BC preparation thread for World Cup 2007

[Tehsin]

Let's ALL of us try to get to the 'Elizabeth stand' around 170-172. Close to the ground and almost next to the players. It will be the unofficial OFFICIAL Bangladesh Party stand. SOme folks will be trying to get some drums, there will be banners (and I'll sneak in banglacricket.com banner in there as well).

[cricket_pagol]

Originally Posted by Tehsin
Let's ALL of us try to get to the 'Elizabeth stand' around 170-172. Close to the ground and almost next to the players. It will be the unofficial OFFICIAL Bangladesh Party stand. SOme folks will be trying to get some drums, there will be banners (and I'll sneak in banglacricket.com banner in there as well).

This was the only thing that was missing in the last game!!! Hope to see you guys making some noise for us

[JamesBond]

Originally Posted by rafiq
If I can wake up in the morning, finish packing and make the flight out of Chicago I hope to be in Trini in the evening Tuesday! JamesBond, what's happening on your love boat - are you all just leaving messages for each other or is there some serious adda & partying happening down there? Guess I'll find out soon enough...

haha.. its going good.. but too much yelling took my voice away.. i am still recovering... I will be back to trini tomorrow morning for the game... you should ask Tehsin about my voice when I called him the other day.. Do you have any plans??

[oracle]

I am at Elizabeth stand tomorrow. Tehsin is there too. See you.

[rafiq]

Touched down in trini tonight where it's hot and sultry but there's a cool breeze blowing from the western shore. Port of Spain sparkles below and Alicia's Palace is the defacto camp for the Bangladeshi contingent of journalists...Utpol Shubhro from Prthom Alo and a host of guys from ATN, Channel 1, etc among others, I'll get the names right in another day. Word is Shahadat wasn't going to play anyway and has some kind of groin injury.

Ran into Oracle and the wife at the front desk, and had a quick chat with Tehsin. He reports the players have gone to bed, as opposed to going down to the 51 degrees lounge I passed on my way from the airport ("no prostitutes there, maan", my cabbie, Singh, assured me). Tehsin was parked at the Hilton where the players are, probably drinking orange juice with billah.

Hopefully will find some more folks at breakfast and although i am in 206, will head over to 170 if allowed to move freely about the stadium. The only thing bugging me is MMS is not working on my mobile, which puts a damper on my plans to run a trini cricket blog at a couple of sites for work. And my bluetooth won't turn on either...i guess that's what i get for always using prototype phones! Will figure it out tomorrow....

BD will beat Sri Lanka by 15 runs.

[JamesBond]

Originally Posted by rafiq
Tehsin was parked at the Hilton where the players are, probably drinking orange juice with billah.

Hopefully will find some more folks at breakfast and although i am in 206, will head over to 170 if allowed to move freely about the stadium. The only thing bugging me is MMS is not working on my mobile, which puts a damper on my plans to run a trini cricket blog at a couple of sites for work. And my bluetooth won't turn on either...i guess that's what i get for always using prototype phones! Will figure it out tomorrow....

BD will beat Sri Lanka by 15 runs.

lol.. Tehsin drinking Orange Juice..haha. Me straight Vodka on the rocks.. Actually i like this Barbados locak Rhum.. its pretty cool..

What kinda phone do you have? Which provider? Tehsin has cingular and I guess he has no problem.. neither do I.. What are things have you performed to troubleshoot this issue?

[rafiq]

Hey JB, i resolved it by switching networks on the phone- bmobile worked better than digicell - thanks to billah for confirming that as he has tmobile as well.

I don't think i have your number, I'll IM mine to you. Still here until Sun. Saw some of the players last night, pretty dejected not much to say as they lost the game in their heads before a ball was bowled it seems.

[Tehsin]

Off to the US. I'll let Rafiq cover our meet up at Trini, he seems to have the right kind of flair for that. Oringe Joos is Good Fo Ya Body Maan. Don't knock it.

I should be home by 12 tonigt and the idiot folks from Diretv should finally get to my place tomorrow morning for the setup. It only took them 2 and a half weeks to get this third attempt underway. USA holey, they'd have been in serious trouble. Oh, wait a second, the idiots ARE in the USA.

