The Future of Super 4s Cricket
Undoubtedly, "Super 4s" cricket has fallen upon hard times since an immensely successful debut
season. In fact, since the tenth and last match of the 1997/8 season, Super 4s has existed as a
virtual team in Tim Astley's Play-by-E-Mail cricket simulation
UltraCricket under the team abbreviation
SPF. While the star players of
Super 4s - Adrian Korbel, William Lin, Mustafa Qadri and Teng-Tjun Tan all enjoy the simulated
game, there is no doubt that a return to the heavenly Super 4s game would be much preferred.
In the meantime, Mustafa Qadri has led a real cricket crusade, picking up disciples in William
Lin and Adrian Korbel and inducting Pierre Wong and Edmund Lau into the fold. With real cricket
being played, what will become of Super 4s? What will happen to the slogging performances of
Teng-Tjun Tan and Mena Shehata so revered in the Super 4s game? Some options are examined
here:
- Super 4s becomes a national sport. The Lonsdale Avenue turf is resurfaced at
a considerable cost and a roof with floodlights installed. Sensing equipment and automatic ball
retrieval are also implented along with help from electrical engineers Chris Simon and Ed Squires
whilst Mustafa Qadri installs action replay cameras. Super 4s games are staged weekly and with a
full supporting cast of umpires, scorers and match referees. Mena Shehata becomes a national icon
especially amongst the Coptic orthodox faithful, while Teng-Tjun Tan begins endorsing a series of
KFC adverts before being banned for 2 years from the game after being found guilty of match
fixing whilst playing for The Penetrators. Curator Mustafa Qadri becomes the first ever player in
cricket history to be selected in a test match for Australia based on the form of a Super 4s
performance, but is dropped after just a single match and instead adopts a career as the
groundsman of the world's first official Super 4s ground in West Pymble. Super 4s becomes an
Olympic sport within 4 years and also gains worldwide recognition by quickly rising to become the
fourth fastest growing sport in the world. William Lin's antics on and off the field spark the
widespread use of 'Strat.Der' bumper stickers and the founding of the 'Strategic Dero' line of
flannelette shirts, rivalled only by the check baggy pants and pinkish-red shirts of the new
fashion giant "D.P." marketed by Mustafa Qadri.
- A New Hope. William Lin, Teng-Tjun Tan, Adrian Korbel and Mustafa Qadri form a
'taskforce' style committee to organise a new and improved version of Super 4s to be played on
any cricket pitch and still with fewer fielders than a real cricket game and much more action.
Edmund Lau, Pierre Wong, Rohone D'Souza and Adrian Foo become regulars while Mena Shehata and
Johann Rayappu in a single game set a new record for a batting partnership in a dual cameo
performance despite playing in only a handful of games each. The 'fishing field' employed for
Mustafa Qadri is witnessed by a local cricket club player and soons gains popularity for the
first time in a Sheffield Shield game and then is employed successfully in Australia's defence of
the Ashes against English players Peter Such, Alan Mullally and Phil Tufnell.
- Occasional-casual. Super 4s becomes a 'retro' game played only amongst the Super 4s
players every few years. Teng-Tjun Tan's running between wickets becomes atrocious as his
physique begins to match that of Inzamam-Ul-Haq while Super 4s players commemorate the 100th
ball lost in Super 4s practice in Sheldon Forest. Despite the years passing, Adrian Korbel still
manages to delight himself by throwing down the stumps during opportune moments while Aaron the
Asian causes a raucous by returning for one match and dropping a catch to the amusement of
several players.
- The end for Super 4s. Super 4s is never played again. Mustafa Qadri and possibly
Adrian Korbel venture forth to play proper cricket, with mixed success, at their local clubs.
William Lin decides to rest his easily injured body from the pains of pace bowling and with a
healed right shoulder, takes up basketball again with Gopi Karunakaran, Teng-Tjun Tan and
Victor Ding, while indoor soccer also gains precedence.