Liebe, Lust und Leben » is winless on tour since the 2008 Boeing Classic

Whats the furthest youve been for a golden duck? Last month, having hooked up with an old club pro of ours while holidaying in New York, I made a round trip of six hours and 45 minutes - from my lodgings in Manhattans Upper East Side to Queens, and from there to New Haven, Connecticut - all for a largely hightlight-free one-ball innings. Chuck in the journey from Nottingham via London and Reykjavik, and thats 5600 miles.Not that I went to the US specifically to play cricket, of course. But I did want to catch up with Adam and see what standard of club cricket might be available Stateside to an ex-West Indies Test player. I only realized he wasnt joking about me playing having emerged from the Jamaica St Subway at 10am into an already vicious heat to hear, Whassup, Scott. Youre looking fit. It was nine years since I last saw him, and my middle-age spread had spread.Sanfords two passengers, Dominic Ricky and Cassius Burton, were tickled enough to drop their impassive, Marlon Samuelsesque air, although Dominic at least tried to pretend he was laughing at a text message. Initiation complete, I was now part of the team: the Hamden Combined Caribbean XI of the Southern Connecticut Cricket Association.We pulled out of Queens, past Flushing Meadows, on the eve of its big two weeks, Manhattans Tetris skyline receding in the distance, then headed north-east along Interstate 95 through scenery lifted straight from a Great American Novel: ancient trees, wood-panelled houses, a giant landscaped golf resort. An hour or so later we were in New Haven, sweeping past the Yale University stadium and arriving at our venue 15 minutes before the scheduled start - or 45 minutes before the opposition, if you prefer, which didnt amuse a couple of my colleagues. Spicy rice and grilled chicken were shared around and a crescent of flags from various Caribbean islands was planted alongside cars hunkering in the sole, narrow strip of shade offering dubious protection from the infernal sun.The pitch sat in the middle of a large square field, empty except for the cars, a portaloo, and a wire-mesh baseball practice fence long since reclaimed by vegetation. It was flanked on two sides by trees, on a third by a disused basketball court and, to the south, a row of those quintessentially American colonial houses, all turned indifferently away as an alien game attempted to take root in a space abandoned by the quintessentially American sports.As the nominal away side, when the opposition finally did turn up we were able to watch them toil under that unforgiving sun, nailing down (and, later, rolling up) the hessian-matting playing surface to a convex strip of baked earth below - the equivalent of being spared the on-off-on-off of covers on a drizzly English afternoon. The barbecue was fired up, and Adams wife went to pick up supplies: booze, ice and meat. Toss won, we would bat. I was pencilled in at No5. I was also to be entered on the scorecard as Pepler Sandri, a third alias of the week, having done a Scientology Personality Test a few days earlier as Michael Johnson.The opposition, Brass CC, were mainly middle-aged, mainly of Pakistani origin, a tumbleweed crew with no supporters, which made their dedication to the game all the more admirable. The bowling was respectable without being especially challenging, yet the outfields thick, clumpy grass made boundaries difficult to come by. Adam and I supped a cold beer - Its a social game, he declared - as our two travelling companions put together a high-class second-wicket partnership of alternately elegant and savage strokeplay that confirmed to me that I was comfortably the worst player in our vehicle. Ricki, 23, had played for Guyana Under-19s, moved to the USA two years ago and was now working in a warehouse while entertaining hopes of playing some league cricket in England. Burton had played first-class cricket for Jamaica and List A for Combined Universities and Campuses. Their pedigree was evident, and accentuated by the keen-but-limited triers padding out both sides.Our fortysomething skipper, Jermaine Clarke, had played for Nevis as a youngster before emigrating 15 years ago. He now presented a radio show in Bridgeport, on which hed interviewed various reggae legends. That may be why he didnt seem especially impressed by the tunes boom-booming from Sanfords vehicle, or it could just have been that unmistakeable air of captainly vexation, a condition brought on by having your decisions judged on the actions of your teams unruly limbs. He asked me how I played. I said Id try and play the situation, upon which he poured me a large neat rum from a bottle marked Moonshine, and suggested 190 was par from the 40 overs.Next man in, Grayson Pacquette, told me hed driven three hours from Boston. Man, thats a long way for a blob, I observed. The Gods had a smile at that. I went in with 4.1 overs left, feeling juiced and loose. The rest was a badly timed Sarfraz shimmy, a death rattle, a rueful smile, a broad grin from Pacquette (who made a breezy 54 in our 278 for 9) and a 100-metre trudge off: in itself, a long way for a blob. The interval brought more beers, barbecued chicken thighs, cremated sausages, a slug of Hennessey, and talk of putting together a team for a US$10,000 winner-takes-all T20 tournament in Boston. I wasnt invited. With no pavilion to bring together these two camps of nomadic cricketers, there was no teatime interaction between the teams, which may have contributed to the febrile atmosphere at the start of their innings, as relentlessly chirp-filled as anything I have experienced. I dont think it was the booze.Armed with a new white ball and still built like the proverbial brick outhouse, Sanford was getting ludicrous bounce and carry (we had the most redundant mid-off in cricket history). The batters were plainly out of their depth, and our fielders