De afdellingsledenvergadering zal gehouden worden op donderdag 3 juli 2008 om 21.00 uur in het cricketclubhuis. De agenda zal dezelfde zijn als die van de uitgestelde ALV van 15 mei 2008 (welke later nogmaals aan u wordt verzonden).

De eerste wedstrijd van Nederland op het EK te zien op een groot scherm in het clubhuis. Komt allen maandag on 20.45 uur! Het is dan wel geen cricket, maar ook best leuk.

To the untrained eye, it might seem that a pattern is developing. Chase a gettable total, get off to a good start, then collapse and scrape home nervously. Of course, it did end up as another victory. And no, this is no pattern. This time, it wasn’t us that cocked up in the middle order.

Quick Nijmegen arrived in the rain, as they generally do in Oegstgeest. The weather shortened the match to 45 overs a side, not too bad at all. And on our little postage stamp, we were happy not to see Mark Muis there, who could have taken us apart in the first few overs.
Well, they didn’t need Muis. They had Bocko. Fourteen came off the first over, and none of them came off the bat.
We sort of redeemed ourselves after that, wickets falling regularly until 104/5. Tomba was his miserly self again, picking up 2 for 18 in his nine overs. Nelly took a remarkable slipcatch, stunning Quick’s coach. Lanny was bowling quite economically as well, until mister Butt slammed him for a couple of giant sixes. That partnership needed to be broken and Lantra broke it. Then the Judge was called upon for just one over, he took one for none. In the end, 177/7 became 177 all out, and Quick didn’t score in the last two overs and a bit.
We gave away 50 extra’s. A total the ladies would be ashamed of. Take away 25 and the target would have been around 150, no problem at all.
Nelly and the Judge apparently thought we were playing a twenty20 match. They slammed 95 off 14 overs, until Nelly was given leg before, trying to swat another boundary through midwicket. The Judge tried one shot to many when 49, bit disappointing really. Still, 130 for 2, plenty of time, no worries.
Tomba wanted to sweep a ball that was going down leg. It brushed his pad, and instead of getting a wide, we got a finger going up. Bocko was bowled by a bellybuttonhigh full toss, but at least that one was going on to hit the stumps. The next ridiculous dismissal was Fat Tony, nowhere near the ball, given caught behind. And then Dr. Phil, waiting around in his crease for the next ball, was run out. (Although according to most spectators, he did lift his foot at some point.) Grobs had seen the fielders miss some easy chances off Nelly, but was himself caught one-handed in the (relative) outfield.
At 164/8, buttocks were again clenching involuntarily. The sound of nails being bitten was only scarcely interrupted by the gnashing of teeth. Rolly limped to the crease with a bad back, but a good bat. He top-edged his first ball for six, then Lanny smacked a four and a six and what had seemed easy and had become difficult, was easy again.
And so it was time to blame the umpires for everything. O, sure, they had a hand - or rather a finger - in making the match a lot more exciting than it should have been. On the other hand, maybe we should use the bat for what it’s there for. Hit the ball, and even the blindest of umpires can’t give you out.
So, we took revenge for two defeats at the hands of Quick last season.
Another victory, could that be an emerging pattern?
Some highlights:
- Nelly’s catch
- The girls’ beer hut
- Werners take down leg
- Bocko’s first over
- The Judge’s last over
- OJ’s match: didn’t bowl, didn’t bat, didn’t catch
- The second coming of Rudolph Nureyev. The biggest highlight of all was undoubtedly umpire Klein trying to keep warm at square leg. He hopped from one leg to the other, ith two hands behind his back, and kicking his straight legs out to the side as far as they would go, it is a sight that will stay with me for a long time.

Sinds 30 april is Lanthra Fernando weer in het land. 3 maanden lang speelt hij in onze hoofdmacht en traint hij de senioren en de junioren. Voor het eerst in de geschiedenis van Ajax is onze Sponsorcommissie erin geslaagd het ticket van onze coach gesponsord te krijgen.

Kales Airline Services (http://www.kales.nl), in Nederland onder andere de agent voor Sri Lankan Airlines, heeft het ticket ter waarde van € 1.500 ter beschikking gesteld. Het bestuur is Giovanni Sekeris, Financieel Directeur van Kales en woonachtig op een flinke zes afstand van ons tweede veld, hiervoor erg dankbaar.

