My Bat Story
I have been playing club cricket, here in the Midwest, through a conference called the Midwest Cricket Conference.
Joined a new team, called Sonics last year, and have continued with the team this year as well. Bunch of fun people, and great to get to play club cricket here in the US, which i've never been able to do back in India.
My brother, back in India, had the shock of his life, when I told him I was playing club cricket, and I needed to buy a bat from India. His exclamation was "I've hardly seen u play cricket here even at school, and you are playing cricket there??!!" His shock was even more profound, when I told him, I was the opener for my team's batting line up. (It's another thing that I am not a swashbuckling opener, but a patient, grafter, but why give information thats not needed was my logic :) )
Anyway, after atleast a month and a half of research on cricket bats, I purchased an MRF Bonzer from www.bigblue.safeshopper.com
I was very particular about buying an English Willow, rather than Kashmir Willow. English Willows are much more expensive, and their performance is much better. Was supposed to get my Blade Baby on Monday the 17th, but no, it didnt arrive. Being the impatient guy when it comes to things he's got his mind and heart on, I couldnt take it. So, called this chap there at the store. He says, 'Oh, yes, sorry, I messed up, I sent your bat to the knocking in place, i wont charge you for this, its my mistake, but i'll send it after its done'. And my reply, 'Thats nice, thank you, but i have a match the coming saturday, and i want my bat by then'. (Its another thing that i wanted to knock my bat myself, and i was pissed its being knocked by somebody else !!). So, i asked this dude, can you please send it by overnite delivery? He says, he'll check and get back to me. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I never got my bat, neither was i able to reach him either. Gave him a couple of warning messages as well, that i'll cancel my order if he doesnt call me back. No Use. So i promptly cancelled it, and went ahead to good ol' Devon Avenue, to buy a bat. And this was Friday evening, match was next day.
I was a man on a mission - I had to play the next match with my own bat !! (its another thing that a new bat needs to be knocked in, and this usually takes about a week, or, 6 - 7 hours of knocking in. but i had other plans to make up for the knocking in. like waking up early the next morning, and knocking all the way in the car, to the match venue, which was at Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Checked out a couple of stores, and finally zeroed in on the only other one i could buy a bat at. Store called, Gandhi Appliances. (Yes, they sell, all kinds of appliances, and its not a sports store at all, but then again, this sounds better than the only other store i could buy a bat - Noor Meat Market !!)
Checked out a few bats, had to finally settle in on a Kashmir Willow, BDM, Old Gold to be precise. And boy, did i take some time to buy it. I took 3 bats, and was trying out its weight, played some imaginary cover drives, and pull shots, much to the annoyance of the store keepers. Zeroed in on two bats. Couldnt decided on either one, some more cover drives, pull shots and back foot defense. After 45 gruelling minutes, decided to go by my instincts, and bought a bat that was a tad heavier than the other one. (My request for a weighing machine to compare the weight of the two bats was turned down, snobby guy !!, says we dont have such machines, and to think it was an appliance store, Nincompoop !!)
Phase 1 of mission complete, now Phase 2 in progress, to locate a bat mallet and some linseed oil to knock the bat. 'Appliance' store, and 'Meat Market' carried neither. So i had to borrow from someone. After 20 minutes of calling around, located one. and it was a long way away. So got a friend of mine to pick it up and give it to me, as he was driving back to the city from around where they were. The time i received it, 10.30 pm. and i had to leave Chicago by 8 am the next day.
And I had slept only 4 hours between two days, thanx to my part time job, and i was dead tired. Oiled my bat patiently, and was off to sleep. I wake up at 5.30 am, did my usual morning ritual, showered, and was out of my apartment by 6.45. And then it started. The Knocking. Final phase, Phase 3 of my mission was in motion. A new bat needs to be knocked in for atleast 6 hours, my math told me i'll have atleast 4 - 5 hrs knocking done in, and it should be good enough.
So, I knocked, and knocked and knocked. Annoyed, all the early morning joggers, walkers, and dog poop collecters, but heck i cared. Its my Baby Blade, and i need to get her ready for the game.
And then my friend arrived to pick me up, warned him that i'm gonna knock my bat in the car, and he said it was cool, and that i could go crazy with it. (Thats what i wanted to hear! God bless his soul.)And i knocked, and knocked. Picked up another team mate on the way, and we were on our way to Milwaukee. And i knocked, and knocked. In the car. Poor Adnan, and Shakeir. After about an hour and a half, Shakeir gave up, and pleaded. Ofcourse, i admire their resilience, i was thinking they'd give up much sooner, but nice guys, they put up with the constant 'tok tok' from the back seat.
The conversations used to go like this:
Adnan: Yada Yada Yada
Shakeir: Blah Blah
Me: Tok, Tok, Tok.
Eventually, by the time the game was to start, I realized Baby Blade wasnt ready to be played, so put it away for another round of knocking later.
About the match, well, its another story, and you'll hear about it, in my next blog.
And as for my Baby Blade, she's still being knocked, much to the annoyance of my neighbors !!!!