let them know as much. Every ball. Those proud men responded to the suggestion that this squawking was all part of the game. Thats fine, said their 50-year-old bespectacled No. 4, between fending off throat balls and calling Sanfords partner chicken for bowling a leg-side wide, but where Im from, everyone has an AK47. Amidst all this I snared what history will record as a screamer in the gully - not a total disaster, then - and, in the quickly dying light, Brass called it quits at 118 for 9 after 25 overs, sparing their No. 11.After another post-match beer we were on the road, snared in the slow chug of weekend traffic heading back to New York. Three hours later, deprived of a shower after a day in the stinking heat, I stood (self-consciously) on a packed subway wondering whether mismatched teams of such mixed abilities was really the ground on which a cricket culture can flourish. But then, the sheer vastness of America - its smallest state, Rhode Island, is comfortably larger than the countries from which most of my team-mates in New Haven hailed - means that concentrating these pockets of passionate immigrant cricketers in competitive leagues containing teams with a more even spread of talent is nigh on impossible. Yet such are the requirements of the grass roots. Vapormax Schwarz Herren Schweiz . The All-Pro lineman got the leg bent under him while trying to make a tackle during the first half of a 22-20 overtime loss at Miami on Thursday night. The medical staff initially thought hed torn the ligament, and the test a day later in Cincinnati confirmed it. Air Max 200 Damen . -- About a third of the way through the regular season, the Washington Wizards are at . http://www.vapormaxkaufenschweiz.com/air-max-200-schweiz.html . Each of Houstons starters scored in double figures as the Rockets improved to 2-0 against the Spurs this season, with both victories coming on the road. They also moved within 3 1/2 games of San Antonio (22-7) for the lead the Southwest Division. Vapormax Damen Schwarz Schweiz . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. Vapormax Herren Günstig Kaufen . The defending champion beat Gael Monfils of France 7-6 (6), 6-3, while second-seeded Andy Murray of Britain dispatched Edouard Roger-Vasselin, also of France, 6-3, 6-3. Making his first appearance since injuring his wrist a month ago, Del Potro had difficulty with his service games in the first set. BLAINE, Minn. -- One good putt saved the day for Tom Pernice Jr. Pernice moved into position Saturday for his second Champions Tour title, shooting a 7-under 65 to take a two-stroke lead over Tom Kite in the 3M Championship. He had a 13-under 131 total at the TPC Twin Cities after opening with a 66. The two-time PGA Tour winner had four straight birdies on the front nine, and added two more on Nos. 10 and 12. However, his approach shot on the par-4 14th buried in the bank of a hazard in front of the green. After a drop in the fairway, his next shot landed about 40 feet short of the hole. Likely facing a double bogey at best, Pernice instead curled in the long putt. "Youre not really thinking about making it. I just hit a good putt and it rolled right in perfectly," he said. With the momentum, he then birdied Nos. 15 and 18. Playing in the tournament for the first time, the 53-year-old Pernice will likely need to shoot a similar score Sunday to win his first tour event since the 2009 SAS Championship. He has been close this year, with two second-place finishes and three thirds in his 14 previous starts. "I really feel like my ball striking has come around," said Pernice, who worked on "a couple of things" with his instructor, E.J. Pfister, before last weeks Senior British Open. "My puttings been pretty good all year, so Im looking forward to the opportunity Ive got myself tomorrow. ... Its going to take another good score, thats for sure." The 63-year-old Kite, trying to become the oldest winner in the history of the 50-and-over tour, also shot 65 -- his lowest score at the course in five years. He birdied No. 2 and finished his front nine by going eagle-birdie-birdie to get to 9 under, and birdied Nos. 11 and 18, missing a 25-foot eagle putt on the finishing hoole by less than a foot.dddddddddddd "I got off to a great start yesterday -- I was 5-under par through seven and then I kind of sat on it the rest of the round and made a couple bogeys," he said. "Today, was just the opposite of that. I got off to kind of a slow start. I birdied No. 2, but had birdie putts on Nos. 1 and 3 and 4 and 5 and 6. ... They moved the tees up on No. 7 making that a drivable par 4. I hit driver to the front edge of the green and made about a 25-footer for eagle and that kind of jump-started my round today." Kite, who won the event in 2004, is winless on tour since the 2008 Boeing Classic -- 114 starts ago. "Im looking forward to being nervous tomorrow," he said. "Im anxious for that. It means youre doing something." Kite has battled swing issues all year, resulting in just four top-16 finishes in 15 events. However, he tied for 14th in the Senior British Open. "I played terrific over there last week, but I did not putt particularly well," he said. "Last week was very encouraging." Jay Don Blake, Rod Spittle and Corey Pavin were three strokes back at 10 under. Blake and Rod Spittle shot 66, and Pavin had a 69. "The scoreboard is bleeding out there, you see a lot of red," Kite said. Fifty-nine of the 81 players are under par. First-round leader Mark Wiebe, the Senior British Open winner Monday in a playoff, followed his opening 64 with a 71 to fall into a tie for sixth at 9 under. Kirk Triplett, who shot the days low round of 64, also was 9 under along with John Riegger (69) and Bart Bryant (69). Kenny Perry, coming off consecutive major victories in the Senior Players Championship and U.S. Senior Open, had a 71 to join Gene Sauers (66), Colin Montgomerie (69) and Jeff Brehaut (70) at 8 under. ' ' '