Juist in deze tijd waarin we door allerlei externe factoren in verschillende opzichten enigszins in de verdrukking zijn geraakt is dit een prima opsteker, die nu al zijn vruchten afwerpt, want over de gehele linie worden prima resultaten behaald. We zullen er alles aan doen om te laten zien dat het sponsorgeld uitstekend besteed is.

Wat is er aan de hand met onze club? Na jaren van magere resultaten, dreigt onze club zowaar een uiterst succesvol jaar te beleven. De ene na de andere club wordt aan de zegekar gebonden. En niet alleen door ons vlaggenschip.

Een korte round up: Het eerste maakt het zichzelf nog een beetje lastig, maar wint toch van Quick Nijmegen door onder andere een fifty van Sunil. Het tweede verslaat Kikkers, mede door een fifty van Bassie. Het derde was vrij en verloor dus ook niet.

Zaterdag was het helemaal bal. De U13 won, de dames maakten gehakt van Hermes DVS, ZAMI 2 overtuigde met een ruime zege op Sparta en ZAMI 1 boekte een zeer knappe zege bij VOC. Voor zover voorradig zijn de scoresheets te vinden op de programma-pagina’s.  

Op zaterdag 31 mei 2008 om 24 uur bestaat onze vereniging precies 116 jaar! Zoals gebruikelijk worden dan de ” bordjes verhangen” en kunt u tijdens de speech van de voorzitter het glas heffen als de gouden 5 wordt vervangen door de gouden 6.

Onder het genot van een drankje en een hapje kunt u tot na middernacht nog even gezellig napraten.  Plaats van handeling is het clubhuis van ASC voetbal aan de van Duivenvoordestraat 1 in Oegstgeest. Laat deze unieke kans niet voorbijgaan en kom oudjaar vieren!!! U bent welkom vanaf 22.00 uur.

Phew, that should have been a lot easier. But at least we made it.
Three wins on the trot, are we on a roll?

The day started inconspicuous. Everybody was there except Bocko, so everything was completely normal. Then nobody knew where we were supposed to go. Again, everything was completely normal. We followed Bocko to Nieuwegein - he had the TomTom - and missed the exit. Still, no surprise there.
Then the fun started. We arrived late, of course. Tomba let Bocko do the toss. A coin never touched the chilly Nieuwegein air. Bocko just said: we want to field, what do you want to do? And the deal was done.
So we fielded first. Bocko and the Judge gave away 40-plus off four overs. But once the breakthrough came, Bocko found his line. He snagged Joshi for a duck - a guy that had scored two centuries and a 60 in the previous three games.
Wickets kept a-tumblin’, Werner held on to three catches (the little b****** can actually keep) and we had them all out for 153. And still, we had the feeling that it should have been less. A few high mishits dropped just safe, stuff like that.
Anyway, after having succesfully chased 234 and 247 in last week’s games, this should have been a lot easier.
Especially after Nelly and the Judge smacked us to 72 for none. Halfway there, all ten wickets in hand, Nelly on 51 already. A strange shot by the Judge, walking Hayden-style towards the mediumpacer, and a silly swat by Nelly (who’d already been dropped three times) set off our usual collapse. Which continued and continued. If Nelly hadn’t had eagle eyes as umpire, it could have been a sad story. But he spotted that an lbw-shout against Lantra would have missed the stumps in exactly the same spot as a midstump-yorker by Bocko (which wasn’t given either). So in the end, we scraped home thanks to Iqqies resilience and some Lantra hits.
Nice guys, by the way, those Nieuwegein boys. And we met the Roomburg hockey team who beat Nieuwegein as well. They had, however, not missed the exit. But then, they didn’t have Bocko. The man of the day.
Some loose thoughts:
- The second team also won. And we were back in time to see them do it.
- Even the third team won. Could this day get any better?
- It’s always nice having a girl’s hockey game to watch. Rolly could hardly contain himself.
- We now have a team member who’s bag is officially bigger than himself. Welcome, Werner.
- Just imagine our attack when Nico and Grims are both there as well. A bit frightening, really.
- Quick Nijmegen this Sunday. They haven’t won yet. Anybody remember last year? As in: who did we lose to twice? Yep: Quick Nijmegen. O, ánd the team that was rockbottom and hadn’t won yet (then it was HBS). This is something we probably want to redeem ourselves for, wouldn’t you say?

