I Anaian One-Day Cricket Competition [COMPLETE]

by **Kotzellach** » Fri Mar 18, 2022 6:41 am

they got to post the bid, we get to post the original post.

.I ANAIAN ONE-DAY CRICKET COMPETITION: IC THREAD.
Kotzellach and Grande Cucina

Roster/OOC thread | IC thread | Rankings (tentative) | Previous edition | Wikipedia article on cricket | NSS-specific Cricket RP tutorial

Wilkommen and benvenuti to Grande Cucina for the first-ever edition of the Anaian One-Day Cricket Competition. We are very happy to have you all with us.

Users signed up: (8)
.Kotzellach. (-0.5)
.Grande Cucina. (+0.5)
.The Plough Islands. (-0.5)
.Ko-oren. (±0)
.Gortolekua. (-0.4)
.Avorago. (-0.8)
.Krytenia. (+0.7)
.StrayaRoos. (±0)

The above list is now randomised and should be taken to be the final order for the series of matches for the group stages.

If this is your first ever cricket competition (which I doubt is so) a guide to roleplaying cricket can be found above. All matches will take place in Grande Cucina; this is because Kotzellach has a tiny little problem in that it doesn't really have much space to host cricket matches in. All teams will play each other once in the group stage, and the top 4 will progress to the semi-finals.

SCHEDULE
The cutoff window should be around 00:00 GMT +8 to 01:00 GMT +8 on days which, well, there are cutoffs.
MD1: 25 March - 1v8, 2v7, 3v6, 4v5 HAS OCCURRED: RESULTS HERE
MD2: 27 March - 8v5, 6v4, 7v3, 1v2 HAS OCCURRED: RESULTS HERE
MD3: 29 March - 2v8, 3v1, 4v7, 5v6 HAS OCCURRED: RESULTS HERE
MD4: 31 March - 8v6, 7v5, 1v4, 2v3 HAS OCCURRED: RESULTS HERE
MD5: 2 April - 3v8, 4v2, 5v1, 6v7 HAS OCCURRED: RESULTS HERE
MD6: 4 April - 8v7, 1v6, 2v5, 3v4 HAS OCCURRED: RESULTS HERE
MD7: 6 April - 4v8, 5v3, 6v2, 7v1 HAS OCCURRED: RESULTS HERE
Semi-Finals: 9 April - 1st in Group Stage vs 4th/2nd in Group Stage v 3rd. Tiebreakers broken through Super Over. Please note the extra bye day. HAS OCCURRED: RESULTS HERE
Finals/3PPO: 11 April - Winner of SF1 vs Winner of SF2/Loser of SF1 vs Loser of SF2. Tiebreakers broken through Super Over. HAS OCCURRED: RESULTS HERE

Misc.
Please do not RP any violence, stadium crashes, or whatever, or illnesses. We spent a lot of money insuring this event. Also because Grande Cucina supplies a lot of our food and we can't really afford any disruptions to the supply chain. Free trade and low taxes are good ya'll

by **Grande Cucina** » Fri Mar 18, 2022 6:41 am

Please do take note that the tournament will be using the 50x6 format.

click link for full-sized image

.Welcome to Grande Cucina.
.Benvenuti in Grande Cucina.

Four views of the country, clockwise from top left: a vineyard in Garofalo, a hilltop photo in Pranzo, a wheat field in Giardino, Barilla; the capital and largest city.

Welcome to Paradise.

One of the world's most idyllic countries, with a largely agricultural-based economy and quite limited industrialisation, Grande Cucina is a charming reminder of how life used to be in the mid-20th century. Life is generally taken slowly, good food is prized above all else and the country prides itself on being the breadbasket of the surrounding region, thanks to just how fertile the land is.

Cricket in Grande Cucina is a generally amateur sport — genuinely, the most popular sport in Grande Cucina is football, and it's not even close — but there are enough pieces of flat land that can generally pass off as cricket grounds, and temporary seating has been built in order to create, well, a cricket ground. Four of them, actually.

GROUND 1: Barilla Cricket Ground (7,500)
Style mod: +2
Hosting:
MD1: .Kotzellach. vs .StrayaRoos.
MD2: .Avorago. vs .Ko-oren.
MD3: .Ko-oren. vs .Krytenia.
MD4: .Grande Cucina. vs .The Plough Islands.
MD5: .The Plough Islands. vs .StrayaRoos.
MD6: .Kotzellach. vs .Avorago.
MD7: .Gortolekua. vs .The Plough Islands.
Final

Set in the capital city of Barilla is the Barilla Cricket Ground — home to some of the firmest dirt in Grande Cucina. It's why they chose this place to host the important matches. The trip will be about thirty minutes from the city centre by bus; but not to worry, there will be a festival of Grande Cucinan cuisine in the area with the requisite semi-expensive prices that will make you feel like you have been ripped off. Here, the specialty is pasta — and all the different varieties of it you can think of, served in all the Grande Cucinan-approved ways you can think of.

Barilla itself is home to where you will be making your landing; the country's only international airport is located here, and the harbour here is deep enough to accomodate most ships. Do take the time here to go on a tour of the country's civic district, the largest cathedral in the country and enjoy a ride on the tram system, which serves the densely-populated inner city while also having links to the suburban sides. The trams may look and feel like they come from the 1920s, and they do. They are kept in tip-top condition, however.

GROUND 2: Cittavolpe Cricket Ground (3,400)
Style mod: -1
Hosting:
MD1: .Grande Cucina. vs .Krytenia.
MD2: .Krytenia. vs .The Plough Islands.
MD3: .Gortolekua. vs .Avorago.
MD4: .StrayaRoos. vs .Avorago.
MD5: .Ko-oren. vs .Grande Cucina.
MD6: .Grande Cucina. vs .Gortolekua.
MD7: .Krytenia. vs .Kotzellach.
Semi-Final 2 (2nd in group vs 3rd in group)

Down on the southwestern coast we have Cittavolpe, and its cricket ground; with slightly loamier soil, makes bounces a bit less predictable. The city itself, however, is named after a legendary fox spirit that is said to have blessed the soil around the land. The brilliant glow of orange the city is bathed in at sundown, too, gives it a distinctive hue. Cittavolpe itself is home to where most of Grande Cucina's fruits are grown; with, of course, oranges being the main crop grown here. Again, like all other grounds, the seats are temporary; but that probably hopefully shouldn't detract from the experience. The whole food festival thing is going on here, too, except here's your chance to get some Grande Cucinan jam. And some wine. Mainly the wine.

GROUND 3: San Giorgio Stadium (2,500)
Style mod: +1
Hosting:
MD1: .The Plough Islands. vs .Avorago.
MD2: .Kotzellach. vs .Grande Cucina.
MD3: .The Plough Islands. vs .Kotzellach.
MD4: .Krytenia. vs .Gortolekua.
MD5: .Gortolekua. vs .Kotzellach.
MD6: .StrayaRoos. vs .Krytenia.
MD7: .Ko-oren. vs .StrayaRoos.
Semi-Final 1 (1st in group vs 4th in group)

San Giorgio, Grande Cucina's easternmost settlement and one of its most religious. Here the ground has been religiously kept still and hard, though they were even lucky they could find enough of flat ground to build, well, a cricket ground on. This has somewhat impacted the amount of available seating, however; after all, the city is very hilly, mountainous, even. San Giorgio is home, mainly, to Grande Cucina's animal and dairy industry; most Grande Cucinan cheeses come from this region of Grande Cucina. Pay a visit to the Museum of Cheese while you're here; and don't worry — maggots in cheese are very much banned in the city limits. Proscuitto is also a great souvenir if you find yourself here.

GROUND 4: Divella Cricket Ground (4,500)
Style mod: -2
Hosting:
MD1: .Ko-oren. vs .Gortolekua.
MD2: .StrayaRoos. vs .Gortolekua.
MD3: .Grande Cucina. vs .StrayaRoos.
MD4: .Kotzellach. vs .Ko-oren.
MD5: .Avorago. vs .Krytenia.
MD6: .The Plough Islands. vs .Ko-oren.
MD7: .Avorago. vs .Grande Cucina.
Third-Placed Playoff

Divella. It's sort of in the middle of everything; it's in between the (relative) metropolitan-ness of Barilla and the rural-ness of Cittavolpe; it's got nothing really much of note except a giant, vicious football rivalry. Here, though, it's all about the bread — literally. Bread is the main product of this city; windmills dot the landscape, grinding wheat into flour, and this is where you can get the best pizza in the country. According to Divellans, of course; every other city will claim that their pizza is the best pizza. But at least Grande Cucinan pizza as a whole is better than Savigliano pizza. Like every other bit of Grande Cucinan cuisine, of course.

by **Krytenia** » Tue Mar 22, 2022 5:20 pm

A Step Into The Unknown
Angus Haggerston reports from Cittavolpe, Grande Cucina

Prepare the cooler, make yourself comfortable on the sofa, and get ready, for the cricket season is once again upon us. As a change of pace, though, Krytenia will be competing in what we believe is the first true regional international cricket competition. The first Anaian One-Day Cricket Competition, to give it its rather perfunctory title, gets underway tomorrow, and our very own white ball wizards are ready to cut the ribbon as they face the hosts at the Cittavolpe Cricket Ground.

It may have been a surprise that the inaugural edition of this competition did not go to any of the famed triumverate of ourselves, the Plough Islands, and Ko-oren, but I for one am glad it has landed here. The "Fertile Island" has something special that perhaps isn't quite as abundant elsewhere: an authentic charm. Grande is a feast upon the senses, from the quaint but impressive sights, through the gentle hubbub in the towns, to the glorious scents. Make no mistake, Grande Cucinans adore their food. With an extensive selection of quality home-grown produce to choose from, and a pride not only in what they cultivate but also what they do with it, you can barely walk through a town or village without your nose being overwhelmed with the glorious smell of cooking. If any family in, say, Colavita, fancied making a mint in no time flat, all they'd need to do is move to Emberton and open a restaurant.

The national team, meanwhile, will be looking to prepare some mouth-watering fare of a different kind. The Stars are the uncrowned kings of the fifty-over format, having reached (and lost) the final of both GCF Trophy competitions, and will start the tournament as short-priced favourites. Complacency, though, is not on the mind of the Krytenian team. Just because the likes of The Sarian and Sylestone are not here, doesn't mean things will be easy. One need only look at Ryan Watling's dark teatime of the soul last year for proof of that. Already, the selectors have decided to shake things up in their squad announcement. Shelton Schneller travels but is widely expected to be warming a chair in the pavilion with Howard Tatton and Andrew Taylor the preferred opening partnership. Watling, meanwhile, retains his place largely through a lack of options; if things go south for him again, expect Wes Kosta to move up the order as a specialist batsman and hand the gloves over to Bradley Grafton. There was also a late scare - mainly due to a few idiots in the tabloid press - that Diego Aquino might walk out of the sport altogether due to Krytenia entering the World Baseball Classic. Though the likelihood of Aquino switching was slim at best, the Avidia-born batsman still felt it necessary to publicly confirm his loyalty to Cricket Krytenia.

Thankfully, that particular circus has left town, and the Stars can concentrate on the task at hand. With eight nations entering, the first stage will be single round-robin, all play all, with four qualifiers to the semi-finals. For Krytenia, the road to the last four begins against Grande Cucina themselves, and without nearly so many of the vociferous "Krytie Krazies" as they'd like thanks to the rather more..."intimate" settings of the host nation's smaller grounds. On paper, you would expect the quality to shine through, especially as the pitch has an air of unpredictability that could suit Odell Lovatovic and Brigham Hill down to the ground. The thing is, however, that you can never underestimate the power of competing on home soil. Grande Cucina's outfit is amateur only in the sense that they don't get paid, so expect them to give Krytenia a fight. The Stars, meanwhile, will be concentrating on making sure they get all the essentials right, and take the first step towards what we hope will be their first trophy of note. One way or another, a statement will be made, and this is merely the starting gun of what could be an intriguing and glorious race. Fingers crossed, at the end of it, it will be Lynton Saxon's charges breaking the tape.

by **Avorago** » Tue Mar 22, 2022 9:09 pm

After confirmation came from the Anaian Board of Cricket (ABC) that the inaugural Anaian One-Day Cricket Competition (AODCC) would be held in Grande Cucina, the Avoragan squad, under the captaincy of Eberegbulam Onwuamaeze, left the shores within weeks. With an invitation from the StrayaRoos Cricket Board to join them for a practice match in the city of Panem in what would mark both nations’ first international One-Dayer, it was vital that they would row quickly, with the tournament set to start in a mere six weeks’ time.

However, fortunately for the Avoragans, a Roosian ship was docked a few days worth of rowing from the island, making their journey a lot quicker and easier on the players, knowing that they had to rest and freshen up from constant rowing well before the beginning of the tournament. That would be the last thing they wanted - to go to Grande Cucina looking like - and playing like - a bunch of zombies.

Two weeks after the squad first sailed from the island nation they call home, the Roosian ship finally docked at the port city of Circunses, and from there, they took the train to the central-western city of Panem, where the match would be played. All of this technology was immensely confusing for the majority of the side, with only footballers and exiles ever being sent overseas. Even the basic concept of a “brick house” wowed them, let alone the entire concept of a “train” or a “ship”. Their local security and guides appeared astonished by the group’s lack of knowledge about literally anything to do with technology. And when they tried to explain it, all they got was blank looks, and soon enough, they ceased attempting.

But it wasn’t anything like what the poor guys had to experience when the Avoragans reached their hotel. It took them and the hotel staff a solid hour just to explain how basic mechanisms like “doors” and “windows” work, and when “wardrobes”, “beds” and “bathrooms” were discussed, the sheer concept of all of this technology was almost too much for any of them to understand.

Yet, by the time the day of the game arrived, the majority of the players were finally beginning to use the bathroom (don’t ask for further clarification, please. It involves a few lengthy midnight walks and in some cases, a strong smell of… yeah there’s probably children reading this let’s stop here) and sleeping in the prepared beds. Hell, some were even experimenting with eating using a knife and fork, but for most of the players, the concept of utensils was simply too much for their brains to understand.

But enough on that - we’re all really here to talk about the game, right?

Right?

Well if you’re not, then suck it up. Princess.

After a few failed attempts, Avoragan skipper Eberegbulam Onwuamaeze won the toss and elected to bat, despite the pitch at Campo de críquete de Panem being (unbeknownst to him) rather conducive to both spin and pace bowling, with multiple cracks and a coating of green grass. Yet, that didn’t seem to faze opening bat Chinwuebo Chinama, who crunched Connor Greene’s opening delivery straight back over his head to the boundary. A confidence-boosting shot from Avorago’s very first ball of international cricket. Maybe, just maybe, they could do this after all?

However, it didn’t take the StrayaRoos openers long to settle into their lines and lengths, and it was a regular occurrence that their pace and swing saw the ball beat the bat of Chinama and Otutodilinna Choike’s bats, prompting groans from the crowds there to see each side’s first-ever international One-Day match.

