416 runs were scored in 60 overs of scorching sunshine and sizzling stroke play at the CSC Curry Bowl. Final scores in our 2nd home Vs home left Johnny Sists Super Heroes on 179 - which on a normal day would be a winning score - 58 short of the mammoth 237 target posted by Abhis Avengers, lead by blistering 50's from both Kenny & Pete both in 20 something balls...
Other innings to note were worthy fight backs from John, Hammer & PK... Another first for both Bru Cawood & Andy Beer as they left the field with all limbs, muscles and teeth intact... Here's hoping they survived the post match drinks session where the degree of difficulty escalates beyond past levels of personal competence.
Match Report by Misfit Muppets Skipper - Alexander the Great
Happy New year to all Misfit's here is to a fantastic year ahead for all of you!
First game of the year has a massive turn out, maybe it is in anticipation of the Aussies regaining what is rightfully ours "The Ashes!", or due to a cracking monsoon everyone was keen to get back to cricket!
I skippered 1 of 3 teams with Mal and Ranga leading the other 2
Misfits hosted Spirits in the first of the two-match series this season at the CSC ground. On a hot day, Misfits played the perfect host as captain Inzy chose to field.
John Sist and Kalpesh opened the batting for Spirits, and their contrasting styles were soon on display. John scored the bulk of the runs early on, while Kalpesh plodded along. Kalpesh eventually came to the party with some bold hits, but was
After many changes to the Misfit line-up during the week the team was finally settled at about 12.45pm on game day. The final XI was Moose, Richie Kenner, Chris Walker, Ramesh, Jamie Hunt, Paul Mclean, Durga, Krishna, Matt Love, Raj Mohan and Vasanth.
The HP team contained many Misfits, but as they chose to play for the opposition I will do my best not to name them unless I have to. As usual I do not have the
Unedited video & stills highlights - Match Report on its way
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Gentlemens Final: Kamasutra V Misfit AFC |
Players Final: Barmy Army Vs The Invincibles |
Champion of Champions Boat Race Kamasutra V The Invincibles |
Misfit 6's Champion of Champions: The Australian Invincibles
Misfit 6's Gents Winners & Boat Race Runners Up - Kamasutra
Thank You's and Happy Snaps from the Bar
The long awaited report of the epic battle between the Karma Sutra XI and the English XI at the CSC oval.
A rather gloomy day greeted the 2 sides for the toss, which was won by Abhi, the Karma Sutra captain who promptly elected to bat. The Karma's got off to a rollicking start, led at the front by Glen pushing the score onto 20 for the loss of none through 3 overs. A strong fight-back from the English bowlers,
After a slight delay to the start of the game due to some suitably hung over players from both teams alike, the captains tossed (closely managed and supervised by the legal eagles captain for obvious reasons). The legal eagles won the toss (fancy that) and elected to bat.
The misfits managed to put in an excellent effort in the field in rather inclement conditions, restricting the legal eagles to a paltry 90 odd off about 20 overs for 3, before rain interrupted play.Paul, Malcom, Laksh and Radders picked up a wicket a piece, with Matt Love bowling a very economical spell for no reward.
The rain break was greatfully received and many found 
time to have a quick beer and cigarette whilst discussing their evening plans. After resuming, the misfits suffered at the hands of a very destructive Inzy, who made a quickfire 50 (losing 3-4 balls in the process) restoring respectability to the legals score.
Tea having been taken during the rain delay meant a quick turn around, and the misfits batting innings was opened by Alex Hobbs and Rich Burfitt needing 145 off 30 overs. The going was sure and safe if not a little slow by the opening bats, and the misfits found themselves under some preasure come the 15 over mark, still needing around 75 odd runs for the victory with 9 wickets in hand.
There was no need to panic however as Radders was next in and played a very measured innings to get the run rate up and ended up scoring an undefeated 50 to boot. He was ably assisted along the way by Prakash and Matt love, before AJ came in to put the finishing touches on with a couple of 6's to end the game.
All in all a good game and a solid victory for the misfits
The tournament started off with the customary welcome drinks at the Pornping hotel (no, that is not a typo, nor an accurate description), where the core group of Steve “Blaxa” Blaxhall, Nishan “no need for a last name as everyone knows me”, Shane “the Vet” Ryan, Owen “Chips” Pringle, Nick “Kun” Kirby and Paul “not yet Lemmy” Mclean met to discuss strategy, most notably, hit the spirits table first and leave the beer to last. We also meet out liaison Milk, and apparently had our photo taken.
