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Dear Cricket Monthly,I was schooled at St Xaviers but my lifes university was Third Ground on the Kolkata Maidan.Third Ground (between Governors House and Fort William) was like the outcry chaos of the stock exchange. A number of teams played concurrently; the midwicket position in one match would be the leg slip of another; the gully of one match would be the mid-off of another. There should have been an insurance scheme to cover the health hazard that fielders negotiated without abdomen guards, shin guards or helmets, instinctively covering their heads when they heard a middled stroke within 20 feet and praying nothing happened. If something did happen, the poor fellow would be carted to hospital, stitched up and returned to the ground to resume fielding (somewhere safer as his captains concession). We learnt survival skills on Third Ground.Third Ground was the cathedral of our existence, where Shield matches would be held. These were the tournaments for which my fathers club conducted meetings wearing specially monogrammed ties, deliberated on tournament practices, wrote extensive minutes in archaic English, planted green flags on boundary lines, set up scorers tables, attired umpires in dentist-style overalls, served players chicken soup (strength!) between innings and congregated with families in the evening for the post-mortem followed by a thaal dinner. We learnt organisational skills on Third Ground. Third Ground was a place with a multi-generational reference point. When my father was into his sixties, he would occasionally be stopped by someone 20 years younger with the words, Kaisey hai, uncle?Yaad hai aapko bees saal pehle apne khele the… [How are you, uncle? Remember we had played together 20 years ago…] Or when someone mentioned that Haider bhai had died, there would be a shaking of heads among old-timers of other teams with the words Kya legcutter daalte the. [What amazing legcutters he would bowl.] We learnt to respect on Third Ground.Third Ground was mini India. The oldest pitch tenants were Bohra Muslims who accounted for three strips and had been playing there since the early 50s. The Sindhis played on one standard pitch for decades, the Marwaris accounted for another three, and some of the Gujarati teams floated from one to another based on their playing schedule. This was where entire communities, who otherwise lived clannish existences, briefly (but periodically) interfaced with each other. For most of those from my clannish Bohra background, the Sindhis were a people belonging to a remote world; on Third Ground they were touchy-feely, they were outstanding gentlemen, and their portly Subhash (nobody knew his surname) was the friendliest face of a friendly team of a friendly community. And so if the Sindhis lost, questions would be communicated from person to person until they reached them four pitches away: Prem itna lallu ball mein out kaise ho gaya? [How did Prem get out to such a useless delivery?] Or if they pulled off an unexpected victory over, say, Paridhee, teams from other pitches would turn around with a Well done! before turning to take the next ball. We learnt to engage with others on Third Ground.Third Ground was a crucible where all these teams (60 in all) participated in the overarching Maidan League, which was our version of the World Cup. This league was the brainchild of Ram Nivas, better known as the Maidans Kerry Packer. Ram Nivas was ahead of his time - his starched white kurta-pyjama would contrast the general playing attire; his briefcase would carry team schedules, umpire reporting sheets and cash; he was team owner (of Ankur) and tournament organiser, which would have carried charges of conflict of interest today; he was known to buy players for his team before anyone had heard of auctions.Ram Nivas legacy to the Maidan was that he created a tournament that extended into May and attracted participation from all communities. Bohra Muslims played Burrabazar Marwaris; Bhowanipore Gujaratis played Sindhis; you know what I mean. And we understood communities better when we played against them. There was a Maidan awe about the way Mohib bhai moved the new ball. Everyone feared the Sunil Gupta who peppered Red Road with 60-yard sixes. We learnt to appreciate people for what they were on Third Ground, irrespective of which pocket of Calcutta they came from and what we might have earlier heard about them. And lastly, Third Ground was our Facebook. We identified people by their cricketing quirks. Pawan Haralalka bowled the fastest off four steps. Pradeep Acharya never bowled without chucking. Bala Parekh overcame a physical handicap (one leg shorter than another) to bowl into his fifties. Chandresh Soni was the guy who wore a harlequin cap while opening. Feroze Degani probably ran faster than he bowled. Sanjay Chowdhry was the only one on the Maidan who batted with an original Gray-Nicolls. Manoj Chharia rode the sexiest Honda bike to the Maidan. Usman and Uchit were the maalis who watered our pitches, applied choonaon our popping creases and got us nimbu paani between innings from absolutely