In the seventh over, things began to get ridiculous. After Choike worked the first ball of the over into the leg-side for a single, Greene proceeded to bowl three absolute peaches to Chinama, all of which missed the edge of the right-hander’s bat by millimetres. Then, simply to rub salt into the wound, Chinama smacked the fifth ball of the over - a bouncer - into the fine-leg crowd. But it was Greene who would get the last laugh, delivering a perfect yorker that scattered Chinama’s stumps. StrayaRoos had their first, and the score was 1-35 from seven.

But that only brought Anenechukwu Daniel, unarguably the best bat at the trials, to the crease. Now would be the biggest test of her short career - to face proper, professional bowlers with their tails up. If Chinama and Choike could hold them out for a significant period of time, then surely she could, too, right?

It proved to be so, if only by the skin of her teeth. For when she was on a mere two runs, Soa Molineux spilled an admittedly tough chance at gully, allowing the Avorago number three to live to fight another day. But while she was only scoring at a slow rate, her defence appeared imperious, and once she got set, she could well be able to up the ante to a serious degree.

And that’s exactly what happened. While Choike’s good shots continued to find fielders at the other end, Daniel began to increase the run-rate from the fifteenth over onwards, breaking a rather dry spell for the batters by scoring 21 runs in the following four overs, taking the score to 75 by the time the 18th over finished. But that was when disaster struck for the second time.

With none of the team were confident with the concept of running between the wickets yet, the fact that there had been no really close calls at all during the opening eighteen overs was a very good sign for the Avoragans. But naturally, just as people began to think that, the two Avoragan batters decided to prove them wrong.

On the first ball of the nineteenth over, bowled by Josh Jonassen, Daniel flicked the ball into the leg-side and set off for a single. But Choike was busy daydreaming at the other end and realising that she had to run, set off in a hopeless affair to get through for the single. While, yes, she proved to be quick, but far from quick enough as Daniel Bradman’s low throw landed right into Isar Healy’s gloves, who whipped the bails in quick fashion, sending Choike on her way for a 58-ball 32 and bringing the Avorago captain himself to the crease to join Daniel.

With the run-rate hovering around four an over, Onwuamaeze immediately took it upon himself to take the spinners on, him and Daniel hitting Bradman’s off-spin for 24 in three hours, finding pockets in the field to take twos and scoring from almost every ball. But Jonassen at the other end was at his brilliant best, dotting both batters up and rarely giving away scoring opportunities. Daniel was the better of the two against his left-arm off-spin, looking to advance down the wicket and bunt singles to long-on and long-off, but Onwuamaeze was trying to play from his crease, and that only caused greater problems.

Yet, he managed to survive despite regular plays and misses, LBW shouts and balls that fell just out of reach of fielders, and still managed to score at a decent clip against the bowling at the other end, too. Luca Livingstone’s slightly less accurate leg-spin was a bit of a relief for him, while he also looked rather settled against Greene and Anderson’s pace, ensuring he stayed with Daniel when she passed a wonderful 72-ball half-century in the 30th over as the tourists poised themselves for a flier finish.

But those plans took a turn for the worse when Jonassen finally broke through Onwuamaeze’s defences, as the right-hander looked to cut an arm-ball that skidded through. Yes, he was good enough to get bat on it, but only succeeded in lobbing it directly into Tui’s hands at backward point, the score 3-142 in the 34th as Onwuamaeze departed for 32.

Moments later, the hosts placed themselves well and truly into the box seat, with Coobine Muljohn playing all around a stock Jonassen ball as it crashed into the top of his off-peg, sending the wicketkeeper-batter on his way for nought. With only the frail middle-order and tail remaining, Avorago were highly dependent on Daniel to continue on her merry way and hold the rest of the innings together if they were to compile a defendable total.

She found a somewhat suitable ally in Chidubem Chidimma, but the 20-year-old right-hander found the going rather tough against Jonassen and Molineux’s quality off-spin, scoring at a strike rate of well below fifty while Daniel continued to keep the runs ticking along at the other end. Noticing the struggles of her partner, she attempted to somewhat farm the strike, but Chidimma continued to waste valuable balls as the bowlers began to bog her down. Finally, she began to hit out in frustration, taking Jonassen over cover for a one-bounce four but with a mere two balls remaining in his spell, was caught by the StrayaRoos captain at cover as she attempted to repeat the shot, the fifth Avorago wicket falling for 188 with only 37 balls remaining. Some late hitting was desperately required.

And after defending the final ball of Jonassen’s allotted overs, which yielded the superb figures of 3-35 from ten overs, Mbanefo Muolemu provided just that. Despite losing Daniel for a superb 87 at the other end in the 46th over when a century seemed inevitable, he proceeded to take on the death bowling of Greene and Anderson, at one point smashing the latter 95 metres back over long-on’s head in a monster hit.

At the other end, Maduabichim Chinomso joined in the party as the Roosian bowlers were put under immense pressure, whacking two sixes in a 15-ball cameo that added a vital 18 runs to the total, with a few late extras boosting the final Avorago total to 6-247 from their 50 overs, Muolemu finishing with a quickfire 32 from just 25 balls. It meant that the hosts would require an ever-so-slightly below-par target of 248 to win their first-ever game of international One-Day cricket together, while Avorago’s spin-heavy bowling attack would be put to the test on a wicket that appeared a whole lot better than it was at the toss.

John Philippe began the StrayaRoos innings in the exact same fashion that Chinquebo Chinama did - lifting a 146 km/h thunderbolt from 20-year-old Chiwetalu Okwuoma over mid-on’s head for a two-bounce four. But that only resulted in the youngster bowling with even more fiery pace, his fifth ball of the over clocking above 150 despite being rather wayward. Adam Jones at the other end appeared visibly rattled despite his best attempts to hide it, and appeared very glad when Philippe got through the other without rotating the strike.

But Chinomso proved to be just as tough a task to face as Okwuoma, beginning with a maiden as the Roosians fell behind the required rate early, although there was still a long, long way to go. However, with Jones soaking up countless dot balls at one end and only scoring occasional runs, the Philippe appeared to be getting more and more frustrated, forcing himself to score a little faster than optimal, maintaining a run-rate of roughly four with a couple of boundaries and one big six in Chinomso’s second over.

When Jones edged an Okwuoma bouncer behind for a mere three from fifteen balls, the score was 20 towards the end of the fifth over, and only brought young Asiun Jun to the crease, a classical, free-flowing stroke-player. And it proved to be so, ignoring the fact the ball was still swinging by crunching his very first ball through the covers for four. He proceeded to whack two more fours inside the next 5-10 minutes to get his innings off to a flier, but just as things began to get ominous, Okwuoma produced an absolute snorter that hit a crack and bounced into the splice of the 19-year-old’s bat. From there, it popped straight to Mbanefo Muolemu who snaffled the catch at mid-wicket, and the visitors had a second.

Tui set about rebuilding the innings with his skipper, warding off the remainder of Okwuoma and Chinomso’s spells and looking to score, too. But the introduction of the spinners - offie Onwuamaeze and leg-spinner Rapuluolisa Chialuka - again stalled the run-rate before, in Chialuka’s second over, Tui ran at a quicker one, missed and Muljohn completed the rest, sending the StrayaRoos number four packing for 15 and leaving the hosts in a spot of bother at 3-65 in the 14th.

Philippe, who was scoring at well over a run a ball before the spinners came on, continued to struggle while Daniel Bradman got himself set at the other end, using his crease to generate exploitable gaps in the field. With Chialuka really getting into a groove at one end, Onwuamaeze took himself off and brought on his fifth bowler, Chiazagomekpere Udegbunam, another off-spinner. A bad ball came every now and then, but Philippe and Bradman never looked 100% comfortable. Yet, their partnership grew, and as Philippe passed a 61-ball 50 and the score began to tick over 120, the Avoragans were once again in dire need of a wicket.

An Udegbunam arm ball brought that wicket about. With Philippe well-set on 56 in the 25th over, the 33-year-old managed to get one to slide onto the toe of the StrayaRoos skipper’s bat, and he could only succeed in popping straight back to the bowler. With the score now 4-129 and only one or two recognised bats left, the game was once again back in the balance and everything was set up for a nail-biting finish.

Isar Healy arrived to join Bradman and face a quality spin attack, and to the surprise of little, never really looked comfortable. Noticing this, Onwuamaeze opted to bring on Otutodilinna Choike for her first spell and reduce the strain of his other bowlers. And to an extent it worked, regularly beating the bat of a frustrated Healy despite copping a little tap by Bradman at the other end. She even picked up Healy’s wicket in her third over after Onwuamaeze caught them at short third-man for twelve, bringing 15-year-old Connor Greene to the crease in his first international outing with the bat. If the spinners could work his young mind over and keep Bradman away from the strike, then the required run-rate might just begin to climb from five an over, up to sixes and sevens, and put themselves back on top.

They failed to do that, but the end result was just as good, if not better. While Greene looked relatively comfortable as the spinners finished off their spells, Bradman, for the first time, didn’t appear too sure. The reintroduction of Chinomso to the attack didn’t ease that despite his first ball going miles down the leg side for five wides, but he was quickly back on his lines and causing issues as the required run-rate began to move just a little higher.

With four overs remaining, exactly 30 runs were needed for a Roosian victory, with Bradman and Greene reasonably well-set at the crease. Six runs came off the first three balls of the 47th over - Chinomso’s eighth - to put the hosts well ahead of the eight-ball. With 24 required from 21, surely a win was on the cards.

That was when disaster struck.

On 85, Bradman pushed a ball into the off-side from the fourth ball of Chinomso’s over and at the other end, Greene immediately set off for the single. Bradman, though, was a little slow out of the blocks as Chialuka swooped down from point and fired at the stumps at the bowling crease.

He did not miss, catching Bradman mere inches short of his ground as the middle-stump cartwheeled out of the ground. The Avoragans had their wicket, and the game was once again alive.

Chinomso and Okwuoma’s next couple of overs were both impressive, the latter bouncing back from Greene whacking him for a maximum over long-off in the 48th to tie both him and Josh Jonassen down with four dot balls and a single coming from the rest of the over. Thus, with six balls remaining, eleven runs were required, Jonassen on strike against the tearaway pace of Okwuoma.

The first ball was a superb yorker that missed the stumps by a matter of millimetres, but on the second, he failed to miss, sending all three pegs flying, bringing 39-year-old John Anderson to the crease. A man of whom, with ball in hand, is one to fear. But with the bat, and coming to the crease with eleven runs required from four balls?

Not so much.

He flailed at the first ball, but connected with his second, scampering through for a single, leaving a kid almost a third of his age at the other end needing to hit a six and four to begin his nation’s One-Day record on a strong note.

He achieved the latter of the next ball, carving a wide yorker behind point to the third-man boundary, causing multiple Avoragan players to literally shit themselves in nervousness. For six runs were required from Okwuoma’s final ball, for StrayaRoos to win, and five to tie.

It seemed ridiculous that, after 599 legitimate deliveries, both teams were in with a chance of winning, with a tie still technically possible if an Avorago fielder got over-excited. Which, let’s be honest, was a possibility with this ridiculously inexperienced side.

It did not matter, though. Okwuoma slightly missed the length of his yorker, but it was full enough that Greene could only scoop it to mid-wicket and race through for two as the home crowd began to stream out of the arena, not believing that they had just been outclassed by a side that, up until a few months ago, didn’t even know the existence of the sport. And here they were, defeating a rising cricket-mad nation by a mere three runs. No, it simply did not compute. Surely something was out of place.

But they were not dreaming; this was all fact. Avorago had just pulled off the impossible and defended a total of 247 thanks to a superb bowling effort. But things did go their way, and they would have to improve a whole heap if they were to defeat the Plough Islanders in Grande Cucina in under a month’s time.

That would be a long, long shot, though - something that not one Avoragan believed could happen. But they had just gone and shown the world that they might, somehow, be a formidable foe.

Could they, dare I say it, actually win a game in the AODCC?

Avorago Batting
Batter                                            R   B  4s  6s   SR
C Chinama           b Greene                     17  16   2   1  106.25
O Choike            run out (Bradman)            32  58   3   0   55.17
A Daniel            c Molineux b Anderson        87 114   6   0   76.32
E Onwuamaeze (c)    c Tui b Jonassen             32  47   1   0   68.09
C Muljohn (+)       b Jonassen                    0   3   0   0    
C Chidimma          c Philippe b Jonassen        11  26   1   0   42.31
M Muolemu           not out                      32  25   4   1  128
M Chinomso          not out                      18  15   0   2  120
       EXTRAS       (1 b, 2 lb, 11 wd, 4 nb)     18
        TOTAL       for 6 wickets               247   (50 ov; 4.94 RPO)
Did not bat:      R Chialuka, C Udegbunam, C Okwuoma

FOW: 1-35 (C Chinama, 6.6 overs); 2-75 (O Choike, 18.1 overs); 3-142 (E Onwuamaeze (c), 33.2 overs); 
     4-142 (C Muljohn (+), 33.5 overs); 5-188 (C Chidimma, 43.5 overs); 6-201 (A Daniel, 45.2 overs)

StrayaRoos Bowling
Bowler                 Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
C Greene               10   1  56  1    5.6  (3 wd)
S Molineux             10   2  38  0    3.8  (1 nb, 1 wd)
J Anderson              9   0  55  1   6.11  (2 nb, 4 wd)
L Livingstone           8   0  39  0   4.88  (1 nb)
D Bradman               3   0  24  0      8  (1 wd)
J Jonassen             10   1  35  3    3.5  (2 wd)

StrayaRoos Batting   (Target: 248)
Batter                                            R   B  4s  6s   SR
J Philippe (c)      c&b Udegbunam                56  66   4   3   84.85
A Jones             c Muljohn b Okwuoma           3  15   0   0   20
A Jun               c Muolemu b Okwuoma          13   7   3   0  185.71
Tui                 st Muljohn b Chialuka        15  24   2   0   62.5
D Bradman           run out (Chialuka)           85 113   9   0   75.22
I Healy (+)         c Onwuamaeze b Choike        12  30   0   0   40
C Greene            not out                      33  38   3   1   86.84
J Jonassen          b Okwuoma                     4   7   0   0   57.14
J Anderson          not out                       1   2   0   0   50
       EXTRAS       (5 b, 5 lb, 10 wd, 2 nb)     22
        TOTAL       for 7 wickets               244   (50 ov; 4.88 RPO)
Did not bat:      S Molineux, L Livingstone

FOW: 1-20 (A Jones, 4.5 overs); 2-36 (A Jun, 6.5 overs); 3-65 (Tui, 13.3 overs); 
     4-129 (J Philippe (c), 24.1 overs); 5-170 (I Healy (+), 35.2 overs); 6-224 (D Bradman, 46.4 overs); 
     7-237 (J Jonassen, 49.2 overs)

Avorago Bowling
Bowler                 Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
C Okwuoma              10   1  52  3    5.2  (1 nb, 1 wd)
M Chinomso              9   1  51  0   5.67  (7 wd)
E Onwuamaeze (c)        8   0  36  0    4.5  
R Chialuka             10   0  44  1    4.4  (2 wd)
C Udegbunam             8   1  25  1   3.13  
O Choike                4   0  18  1    4.5  (1 nb)
C Chinama               1   0   8  0      8  

Venue: Campo de críquete de Panem, Panem, StrayaRoos
Toss: Avorago won the toss and elected to bat
Matchdays: Practice Match I
Player of the Match: Chiwetalu Okwuoma (AVR)
Debut: literally everyone playing in the game lmao
Umpires: unknown
TV Umpire: unknown
Reserve Umpire: unknown
Match Referee: unknown
Match Result: Avorago win by three runs

Avorago XI vs The Plough Islands @ San Giorgia Stadium, Grande Cucina

1. Chinwuebo Chinama
2. Otutodilinna Choike
3. Anenechukwu Daniel
4. (c) Eberegbulam Onwuamaeze
5. (+) Coobine Muljohn
6. Chidubem Chidimma
7. Mbanefo Muolemu
8. Maduabuchim Chinomso
9. Rapuluolisa Chialuka
10. Chiazagomekpere Udegbunam
11. Chiwetalu Okwuoma

by **Gortolekua** » Wed Mar 23, 2022 7:12 am

A letter arrived in the mail today. Electric bill, music newsletter, spam about my car's extended warranty (which hasn't been a thing since, like, ever). Nothing out of the ordina—the Anaian Board of Cricket? And another scary looking letter? From the Government?

