Match report for Camberley Sunday 1st XI v Riverside, 24/4/2011.

Burns burns Riverside.

Daniel Burns produced a superb all-round display as Camberley outclassed Riverside on Sunday.
The overseas pro returned figures of 8-5-7-3, then followed up his bowling with a quickfire 43 not out off 21 balls as Camberley comfortably chased down the visitors' total of 108 all out.
In a match that had a very relaxed feel from start to finish, the visitors won the toss and batted first. This enabled under-14 Dan Wakeling to get straight into the action on his senior debut, and the left-arm seamer didn't disappoint, returning figures of 5-2-19-1.
Fellow opener Chris Pike also took one-for-19 off five, before leg-spinner Jordan Gibbs combined with slow left-armer Burns to tie down the Riverside middle-order. Gibbs bowled some typically magical deliveries on his way to 8-0-28-0, but it was Burns who starred, bowling consistently good areas to restrict the visitors' shaky batting.
Dom Peter and Steve Hulks also took advantage of the situation, Hulks taking a wicket with his first ball on his way to 4-2-6-2, while Peter spun his way to 3.1-0-14-3, including the final wicket caught behind by Ollie Pollard - his third dismissal of the innings.
In reply, George Crowdy partnered Mark Dawes at the top of the innings, and both looked in good touch until Crowdy was bowled by N Sarwar for 24, with the score on 61. Needing just a further 48 runs for victory, Australian Burns didn't waste time in setting about the Riverside attack, hitting four fours and a six as he dominated the partnership with Dawes.
With the winning line in sight, Dawes tried to end the game in style, but was well caught by T Majid on the deep mid-wicket boundary for 29, allowing captain Sam Holmes to enter the fray for the last few balls.
Fittingly, it was Burns who struck the winning runs, capping a flawless display which also featured a sharp catch at slip for Hulks' second wicket.
It was a game that was only ever going to produce one outcome, but the convincing nature of Camberley's win bodes well for the rest of the season.

Match report for Camberley 2nd XI at Normandy, 23/4/2011.

Camberley struggle to pre-season defeat.

