Friday, May 14, 2010

It's a googly!

Yesterday after work we had a cricket match between our team and AML.  This was originally scheduled to happen last summer, but we couldn't round up enough players, then it got cold, yada yada, and we finally made it happen.  Cricket is very similar to baseball, and is really popular in India, where most of the IT guys on each team are from.

Until yesterday, all I knew about cricket was what I saw in Hope and Glory, a movie I watched endlessly when I was young.  It's set in WWII England, and follows a boy on his adventures through the remnants of his neighborhood, which was bombed during the war.  His dad teaches him how to play cricket, and how to throw a googly, a tricky pitch that only a skilled batsman can recognize.  The pitch looks like the ball will spin one way, but it goes the opposite direction.  In the movie, the family goes to live with their grandparents temporarily, where the kid uses his dad's instructions to deliver a googly and out his father.  I tried to find a video to share, but was unsuccessful.

Each team won 1 game, but there was much trash talking throughout both games we played!  The best line I heard all day:  We were waiting for one of our players to show up - he had a god excuse for not being there, work-related, and we were playing during the work day, so we kind of understood, but one guy told someone "Call Sooda, tell him to take off his pantyhose, put on his big boy pants, and get his butt over here!"  HAHA!  When he finally arrived, I asked him if he got a run in his pantyhose, and he cracked up!  :)

I tried batting, but I'm not very good at hand-eye coordination.  I used to play soccer, and was the goalie, so you'd think I'd handle this better, but it's been a looooooong time since I was 8.  So...I sat in the bleachers with the other girls and played the part of cheerleader.  I made signs with some cricket terms, and we waved them when appropriate:
 Alsa, Ashwini, me, Madhavi, Sudha

It was a good time, but I still don't understand all the rules, and couldn't keep up with the score.  Here are some action shots from the warm-ups and 1st game.  
 Kishore bowling (pitching)

Rob and Sooda running for points (runs)

Rob bowling

Sooda batting

Rahul showing Rob how to bat

Team shot

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