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shittttttt.

Breathe. Breathe again. Just take the letter from the Government, open it up, read the letter and you'll get it over with pretty pretty soon.

Dear esteemed cricketer,

We are delighted as we can be, given the situation, to inform you that you are being awarded one of the very first ever common passports to participate in the inaugural Anaian One-Day Cricket Competition. We are thrilled that, given cricket’s recent legalization (alongside all other sporting activities that aren’t baseball, curling, or association football) as a permitted competitive sport, there is a chance for you and your teammates to bring glory to the nation. However, we recognize that it may not be the likeliest of outcomes; in any case, we will be delighted to have you introduce and plant the seeds of Gortoleki hospitality and diplomacy with your talented opponents.

We welcome the advent of a new age in this nation—one of greater connectedness and community among ourselves and across Anaia. On behalf of the Government and of the entire nation, I wish you and your teammates the best of luck in this competition. Here’s to not being sent to hell and back on that oval.

Kind regards,

Perry Salonen
Päälehen Gortolekua | Premier of Gortolekua

Wait, if that’s written by the Premier, then that means this other letter…

Dear Cricket Board of Gortolekua,

We are delighted to inform you of the country’s confirmed entry into the first Anaian One-Day Cricket Competition, set to take place in Grande Cucina. We look forward to seeing your nation partake in this historic competition very soon.

Best regards,

The Anaian Board of Cricket

Oh no. Oh my dear heavens, no please. Nope, this has to be forged. Let me call my friends and see who thinks this is some elaborate, devilish joke. It’s not just me, no? Let me call Hayden, they’ll tell me it’s just a crazy joke.

“Hola, Mister Presidente, how do I have the pleasure to assist you tonight with your failed flirtation attempts at the bar?”

“Knock it off. Not now, oi.”

“Oh shit, okay. What’s up Gav?”

“So, you remember how we signed up for that cricket thing thinking they wouldn’t let us in?”

“Dude, I don’t have to think: We’ve got our all-access passes in the mail today. It’s not a joke. We are legitima—hello? Hello?? Why does he always hang up on me when I tell him something serious? Ugh, blarg, oh well.”

You've got to be kidding.

I hate life so much right now. I’ve never played truly competitive cricket (none of us truly have), and I just did it because my friends told me to and voted me president of the cricket board as a semi-joke and submitted that application to enter as a joke and now we’re in the actual thing?! Woah…I need to sit down and breathe. Breathe because you're gonna have to be the first impression of everyone to the rest of the region. So let's do just that. Plus, I don't think most people know about me doing this kind of thing anyways. Like, I'm probably one of the few people to know this sport even exists. It'll be all good when it's all said and done!

buzz

Everything will be fine and my phone is not going to act up.

buzz-buzz

Nothing will go wrong.

buzz-buzz-buzz-buzz-buzz-buzz-buzz-buzz-buzz

Oh no.

knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock

Nobody's at the door right now, nobody is at the door right now, I'm going to open the door to my flat and see that it was just a prank. No one is actually there. See—

"Gavin! How will you handle the pressure of being one of the first Gortoleki ever to leave the country and represent it at a sporting competition?"

"What even is leg before wicket? Can you explain that to any of our readers who may be confused by it?"

"Why cricket? Why not a sport we all know, like football?"

"How will you prepare for Matchday One against Ko-oren? Their squad has—pack it up, everyone, he couldn't handle the heat. Door's closed, let's move on."

I hate the flashing lights. I hate the pressure weighing down on me now. First the Government, then Hayden getting the all-access passes, then the press...I can't take it right now. I just can't right now. There's too many thoughts just buzzing through my head right now. Why do I have to remember I'm playing cricket for my country? Why am I even playing cricket? Why do I have to deal with all this pressure?

And why, of all the countries we could have played first, does it have to be Ko-oren?

by **The Plough Islands** » Thu Mar 24, 2022 12:46 am

on the 20th March 2022, the Plough Islands Gazette wrote:
PREVIEW: AVORAGO AWAITS FEARLESS YOUNG FOXES
by Denis Wormwood, Sporting Correspondent, in Barilla

After several months of preparation from the Anaian Board of Cricket, the first Anaian One Day Cricket Competition begins next week in Grande Cucina, with Audrey Leggett leading the Plough Islands in their first limited overs competition since the World Trophy last year in Gruenberg. It is a new frontier, of sorts, for the Plough Islands Cricket Association to be broaching, but veteran head coach Lourens Hendricks is sanguine about the prospect. "It's certainly very exciting. I think tournaments like this can only be good for the development of cricket in the multiverse, ja, and it's honestly a privilege to be able to take part in breaking some new ground, y'know?"
Certainly, new ground is being broken with the team selection. Just six players in the expanded eighteen-player squad are over thirty, and seven have played with the Young Foxes in the Global Cricket Federation era; these include the uncapped trio of quick bowler Jennifer Hart, all-rounder Dimitry Andreyev, and opener Andrew Weaver (younger brother of Shauna - the family theme continues with Hendricks' son Jannie, about whom a typically flustered Lourens does not want to comment too much; "man, the boy's gonna read this...").
While the youthful team is partially motivated by the unavailability of stalwarts such as Kevin Laing, Andrew Fairfield, and Colin McCarthy, it is also the distillation of one of the more promising groups of young players Hendricks can remember. "This definitely feels like a good generation coming through, y'know? it [the Young Foxes participating in the world 20-over championships] has been one of the best things that's happened to young cricketers, ja, it makes them battle-ready and tests their instincts in something...something close to a competitive environment".
The ODCC will be far more of a competitive environment, with the first phase consisting of an eight team league with each team playing the others once. Matches against old friends from Krytenia and Ko-oren are scheduled near the beginning and end of the two-week schedule, with the rest of the tournament comprising matches against nations new to multiversal cricket. Far from being easy fixtures, though, the expectation is that the Plough Islands will be well matched against teams such as Gortolekua and Kotzellach, backed by the wealth and nascent infrastructure of countries eager to prove a point against the decorated Foxes.
Avorago, captained by Eberegbulam Onwuamaeze and spearheaded by fast bowler Chiwetalu Okwuoma - who at his fastest can swing the ball in at over 160 kilometres an hour - will be the first, and Hendricks is careful not to underestimate them. "Ja, no, it's very easy to point at them only playing one fifty over match, or say they can't bowl or they've just come down from the trees or any other stupid racist rubbish like that. We've got to treat them seriously, ja, because the moment we underestimate them they will prove to be very serious indeed".
Complicating the team selection is the temporary pitch at the San Giorgio Stadium, which has been described as firm and green by the tournament directors; in the warm sunlight that bathes this northern Anaian nation, Leggett's Foxes may find the traditional Plough Islander reliance on spin a disadvantage. With the likely inclusion of at least two of pace bowlers Andreyev, Hart, and Andrew Baxter, it will be one of the younger Plough Islands teams ever to play international cricket.
And as the Foxes prepare to do battle amidst the hills of San Giorgio next week, Hendricks admits that the question of time has been weighing on his mind as well. "Ag, y'know, I'm pretty sure I've aged like fifteen years since I took the role, and...and ja, no, there will come a time when I can't put myself into it fully any more", the head coach admits, while reflecting on another new generation of players that have come through his tutelage. "I still have unfinished business, ja, of course, it would be good to ride into battle with the Plough Islands and come away with a trophy, but the strength of this group of players gives me...assurance? As well as hope, y'know, that regardless of what happens to me, our country's cricket is in very safe hands indeed".

PLOUGH ISLANDS CRICKET ASSOCIATION
XI FOR ANAIA O.D.C.C. VS.  AVORAGO

        PLAYER           BAT   BOW
#16 ANL Weaver           RHB      
#1  AC  Leggett (c)      RHB   RLB
#17 SLC Weaver           RHB   RLB
#6  AM  Donovan          RHB      
#12 LA  Martin           LHB      
#9  AJ  Hendricks        RHB   RLB
#5  TM  Bleasdale (w)    RHB      
#3  S   Ashe             RHB   ROB
#4  A   Baxter           RHB   RFS
#8  JKI Hart             LHB   LMF
#13 NA  Salisbury        LHB   SLA

by **Grande Cucina** » Thu Mar 24, 2022 9:07 am

.I ANAIAN ONE-DAY CRICKET COMPETITION: MD1 CUTOFF.

Here's your MD1 cutoff. The weather for today is a nice and neutral 0; with a bit of sun and a bit more clouds, but disappointingly little wind to match.

(Completely optional) RP prompt: Your players have been in Grande Cucina for a short time now. How would they rate their experience so far?

Matchday One

@ the Barilla Cricket Ground...
.Kotzellach. 262/3 (50 overs)
.StrayaRoos. 265/9 (49 overs)
.StrayaRoos. win by 1 wicket.

@ the Cittavolpe Cricket Ground...
.Grande Cucina. 224/8 (50 overs)
.Krytenia. 328/7 (50 overs)
.Krytenia. win by 104 runs.

@ the San Giorgio Stadium...
.The Plough Islands. 299/9 (50 overs)
.Avorago. 247/7 (50 overs)
.The Plough Islands. win by 52 runs.

@ the Divella Cricket Ground...
.Ko-oren. 249/9 (40.1 overs)
.Gortolekua. 245/9 (50 overs)
.Ko-oren. win by 1 wicket.

MD1 Table

Pos. Team                   W   L   D   NRR     Pts
1    .Krytenia.             1   0   0   +2.08     2
2    .Ko-oren.              1   0   0   +1.299    2
3    .The Plough Islands.   1   0   0   +1.04     2
4    .StrayaRoos.           1   0   0   +0.168    2
5    .Kotzellach.           0   1   0   -0.168    0
6    .Avorago.              0   1   0   -1.04     0
7    .Gortolekua.           0   1   0   -1.299    0
8    .Grande Cucina.        0   1   0   -2.08     0

MD2 fixtures
.Avorago. vs .Ko-oren. in Barilla (+2)
.Krytenia. vs .The Plough Islands. in Cittavolpe (-1)
.Kotzellach. vs .Grande Cucina. in San Giorgio (+1)
.StrayaRoos. vs .Gortolekua. in Divella (-2)

by **Ko-oren** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 12:21 pm

"Ruthie, hold my root beer, I'm going to whack this one for six."

"Are you insane? There's ten overs left. If either of us get out, that's it. And that's you done for your international career."

"Nah bro, trust me. They won't expect this."

"Man, what the fuck, we need literally a run per over for the next hour to make it. Play it safe."

"I'm totally doing it though. This over comes to me first."

"Look at the fucking scoreboard! Forty overs gone, ten to go, target of 245 plus one... hang on, there's no fives on the board and they still ran out? Is that an upside-down two?"

"Yeah le-mao"

"Total: 243. We need next to nothing."

"But Ruthie, you just came on, you don't know what it's like, I'm totally smashing it over the fence."

"My name's Rutherford. And don't you dare go for it."

"Gore comes in for the pacer, good length, good hit! Julian White puts some intent behind that and... the ball flies into the crowd! That's six, and that's it for today, Ko-oren wins! By just a wicket!"

by **Krytenia** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 4:17 pm

Stars Shine In Opener
Angus Haggerston reports from Cittavolpe, Grande Cucina

On a day that couldn't be more suited to an excellent day's cricket if it tried, all eyes were on Cittavolpe as the inaugural Anaian One-Day Cricket Competition got underway with a match between the host nation and the tournament favourites. The scoreline perhaps was a little harsh on a Grande Cucina side who acquitted themselves well; they were just unfortunate to come across a Krytenia side in no mood for charity.

With the sun beating down on the pitch, Lynton Saxon, having won the toss, made the no-brainer decision to bat first. The conditions suggested that a high total was on the cards, and the Stars' openers duly set about their task. Andrew Taylor and Howard Tatton both enjoyed fruitful overs slotting the ball into the gaps in the early exchanges, and the worry was that the pair would quickly put the game out of sight. There was an X-factor in that idea, however: the unpredictable bounce of the springy CCG wicket. Tatton was well and truly foxed by a delivery from Leopoldo Marzolino that unexpectly bounced away from the Beck batsman, and the ball clipped off the edge and into the grateful hands of Sandro Murazzano in the slips. Surprisingly, the normally productive Ed Fenn was not too long behind him. The young prodigy had notched up a paltry six runs before being beaten all ends up by a peach of a yorker from Carmina Asino that left poor Fenn trudging back to the pavilion to join Tatton in helpings of lemonade and regret.

You could almost hear the groans of the small band of the Krytenian faithful lucky enough to get tickets as Ryan Watling made his way to the crease. The Central Mercia slugger's form last season was little short of abysmal, and there were definitely those in the crowd expecting more of the same. They needn't have worried. Watling proved he had well and truly slayed the demons that had troubled him in the previous twelve months, sending the scoreboard ticking over at a fair clip as he bludgeoned the ball around the ground. At the other end, though, things were far less stable. Having passed his half-century, Taylor toe-ended one to mid-on, providing a second wicket for Marzolino, and this was the catalyst of a mini-collapse at the "not Watling" end of proceedings. Diego Aquino was fooled by an arm-ball from captain Davide Anellini, whilst wicketkeeper Wes Kosta lolloped one to his opposite number thanks to an ill-advised sweep shot. Suddenly, Krytenia were five down and in danger of making a compete dog's dinner of things.

Thank the pantheon, then, for the captain. Saxon came into proceedings, spent a couple of overs steadying his end of the ship, then set about doing his best to crush the unexpected Grande Cucina resistance. He and Watling made some serious hay, the bowlers from the food-loving nation providing a steady diet of runs for the Stars. Perhaps this was the reason that Watling got a mite overconfident; after a thumping shot over midwicket to pass his century, he attempted shooting for the moon again, but reached only the open arms of Anellini at deep square leg. Gavin Udall came in, racking up a quickfire thirty-two before nicking one to the slips, and it fell to Martyn Mirandino to assist Saxon through the final couple of overs to bring Krytenia's score to a testing 328.

