Durham Trip

The whole point of playing for Kensington and Chelsea cricket club was to focus on challenging myself. This trip organised to Newcastle/Durham was a very good opportunity for me to get myself challenged to the next level.

One game was played against Berwick Cricket Club on a Sunday. Berwick, for your info, is a ground just on the beach. You have the cricket ground and to the left you have the beach.

The ball was swinging a good deal because there was a lot of breeze around.

We batted first, and yeah, the wicket wasnt the best and it kept low a lot. Ultimately KCCC skitted for a decent score of 137 in 30 overs. It wasnt our best performance, but considering the itinerary we had, most players were a bit tired.

What happened next is something I will relish for quite some time. In came the Berwick batsmen. Both of them were from the 1st XI and were supposed to be very good. Rony and Kash started the bowling and it was going on well for the first couple of overs, but then we were giving a boundary every over. This coupled with the fact that the batsmen were patient, meant that we had to change things quick and had to be effective at it. I really saw Arun emerge as a great captain that day. He was really involved in the game, on top of every fielding position, every ball, every over.

Arun came in first change and I was second change. Initially, it had to be said, Arun was bowling a magic spell, and I was not getting it right. I gave 10 runs in the first over. Considering that it was low scoring game, this was nothing short of a cardinal crime. There was some wind cutting across from my right to my left and I was finding it difficult to get the line right. In between overs, I told this to Arun. He was encouraging me to bowl well - with all my experience behind me.

The next five overs, I really had to get it back on target. The first two balls of the second over went for boundaries. Come on Satish, get it right, I was thinking. Finally I trapped the opening bat LBW third ball. The umpire gave the correct decision, and it was very encouraging. From then on, the next 29 balls, I gave around 9 runs. I bowled with a good deal of accuracy, deceiving the wind cutting me and the batsmen trying to score off my spell.

I could have got a couple more wickets but then some catches were spilled and it was just one guy who was going for it. In the end, with one ball to spare, Berwick managed 140. It was such a valiant effort by everyone on the field, with Arun captaining very well.

In the dressing room, when I sat down with all the guys, I realised how much I was focussing on winning and how close we came to get it done. Yeah, it was a great day's game but then, in such narrow margins, when you end up losing, its as good a feeling as dying.

Anyway, I looked around and didnt see too many ppl as dejected as me. They were all cheering up and applauding the good effort put in the game. We left Berwick for home - a tedious drive - I have to say, I made a lot of friends on the way back - as we talked about different cultures - Kiwi - British - Saffer - Indian, our club indeed has a very good variety in it. I like it!