Match Reports 2008

Scoresheet statistics will appear on the Player Statistics and Awards page.

10.05.2008 SM40 Bengal vs Empire at Leppavaara

Match report to follow...

07.05.2008 Friendly T20 MTS/Navy vs Empire at Suomenlinna - A WIN FOR CRICKET!

This was our friendly XI the Empiricists' first opportunity to take to the field outdoors in 2008.

Our friends at MTS/Navy were a bit under strength in this early season match and so, as we did last year, we simply divied up the available players from both clubs and had some good fun in a slogging session despite the weather threatening to descend at any moment.  The weather held off and we got some cricket in. The assembled cricketers then retired for the traditional post match "beer tasting" session at a hostelry located conveniently near to the ferry ferry terminal.

03.05.2008 SM40 Empire vs Tampere at Rajakylä - Tampere 171/10, Empire 177/6, Empire by 4 wickets. EMPIRE WIN

I’ve never known so much anticipation going into the first game of a new season – it was like we’d been waiting for it since last August. That anticipation was carried right through to the match-day preparations, and under a blazing sun that never relented all day, we were ready to roll at 11a.m., after Stig had won his first toss as Empire Captain, and he led us out on to the field.

When, with Imran and Bijay opening the bowling, Tampere were reduced to 13 for 3 off the first 5 overs, the anticipation had been replaced by Jubilation. With the quality of the batsmen dismissed, in all honesty, it really looked like we were going to roll over them in short order. But cricket’s a funny game, sometimes – it didn’t happen. They knuckled down, steadied the ship, and took the run rate at the drinks break up to just above 4 an over, with the loss of two further wickets. With the sun now at its zenith, we tired a little, but the game never got away from us, and a couple of great catches, one from Gary at slip, and a sharp return catch from Stig, raised the team’s spirits at just the right times. For the remainder of the innings the run-rate never climbed above 4 until the last two overs when the final wicket pair had a bit of a slog. When the last wicket fell, to another decent catch, in the final over, Tampere had scored 171, and the figures for the five bowlers were:

Imran – 8 – 0 – 36 – 1
Bijay – 8 – 1 – 35 – 3
Stig – 9 – 1 – 38 – 3
Amin - 8 – 0 – 24 – 3
Shabeer - 7 – 0 – 35 – 0

Amin’s figures have to get special mention; bowling at 3 an over at any level is exceptional. It doesn’t happen in this type of cricket too often. Given that there were thirty-four wides bowled, those figures could have looked at lot sweeter for everyone. Net work, boys, net work...

LUNCH – at 3:00p.m.- Yes, four hours to bowl 40 overs; none of the delay down to Empire I might add.

Following Imran’s wonderful chicken-curry & salad, we started our innings at 3:25p.m., knowing we had a very reachable target to shoot at, and plenty of time to do it in. An air of quiet confidence was upon us.

When Imran went first ball of the innings, I went to my second ball, Stig out first ball, and Marcel out the fifth ball faced, however, 4 of our top five batsmen had an ignominious 0 next to their names, and we were sitting ugly at 13 for 4. When Shabeer came off with muscle strain a couple of overs later, things looked dire, to say the least, and although it was never spoken, not once, I know I’m not alone in saying I thought we were done. Something akin to Desperation was the new feeling on the boundary. Fortunately, Richard seems to have found his batting legs this season, and together with Bijay, put on 44 for the fifth wicket. When Bijay went – to a disgraceful LBW decision – for 30, Shabeer bravely went back out, despite having to have yours truly as a runner after two overs for the remainder of his innings, and another 30 went on the board before Richard succumbed for his highest top-flight score of 23 – including the sweetest cover drive he is ever likely to hit in his career. Rohollah joined Shabeer with 87 on the board, and when Dave called, “Last fifteen!”, the total stood at 90 - 6. At a run rate of 5.5, a further 82 runs were required off 15 overs, with four wickets in hand. At a couple of minutes to six, 12 overs and 4 balls later, Shabeer pulled a rank long hop over square leg for six, went to 49 not out, Rohollah stood on 30n.o., and Empire had its first ever winning start to an SM40/45 season, with four wickets and more than two overs to spare.

For the record, we finished on 177 - 6 - And no victory ever tasted sweeter.

Anticipation to Jubilation to Desperation to Exhilaration – all in the space of seven hours.

I’m uniquely qualified to comment on the quality of the match-winning 90-run partnership between Rohollah and Shabeer, because I had the privilege of being out there as runner for every nerve-wracking ball of it. Two of our youngest regular first-team players, they batted, and ran, with maturity beyond their years. I don’t know what the spectators thought, but I can tell you now; they had that game – and their own games – under total control. The three of us spoke after every run was scored, after every over, and despite the tense situation, never once did they have to be told to go easy, or calm it down.

Rohollah did a great job with the bat, Amin bowled brilliantly, Bijay’s all-round performance was superb, and Richard’s innings was crucial, but for his match-winning 49 n.o., every ball of which was played in agony, the first Empire Man of the Match Award – as well as the Umpire’s official M-o-t-M award – went to Shabeer.

It’s right to single out those players mentioned above, because their contributions were key, but it is also right to say that yet again, Empire Cricket Club won a game because it is that. A club. The team pulled together as one, and I think it was probably our best fielding display ever. Bowling we need to work on the wides, one or two batsmen need to take a look at themselves, but that’s an individual thing.

