Passer-byes at the St Stanislaus High School Grounds, Bandra were recently treated to such an event. They were watching football being played like cricket...or was it the other way round?

While it was a rather unusual game for spectators, the organisers of the event, this monsoon cricket-football extravagance, were merely conducting an annual affair.

``We wanted to do something different and innovative,'' says Clarence Gomes of the Youth Social Service (YSS), Bandra, the organisers of the event who manage to rope in players from the fairer sex too. ``This is one of the attractions of the game. We generally have football players taking part and most of them bring their girl-friends along too,'' notes Gomes.

Each team here consists of nine players out of which three have to be women. But this is one event that the women play second fiddle to none as it is mandatory for them to bat and bowl aswell.

The ball is the size of a football, the stumps are four feet high and over ten inches wide. All the batting and bowling is done by kicking the ball. Even the run-outs, stumpings and `throws' have to be done the same way. Only concessions are that one can stop the ball with the hand or head it. To top it all, dress-code takes a toss.

The knockout tournament involves eight overs per side with three overs having to be bowled by women. For the record, Golden Boys from Malad drew a fine balance between fore and hind limbs to outmanoeuvre Mahim's Kingfisher Boys to take the trophy.

For all the festive touch that goes with a novelty, the game does not ignore discipline. Misbehaviour on the field by a single player could lead to the suspension of the entire team.

So the next time you want to do something different in the rains try playing cricket with football....or maybe the other way round!