INCONSISTENCY in every aspect of the game was the catalyst for Camberley's 63-run loss to Normandy on Saturday.
Chris Pike took three wickets but bowled too many loose deliveries, while Phil West took two as the hosts totalled 253-5 off their 45 overs, including a century for Peter Wellings.
In reply, West got Camberley off to a flyer, but the innings quickly became bogged down, with no-one other than the Camberley captain making a meaningful contribution until James Reeves played a sparkling innings towards the end.
With the sun beating down and the track looking flat, it was Normandy who won an important toss and batted first in favourable conditions. Both Pike and fellow opener Sean Clamp struggled to find consistently good areas, generally offering up at least one four ball per over.
With the score rolling along at a healthy rate, Pike did manage to snare two quick wickets, both of which clipped off stump, but Normandy continued to attack. Left-handed opening batsman Simon Carter breezed past 50 and looked set for a big score before West had him caught behind for 56.
Andrew McPherson added 44 before being Pike's third victim, but it was Wellings who held the innings together, and he completed his hundred in the final over.
Mac Syed's bowling was possibly the most impressive, as he showed good control of areas on a pitch conducive to turn. He bowled better than his figures of 5-0-32-0 suggested, as they were scewed by the batsmen looking to score off every ball in the last few overs. One particular instance saw Mark Prosser get off the mark with an enormous six straight down the ground just after West trapped Rick Mansell LBW.
In reply, last week's stand-out performer George Crowdy was joined at the top of the order by West, and the two went about the run chase in rather differing styles. The technical crowdy was happy to remain watchful while the powerful West hammered the ball to all parts. Ironically, West's best shot was one that he didn't try to hit too hard; a glorious cover drive that raced away for four.
Sadly, Crowdy couldn't repeat his innings of last week, as he misjudged one of his trademark pull shots and dragged on to his stumps with the score on 48. Dom Peter, making his first appearance of the season, came in at three, but found it difficult to get into a scoring rhythm, facing 40 balls before being well caught and bowled by youngster Chris Jones for nine.
The second wicket fell with the score on 81, and the fact that Peter and Crowdy had contributed just 13 between them clearly showed how much Camberley were relying on West to remain in the contest. So when he holed out four runs later for 58, the visitors' innings was in danger of grinding to a halt.
Syed had only just got going when he was trapped LBW by a suspicious-looking quicker delivery by off-spinner Jones for four, then both Ollie Pollard and Scott Reeves were dismissed in the same over as Camberley disintegrated to 99-6.
Steve Hulks continued his impressive start to the season with the bat as he and Sam Holmes made a brief recovery, Hulks hitting five fours before being caught at mid on for 22. Then when Holmes was superbly caught at slip off Sam Wade's bowling, the end seemed nigh.
Still 121 runs short of the victory target when Pike joined James Reeves at the end of the 31st over, most would have predicted an end within ten minutes, but there followed an extraordinary partnership which reached 57 with six overs to go. Sixty-four runs were still needed for the win, but the nature of Reeves' innings meant there was an outside chance.
Amazingly, Pike contributed just one run, as Reeves bludgeoned the ball repeatedly towards long-on and deep mid-wicket on his way to 55 not out off 44 deliveries, including four fours and three sixes.
Sadly, there followed a calamitous run out which spelt the end for Pike, who had defended admirably up to that point, and when Clamp was caught at slip two balls later, the game was over.
With just one more friendly left until the start of the league season, the game highlighted key areas which Camberley need to improve on if they're to build a serious title challange.
The bowling was worryingly inconsistent, with next to no pressure built up at any point. This was backed up by a lacklustre display in the field, with fielders repeatedly diving over or under the ball resulting in many boundaries.
With the bat, the reliance on just one or two players was made clear for all to see. Against Cove last week, the high total of 289-9 and ease of victory glossed over the fact that, aside from Crowdy and Hulks, James Reeves' 24 was the only score above 14.
Against Normandy, with the exception of West, the entire top order spectacularly failed as a unit, and, had it not been for Reeves' late barrage, the defeat would have been considerably heavier.
Obviously as players play more games they'll find their form, but a side cannot rely on just one or two big scores per week and expect to mount a successful campaign.
Leatherhead next week offers the final chance for Camberley to iron-out their performance before the league starts on the 7th of May.

Match report for Camberley 2nd XI v Cove, 16/4/2011.

The crowds go wild for George.