Team Spirit and togetherness is not something we need to worry about. We’ve got it in Spades.

2008: Played 1 – Won 1. Well done, Ed. Not a bad result for your first game in charge. Excellent work, mate.

And this isn’t an afterthought – I would like to submit a special thanks to 12th man Joy, for scoring our entire innings, leaving the batsmen free to worry about the job in hand. It was a big help, thank you.

Match report compiled by Phil Davies, submitted 4th May 2008

 

19.04.2008 Turku Indoor Tournament, 2008 – Empire take the Silver medal!

Tournament Report - On a warm spring day, the bulk of the Empire squad for this year’s TIT met at Helsinki Central Station and the convoy headed off for their first stop, the McDonald’s at the Espoo Ikea. Nicholas “I’m a native Finn” Volk led the way since he knew ‘exactly’ how to get there. About 30 minutes later, after going via Keha II and a tour of the Espoo suburbs, we arrived well behind schedule to pick up Vema and Manny. After hurtling down the Turuntie we somehow made it to the tournament with about 20 minutes to spare before our opening match. After quickly getting ready for battle, the team had just enough time to check out the playing area and acclimatise to the field. At the same time the other teams realised our presence; the defending champions had arrived!

 

Group Stage – Match 1 Vs. Vaasa CC - After new team captain, Stig, managed to lose his first coin toss, Vaasa kindly invited us to have a bat. Without any idea of what a par score was or how the pitch would play, Empire showed no signs of having just arrived and duly dispatched the Vaasa attack around the park and totalled 38 off the 4 four ball overs. During the innings turnaround we learned that the score was above the morning’s average, and Empire took the field full of confidence. The innings in the field against Vaasa set the tone for the rest of tournament as the bowling philosophy of ‘bowl straight, forget speed’ backed up by energetic and loud fielding reaped early rewards and Vaasa were never close to making it to the victory target. The first win had been secured, and then it was the big one…

 

Group Stage – Match 2 Vs. Helsinki CC - With back-to-back games first up, Empire had a couple of minutes to prepare for the game of the day, a mouth-watering encounter against Helsinki featuring the rebels of last season. This was the reason we travelled to Turku, this was our final, and this was more important than winning any trophy. The events of last season were in the minds of all the squad, and combined with some of the comments that had emerged over the days leading up to the TIT from some Helsinki members, the players had to push all of the hype to the back of their minds and focus on the cricket. Empire won the toss and got straight back onto the pitch and demonstrated the perfect fielding performance. With a Helsinki batting line-up filled with members of the Finnish national team, Empire showed international experience was nothing compared to a strong team-spirit. Before Helsinki realised the game had started, Shabee took a spectacular flying catch in the first over to dismiss potential danger man, Kuchey, for a golden duck. Ex-Empire spinner, Oba, then fell cheaply to some persistent Empire bowling as all bowlers never strayed off the off-stump; scoring was almost impossible. The fielders were all as solid as the bowling and nothing was getting past the field for a boundary. Combine all this with the outstanding performance of debutant wicket keeper, Vema, who was a rock behind the stumps, and HCC were well on the back-foot. Then, a wicket off the penultimate ball brought last season’s captain of Empire, Zaki, to the crease for the final ball of the innings. During the bowler’s run up, Zaki stepped across to the off-side looking to smash the ball to leg, Stig responded and fired in a yorker to clean him up and knock over his middle stump...and just for the record, it was golden duck! The noise resulting from the celebrations was as much as the rest of other teams combined throughout the whole day. HCC had been held to just 17 off the 4 overs, the lowest score of the tournament. However, this somehow increased to 21 after HCC had been talking with the scorers and umpires during the mid-innings break…I will say no more on this issue. So Empire went out to bat with the left/right combination of Marcel and Stig, and the Helsinki bowlers duly struggled to find the right line and bowled a couple of wides that they could ill afford. The Helsinki captain then brought on Oba in hope his leg-spin would rip through the Empire batting line-up, but he was seen off with few problems - Empire could smell victory. The heads of the Helsinki players dropped, and it was visible to all they had given up and were staring defeat straight in the face. The 3rd over began, and needing 6 for victory, Stig rocked onto the back-foot and latched onto a short-pitched delivery and dispatched it for a maximum to signal the start of the celebrations. Empire dominated Helsinki from the very first ball to the very last, and the smiling faces of the Empire players were a huge contrast to those of Helsinki as they trudged off the field and faced the possibility of finishing bottom of the group. Empire, however, now had a real chance take the top spot in the group, which would give them the number 1 seed going into the playoff rounds.

 

