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Young Accountants Indoor Cricket Challenge 2002

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On Sunday 28th July, the Deloitte Indoor Cricketers fronted up to the greatest challenge they have ever faced: a test of their ability, a war of attrition and a battle of mental/physical stamina.� Competing against 6 other accounting firm teams, the team known as With Ourselves split it's roster into 2 teams: Deloitte Raw and Deloitte Smackdown, to prove that Deloitte has the "wood" over the other firms when it comes to Indoor Cricket.

The tournament was played in abbreviated rules: 8 players, 8 over innings (1 to bowl, 2 to bat per partnership), 8 balls per over and -5 for an out.

The team was dogged by the early controversy of star player Brett "Andrew Walker" Mathers walking out on the team for "family" reasons 4 days before the tournament.� Rumours have it that Faye Rheuther (his fianc�e) has a mild case of lockjaw. "Disco" Stu Meiklejohn was also stricken with a chronic shoulder injury caused by repetitive filing of GST returns.�

The day started poorly with, 3 minutes prior to the commencement of the first game (10am), a total of 7 players (combined from both teams at the venue) had turned up: both teams had to bat first in hope that the rest of the boys would roll up in time for turn at bat. Fortunately, everyone turned up in time (except Lee Mariu who had to figure out where in Auckland he had ended up after a night out on the town).� Super Sub Simon Kolose (the morning specialist) stepped up to the plate.� When everyone finally arrived the place smelt like the Provador at 2.30am on Saturday morning (the toilets were in better condition tho).

SMACKDOWN GAME 1�

The first game for both teams can only be described as a shocker as it took the boys a while to adjust to the new reduced format (8 overs instead of 16), the new courts, and it always takes 1 game for the players to sweat out all the alcohol from the night before (also known as the morning after D Tox process).� Of particular note was the horrible shape a Mr Joseph Ford McDavitt was in as he had trouble walking let alone playing, and was put into more distress when he found out that Labour had won the election - 4 outs in 2 overs was the end result. The Smackdown team started off with a massive total of 19 runs! (including 18 from Dave Whitburn and Michael Collins in 1 partnership). KPMG then proceeded to take advantage of our d toxing state and open a proverbial can of whoop ass on us hitting 45 runs in reply.� Losing the first game was not exactly the start we were looking for but like the National party we were determined to bounce back and show some ruthless aggression.�

RAW GAME 1

Pretty poor start batting wise, with too many big shots played for?and missed. No partnership really got going, and we finished on 16. A piss poor effort that, and only a complete disaster would prevent Australia from winning this first test match today. The American import, Enrique Cuervo, had an inauspicious start to his Indoor Cricket career, by playing a nice shot to the nets, but dropped his bat to take the single, baseball style. His attempts to retrieve it left him stranded by a good half a pitch, no TV replay required there. In the end, the Raw roster was outplayed by eventual pool winners Gosling Chapman.

SMACKDOWN GAME 2

The next game we bowled first and managed to restrict The Outsiders to a total of 9 runs.� Parkes took the ruthless aggression angle a bit too far when he heaved a ball down the track almost knocking a girl?s head off! (maybe he's been picking up tips from Coles?). McDavitt was benched for this game when he brought the game into disrepute by trying to multi task (eating a pie and fielding at the same time) to horrific results - a stained t shirt and a waste of half a pie.� The rhythm was back in our bowling and we easily overcame the target with the bat, although again we got off to a bit of a shaky start with the first partnership registering a negative score.� But from then on the boys rattled up an easy 44 runs with no pressure!, doing it easy.

RAW GAME 2

A pre-match bowling warm-up fired up Simon Kolose, who displayed ruthless aggression and delivered an outstanding spell of bowling nailing a few wickets and no runs scored against him. Due to a much improved display with the ball and in the field, DTT Raw were able to restrict the opposition to a whopping total of 5. There was some nice bowling from Derek "Vettori" Kerr and Brendan "Bad News" Brown. Once again, the batting was extremely average, as we almost buggered up the chase of 5 runs, by scraping home with 4 runs from the last 2 balls, to end up on 7. Simon Thorburn and Gavin Old showed their mental tenacity and a likening for the high-pressure situation to guide the team home in those final few deliveries.� A crucial win to say the least.

