"The Spirit of Cricket": to walk, or not to walk.

Long time no blog. I only really seem to blog nowadays when something big happens in cricket. However this one has really irked me, just because of the double standards of some people in the media and on social media networks. My issue concerns Stuart Broad's decision to not walk in the first Ashes test at Trent Bridge, and the whole "Spirit of Cricket" and cheating lark. 

I'll get one thing straight - I am not a walker. I am primarily a bowler, and at my level the nicks to slip off my bowling do not get held enough for people to have to decide whether to walk or not, however I feel that poor decisions average out somewhat. Needless to say I have never really been in a position to have to 'not walk' myself, due to the aforementioned poor catching. I think if I had middled it to slip like Broad I may well have walked, but that remains to be seen - I am more prone to being caught plumb in front! But I digress. The tirade of anger and anguish on twitter and in the media towards the decision did not really sit well with me, for several reasons. 

First things first, Michael Clarke could well have used a review on it, which obviously would have been successful, however he had already wasted them on other appeals, one of which was a dreadful LBW shout against Ian Bell, the ball heading down leg by about a foot. "Fault of the system", I hear you cry. However, the DRS system was brought in not to overturn the marginal decisions (or indeed the good ones, as the Bell review turned out to be!), but the howlers. Aleem Dar's decision was a howler, and if Clarke had not wasted a review earlier then Australia would have had the wicket of Broad, and still had a review left. Yes, the DRS system may be flawed, but that is not my quarrel here.

 

Secondly, the sheer quantity of Australian viewers who were up in arms that Broad had not walked. The irony of an Australian (or several million Australians) in disgust at a cricketer not walking is not lost on me, nor thankfully on several other commenters on twitter or in the papers. Need we remind them of Michael Clarke, the in their eyes morally upstanding human being with impeccable decency who refused to walk in Adelaide in 2010? Or Andrew Symonds against India (if I remember rightly) all those years back, who went on to make 164 after being given not out on next to nothing? And it's not just Australia, it happens everywhere, but those incidents have been the two most mentioned recently. Players can't take the blame for it all, however - the standard of umpiring has improved somewhat, so as a general rule these issues are far and far between because umpires thankfully do notusually miss those nicks, which leads us to question the abilities of some umpires on the international circuit. Again, that is a discussion for another time.

My third issue, and the one that irks me most, is the train of thought that Broad has not acted within "the Spirit of Cricket". Jim Holden from the Daily Express brought this up when on the panel for Sky Sports' "Cricket Writers on TV". He mentions the Spirit of the Game as noted by the MCC, and quoted it in saying that it can be breached if a player tries to "mislead the umpire". This is not a response to him, as I am not entirely sure where he sits on this matter, nor an attempt to 'bait' him, but purely my view. However, if one were to call Broad on this issue, of misleading the umpire, then we have a lot more calling to do as well, starting with bowlers who appeal for an LBW they don't think is hitting the stumps, if he has hit it, if it is pitching in line, or hitting in line. Then there is the batsman who waves his bat at the umpire to indicate he has hit it (even if he is nowhere near it), the bowler and keeper who appeal for something down leg side to put the umpire off calling a wide ball, people claiming catches that aren't out, people appealing for caught behinds they know the batsman has not hit, the list goes on.

My point here is that "misleading the umpire" is not just a case of not waking; everything from complaining the ball is out of shape when it is not, to appealing for an LBW when a batsman has taken the covers off the ball, it is all the same, and if we are to follow the advice of some people then we will need to fine and ban just about every cricketer currently playing professional cricket. And I don't think that will happen any time soon!

Cricket Australia and homework-gate

So, 4 players have been dropped from the Australia test squad for the in-play 3rd test in India. The reason? They failed to hand in a piece of (for wont of a better word) homework to Mickey Arthur detailing 3 ways in which their individual and team performance from the second test could be improved. The players in question are Mitchell Johnson, Usman Khawaja, James Pattinson and Shane Watson. Now before I even get into the positives and negatives of this, the one thing that stood out for me was that 2 of these players, Khawaja and Johnson, didn't even PLAY the second test match. What do they expect to be written? I half imagine Khawaja to have written "individual: 1) get picked. 2) carry drinks better. 3) find compromising pictures of Mickey Arthur. Team: 1) pick me. 2) don't pick Phil Hughes. 3) clone Michael Clarke." It just doesn't make sense to me.
For me, there has to be some other agenda, I don't think I've seen anything like this happen in my 10 years of following cricket (and copious amounts reading up on past games), and I seriously cannot imagine the Australia of yesteryear doing this. Imagine asking Dennis Lillee or Allan Border to do this. Or even Ricky Ponting or Matthew Hayden! Not likely. What I imagine them doing to prepare for the next game is exactly what others would be doing: practising! It must be difficult taking your selectors and coach seriously when they ask for what essentially amounts to homework, especially when they don't even pick the strongest side at their disposal in the first place (Steve o'Keefe anyone?). I seems that Arthur is trying to stamp his authority on his side, yet all it seems to have done is made them the laughing stock of the cricketing world.
However, there have been a couple of positives to come out of the situation. In this third test, runs have been scored by 1 man who would have no doubt been dropped if all were available, and another who probably didn't expect to play at all, in Phil Hughes and Steve Smith. In addition, if Pattinson were available, one of Starc and Siddle would have in all probability sat out, and between them they have taken 7 wickets in the first innings, bringing Australia right back into the game. Maybe homework-gate will turn out to be a master stroke by Mickey Arthur. Only time will tell.

