The Rakesh and Arvind (not that one) Show

Rakesh’s excellent form since returning from India was on display again at Mickleham, one of the nicest fixtures on the calendar against one of the most Mandarin of oppositions.

The Chairman did the only thing required off him which was to win the toss and bat on a hot day. Jonathan and his new bat and Rakesh, given the chance to build an innings, were on excellent form after Superstar Arun was bowled by a good one from the legendary Cameroonian international opening bowler. Jonathan, the Clive Lloyd of Mandarin cricket, as elegant and languid as ever was retired after reaching 50. Raki’s hunt for a Mandarin 50 goes on after he fell for 45, but it will come. Sam Brand said he was unleashing his alter-ego “T20 Sam” not previously seen by the Mandarins but apparently familiar to Heber Casuals. The crowd was very impressed and we were soon 160 for 2. The inevitable late collapse against the 10th and 11th Mickleham bowlers and some fine catching by some very young fielders saw us end up on 194 off our 35 overs.

After an excellent tea, the two Mickleham openers put on 59 in good time for the opening wicket. Sportingly the best of the two was retired on 50 and we began to “take back control” otherwise known as “we turned to Raki and he bowled beautifully”. A string of younger and older Mickleham players came and went. Baker and Baxter bowled well (with the former having to be cautioned for giving a death stare to a ten year old who dared to halt him in his run-up). Our third leg spinner, Heber guest Arvind, was accurate and threatening. The Archivist will need to decipher the scorebook which while very neat was somewhat less accurate and listed various bowlers as “Marvin”, “Akesh” and “64” but I am pretty sure that Rakesh took six and Arvind 3 or possibly 4. But we definitely took the 11 wickets required and won by 71.  A big shout out to Arvind for his four catches on debut (a record for a Mandarin outfielder?)

Off to the Running Horses for beer, banter and the Malibu challenge for those deemed worthy, in our case Arvind for breaking with Mandarin Arvind tradition and taking too many catches and Sam for dropping their skipper when we were desperate to take that 11th wicket and get down to the pub.

 All in all about as good as Mandarin Sundays get.

John Hawkins