Not much to write about our performance yesterday. For one match, we went back to our 1990-2004 days. Oh well, it was only one match and we are allowed to suck from time to time. I'll program myself to erase that memory by watching the BD-ind match this weekend. Thanks to Directv, i need to beg my friends to get me a copy.

As for the rets of the world cup, The world is watching. Nothing short of a convincing victorywill do. However, a victory will prolly be useless unless Sri Lanka wins. A one run/one wicket or even a TIE would be enough for us to go through.

[rafiq]

Yeah, quiet night here in POS, Tehsin you are missed. Off and on rain aborted my attempt to get to Maracas beach, so I settled for exploring some of this city's neighborhoods and backstreets by foot. I'm glad I did.

The air is thick with anticipation for tomorrow and anything can happen. It's all upto the Lankans now. The Indian fans are pouring in, I am noticing more of them, or is it because the wild and crazy Bangladeshis have gone home?

The BD team is keeping a low profile. They did "theory and warmups" today per a random phone call one of the journalists made at breakfast. The day also included visiting schools and doing some work for the fight against AIDS.

The BD journos actually took the day off, I can tell you more about them if that is exciting but i suspect it won't be. We are in this semi-hole called Alicia's Palace (my door seems to be missing it's handle in case I haven't mentioned it before...), and the kitchen is unable to produce anything worth eating for our news guys. I was amazed to learn they have taught the kitchen ladies how to make deshi style omelettes as well as 50% of what it takes to make alur bhorta. Shudu daal missing.

Trini is a place that actually has deshi-friendly cuisine, after all the place is full of people of Indian descent. Roti paratha and doubles are exquisite, and much much better than the fake stuff you get in Ft Lauderdale or Miami. My point is if you want food, it's not hard to find, you just have to be willing to go look for it. I took in a roti wraps at Patraj for lunch today, and all the boys/girls who are still here - definitely forgo the fried chicken crap at the Oval tomorrow and head to the back of the stadium to Patraj - on the corner of Tragarette and White streets. My cabbie Mr Singh says it's one of the best in Trini, you know he can't be wrong. Doubles is much like bhel puri in a chappati, with too much sauce so it drips all over. Had one not too long ago in a local joint in St James, they seemed to show up a dozen in a paper bag at 2TT apiece, it was all wholesome and good.

The locals are torn between watching the West Indies on TV or going to the India SL game. I have a feeling they will find a way to do both. The rum shops of St James are going to be crowded tomorrow. If Sri Lanka and West Indies both win, I am told we are partying until my plane leaves at 6:45 am Sunday. Somehow I don't think my body will take that, but it's a pleasant thought nevertheless.

As our car made the left turn at Brian Lara's house across from the Savanah and began the slow wind up Lady Chancellor Road to my "Palace", two pieces of news came in on the radio. First, Jamaican police are confirming Woolmer was strangled. What the heck! The guy who cut my hair today (Avena across the street from Patraj, clean, cool and at TT30 a good deal) said the word in Jamaica is that Woolmer was in with the bookies and things had gone horribly wrong. Hopefully that is just barbershop talk and not true!

The second piece of news had my Trini hosts erupting in joy: due to the incessant rain out in Guyana, their government has asked Trinidad to be on standby for the Super 8s. Can't help but think about Sanjay and Bansuri, friends from Chicago who flew in tonight to watch India tomorrow. Later this weekend they travel on to Guyana to "follow India into the Super 8s". They will find out soon enough that not only will India not get to Guyana, but if the rain keeps up, there may be no cricket in Guyana at all! Hate to wish such misery on friends, so I hope only one part of that is true and that the rain does stop in Guyana.

[Nasif]

Great read rafiq bhai. Keep it coming and keep us updated

[Nasif]

Originally Posted by Tehsin
I should be home by 12 tonigt and the idiot folks from Diretv should finally get to my place tomorrow morning for the setup. It only took them 2 and a half weeks to get this third attempt underway. USA holey, they'd have been in serious trouble. Oh, wait a second, the idiots ARE in the USA.

DirecTV isn't a good idea. You should have gone with Dishnet. They are best in Cricket. (and anything deshi, including all the BD channels)

[layperson]

Thanks rafiq bhai. As nasif bhai said updates from WI are most wanted so keep posting.

[JamesBond]

I am going to the beach party soon..