Game 1 vs. Bangkok Postals (Expat): The Taranaki taverners were the first to bat, with Owen and Paul opening the batting. Owen was going great guns, dispatching balls to all parts of the field (but mainly cow corner) and Paul staying the hell out of his way. A few wickets fell; Taranaki finished the five overs with a decent score of 54. Obviously the drinks last night reared their ugly heads, as extras had an outstanding innings of 20+, Bangkok Postals taking the win, and in hindsight after their following performances; we are still scratching our heads how.
Game 2 vs. Darwin Dilettantes (Aus): a shock to the system for some of the misfits, with the game starting at 8:45 (no worries though, more time for drinking afterwards), the Taverners had planned to bat first and Darwin bat second, so when Shane won the toss, he decided Darwin were to bat first just out of spite (there go the carefully laid plans we had in the bus). Spearheaded by Steve Blaxhall, Darwin were kept to a miserly 42, with extras not quite so prevalent, Taranaki easily chasing this down with some nice batting from Rohan Bully Buultjens.
Game 3 vs. Blytheswood (UK): Before the game there was more strategy talk from the old masters on how to ensure we were in the plate of bowl finals. Should we win? If so, by how much? At the end, no one had a clue, so we went out to bat with our usual clueless attitude. An unfortunate injury to Owen led to some missed runs, but still an admirable effort with the bat, we put on 57, which was just out of reach of the Blytheswood boys, as they could only manage 54.
So from the preliminaries, we were 2 from 3, more than good enough to see us in to the Plate. True, but also good enough to get us in to the undreamed of territory of the bowl. Somehow we had overachieved and overshot the mark, and would be facing some more formidable opposition. We would need to ponder this over a few beers and maybe some bottles of vodka in one of the fine establishments in Chiang Mai.
Game 4 vs. Divine Felons (NZ): the local derby, with the two Kiwi teams facing each other (I may have forgotten to mention that Taranaki is in New Zealand), the Felons were in to bat first. After some tight bowling for the first two overs, something happened to the bowling that was unfortunately not recorded (the advantage of being the tour scribe), and the Felons ended their 5 overs on 80, Taranaki were nowhere near that with 45.
Some more discussions, some more beers and vodkas on our day off, and we realized we were still in it with a chance. With a 9:15 start, it was decided an early night was best for all after 5 days of drinking and that would leave us all refreshed. A nice plan in theory
Game 5 vs. Armadillos (UK): Apparently a few of the Taverners eschewed their early night for a not so early one. Never mind though, we were all still in fighting form, relatively. We were first in to bat with ex Sri Lankan international Ravi Ratnayeke starting strong with a few sixes, in the first over, the form was not to continue, as 
at the end of the five overs we were 51 (still yet to break 60). Some strong bowling wasn’t enough to restrict the strong batting attack of the Armadillos, as they chased down the total on 4.1 overs.
Thus another campaign on the field came to an end; there was still the Farewell dinner to attend to. However, there was a cloud on the horizon, as a general election was looming, which meant to booze for sale from 6:00 Saturday to midnight Sunday. As such we girded our loins, drank at the farewell dinner, saw our photo in the paper from the welcome drinks, won some ducks in the raffle thanks to Chips Pringle, and for legal reasons we did not purchase any alcohol from our favorite establishments for the rest of the weekend (which is amazing because most of us still woke up hung-over, thanks to lax local policing and some local contacts cultivated over the week)
The Misfits have always been a club that reflects the way the cricket world is currently trending, whether the world game tracks the Misfits or it is the other way around is up for debate. Let me give you an example….India who briefly held the number 1 Test ranking have since gone 0 and 8…..England who briefly held the Singapore Ashes have since gone….no hang on….I umpired on Saturday so am supposed to stay neutral.
One trend that has caught on is the concept of “resting” players. Are they truly being rested or have they been dropped to make way for players with more talent or in better form, but more on that later.
As I arrived at the ground the Aussie team was in the midst of a standard warm-up of curry and conversation. The English warm up seemed to consist mainly of introducing themselves to each other. The toss was completed before I got there so I don’t know who won, but as the Aussies batted first I will assume it was Hammer, standing in for the “resting” Inzy, rather than Phil Childs.