Wat een Pinksterweekeinde! Overwinningen, overwinningen en nog eens overwinningen. Alleen ZAMI 1 viel uit de toon, maar dat verloor van ZAMI 2, dus dat telt niet. En o ja, Ajax 3…

De toon werd zaterdagochtend gezet door de U13, die HCC een stevig potje cricketles gaf. De dames volgden het goede voorbeeld. ACC, net gedegradeerd uit de hoofdklasse, werd op een nederlaag getrakteerd. Marjolijn excelleerde met vier wickets en aan bat deden Pietje en Antoinette van zich spreken. Domper op de feestvreugde was de onwillige knie van Eugenie.

Inmiddels was de Overveerpolder het strijdtoneel voor het duel tussen Ajax ZAMI 1 en Ajax ZAMI 2.  Zelfs opa Emiel (gretig ingelijfd door 1) kon zich niet herinneren dat er ooit een competitieduel tussen twee Ajax-teams had plaatsgevonden. Enfin, Bouke sloeg zijn runs hard en snel, maar ZAMI 2 had het laatste woord. In de voorlaatste over en met beleid werden de winnende runs binnegetikt door Bert en Bill.

Een dag later was het raak voor Ajax II, dat een flitsende start maakte in de derde klasse. De mannen van Rick en Dirkjan lieten niets heel van Dosti.

Ajax 3 dacht de buit al binnen te hebben met een imposant totaal van 240 runs (Jeroen B 89 runs). De heren van Rhoon dachten daar echter anders over en passeerden de score van de mannen van  Evert en Gareth in de 36ste over.

Tenslotte Ajax I. Het vlaggenschip kende een dramatische start van het seizoen, maar herstelde zich uitstekend in het Pinksterweekeinde. Voor meer info zie het relaas van Fat Tony.

Zoals al in de mail aangekondigd is de Algemene Ledenvergadering van aanstaande donderdag uitgesteld naar later deze maand. Definitieve datum volgt snel.

Finally, the legend is back. The first Fat Tony of 2008 recounts two humiliating defeats and two fabulous nailbiting victories. The regular highs and lows of a season that has only just begun. (Cue the Carpenters: # La-la-la-la, # we’ve only just begun… #)

A slow train chugs through the murky, chilly afternoon. The outskirts of Abcoude aren’t the most cheerful place at the best of times. Picture grey skies, wagonloads of sand or coal going by in the distance. A derelict old shed, surrounded by grass and weeds thatcome up to your armpit. You might feel that you’re in the armpit of Amsterdam, an unwashed Amsterdam after a gruesome night out in, well, Amsterdam. The shady parts of Amsterdam. Almost as bad as Abcoude.

There we were, and that’s how we were feeling, on that first day of may. When you’re sitting in the rain, waiting for the end to come, a person might just lose his will to think, breathe and smile. Cold wind pierced the old shed that is Jinnah’s clubhouse. Rain was never quite heavy enough to come off, and yet heavy enough to amplify the chill in our bones and hearts, the chill of a defeat that for along time looked very avoidable.

We bowled well enough, fielded well enough. One partnership took too long to break, and Jinnah made 256. Tomba injured his hand trying for a low, fast catch.

 When Sunil and Nico hauled us to 120-ish for 2, with Grobs smacking some serious sixes, we looked favourites. Then a few loose shots, Lanny copped a very dodgy lbw and in the end nobody else reached double figures.

Freezing raindrops scattered around us, as we packed our bags outside the empty shed. We waved goodby to the guy on the moped, chuf-chuffing in to tend his communal garden at the other end of the ground. And we left the smelly, overgrown, unshaved armpit of Abcoude.

The second deception was soon to follow. Last year, we kicked blue-tracksuited butt. Twice. This time, United took revenge.