The day's cricketing news...

So, I've not blogged for like, a year. I've also never blogged about anything besides my own cricket experiences before. But I felt as though I had to make my views known on this. I was also unsure how to word the title, so instead I just decided to call it "the day's news...", as I just cannot think of an apt enough way to lead this post.
Now, I can't make any real, informed, insightful comments on the complete ins and outs of the cause/factors of Tom Maynard's death, I only know what I (like most others) have read on twitter/newspaper websites. I only know that Tom had traces of illegal substances in his blood/hair samples. This, in itself, is shocking, but at the same time cricketers are earning more than ever, are playing in an incredibly professional environment, and are under intense pressure to perform and (as is the case with most sports) possibly more-so than any other sort of working environment. And, due to human nature, it is almost inevitable that with all the pressures and expectations, those people will try and find a way to relax. I'm not trying to vindicate or defend Tom's actions by any means. I am, however, trying to shed a little light on why this happens, and making the point that there is not enough help or guidance given to these young sportsmen and women. The psychological impact of the pressures on cricketers (and other sports players, but I shall use cricketers as the example in this blog) has been greatly expanded upon in recent times by Marcus Trescothick, Steven Davies, Michael Yardy and Ed Cowan, amongst others. It is clear that there needs to be a support system for those in cricket, as it appears to me that there isn't anything substantial enough in place. It seems as well that there needs to be more drug testing, even for recreational drugs. The ECB today stated that they currently carry out "around 200 tests a year". This equals about 35-40% of the registered professionals. However, this may need to be increased, in order to try and further decrease the number of cases, and for those that do test positive for recreational substances, some sort of guidance of help (whether within the club, under ECB auspices, or outside help such as therapists or support groups) needs to be in place. It is also maybe worth noting that these sorts of drugs do not enhance sporting ability, but can (and in this case, sadly do) wreck lives, and we need to be made aware of that, as do those in the game. People in other walks of life would be getting proper support, often nudged towards it by their colleagues/employers, it would be fair to say that cricketers/sportspeople should have the same support from their friends/colleagues/employers. I find it difficult to write on such a difficult subject at such a time, because it is so sad, but if this sort of thing happens then something in the system has to change.
This all brings me round to Edwina Currie's comments today after the inquest's findings. Now, once again I am not defending Tom's actions here, but how can anyone with the background that Edwina Currie has (John Major, anyone?) find themselves of a sufficient moral ethical standing to make such a comment on someone that she does not know, and a situation she is barely aware of? What right does she have to comment on and criticise someone for their actions, given her extremely long list of indiscretions and foot-in-mouth comments that she has made in the past? Of course, she is no stranger to controversy, having once stated that "good people do not catch AIDS", but she has once again showed her lack of tact, this in such a sensitive situation, and it has sparked outrage from not only cricket fans, but county cricketers as well, and personally I am genuinely shocked by her words. The phrase "Darwinism at work" in particular is extremely disrespectful, and once again given her background maybe what goes around will come around, and her words may well bite her back. It is a shame that someone feels the need to make such a comment on a day where most just wanted some closure on the issue, and wanted to remember a wonderful cricketer, and (for those close to him) their friend, someone that was most definitely taken too soon.

Cricket "Pre-Season"...

So... It's been a while! I'm still in the land of Frogs, but I've just finished sorting out my return trip. Since the last post, I've changed clubs, which was always going to happen. I arrive back just before the 2nd game of the season, which is perfect for me, gives me a week of nets to remember how to play! Will have to get into the mode of blogging! That will do for now, will post a fuller blog soon!

Ben

A very long catch-up!

Well, it's been an awful long time since I posted. I'm gonna try and do this fairly briefly, but in that time I've played another 7 or 8 matches. In that time, I've managed to get another duck, hit 28* off 90 balls, take a few catches in the outfield, drop a fairly impressive 7 caught-and-bowled attempts, run through a couple of sides, get pasted into next week against another, And not get a chance to bowl in a game where we only have 10 men... Oh well. I'm on holiday now, in sunny Cornwall, and I go to France for the year on the 31st of this month, so I've only got one match left, against Market Rasen. I want to sign off in style with a win and hopefully some runs+wickets!

That'll do for now!

I'm getting lazy!

This needs an update! I've played 3 games recently (not counting midweek matches). The first was away at Cleethorpes, with a ground a bit like Lords: Balcony, posh facilities, nice deck. Rain was about, but not at Cleethorpes, stayed dry for all but about 10 minutes with a light shower. We won the toss and bowled first. Their openers made 20 before Dan H got one with a long-hop! We then worked away and took wickets at regular intervals, with a top partnership of 40. I bowled from about the 16th over onwards, bowling straight through, and had figures of 14-1-49-1. They were 10-1-25-1, but I bowled at the death and went for a run a ball at the time, which was pretty handy! Kept them to 164-6 off the 45. Teas were awesome, although maybe lacking in the savoury area, nothing like pizza or chicken, or anything similar. Pasta was top-notch though! Our batting let us down, we were all out 126, with only Dave scoring anything of note with a really well-made 59, including some screaming cover-drives. I was out 4th ball to a leggie. And a shit one at that. Playing across the line, it didn't do anything, and bowled through the gate. Bollocks. Oh well, shit happens!