Joined a new team, called Sonics last year, and have continued with the team this year as well. Bunch of fun people, and great to get to play club cricket here in the US, which i've never been able to do back in India.
My brother, back in India, had the shock of his life, when I told him I was playing club cricket, and I needed to buy a bat from India. His exclamation was "I've hardly seen u play cricket here even at school, and you are playing cricket there??!!" His shock was even more profound, when I told him, I was the opener for my team's batting line up. (It's another thing that I am not a swashbuckling opener, but a patient, grafter, but why give information thats not needed was my logic :) )
Anyway, after atleast a month and a half of research on cricket bats, I purchased an MRF Bonzer from www.bigblue.safeshopper.com
I was very particular about buying an English Willow, rather than Kashmir Willow. English Willows are much more expensive, and their performance is much better. Was supposed to get my Blade Baby on Monday the 17th, but no, it didnt arrive. Being the impatient guy when it comes to things he's got his mind and heart on, I couldnt take it. So, called this chap there at the store. He says, 'Oh, yes, sorry, I messed up, I sent your bat to the knocking in place, i wont charge you for this, its my mistake, but i'll send it after its done'. And my reply, 'Thats nice, thank you, but i have a match the coming saturday, and i want my bat by then'. (Its another thing that i wanted to knock my bat myself, and i was pissed its being knocked by somebody else !!). So, i asked this dude, can you please send it by overnite delivery? He says, he'll check and get back to me. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I never got my bat, neither was i able to reach him either. Gave him a couple of warning messages as well, that i'll cancel my order if he doesnt call me back. No Use. So i promptly cancelled it, and went ahead to good ol' Devon Avenue, to buy a bat. And this was Friday evening, match was next day.
I was a man on a mission - I had to play the next match with my own bat !! (its another thing that a new bat needs to be knocked in, and this usually takes about a week, or, 6 - 7 hours of knocking in. but i had other plans to make up for the knocking in. like waking up early the next morning, and knocking all the way in the car, to the match venue, which was at Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Checked out a couple of stores, and finally zeroed in on the only other one i could buy a bat at. Store called, Gandhi Appliances. (Yes, they sell, all kinds of appliances, and its not a sports store at all, but then again, this sounds better than the only other store i could buy a bat - Noor Meat Market !!)
Checked out a few bats, had to finally settle in on a Kashmir Willow, BDM, Old Gold to be precise. And boy, did i take some time to buy it. I took 3 bats, and was trying out its weight, played some imaginary cover drives, and pull shots, much to the annoyance of the store keepers. Zeroed in on two bats. Couldnt decided on either one, some more cover drives, pull shots and back foot defense. After 45 gruelling minutes, decided to go by my instincts, and bought a bat that was a tad heavier than the other one. (My request for a weighing machine to compare the weight of the two bats was turned down, snobby guy !!, says we dont have such machines, and to think it was an appliance store, Nincompoop !!)
Phase 1 of mission complete, now Phase 2 in progress, to locate a bat mallet and some linseed oil to knock the bat. 'Appliance' store, and 'Meat Market' carried neither. So i had to borrow from someone. After 20 minutes of calling around, located one. and it was a long way away. So got a friend of mine to pick it up and give it to me, as he was driving back to the city from around where they were. The time i received it, 10.30 pm. and i had to leave Chicago by 8 am the next day.
And I had slept only 4 hours between two days, thanx to my part time job, and i was dead tired. Oiled my bat patiently, and was off to sleep. I wake up at 5.30 am, did my usual morning ritual, showered, and was out of my apartment by 6.45. And then it started. The Knocking. Final phase, Phase 3 of my mission was in motion. A new bat needs to be knocked in for atleast 6 hours, my math told me i'll have atleast 4 - 5 hrs knocking done in, and it should be good enough.
So, I knocked, and knocked and knocked. Annoyed, all the early morning joggers, walkers, and dog poop collecters, but heck i cared. Its my Baby Blade, and i need to get her ready for the game.
And then my friend arrived to pick me up, warned him that i'm gonna knock my bat in the car, and he said it was cool, and that i could go crazy with it. (Thats what i wanted to hear! God bless his soul.)And i knocked, and knocked. Picked up another team mate on the way, and we were on our way to Milwaukee. And i knocked, and knocked. In the car. Poor Adnan, and Shakeir. After about an hour and a half, Shakeir gave up, and pleaded. Ofcourse, i admire their resilience, i was thinking they'd give up much sooner, but nice guys, they put up with the constant 'tok tok' from the back seat.
The conversations used to go like this:
Adnan: Yada Yada Yada
Shakeir: Blah Blah
Me: Tok, Tok, Tok.
Eventually, by the time the game was to start, I realized Baby Blade wasnt ready to be played, so put it away for another round of knocking later.
About the match, well, its another story, and you'll hear about it, in my next blog.
And as for my Baby Blade, she's still being knocked, much to the annoyance of my neighbors !!!!
posted by Hifzur at
11:43 AM
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