GEORGE CROWDY started the season in magnificent style as his maiden century inspired Camberley to a 147-run victory against Cove on Saturday.
Crowdy, who hit 104 off 110 balls, looked imperious throughout, pouncing on anything short or angling in on his pads with devastating effect. An innings full of superb strokeplay and timing only ended in the 40th over as he looked to up the run-rate with five overs to go.
Steve Hulks also made an attractive 69, putting on 130 for the fourth wicket with Crowdy. Hulks showed an increased level of maturity in his innings as both batsmen took advantage of some poor fielding, with easy singles and twos available almost every delivery.
In reply, Lloyd Morris struck with the fourth ball of the innings, and that set the tone as wickets fell at regular intervals as Cove limped to a heavy defeat. There were four wickets for Chris Pike, three for Phil West, and one for Morris and Jordan Gibbs, as well as a run out.
The day had started with a rather rusty warm-up, however that was long forgotten as Crowdy and James Reeves set about the Cove attack. They began in watchful manner, taking singles here and there, until Reeves crunched one opener back over his head into the trees, shortly before creaming the other opener twice through the covers for four. The partnership had reached 48 when Reeves was bowled by a good delivery from Spellman for 24.
James Harrison came in at three and looked in good touch before being adjudged lbw for 12, then Mac Syed played a short but sweet knock of the same score before smashing a drive straight to cover. Syed's departure brought Hulks to the crease at 98-3, and, given that his warm up was dire, one could have been forgiven for thinking his stay at the crease would have been short-lived. But he proved all his critics, most notably himself, wrong, as he combined brute force with a lot of skill and patience. He complimented a long six and plenty of fours with some good timing and placement, taking singles off the majority of balls he faced, before being bowled in the 36th over.
But while Hulks fell short of three figures, Crowdy was not to be denied. He cruised past his previous best score of 77, and while his dad nervously watched on from the boundary, the 17-year-old showed no signs of nerves, dispatching two fours through the leg side to move from 90 to 98.
With the magic mark within touching distance, Crowdy punched one into the leg side and took the single. But, not for the first time, there was a misfield to which Tom Green was alert, and he turned for the second run, allowing Crowdy to come back for a very well-deserved hundred.
The achievement was met by cheers from everyone associated with Camberley, and Crowdy followed up the milestone with possibly his best shot of the innings, piling into a cover drive that left captain West saying, "God, he hit that harder than me."
Looking to score off every delivery led to Crowdy being bowled shortly after, but it didn't detract from a wonderfully constructed innings that proved to be the cornerstone of Camberley's eventual total of 289-9.
With half the job done, West emphasised the need to complete the job in the necessary way, and Morris clearly took heed of his captain's teamtalk by having Loubes caught behind with his fourth delivery. Pike also took an early wicket, when Gudge mistimed a drive to Hulks at point, but struggled to find his rhythm and was replaced in the eighth over by West. The off-spinner changed his pace well and bowled a typically economical spell of 9-3-16-3, taking wickets at regular intervals.
Morris' dangerous opening spell was ended when Gibbs was brought into the attack, and the leg-spinner showed what an enigmatic bowler he is, following a waist-high full toss with a ripper that spun from leg stump to well outside off. Gibbs' deserved wicket came about due to a superb catch from Syed at cover, who leapt and took the catch one-handed above his head.
Those wickets plus a run out from Pike meant Cove were 75-7, and a quick finish looked likely. A quickfire 49 from number nine Steve Lynch put a slight halt on proceedings as he bludgeoned the ball to all parts until he was dismissed by Pike, thanks to a very good catch from Reeves behind the stumps.
Pike then completed the job with the final two wickets, both of which cleaned up off-stump, to finish with figures of 4.2-0-28-4. It completed a very satisfactory day for Camberley, who will hope to build on the performance against Normandy on Saturday 23rd.
With many people due to be inline for selection, competition for places will be intense, but one man will be assured of his spot at the top of the order. The day belonged to Crowdy, and if he can replicate this performance throughout the season, Camberley will be tough to beat.

Charlie Hipkin

Asked me to write this, so here I go. It's now been about two months since the big Aussie (who's actually English apparently) departed the motherland and headed back to Alcatraz's big brother. So, in this blog I'm gona try to recount some of the better times with him.

It makes sense to start at the start, so we'll begin with the first time we crossed paths. The big time cricket sensation that I am, in May last year I rocked up to play for Camberley third XI at a recreational ground behind a leisure centre in Woking. The team was a shambles - we were under the joint captaincy of Richard Faulkner and Nigel Crowdy, we had Ben Hill behind the stumps and had two people I'd never met before in the team. One of those people I didn't really speak to and never saw again, but the other was some big bloke who I'd been told I was sharing the new ball with.

So I went up to him and introduced myself and he said his name was Charlie. We spoke for a few minutes and then I asked, 'so how old are you? 25?'

'Nah mate, I'm 18,' came the response. I couldn't believe it, but there you go. Charlie got his first wicket fairly quickly, although as he's six foot three and hit the guy on the thigh pad, I'm not sure the decision of LBW was strictly correct. He also made 23 with the bat, but unfortunately for him, I was the hero of the day, taking four wickets and making 14 not out to save the game along with Iron Man Nige.

Later on in the season, during which time we'd struck up a good friendship, I was given the task of picking Charlie up on a Saturday morning before the day's games. So I turned up at whatever time in the morning to find him rather flustered. He trogged out of the building he was living in, dragging his bag with one hand and carrying his whites with the other. I can't remember the exact details, but essentially he'd only just taken his whites out of the washing machine, and hadn't had enough time to put them in the tumble drier. Absolutely sopping wet.