Now, Grande Cucina may be an amateur team, but it's a fallacy to believe that "amateur" means "bad". Openers Murazzano and Mauricio Treccioni are no slouches, and got the hosts off to a good start with a partnership of 102. Within an over, though, both were gone. Treccioni crried a top edge to Kosta, Murazzano nicked one that produced an athletic catch for Tatton, and the game turned on its head almost instantaneously. Krytenia did not let their opponents back into a rhythm, as opposition batsmen came and went relatively cheaply, pushing the target further and further away from Grande Cucina.

Ester Testarone, though, was in no mood to give away her wicket for a discount. Though the game had, in terms of realistically catching the Krytenian target, long since disappeared in the afternoon sun, there was still pride to play for. Emilia Tagliatelle went for single figures, whilst Lodovico Castelmagno and Marzolino were both useful but unable to pick up the run rate. Concetto Spiralini helped Testarone to a well-deserved fifty, but both sides were fully aware the game was up, and things simply petered out in the final overs with Krytenia picking up a solid 104-run victory.

Krytenia remain in Cittavolpe for their next match, and it's their first big test of the tournament. The Plough Islands lie in wait, fresh from victory over a somewhat average Avorago. With no Kevin Laing, however, we'll be denied the latest chapter in cricket's greatest bromance, as Audrey Leggett leads the Foxes into yet another entralling clash of bottle green and sky blue. With both sides heavily fancied to reach the last four, this could be a preview of a cracking knockout match, and a chance for both sides to carve out an early psychological advantage. Let's see if Leggett's different tactical approach bears fruit.

Bowling figures may or may not follow later.

by **Avorago** » Fri Mar 25, 2022 4:59 pm

SAN GIORGIO, GRANDE CUCINA - A relatively inexperienced representative cricket team hailing from the Plough Islands has thwarted a group of eleven determined Avoragans, bouncing back from a poor start with the bat to compile a total score of 9-299 from their 50 overs on a decent batting surface. From 4-78 in the 18th over, Leanne Martin and Arnoldus Hendricks saved the innings with a 100-run stand before Sarah Ashe’s 22-ball cameo yielded a bonus 38 runs, turning a par score into a good one.

A target of 300 proved to be significantly too much for this inexperienced Avorago batting lineup, and at no point did they really look like challenging the vastly superior Plough Islander outfit. Despite fifties to Otutodilinna Choike and Mbanefo Muolemu, they could only compile 7-247 from their 50 overs, falling 52 runs short of the set target. For the Foxes, Andrew Baxter starred with figures of 3-57 from his allocated ten overs.

Earlier in the day, Avorago skipper Eberegbulam Onwuamaeze called correctly and sent his opposite number, Audrey Leggett, in for the first dig. It paid off almost immediately, with Chiwetalu Okwuoma releasing a 154 km/h thunderbolt at the Foxes’ captain on the second ball of his second over, sending her stumps flying in all directions. But Shauna Weaver looked in a mood, and did not appear fazed by the 20-year-old’s pace, looking to drive wherever possible despite the hardness of the ball. She scored so quickly that despite her younger brother Andrew looking a bit miffed at the other end, the run-rate was still well above five when Okwuoma and Maduabuchim Chinomso were taken off at the eight-over mark, off-spinner Chiazagomekpere Udegbunam and Choike replacing them.

The change of plan worked in the latter’s very first over, dotting Shauna Weaver up until she slashed at a wider one, only to succeed in feathering it through to Coobine Muljohn’s gloves. The Avoragans had their second on the final ball of the powerplay and at 2-47 from ten overs and the field now set to go back, the Foxes were in need of a partnership.

So when Arthur Donovan top-edged his very first delivery from Udegbunam into the safe hands of Onwuamaeze at backward-point, the underdogs had their noses in front, the Foxes 3-50 with both bowlers having found their lines and lengths. But Andrew Weaver was still there, and Leanna Martin was still a high, high quality batter despite averaging only 20 on the international scene. However, she didn’t seem to be her usual disrespectful character towards the Avorago bowlers, happy to push the singles and tick the strike over - highly unusual considering her attacking style, no matter the situation or bowling. But just as a partnership was forming, Otutodilinna Choike’s superb reflexes ensured that she would hold onto a hot chance offered by Andrew Weaver, who was just beginning to really find his groove. As he departed for 27, the score 4-78 and only one or two recognised batters remaining, the favourites were in dire need of someone to stay with Martin.

Fortunately for the Islanders, batting all-rounder Arnoldus Hendricks did just that. As someone with a calm head, he began to tick the strike over with Martin, finding singles everywhere, no matter what Onwuamaeze did with his field and how his bowlers bowled. While he did occasionally go over the infield, most of his shots were rather uncharacteristically groundward, chugging along at a quick clip as the Avoragan bowlers ever so slightly began to tire. Finally, things were beginning to go the Foxes’ way.

As the partnership began to approach 100, Martin reached a rather sluggish 72-ball fifty, including just two fours and a six. But straight after she reached the milestone, she began to up the ante as Hendricks closed in his half-century. He eventually brought it up in the 36th over off Rapuluolisa Chialuka’s bowling from 53 balls, including five fours, and now, with the score 4-172 with a little under 15 overs remaining, the Foxes were suddenly in a position to launch. Avorago needed a wicket, and soon, if they didn’t want things to blow out of proportion.

In Chialuka’s sixth, the 38th of the innings, it finally came. Hendricks, on 56, advanced to the leg-spinner, who tossed it up outside off-stump to negate the effect. While Hendricks’s swipe still saw the ball fly away back down the ground, it did not have the height nor the power to clear Chiazagomekpere Udegbunam at long-on, who safely snaffled the catch to bring a productive 105-run partnership from 119 balls to an end. But Timothy Bleasdale was no bunny, and immediately set about upping the run-rate with Martin. The pair took Chialuka’s seventh over for eleven, duly hitting him out of the attack. Udegbunam’s reintroduction for his final couple of overs brought the run-rate down ever-so-slightly, but as Martin charged towards a maiden One-Day century, Bleasdale was dismissed for a quickfire, 20-ball 24, the score 226 in the 44th over. With Martin still at the crease, though, and power-hitter Sarah Ashe just coming in, a total upwards of 280 could be in sight for the Foxes, or even - dare I say it - something close to that magical 300.

Ashe looked on song right from her first ball, looking to whack almost every ball out of the stadium and when she did so, it pleased the mainly-neutral crowd to no end. Even Martin’s dismissal for a superb, 105-ball 89 on the third ball of the 47th over did not halt her charge as she finished with five fours and two sixes in a blistering knock worth 38 runs from just 22 balls. That, and a blow or two from Andrew Baxter and Jennifer Hart saw the Plough Islands post a final total of 9-299, with Chiwetalu Okwuoma picking up a wicket from the final ball of the innings with a pacey yorker that ripped right through Hart, bowling her for four. Maduabuchim Chinomso copped particular treatment, his ten overs being taken for 75 runs despite picking up the key wicket of Martin. But full credit had to go to the Foxes’ batting at the death - it was simply astounding to watch them pick off anything minimally inaccurate and deposit it to, and over, the boundary. Thus, from having their noses in front when the favourites were 4-78, Avorago were going to need 300 to win at exactly six runs an over to cause a major upset. It was unlikely, but on a pitch that seemed to favour the batters just a touch, it wasn’t impossible.

In just the second over of the chase, Andrew Baxter picked up the key wicket of pinch-hitter Chinwuebo Chinama for a mediocre one, bringing Avoragan star Anenechukwu Daniel to the crease, the score 1-1 in the second over. Despite both opening bowlers having their tails up, though, she successfully settled in with fellow left-hander Otutodilinna Choike, weathering the storm and by the time the Plough Islands’ spinners were introduced in the eighth over, Avorago were still only one wicket down.

However, the required run-rate was beginning to increase and with the score only 22 from seven overs, it needed a boost. So with only two fielders still allowed out of the circle, Choike and Daniel set about upping the tempo, taking Naomi Salisbury’s opening two overs for six runs apiece, both including a boundary, while Shauna Weaver’s went for seven. After ten overs, the score was now 1-41, and the field was beginning to spread as restrictions were eased.

With both Choike and Daniel looking comfortable at the crease and happy to pick off singles whenever possible, the underdogs were looking ominous despite the early stage of the chase. While Audrey Leggett rotated through her spinners, seemingly trying to buy a wicket rather than build pressure to take one, the two classy left-handers continued to score at roughly five or six an over, and by the time eighteen overs had passed, the run-rate was almost up at an overall five an over, the score 1-88 and both players approaching half-centuries. If this could continue for a little longer, Avorago was right in this.

But Arnoldus Hendricks, beginning his second over, wanted to have a say in that. On the second ball of the nineteenth over, he tossed one up, and Daniel, on 46, looked to sweep it to the boundary. But the ball didn’t turn and instead bounced, passing Daniel’s bat and finding Timothy Bleasdale’s gloves. Noticing Daniel’s back foot placed on the crease line instead of behind it, the 32-year-old whipped the bails off and despite the decision being sent upstairs to the third umpire, Bleasdale’s eyes did not lie. Hendricks had the big wicket of Avorago’s best bat, and they were back on top.

Avorago captain Eberegbulam Onwuamaeze came and went, looking to play aggressively before running too short a single to Leanna Martin at cover, who threw down the stumps at the bowler's end to dismiss him for 12, the score 3-108. Coobine Muljohn arrived and despite taking eight balls to find his first run in international cricket, he looked pretty solid, looking to rotate the strike and get his well-set partner at the other end facing. Meanwhile, that well-set partner, Otutodilinna Choike, passed her maiden half-century from 69 balls and immediately looked more aggressive, playing more unorthodox shots as she began to mould the field into positions she wanted. But a slip was always in play, and that position proved to be her downfall when Sarah Ashe got one to spin out of the rough in the 31st over, catching the edge of her bat and falling into Leggett’s safe pair of hands. With eight an over required, Choike’s dismissal was exactly what Avorago did not want as they fell further behind the eight-ball.

Noticing a chance to really put the squeeze on, the field came in around the bats of Chidubem Chidimma and Coobine Muljohn, dotting them up. While the latter was able to spread his field with relative ease, Chidimma, for the second innings in a row, struggled as the required run-rate began to skyrocket. Naomi Salisbury and the rest of the spinners proved difficult for him to get away and when he was dismissed for a 15-ball eight, ten an over was required from the final fourteen. In the practice match against StrayaRoos, Mbanefo Muolemu was able to score at a quick clip towards the back end of the first innings, but here, needing tens for a significant period of time with only five wickets remaining? That was a different story.

Yet, he still succeeded in giving the innings some impetus, looking to make up for the dot balls Muljohn was wasting at the other end. While he never really looked like scoring quick enough to chase down the daunting target, he was able to significantly reduce the deficit. Even when Muljohn was bowled by Baxter in the 47th over for a slowish 69-ball 45, he refused to stop, reaching his fifty in the final over with a well-run two off a Jennifer Hart yorker, reaching the milestone in a mere 43 balls. He finished on 51 not out by the time the final over was complete, having scored 51 out of the 87 runs he was at the crease for in a bit of a late burst.

The final Avorago score was 7-247, 52 runs short of the target set by the Foxes. Yes, a comprehensive win for the northern island nation, but it wasn’t all bad for Avorago. To hold such a talented side to that sort of victory margin was a surreal effort by a team who did not even know of the sport six months ago, let alone actually look competitive at various points. But with Ko-oren up next, they would have to play out of their skins to get on the board this AODCC. Do they have the capability to do that? Yes. Is there really a realistic chance? Hmm, no.

But that won't stop them from trying.

The Plough Islands Batting
Batter                                            R   B  4s  6s   SR
A Weaver            c&b Choike                   27  51   2   1   52.94
A Leggett (c)       b Okwuoma                     1   6   0   0   16.67
S Weaver            c Muljohn b Choike           30  26   6   0  115.38
A Donovan           c Onwuamaeze b Udegbunam      0   1   0   0    
L Martin            b Chinomso                   89 105   6   2   84.76
A Hendricks         c Udegbunam b Chialuka       56  59   5   0   94.92
T Bleasdale (+)     c Chinama b Udegbunam        24  20   1   2  120
S Ashe              not out                      38  22   5   2  172.73
A Baxter            run out (Chidimma)           11   8   2   0  137.5
J Hart              b Okwuoma                     4   4   1   0  100
N Salisbury         not out                       0   0   0   0        
       EXTRAS       (4 b, 4 lb, 9 wd, 2 nb)      19
        TOTAL       for 9 wickets               299   (50 ov; 5.98 RPO)
                  

FOW: 1-6 (A Leggett (c), 2.2 overs); 2-47 (S Weaver, 9.6 overs); 3-50 (A Donovan, 10.5 overs); 
     4-78 (A Weaver, 17.5 overs); 5-183 (A Hendricks, 37.4 overs); 6-226 (T Bleasdale (+), 43.1 overs); 
     7-260 (L Martin, 46.3 overs); 8-286 (A Baxter, 48.3 overs); 9-299 (J Hart, 49.6 overs)

Avorago Bowling
Bowler                 Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
C Okwuoma              10   1  60  2      6  (2 nb, 6 wd)
M Chinomso             10   0  75  1    7.5  (1 wd)
C Udegbunam            10   0  52  2    5.2  
O Choike                8   1  41  2   5.13  (1 wd)
R Chialuka              7   0  36  1   5.14  (1 wd)
E Onwuamaeze (c)        5   0  27  0    5.4  

Avorago Batting   (Target: 300)
Batter                                            R   B  4s  6s   SR
C Chinama           c A Weaver b Baxter           1   4   0   0   25
O Choike            c Leggett b Ashe             68  88   7   0   77.27
A Daniel            st Bleasdale b Hendricks     46  57   4   1   80.7
E Onwuamaeze (c)    run out (Martin)             12  13   1   0   92.31
C Muljohn (+)       b Baxter                     45  69   3   0   65.22
C Chidimma          lbw b Salisbury               8  15   0   0   53.33
M Muolemu           not out                      51  44   4   2  115.91
M Chinomso          c Hendricks b Baxter          2   3   0   0   66.67
R Chialuka          not out                       7   8   1   0   87.5
       EXTRAS       (6 wd, 1 nb)                  7
        TOTAL       for 7 wickets               247   (50 ov; 4.94 RPO)
Did not bat:      C Udegbunam, C Okwuoma

FOW: 1-1 (C Chinama, 1.2 overs); 2-88 (A Daniel, 18.4 overs); 3-108 (E Onwuamaeze (c), 22.4 overs); 
     4-142 (O Choike, 30.1 overs); 5-160 (C Chidimma, 35.5 overs); 6-225 (C Muljohn (+), 46.3 overs); 
     7-227 (M Chinomso, 46.6 overs)

The Plough Islands Bowling
Bowler                 Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
J Hart                 10   0  53  0    5.3  (1 nb, 1 wd)
A Baxter               10   1  57  3    5.7  (2 wd)
N Salisbury            10   2  38  1    3.8  
S Weaver                8   1  34  0   4.25  (1 wd)
S Ashe                  6   0  24  1      4  
A Hendricks             8   0  41  1   5.13  (2 wd)

Venue: San Giorgio Stadium, San Giorgio, Grande Cucina
Match number: Match Three
Toss: Avorago won the toss and elected to bat
Season/Tournament: AODCC I
Matchdays: Matchday One
Player of the Match: Leanne Martin (TPI)
Series result: 
Debut: J Hart (TPI), A Weaver (TPI)
Umpires: unknown
TV Umpire: unknown
Reserve Umpire: unknown
Match Referee: unknown
Match Result: The Plough Islands win by 52 runs

Avorago XI vs Ko-oren @ Barilla Cricket Ground, Barilla, Grande Cucina

1. Chinwuebo Chinama
2. Otutodilinna Choike
3. Anenechukwu Daniel
4. (c) Eberegbulam Onwuamaeze
5. (+) Coobine Muljohn
6. Mbanefo Muolemu
7. Uzodimma Nebeolisa
8. Rapuluolisa Chialuka
9. Abazu Nnonso
10. Chiazagomekpere Udegbunam
11. Chiwetalu Okwuoma

by **The Plough Islands** » Sat Mar 26, 2022 5:04 am

PLOUGH ISLANDS CRICKET ASSOCIATION
XI FOR ANAIA O.D.C.C. VS. KRYTENIA

        PLAYER           BAT   BOW
#16 ANL Weaver           RHB      
#1  AC  Leggett (c)      RHB   RLB
#17 SLC Weaver           RHB   RLB
#15 ADM Tyrie            RHB   RLB
#12 LA  Martin           LHB      
#10 P   Hodgeson         LHB   SLU
#9  AJ  Hendricks        RHB   RLB
#5  TM  Bleasdale (w)    RHB      
#3  S   Ashe             RHB   ROB
#4  A   Baxter           RHB   RFS
#13 NA  Salisbury        LHB   SLA

by **Gortolekua** » Sat Mar 26, 2022 8:00 am

“Oh, you’ve got to be joking me right now.”