Group Stage – Match 3 Vs. Espoo CC - With two wins in the first two games, Empire enjoyed a well-deserved break, which included a trip to the ‘lucky Hesburger’ to refuel for the afternoon’s play. The team adopted the ‘Empiricist’s Philosophy’ for the final group game and went in with a completely new look line-up. With Shabee and Marcel taking a rest, some of Empire’s T20Dev players stepped up and responded with a fine performance against Espoo, a team who play in the SM50 Division One, and a team who will be one of the favourites for the Finnish Championship. Empire fielded first and Jo took the new ball where he continued the great bowling and kept a tight line for the whole over. A couple of great shots by the Espoo opener balanced out the over and the game was in the balance. Amin, the silent assassin, quietly went about his business and bowled two Espoo batsmen with a couple of absolute beauties. Then Nicholas unleashed his looping deliveries, and the Espoo batsmen found him almost impossible to play. Many were deceived in the flight and Nicho continued the pressure with a solid over. The ball for the final over was given to Rohollah and Espoo eventually managed to reach a modest score of 38. Empire came out to bat with Vema and Stateside slugger Phillip, aka “Babe Ruth”. Babe connected with his first ball and sent the ball flying towards the rope for a maximum, but a smart catch by the Espoo fielder on the boundary edge denied him a 6. Vema, along with Rohollah, built a foundation for the run chase by showing some solid batting. With Empire just about up with the run-rate, the pace of the Espoo bowlers ripped through the Empire middle order with Vema and Jo falling to some good fast bowling. Needing boundaries to win, Rohollah showed just how much he has improved as a cricketer and gave a batting master class. Smashing fours and sixes off the Espoo attack, he and Nicholas were 3 off victory with 1 ball to go. However, Nicholas was run out going for a match-tying second run and Empire fell two runs short of victory. (No, I think I was stupid enough not to even try it -Nicholas) We may have lost on paper, but more importantly, we secured a psychological victory – a great performance by the team! The result was enough for Empire to secure top spot in the group, and set-up a quarter final against the bottom team in the other group, FinnAsia. Oh, and just for the record, Helsinki finished bottom of our group.

 

Quarter Final – Vs. FinnAsia - After watching Helsinki lose to FinnPak, who, just for the record, were the first team knocked out of the tournament, Empire knew a loss would mean an end to our hopes of retaining the trophy. FinnAsia won the toss and opted to bowl first, and showed some good discipline as Marcel and Stig struggled to get the ball away during the first overs. With Stig run out, Marcel stepped up and brought back memories of his batting display at TIT 2007 and hit a big 6 to get some momentum going in the innings. Rohollah, who had been promoted to number 3 after his batting heroics against Espoo, continued where he left off and scored some more boundaries. He was well supported by Shabee, who has added maturity to his natural ability, and the score increased. Still, with one ball to go the total was at an achievable 29. Vice-captain Manny came in following a wicket the ball before and hit a monster maximum over mid-off to take the score to 35. The bowling order was re-jigged for this match and Shabee was given the responsibility of the opening over (now 5 ball overs), where again, he did not disappoint. A wicket in the opening over, followed by another from the assassin in the second, left FinnAsia behind the rate going into the last two. With vice-captain Manny saved for the 3rd over, FinnAsia faced some typical bowling from the regular opening bowler. Needing 14 to win off the final over, Manny’s 6 off the last ball of the innings now showed its true value. The captain took the responsibility of the last over and held his nerve. A wicket off his first ball was the perfect start, with Vema taking his first catch as keeper behind the stumps. Jo made the position of mid-on his own as he made one of many great stops to deny FinnAsia any runs. Stig then followed up by clean bowling the next two batsmen and FinnAsia could only manage one off the final over. That set up a semi-final against Espoo, but Empire had the mental edge after the close group match earlier in the day.

 

Semi Final – Vs. Espoo CC - The format of the matches changed for the semi-final and final round, as the game was extended to 5 overs. Babe was brought in for the semi-final and after winning the toss Empire chose to field first and put some pressure on the Espoo batsmen. Shabee, Amin, and Imran bowled three great overs and the game was hanging in the balance going into the crucial 4th over. Rohollah, who bowled a solid over against Espoo in the earlier match, was handed the ball. With Espoo’s captain and star batsmen stood at the other end it was make or break for both teams. Then Rohollah showed he was just as good with the ball as with the bat and bowled a dream first delivery that cut the batsmen in half and sent his stumps flying. The tail was in and so was the field. Empire swarmed the bat and cut off the single, Babe made a great stop at square leg to maintain the pressure, leaving their last recognised batsmen stranded at the non-striker’s end. Moving the field back for the last ball of the over, the batsmen took one and Espoo’s frustration was apparent. Stig then bowled a tight last over and Espoo could only manage 30 runs off their 5 overs. Empire got off to a flying start with the bat as Marcel and Stig guiding the score to 20-0 off the first 2 overs. However, Stig was beaten for pace off the first ball of the 3rd over, and Manny fell the very next ball. With Marcel bowled on the last ball of the over, the Espoo bowler had brought his team back into the game. But the deadly duo of Shabee and Rohollah coolly took us home to victory through some textbook cricket shots, sensible placement, and good running – the two youngest members of the team looking like the oldest. Empire had won the semi-final, and for the 3rd straight year made it to the final of the TIT.

 

Final – Vs. FinnPak - So this was it, two teams left; the queue of taxis outside was ready to take home those teams already fallen. Once again Empire had shown to their critics that they’re one of the top teams in Finland, and definitely the best ‘team’ in the country. Nicholas was drafted in and Empire batted first in their second final of the day. All players contributed as the team managed a score of 48 off the 5 overs. Taking the field for the last time, Empire needed one last effort to secure gold. Shabee, who had settled in naturally as opening bowler, bowled a good first over but the FinnPak opener still managed to get the ball away for a couple of boundaries. Amin steadied the ship with yet another great over and picked up a couple of big wickets in the process. Manny got in on the act and pinned down the FinnPak batsmen in the 3rd over, 20 was needed off the last two overs for the batting team. Rohollah was then on the receiving end of some fine hitting as FinnPak got their break and accelerated to the victory target. A wicket in the middle of the over gave Empire hope, but with just one run needed for victory off the final over, it was a bridge too far for the underdogs and FinnPak made it with just 5 balls to go.

