week   Hall of Fame               Wooden Spoon

            
 1.   959 wwe84                    421 srini701
 2.   958 paper_aero               617 Howie72
 3.  1806 N-Bomb                   865 srini701
 4.  1193 paper_aero               633 ozzz2002
 5.  1334 srini701                 853 ozzz2002
 6.  1127 srini701                 703 wwe84
 7.  1224 BxBarracuda              730 paper_aero
 8.   630 gtho4                    257 ozzz2002
 9.   669 wwe84                    212 BxBarracuda
10.  1730 srini701                 796 ozzz2002
11.  1925 srini701                 935 ozzz2002  
12.   615 ozzz2002                 361 wwe84
13.  1980 Sypher                   733 wwe84
14.  1622 ozzz2002                 829 gtho4 
15.   727 Howie72                  467 Sypher
16.  
  

    

• Cricket has a funny and nasty way of coming back to bite you for things you say and do Last week, I had felt and written it would be tough for South Africa to forget the scars inflicted on them by Mitchell Johnson in the first Test. I had also written we had just the 2 spoonless streaks going in in our comp here!
  
  
• South Africa bounced right back into the series by thrashing Australia in 4 days, with the Aussies collapsing spectacularly on Day 4. Dale Steyn was on fire, with the ball reversing a lot (now Dave, that's a topic for a different discussion ) and he just ripped through the Australians after Rogers and Warner put on more than a 125 for the first wicket. The last 9 Australian batsmen scored 22 runs between them, the least that the Australian line up managed in any TEST since 1902!!!!
  
  
• Howie72 had said he needed to have a different trump from srini and Sypher, and his trump pick paid off, with De Villiers coming good again. Howie picks his FIRST HoF for the season, to complete that column for us this season. More importantly, he leapfrogged Sypher to second place, and is less than 200 points off srini with a round to go!
  
  
• Sypher's spoonless streak touched 50 last round and there it stays ... Shaun Marsh had a big fat zero to show in this Test and Michael Clarke didn't have too great a Test either. Meaning Sypher picked up his first spoon in 50 rounds in this comp, stretching over 4 seasons (see below) and now leaves N-Bomb with the sole spoonless streak going....does Sypher's streak merit a place in the FT record books? gtho4 or Dg_Dave to answer and take action if required, please
  
  That leaves us with just 1 round to go....srini701 had a cushion of over 500 points just 2 rounds back, but that is down to less than 200 now. N-Bomb is over 400 points behind 3rd placed Sypher, and would need a massive implosion from Sypher to get on to the podium. But Sypher himself would still fancy his chances of toppling Howie72 again, while Howie is realistically still with a chance to claim even the top slot!!! The podium for the season may have been decided, but in what order? We will know after the 3rd and final Test between Australia and South Africa, the last round for the season
  
  *************************************************
  spoonless streaks running:
  N-Bomb - 52 and counting:14 (2013-14)+ 18 (2012-13)+ 17 (2011) +3 (last spoon in round 24 of 2010-11)
  Sypher - 50:14 (2013-14)+ 18 (2012-13)+ 17 (2011) +1 (last spoon in round 26 of 2010-11)
  
  

week   Hall of Fame               Wooden Spoon

            
 1.   959 wwe84                    421 srini701
 2.   958 paper_aero               617 Howie72
 3.  1806 N-Bomb                   865 srini701
 4.  1193 paper_aero               633 ozzz2002
 5.  1334 srini701                 853 ozzz2002
 6.  1127 srini701                 703 wwe84
 7.  1224 BxBarracuda              730 paper_aero
 8.   630 gtho4                    257 ozzz2002
 9.   669 wwe84                    212 BxBarracuda
10.  1730 srini701                 796 ozzz2002
11.  1925 srini701                 935 ozzz2002  
12.   615 ozzz2002                 361 wwe84
13.  1980 Sypher                   733 wwe84
14.  1622 ozzz2002                 829 gtho4 
15.   727 Howie72                  467 Sypher
16.   996 BxBarracuda              577 gtho4
  

    

• It turned out to be a fantastic Test and series to end this season's comp of World Cricket in FT! Less than 5 overs to be bowled on the final day of the series and with South Africa playing for pride and an improbable draw, even as an injured Ryan Harris kept running in to try and bowl the Australians to another famous win...it couldn't get any better than this Australia won the 3rd Test to take the series 2-1, and since the beginning of the Ashes in November when we started our comp, have now "forced" Graeme Swann, Kevin Pietersen and now Graeme Smith into retirements!
  
  
• We saw all Test teams except Zimbabwe in action this season, and it was a roller coaster ride for almost every one of us. We all had our ups and downs during the season, but our "Mr. Consistent" has to be N-Bomb. He stretches an incredible spoonless streak into another year (53 rounds and counting). Sypher gave him company for 50 of those rounds, before picking up one in the penultimate round of this season ... N-Bomb failed to make it to the podium, and Sypher has the consolation of finishing on the podium this season
  
  
• gtho4 lodged teams at the beginning of each series and generally let them play, a strategy that didn't quite work out this year. He had some great rounds, but had mostly average scored because of this, ended up with 2 of the last 3 spoons and the cellar spot for the season!
  
  
• Defending champion from last season paper_aero was almost absent the whole season. He seemed content to be in the middle rungs right through this season and knowing the man, here's one guy who will be looking to bounce right back in the next comp
  
  
• BxBarracuda was never higher than 6 the entire season and seemed to get the nuances right only towards the end. He and Ozzz2002 probably had more DNPs this season than any one of us, and this cost them both dear. Ozzz in fact was in the running for most part of the season before falling away.
  
  
• wwe84 had an up and down season. He was either 1 or 2 for 11 rounds of the season, before suddenly coming apart with 2 back-to-back spoons. He never recovered from that shock and finally finished 4th this year.
  
  
• Howie72 was happy lurking around for most of the time before making his move. He had a great last 3-4 rounds and this propelled him right on to the top. If not for one bad pick in Nathan Lyon in the final round, Howie may well have finished first on the ladder!
  
  
• srini701 was also in the middle and bottom rungs for most of the season before 2 back-to-back HoFs pushed him to the top. He managed to stay there after that and finally takes home this season's top spot, thanks to Howie's "wild" pick in that final round
  
  Our 3 medallists this season then are: srini701, Howie72 and Sypher.
  
  A biggggg "thank you" to all for taking part and for continuing to encourage this comp . The next edition of World Cricket begins in October-November again, while the next cricket competition here will be the hit and giggle IPL in April. Hoping to see a good number turn up for that one....
  
  *************************************************
  spoonless streaks running:
  N-Bomb - 53 and counting:15 (2013-14)+ 18 (2012-13)+ 17 (2011) +3 (last spoon in round 24 of 2010-11)