After a few hectic weeks of planning, confirming players and timings, Maharashtra Mandal London saw a great game of limited overs cricket at Kenton Cricket Club take place on Sunday August 18, 2002. Good weather, plenty of support from Maharashtrian spectators and an abundance of enthusiasm and Maharashtrian cricket talent all contributed to a memorable day.

With various players being regular weekend cricketers, the game result was swaying throughout the two innings and every player contributed with passion and zeal for a game that will also remain close to everybody from India. With spectators having turned up for support (vocal and dietary), the players even resorted to get to decisions from the official umpire – ‘Manohar Kaka’ and will definitely have plenty of ‘chikki’ (not wine !!) for the next match as this appears to be a important factor !

Special thanks to Mahohar Rakhe – Official Umpire, Mr Karmalkar and Ashlesha Vaishampayan for keeping the score updated and all the supporters and families who turned up at Kenton Cricket Club – Subsequent demand and positive feedback received will definitely see this to be a regular event. After covering the ground, equipment and catering expenses, a respectable sum of £70.00 has been raised which will be contributed towards the Mandal Hall extension project. Thanks to all the contributors and players for ensuring the day was a resounding success and much enjoyed.

Thanks/Regards
Vijay Vaishampayan (vijayv10@yahoo.co.uk)

Report from Mr Manohar V. Rakhe:

AND A GREAT TIME WAS HAD BY ALL!

Thanks to the entrerpreneurial zeal of Vijay Vaishampayan a cricket match HAPPENED at the Kenton Cricket Club ground on Sunday 18 August 2002.

The teams, led by Vijay Vaishampayan & Prasad Pitale consisted of Maharashtrian youngsters on either side of twenty & in one case the other side of 50! Enthusiasm for the game displayed by both the sides was quite heartening. In true Maharashtrian style, the game scheduled to start at 13.00 hrs. finally got under way at 13.40. There was a group of enthusiastic spectators scattered around the boundary line, under the shade of trees. The day was gorgeously hot & tailor-made for lazying around the boundary line.

The vocal support the players received from the spectators & in some cases the non-batting members of the ‘in’ side was quite endearing. The bowlers were promised bottles of wine for bowling another ‘no-ball’ or a ‘wide’. The batsmen were offered similar goodies for hitting the ball beyond the ropes. It is a disgraceful thing that has to be mentioned here, as it was an all Maharashtrian match. Nobody, not even any of the spectators, offered any "CHIKKIE" to the one & only umpire for the match, who NATURALLY, did not give any batsman out L.B.W. Some players tried to appeal to the softer side of the umpire by calling him KAKA, although he hid his grey hair under a cap. But the umpire was quite resolute in his decision. No "CHIKKIE", no L.B.W. decisions!

As the match got under way, it was noticed that apart from Vijay & Prasad, a few others too had played the game before. One of the ‘Kakas’, who had arrived at the ground to stand as an umpire, ended up playing instead, as one of the teams was a player short. Both the match umpire & the other Kaka had played the game in their youth, but for the umpire youth was a thing of the past, whereas Vijaykaka (Tirodkar) was muttering " Abhi To Main Jawaan Hoon" as he ran in to bowl his leggies! He avoided having to run, by hitting the ball to the ropes. He also had everybody in stitches (including the umpire) by his witty comments.

As happens in all limited overs matches, one side won & the other didn’t! But the balance was redressed in the second innings, when again one side won & the other didn’t!!.

As if this enjoyment was not enough, at the end of the game, Shri & Sow. Pitale, most generously provided a feast of Pulaw Rice, a delicious veg. Curry & Taak, which went down a treat.

All in all, a great time was had by all. Finally, I would personally like to thank Vijay Vaishampayan for the excellent organisation & each & every player & the spectators for their involvement & support. That just leaves one question, which I am sure, is on everyone’s lips.

" When is the next match, please? Oh, yes, & please don’t forget to let Sow. Pitale know the date & the venue!

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See photogallery
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Some Comments:

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Tushar Damle: Hi there everyone. I would just like to add my thanks to Vijay and Prasad for a job well done yesterday. I certainly do hope that this is the first of many such matches, hopefully we can make it at least an annual event.
Take care, Tushar
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Prasad Pitale: Guys, Many thanks for all your emails. Special thanks for Vijay for the extra effort put in. We all had a great day, in terms of cricket, socialising, meeting new and some old friends. I certainley hope this is the begining of more enjoyable days to come. It was especially nice to see so many family, friends and supporters also having a great time. This enhanced the day's enjoyment.
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Himanshu Vaishampayan: Folks. Nothing further to add to all the eloquence that has
been floating in cyberspace since morning. It really was a great day and all credit to Viju and Prasad for setting this up.
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Ameya Karmarkar: Hi, I too had a great time yesterday, and really enjoyed playing cricket with all of you. If any of you are still wondering who the scorer was it was my dad ravindra karmalkar. He too had a good time, as did the rest of my family. We should do it again soon. Hopefully see you at the Ganesh festival at Maharashtra Mandal. Ameya Karmalkar
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Sandesh Kadam: Aha ha!!! At last it was a early morning of eagerly awaited day by every Cricket loving [maharashtrian] in UK. What a start to the day, almost for everybody it was first personal introduction with organisers Mr. Vijay and Mr. Prasad who really took a step ahead to come forward to organise this event. Then getting along with the mood and knowing each other we started for practice sessions. With couple of warm up sessions everyone was practicing his own skills in nets during that introductory phase of the day. We became friendly and really started getting in the throng of playing cricket with fellow maharashtrian's. Once we were all set i.e when teams were full in size, Elevens on both the side although having last minutes dropouts we happen to have good supportive friends of ours walking inn to complete the size of a team, that was great. We happen to discuss the format of the game, which was two innings per side, will bat and bowl each (a limited over test match format). For memories, pictures of each team were taken, which I believe, will be published in next magazine of Maharashtra mandal and also available on the web site. What a excellent day it was, with a lot of supporters who played a key role, we really thank them for increasing our enthusiasm on the grounds by appreciating the good and bad of the players were doing. Well for many it was a start after a long break . We also thank the scorekeepers (a stressful Job), but it was good job at the end. This effort of getting along together for social gathering was excellent. At the end of the day no matter which team won the match but everyone had a feeling in his heart that we should have couple more of this kind of sporty get-together arranged in near future. It was fun guys .. Everybody enjoyed it and am sure everyone is looking forward with hopes for much more cricket matches to come be organised by Maharashtra Mandal. with the beginning of cricket in maharashtra mandal of London,UK
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Mangesh Gosavi: Hi All, It was truely a great fun meeting you all & having a good game. Big cheers to all of you. Looking forward to meeting you all in near future. Hopefully, after the initial mail exchanges, we'll start deciding about 'Next - When & where'. Cheers, -Mangesh
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Vikram Raje: great game  guys..looking forward to many more .....though i got out on a DUCK..but cmon whats a cricket match without a real fundoo   KICKSTART !!!
keep in touch vik!