[firstlane]

I dont mean to hijack your thread brother but you have tickled my memories. I want to share my childhood/boyhood cricket fantasies with you all otherwise it might remain untold forever.

Like you, I started to follow cricket from 92 world cup. I was a 10 years old boy at that time. I still remember Imran Khan's victory speech, I remember david boon, martin crowe, javed miandad, injamam's batting & wasim akram, mushtaq ahmed's bowling.
My young heart was broken too after we lost to kenya in 1994 ICC trophy. I remember hearing commentary on the radio- we needed 13 runs from last two balls. I was praying for a no ball hoping Bangladesh would then score two sixes from last two balls. I was so angry at Faruk after we lost, I dont know why.
I still feel thrilled thinking about our win against india A by 1 run. If I am not wrong Anis took 4 wickets in that match. That was the first time I think Bangladeshis came out on the streets to celebrate the victory with 'thala-baati'. We almost won against pakistan A as well but wicket keeper jahangir failed to do the stamping at the last ball and pakistan won by 1 wicket. We also did well against England A in that winter. The one player I still remember from that tour is fast bowler Dominic Cork.

At that time I would die to know the cricket news everyday. The only source was BTV news. My parents couldn't afford newspapers for me. I would go to the 'Para'r Mudi Dokan' but being so young I was scared to ask for the paper. I would wait for someone to take and read it and then sit next to them and try to read as much as possible before they turn over the page. Oh, those days!

What can I say about the 97 ICC trophy! It was like a beautiful dream. The win against Holland, the win against Scotland and the epic win in the final against Kenya! I can still hear the voice of Chowdhury Jafarullah Sarafat- "Malaysia'r Kilat Club Maath theke aami chowdhury Jafarullah Sarafat bolsi....".I couldn't hold myself after Shanto took that winning run from last ball. I ran out of home as fast as possible only to be stopped by a 'Para'r Boro Bhai'. He hugged me so tight that I couldnt breath.

Then began the waiting game for the 99 World cup. I was a HSC candidate that year. I couldn't concentrate on studies. All I could think about was the combination of the final squad. I would select my own XI in paper and project how much each would score- Api-40, Bulbul 35, Akram-30, Pilot-20..But the irony of fate was that my HSC exams and World cup started at the same time. My body was in the exam hall but my mind was in England with the team.

31st May, 2009 Bangladesh vs Pakistan. The next day was my Math exam. Bangladesh scored 223 batting first. I decided not to continue with the exams this year. I cant keep my mind away from cricket. I pretended to be sick and watched the whole match. Now when I think back of that day, I never regret.

Then comes the 'Inaugural Test' in 2000. Again exam. This time I am in Chittagong for university admission test. I was walking towards the exam hall. While I reached in front of the building someone told me Bangladesh scored 410 (it was 400 actually) and my favourite player Bulbul scored century. There was no force in the world that could take me to the exam hall after that. I ditched the exam again and ran back to catch a bus to dhaka. I dont regret doing that either.

Since I left Bangladesh, I missed work on so many occassions after watching/following Bangladesh matches whole night. Now that world cup is coming, only God knows what I would have to ditch this time to watch Bangladesh Matches. Whatever I ditch I only hope it becomes worth.