I had an idea. This idea meant the entire 30-minute journey back to the club from Windsor saw white garments flapping out of the windows of my car, in a desperate attempt to dry them on the wind. Sadly it had no effect. Charlie laid them out on the patio in the sun, but I don't think that worked either. Nothing worse than putting on wet clothes.
Another point in the season saw the game which Charlie is still recounting, and provides the rest of us with a specific line to remember him by. I wasn't at the game, however the goings on have been drummed into everyone so much that I sometimes think I can actually remember being there. I've no idea who Camberley were playing, or who won, or even how many runs Charlie scored, but I do know one thing.
"Mate...did you know that I hit four sixes and lost two balls?" Yes Charlie, I did know that, you told me earlier. And yesterday. And last week.
From that point on, no matter what was achieved by anyone, "Yeah but did you hit four sixes and lose two balls?" was the response. Superb banter.
Another thing that needs a quick mention happened in a game that was otherwise very disappointing and poor from a CCC perpective. Playing Staines and Laleham in the Development League, following a largely dismal batting performance, lit up only by Sam Holmes and Alex Boorman as far as I remember, we took to the field.
The point of interest came when I was fielding at fine leg and the ball came my way. I stopped it adequately enough, but my throw in to Charlie, who was keeping, was slightly undercooked. Charlie, in prime position behind the stumps ready to take the bails off if necessary, realised my throw wasn't going to reach him so took a step forward. Perfectly acceptable, you might think. Well, yes, apart from the fact that Charlie either forgot, or didn't realise, that he was behind the stumps. So, in attempting to move towards the ball, all the lumbering Aussie managed to do was boot the stumps, trip up and fall flat on his face. Cue howls of laughter from me and everyone else. A rare high point on an otherwise frustrating day.
Other highlights for me were going to watch Man Utd - Newcastle, and especially Aston Villa - Arsenal. The latter game was particularly good, although the day had an almost catastrophic subplot which just added to the banter. As we were cruising up the M40 at about 9am in preparation for a 1245 kick off in Birmingham, my car suddenly lost power. At first I thought it was cos I was driving on a snowy part of the road and the tyres had lost grip, but as I moved into the middle lane and still got no response, the realisation dawned on me. I'd run out of petrol.
As we pulled over onto the hard shoulder, I sat there in disbelief whilst Charlie pissed himself laughing. Luckily, for once in my life, we were considerably early, so even after the hour and a half delay, we still arrived in Birmingham an hour before kick off. Not so luckily, the ordeal cost £138. But even so, walking down the hard shoulder of the M40 in the snow with one of your best mates is a memorable experience. Then for the game to be as good as it was meant the day was a success.
Less of a success was going to Wembley to watch England play Montenegro. The less said about that the better I think, although Wembley is still awesome. Another good match was QPR - Watford, where the Hornets produced arguably their best display of the season against a previously unbeaten Rangers side.
Another special memory for me is when Sam and I went up to Watford to get the specially made shirt as Charlie's leaving present. Having already tried twice to get to Watford by myself, but failed due to weather and traffic conditions on the M25, finally getting the shirt just before Charlie caught the plane home was a relief. But the best was yet to come.
Sam and I had agreed to meet Charlie near where he lived for a quick drink and one last chat before he left, but little did he know that we had a surprise for him. Upon arrival, I hid round a corner with the shirt, while Sam bantered about how I'd had to go home. Just as Charlie approached, I stepped out, carefully holding the shirt so he'd only see the front of it when he took it off me.
The look on his face was one of pure joy, but it was nothing compared to when he turned it around. On the back read his famous line about hitting four sixes and losing two balls, carefully positioned so to look half-decent. It was clear Charlie was very happy with the present, which made sitting on the M25 for hours on end instantly worthwhile. The three of us proceeded to a nearby pub where we had a couple of drinks before a photo or two, and manhug and the goodbyes.

All that remains to be said is that we all cannot wait for your return mate, whenever that may be.

If anyone reads this and has any particular memories they want to relive, feel free to comment. No doubt I've forgotten something obvious.

Here are a few brief ones.

