Monday the 29^th July saw everyone up at the crack of dawn to meet for the eggs and bad coffee at Humpty’s on the Trans Canada. Touring this year were Trevor, Jonno Bray, Glenn McDonald, Dave Hope-Johnson, Arthur Affonso, Russel Ramjattan, Kamal Chinnusamy, Ravi Sangar and Mike Sing. Usually joining us for the Victoria portion Nev Hircock who was a long standing member of the Glenmore Club unfortunately announced his retirement this year, it will be sad never again to see the “Nev Bounce” after a particularly good defensive shot. Another retirement that was announced was Glenmore founder and all around fantastic team guy Mark Duncan. For 4 years now the Victoria Tour has been Mark’s only cricket as he has concentrated on Marathon running. We are all sad to see you go Mark and want to thank you for everything you have done for the Glenmore club since it was founded. So with a few last minute additional cancellations we hit the road with 9 eager guys.

It’s amazing how tradition can creep into even a 6 year old tour. Every year Trev and Mike cook up a storm at the very last minute the night before and we sit down to some variation of amazing curry and roti by the lake in Sicamous after which we grab waffle cones and home-made ice-cream at D Dutchman Dairy.

Safely in Vancouver, day one came to a close and ear plugs were passed around to handle the inevitable snoring battle waged most expertly by Glenn McDonald and Mike Sing.

Tuesday the 30^th July and the sun shone brightly as we made our way to West Vancouver Cricket Club. Last year this venue was our first ever washed out game so it was exceptional to see clear blue skies and feel the warmth of 27 degree weather.

It could have been the effects of a 12 hour drive the day before or snoring affected sleep that helped to produce a very average performance. 2 years ago and our only previous game at this ground produced a commanding victory but 2013 saw West Vancouver get revenge. Jonno and Ravi opened facing the outswing bowling of Yash and the accurate off the seam movement of Steve Miller.

First to go was Bray connecting handily on a back foot cover drive which unfortunately went straight to Steve Melbourne. Wickets then fell in quick succession with Russel (LBW) to Steve and Ravi bowled expertly by Yash heading back to the boundary leaving Glenmore teetering at 3/20. Trevor and Kamal steadied the ship with a 43 run partnership before Trev wandered a bit too far out of his crease and was stumped for 20 off Jim Richards who had come on and started with some very tight bowling. Kamal followed soon after for 19 caught off the bowling of Jim Richards again. Arthur added some fight to the middle order with 19 of 27 balls before again finding Steve Melbourne who didn’t look like dropping anything. 6 wickets down for only 92 meant we needed a decent wag to put up any kind of competitive total. Shaq a young recruit filling in to bolster our numbers worked hard to try and hold up an end but was also stumped followed by Dave who fell on his sword getting run out by a mile after not much calling at all. 8/97 and only two wickets in hand making even the magical 100 appear like a difficult task. Mike was cleaned up by Steve Melbourne who couldn’t stay out of the game which left Glenn McDonald all on his own to face the remainder of the bowling, cleverly hitting singles into the gap to rotate the strike back to himself. Glenn purchased a new bat a few years ago that has seen little use except for taking up space in his cricket kit, 4 boundaries later all that was put to rest with a top personal touring score of 19. Glenn finally swung at one too many and was caught off the bowling of Rod.

122 didn’t look like nearly enough runs. Kamal and Dave opened the bowling and both bowled extremely well. Kamal drew first blood getting through Ankit’s defence sending him back for 10. Jasnoor looked really dangerous and was striking the ball cleanly picking up anything down leg with great timing and placement. Dave was bowling a fast spell from the other end but was frustrated by some over the top hitting that always eluded the field. Kamal picked up another, trapping Harsahej in front for 18. Glenn came onto bowl and Jasnoor picked him up for two consecutive boundaries before Glenn got the better of him with a ball that pitched perfectly and took out his off stump. Jasnoor was gone for 36 and at 3/74 some quick wickets were needed if Glenmore was to make a game of it. Glenn proved to be the man for the job picking up Rod for 1 caught at close mid wicket by Shaq and Yash for 16 caught by Kamal at deep long off. 5/110 and only 11 runs needed. Throughout the falling wickets Ali one of their division one top players remained calm, picking off the bad balls and making sure of victory hitting the winning runs and finishing on 36 not out. First game loss by 5 wickets was a tough start to the tour but the best part of the day was just starting.