My good friend Antonia finds herself across from me, distraught by the match’s ending. Three wickets as a bowler don’t mean anything when you can’t get the last one that matters. Sure as hell doesn’t help that she gave up a 6 to lose the match for us. I mean, I say this implying anger with the whole situation, when really, I’m not mad at all. I mean, it’s Ko-oren we’re talking about. One of those teams we used to listen to on smuggled radios for so long. Us making it this far, and holding on for so long, was an achievement worth something? We didn’t get a win that mattered, but we did get a respectable enough showing, even if they had 10 more overs to work with.

Antonia didn’t want any of it though. She was beating herself up because she at least wants to try winning. Even after we as a team decided to take her to one of Divella’s finest pizzerias for what I heard is some great pizza. Like seriously, everything in here just smells so damn good. Ugh.

But even with how wonderful it smells, Antonia only smells defeats Although she does need to remember some of the things that should give her some ease—she’s also only been playing cricket for a year, she managed to do this against players who’ve been doing this their whole life, she’s been doing this for a year—she’s not getting over this fast enough before our match against StrayaRoos. We already did, we need her to, and we’re trying to.

“Toni, I know you need to feel down, but dude: we’ve got a match against StrayaRoos pretty soon and we need to get into that next mindset.”

“But, but, but…this loss sucks, Gavin. Hard.”

“Listen, you got three wickets, you’ve only been playing a year, they’re a tough team. I promise you it’s okay. We’re not mad at you.”

“If you’re not mad at me, why is the rest of the country mad?”

She pulls out her phone and goes online, which in and of itself was a hell of a hassle to explain because we were the first people to leave the country, so we had to send our phones in to our phone carrier to get them to work outside Gortolekua. Now that was a pain and a half to deal with. I’m digressing right now, I lost my train of thought and Antonia is starting to notice that, so back on track.

She showed me her phone and the sports headlines after the loss: “GORE-Y FINISH.” “THERE GORES OUR CHANCES.” “ANTONIA HAS GOT TO GORE.”

“You see what I have to deal with? They’re all hating on me and it’s not fair and I just don’t get why they have to be so mean…”

“Antonia.”

“Gavin.”

“Those writers know jack shit about cricket. We ourselves barely know shit about this sport. I promise you most of us, while excited about the fact we’re competing with our region for once, are just happy we’re in this thing in the first place. It’s gonna be okay.”

“Huh…”

She paused for a minute, then smiled at me. Something about what I just said, the whole nobody really caring thing, made her feel a bit better about the whole situation, somehow. The whole “life is futile, as is everything we do,” sort of thing must resonate with her well, with how quickly she got out of the funk. And with perfect timing too—our pizzas just arrived to the table.

“Kill me, Gav, this is bloody delicious!”

“Right Maynard? So good.”

Antonia needed to take it all in first before she took her bite. But as she picked up her pizza, the entire restaurant went silent, ourselves included.

The flash photography on someone’s phone, most likely a local, went off. Silent rumbling turned into loud groans from the rest of the restaurant-goers. And if I hadn’t read the Vagabond’s Guide to Grande Cucina that I had found a copy of (which is a wonderful series, I wonder how they got these here in Grande Cucina considering their publisher went out of business for reasons I couldn’t find), I wouldn’t have known that Toni committed cardinal sin number one here.

She folded her pizza.

“You’re on your own there, Toni.”

Everyone in the restaurant gathered around her to ask why she would do such a thing as the rest of the club laughed, knowing that if this is the biggest of our problems in the tourney, things would be okay down the line. Even if we lost.

We’re seeing a world we never thought we’d see, and that’s the beauty of this shindig.

by **Grande Cucina** » Sat Mar 26, 2022 9:05 am

.I ANAIAN ONE-DAY CRICKET COMPETITION: MD2 CUTOFF.

Here's your MD1 cutoff. The weather for today is a not so nice -0.5; it rained last night, and the grounds were still a bit wet when your cricketers stepped onto them for the first time.

(Completely optional) RP prompt: Grande Cucina has three provinces — Garofalo, Pranzo and Giardino. In the past, they often clashed; but now, with the exception of football, they mostly get along all. What are some of the subdivisions in your country, and have there ever been cross-province rivalries?

Matchday Two

@ the Barilla Cricket Ground...
.Avorago. 284 (46.4 overs)
.Ko-oren. 285/9 (42.3 overs)
.Ko-oren. win by 1 wicket.

@ the Cittavolpe Cricket Ground...
.Krytenia. 219/5 (50 overs)
.The Plough Islands. 220/5 (28.2 overs)
.The Plough Islands. win by 5 wickets.

@ the San Giorgio Stadium...
.Kotzellach. 188 (48 overs)
.Grande Cucina. 189/7 (34.4 overs)
.Grande Cucina. win by 3 wickets.

@ the Divella Cricket Ground...
.StrayaRoos. 248/7 (38 overs)
.Gortolekua. 247/6 (50 overs)
.StrayaRoos. win by 3 wickets.

MD2 Table

Pos. Team                   W   L   D   NRR     Pts
1    .The Plough Islands.   2   0   0   +1.966    4
2    .Ko-oren.              2   0   0   +1.17     4
3    .StrayaRoos.           2   0   0   +0.807    4
4    .Krytenia.             1   1   0   -0.198    2
8    .Grande Cucina.        1   1   0   -0.282    2
5    .Kotzellach.           0   2   0   -0.926    0
6    .Avorago.              0   2   0   -1.004    0
7    .Gortolekua.           0   2   0   -1.438    0

MD3 Fixtures
.Ko-oren. v .Krytenia. in Barilla (+2)
.Gortolekua. v .Avorago. in Cittavolpe (-1)
.The Plough Islands. vs .Kotzellach. in San Giorgio (+1)
.Grande Cucina. v .StrayaRoos. in Divella (-2)

by **Avorago** » Sun Mar 27, 2022 1:26 am

BARILLA, GRANDE CUCINA - A thriller of a cricket game between Avorago and Ko-oren has turned into an afterthought as debate sparked over the legality of Chiwetalu Okwuoma’s bowling action after the 20-year-old was no-balled by Plough Islander umpire Tikhon Lebed. After the speedster picked up the big wicket of Simeon Penn in his second over, he was switched around to the other end for his second spell as Eberegbulam Onwuamaeze filtered through his options to stop a rampant Blaine Risewell. It was then that he was no-balled, Lebed raising his arm to the scorers thrice in a seemingly endless nine-ball over that yielded a whopping 16 runs. Following that, Onwuamaeze immediately switched the left-armer back around to David Sproston’s end, who appeared content to let him bowl (or throw, depending on who you are), and thusly picked up Risewell’s wicket to keep his side in the game, helping take it down to the final wicket before the favourites scored the winning runs.

Global Cricket Federation (GCF) protocols state that once a bowler is reported for throwing at professional level, a specifically-selected GCF body must analyse the bowler’s action and provide a final judgement. If the bowler is cleared by the body, then they may continue to bowl and participate as usual until they are called again, but if they are found guilty of extending the arm beyond the accepted 15 degrees, then they may be banned from playing professional cricket for up to twelve months depending on the severity of the illegality.

After the match, Eleanorian match referee Insert Anglo-sounding Name Here (don’t laugh) officially set the analysis to be completed on the day following Avorago’s match against StrayaRoos in Cittavolpe, and will thus confirm whether Okwuoma will be able to participate in the remainder of the tournament. In the meantime, umpires have been asked to no-ball his bowling accordingly, as they usually would with any bowler.

Now, onto the game itself. After winning the toss, Eberegbulam Onwuamaeze continued to surprise with his decisions, opting to bat first on a rather sluggish outfield as a result of nightly rain. As a result, Avoragan openers Chinwuebo Chinama and Otutodilinna Choike had to run just a bit harder than usual, but it really didn’t faze the former, particularly as the ground began to dry out. While Choike went about her natural game at the other, the 24-year-old vice-captain tore into the bowling of Newton Courtenay and Augustus Smith, scoring the majority of a 56-run opening stand that spanned just 52 balls. Of that, the left-handed Choike only made 14 and extras three as Chinama finally completed his role to due satisfaction.

When Choike’s 24-ball innings came to an end as a result of a simple catch to wicketkeeper Gilbert Wheelwright, it only brought the classy, in-form Anenechukwu Daniel to the crease, who immediately looked as good as she had in her previous two games, where she was able to notch up scores of 87 and 46 respectively. Yet, she was not good enough to pull out of a cover drive when Millhef yChirnall delivered a juicy slower-ball outside off-stump, misjudging the dip on the ball and spooning it straight into Courtenay’s waiting hands at point. It was made obvious from the Ko-orenites’ celebrations that that was the key wicket, Avorago now 2-63 as the run-rate dipped back below six an over.

It didn’t stay there for long, though, with skipper Onwuamaeze joining Chinama, who continued to roll along, reaching a 38-ball fifty with a mammoth six of the bowling of Julian White, the score still only in the seventies. However, just as he was beginning to take the match away from the favourites, Rutherford Lincoln tossed one up in the 19th over, catching the top-edge of Chinama’s bat and flying down the throat of Blaine Risewell at short third-man. His 76 was made up of a whopping five sixes and five fours, but with the score still only 110, there was a long, long way to go in setting a decent target for Ko-oren to chase down.

In Lincoln’s next over, Coobine Muljohn also had to go, feathering a ball he didn’t necessarily believe he hit behind to Wheelwright, wasting Avorago’s only review. It meant that in just the 21st over, renowned lower-order hitter Mbanefo Muolemu would arrive at the crease, his side in need of a completely different role than the one he has exploited so well in both the practice match and opening game. But despite never looking truly set, he still succeeded in settling the innings with his skipper, the pair putting on 69 in 67 balls before Muolemu was dismissed for 36, debutant Uzodimma Nebeolisa replacing him at the crease, the score 5-191 in the 32nd over.

After only just scraping into the national side, the 21-year-old left-hander looked significantly better than she had looked during trials out in the middle in a professional game, timing the ball crisply and finding the boundary on a regular basis. At the other end, Onwuamaeze reached a maiden fifty but was out off his very next ball, playing all around a Rutherford Lincoln leg-spinner as Avorago slipped to 6-211. A late-order revival would be needed if Avorago wanted to post a challenging total.

But Nebeolisa continued to score, and Rapuluolisa Chialuka succeeded in hanging around for a little while, the two compiling a 50-run partnership before Lincoln picked up his fourth and final wicket, having Chialuka caught at mid-off for ten moments after Nebeolisa passed a 40-ball half-century. With the final three batters - Abazu Nnonso, Chiazagomekpere Udegbunam and Chiwetalu Okwuoma - all barely able to hold a bat, the end was nigh. They hung around for a little bit, but finally, on the fourth ball of the 47th over, Newton Courtenay sent Okwuoma’s stumps flying, Nebeolisa unbeaten at the other end on 65 from just 48 balls, and the Avoragans were all out for 284 - a defendable score on a good batting surface.

Therefore, when Abazu Nnonso and Chiwetalu Okwuoma had rid Ko-oren of both their opening batters inside two and a half overs, the Avoragans were somehow on top. No one in the stadium could believe it, but the multiverse-wide sixth-placed team was on track to lose to a bunch of amateurs, if you could even call them that. Levi Pardey and Everett White eased those disturbing thoughts, combining for a 85-run partnership at over a run-a-ball to keep the Ko-orenites in the game, before a screamer caught by substitute Chidubem Chidimma dismissed the skipper for 35 off Chiazagomekpere Udegbunam’s bowling, keeping the underdogs with their noses in front.

That, however, very quickly changed with Blaine Risewell’s arrival to the crease. Right from the very first ball he faced, the powerful 25-year-old looked to go on the attack, willing to take on the boundary riders and rain white cricket balls down upon the local Barilla crowd. While White passed a 51-ball fifty at the other end, Risewell simply went insane, smoking every bowler that came his way with utter disrespect. His fifty came off a mere 28 balls in that infamous Okwuoma over as the required runs began to charge closer and closer towards 100. But with the score on 185 in just the 27th over, Okwuoma got his man, enacting revenge for a 16-run over earlier by having Risewell caught on the boundary for 65, a 38-ball innings that included three fours and… wait for it… six sixes.

Sure, the wicket had been taken, but the damage was essentially wrought. As White upped the tempo of his own innings in search of a net-run-rate boost, wickets fell semi-regularly around him as he closed in on a century. He reached it in the 37th over with a gorgeous cover-drive off Rapuluolisa Chialuka’s bowling, piercing the gap between deep point and short cover with perfection. With one ball remaining in the 38th over of the match, Ko-oren were cruising at 5-256, White 108 not out and Gilbert Wheelwright 10.

And that was when the wheels fell off.

On the final ball of Chialuka’s over, Wheelwright was well-beaten by a big-spinning leg-break, and could only succeed in edging it through to Coobine Muljohn’s gloves. Then, when Eberegbulam Onwuamaeze bowled Newton Courtenay for four in the following over, the favourites were still 22 runs away from their target with only three wickets in hand. So despite Everett White still holding up an end and scoring runs in a free-flowing manner, there was a faint spark of hope for Avorago.