Binter.

Maaate.
The day we bowled a team out for 59 and lost.

Getting in the car after the Man Utd - Newcastle game at 2215 and still sitting in traffic at 0100.

Being 73-6 chasing 177 to win, me due in at 9 and not getting a bat cos you and Dibs put on 104 to win the game.

Specialist third man.

I am massive.

I never drop outfield catches.

"Harry Stephens can't really have the best regard for me cos the first time he saw me play I let through shitloads of byes and was out first ball."

Anything and everything, pt II

Ok, well, those of you that know me will know that I like to do certain things differently. Whether that be my choice of footwear, my choice of pool cue case, or whatever. Another thing I like to do that's a little strange concerns fast food restaurant drive-thru sections. My mum would consider even going to a fast food restaurant strange in itself, but what I'm talking about is a little more adventurous than that.
There aren't too many different things that can be done in places like this, I suppose you could walk through pretending to be a car or something, but I've never done that. What I do, only when the time is right, is drive through in reverse. The looks on people's faces are hilarious, not that I look at them too often as I know what a complete retard I must look so I get all shy. It is pretty funny though, just sitting there staring straight at the car behind (technically in front) as they wonder what on earth is going on.
I'm not sure why I do it really, I don't like being the centre of attention or a show off, although some people might disagree there. I just like to brighten up people's day by doing something a bit different that will make people sit up and notice. No harm in that.
So anyway, the reason why I'm writing this is because a couple of weeks ago I tried this trick at the McDonald's drive-thru in Eastbourne. I'd done it there once before with Adam Toulson, and it worked without a hitch. The no-hoper working there even managed to crack a joke about how we should, "reverse to the next window to collect our order." Adam and I both laughed and on we moved.
But this time, things didn't go so well. I was with Adam again, as well Sean, Becky and Katherine. I'm not sure if any of the other three knew I'd ever done it before so they probably thought I was a total mug. It was about half seven on a Thursday evening, which meant pool league started in half an hour. Time was of the essence so the queue that had formed before we arrived wasn't what we needed. But there we sat, waiting, trying to avoid the inquisitive looks of the people in the car behind/in front of us.
Eventually we got to the order window and Adam wound down his passenger side window to start talking. This is where things started to get ugly. In addition to the usual amoeba who sits there taking your order, a person, who was clearly the big dog, stood there, stern-faced, ready to unload. I can't remember all of what he said exactly, but it was aggressive and something along the lines of, "We're not serving you, you've been acting recklessly, you could have hit another car."
Not really one to take something like this lying down, I told him what I thought, and was promptly told that the police would turn up if I didn't get off his property. Sadly, upon hearing that word, my guilty conscience kicked in, and I gave him one last barrage before moving away, with my metaphorical tail between my legs. If only I'd thought to say to him, "Ok sure, you call the police down here cos I'm sitting facing the wrong way, posing no threat to anyone. They'll laugh you out the town."
But no, instead I reversed out of the lane and thought to myself, "Wow, Sean, Becky and Katherine must think I'm a twat right now."
"So, what we gonna do now?" I asked. No one really seemed to know, so I went to the standard McDonald's in town, Sean and Adam got all our meals while the rest of us sat outside, and that was it. On we moved to pool, where we gave up a 5-2 lead to draw 5-5. Not a good night by all accounts.
On a brighter note, this past Sunday saw CCCFC's second ever win in the five-a-side league. Considering our first win came in our very first game, and this was our fifteenth game, it was long overdue. As seasons are seven games long, this game was the first game of our third season, so you could say it was timed very well as it puts us in a good position to kick on this season.
You could view it as a coincidence, or perhaps, more correctly, a mark of how bad a certain team is, that both our wins have come against the same team. They go by the name of Sons of Pitches, and they really do play like sons of, well you know. When we met a few months ago, we won 7-3, with myself scoring five and wasting a hatful more chances. We met again two weeks ago, towards the end of the second season, with the result this time being 6-6. Having been 4-1 up at half time, putting me in goal for the second half had a detrimental effect both defensively and offensively.
Clearly, defence in these games is at a premium. Well it was up until this weekend anyway. The return of Steve Hulks from uni coincided with a stark upturn in defensive capabilities. The experienced, talkative five-a-side veteran turned in a top class display, which, when combined with the legendary Cliff Stephens, provided the stability for me and Dom Peter to run free up top. Steve capped his display by adding two goals, one of which was clinically turned in on the half-volley from a tight angle, while Dom also added a brace. I scored the other goal, a superb team effort which featured at least one pass from every player. Bit of a poor effort from me on the goals front, but I spent most of my time on the floor having been hacked down if truth be told. I can remember getting crunched at least five times, but never mind.
So anyway, five goals for us, but how many did we concede? None. The first clean sheet in the history of CCCFC. Harry Stephens kept admirably and laid down the marker for whoever goes in goal this week. The 5-0 win put us top of the table, but only just, as this week sees us pitted against a team who won 5-1 last weekend, and who beat us 7-1 last season. Hopefully we can improve on that display given our new-found confidence. I feel the key lies with Mr Hulks.

