July 21, 1640

This is what happened on the 21st of July, in the early 40s. By early, it refers to the 15th Century. (AD, of course)

Two franchises, namely the Medieval Nail Cutters and the Facial Hair XI, wanted to show each other who the real boss was, so the decided to have a friendly cricket match. Of course, since the trend back then was obviously things like Bull Fighting, Gladiator Circuses and Chariot Racing, which didn't last very long, I presume, it was decided that a Twenty-over-a-side match would be played. But recent evidences state that T20 is not very old, but I'm pretty sure this one happened as mentioned.

In the pre-match press conference, the MNC captain, Charles, said boldly,"Ye FHXI are complete unicorns! Of what they have accomplished over ye past hither, they will not be forgiven. This time, by her majesty's beards, they are going to ye ditch-waters. Mark me word."
To his reply, the KHXI captain, Charles (yes, Charles again), said,"Thee mustn't insult our team. We have got a rebuilt batting line up. Ganymede is going to make way for Oliver. We have had enough of him, Ganymede. Oliver's 60 years of experience will prove to be more useful than Ganymede's pinch-hitting abilities. We have also given up on our medium pacers. We have now auctioned (at a cap price of $50 Billion) for fresh fast bowlers, all aged between 40 and 45, ye perfect time for youth to showcase their talent, on a village stage. Ye perfect blend of youth, an' experience."
To which Charles (MNC), quickly replies, "Let's see you prove that on ye cricket pitch."

The match begins. (Cricinfo Style)

Details:
Toss, MNC who chose to bat.
Umpires: Daryl Harper and Francis Du Preez.
Venue: Duke's Cricket Ground, Old London.
DRS: Only hotspot, no hawk-eye, as usual.

Playing XI:
MNC
Adam, Tendulkar, Charles (wk) (c), Fred, Pattinson, Pope Johan XX, Lionel, Lampson, Smith, Potter, Thomas.
FHXI
Peter, Alden, Goshua, Ronald, Dennis, Julius, Jacques, Pope Johan XXI, Charles (c), Baxter, Egbert.



1st Innings
2.1 Baxter to Tendulkar, OUT, The fast in swinging yorker does the trick. Tendulkar, goes after scoring 3 runs. Inexperienced man, but the selectors realised his potential and picked him. Today, nobody regrets it. Besides, he was only minus three hundred and thirty four years old.
Score is now 7/1 in 2.1 overs (RR ~3.4)
3.4 Egbert to Charles, FOUR WIDES, the bowler completely screws in up and bowls a ball that goes over the batsman's and the wicket keeper's head. The bowler being an off spinner, this was not completely expected.
Score: 13/1 in 3.4 overs (RR 3.8)
5th Over Maiden over that.
Score: 15/1 from 5.0 overs (RR 3.0)
6.1,6.2,6.3 HAT-TRICK from Charles. Lets call it the Captain's knock.
Score 17/4 in 6.3 overs (RR 2.6)
The rest of the over goes runless.
Rain has arrived. Match reduced to 7 overs a side.

Top scorer: Adam, 8 not out.

Best Bowling: Charles 3-3.
FHXI need 18 to win from 7 overs.


2nd Innings
An umbrella field of 4 slips and 3 gullies.
0.4 Thomas to Alden, 1 run, square cut, hit the umpire (Daryl Harper), who fainted and had to be taken to the hospital.
Score 3/0 after one over. (RR 3.0)
1.1 Lampson to Peter, no run, beautiful bouncer there, well left.
1.2 Lampson to Peter, FOUR, Slightly full and nicely pulled. Lampson seems angry. O, and we see some verbal, 15th century style.
1.3 Lampson to Peter, OUT, Lampson gets his revenge. Sweet. Based on lipreading, he might have shouted 'Patagonian p*tticoat', 'nic*mpoop', 'sauc*ge' and 'Troj*n'
Score 9/1 after 2 overs. (RR 4.5)
Need 9 from 5 overs.
2.2 Lionel to Ronald, driven to Pope Johan XX at long off, who promptly misfields it and lets it go for four. And you are not allowed to question the parish. You will be executed in the right areas.
FHXI need just another 5 more runs to win.
4.5 Pattinson to Julius, an edge down to third man for a single.
5.2 Smith to Julius, a leg bye.
KHXI need 3 more buns to win.
Oops, it's rain again and the match has been called off with MNC winning by Duckworth-Lewis.

What it means to practice at Lord's

After seeing a depressing first two tests as an Indian Cricket fan, let me tell you some things that have never been told to you anytime in your life...

    1. Sachin and son.
As mentioned by various sources in the press, Sachin Tendulkar (or at least that's what the public addresses him as)(Who knows his name might be different)(He might be a spy for the Russian Navy)(Or may be an ancient immortal Fakir who uses magic while playing cricket)(or just a messenger of God)(or an Indian Cricketer)(Anyway, it doesn't matter in this context), has been reported to have been allegedly practicing at Lord's for the past couple of months (Often with his son)(Seldom with Monty Penesar), commuting everyday from his luxurious flat in Regents' Park. He said in an imaginary interview with me, "I am passing all my knowledge about cricket to my extremely talented son. He is likely to go far as a cricketer." Though I did not at that moment understand that passing on means that the knowledge his been given to his son and he no longer possesses it. Which can explain his failure in the Lord's test.

    2. Training at Lord's
Lord's is a peculiar cricket ground. Don't ask me why, I just added that sentence to attract more readers. Anyway, the Englishmen have a strange way to practice at Lord's. The entire team flock at the nursery ground which is behind the media centre like dogs flocking around the last sausage in the world, trying to snatch it from each other, only to find that it had already been eaten. The English players line up, while the couch stands on top of the Media Centre perching on top of it like a medieval Edinburgh knight perching from his hideout. He has a bat in his hand and each of the English players have a genuine leather ball in theirs. So, all these English players (even KP, though he is South African) must climb their way on top of it, hand the ball over the the coach and jump down. The coach will then hit the ball flying into the air, and the player who jumps down, must charge (not as in mobile cell phone charge) towards it and catch it. If he fails to do so, his face will be dipped in a barrel containing pickled oranges. Exception: While all the players have to climb their way up, in the 1980's, Chris Tavare would handily use the recently installed elevator.


    3. The Ghost of WG.
Sachin Tendulkar cribs a lot. He got tired of staying at home and decided to stay with the rest of the team for a change. This time, he got bored of it and decided to go home. And by home he meant - The home of cricket - Lord's. As he was about to fall asleep, he saw the ghost of WG. He decided to follow it and by morning, he found himself in a pile of fake beards.

That concludes my blog for today. OH WAIT I ALMOST FORGOT!! 


PPCQ EPISODE 3!!!


For the compete guide of the PPCQ and the rules and regulations, click here.

Today's question:

Q) When will Episode for of PPCQ be posted?

HINT: I don't know the answer to this myself.

OPTIONS:

• Late Febtember.
• Yesterday.
• None of the above.
• All of the above.

ANSWERS:

 And the correct option was: None of the above. Actually if patience was an option, then that would have been the right answer.

If you have got it right, then you have won yourself a ONCE-IN-A-LIFE-TIME-OPPORTUNITY TO READ THIS BLOG ALL OVER AGAIN!!!

Congratulations to all those who got it right.

Cheers to everyone else.