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About
Club Records
Non-Player Quotes
Sometimes, great quotes come from people who aren't members of the club. Or sometimes, more than one person contributes to the quote. Either way, you can find those quotes
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The Sports Review 2003
In years to come people will look back at the 2002/3 season as the turning point for UCL Cricket. Previously, the play soft, drink soft mentality had held the club back, but now UCL are a force to be reckoned with in London.
Once again the competitive outdoor season was a disaster for UCL men’s cricket. There is not much to mention about the ULU League apart from rains, exams and cheating medics. Such cheating enabled RUMS to avoid the humiliation that would have been facing our 1st team and progress to the semis, and GKT to reach the final despite being outplayed by our 2nds. Despite these early season set-backs team spirit was high when a strong UCL team travelled to the Holly Poly for the second time in two weeks. After being taken off on a hat-trick by ruthless captain Intisar ‘Badger’ Siddiqui in the first match, Sujay ‘Stingray’ Mansingh took season best figures of 5-43 before a typical UC batting collapse. However, it wasn’t until the next morning, after ‘Ambi’ Steve Stuart had been coaxed down from the roof of the union and led away by the police, Eduardo ‘Santiago’ Gregory had demolished a porta-loo, and Henry ‘Dog’ Humphreys had returned from hiding in the woods, that UCL Cricket felt like a sports club again.
What followed were 3 days of animalism never seen before within the quiet, queer ranks of UCL Cricket, with new heroes appearing like the machine Cyrus ‘The Virus’ Jehangir, ‘Evil’ Rob Gilham, and again Ambi Steve whose naked form will be etched upon all those who were at London Bridge station after a tied match against Queen Mary.
With the confidence gained by the off field antics, the new season began in great fashion with the punishment of Steve ‘Kock’ Stuart for losing the club scorebook during the summer. Although he selected the punishment of a ‘down a pint and run from ULU to UCL Union relay’, pitting himself against a 4-man team, with a mixture of heroic performance and wig-induced cheating, the club was victorious against the running man.
This set the tone for the men’s 1sts, led by Ravi ‘S.K.’ Sharma, to remain unbeaten in London in an 8 match sequence. They also were unlucky to lose in the group stage of the BUSA Indoor Tournament, throwing away a commanding position against Surrey before crushing Kingston. Leading run scorer was Farrukh Tariq amasing an animalistic 185 runs with the bat, whilst Abbas Basrai and Tom ‘Gopher’ Getgood averaged 71 and 80 respectively. Kunal ‘Kumal’ Singh was leading wicket taker with 8 wickets. Special credit also must go to Sanjay Dindyal for nearly making the Kings captain cry [although this praise should now be retracted due his defection to the hapless medics side]. The women’s team also took on the new found belief within the club and managed to produce their best ever all round display in the Southern Universities Indoor Tournament. Led by captain Prianka Sedov, they finished 3rd in their group and would have qualified for the semi-finals if they had not contrived to lose to Cambridge, a UCCE, by 4 runs after seemingly cruising to victory. The pick of the bowlers were Jasmine Rendell, Prianka, and Helen Richardson, all averaging under 20 runs per wicket. Meanwhile, wicket-keeper Ifi Malek was leading run scorer, including a match winning innings against UEA.
This summer both men’s and women’s teams can expect success in their league competition, with the prospect of fielding the strongest sides since the formation of the club. Also, there is the prospect of a return visit to the Holly Poly.
Published April 2003 in PI Magazine