Last week we played at home against Bracebridge Heath. A very good side, with a couple of overseas pros and a couple of ECB 1st teamers. We lost the toss and bowled, and Ben B picked up one of their overseas pros for a 2nd baller, losing his off peg when leaving the ball. Gooooood. A few players scored runs for them, nothing major, their other overseas pro made 49. Before I clean bowled him, through the gate. Silly tosser. Only bowled 3 overs, although to be fair we had 7 bowlers! 3-0-9-1, I've had worse. Kept it tight and they made 168-7 off 40. Decent effort on our part. Teas were awesome, as per usual! We lost our openers with 6 on the board, shit start. Jamie hung around with Deegs but we were soon 38-4 when I came in. At 6. Against the best side in the county... I made 7, but the bowling was just half a yard too quick for me. ended up cutting a short and wide one straight to point. Was gutted! Ben went on to make 60, including a reverse-sweep, 2 scoops over short fine leg, and a dilscoop off their quick bowler. And we were 127-8 off the 40. It was a much improved performance, and their skipper agreed, and asked how the hell we were bottom as opposed to being up the top where he felt we should be. He reckoned it was the hardest match they'd had! That's always good to hear.

We played Hartsholme 2nds at their place on Saturday. This was a hard match. We won the toss and bowled first. Getting into a habit of it, I sorta feel we need to bat first more often. To be fair, we had them 55-5, all of our seamers taking 1 wicket, and Dan H picking up 2. Their skipper came in though, and their vice skip was already there, and they put on 124 against us, belting the seamers about the place, after playing themselves in. I came on in the 30th over (a bit late I feel!) and went for 9 off my first 3 overs. I was brought off, but after Dave got hit about I came back on. I went for 12 off one over, but I tossed the ball up as opposed to going with my gut instinct and darting it in. I duly got my reward, and went for 5 off my last 2 overs, and got their skipper caught at long off. 6-0-26-1, and their batsmen asked me why I was brought off. Always nice to hear! Teas are always good at Hartsholme, and they delivered again, the fruit cake being a particular favourite, although people were equally loving the lemon drizzle. I was content with filling my plate up repeatedly, as per usual. With our batting we really should have won this. But they had 2 bowlers who bowled through. One was a left-arm over bowler who swung it down leg. We couldn't get bat on it. Another thing was that our opener made 30. Off 81 balls. Just too slow. We were 134-7 when I went in, I got us up to 164, in the 6 overs I was there. Made 15 off about 18 balls. 3 4's, ran lots of leg-byes. Gutted to have lost, but picked up 7 points, so it wasn't all bad. Oh well. Had 2 midweek games, bowled against some ECBers again, took 5-0-28-2, in 8 ball overs, and then last week beat my old team-mates, 3-0-15-0 and 2 off 2 balls to win the match. Always nice... And so that's about it for my update! Will update tonight after our midweek game as well. Au revoir!

Upppdate!

Well it's been a while, so I thought it best to update. We'll start off with Saturday 4th June, when we played Nettleham. We bowled first, and it was a bit of a one-man show from their part. One lad hit 60, and the rest made 15s and 20s, and a few single figure scores, to get them up to 193, I had their opener stumped when he got to 60 with a nicely flighted ball that turned a decent amount, and had one of their middle order caught by Sam at cover. I got a bit of tap, but I bowled in the slog overs at the end, and came out with figures of 12-1-58-2. Expensive, but they were going for it. Bowled a few loose ones, but as a general rule I was very good. Teas were very good, and then we came out to bat. The openers put on 100, before Sam was stumped playing a silly shot for 43. Andrew made it to 59 before tiring and being bowled heaving across the line, and Kev followed soon after. Deegs and Edwin put on about 30, before Edwin was bowled, and Si Clark followed soon after, not without hitting a massive 6 though. I walked in 186-5, needing 8 off the last over. I faced, and got 4 off the first 2 balls, and then Deegs called me through for a bye, and he was ran out well short. Joe walked in, knocked the first one back to the bowler, and then called me through for a leg-bye, leaving me on strike needing 3 to win (déjà-vu anyone?!) My ex Uni president was bowling, and he bowled a length ball on the pads which I pulled away to deep-midwicket (they had 6 boundary riders, even though we needed 3 to win, it didn't make sense!) and slipped coming back for the 2nd, but I started legging it, and the throw came in... 10 yards over the keepers head! Nobody was backing up properly, so I scrambled in, and ran back for the 3rd! We'd done it, we'd finally won a game! Smashing! 7* off 4 balls, nice way to end the game!

Sunday's game was a decent effort, we batted first and thanks to Sam and Ben, who made 63 and 59 respectively, we made it to 155-3. Our opening stand was 43, but off 20 overs, so we really kicked on in the 2nd half. Teas were outstanding as always at home, and we went out to defend it. It didn't help that we dropped the openers 4 times, one was me, a caught+bowled chance they hammered back at me. Should've caught it, but since fucking my finger up I've been a bit hesitant with all catches, and I shelled it. They put on 107, and although I got rid of them both quite quickly, we never really stood a chance. They knocked it off, 4 wickets down. I ended up with 7-2-23-2. Decent, but not earth-shattering. Just not good enough really!

