Looking Back Detail Page

03 Apr

- THE THREE MUSKETEERS

Every year in the drowsy hot summer afternoon we in the School play cricket. We have not the amenities of the stars who play out the grim Test battles but possibly we enjoy our game more than they do theirs. Surendra of the fifth enjoys his cricket as he springs down to bowl; Dundh of the seventh enjoys his cricket as he gets his wrists over Surendra’s bumper and hooks it cleanly for two. Possibly one unattained to the lazy pulse of the game would not understand the peculiar exultation that we get from this game. We exult in crude happiness as David Joseph cracks the ball high and far. Perhaps the novice would understand our thrill at that. But he would not understand our admiration when Dundh strokes a brute force speed merchant down the slips with perfect timing but no force for one. We clap because Dundh by twitching his wrist has achieved what Joseph with all his brawn and might could not. “A thing of beauty is for ever” Yet it is not only scoring shots that bring that thrill. When a defensive batsman of the caliber of Bajoria or Moraes, Lalji or Heredia halts a fine ball in mid flight do not the humble stone wallers get a thrill of joy from their achievement? A ball well bowled which takes no wicket and a hit well fielded give aesthetic pleasure as good as material satisfaction. We have throughout the season played eagerly and well. We have observed the latter of the unwritten law well enough to gin tribute from St Xavier’s HS.

Cricket is a game that almost every one can play but to play it well requires more skill than most games. It is just this trick of learning the game which adds much to its liking later on. It seems to me that skill can be acquired by

1.    Trial and error and PRACTICE
2.    Coaching and PRACTICE
3.    Study of the game and PRACTICE

Cricket during the past term has been keen and interesting. Boys have been keen and eager and our turf has seen a number of fine knocks and bowling and fielding feats. Batsman should straighten their bats and hit less leg shots and catching should improve. Nevertheless we played well enough to win 2 and draw 2 of the 5 matches w played losing only one and we saw new batting records set up. The previous individual score of 50 was eclipsed by M R Mehta (52) and again beaten by P P Dundh (60). Good batsmanship came also from both the Sajdehs from D Joseph R H Pavri Surendra and several others. Bowling feats were not so common but despite wickets favorable to batsman we saw K Sajdeh Senr. (6-30) K Sajdeh Jnr. (5-19) M R Mehta (6-24) Surendra (4-20) P P Dundh (9-40) and H R Pavri (4-16) all turn in good analyzer. Ground fielding was always good and batting Soli Mehta S S Jaipal Deepal Malhorta and M Lalji all improved.

SCORES:
1.    At New Ground: Beat St Xavier’s by 3 wickets. Xavier’s 40 and 67, Campion 38 and 70 for 7 (Sajdeh Jnr. 25 Sajdeh Sr. 20)
2.    At Oval: Drew with Nisar’s XI. Nisar’s XI 100 and 25 for 3. Campion 79 (Mehta 20 Dundh 17)
3.    At Reclamation: Lost to Baba XI by innings and 27 runs. Baba XI 125 (Surendra 3-20, Mehta 4-37) Campion 70 Judah 23, Dundh 17 and 38 (Pavri 15 Lalji 11)
4.    At Oval: Beat D’Costa XI by 6 wickets. D’Costa XI 100 (Sajdeh Snr. 5-23 Surendra 3-20) and 60 for 5 dec. Campion 103 (Surendra 25, Dundh 20, Pavri 15) and 59 for 4 (Sajdeh Snr. 15, Pavri 10, Lalji 10 P Dundh 13)
5.    At New Ground: Drew with St Xavier’s. Xavier’s 63 (Surendra 5-33 Mehta 3-21) Campion 61 (Sajdeh Sr. 23 Joseph 16 P Dundh 8)

INTER CLASS MATCHES
VI v/s VII
VI 99 (Lalji 17, Sajdeh Sr. 20) and 103 (Sajdeh Sr. 12 Sajdeh Jnr. 26 M R Mehta 6-23)
VII 86 (Dundh 60 Keval Sajdesh 5-24, Sajdeh Sr. 3-25) and 77. Dundh 40, Joseph 16 Keval Sajdeh 5-19)

FOOTBALL: The football season was commenced in June but after a week ceded to cricket. This was unfortunate as it deprived our players of practice for the matches’ v/s Cathedral High School. The weather was wet and windy and we played with the rains in our faces. Nevertheless despite the weather conditions being all against us we fought doggedly and after 3 goals had been netted against us in the first half (two to the tall eager Brelvi) we held them back in the second half. Of such a Homeric match might be used the phrase, ‘Defeat was glory in such a struggle victory made us a little less than angles” D Joseph remained our best player in spite of strong competition from stringy tow-headed Owens Roberts and aggressive little Keval Sajdeh. We can only hope that in the future we may see games played in their proper season and the school prospering from it.