When the re-introduction of Chiazagomekpere Udegbunam to the attack saw Augustus Smith chip a quicker-ball into Chinwuebo Chinama’s hands at cover just one run later, that spark escalated into a fire and by the time Onwuamaeze trapped Everett White in front on the first ball of the 40th over, it was morphed into a supernova. The collapse had included the wicket Avorago desperately needed, and was worth 4-16 in a chaotic fourteen balls. With thirteen still required to win and the last pair, Julian White and Rutherford Lincoln at the crease, were the Avoragans - dare I say it - on top?

Two runs - two singles - were taken from the remainder of Onwuamaeze’s over, before Julian White’s sweep shot saw the Ko-orenites go within a blow of the target by the time Udegbunam’s ninth over of the innings rounded up. But Onwuamaeze was bowling superbly, and two plays and misses to White that grazed the off-stump followed, the batter looking spooked as Lincoln came down to talk to him, no doubt telling him to be patient. After all, they did have 7.4 overs to get the required six runs.

In the end, 46 balls were as good as one. Completely ignoring Lincoln’s suspected advice, White charged at Onwuamaeze’s third ball and in a minor miracle, somehow connected with it. It was a good connection, too - good enough, that it sailed over long-on’s head and into the crowd….

For the second game in a row, Julian White had finished things off with a six. It was the match against Gortolekua all over again for them, where they managed to come out on top by the skin of their teeth. No one knew how they had done it, but they’d gone from nearly losing the unloseable to actually winning the unwinnable in the space of fifteen or twenty minutes.

What a fucking beautiful game cricket is, hey?*

* Eberegbulam Onwuamaeze may disagree with you, though

Avorago Batting
Batter                                                R   B  4s  6s   SR
C Chinama           c Risewell b Lincoln             76  59   5   5  128.81
O Choike            c Wheelwright b Courtenay        14  24   1   0   58.33
A Daniel            c Courtenay b yChirnall           3   8   0   0   37.5
E Onwuamaeze (c)    b Lincoln                        50  65   4   0   76.92
C Muljohn (+)       c Wheelwright b Lincoln           9   6   2   0  150
M Muolemu           c Lyness b Smith                 36  38   4   1   94.74
U Nebeolisa         not out                          65  48   7   2  135.42
R Chialuka          c yChirnall b Lincoln            10  18   1   0   55.56
A Nnonso            run out (sub - Taylor)            4   7   0   0   57.14
C Udegbunam         b Courtenay                       0   2   0   0    
C Okwuoma           b Courtenay                       3   5   0   0   60
       EXTRAS       (1 b, 5 lb, 8 wd)                14
        TOTAL       all out                         284   (46.4 ov; 6.09 RPO)
                  

FOW: 1-56 (O Choike, 8.4 overs); 2-63 (A Daniel, 10.5 overs); 3-110 (C Chinama, 18.2 overs); 
     4-122 (C Muljohn (+), 20.1 overs); 5-191 (M Muolemu, 31.2 overs); 6-211 (E Onwuamaeze (c), 34.6 overs); 
     7-263 (R Chialuka, 42.6 overs); 8-273 (A Nnonso, 44.4 overs); 9-279 (C Udegbunam, 45.3 overs); 
     10-284 (C Okwuoma, 46.4 overs)

Ko-oren Bowling
Bowler                 Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
N Courtenay           8.4   1  43  3   4.96  (2 wd)
A Smith                 8   0  52  1    6.5  (1 wd)
M yChirnall             9   0  60  1   6.67  (3 wd)
J White                 7   0  45  0   6.43  
R Lincoln              10   0  56  4    5.6  (2 wd)
B Risewell              4   0  22  0    5.5  

Ko-oren Batting   (Target: 285)
Batter                                                R   B  4s  6s   SR
A Lyness            lbw b Nnonso                      5  12   1   0   41.67
S Penn              b Okwuoma                         0   2   0   0    
L Pardey (c)        c sub (Chidimma) b Udegbunam     35  38   5   0   92.11
E White             lbw b Onwuamaeze                113 114  12   2   99.12
B Risewell          c Nebeolisa b Okwuoma            65  38   3   6  171.05
M yChirnall         st Muljohn b Chialuka            11  18   0   0   61.11
G Wheelwright       c Muljohn b Chialuka             10  14   1   0   71.43
N Courtenay         b Onwuamaeze                      4   2   1   0  200
A Smith             c Chinama b Udegbunam             0   4   0   0    
J White             not out                          18   9   1   2  200
R Lincoln           not out                           1   7   0   0   14.29
       EXTRAS       (5 b, 2 lb, 13 wd, 3 nb)         23
        TOTAL       for 9 wickets                   285   (42.3 ov; 6.71 RPO)
                  

FOW: 1-5 (A Lyness, 1.6 overs); 44597 (S Penn, 2.2 overs); 3-90 (L Pardey (c), 15.6 overs); 
     4-185 (B Risewell, 26.4 overs); 5-216 (M yChirnall, 32.1 overs); 6-256 (G Wheelwright, 37.6 overs); 
     7-263 (N Courtenay, 38.4 overs); 8-264 (A Smith, 39.3 overs); 9-272 (E White, 40.1 overs)

Avorago Bowling
Bowler                 Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
C Okwuoma               7   0  37  2   5.29  (3 nb, 3 wd)
A Nnonso                7   0  50  1   7.14  (6 wd)
E Onwuamaeze (c)      8.3   0  57  2   6.71  (1 wd)
C Udegbunam             9   0  49  2   5.44  
R Chialuka              8   0  53  2   6.63  (1 wd)
O Choike                3   0  32  0  10.67  (2 wd)

Venue: Barilla Cricket Ground, Barilla, Grande Cucina
Match number: Match Five
Toss: Avorago won the toss and elected to bat
Season/Tournament: AODCC I
Matchdays: Matchday Two
Player of the Match: Everett White (KOR)
Debut: Uzodimma Nebeolisa (AVR), Abazu Nnonso (AVR)
Umpires: Tikhon Lebed (TPI), David Sproston (TPI)
TV Umpire: unknown
Reserve Umpire: unknown
Match Referee: Insert Anglo-sounding Name Here (EXT)
Match Result: Ko-oren win by one wicket with 45 balls remaining

Avorago XI vs Gortolekua @ Cittavolpe Cricket Ground, Cittavolpe

1. Chinwuebo Chinama
2. Otutodilinna Choike
3. Anenechukwu Daniel
4. (c) Eberegbulam Onwuamaeze
5. (+) Coobine Muljohn
6. Uzodimma Nebeolisa
7. Mbanefo Muolemu
8. Maduabuchim Chinomso
9. Rapuluolisa Chialuka
10. Chiazagomekpere Udegbunam
11. Chiwetalu Okwuoma

Schedule:

Matchday One: Avorago vs The Plough Islands @ San Giorgio Stadium, San Giorgio, Grande Cucina - The Plough Islands win by 52 runs
Matchday Two: Avorago vs Ko-oren @ Barilla Cricket Ground, Barilla, Grande Cucina - Ko-oren win by one wicket with 45 balls remaining
Matchday Three: Avorago vs Gortolekua @ Cittavolpe Cricket Ground, Cittavolpe, Grande Cucina
Matchday Four: Avorago vs StrayaRoos @ Cittavolpe Cricket Ground, Cittavolpe, Grande Cucina
Matchday Five: Avorago vs Krytenia @ Divella Cricket Ground, Divella, Grande Cucina
Matchday Six: Avorago vs Kotzellach @ Barilla Cricket Ground, Barilla, Grande Cucina
Matchday Seven: Avorago vs Grande Cucina @ Divella Cricket Ground, Divella, Grande Cucina

by **Ko-oren** » Sun Mar 27, 2022 2:25 am

"Ruthie!!! Welcome mate, Gusty didn't have a lucky spell so now it's back to us two again!"

"Hey, just spoke to Levi, and he said it's pretty deceptive out there. Everett said mostly the same thing, but he got a century, so I'm not sure if I believe him."

"Yeah, yeah, I've been out here for a while, I think I know what's up."

"Anyway, the bowlers are out for blood. Onwuamaeze might be a batsman, he's having a good spell getting Everett and Newton out. Don't underestimate him. Take the runs he gives us if he bowls too far wide. If that ball comes right at you and the stumps, defend that shit."

"We can win it with a six though."

"No"

"Want to see me do it again?"

"We've got ages to go, don't do it."

"These guys are amateurs. EZ."

"Onwuamaeze starts his run up, surely with something devious in mind. It's right in the corridor. White takes a few steps to meet the ball early - great contact! - and it's high! It sails towards Chinama... but he can't get his fingertips on it, that's a six, and this match is over!"

by **Ko-oren** » Sun Mar 27, 2022 5:38 am

Unity in diversity: it's something nearly all nations want to uphold, but only few actually manage. Arguably, Ko-oren falls in the latter category, despite the best efforts and a well-educated population that knows that the country has various languages, political opinions, sports, and histories, while not letting the country get torn apart by those variations.

Language
The government designated 13 languages to be used in official communication. King among them is Gehrennan, the language used by most government officials - the other 12 versions are translations of the Gehrennan original. While it's spoken by a huge part of the population, it's not the language with the most native speakers, which is a crown claimed by three languages simultaneously: English, which is massive in the south and southwest, Dutch, spoken in the north, and French, spoken along the southern coast of the bay.

Another factor splitting languages is the origin: Dutch, French, English, Japanese, and even Finisterran and Mawr are foreign arrivals through trade and international relations that didn't just get a foothold on the archipelago: it became the day-to-day language of millions of Ko-orenites. Gehrennan, Tarrashall, Altioran, and Aviansolan are related and natively Ko-orenite, and a source of nationalism and pride for some.

Sports
Only two sports are enjoyed and played nationwide: that's gridiron and soccer. Then there are five more that have a huge status in large parts of the country: summer sports cricket and baseball divide the southwest and southeast, rugby union and rugby league share more or less the same border, but in winter, then ice hockey is a thing in the northwest and northeast (but skips Intermare) in winter. That's not all in terms of profitable competitions and grassroots sports (field hockey in Intermare, Southern rules in Mawryshire and West Strand Riding, Basketball in bay cities, primarily), but the above seven are 95% of the scene.

Within sports, there are further divides. Rugby league has four regional teams competing in a mini-competition in club team off-weeks: Leleia and Yoshima on the eastern islands, playing a quick, agile, high-scoring game, and Cote Austral and Finisterre on the mainland, playing a more forward-oriented style. Rugby union has a similar competition between Gehrenna (that is, the historial region of Gehrenna, aka Willowbourne and hinterland, as well as most of Leeshire), Surbourneshire (the same, but for Greencaster, including Grainshire), Mawryshire, and West Strand Riding. Baseball has a Yoshima vs Finisterre all-star game.

The sport that's most strongly divided into regions, however, is cricket. Its most prestigious competitions are played by six teams - six regions.

Politics
Politics aren't a day-to-day topic for most Ko-orenites, like it might be in countries with a strong democratic tradition that allow any opinion to be immediately politicised. If something needs to change, you petition your local government, and the issue will be sorted out. Nothing of that "I want more parking spaces, so I'll vote for the Car Party next election and in some 3-4 years time, they'll do something about it, before the Car Party does something I don't like after which I vote for a different party which reverses most decisions and policies which will take my parking places away in 7-8 years time" stuff.

Although... there is a Ko-orenite parliament that has a bit of influence over the national decision-making process. There are three axes on which parties present themselves:
- Meritocratic vs Democratic
- Central vs Regional
- Economically left vs right

In green: places where the Meritocratic party gets 33% more votes than the Democratic party. In blue: places where the Democratic party gets 33% more votes than the Meritocratic party.

In yellow: places where the Liberal party gets 33% more votes than the Labour party. In red: places where the Labour party gets 33% more votes than the Liberal party.

by **The Plough Islands** » Mon Mar 28, 2022 5:11 am

on the 27th March 2022, the Plough Islands Gazette wrote:
ANAIAN O.D.C.C.: FEARLESS FOXES CHASE CHASTENED KRYTENIANS
by Denis Wormwood, Sporting Correspondent, in Cittavolpe