unhygienic metal containers. Bharat Express Thakkar could be recognised from 500 metres away due to his Michael Holding-like evenly paced run-up. Taher Muchhala bowled legspinners till into his late sixties, driven by the dream of beating CK Nayudus feat of playing first-class cricket at 69. The Bohri Shield matches generated a crowd of 2000 (1000 women!) that made it worthwhile for every single batsman to want to hit a six while they were around. We learnt at Third Ground to belong.Third Ground was the address of hundreds for 20 Sundays a year, nine to one. Third Ground was where everyone wanted to make it big (to hell with bloody Eden Gardens). Third Ground was where we wanted to be cherished. Third Ground was the happiest place in the world.In the mid-90s, the army carved away a part of the precious Third Ground turf to build a memorial for those who had fought in the 1971 war.Teams scattered, tournaments disbanded, communities drifted, silence descended.Nobody plays on Third Ground any more.Third Ground lives. But only in our memories.Nostalgically, MudarUltra Boost 4.0 Canada . If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency. Nmd r2 Canada . - Blake Griffin had 30 points and 12 rebounds, J. http://www.yeezyshoescanada.com/ . 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. Ultra Boost Uncaged Cheap . Terms of the deal were not immediately available. The 26-year-old finished last season with Clevelands Triple-A affiliate in Columbus after signing with the Indians in August. Ultra Boost Canada . 10 VCU 85-67 on Thursday night at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The Seminoles (4-0) have scored at least 80 points in each of their games.ARLINGTON, Texas -- Elvis Andrus refuses to be defined by what happened last October, and those two errors the Texas Rangers shortstop made on routine plays.There was the misplayed grounder in that disastrous seventh inning of the ALDS-deciding fifth game at Toronto. Later came a dropped throw on what would have been a sure force out in the inning punctuated by Jose Bautistas go-ahead homer and emphatic bat flip .Tears flowed from Andrus eyes after that loss, a gut-punch finish likely just short of the feeling the Rangers had in 2011 after twice coming within a strike of winning their first World Series.But out of that also came a fresh determination and drive for Andrus, who at 28 and in his eighth season is the teams longest-tenured position player.I put it on my shoulder, and Im built for that. I knew it was going to be a challenging year for me, Andrus said. But at the same time I was excited, I was excited to actually how see what I was made of, and the regular season is the first step. I think that Im way more ready for the postseason this year.The AL West champion Rangers, in the playoffs for the fifth time in seven years, clinched home-field advantage for the entire postseason. They host Game 1 of the AL Division Series on Thursday against the wild-card game winner -- either Baltimore or those Blue Jays.With a career-best .302 batting average in the regular season, Andrus had his first .300 season. He also had career highs with eight home runs , 69 RBI and 46 extra-base hits, and his 70 strikeouts were the fewest in his career.Andrus views and treats third baseman Adrian Beltre like a big brother -- Im the one being annoying, Andrus said with a smile, a reference to some of their often entertaining interactions on the field and in the dugout.Beltre knows what happeened to Andrus in Toronto last year could have happened to anybody.ddddddddddddWe talked about it after that happened, and that kind of pushed him to learn from that mistake and have more motivation to come this year and do what he did, Beltre said. This year has been really good for him, and it was nice to see that instead of breaking him, it kind of made him stronger. Elvis has a really good mentality.General manager Jon Daniels said it still stands out to him, seeing an emotional and accountable Andrus at his locker after that season-ending loss, answering every question candidly. He said his shortstop immediately embraced the idea that he wanted to work to get better.Daniels also spoke this week about Andrus taking more of a leadership role this season with younger players on the team, like Beltre and former teammate and current Rangers special assistant Michael Young have with the shortstop.Elvis works hard every offseason, so that part isnt new, Daniels said. Elvis has been to the postseason a lot. ... Since hes been here, hes only been on winning teams, and I think he understands how hard it is, and not to take it for granted. Thats what I saw this winter, was him kind of taking that realization and putting it into action.Andrus has seen the replays of those ALDS errors and that seventh inning a few times, and said it doesnt affect him. Those clips are sure to be shown quite a few times this postseason, as long as the Rangers keep playing.I would like to see that quite a few times, especially before every game, Andrus said. See what it did to me. ... I have no problem with that.More October baseball just makes for a better Elvis comeback. ' ' '