The outstanding BBQ and beer while basking on the deck overlooking the two grounds, more than made up for losing the first game of the tour. Table Tennis, Pool and good conversation followed as everyone relaxed and enjoyed the hospitality of the West Vancouver Club. Next year we can look to tip the scales back in the deciding match.

Wednesday the 31^st July brought Trev’s alarm chirping into the room announcing that it was almost golf time. This year Glenn, Jonno and Dave were joined by Jim from West Van. Ravi, Trevor, Mike and Steve from West Van made up the other group. Playing the lovely Riverway golf course made famous by the Happy Gilmore movie everyone had a fun round with Ravi the new blood playing for the first time ever.

Combined tour lunch at the Roti Shack ensued after the trio of Russel, Kamal and Arthur spent their morning at the Capilano suspension bridge. The food was excellent and portions were somewhat huge.

Off to the ferry and our final destination the famous “Sticky Wicket” at the Strathcona hotel. Another great meal washed down with many jugs of beer brought a close to an excellent touring day.

Thursday the 1^st August. A new month dawned with a chance to make amends for the poor showing in Vancouver. Cowichan Cricket Club at Shawnigan Lake has always been a favorite venue due to a combination of so much history and such a welcoming and fantastic bunch of guys. Glenmore batted first on a scorched outfield in clear skies and 25 degree weather. Russel and Jonno opened the batting this time and set a cracking pace, racing each other to 50 not out and bringing up the 100 partnership in only 13 overs. Balls were hit to all parts of the ground and anything timed into the gap went racing to the boundary over the lightning quick outfield. Jonno was handed the first 50 when Russel was bowled a wide that evaded the keeper allowing a scampered extra. Russel followed soon after bringing his 50 up with a cut shot for two. A great start to the innings was soon backed up by Trevor and Arthur who continued to push for runs with Arthur taking 16 off one Dave Gooda over which included 2 big sixes over the midwicket boundary (Arthur was safely caught in the scoring box by Russel). The first wicket finally fell in the 22^nd over with the score at 167 when Trevor unluckily picked out John Black as he tried to hit over midwicket off the bowling of Adrian Eaves who was starting an excellent spell of bowling.

The wicket instigated the start of the Cowichan fightback. 7.59 runs per over was the run rate after 22 overs. The next 18 overs brought only 4.6 runs per over which normally would be a great run rate on any ground but a run and a half short on the fast Shawnigan Lake outfield. Arthur, on 44 when the first wicket fell and looking like he would knock off his 50 in no time was cleverly contained by the wily Cowichan veterans. Ravi (5) was stumped by the impressive Vippin who at age 73 is still a remarkable keeper, always finding the ball firmly in the middle of his gloves. Kamal joined Arthur and worked to increase the rate eventually falling for 36 off 34 balls off the left arm bowling of the opener Simon. Arthur in the meantime had made his way to 50 off 53 balls. 3 down for 213 in the 32^nd over.

Tim Lord filling in for Glenmore looked to pick up the rate with Mike at the other end but was also stumped by Vippin who was quick on the trigger taking the bails off in a flash. Tim made a quickfire 12 from 9 balls. Mike and Glenn finished out the batting both not out on 12 and 7 and hit some lusty boundaries. Mike hit a couple of fours that wound back the clock by at least 2 decades as they sped to the fence.

250 exactly with a par score of 300 the suggested total by the locals.