 

The 2008 season got off to the best possible start - Based on the performance in the final, I think it was fair to say the better team won, but Empire were one of the most consistent teams at the tournament, and showed the most discipline when bowling and fielding. We all had as much fun as we played good cricket, and more importantly than any victory it was a great day out for the Empire squad. As Jo said after the match, we honoured the cup we won last year by making it to the final game, and after being presented with a replica of last year’s trophy, the saga of TIT 2007 came to a fitting end. Empire Cricket Club has been on a rollercoaster ride during the 12 months between then and now, but the demons of 2007 have finally been put to rest, and a new look Empire can move forward as one. The 2008 season got off to the best possible start, and as we headed home to Helsinki, Jo led the celebrations with a pack of Karhu and a rendition of the Empire team song.

 

Ed "Stig" Ford

 

Match Reports 2007

2007 Match reports in summary format appear after the Chairman’s Review:

Chairman's Review 2007 - The season started in good fashion, with well organised indoor training. Sure we have held indoor training before but this year there was a different feel to it. It was well organised and fun to participate in and we owe Dave Scamans a big thanks for all his work he put into this. The value of training showed off straight away with victory in the Turku Tournament as Turku Indoor Champions 2007 Empire's first proper tournament win which was an all round good display by every individual who played. We also ventured into the FCA's Indoor League for the first time. Empire A played some good cricket but did not progress. On the up-side Afghan C.C or "Empire "B" (who were made up from mostly Empire players) went on to win the tournament, so another "success" for the club and our tradition of good off season training and early season preparation.

Attention then turned to the outdoor SM45, T20 Open and T20 Developmental season with a severley limited number of games making up SM45 Championships qualifiers. With the two early tournament successes behind us things started to look good for Empire and everyone went into the first SM45 match against FPC on a high. But we were soon sent crushing back to reality. Due to weather conditions and not enough players turning up on time the pitch was not laid early enough which meant who ever won the toss would have a big advantage. FPC won toss and bowled. A combination of a unforgiving pitch and some careless shot selection and we were bowled out fairly cheaply. But we still believed that we could win. This was until we realised that the pitch had dried and Yasir was in top form. FPC went on to win the match by 9 wickets.

The next SM45 game was against Vantaa, a team we had had some success against in 2006. This was a game of what if. What if we had appealed when Fernando was still on a lowly score? But we did not and he went on to score a century. Once he went Vantaa crumbled. In reply Empire batted fairly well, but it was always just beyond us.

Our third game of the season brought on SKK. With rain forecast things looked bad and batting first things were turning into a nightmare for the batters. Jonathon’s first ever duck our other top order batsmen falling cheaply, Empire were about 6 wickets down and still had not broken a hundred. Then the rain came, and it came and it stayed. Much to the annoyance of SKK the match was cancelled and rescheduled. The rescheduled game was an eyeopener with us going in with a very different looking squad to the one we had played with all season. I will not mention anything about the captaincy problems except to say that despite being without our original nominated 2007 Captain and some other "key" players it really seemed that the best 11 had turned up to play that day. SKK batted first. Empire were bowling tight and well. The fielding was tight and the team were finally working together, encouragingly and actually smiling. The upshot was that SKK were already down to their lower order batsmen with a low score for the field when the damn rain came! The rain came and came and came! We wanted to continue but it was not possible, so the game was abandoned and result was a tie. After the game every single player went for a drink (a first for the club), and I have never seen a group of players so happy and physically buoyed. Until the final SM45 game that is.

What can we say about the final game Vs Tampere C.C.? Thanks Stig for getting the ball rolling by raising everyone's spirits with the "Great Petrol Station Heist" (ask Stig if you have not heard about this piece of the club's comedy lore), Thanks to everyone on the road trip, the atmosphere was electric the whole way, a great buzz before the game that not even the weather could dampen. Yes you guessed it, even more rain in a season of limited fixtures! The situation was that Empire needed to win by a significant run margin, or when batting lose so few wickets if we were to have a chance to progress to the SM45 quarter finals. However, once we arrived in Tampere, we realised we would be lucky to get a game at all. A very waterlogged pitch and more rain was hampering preparations and causing a delay to proceedings which was maybe just as well because a certain Empire player turned up after being on the town into the early hours looking like he could not stand let alone hold a bat. After the inspection the Umpire decided to suspend the start time by an hour. In that time work was done on pitch to help it dry. Then another inspection and lunch was called. Having finally started, Tampere then bowled Ben with the very first ball bringing a very weary Zahed to the crease! Even the clouds seem to object to him being there and duely opened to suspended play before he could face the second ball. So back to the dressing rooms and all could see how badly Ben was taking his golden duck - but maybe seeing this pushed us to produce great things that day? When play resumed there were to be only 30 overs and Zahed went straight to work punishing the bowling and he received great support from batting partners. After a couple more rain delays the overs were reduced yet again but by the end Empire had posted a very competitive score. In the field once again Empire were superb, never dropping a catch with a Man of the Match performance from Zahed with his bowling and one amazing catch lead Empire to a well deserved victory over the 2006 Finnish Champions! We only later discovered that we'd missed out on a quarter final position by a tiny NRR margin. But all in all a great effort by the lads. So that was our 45 over season essentially over due to FinnAsia CC not turning up to contest either the home or way legs of the FCA Plate Competiton. So we won our 3rd trophy in 2007 - The 2007 FCA plate winners.

