Let the Good Times Roll

We're the 12 best frens that anyone can have

Boston University Cricket Club participated in the American Cricket Championship held at Fort Lauderdale, Florida for the second time in two years. Last year we lost all games and came back home with a heavily bruised ego. Before I get into the gory details of this particular trip I would like to say that I have not had so much fun since leaving high school and would like to thank all the players for making this possible. This trip was definitely a break that I needed to get my mind off the recent events and the uncertain future.

Day 0 (Boston)
There is a saying that “boys will be boys” and this nicely sums up the day of our departure from Boston. As usual apart from one person nobody showed up on time at the airport. Then there was the confusion regarding seating, luggage and the uncertainty whether we will all make it to the same flight as we were travelling by a carrier called Spirit Air that is best known for heavily overbooking. As things would pan out we all made it to the flight but not without a few facing the brunt of the usual TSA bullshit. There are two Pakistanis amongst us but as luck would have it one of them had to go through the harassment of being repeatedly checked for holding a green passport. Once this was over and we settled into the flight one could see the excitement amongst the so called “MIAMI Virgins”. We arrived in Fort Lauderdale at around midnight and just to get the ball rolling decided to meet at Denny’s for dinner and our first official meeting. We enjoyed a perfectly unhealthy meal before our first game and went to sleep in anticipation for the next day to arrive sooner.

Day 1 (Fort Lauderdale)
Excitement got the better of a few and we were up well before our alarms went off. The whole team got into their crispy new uniforms and head out to the stadium to show that they are here to compete and not make up the numbers. We showed our intent first thing in the morning when a few choice words were exchanged between our Vice Captain and the whole NYU Poly team. We were upbeat and ready for the challenge but little did we know what fate would have in store for us at the end of the day. Just before the game started we were dealt a blow when we were informed that the official scorer had failed to show up and that the teams would be self scoring which more often than not usually leads to controversy. I won the toss and elected to bat first so that we could put up a big score and pressurize the team chasing. Our main batsmen failed to deliver but still we ended up scoring 127 in the allotted 20 over’s. Our bowling being our strength led the fight back and we had the NYU team reeling at 36 for 4 in 10 over’s when things started going against us. The scorer’s from the NYU team randomly started increasing runs and made the target for them easier. We still fought hard but it was only a matter of time that we realized that the cricketing God’s weren’t on our side when the umpire too failed to give a batsman out for being bowled. Yes, the umpire overturned a bowled decision!!! The game ended on a sour note and let’s says that it was a miracle that the teams didn’t come to blows by the end of it. Thoroughly disappointed, the president of the club and I went to talk to the organizers and his lame response being, “You guys should just be thankful that you are here” strengthened our resolve.

Day 2 (Fort Lauderdale)
Feeling a little disappointed we reluctantly got onto the field on the second day facing one of the strongest teams in the competition. Rutgers University had got a lot of press for this tournament and were the favorites to win the group and proceed to the semi-finals of the tournament. This time around I lost the toss and we were sent into bat. Out batting clicked this time around and we ended up scoring 142 for 6 in the allotted 20 over’s. Rutgers University were off to a flying start but we persevered and gained control of the match. One of our bowlers bowled a magic three wicket over which turned the match on its head. We ended up winning comfortably and proved to the organizers that were not here to make friends but compete with the so called big boys. This was the first game in the stadium that was recently approved by the ICC to host international matches and we had marked our names in history by winning it. This historical event was covered and the report can be seen here . We celebrated this victory by heading out to the world famous South Beach in Miami. After a night of fun and frolic we came back to get some much needed rest before the DO or DIE Saturday.

Day 3 (Fort Lauderdale)
Not being known for its physical fitness the team showed signs of fatigue early Saturday morning. We knew that we could not afford to slip up if we were to reach the Semi-finals, and, this task was made even harder as we had a double header with a gap of three hours between games. I lost the toss again and York College decided to make use of the slippery outfield by batting first. Their opening batsman, a regular in the USA under-19 team walked out with immense confidence and nonchalantly dispatched the first delivery he faced for a boundary. Our bowlers showed their mettle and soon he was outfoxed by an in swinger. From there onwards it was all BUCC until fatigue started to creep into our game and unnecessary runs were given. We were set a target of 137 and lost our in-form opener to the very first ball he faced. This was a big set-back and the top order again succumbed to pressure. Our resilient middle order again came to the rescue and got us within striking distance. We ended up losing the game by one run which was a hard pill to swallow as we came so close to beating a team and securing a berth into the semi-finals. This loss affected in the next game against University of Pennsylvania and we lost that one by about twenty runs.
Some players resorted to alcohol while some to partying to deal with the sorrow of not making it to the semi-finals. Miami again lived up to its expectation and turned out to be awesome and the events of the night shall not be disclosed unless the reader meets one of us in person. No, this has nothing to do with picking up random women or going to a strip club as most people would assume which as much as I would hate saying would be a good story too .
Finally to sum up this trip, we proved that BUCC is no longer a push over and that other teams should not take us for granted. We caused a major upset and proved to be worthy adversaries as mentioned by one of the members of the opposing teams. As a captain I love the aggressive attitude and the fighting spirit shown by the team. In the words of a fellow team member, “It was an honor to have played with each one of you” and I whole-heartedly agree with these sentiments. I hope that this trip was a wonderful experience for one and all and that newer friendships have developed that will take this team to greater heights.