Following Thursday's win over Avorago, the Plough Islands continued their Anaian One-Day Cricket Competition campaign with a rather more difficult challenge today at the Cittavolpe Cricket Ground. Audrey Leggett's team would have to face their old friends from Krytenia, the top-ranked Global Cricket Federation team in one-day internationals and something of a thorn in the paws of the Foxes since they first met in 2020, and the task would be made all the more daunting by the dark clouds that had gathered early on Friday evening and threatened to make a difficult surface all the more challenging.
It had still been raining when matchday dawned over the western Grande Cucina coast, and though the diligent collective labour of the groundskeepers made sure the square and outfield were playable, the toss was not a good one for Lynton Saxon to lose. Leggett duly put the Krytenians in to bat, and Howard Tatton and Andrew Taylor immediately had to get to grips with the stickiest of wickets, along with a Foxes side that smelled the opportunity to get an early advantage. These two sides know each other well by now, though, and familiarity with the tactics of Andrew Baxter and Naomi Salisbury helped the Stars' openers survive the initial exchanges, albeit at the cost of runs; just 37 were scored from the first ten overs, with the Plough Islanders using the pitch well and a well-arranged blockade of green shirts strangling any hopes the Krytenians might have had of a positive start.
When the runs finally did begin to come after the end of the initial fielding restrictions, they were cut off almost immediately; Taylor and Tatton have been a very solid partnership in limited overs cricket since the East Mercia batsman came into the team in 2021, but their communication failed them for once as Tatton set off for a second run that was not out of the reach of a well-drilled pair. On this occasion, though, it left both batsmen at the striker's end when the ball came back to Shauna Weaver, and the Foxes all-rounder could afford a moment of disbelief before running out Tatton, delivering the first of several setbacks that would force Krytenia to regroup and cost them precious runs.
After a few overs adjusting to the conditions, and then a few more trying to probe for gaps in the Plough Islander boundary, Edward Fenn was finally beginning to look comfortable when disaster struck again; the right-hander did nothing particularly wrong, timing his shot well to clip Salisbury to an empty corner of the ground, and would have had a comfortable four were it not for a full length dive from Baxter, whose fingers just dug underneath the ball as he slid in from long off and sent Fenn back for 22. 76-2 soon became 76-3; Ryan Watling had strode in full of confidence after his 105 against the tournament hosts on Thursday, but was sent striding back again two balls later as Salisbury found his knee roll amidst a botched drive.
The template continued for the rest of the Krytenian innings; a new batter would struggle to get going on the inconsistent pitch, gradually find their way to some runs over the course of several overs, and then just as the situation began to normalise, the Foxes would find a wicket and it was back to room one for the new partnership. Taylor battled onwards as his partners fell, shepherding Diego Aquino past the initial overs, and managed to bring his fifty and the Krytenian hundred up before accidentally defending a Sarah Ashe offbreak straight back to the New Hibernian. Wesley Kosta then took a particularly long time to get going - the right-hander struggling to effectively deal with Salisbury's left-arm spin and Jannie Hendricks' leg breaks - and the Stars' run rate slowed to a crawl as an eerie silence fell over the Cittavolpe crowd, with Aquino having to prey on Baxter for rare boundaries in order to keep the score ticking over.
Aquino ultimately top scored for the Krytenians, with his 65 being an excellent statement of determination in the face of adversity - from the pitch, from the bowling, from the match situation, and from the unpleasant humidity that was beginning to rise from the ground as it began to warm up in the sun. He finally fell to an excellent left-arm googly from Peter Hodgeson, which clipped Aquino's glove on the way through to Tim Bleasdale, but he departed having given his teammates something that they could bowl at. Saxon was next in, and was able to see Krytenia through to the end without too much incident; his 11 off eight balls was the only three figure strike rate in the entire innings, and set the Foxes a decently challenging 220 to win.
There was an acutely nervous energy about the Plough Islanders in the pavilion and in the ground as Leggett and Andrew Weaver came out for the reply. The fear was that the Stars' struggles were the product of a bad pitch that was rapidly becoming worse, and those seemed to be confirmed when Andrew slashed at Odell Lovatovic's second ball; the Krytenian right-armer had bowled full and straight, but the ball reared up alarmingly off a divot, and all a panicked Weaver could do was send it skyward and eventually into the safe hands of Aquino. The Foxes were one wicket down without scoring, and the men in blue were jubilant, and buoyed further when Shauna Weaver was forced onto the back foot repeatedly by Lovatovic, as the Foxes' innings started with a wicket maiden.
Leggett finally got off the mark by glancing Gavin Udall into the leg side for a single, and the tension faded a little as the runs began to come, with Weaver taking advantage of the bowlers' attempts at recreating her brother's dismissal to deploy her sweep shot with good results. For the captain, though, all restraint appeared to vanish; to borrow a saying, not only had the brakes come off, but she had been parked at the top of the Great Red Cliff pointing all the way down. With her typical calm abandon, she seemed to have foreknowledge of exactly where Lovatovic, Udall, and Martyn Mirandino were going to bowl, and met all of them with the middle or toe of the bat. Mirandino went for three fours and a six in one especially bitter over, and Watling on the midwicket boundary was reduced from a fielder to a courier, repeatedly fetching the ball from wherever Leggett had got it this time and dutifully returning it to Saxon, only for the goatherd to return the delivery to sender by air mail.
For the Krytenians, hope had quickly turned to despair and bargaining; the way the Foxes were playing, one of them would overreach themselves eventually, and it was Shauna Weaver who went for another sweep on 36 off Udall and deflected the ball into her own stumps. The celebrations were a little strained - by now Leggett was well past fifty, and when next man Arnold Tyrie thumped Udall back down the ground for four, Saxon could be seen with his hands behind his head as if trying to force his brain to think faster for solutions. As the colours of the sky gradually intensified in the Cittavolpe afternoon sun, though, few were forthcoming; Udall and Brigham Hill could limit the Foxes to one or two boundaries an over, but some of their allocation had to be saved for later (if there was going to be a later) and of the other bowlers Mirandino in particular was flagging badly. The scoreboard was soon counting down the runs required in two digits rather than three, with the first one decreasing perilously as Leggett continued to thrash the ball just beyond the reach of the leg side fielders.
Tyrie and Leggett continued to score with increasing confidence and decreasing risk, and it perhaps encapsulated the day that Saxon's side were having when Fenn, squinting into the distance, failed to walk in with the rest of the slip cordon and found himself in the perfect position to grab a thick edge, with Leggett on 99, but spilled the chance over his shoulder and could do little but just sit down in self-pity. The next ball was jabbed into the space where Fenn had been just seconds earlier, allowing the Foxes captain to bring up her second One Day International century amidst almost uncharacteristic joy; Tyrie was virtually plucked off his feet amidst the celebration, as the Plough Islander captain roared her delight from amidst a tangle of maned hair and green fabric. The Krytenians were virtually pacified at this point, with Saxon and bowler Hill even joining in the applause, so it made the breakthrough later that over all the more surprising as Leggett pounced on a short ball that managed to miss every part of her body, and wicketkeeper Kosta found himself with ball in hand and Leggett so far down the pitch that Tyrie had already set off from the non-striker's end. The stumping made little difference except psychologically - even though barely half the overs had elapsed, there were just 33 runs needed - but there was a little more firmness in the way the Stars carried themselves thereafter. And then Krytenian heads were held a little higher, as Leanne Martin made a lightning start with two boundaries but misjudged a textbook Hill leg break that found its way around her bat and trapped her lbw, and Hodgeson - Aquino's conqueror from earlier - falling in nearly the same way, except that the ball took the thinnest deflection from his attempted drive and clipped the top of off stump.
In spite of the occasional mutter by Lourens Hendricks or Bleasdale from the pavilion balcony, though, this was just delaying the inevitable for Krytenia. Tyrie had stood firm amidst the chaos in the middle, and calmly pulled Saxon back over square leg to bring up his half century; the twenty-year-old then reacted quickly to a mixup between Mirandino and Kosta to jog through for an overthrow that brought the scores level, and it fell to Jannie Hendricks to flick the Krytenian captain through the off side to complete the rout. Golden Age rang out from the travelling Plough Islanders as, from naught and one wicket down after two balls, the Foxes completed a devastating chase in just 28.2 overs.
Leggett had just about worn her voice out between captaincy and her batting endeavours, and was barely able to comprehend what had happened; "I cannot quite believe it. We thought the pitch was going to be difficult, and Lynton and his bowlers could exploit that very well, but...well, I suppose it felt like a trance? It seemed like everything was pitching up in the right spot, no matter where it came from...". She was not the only one to be slightly at a loss; Tyrie told this author that "it really looked like it was going to be more difficult than it was - I kept second guessing myself and thinking there was going to be a loose ball that didn't react how I expected it to, but you always saw them in time. I could see the Krytenians getting frustrated and I don't know what they made of it".
Lourens Hendricks, meanwhile, had a different explanation. "ag, man, we had the magic and they didn't! I'm not gonna complain one bit, we've had so many games where it's been the other way around..."
The Plough Islands now face a run of games against sides they will be meeting for the first time, starting with the tournament sponsors Kotzellach, which will provide further opportunities for Leggett and Hendricks to assess different players; it is likely that some players will be rested, particularly those who have played both matches so far. Today's victory, though, will have boosted the morale of the Foxes considerably regardless of what happens in San Giorgio. It is only the second time (after the final of the 60th Anniversary Trophy in 2020) they have beaten Krytenia in limited overs, and while the Stars will undoubtedly have an extra fire in their eyes the next time our two teams meet, for now all the glory belongs to our small country.
One of the joys of the Anaian Board of Cricket is that it can make these meetings more frequent, but it is far from the only benefit, as all the matches that took place today were fantastic showcases for the game of cricket across the region - and, at least for tonight, the guiding light of Anaia shines in the green and amber of the Plough Islands.

PLOUGH ISLANDS CRICKET ASSOCIATION
XI FOR ANAIA O.D.C.C. VS. KOTZ'ACH

        PLAYER           BAT   BOW
#14 BK  Scarbeck         RHB      
#1  AC  Leggett (c)      RHB   RLB
#17 SLC Weaver           RHB   RLB
#15 ADM Tyrie            RHB   RLB
#12 LA  Martin           LHB      
#10 P   Hodgeson         LHB   SLU
#2  DV  Andreyev         RHB   RFM
#11 IT  Lebed (w)        LHB      
#18 SH  Wilson           RHB   ROB
#8  JKI Hart             LHB   LMF
#13 NA  Salisbury        LHB   SLA

by **Krytenia** » Mon Mar 28, 2022 6:15 am

Reactions to the Plough Islands match on Chirper:

by **Gortolekua** » Mon Mar 28, 2022 7:57 am

"Gavin Bustillo, trying to find himself a groove and go for a 6 just four balls into his over, is caught out by Asiun Jun! And what a great delivery from the teenage sensation Connor Greene. Gortolekua is going to have some trouble this tournament if they keep trying to be bold when there's no need for it."

...

"Bustillo, looking to position himself for catching the ball from Asiun Jun...He's getting there easily, which should be no problem for him as he gets closer, AND HE SLIPS. We've been talking about the rainy weather during both innings and how it will come to play, and what a poor time for it to impact Gortolekua! Two runs score, and StrayaRoos win this one by three wickets in 38 of the most grueling overs I've seen."

Cold water runs down my face, the dirt coming off it covering the drain just a little bit before it gets watered down. I know we're literal amateurs to this sport, but it still hurts to lose. There's this national unity behind us and I feel like we're really, really just letting everyone down. Nobody back home wants to be considered a loser. We're already tired enough of fighting each other when it comes to not being that.

I think about the stories my mum and pop told me about all the other provinces growing up. We could visit them, and some people freely did, but a lot of my friends had never really left the city. People from the rest of the country did live in Seinät, but they were mostly politicians. They're Kamerat representatives, not regular people who just moved to the city, those are rare and in-between. I mean, everyone on the cricket team is from the capital, just like me.

Everyone in Seinät knows how to handle money. It's a hustler's world, and the grind never stops. Sometimes, I wish it did, but there's only so much you can do with no grind before you get back on the wheel. It's a drug; we're all addicts, for better or for worse. I mean, I got a bunch of my friends to play a sport we'd never played, let alone heard of, a year ago and now we're playing against actual professionals? If that's not a grind, I don't know what is. We're all tricksters too. Every time we tried to have a late night session and saw some cop stop by, asking us if we were playing cricket, we'd tell him we were just doing performance art. Which is probably the stupidest way to get out of a night in jail, but it worked every time. And I've got friends who managed to get away with playing their sports when 12 came and asked them what they were doing.

Basketball practice? "Just an artistic exploration of how the human spirit can manage to send a spherical vessel into a heavenly and ethereal orifice and the resulting philosophical conflicts arising from it."

Tennis match? "We're just examining how two surfaces with similar appearances can have such different impacts when a small fuzzy orb hits it while this crowd cheers our experiment on."

Cricket? I mean, I had my excuse lined up for that, but after our two losses, I would rather have just admitted we were breaking the law if it meant two losses.

Why the Government banned all other competitive sports for so long, I have no idea.

I can remember the map they always had in our textbooks as if I had a geography
quiz I needed to study for.

But it makes me think about the other sports (the legal sports) they played across the country. I know Seinät has some curling clubs, but those are rare and far in between compared to the north of the country. Haize Eklektikoa, Cerati, Mazespolia and Ibaiaho—those are the four provinces that make Gortola—have a solid curling tradition from what I've heard. They're all different in what they do: Haize Eklektikoa tends to have a pretty important manufacturing section if I'm remembering high school history right, Cerati's forestry industry is extremely massive, the Mazespolia fauna was one of the few things that could leave the country during isolation, and Ibaiaho is Gortola's source for food. But I know they've all got a grudge with each other because they think they're the best in Gortola for whatever reason they think. But they'll be more than happy to put off their fighting and be mad with the rest of the country because we don't speak the Gortolahizza as much as we promised them during unification talks. That shit's hard to learn anyways.

Olekua is south of the Eteroa Strait. That's baseball country for sure. I know we have some baseball squads in Seinät, but they love their game over in Olekua. And honestly, they're much chiller than Gortola, for what it's worth. Sure, they have similar quarrels with the rest of the nation in us not wanting to learn Olekuan but again: that shit's a hard language to learn. Overall though? Way nicer than Gortola. Way more collaborative too.

There's talks of building a massive tunnel between Seinät and Mustamaa, the closest province across the strait, but I don't believe that to be happening. Sure, Mustamaa is filled with scientists who managed to make a swampland seem lovely, but not even they can fix the mess that is this tunnel. Kenkuijo, bordering them to their east, is the country's breadbasket for real. Ibaiaho hates Kenkuijo because the latter can produce way more food for the country, even though Ibaiaho and Kenkuijo don't really have any overlap in terms of food production. Those Ibaiahans want to be the center of the world, and I remember some of their politicians admitting something short of that. Näytteet, directly south of Kenkuijo is pretty big for its mining and ores. There's some digging still done there too, but man do some of the best jewels come out from there. Reminds me to buy a gift for my girlfriend after this tournament. East of Näytteet and Mustamaa is Perjantaina, the place where Friday is considered their most holy of days. Who can blame them, but even they take it a little too far. I know they love working on the Rehevä Bay along the coast, but there's tech from the inland that comes in to the rest of the country. And I know The Arcadias have so many animals on there and have wind turbines and hydro-electric generators and solar panels, but they're their own thing that I can't really muster up more about right now. Maybe I should find a book on The Arcadias soon.

And I just realized I've wasted a bunch of water thinking about the rest of the country. It's good to be knowledgeable about the country, even if most of us aren't. Love how my head goes through crazy lines of thinking when I'm being splashed with water.

Water stops spouting out as I turn off the shower. Not bad water pressure, but it could be a little better. My towel's not dry, but not wet. It's in that in-between where it's going to make for an uncomfortable drying off—another disappointing addition to my day. My hands are prunes, which I hate but it's what I get for showering for so long. But I had to just to wash off that bad loss and prepare for the next matchday. Avorago is going to be a tough challenge—they're winless just like us, but they've got a passion in their playing that might just make them work.

by **Grande Cucina** » Mon Mar 28, 2022 8:05 am

.I ANAIAN ONE-DAY CRICKET COMPETITION: MD3 CUTOFF.

Here's your MD3 cutoff. The weather for today is a better, calm 0.3; the birds are singing, the flowers are smelling nice, and there's quite a bit of sun today.

(Completely optional) RP prompt: Sport, and life, as we know, tends to produce some truly awe-inspiring moments. As we've seen, one of Ko-oren's batters has struck the match-winning ball two games in a row now. But there are also the lighter side. What's an event that's occurred in your country that's stuck in the mind of your populace as being very funny, and why?