The Open T20 competition saw Empire lose every game (despite some great close matches especially the one Vs Vaasa C.C.) and due to difficulties raising teams for these games it was suggested we concentrate more on the longer game and friendlies in 2008.

The other league we played in was the T20 Developmental League and this was a great season for our guys. As normal we were tipped for a final place but expected to then to lose heavily. However, after having reached the final we came out victorious aginst SKK to lift the T20 Developmental Champions 2007 trophy! So congratulations go to all our developees!

Other aspects of 2007 worthy of a mention include a big thank you to Dave Scamans again for all his hard work on coaching and training of Empire players, without you I doubt we would have had this year's successes. Thanks also to Nick Burton for all his past work as Club Treasurer over the years and helping to set up this wonderful club of ours. We hope you enjoy your retirement Nick. Thanks also to Gary Watkins for all his hard work as Secretary and we hope to see you back on committee in a few years time. Thanks to Jan von Steuben also for all his hard work and I say the same to you, I hope you will be back on committee when you have more time. And finally a big thanks to Lloyd Polak-Laune all the food prepared for our guests' teas over the season, as usual it was superb and top class.

2008 brings a whole new set of challenges, financially the club needs to do more to raise membership numbers and hold more fund raising events. On the playing front we need to set our sights on finishing strongly in the new SM40 format Second Division in amongst some of the other strong teams we will have around us. I believe we should look to establish ourselves in the SM40 competition this year, we will push for promotion of course but I don’t believe we should be disappointed if it does not happen in 2008.

To finish with I would like to thank every member for your continued support playing or helping out in other ways. Empire, as a club, is a more cohesive unit as a direct result of a problematic 2007 season. The fantastic team spirit and enthusiasm in the SKK and Tampere games simply highlight the fact that we are stronger than ever before. 

Richard Wheeler, Chairman 2007 - 19th Jan 2008

 

Captain's Report 2007 - Phil Davies to do...

 

 

 

09.09.07 T20(8) Final- Ruskeasuo, SKK 152/4, Empire 153/3. EMPIRE WIN

We are the Champions- Match report to follow shortly, but just for info Richard Wheeler hit the winning runs with a well timed straight drive for four ;).  And i hear  Zahed and Ben scored a few too.

Match report by Richard Wheeler.

 

 

 

28.08.07 T20(8) Semi final - Suomenlinna, MTS/Navy 145 all out, Empire 148/2. EMPIRE WIN              

On a chilly evening and in a match that lacked a bit of passion (probably due to the nip in the air?) MTS/Navy batted first and apart from their No 4 batman's excellent 73 they all went pretty cheaply. Zahid's run out - sprinting from Silly Point to the the bowler's end (catching up with and then overtaking their batman on the way), was pretty bizarre (considering a throw to Ben who was waiting with hands hovering 3 inches above the stumps would have seemed to be the call) and the field were so gob smacked by this that no one appealed for a few seconds!! (Well done Richard by the way). Although they were all out within 16 overs, we still managed 25 extras which was a bit slack. However, Ben's 3 for 9 and Zahid 2 for 17 were excellent.

Our innings didn't start well with Marcel going early on bowled for 11 and so it was left to Zahid and Ben to pile up the bulk of the chasing runs, a partnership of 100 that produced an excellent 89 for Zahed well supported by Ben (14) who did a great job staying there to the end, only joined by Gary in the 9th over to see off the last 20 or so runs needed by the 11th over. Man of the match - Zahid.

We will now play in the FCA T20 Developmental Finals for the first time in the club's history. Well done lads!

 

25.08.07 Empiricists v SKK Socialists - Ruskeasuo - Empire 193/10, SKK 194/8, SKK by 2 wickets.

Match report awaited. Phil Davies to do.

 

 

25.08.07 T20(8) Phoenix v Empire - Ruskeasuo, Empire 161/4, Phoenix 108 all out. EMPIRE WIN 

Match report awaited. Richard Wheeler to do.

 

12.08.07 Empiricists-v-Bengal Tigers- 35 over friendly, Kaisaniemi, Bengal Tigers 214/6, Empiricists 173/10, Bengal Tigers by 41 runs. 

The weather held off by some miracle (luckily it was Espoo that got the torrential rain and thunderstorms) although the conditions were pretty hot and sticky. Fielding first we made a good start taking 2 very early catches, with them losing their captain for only 10 and another wicket soon afterwards. However, we rather went went to sleep after that, before Oba struck in the first of his total of 4 wickets, closely followed by a hat trick in his 4th over. But we made hard work of dismissing the rest of them and overall we gave away 45 extras, a situation that was not helped in the slightest Zahed's experimental spin bowling! Ben and Stig returned pretty economical overs and were solid however.

Our opening batting was, not to put too fine a point on it, a complete and utter disaster, with both Ben and Imran being caught in the very first over! So with a low base of 0 for 2 Captain Jonathon stepped in and steadied the ship, scoring with fluent boundaries in partnership with Oba before going bowled for 28. With the subsequent loss of Oba for 14 and then Zahed and Marcel, who both unfortunately were only able to clock up 5 runs a piece, things looked very grim indeed. However, Stig's excellent 55 and support of the whole tail, gave us some hope and made a match of it. With very good batting performances turned in by our tail enders (who were able to rattle and frustrate their bowlers and keep Stig on strike as much as possible) we were able to post a respectable total in the end with Roholah 4, Gary 9, Amin 19, Tobias 1 not out. 