Had a midweek match we won, bowled 5-0-33-3, decent enough, dropped a very tough catch at backward point, full stretch, but 2 years ago I'd have been taking them for fun! REALLY need to work on catching.

On Saturday we were at home against Stamford Homes. Batted first, a slow start again. I came in at 98-3, but Kev was retired hurt, so at the time it was basically 98-4. 12 overs left, me and Deegs put on 20-odd, before he was out for 46 to a shot that he just didn't hit hard enough, by his own admission. Me and Dan H put on another 20, before he was bowled, and we eked out the remaining runs, another lad was cleaned up but we got to 155, I was 17*. Should have been so much more, but pre-meditated slogging took over! Teas were brilliant again, as usual! In reply, they made it to 67-2, with Clarkey getting both wickets, and then they just collapsed. Me and Deegs took 8 between us, I took 2 wickets with my worst 2 deliveries of the day, as usual. Beat the bat more times than I can count, but they just kept missing them, so I got them with a knee height full toss, and a half-tracker. All out 110, I picked up 12-5-34-3, Deegs 11.1-4-19-5. Quality work, 2 wins in 2 games! This is getting worrying!

2 more midweek games this week, Monday night we won, bowled first, kept them to 110, I went 3-0-14-0 (8 ball overs as well!) Dropped a toughie at backward point but ran the guy out off the same ball! Last night was... Terrible. Went for 1-31 off 3, dropped their main batsman off my own bowling, a sitter, on 40, he went on to make 81* and win the game. FML.

But hey, shit happens, move on! Sunday we have a Saturday-league game, roll on the weekend!

Back on the field!

Well this weekend saw me finally get back on the field, after 2 weeks of fucking about due to my finger. It's still not completely fixed, it's still swollen, but I can bend+move it without pain so I felt I was ready to go back on. We lost the toss on Saturday against Caistor and were put into bat. It was a very green pitch, and we were 2 down within about 2 overs, losing Rak and Sam in that order. Andy and Kev put on about 40 to get us to 46-2, albeit off about 21 overs. What came next was a collapse of Sri Lankan proportions! 46-2 became 46-4, then 48-6, then 53-7. I walked in at 9, with the previous 3 wickets falling for ducks. I saw out the over comfortably enough, and hung around with Edwin, chipping in with a 4 through mid-wicket . Edwin fell for 7 at 61-8, and after myself pulling a 2 through midwicket, we lost 2 wickets at the other end for no runs. All out 63, me 7*. I could have done with keeping the strike on the last ball of the previous, but there was no single on offer really. We had 6 ducks, 5 of which occurred in the last 6 wickets that fell.

Teas were good, Caistor don't mess about when it comes to food! We walked out there knowing that we needed to take early wickets. Unfortunately, we didn't have that luxury. The first and only wicket fell on 49, I took a fairly simple catch off Deegs, their opener trying to sweep a ball and top-edging it to short-fine leg. I bowled 5 overs, the first 3 of which were all maidens. At one point my figures were 3.3-3-0-0, but in my next over and a half I bowled a wide ball which the batsman cut for 3, and a lovely full bunger the batsman put away for a boundary. The captain took us off, in pursuit of wickets, and brought on a couple of part-timers but it didn't help, we lost by 9 wickets. Picked up fielder of the match though, decent return for my work in the field!

On Sunday the match was a different affair. Well, sort of. We headed to Reepham, where I knackered my finger in the first place. Needless to say, everyone told me that if I did it again they wouldn't forgive me! We lost the toss and bowled first, And Ben B set about trying to run through the opposition. We had them one down fairly quickly, Ben picking up a wicket in the 7th over. After that, their opener and no.3 laid the foundations for a decent innings, before Lenny picked up the latter for a decent 25. The opener went on through to make 50, and I came on with them at about 80-2 in the 24th over. I got a breakthrough fairly early on in my spell, and continued to bowl fairly well throughout, not giving anything away. Ben came back at the the other end to take a couple of wickets, and I picked up another 3 to leave me with figures of 7-1-21-4. Reepham ended up at 156-8 off their 40.

Teas were once again decent, the home-made scones in particular going down like a house on fire.

With the bat, we started off well enough, lost a couple of quick wickets in the first 15 overs but we were on about 70-2, with Ben B going well again, hitting 20 off about 7 balls, before playing a loose shot and skying one. Once again, that led to a procession of wickets, and ended up with me walking in at 100-7 with about 15 overs remaining. 4 an over, doable normally, but with only 3 wickets left...? I headed in, saw off the first couple of overs for not many runs, before losing Pete at the other end, leaving us 110-8. Lenny came in and held an end up for a couple of overs, hitting a decent 4 and a 2 as well. At the other end, I was playing well! Picked up a couple of 4s through the leg side, and rotated the strike well, before Lenny got out to a pitched up delivery, leaving us on about 125-9. Gooders walked in at 11, no Chris Martin with the bat, so I felt a bit better about it. We started to work the strike, and I picked up another few runs, as well as running the extras and wides. With 29 needed off 3 overs, Gooders picked up a 4, as did I, and we were left needing 12 off the last over. Gooders ran a single off the 2nd ball, and I hit 2 4s in 3balls, leaving us with 3 to get off the last ball. Unfortunately, the bowler (also a left-arm spinner) speared it in short and quick, on the leg stump, and with 6 (yes 6!) fielders on the leg side, I couldn't get it away, and Gooders was ran out trying to force the fielder into making a mistake. Absolutely gutted. All out 154. Left on 26*, a personal best, with 5 leg side 4s and a total of 2 scoring shots on the off side. Was chuffed with the effort, but having dropped 4 catches in the field (including their opener who made 70, when he was on about 30), and collapsing so rapidly, we shouldn't have even been in the situation we were. A good effort though from the lower order considering where we were at!