Sunils offstump was sent flying second ball, and the next six wickets didn’t take long either. We did have a lame excuse: the game started an hour early because of remembrance day, we had to rush around the ground putting up deckchairs and laying down boundary ropes, so we weren’t really prepared.

But that’s bullshit.

United showed up at a quarter to nine, almost half an hour before the coffee would be ready. We didn’t.

So when we were 38/7, it looked like it might be a short day in the field. Some nice hanging-on and a few solid blows from Iqqy, Bocko and Yahya hauled us up to 120.

We needed quick wickets, didn’t get them, and that was the game. Bocko threw down the stumps with blistering pace to get the run-out, and Dr. Phil took a wicket with his high-flying guile, but that’s about all there is to say about Rolly’s first game in charge.

So I’ll stop there.

Picture this: a gloriously sunny day in beautiful Amstelveen, the well-coiffed soft and shiny crown of Amsterdam. What a difference from the stinky pubes that are Abcoude, this is an area of leisure and pleasure. Retirees gently ride their bicycles down a winding path along a canal, a pub around the corner serves them coffee in the golden morning sun.

That’s where you turn right, then left and hang right to reach VVV.

Little did we know it would be the first of two marathon matches.

They shot off the mark, at 50 after 8 overs we were on the ropes. But we recovered. Grobs got the breakthrough, Lanny and Tomba and Ya and Nelly bowled very economically. VVV had a spell of 8 runs in 7 overs. Then it was their turn to recover, but the 250-plus that had seemed on the cards was well out of their reach. Stormy had the guy Wayn, who held their innings together, caught off te last ball.

Chasing 233, the Judge got us off to a good start. He scored his first half-century for Ajax and stayed in until the 4th over. Grobs hit a couple of boundaries then fell for the ost obvious trap ever: man back, slower ball, ta-daa. Iqqy kept the Judge company for a long time, and with ten overs to go we only needed 45 more runs. Five wickets in hand.

Then four wickets in hand.

Then three.

Then two.

Twenty runs off two overs needed. People biting nails, squeezing butt-cheeks together as if they were in some raunchy American prisonmovie, pacing endlessly and uselessly up and down behind the scorers, lighting a cigarette with trembling hands.

Dr. Phil smacked a couple of fours, Ya joined in. Five needed off the last over. Ya smacked the first ball to the fence, scores tied, all the fielders in to stop the single, whoosh, a swing and a miss, and then: crack, thick top-edge, over the slips for four.

Seven thirty in the evening, we had finally won this game that had seemed a lot easier just a few hours ago.

The very next day, an even later finish.

Picture this: hot sun glaring over the Overveerpolder. A violin playing in the distance, the birds join in a happy morning song.

Then the people from Amsterdam arrive. A menacing look on their faces; these guys mean business. The violinist is shot by a man with a harmonica, who lowers his sombrero a little deeper over his eyes. His lips twitch nervously under the greasy mustache, as the birds stop their twirling melodies, shut their beeks and crawl back on their branch, their backs to the tree, ready to flee.

Or that’s how I picture it. But I wasn’t even there and neithere were Nico, Dr. Phil and Storm.

VRA scored 247, I believe. Some sloppy fielding at the start, some good recovering, then another good partnership and Ajax came back well again.

Our innings started with a few hiccups. At 30/3, another ‘United’ loomed. Tomba and Rolly disagreed vehemently, and with an almost century partnership they lifted spirits and self-confidence. Helped by the humongous number of wides that VRA bowled again, same as they did last year.

Of course, it wouln’t be Ajax without a middle order collapse. Goes without saying. But Lanny slammed the breaks on, and set about getting us there. Which he did with a mighty six.

That’s it, two weeks, four games, four points. A season has started.

Highlights so far:

- the barlady at VVV lying on the couch in the clubhouse, watching Oprah talk about masturbation.

- the chicken curry VVV made for lunch.

- Jinnah’s batsmen can apparently only drink water when sitting on one knee.

- Jinnah’s opening bowler has a scary beard, but a nice smile.

- United deserved to win. But they should still walk when they’re out.

- We are stil looking forward to Quick Nijmegen, Louis and Marla. Ask Rolly why that is.