It's important to appreciate that the opposition were pretty well full tilt in this game (treating these friendlies as their own unofficial 2007 SM45 type encounters) and I would have to say we were probably only around the 75% effort mark - Zahed was probably down in single figures maybe? ;-). So this team may well struggle next year against fully determined opposition but let's just make sure we beat them in the full on League games in 2008 eh?

Another outing for the Empiricists and a good day's cricket! It's better that sticking you head head in boiling chip pan! 

 

07.08.07 T20 (8) MTSNavy-v-Empire-Suomenlinna, MTS 167/5  Empire 145 all out. MTS by 22 runs. 

Empire once more looked to the "Developmental" spirit of this format by fielding a side whose main bowling attack was made up of our beginners and improvers. Although we took wickets, it was at a cost in terms of extras and on this very small ground MTS were able to rack up a decent total for us to chase down. Our fielding was generally solid (apart from Gary who had what can only be described a a stinker with 2 dropped catches).

Our run chase looked hopeful with Marcel and Gary sharing an opening partnership of 67 but with Richard in (and showing us he can actually bat!) we lost Marcel whilst still short of the 100 mark. Things then looked grim indeed, with Richard now the only recognised batsman left (don't laugh), the tail consisting entirely of newcomers to the game. However, he certainly stepped up, and with good support from Philip (11 in his debut match and playing some nice shots indeed) and Laurence (who held up his end well), Richard was able to make some decent progress towards the total before paying the price for hitting out. Man of the match was Richard Wheeler.   

 

29.07.07 SM45 Empire-v-Tampere-Messukylä - Empire 229 for 8 (35 overs), Tampere CC 139 all out. Empire by 63 runs. EMPIRE WIN

(Revised target after rain interruptions: 203 in 31 overs) Man of the Match: Zahed Kamal (Empire CC).

It's smiles all round after Empire show what they really can do by beating the 2006 Finnish Champions away (despite having to dodge the rain all day AGAIN). A great team performance!

Empire's very own Prodigal Son - Zahed (left) returned to put in a nice 74, and jumped about like a jack-in-the-box in the field. 

The Messukylä "covers" going back on for the second time. Many thanks to Tampere CC for hosting this Empire "home" fixture.

 

 22.07.07 T20 Open - Empire-v-FPC - Ruskeasuo - FPC 221/5, Empire 98 all out. FPC by 123 runs.

Oba and Imran in action............

 

 21.07.07 Empire Empiricists -v-Bengal Tigers-30 over Friendly, Rajakylä, Tigers 178/8, Empire 164 all out. Tigers by 14 runs.

A spirited bunch of Empiricists (made up of Empire and SKK lads and old gits) won the toss and put the Tigers in to bat. We restricted them early on with some tight bowling, Lenny giving us a key wicket during a wicket maiden on 36 and ending overall with 21-1 with Amin (Malikzay) 15-0 and Imran 49-2 all off 6 over stints. Stig and Roholah took good catches at deep mid-on, Gary caught 3 (two behind) and dropped one dolly! We took a flurry of wickets towards the end at 161,162, 178, 178 Marcel having a good last over with a bowled and then a caught and bowled with the last ball of the game to finish on 35-3 (6 overs). 

Our chase is really the story of a great partnership between Matti V. with his excellent innings of 77 and Imran with 54, who, after the early set back of Marcel's early loss for 1, went on to get us past the 111 mark before Imran was bowled. Stig susequently being bowled for 1 then saw us collapse with only Matti V. on strike adding much to the score. That we came within striking distance of a win was remarkable for a bunch who had not played together before and who were basically facing the Tigers' 2008 1st XI.

A great spirited performance from the Empiricists and a good day's cricket.

 

18.07.07 T20(8) Phoenix-v-Empire-Viikki, Phoenix 70 all out, Empire 74/3. EMPIRE WIN

Phoenix won the toss and decided to bat. Marcel's decision to go all out with the developmental theme and leave the bigger guns until later in the bowling attack looked a bit shakey until a flurry of wickets taken by Nicholas in the space of two overs, Nicko fininishing on 3 for 23! (It might have been 3-7 without his final 2 overs where he managed to bowl 9 no balls and 6 wides!). Performance anxiety? Anyway, still decent figures overall! Our loose bowling in general though accounted for the bulk of their score - Jan 1-27, Gary 1-9, Joe 1-11, with Phoenix scoring only 11 off the bat in 15 overs. We then made hard work chasing down the total with Jan (bowled) and Joe (caught) going for ducks in overs 1 and 2. Nicko then helped steady the ship usefully partnering Gary through several overs to see us to 39 for 2 before being bowled. Edward then partnered Gary through to the winning 74. Opener Gary 36 and Edward 7 not out.

 

14.07.07 T20 Open Empire-v-Espoo-Leppavaara- Espoo 172/9, Empire 157 all out. Espoo by 15 runs

The match was rearranged to take place at Leppavaara due to the state of the Viikki pitch, and we were a man short, so we had a huge task in front of us, given the postage stamp sized ground we were to play on.