FC Copenhagen v Chelsea

This is my match report written during the game and completed by the time the final whistle was blown. Word limit of 250, which is annoyingly small.

Chris Pike – Daily Mail. Tuesday, 22 February, 2011.

UEFA Champions League Last 16 First Leg. Parken Stadion.

FC Copenhagen (4-4-2):Wiland; Pospech, Jorgensen, Antonsson, Wendt (Bengtsson 76); Bolanos, Kvist, Claudemir, Gronkjaer (Zohore 87); Santin (Vingaard 46), Ndoye. Subs not used: Christensen, Kristensen, Hooiveld, Delaney.

Booked: Jorgensen, Pospech.

Chelsea (4-4-2): Cech; Bosingwa, Ivanovic, Terry, Cole; Ramires, Lampard, Essien, Malouda (Zhirkov 85); Anelka (Drogba 73), Torres (Kalou 90). Subs not used: Turnbull, Mikel, Ferreira, McEachran.

Booked: Torres, Malouda, Terry.

Referee: Bjorn Kuipers.

Nicolas Anelka scored twice as an impressive Chelsea got back to winning ways against weak opposition, relieving the pressure on manager Carlo Ancelotti.

The striker’s sixth and seventh goals in the competition this season capped a solid performance by the visitors, although Fernando Torres again failed to find the target. 

The Blues began brightly and a chance fell to Torres in the seventh minute, but his touch was heavy which allowed the keeper to block.

But the Spaniard, who hadn’t been on the winning side since his £50m arrival from Liverpool, continued to influence the game, creating chances for Anelka and Florent Malouda, before Anelka opened the scoring.

The Frenchman picked up a loose pass from former Chelsea midfielder Jesper Gronkjaer and lashed his shot past Copenhagen keeper Johan Wiland.

Copenhagen came into the match unbeaten in 16 home games in all competitions this season, but, having not played a competitive match since 7 December, their lack of sharpness was clear as the visitors dominated. 

Further chances fell to Torres, but he couldn’t break his duck as Didier Drogba watched on from the bench.

Ancelotti would have been satisfied at half time, his team in command over a side appearing in the knock-out stage of the competition for the first time.

The pattern was maintained in the second half, and Anelka doubled Chelsea’s lead, running on to a superb pass from Frank Lampard and finishing with aplomb.

It was a much-needed improvement by Chelsea, and despite Torres’ lack of a goal, Ancelotti will feel a lot more confident going into next Tuesday’s Premier League clash with Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.

Word count: 272.

A momentous night.

The three-point shot. A thing of beauty. A second's worth of time where the entire arena watches the orange Spalding as it floats towards the hoop. As with all sports, the game's elite make it look deceptively easy. The elite of the elite do, anyway. For the majority of the NBA, making three out of ten shots from beyond the arc would put them in the specialist category, meanwhile for the rest of the world, just catching the rim on one occasion would be enough to make you look like you know what you're doing. An incredibly difficult skill, and one especially difficult to master, perfect and keep going for years on end.