Bondy and Rich opened for Australia, while Tim and Baz were the opening bowlers for England. Tim bowled a beautiful spell and was unlucky not to take a wicket; Baz was not quite so impressive. The Aussies progressed steadily interspersing some careful defence with some aggressive stroke play until Bondy forgot that Rich had very nearly been cast as Frodo in the Lord of the Rings and his little legs took a lot longer to propel him down the pitch than a normal human. Rich was run out by about 5 yards as the result. Pete came in at 3, having been promoted in the order to give him a chance to score 50 and thus raise $1000 for charity.
Bondy departed not long after and Pete was joined by Dene. They put on a decent partnership with Dene in particular playing some very stylish shots. However both departed soon after the introduction of Nick Taylor into the attack. Nick bowled superbly as did the youngster Mohan, restricting the scoring and taking wickets on a regular basis. Phil Simmonds, Henry Duddy and Ash Perrott were soon sitting back in the pavilion the first two with 0 next to their names. Australia was at a very precarious 7-104. I think Childsy may have taken a wicket in there as well somewhere, but I don’t want the kid to get a big head, especially since he is moving to Hong Kong anyway.
Johnny Nihill who had been witness to the carnage at the non-strikers end was now joined by The Taxman, who was miffed that he was so far down the order and even more so when the English decided to bring the field in when he was on strike. A partnership of 75 odd developed with John finishing on 41 and the Taxman with 65 n.o, (after retiring and then coming back for the last over. )Contributions from the skipper and Patto saw the total climb to 212 all out in the 29th over.
Nick got 3, Phil got 3, Mohan got 2, there was run out and I can’t remember who got the last. I will say it was Baz, as he needs some encouragement after going for plenty.
So a quick break for some 100 plus and watermelon (the crispy egg sarnies have finally been replaced) and it was time for England to commence the chase.
Rob Hands and Kev Robbo strode to the crease with Patto and Hammer the opening bowlers for Australia. Both Aussies bowled with pace and fire, with Hammer in particular almost unplayable. He finished with figures of 2-7 from his 6 overs and if Patto (fielding at gully) could catch as well as he bowls he would have had 4. The English innings never really settled with wickets falling regularly. Kev batted very well for 30 odd, but apart from cameos by Mohan, Unmish and Nick no one else really got going. Ash chipped in with a couple of wickets and Henry Duddy finished with 3, showing to that STW (the middle word is “Takes”) does really apply in Misfit cricket. In fairness to Henry we often talk about a bowler being able to keep a consistent line and as being a good thing, the fact that Henry chose knee high full tosses on leg as his line and length should not detract from the skill level required to attain such accuracy.
So, England all out for 152, 61 short of victory.
Hammer had some very nice words to say about both his own side and the opponents, whereas Phil could only muster praise for the Australians. The kid still has a lot to learn, step one should perhaps be looking up the meaning of diplomacy and motivation in the dictionary, but then who I am I to talk! Pearcey maintained tradition by helping the Aussies celebrate their victory and many beers were consumed.
Hammer named taxman as his Aussie man of the match……Phil mumbled something unintelligible and wandered off the curry buffet when asked for his nomination.
So, 1-0 to the Aussies, the only question remaining at the end of the day was whether Inzy had truly just been “rested”??
A great result this Sunday to beat leaugue champs YMD FC 1:0 through a superlative Whiskin goal. Winning our last game of the season next Sunday will put us into the promotion play offs.
The showdown on Sun 19th Vs Central Park FC is at First Toa Payoh Sec School at 1pm.
Here the boys are in their shiny new kit... sporting our main sponsors the ever fantastic Dallas.
Match skippers ( Nishan and Ramesh ) conspired before the game to hammer out the details of the game. It was a simple enough format, 20 overs per side, 10 players per side, 5 pairs batting for 4 overs, -2 runs for a wicket. Inspired by the Indian performance the night before, Rambo won the toss and elected to bat, forcing Nishan and his stalwart followers in to the field.
Mikey and Annie opened the batting, and while according to Pat Benatar, Love may be a battlefield, but that is incomparable to the devastating bowling from Lorraine and James, with the pair struggling, to 9 off their allotted overs. Next to the crease were the power pair of Andy and Durga, indicating many a quick single and 
dashing doubles, with the pair putting on 23 from their 24 balls.