 

Badger took the reins as official Captain of the T20 Open team, following his appointment as SM45 Vice-Captain the previous week, and having won the toss, he put Espoo in to bat. We started sluggishly, truth be told - whether there was something of a hangover from the exertions of the rained off SKK match the previous week, it is hard to say - and we didn't really wake up until 7 or 8 overs had rolled by, at which point the opposition was racking up runs in excess of 10 an over. Which makes the final score of 172-9 off 20 overs even more remarkable, given that a) we were playing a very strong team on a tiny ground, b) we were understrength ourselves, c) Phil was the 5th "bowler"! In the final stats, Ben took 4 wickets, Phil took 3 plus 2 catches, and we held on to every single chance that came our way. There were so few misfields it doesn't warrant mentioning, and all in all was another good team performance in the field.

 

Badger got it spot on with the batting order, although a run rate of just over 8½ was always going to be tough. Losing Mani for a Golden after just three balls didn’t help matters, and when Marcel completely misread a straight one from Bobby, we were in trouble – to say the least. The second opener, Ben, stood his ground though, picking off the bad balls, and despatching them to all parts of the ground, eventually falling to long on for a very good 51 runs.  Once he had gone, it was always going to be an uphill task, and although Phil and Roholah backed things up with 25 and 20 respectively, the run-rate had crept up to 9 an over by halfway, and having one man short, and Edward playing one-handed, it was always a big ask.

 

At the end of the day, we fell only 15 runs short of our target, but it wasn’t for the want of trying, and no-one has any questions to answer on the strength of the performance. Had we had the 11th man, I have no doubt whatsoever the result would have been very different.

 

08.07.07 T20 Open Helsinki-v-Empire-Kaisaniemi - Could not field team - Match Forfeited

 

07.07.07 SM45 SKK-v-Empire-Ruskeasuo - Match rained off after 40 overs.

The much discussed, controversially rescheduled, scandal-hit, SM45 match against SKK got off to a contentious start when the umpire turned up and told SKK they had lost the right to a toss, as the wicket wasn’t ready on schedule. Having previously talked the matter through with the team, I invoked the right to choose – and opted to field.Given the events of the previous 24 hours, the loss of four of our five strike bowlers, we had found five players at less than a day’s notice to step in to what was our most important game of the season so far. The pre-match get together showed that the team’s spirit was still very much alive and kicking, and Edward, Ben, and Lenny stepped up when asked to take on the task of bowling.

 

In Mani’s very first over, Simon – ‘Dodgy’ – got an unplayable ball that ricocheted of his glove, arm and stomach straight on the top of the bails. I dropped a very sharp chance off Chris, in the same over, on his first ball faced, and it was a costly miss, as he went on to score 50, albeit off of 35 overs.The run-rate never got above 4½ an over – and for a long time, languished at 4. All credit goes to Lenny, Mani, Stig, Ben and Edward, who bowled the 40 overs the weather allowed us to play. All five bowlers came in with under 5 an over against their names, which is consistency itself, and a great effort. In the first ten overs, a grand total of two wides were bowled, and at the end of the innings, the extras were under twenty. Considering we have averaged 50 an innings over the past two seasons, 20 extras is a superb job.In addition to the bowling, mention has to be made of the fielding effort. If you look at the statistic that says we dropped seven catches, it might appear ludicrous to state that this was the best performance I have seen from an Empire cricket team. But the numbers don’t tell the story. The commitment in the field, the walking in, and especially the backing up and encouragement of every single player was incredible. The pressure applied on the batsmen by the fielders in the first over was still evident in the fortieth, and there is no question that every one of their players felt it. Casey was the only batsman who looked anything like reasonably comfortable at the crease, and by the time rain intervened, SKK were at 180-7.

 

The official result was ‘match rained off, 4 points to each team’ – but it was a huge morale boost for our club. Not just the figures, but the performance. The best eleven will always beat the eleven best – and on Saturday 7th July, Empire had their best eleven, of that I have no doubt whatsoever.

 

01.07.07 T20 Open Empire-v-SKK-Viikki - Phil agreed to do.

 

21.06.07 - 25.06.07 Empiricists' Summer Tour - The Jinnah CC T20 Cup - Stockholm, Sweden

Many thanks to Jinnah CC in Stockholm who went to great lengths to make us feel welcome in their Club House and who fed, watered and put us up for 4 nights! However, the weather rather put a dampener on proceedings in general with none of our matches played in anything less than heavy drizzle, under grey skies and in a storm force gale! A typical Scandinavian Midsummer perhaps? The evening excursions to sample the Stockholm night-life did make up for it though!

22.06.07 Baerum CC (Norway) v Empire CC, Empire 104/6, Baerum CC by 4 wickets. A match we should have won, the score does not reflect the match proceedings as I believe our batsmen were frustrated into strokes by very inconsistent and poor bowling (with up to 3-4 wides each and every over).

22.06.07 Empire CC v Jinnah CC (Sweden), Empire 141/7, Jinnah CC by 6 wickets. The secret to T20 batting on a ground with a long (10cm) lush grass outfield was demonstrated by the home team with a slog fest and not ONE single drive or glance shot along the ground. We were on a learning curve.

23.06.07 Sigtuna CC (Sweden) v Empire CC, ended in a TIE - A nice dry sunny day might have produced a decent game now we had the slogging idea but the weather closed in again! The outfield became far too slippy and we gave it up as a bad joke after a few close shaves.