My stats for the season are:

Batting: 6 innings, 5 not outs, 61 runs, top score of 25*, average of 61 (one for the scrapbook!), strike rate up at 70 (apparently, I'm unconvinced!)

Bowling: 45 overs, 10 maidens, 138 runs, 10 wickets, best of 4-21, strike rate of 27, average of 13.8. 1 catch in the field.

Decent enough start, need to get some more runs, wickets and catches mind. And a few wins would be nice too!

It's been a while...

So I thought I'd get up to speed on here. Since 8th May, I have played a game for the Uni side, a midweek game for my club back home, and nothing since then. But all will be explained...

Uni game. Bowled first, I came on after about 7 overs. Facing a decent batsman that I had earlier dropped, hard chance mind you! Also previously ran the wrong way to field the ball at long-on, could barely see anything from the sun. Sorry Ryan... But anyway, came on, and my fir

st over was fairly on the spot, went for about 7 though. Second over, beat the batsman in the flight, but Joe couldn't get to the stumping (it had turned down leg, after pitching about middle, difficult take!) and so he lived on. For 2 balls, when he slapped a full toss straight down the fielder's throat at long on. Shit takes wickets n' all that. The ball was fairly difficult to grip because of the rain before the game, so inevitably a few full tosses came out, which (probably) I wouldn't have normally bowled! Picked up another one in my 3rd over, slapped for a 4 and a few singles as well. Ended well for me though. 3-0-15-2. Will happily take that! Didn't do much with the bat, out for 2 I think after Sir Garfield called me through for one which may have been there, but didn't feel like it at the time! Best moment of the day was definitely Karl's reverse-sweep for 4 off the final ball. Outstanding tekkers. Lost by 20 runs or so.

Ahh, the midweek game. Where the problems started. We batted first, I was next

man in at the end (as usual!) and we scored 93 off our 16 overs. Then, after fielding for 5 overs at point, I got one hit out to me on the bounce, and in trying to get underneath it to pick it up, I dislocated my finger! Bollocks! Whisked off to hospital by one of the WAGs (well, the only one there) and got it popped back in place, at the expense of an awful lot of swearing. Fuck it hurt! Here is an x-ray of the offending digit...

As you can see it is fairly out of place! And for the past 2 weeks I have been resting it, and I've declared myself fit for the weekend. Bored out of my skins at the weekend since!

On a boring note, Uni's almost finished. My year abroad placements are in Binic (in Brittany), and the Alps. Sweet Jesus I am excited. That's about it for this update though. Ciao!

What the funk?!

You know when you have one of those days where fuck all goes right? Yeah, I had one of them. Where to start... Well, my train was cancelled, so I had to wait an hour. Then, I realised I'd left my sun-cream, water and breakfast in Hull, so I was thirsty, hungry and prone to burning like Rich Clarke... Oh well! Got to the ground, to find it was drier than we thought it would be. Had a bowl at Sam in the nets beforehand, and felt in good touch. So we lost the toss and were put into bat. Looked a good toss to lose, was hard underfoot. Raky and Andy put on 75, SEVENTY-FIVE! For the first wicket. In 15 overs. Which, for us, is like a miracle. a) an opening partnership, and b) actual quick runs! Andrew was out first, and Rakesh the next over. Sam and Deegs put on 32, before Deegs got out to a fairly piss-poor decision. And from there we just, well, collapsed. I walked in at 124-6, and everyone else hit out (and got out), whilst I couldn't find my timing, and couldn't force the pace against some of the better bowlers we've faced this year. 142/10, myself left not out with a gutsy (by which I mean "horribly out of form and couldn't get the ball off the fucking square) 4 off 25 balls. Test-match.

Teas were quality. Standard Owmby!

Ahh, to the field. Danny started off with some really good areas, and got the well deserved wicket of their opener (another shit LBW shout, but still...) and then quickly followed it up with the other opener, a much better delivery beating his outside edge and hitting top of off. I was brought on as first change, after 10 overs, and picked up a wicket in my first over. Back through the gate, and it trickled onto the stumps. My next 3 overs were a mixture of some very good balls (beating the edge, leading edges, etc) and one bad ball an over, duly punished. 4 overs, 1-15. My 5th over was a whole different story. First ball, blocked back. Second ball, swept to deep square for 1. 3rd ball, short and cut for 4. 4th ball, legside and slogged for 6. 5th ball, low full toss drilled through cover. 6th ball, good length ball driven for 4. Arse. 5 overs, 1-34. "Have a rest Ben" came the inevitable call. Ah well, we all have bad days. This was the first real bad one I've had for the best part of 2 years, so I can't really complain... On the up side, I had a blinder in the field for the first 26 overs, the last 2 overs I missed one that I should have stopped (considering I view myself as a very good fielder when I get my head down), saved about 10 runs in the point area. So it wasn't a truly terrible day, it's just that my main ability let me down. Oh well.

