By Sham Ali 
(Celebrating 47th Anniversary – 20260607 Match# 1350): - Baaaaang!!! From the time it left his bat and sailed to the mid-wicket region, you knew that it was headed to the moon, and perhaps it is still traveling as the Cosmos pavilion erupted and storm the field to their unlikely hero, the 16-year-old, Alvin Gobin, who sealed a thriller at the historic Walker Park, Staten Island last Sunday. 

Sometimes, this game of cricket plays out in ways as if there are unwritten scripts waiting to be reveal the unpredictability of this game, and so often it ultimately choses that one player to deliver the heroics and stamp his signature on the outcome and the game. That was certainly the case last Sunday after Staten Island had posted a competitive total courtesy of a brilliant 55 from Alex Miller that included eight sixes and a little cameo from O. Wilson (43), Staten Island scored a hundred runs in the last 10 over on the backs of two lower order partnership, that propelled them to a competitive 202 for 8 in their allotted 30 overs. 
Young Alvin Gobin displayed remarkable composure under pressure, holding his nerve to guide his team to a memorable and hard-fought victory. Photo by Sham Ali

The Cosmos in their reply,  got off  to a poor start when Yogeshwar Ramgobin played a headless heave in the second over, however Antanio Rooplall and Ghanam Tariq steadied the inning with a measured 51-run 2nd wicket partnership before Rooplall holed out at point. Tariq, who has carried the weight of Cosmos batting so far this season notch up another half-century (he proceeded to train his little son to take up mantle when his inning ended) after he and Chatram Nauth combined for another crucial partnership of 44 before both went with the score on 104 and 124 runs respectively.

At 124 for 4 in 19 overs, Cosmos was in a spot of bother, and their inning needed a spark. Akash Rahim and Govin Persaud provided the momentum when they stitched together an excellent half-century partnership to put the Cosmos inning in cruise control with 30 runs needed in 5 overs. Akash had to perform in this match, he brought his entire family, and his dad was laser focused on him and looking a little nervous, while Lisa, Sophie and Priya (Cosmos faithfuls) were more nervous than the batsmen. There will be a major relief soon, patience girls’ patience. 

On so many occasions when the match equation is as such some nerves creeps in with a few dot balls. Now it is 28 needed in 3 overs, and suddenly you have a very different scenario and the tension in the air is thick with instructions and conferences coming from both sides. At that stage, Rahim appeared to be running on an almost empty tank (talk about bad timing or unfit), while Persaud was motoring on and up to the task. Persaud converted on a few doubles (if that was food, Akash needed it really, reaaally bad) and then cleared the mid-wicket boundary for a maximum, and Cosmos pavilion exhaled rather vocally, 11 runs off 7 balls, and everyone is on their feet.  Rahim pulled a half-tracker, the last ball of the 29th over, straight to the man at deep square-leg, silence and heads turn in Cosmos camp while the opposition is roar is deafening. Captain Devindra Balgobin walked in with “chest up’ to join Persaud with 11 runs needed off 6 balls. All men are padded up. Persaud pulled a wide and holed out at mid-wicket off the first ball in the final over, more movements, silence and more heads turn – this in not happening, from a position of control to worry. Encouraging applause struck a chord. Eh, look who is the next man in, Alvin Gobin instead of the in-form Vian Gooniah. Towgeshwar Thakoordeen had his pads on perhaps ready for an early night’s sleep. 

That was a very very brave decision by Balgobin to motion for Alvin with the shorter boundary more suited to the right-handed batsman, 11 needed off 5 balls. Brave decision? Good decision. Nerves. What nerves! The pacer ran in, Alvin charged at him, WOOOH, and unleashed a cracking pull to deep mid-off and they squeezed for two, 9 off 4. The next ball, a wide outside off stump, it stayed low, that looks like the bowling plan, Alvin swing and a miss, the ball bounced in front of the wicket-keeper and deviate to fine leg. They ran hard for 2 and scampered for a desperate third, the throw was thankfully wide, if not Balgobin would have been run out by a mile, 6 off 3. Some unpleasant exchanges ensued, unfortunately, it’s has been ongoing throughout this match with this new look Staten Island team that is not even in the shadows of sportsmanship of the Staten Island teams of yesteryear, and that leaves a lot to be desired,

The pacer charged in and was stopped in his tracks when Balgobin walked away from the wicket - the App froze and so did everyone else except the bowler who said a few words in a foreign language (nahi, this is not a foreign language class, so no comprende, it’s called cricket). Things settled down after consultations from all angles. Here we go again. Balgobin swung for glory and missed outside off (he has been swinging for glory, at the wind all season). Alvin was already at the strikers end before Balgobin took off (he is a little slow in taking off, but once he is off, it is hard to catch him). They stole a bye to the wicketkeeper, the throw missed the stumps, WHEW, 5 off 2. 

These are moments is cricket that will live in the memory for ages especially when Alvin Gobin was not initially in the playing eleven, but was included as a last-minute replacement for pacer Ahmad Dodson to open the new ball, and he latched on to the opportunity with both hands. 

Nerves? What nerves!!! The Cosmos pavilion is on the boundary line, man, women, and child, and a dog on a leash on the opposition side. This is high drama. They tried to ruffle this kid but he didn’t fell for the bait but respond with an exclamation to a raucous opposition as their hopes disappeared faster than a reptile in trench moss. Be careful not to wake a sleeping tiger.  Come. 

Kid? Watch man hay. Alvin seized up the bowling plan to perfection. He stayed low and little shimmy over to off, the pacer spotted him and banged it in short. Alvin would lick on that like an ice-cream cone on a hot day, Sweeeet. Bang! ‘Shat boi’ Take that kite skites – there is no landing gear on that. It is on its way to the moon, hopefully it paid the toll on the Verrazano Bridge. Invasion as Cosmos boys storm the field and lift him high, he is not too heavy, just about two pounds. Pack up a leh we go. I have seen some high drama on this local scene, and at this field over the years with a young Tyrone Stewart six for 32 in 1987 on debut or in 1989 - a sensational partnership between Ramdat Goolsarran and Stewart or in 1987 - a Regional Benjamin (Reggie) stunner with Cosmos 9 man down and 5 runs needed 1 ball left against Excelsior at Marine Park. Skip (Ashmul) give me your bat, Reggie grabbed it and raced to the wicket, he did not take a guard. The pacer ran in, the ball left the bat ten times as fast as it came, it cleared the boundary, the grass, and landed in the parking lot. That is just a brief glimpse into the archives, and everyone is special. This one is right up there, in the bag for the ages. The long ride home on the belt parkway will be nice even in slow traffic as we try to spot the ball with Alvin’s name engraved on it, on its way to the moon. Cosmos won this thriller by 3 wickets.

8:30am - Cosmos Youths will play NY Royals on Sunday 
2pm - Cosmos will play Yakusari on Sunday at Whitestone 1 on Sunday