Cowichan XL know their ground well and they know how to win. Part of the strategy is always working to keep any 50+ retired batsmen from coming back out at the end of the innings. They had worked this well into their plans and with crafty field placements had kept 50 potential runs off the Glenmore score.

It was Glenmore’s turn now to work hard on the baked outfield. Dave and Glenn opened the bowling and the first 3 overs only yielded 5 runs. A great start, however it is extremely difficult to bowl economically at Shawnigan with 8 runs coming from Glenn’s next over. Dave again produced a tight over conceding only 1. Glenn also tightened it up again conceding only the one boundary in his next over. The pressure was building on the Cowichan batting and something had to give. Dave found just reward for his tight spell catching the edge of Adrian Eaves bat (13) which was taken smartly by Trevor. 9 overs gone and the score read 1/31. Dave finished with the incredible figures of 1/25 from his 8 going for just 3.12 runs per over. Glenmore were pulling ahead and Kamal made the next breakthrough bowling Dave Gooda for 19. Carfoot and Heaps started putting together a partnership until Glenn picked up Heaps for 37 caught by Tim Lord off his last over just when he looked set to smash the last few runs to his 50. Cowichan were 3 wickets down for 108 after the 25 over mark needing 9.46 for victory from the remaining 15. Glenn finished with the respectable figures of 1/38 from his 8 overs. Kamal continued to bowl well, keeping tight and piling the pressure on finishing with 1/31 from his 8.

Dillon Carfoot who was batting sensibly was joined by Simon and the pair put Cowichan back in the game as Arthur and Tim Lord were crashed around the Shawnigan boundary. Tim went for 42 runs from his 4 overs and Arthur went for 36 from his first 4. First Dillon then Simon retired in quick time relieving the pressure somewhat. Dillon and Simon had hit almost 11.5 runs per over making the score 175 off 31 overs.

Arthur found some respite picking up the wicket of Sly magnificently caught at a full run and dive by Russel for a cameo 13 off 8 balls. There was a small amount of panic from Cowichan as first John Buchanan and then Vippin were both run out in quick succession by Russel and Kamal. 6/190 in the 34^th over and it was starting to look tight.

Arthur continued to go for 8 runs per over and Russel bowling his leggies to finish off the innings also took some stick going for 7 runs per over. Harding fell on his sword hitting out and was bowled by Russel for 6 off 2 balls.

With only 1 wicket in hand and 2 retired batsmen itching to come back and finish the job the word went out to safely keep the two occupying batsmen John Black and Banks at the crease. Firstly Bray got in line with a smashed cover drive by Banks, only remembering and deflecting it into the ground for two at the last second rather than bringing Dillon back out onto the ground. Kamal also with his head in the game shelled a straightforward catch at long off which gave up only a single. Russel was bowling well and trying to keep the ball away from the stumps and a potential bowled opportunity.

Even with this tactic Banks and Black continued with the 7 to 8 runs per over which left them with 17 runs off the last over from Arthur. 2 singles and Glenmore relaxed a little. The boundary next ball made winning a possibility for Cowichan and tension was palpable around the ground. A valuable dot ball which Arthur celebrated as though it was a wicket meant that two boundaries were needed and one had to be a maximum. Russel put in a great effort in the field on the next ball preventing a boundary and keeping it to 2 leaving the last ball out of reach for a Cowichan triumph. Banks tried valiantly to make it closer but only managed to sky it back to Arthur who was now allowed to take the catch finishing with 2/63. Russel finished with 1/28 from his 4 overs. Congrats to Arthur who worked extremely hard to bowl out his 8 overs under some real pressure from Dillon and Simon.

And, thus ended a fantastic, tense game of cricket, thoroughly enjoyed by everyone involved. Russel received man of the match for his 50 not out, excellent fielding including a magnificent catch and his nervy 4 overs for 1 wicket at the death. Congrats to Russel on receiving the coveted Cowichan XL shirt.