Got 2 matches next weekend, a midweek game on Wednesday (16 8-ball overs!) and maybe another game tomorrow. Need some improvement! Will update sometime this week. BT x

Finally, a win!

So I played 2 games this weekend. Saturday, at home, against Alkborough. hadn't lost against them in 6 years leading up to this game. Won the toss, and in similar conditions to last week, bowled again. Argh, why?! Anyway, our opening bowlers haemorrhaged runs. Again. After 8 overs, when I came on, they were 50-0. My first 4 overs went for 13, bringing a semblance of calm to the game. I was brought off after 6 overs, to try and change things up, but the seam attack just got smashed around the park, so I was brought back on. I picked up a wicket in my 11th over, cleaning up the opener with an arm-ball. There was a little bit of spin, not a lot, and a bit of bounce when you looked for it, but quite low when you didn't. The opener made 73 off 96. The other lad was unperturbed, and went on to record a very well made century. The number 3 (who really wasn't a number 3 I don't think, he didn't look like he could bat a lot) played across the line to me and I cleaned him up. I bowled through, and they ended up on 221-2 off 45. I dropped the centurion off the last ball of my spell, didn't pick up the ball til late on, and it was probably the keeper's catch, but I still should have held it. My figures were 15-2-55-2, quite good considering the total innings RR was almost 5/over!

Teas were, once again, outstanding. As usual!

In reply, we lost Sam for a duck, and then Andy and Kev put on 80 for the 2nd wicket. When Kev was out for 33, Ciaran came in, and went on to score a run a ball 40. However, this is where the problems began. Their skipper is a notorious pie chucker, but also a wicket-taker. His array of full tosses, long-hops and the occasional length ball did for our batting. He ran through the middle order on his way to 12-0-56-7. I wandered in with us on 157-7. I lost Pete the next over, and Dan an over afterwards, leaving us 168-9 needing to stay 9 down, otherwise they would get all 20 points. I managed to safely navigate it, along with the Doc. I ended up 8* off 17 balls. Never in any real trouble, as I seemed to be the only one capable of not swinging across the line or playing another silly shot... So that didn't go how I planned it! On to Sunday then!

So, Sunday away at North Scarle. And it was in the middle of nowhere. Looked like a random field as well, terrible wicket. Moss on it and everything! We lost the toss and batted first. Sam was out for 10, and then Ben B followed 5 overs later for 13. Neil was out for a very hard-grafted 10, and wickets tumbled at a slow but steady rate, with me walking in at 99-6, on a hattrick ball, and 3 wickets going down for no runs. I survived the hattrick ball, and between me, Pete and Charlie, we put on 16 runs in the last 4 overs, taking us to 115/7. I got one ball that pitched full, and got up and hit me in the grille! Had no idea what was going on. Contrasting that was Ben B's dismissal, out LBW to a pea-roller! Very tough pitch. ended up 2* off 10, couldn't pierce the field!

Teas were truly dreadful, I got there and there were 3 ham sandwiches, some egg, and cheese savoury? What the hell is that?! A few bits of cake and that was it. Barely enough for 1 side, nevermind 2. Bollocks.

Got into the field, and with Ben B back, we had a feeling he could go through their batting line-up. And so it proved. With our premier quick bowler back, we ran through them like a dream. Their collapse from 11-0 to 29-9 was stuff of real, real village cricket! Ben bowled his way to figures of 8-2-10-7, and his younger brother Jamie bowled equally well to figures of 6-2-10-2. I took one catch in the field, and saved a few runs by diving about on the minefield. Dan picked up the final wicket to bowled them out for 40. In short, a well deserved win, nice to get off the mark in the wins column this year!

Only one game next week, at home to Cleethorpes 3rds, need to get a win in the Saturday league to get us going! Ciao for now! x

Saturday, April 24. Away v Caistor

First game of the season, and I have one question: How the f**k did we lose that?! 15 hours afterwards I'm still asking it!

We won the toss, and the skipper (God knows why) put us in the field. We didn't find that out til after teas though, typical! So in 27 degree heat, we got going. One of the openers was a bit expensive/erratic, and came off after 5. Dan at the other end was finding quality areas, and our veteran seamer came on at the other end. He got 2 breakthroughs, leaving them about 40-2 after 15. Drinks couldn't come quickly enough! I got lose after about 18 overs, came on start of the 21st. Cue this big lad coming down the track and taking me for 4,0,4,2,2 off the first 5 balls of my over. Bugger. Godd'im with the 6th though, down the track, foot out the crease, beat the bat, stumped. May have gave him a send-off. Dick shouldn't hit me for 12 off 5 then should he?! Found my rhythm after that, with a maiden next over, and 2 off the next 2 overs to put me at 4-1-14-1. Really put the squeeze on after that, bowling this lad through the gate in my 5th over. Bowled through until the 43rd over, picking up another wicket, to leave me with 9-4-20-3, which is handy. They were all out 121. My fielding was good, hung back on one where they snook a single but made up for it, saved about 5 runs in "quick singles" at backward point. Standaaard.

Teas were quality, and as usual I ate far too much. Glad I bat down the order...