But when Ray Allen took the pass from Rajon Rondo in acres of space against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, February 10th, everything seemed to fit. "It seemed like it was slow motion for me," said Allen in the postgame press conference, after breaking the all-time record for three-point shots made, with 2,561. "The minute we got the stop and Rondo got the ball, in my mind it was like, 'it's started', and I said to myself, 'this is it'. And then when Rondo took the ball up, I knew what he was thinking, we've seen it a thousand times, I know he knows where I am. So when I got the ball and let it go, I felt so good behind it, I knew it was good, I was like, 'This is money'."

It sure was, and as soon as the ball hit the net, the home crowd went bonkers. One more play was completed before a time out was taken, with the crowd still in raptures. Kobe Bryant, arguably the greatest player in the game today, gave Allen a fist bump, clearly recognising and acknowledging the enormity of the achievement. As Allen moved back towards the bench for the time out, he was hugged, high-fived and hand-shaken by every member of the Celtics' roster, coaching staff and backroom staff.

The PA announcer then whipped the crowd up by confirming what everyone knew, that Allen had broken Reggie Miller's record of all-time three-point shots. Miller was in the stadium commentating for ESPN, and Allen immediately went over to him, gave him a hug and exchanged a few words. He then moved on to his mum, who is an ever present at the Celtics' home games, and the rest of his family.

Miller was keen to point out Allen's qualities, not just on the court, but off the court in the community as well. "People come up to me and say: 'You've gotta be a little upset or bitter.' - Why? First of all, all records are made to be broken, but I'm just so happy for him because this is one of the best guys - he's so humble, he's so giving, he's a great family man, and I'm excited."

In relation to his selfless side, Allen is a leading ambassador of the NBA Cares scheme, which promotes basketball in the community for under-privileged children. Regarding his on-court success, Celtics' coach Doc Rivers has no doubt why Allen has been as successful as he has. "It's no coincidence why Ray Allen's a great shooter - he works on his shooting. Ray Allen takes more shots than anybody I've ever seen. So, it's a great example of a guy not resting on his greatness." Team mate and Celtic legend Paul Pierce agreed: "Ray's been doing that his whole career, and that's what's gonna make him a future Hall of Famer, and one of the greatest players that's ever gonna play this game."

Allen hit the record-breaking three in his 1,074th game, 315 less than Miller's total of 1,389 games. While that sounds impressive, remarkably, the two of them put up almost exactly the same amount of shots - 6,430 for Allen as opposed to 6,486 by Miller, giving Allen a success rate of 39.8%, fractionally better than Miller's 39.5%. To put Allen and Miller's totals in perpective, current Dallas Mavericks star Jason Kidd sits third on the list, with 1,762 three-point shots made - a whopping 800 fewer than both above him.

To become a master of any subject, sporting or otherwise, dedication is key. In addition to being one the fittest members of the team, Allen also arrives at the court, home or away, three-and-a-half hours prior to tip-off, and puts up shot after shot after shot. Malcolm Gladwell said in his book Outliers, to become an expert in any given field you need to practice for 10,000 hours. Allen could well have surpassed that amount purely in pre-game warming up, never mind actual training sessions on off-days and the matches themselves.

The amount of shots he must have put up is almost incomprehensible. In his 15th season, he's approaching 1,100 regular season games, plus 101 play-off games, shooting up to 300 shots in preparation for each one, plus the shots in those games, plus the shots he's taken in practice sessions, plus the shots he put up in all his years growing up before he came into the league. I couldn't even begin to estimate a number. One thing I can tell you, though, is that with Allen's work ethic and love of the game still solidly intact, even at 35, he'll be around the league for a good season or four yet.

With the game becoming more and more physical; more emphasis on defence and players being able to shoot through contact, Allen is a throwback. A shooter in its purest form. Just catch and shoot. All day long. With the league's best passer at his side, and Miller's mark of 2,560 now successfully leapfrogged, who can say where Ray's treys will end? Widely considered to be in his best season ever, Allen could have surpassed 3000 threes by the time he hangs up his stroke.