The spirits pair of Paul and Zak were in next, with the focused goal of showing the Misifts what they could do with the bat, which they sort of did, scoring 33 off the allotted overs. Some naysayers may decry their efforts on point out that only 18 were off the bats and most were desperate leg byes, but to these I say fie ( look it up ). Krishna and Ram were tasked with the penultimate pairing, putting on 27, leaving Nigel and the Skipper Rambo to hammer home the final nail in the coffin. At least half the pair tried, as Rambo failed to fire with 5 from 11. The total to chase was 114 with 6 wickets falling, with top scorer sundries dominating with 35.
After drinks break with tea and beer, the pair or Andy and Durga were re-united to open the bolwing against Jamie and Miles. Some tight lines and crafty turns kept the duo to 20 off the first four overs, and kept them bowling against Brad and Roger, who then took 25 off the next 2 overs, and 42 in total 
off their 4. Mike and Shane were in next , and continued the pace, 36 off their 4.
Nishan & Kev Batted well hitting lusty blows to produce a wagon wheel Tendulkar would envy, taking their team to 7 ahead despite miracle efforts from Rambo’s X as the opposition skipper entered the fray with Nigel, but alas it was not to be ( although there was a plucky fight back from the Spirits contingent again, with Paul snaring 2 wickets for 4 from his two overs ). By the time Lorraine and Weasel came out for their overs, they just need to protect their wickets, but still added 22 to the score. Nishan’s X, 130 runs, with 7 wickets falling.
As per standard procedure, beers were imbibed, tall tales were told, and the magnanimous skippers pardoned both teams from fines. Man of the match was declared to be Brad Patterson.
*No animals were hurt in the making of this match report
It was all very animalistic on January 28 when the Misfits played a classic home versus home game at the Ceylon Sports Ground. The teams were divided based on Chinese zodiac so essentially 4 legged Misfits Pigs, Goats etc were playing @ or less legged Misfits, Rabbits, Monkeys, Snakes etc...
The pigs won the toss and elected to bat in batting friendly conditions but what ensued was savage cricket. Not many had expected the top batting order to bat the way they did. Pete and Simmo ravished a spirited bowling effort (at times) from the rabbits hitting huge sixes and sizzling boundaries. Pete (70 odd) in particular stood out hitting monstrous sixes at will, all with a broken bat!! One of his sixes broke the window at the IA building which was fantastic to watch.
Shankar (40s) managed a few whacks over the boundary line along with Gaurav (50s) who was also in scintillating form. The best of course was reserved for the end when Warren showed how cricket should be played. He rotated the strike well and finally got boundaries in the last over when it mattered to ensure a solid 230-240 on the board off the allotted 30 overs.
Of the bowlers Nataraj was particularly good. The rest got clobbered especially Nara, Ramesh and stingy Richie but they were still smiling which was great.
The rabbits were determined to give a solid fight. A solid batting display followed with Charlie (40 odd) leading from the front setting the game for an exciting finish. Of course his cause was helped by merciless hitting by James Urqhart 72, who was picking sixes off balls swinging in to the middle stump. As if to prove a point, James hit a six that broke through an AC compressor hanging out of the IA building.
It was an even match for a bloody long time but before the nerves got to most of us, Nishla decided to finish the match with a crucial wicket of Charlie. James finished not out although he was helped by a rare lolly drop by (of all people) angry Pete!! James from the pigs bowled particularly well as did Simmo who seemed to lose interest mid game and started spraying really fast full tosses which were duly dispatched to the boundary on most occasions.
Lots of beers and fines followed after a game when 400-odd runs were scored. A virgin spirt Roger Charles won the privilege of drinking from the box while Shankar had to drink as well only because he angered Pete with a honest assessment of what he thought Pete is! Come on!!.
Big Moose dislocated the top portion of his middle finger (kid you not!!) which was attached back by some dodgy “doctors” in a massage parlour off Balestier Road (haahaa ok ok he went to Mount Elizabeth). He did join us for beers later to start a rather complicated drinking game that got everyone sloshed immediately. Good on you buddy!!
It is probably my last match as I prepare to move out of Singapore but it has been a honour to be part of a team such as Misfits which always plays to the heart with its competitive social cricket and charity drives.
P.S. The unpleasantness of drinking from James’ “huge” box still lingers as I write this. What a bizarre practice but I guess things like these make Misfits what it is today – A club joined together by a spirit that clearly goes beyond just playing cricket.
Kung Hey Fat Choi or Gong Xie Fa Cai, any way you cut it – happy new year to all you solid blokes.