Batting was a calamity, to say the least. 4/0 became 8/3, became 24/4, 40/5, 56/6, 75/7. After 35 overs! I walked in, not sure what I was gonna do to be honest! Kept out their skipper for 3 balls, then got an outside edge (all along the floor, soft hands and all) for 4, silly bugger didn't have a 3rd man in! Leggie on at the other end, and my tactic of taking a step down the track to make them drop it short worked, took 7 off 6 balls against him over 2 overs. They brought back this dreadful seamer, took him for 4 off the first 4 balls of the over, and then played all around one that was even slower than his usual dross on an even slower wicket! Thought it was going down, with me batting on leg, but understandable given the shot I played, and that I ask for middle not leg... Silly bollocks! After that, we lost our last 2 wickets for 10 runs and were all out 10 short. Cat got 22 off 36, batted very sensibly for him!

Game today against Scunthorpe, gotta get us off to a start this season! 'Mon the Owmby!

Easter Holidays!

I've been quiet on the posting front recently, mainly because there's not been a lot going on! I've spent a bit of time at the nets, but I've been visiting people as well while I'm off so that's understandable. On to the cricket!

My bowling is coming on, had 3 net sessions and in all 3 I've consistently found a good area, with a bit of turn and, more surprisingly, a bit of bounce, although that may be because of the nets that I play on! I've been beating the bat quite a bit too, which is always comforting. Not a lot to say on my finger spin really. I was experimenting with Chinaman and Seam-up last night, and both were very effective. I got a lot of turn with my "leggies", and I got my topspinner and googly going quite nicely. Obviously I dropped it short a few times, but that was very interesting to see, and if a lefty comes out in a match I may be convinced to give it a go! I was bowling genuinely quick with my seamers, quite skiddy, couldn't get a bouncer going like the other lads but it was sharp, with late inswing, and I bowled 3 or 4 people out with late inswinging yorkers. My control isn't brilliant, I think my action is like Mitchell Johnson (and my accuracy!) but it was fun to bowl, and if we need someone to open the bowling I may even get a shout for that, and then going on to bowl spin!

My batting has really improved, in 3 sessions I've been bowled out once, and that was a terrible shot, trying to work it to leg, but taking it off off-stump, I must have lost my guard because it was a filthy shot. I was hitting the ball wonderfully last night in particular, pulling off Jamie (he must be late 60's, early 70's mph) and hitting really nicely off my legs, which I've never done before! Things are looking up!

My fielding was good in the one fielding session we had, dropped one absolute skier but it went higher in the air than I've ever seen, I'll practice that though.

First game of the season (competitively) on Saturday, exciting times ahead! Will blog again after the weekend! Ciao!

A quick catchup

It's been a while, been a bit busy with Uni assignments but thought I'd bring you readers up to speed. I've had 3 net sessions at Uni, where my bowling has been strong, and my fielding as well, my batting has been a bit hit and miss. Getting more into line, but some of the Uni bowlers are still a little quick for me. Oh well, we'll get into it sooner or later.

Had a friendly match on Sunday, wasn't too bad a game. green pitch, stayed low, but decent enough for me. Got a bit of purchase now and then, but was bowling with just my index finger gripping, as opposed to the index and the middle finger, mainly through confidence because it was the first game of the season. Control wasn't too bad. Took a catch as well, fielded quite well, some chasing, some standard stuff coming straight to me as well. Lost by 2 wickets, should have pushed them closer, but it was just good to be out in the field to be honest!

Back at home, had my first net with my mates. Bowling was good, considering the net is built on concrete! Got bounce, but more importantly, got turn. Beat the bat on a few occasions, got a lot of turn to beat people in the flight and get catches to go to (hypothetical) fielders. Batting was, as well, a MASSIVE improvement. everything felt right! Hit some lovely cover drives, played straight, waited for it, defended tightly, and leathered everything short. Had a couple of short balls that were quick, that I sort of struggled with, and then got cleaned up when I had a slog, but apart from that it was a top session!

Absolutely drained!

Had 2 sessions yesterday, a fitness/fielding one at 7.30am(!!!) and a normal net at 5pm-7pm.

Morning session was good, but I was absolutely dying of tired! Really good session, my fielding was much improved, and by the end I was drenched in sweat. Lovely way to go to your 9.15 lecture. Not got much to say on the morning session!

Evening session was a whole different kettle of fish. Bowling was okay, line was a bit everywhere though. Got a little turn, didn't make too much of an impact though. My batting was going in reverse. The seamers were using new balls, so it was swinging round corners, but I should have accounted for that in my batting, but I didn't. I wasn't getting my front foot across, I wasn't waiting for the ball, and I was flailing outside my off peg. When will I learn?! One of the Old Boys is gonna be down on Monday, hope he'll give me a few tips on my batting. I think I just need to pick my shots, play each ball on its merits!

You've just dropped the World Cup...

3 hours of fielding on Monday. THREE! Genuinely good session though.

Started off by usual warm-ups, runs round the pitch (side-stepping, backwards, heel flicks + knees up, etc.) and dynamic stretching. Moved onto games such as setting up 2 stumps about 30 yards apart, splitting into teams of 5 and rolling/underarm throws between teams, trying to hit the stump, the other team trying to intercept. Other fielding drills, such as chasing and getting the ball back to the keeper in the time that someone runs a 2, high catches, close catches, shying practice, etc. Finished off with little Bob absolutely pelting a cricket ball in the air for you to catch. Needless to say, I dropped my first one, disappointingly. Didn't pick it up, but shouldn't have dropped it, even if I did move too far forward. Oh well! Got a text off the Uni 3rds skipper, asking if I'm available for the 10th for a match, hoping that this will push me into contention for the 2's.