Matchday Three

@ the Barilla Cricket Ground...
.Ko-oren. 246/6 (50 overs)
.Krytenia. 252 (47 overs)
.Krytenia. win by 6 runs

@ the Cittavolpe Cricket Ground...
.Gortolekua. 183 (34.3 overs)
.Avorago. 184/4 (50 overs)
.Avorago. win by 6 wickets or 1 run

@ the San Giorgio Stadium...
.The Plough Islands. 309/9 (50 overs)
.Kotzellach. 209/5 (50 overs)
.The Plough Islands. win by 100 runs

@ the Divella Cricket Ground...
.Grande Cucina. 317/7 (50 overs)
.StrayaRoos. 267/8 (50 overs)
.Grande Cucina. win by 50 runs

MD3 Table

Pos. Team                   W   L   D   NRR     Pts
1    .The Plough Islands.   3   0   0   +1.952    6
2    .Ko-oren.              2   1   0   +0.673    4
3    .Grande Cucina.        2   1   0   +0.201    4
4    .StrayaRoos.           2   1   0   +0.187    4
5    .Krytenia.             2   1   0   -0.05     4
6    .Avorago.              1   2   0   -0.616    2
7    .Gortolekua.           0   3   0   -0.813    0
8    .Kotzellach.           0   3   0   -1.315    0

MD4 Fixtures
.Grande Cucina. v .The Plough Islands. in Barilla (+2)
.StrayaRoos. v .Avorago. in Cittavolpe (-1)
.Krytenia. v .Gortolekua. in San Giorgio (+1)
.Kotzellach. v .Ko-oren. in Divella (-2)

by **StrayaRoos** » Mon Mar 28, 2022 9:39 pm

"Grande Cucina Batting
Batter                                             R   B  4s  6s   SR
Treccioni         not out                        134 116  12   3  115.52
Murazzano         C.Phillipe B.Green               5   7   1   0   71.43
Canestrato        LBW.Green                        0   1   0   0    
Farfalline        B.Green                          0   1   0   0    
Asino             C.Bradman B.Livingstone         37  54   2   1   68.52
Testaroli         C.Livingstone B.Green           22   5   1   3  440
Tagliatelle       Run Out (Greene)                53  71   5   3   74.65
Castelmagno       B.Green                          1  17   0   0    5.88
Marzolino         not out                         61  29   5   1  210.34
      EXTRAS      (3 wd, 1 nb)                     4
       TOTAL      for 7 wickets                  317   (50 ov; 6.34 RPO)
Did not bat:    Spiralini, Crotonese

FOW: 1-12 (Murazzano, 5.3 overs); 2-12 (Canestrato, 5.4 overs); 3-12 (Farfalline, 5.5 overs); 
     4-104 (Asino, 20.5 overs); 5-134 (Testaroli, 23.4 overs); 6-205 (Tagliatelle, 34.5 overs); 
     6-241 (Castelmagno, 43.4 overs)

StrayaRoos Bowling
Bowler               Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
C Greene             10   3  22  5    2.2  
D Bradman             5   0  56  0   11.2  (1 wd)
J Jonassen            8   4  19  0   2.38  
J Phillipe (c)        4   0  40  0     10  (2 wd)
J Anderson            5   1  42  0    8.4  
S Molineux           10   0  71  0    7.1  
L Livingstone         8   1  67  1   8.38  (1 nb)

StrayaRoos Batting   (Target: 318)
Batter                                             R   B  4s  6s   SR
J Phillipe (c)    B.Crotonese                    109  89  10   2  122.47
A Jones           LBW.Crotonese                   12  22   0   0   54.55
A Jun             C.Trecconi B.Spiralini          23  19   1   0  121.05
Tui               LBW.Testaroli                    7  10   0   0   70
D Bradman         Caught and Bowled.Testaroli     87  77   4   2  112.99
I Healy (+)       Run Out (Trecconi)               4  12   0   0   33.33
C Greene          B.Crotonese                     12  41   1   0   29.27
J Jonassen        LBW.Spiralini                   11  29   0   0   37.93
S Molineux        not out                          1   1   0   0  100
J Anderson        not out                          0   1   0   0    
      EXTRAS      (1 nb)                           1
       TOTAL      for 8 wickets                  267   (50 ov; 5.34 RPO)
Did not bat:    L Livingstone

FOW: 1-26 (A Jones, 7.2 overs); 2-46 (A Jun, 15.4 overs); 3-59 (Tui, 16.3 overs); 
     4-212 (J Phillipe (c), 32 overs); 5-212 (D Bradman, 32.1 overs); 6-242 (I Healy (+), 40.3 overs); 
     7-266 (J Jonassen, 45.3 overs); 8-267 (C Greene, 49.5 overs)

Grande Cucina Bowling
Bowler               Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
Crotonese            10   3  43  3    4.3  
Spiralini            10   1  68  2    6.8  
Marzolino            10   0  41  0    4.1  
Castelmagno          10   1  59  0    5.9  
Testaroli            10   0  56  2    5.6  (1nb)

Venue: Divella Cricket Ground
Match number: 12
Toss: StrayaRoos elect to Bowl
Season: AODCC 1
Matchdays: 3
Player of the Match: 
Series result: 
Test debut: None
Umpires: Unknown
TV Umpire: Unknown
Reserve Umpire: Unknown
Match Referee: Unknown
Match Result: Grande Cucina win by 50 runs

by **Krytenia** » Tue Mar 29, 2022 3:11 pm

More hits from Chirper:

by **Avorago** » Tue Mar 29, 2022 10:21 pm

CITTAVOLPE, GRANDE CUCINA - It took until the final ball of an incredibly boring run chase, but Avorago have finally recorded their first win in the Anaian One-Day Cricket Competition. After being outplayed by the Plough Islands in San Giorgio, the amateurs took the match against the world number six, Ko-oren, right down to the final wicket before Julian White sealed it with a massive blow. However, in a clash against fellow bottom-dwellers Gortolekua, a clinical bowling performance and some poor Gortoleki batting ensured the Avoragans would be chasing down a sub-par total on a loamy, turning surface. They nearly made a right mess of it due to accurate bowling and downright terrible actics, but on the very last ball of the innings, a single got them over the line with six wickets left in the shed. And thus, Avorago had their very first official win.

For the fourth time in four matches, the coin fell Eberegbulam Onwuamaeze’s way, who was undoubtedly beginning to think opposition captains were purposefully switching the normal coin for a double-headed one, due to his track record with rather terrible toss decisions. However, today was an outlier, for once making a good decision, electing to bowl first on a loamy surface that was certain to favour the spin-heavy nature of his side’s bowling. To justify this, he then proceeded to open the bowling with himself, a move of which paid its dividends when he sent Hayden Wheelock back in just the fourth over of the innings, caught by Anenechukwu Daniel at slip.

On a turning surface, neither Chiwetalu Okwuoma or the recalled Maduabuchim Chinomso looked really dangerous, the two quicks providing a welcome relief from the challenging spin presented by the rest of the Avoragan bowling attack. While the tweakers took eventual figures of 8-118 from 23.3 overs, Okwuoma and Chinomso were only able to glean one wicket for 65 runs from eleven, the former proving to be particularly expensive despite picking up the key wicket of Maynard Racyhl for 15 in his second spell.

For Gortolekua, only skipper Marjorie Martel appeared accomplished at the crease, looking comfortable against all but one of the 61 balls she faced, of which she gleaned 66 runs from. Unfortunately for her and her nation, though, that one ball that she did not appear comfortable against was the ball that proved to be her downfall, Chiazagomekpere Udegbunam spearing a quicker one in at her feet in the 27th over to dismiss her leg-before wicket. She ended up being one of Udegbunam's five wickets, the 33-year-old picking up figures of 5-37 from 9.3 excellent overs to wrap up the Goertoleki tail. Also, he failed to put a foot wrong in the field, with a direct hit off his own bowling ending a growing late partnership between wicketkeeper Nereida Darnell and leg-spinner Gualberto Slater. His five-wicket haul is easily the best bowling performance by an Avoragan, albeit from an admittedly small sample size of four matches, helping bowl Gortolukea out for a mediocre 183 in just 34.3 overs.

Despite the lowly nature of the Avorago target, the Gortoleki were far from out of the match. The vast majority of their batters might have given their wickets away, hence the high run-rate, but their opponents were even more inexperienced than them. At least they knew about the sport six months ago, and didn’t have to teach themselves how to play in some ludicrous short span of time. Their bowling, particularly when attacking and looking to take wickets, was still a strength, and Avorago would have to fight, and fight hard, to chase down the 184 runs required for victory.

That hypothesis proved to be correct. All six Gortoleki bowlers bowled challenging lines and lengths, forcing the Avorago batters to play at almost every ball. Chinwuebo Chinama was the first to break, skying a ball down Rubye Bone’s throat in just the third over. From that point onwards, no Avorago batter looked set enough to give the run-rate much of a boost, resulting in one of the most tedious successful run-chases in living memory. Not one Gortolekua bowler conceded an economy of more than four-and-a-half runs an over, with spinners Rubye Bone and Gualberto Slater doing a particularly good job of tying things down. By the time Coobine Muljohn was the fourth wicket down, caught by a flying Wheelock at mid-off after crunching an Antonia Gore half-volley, 27 runs were still required from the final 28 balls of the innings, but with Otutodilinna Choike still out there and an in-form Uzodimma Nebeolisa arriving at the crease.

It proved to be the winning combination for Avorago, whittling down the runs before Choike pushing the final ball of the innings wide of mid-on for a single to notch up the winning runs. The 22-year-old left-hander finished unbeaten on 98, taking a whopping 161 balls and never really looking comfortable on a pitch that had significantly uneven bounce and turn. But her performance had been paramount to her nation’s victory and despite not boosting the net run-rate, a win was still a win.

The fact that only ten boundaries were hit throughout the entirety of the Avorago innings is symbolic of just how well the Gortoleki bowled, and how much of a grind it was for the batters. The slightly larger boundaries at Cittavolpe also had their impact, with only one six hit in the entire match - by debutant Phil Villolobos, the third-highest scorer in the Gortoleki innings.

With Avorago remaining in the western city for their match against StrayaRoos, there is guaranteed to be a lot of analysis on the pitch conditions, and how the batters could utilise them more instead of just relying on the bowlers to perform. It may take the players a while to understand how video technology actually works, but if they can get past that barrier, then who knows what they’d be able to pick up?

Confidence, though, will be riding high after the win and with a side they beat in a practice match Avorago’s next challenge, do not count out what this team of amateurs might be able to do, particularly if their batting clicks. Their goal - a win - had been accomplished, now what can they achieve?

Gortolekua Batting
Batter                                            R   B  4s  6s   SR
G Bustillo          st Muljohn b Udegbunam       27  36   4   0   75
H Wheelock          c Daniel b Onwuamaeze         4  10   0   0   40
M Martel (c)        lbw b Udegbunam              66  61  10   0  108.2
M Racyhl            b Okwuoma                    15  23   1   0   65.22
R Zavala            c Chinomso b Chialuka         1   4   0   0   25
P Villalobos        c Nebeolisa b Chialuka       26  24   3   1  108.33
N Darnell (+)       not out                      17  25   1   0   68
A Gore              c Okwuoma b Udegbunam         2   5   0   0   40
G Slater            run out (Udegbunam)          11  10   2   0  110
G Palmer            b Udegbunam                   0   2   0   0    
R Bone              b Udegbunam                   1   7   0   0   14.29
       EXTRAS       (2 b, 8 lb, 3 wd)            13
        TOTAL       all out                     183   (34.3 ov; 5.3 RPO)
                  

FOW: 1-13 (H Wheelock, 3.5 overs); 2-56 (G Bustillo, 10.4 overs); 3-92 (M Racyhl, 18.2 overs); 
     4-97 (R Zavala, 19.1 overs); 5-144 (P Villalobos, 25.4 overs); 6-147 (M Martel (c), 26.4 overs); 
     7-153 (A Gore, 28.3 overs); 8-176 (G Slater, 32.1 overs); 9-177 (G Palmer, 32.4 overs); 
     10-183 (R Bone, 34.3 overs)

Avorago Bowling
Bowler                 Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
C Okwuoma               7   0  48  1   6.86  (1 wd)
E Onwuamaeze (c)        6   1  34  1   5.67  (1 wd)
M Chinomso              4   0  17  0   4.25  
C Udegbunam           9.3   1  37  5   3.89  
R Chialuka              6   0  38  2   6.33  (1 wd)
C Chinama               2   0   9  0    4.5  

Avorago Batting   (Target: 184)
Batter                                            R   B  4s  6s   SR
C Chinama           c Bone b Palmer               6  11   1   0   54.55
O Choike            not out                      98 161   4   0   60.87
A Daniel            b Bone                       29  48   2   0   60.42
E Onwuamaeze (c)    c&b Slater                   13  33   0   0   39.39
C Muljohn (+)       c Wheelock b Gore            23  35   1   0   65.71
U Nebeolisa         not out                      11  12   1   0   91.67
       EXTRAS       (2 lb, 2 wd)                  4
        TOTAL       for 4 wickets               184   (50 ov; 3.68 RPO)
Did not bat:      M Muolemu, M Chinomso, R Chialuka, C Udegbunam, C Okwuoma

FOW: 1-8 (C Chinama, 2.2 overs); 2-62 (A Daniel, 19.3 overs); 3-99 (E Onwuamaeze (c), 30.6 overs); 
     4-157 (C Muljohn (+), 44.2 overs)

Gortolekua Bowling
Bowler                 Ov   M   R  W   Econ  Ext
G Palmer                8   0  32  1      4  
M Martel (c)           10   3  39  0    3.9  
A Gore                  7   1  26  1   3.71  
R Bone                  9   2  33  1   3.67  
R Zavala                6   0  27  0    4.5  
G Slater               10   2  25  1    2.5  

Venue: Cittavolpe Cricket Ground, Cittavolpe, Grande Cucina
Match number: Match Ten
Toss: Avorago won the toss and elected to bowl
Season/Tournament: AODCC I
Matchdays: Matchday Three
Player of the Match: Chiazagomekpere Udegbunam (AVR)
Series result: 
Debut: Phil Villalobos (GTK)
Umpires: unknown
TV Umpire: unknown
Reserve Umpire: unknown
Match Referee: unknown
Match Result: Avorago win by six wickets with zero balls remaining

Avorago XI vs StrayaRoos @ Cittavolpe Cricket Ground, Cittavolpe, Grande Cucina

1. Chinwuebo Chinama
2. Otutodilinna Choike
3. Anenechukwu Daniel
4. (c) Eberegbulam Onwuamaeze
5. (+) Coobine Muljohn
6. Uzodimma Nebeolisa
7. Mbanefo Muolemu
8. Maduabuchim Chinomso
9. Ogbenyeanu Ubanwa
10. Rapuluolisa Chialuka
11. Chiazagomekpere Udegbunam

Schedule:

Matchday One: Avorago vs The Plough Islands @ San Giorgio Stadium, San Giorgio, Grande Cucina - The Plough Islands win by 52 runs
Matchday Two: Avorago vs Ko-oren @ Barilla Cricket Ground, Barilla, Grande Cucina - Ko-oren win by one wicket with 45 balls remaining
Matchday Three: Avorago vs Gortolekua @ Cittavolpe Cricket Ground, Cittavolpe, Grande Cucina - Avorago win by four wickets with zero balls remaining
Matchday Four: Avorago vs StrayaRoos @ Cittavolpe Cricket Ground, Cittavolpe, Grande Cucina
Matchday Five: Avorago vs Krytenia @ Divella Cricket Ground, Divella, Grande Cucina
Matchday Six: Avorago vs Kotzellach @ Barilla Cricket Ground, Barilla, Grande Cucina
Matchday Seven: Avorago vs Grande Cucina @ Divella Cricket Ground, Divella, Grande Cucina

by **The Plough Islands** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 5:15 am

PLOUGH ISLANDS CRICKET ASSOCIATION
XI FOR ANAIA O.D.C.C. VS. G'DE. C.

        PLAYER           BAT   BOW
#14 BK  Scarbeck         RHB      
#1  AC  Leggett (c)      RHB   RLB
#17 SLC Weaver           RHB   RLB
#15 ADM Tyrie            RHB   RLB
#6  AM  Donovan          RHB      
#9  AJ  Hendricks        RHB   RLB
#11 IT  Lebed (w)        LHB      
#2  DV  Andreyev         RHB   RFM
#18 SH  Wilson           RHB   ROB
#4  A   Baxter           RHB   RFS
#7  TSF Gibbs            RHB   RLB

by **Gortolekua** » Wed Mar 30, 2022 7:55 am

I Anaian One-Day Cricket Competition [COMPLETE]

I Anaian One-Day Cricket Competition [COMPLETE]

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