However, you will be happy to know that the skies cleared and the sun came out for the cup final; just in time for us to catch the boat home! Very enjoyable though and I think we should go again next year! Alternatively we should invite the Norwegians and Swedes to Finland in 2008?

 

17.06.07 T20 Open Empire-v-Vaasa-Messukylä - Empire 144/6, Vaasa 145/5, Vaasa by 5 wickets.

Although we lost the game, it was only by a whisker and it really could have gone either way. I have to say this was one very enjoyable match, a roller coater ride no less with big smiles all round from both teams! Vaasa put us in to bat and Jonathon (Capt.for the day) and Zaki started cautiously with only 3 runs off the first 2 overs. The blow of Captain Jonathon's (2) departure (lbw) with only 14 on the board was, however, followed by a nice partnership between Zaki (36) and Marcel (29). After Zaki being caught we then lost both Marcel and Oba (4) through run outs for only 8 runs before Ben (25) settled things down again before being, yes you guessed it, run out!. Need to work on that calling lads! So with only 114 on the board after 17 overs it was time to start clocking up a few more, Stig (10), Imran (8) and Gary (16) added some much needed runs in the last few overs, with Gary and Imran knocking 17 off the vey last over to give us a defendable total.

Amin and Imran then gave us some excellent early bowling, and with tight fielding we restricted Vaasa to only 26 off 7 overs! One 4 over spell allowing them only 6 runs! Brilliant! But it wasn't until the 9th over that we began to take wickets, Zaki taking wickets in each consecutive over he bowled. With a couple of nice deep catches by Amin and Stig, and Ben taking one behind the stumps, Vaasa looked to be in trouble on 107, with 17 overs gone. However, with the aid of some loose bowling they miraculously found their way to score 24 before the penultimate over leaving them still needing 14 to win off 6 balls. Zaki's last over was key, but unfortunately we let it slip, Zaki's bowling pace converted into some frustratingly nice shots, the whole game decided by a neat 4 with only 2 balls remaining in the match! Great fun!

Big positives to take from this match were that our bowling was excellent early on, and much tighter than in the past, with very few wides. Man of the Match was Zaki Kamal with 36 runs and 3 for 29.

 

09.06.07 Empiricists-v-SKK Socialists-Viikki, 45 over friendly. Socialists 169/10, Empiricists 170/3 - Empiricists by 7 wickets - EMPIRE WIN

The day turned out to be really smashing, with clear skies and 24 degrees. The Socialists batted first and except for Imran´s opening wicket maiden in the second over we made heavy weather of disposing of their first three with their opener spilled twice at Point early on. However, the Socialists were unable to "captalise" on this and limped to only 112/3 in 27 overs. After this we were really already into the tail and Lenny was "unleashed" on them bowling 3 for 7.  Our loose bowling in general, however, made their 104 off the bat overall into 169 all out! Excellent bowling though from Oba 11 for 1 (6 overs, inc 2 maidens), Eddie 21 for 1 (7 overs, inc wicket maiden) and Imran 37 for 3 (7,2 overs, inc wicket maiden and a maiden). Special mention goes to our newbie, Ben, with two nifty catches behind, one stumping and a watertight keeping job. Good on ya' mate! 

 

As for our innings, the Empiricists' "experimental" motto was somewhat strained by fielding Zaki and Imran as 2 and 3 in the batting but they did a good job boosting us to 117 for one after Shabeer's shocking duck as an opener in the first over (which was a wicket maiden no less). Imran's response of 3 fours and a six to give the same bowler 19 off his second over was just the antedote to the first over hiccup however.Then Zaki's 46 and Imran's 50 was very nice cricket to watch over the following 19 overs (partnership of 117). Super wickey Ben then showed us that he can hit the thing as well as catch it by hitting 6 fours and a six, ending 36 not out to partner batsmen 5 and 6 to the winning total.

 

06.06.07 T20(8) Empire-v-SKK-Viikki, SKK were unable to field a team. EMPIRE WIN

 

29.05.07 T20(8) SKK-v-Empire-Ruskeasuo, Empire 70/7, SKK 71/4, SKK by 3 wickets

Match report will appear here soon. Phil Davies agreed to do.

 

23.05.07 T20(8) Empire-v-MTS/Navy-Viikki, Empire 189/6, MTS/Navy 45/7, Empire by 144 runs, EMPIRE WIN 

On a chilly but sunny evening we assembled to play our good friends the Mens Thinking Society/Finnish Navy. Electing to bat first we started in grand fashion off the very first ball with a massive six from Zahed, only to be plunged into "head in hands" despair 4 balls later by a weak half prod from Gary which was nicely collected at mid on (I blame new bat syndrome) for a duck. I write this stuff so I can say what I want! With Shabeer and Zahed, we then went on to 34 before Zahed was clean bowled (while bird watching maybe?). Jo and Shabeer then did some nice running between the stumps to clock up another 10 between them before Jo went cleaned bowled. Now, after the abuse that yours truly received from the Chairman of Empire Cricket Club (for going for a duck) Chairman Richard was up next to show us what a decent batsman can do to prop up the middle order and try to get the show on the road again. Yes, you guessed it, a Golden Duck no less! So 42 for 4 and not looking too good until Shabeer and Rohollah steamed away in a 113 partnership to give us 155 for 5, Jan turned in a nice 5 and Nicko in his first ever competitive game of cricket scored 1 (not out) before we were