My prayers have been answered!

Good day today I think! We'll start off with the morning training.

7.30-9am, we had a fielding+fitness session. Well, we would have had more of one, but there was 4 of us. So we had the catching cradle out, and for every dropped catch we did suicides runs, and for every time we didn't hit the cradle so the ball could fly off we did 5 press-ups. I dropped 4 catches, 2 were reaction ones, and the other 2 I should have caught, but I didn't. We did use a wind-ball, so it bounced out of your hands, but no excuse! Ahh well. Did some other good drills, really enjoyed it, but I did turn up to my 9.15 seminar soaked with sweat!

Then, at 5, we had nets. I turned up 15 minutes late due to lectures, but got a bat after 10 minutes, more importantly though I faced the bowling machine. I really needed this. My technique was all over the place, and after a few balls Armo (Uni CC president) had spotted my faults and sorted out my technique really quickly. After half a basket of balls I was already playing straighter, and much more correctly than I was previously. I was also finally hitting balls through leg! About time! I had a little bat in the net against the bowlers, after my bowling machine session, and it had instantly paid off. Had a couple of blips, but didn't get out, which was most important!

Bowling was good, as usual, bowled well to a lefty as well, which is always helpful! Not a lot to say on it to be honest!

One of those nights...

I think this title could get an awful lot of use in the upcoming few weeks, as the season gets ever closer. My bowling is still good, good variations in flight, line, length, and turn (and still getting a couple to spin the other way, always good!), but my batting is beginning to really piss me off. Admittedly one of the lads was bowling 70+MPH and swinging it round corners, but that didn't excuse my piss-poor shots. I wasn't playing it under my eyes, I wasn't getting to the pitch, I wasn't getting into line. I was feeling for it, leading with my hands. On the plus side, I got a couple of well timed, as in reeeally well timed, flicks through midwicket, but one was a full toss and the rest were half volleys. I was cutting the ball alright as usual, but the rest just wasn't there. Also, I cannot physically defend anything in the nets. Instinct takes over and I try to hammer it. It's just frustrating, I really need a bowling machine session to work on my technique. But because I'm not a batsman, I'll be very lucky to get that. Might have a word with the 1st XI captain tomorrow, see if I can blag myself a 15 minute go on it! I've got a fitness+fielding session at 7.30-9 tomorrow morning before my 9.15 seminar, then another 5-7 session in the evening, hope Bob (said 1st XI captain) will let us have a go on the bowling machine. Lord knows I need it.

Goldmine in the post!

No nets today, bit of a shame, but they're on Thursday this week, also got Friday morning and evening sessions which is exciting! (Yes my life is that boring...) On the up side, I got some cricket books from Sam Stow at All Out Cricket in the post this morning, the following 4: Flying Stumps and Metal bats by the Wisden Cricketer, Cricket, Lovely Cricket? by Lawrence Booth, Cricket's 300 Men, and one 400 man by Christopher Hilton, and Mushtaq Ahmed's autobiography. I'm a big collector and reader of cricket books. I have the fast bowler's bible by Ian Pont, and the Art of Wrist-spin, both of which I don't even need! I love reading cricketer's bio's, and also anything technical. My "library" probably has about 50 cricket books (I've even got Harold Larwood's autobiography!), about 15-20 Roman history books (I'm a sucker for the Roman army), about 10 French revolution texts (Bought on a whim as part of my course) and about 250 fiction books, ranging from Harry Potter, through Lord of the Rings, Chris Ryan and Andy McNab, and a few other choice autobiographies like Ben Collins. I also have a small section dedicated to zombies, about 10 of them, as they are fantastic reads! This may all be off topic, but I'm the sort of person who, while waiting to bat, has a read of a book, or listens to music, or plays the marker game with a cricket ball. I always get funny looks for reading while waiting to bat, but it takes your mind off it.

Wow, this is a longer post than I intended. It's also gone on a lot about random crap. Oh well, c'est la vie je crois! It's a lovely sunny day out, so I need to get out and do something, which will also mean I don't start my assignment til tomorrow. Oh, what a shame!

Fitness, fielding and nets session.

So last night we had a 2 hour session, the first 45mins of which were fielding+fitness drills. Fielding was really good, held all my catches, including a couple of rippers on the catching cradle. Fielded well using a drill where 3 people stand about 30 yards away, with a set of stumps cut off half way up in the middle. one end throws it in the air to the other, who shy at the stumps, and the first end backs up. 5 shys at the stumps, hit 3 times, would have hit another on a full set of stumps. Good start. Bowling was good as well for the most part, beat the bat a few times, had a couple of poor long-hops or full tosses, which was to be expected I suppose. All in all, good net.

Friday evening no nets on, but we've got a Friday morning net at 7.30-9, before French, so will be interesting to see how that goes. probably get the bowling machine out, so might have to practice driving a few deliveries, maybe playing off my legs too. Could do with the batting practice, as on Friday after my net my batting was taken to pieces by the 1st team vice-skip!