SMACKDOWN GAME 3

Grant Thornton (with their pretty bright orange shirts) was the next stepping stone in our quest for glory.� Once again we bowled first and had them under the hammer straight away with a negative first over.� The pie in the previous game had the Scooby snack effect on McDavitt as he came charging into bowl with a brilliant spell of short pitched bowling.� Duncan Stevenson chimed in with a couple of quick wickets as well to keep the Smackdown juggernaught rolling.� The boys continued the pressure and ruthless aggression with a final total of -12, yep that?s right we only had to get no runs to win!!!!, we managed to score 47 runs to secure second spot in our group and face the winner of the other section.�

RAW GAME 3

After two ordinary efforts at the batting crease, the boys fired up with ruthless aggression, and took it to an Auckland City competition team. Due to sabbatical matters, Simon Kolose was forced to declare his retirement, and Kolzees? flatmate Regan Parkes (a.k.a.: Mr R. Ingin) being traded to the Raw roster. The Raw boys were out for blood, especially after Guy Bowker bowled some clown who had adopted a stance halfway down the pitch, but was not given because of some random reason ("Was not ready"). This was the best batting effort at this stage, scoring 51 off some okay bowling and the placement of more sensible shots. A second win, and a crucial 2nd place in the pool, ensuring a top semi-final and guaranteed 4th at least.

SMACKDOWN SEMI FINAL

The red hot Gosling Chapman team was next.� Our first 2 partnerships really stepped up to the plate, with Dougall and Jared laying the platform with a great 24 runs, then Lee and Joe picking up where they left off to get to 40 runs at the half way stage.� Unfortunately the last 2 partnerships struggled a little with scores of 5 and -1 for a total of 44 (still a solid total).� By this stage the boys were in the groove (and in a ruthless aggression mood) and there was nothing that was gonna stop us from making the final.� A great team effort with the ball and in the field put the GC boys under pressure early, but our boys did not take the foot off the throat for a second and with the pressure mounting the final overs produced quite a few wickets (including a hat trick from Craig Dougall, and some ultra quick bowling that was generally unplayable by Bevan Coles) to leave them demorilised (and not happy) on 7 runs (after getting close to 30).� With the Smackdown team safely thru the boys went over to the next court to support the Raw team.� We caught the last 2 overs and they were quite possibly the most exciting 2 overs of indoor cricket ever seen. See the Raw results for the exciting conclusion?. But the roof was basically blown off the place in the final over!!!!!

RAW SEMI FINAL

Qualifying 2nd and playing the Old Muskets (the team that finished 1st in the other pool, and had showed the Smackdown team what ruthless aggression was all about!), good solid starts and finishes in the batting got Deloitte Raw to a very respectable total of 61, our highest to date. The opposition had a very good start - needing only 14 from the last 2 overs. However, a key moment occurred halfway through the last over when the opposition non-striker went up to his partner to tell him to "not do anything stupid": with some quick thinking and ruthless aggression Gavin Old promptly ran the dude out ...which is perfectly legal in the game. A last minute stumping from keeping revelation Garrett Wong put the game out of reach (and sent the crowd into an orgasmic state), and we were into the final against the Deloitte Smackdown team.

GRAND FINAL: RAW VS SMACKDOWN

The Final: Mate vs Mate, Service Line vs Service Line, Deloitte vs Deloitte

SMACKDOWN PERSPECTIVE

The Raw team won the toss and batted first.� They got off to a good start but lost wickets at crucial times (just when the partnership was looking like getting a really good score - the Smackdown team would apply some ruthless aggression and seize a wicket to keep the Raw team in check).� Sledging and cheeky niggle was at an all time high as each side was vying for that mental edge over each other.� Unfortunately the Raw team was at least 20 runs away from a competitive target, and the Smackdown team overcame the target without the pressure/intensity of the previous semi finals.

RAW PERSPECTIVE

A valiant effort by the boys to make it this far, and to be honest, our true final was in the last game, what with the obvious personal battles between the team and the emotional turmoil of captain Garrett Wong (someone drove into his car in the parking lot and did the runners). Deloitte Raw finished 2nd from 8, a great effort given available resources.

CONCLUSION

All in all a great showing from the boys - 1 and 2! Both teams receiving trophies and proving that Deloitte is the dominant force in corporate indoor cricket.�

Thanks to all the supporters who came down to cheer the teams on.�

We would like to dedicate this victory to Kim Fisher (for always believing in us, no matter how many times we choked before - yeah right! and therefore providing the encouragement for our ruthless aggression spirit).