So our indoor nets this season are on friday nights. This seems a slightly strange choice by the club, I mean friday nights? no one ever has any plans on a friday do they? The last two years they were sunday afternoons 5-6 this apparently caused problems with people liking to sit at home watching the latest SUPER SUNDAY offerings from Sky rather then traipse to a musky school hall to dust off their techniques.
Anyway friday nights they are. Last night was the second one the previous week was packed to the rafters of eager young kids and the slightly clique 1st teamers strutting their stuff. It was pretty unproductive for me, all my eager reading of Philpotts "art of wrist spin" and thinking about "around the loop" with my leg spin quickly seemed to go out the window into a stream of leg side full toss buffet balls. A short spell at the end of the nets with the bat was not very productive either the bowlers seemed uninterested by this point and were more into chatting to their mates about their winter exploits. All I gained from this was a few full tosses and the realization that I really need a new bat as my toe guard peeled away again.
The second edition was more fruitful, I really concentrated on my bowling thinking about the pace and action, after a shaky start an abortive attempt at a flipper and continuation for a while of the leg side dross, I was ripping some telling leggies towards the young kid batting last which did elicit some satisfied moans of approval by the gathered masses. Paid my £3 and went to the clubhouse for a drink and felt quite happy with my work. Roll on next week and roll on the 1st May!!
Saturday, 13 February 2010
Introduction
I play club cricket. I dont play it particularly well. What type of a player am I? well ever since I was a kid and saw Shane Warne bamboozle Mike Gatting at Old Trafford in 1993 I have loved leg spin. I remember trying out for my junior school team and when it came to bowling somehow the effect of Warne made the ball come out the back of my hand. I distinctly remember playing Kwik Cricket with its blue bats and stumps and pitching a perfect leg break through my embryonic action and clipping off stump. From that moment I was hooked.
Unfortunately that was about as good as it got, an eventual slide from the school first xi to the second then the realization through playing for my local club that kids my age and younger were much much better then me. I played a season in 1998 for my local club mainly frittering between the 3rd and 4th xis. The net result of that season was 2 wickets and a top score of 9. Frustration and teenage distractions led me to give up the game at 19 and get a job that involved working weekends. I assumed this was the end of cricket for me.
Until six years later now aged 24 I attempted a come back, work commitments allowed, unfortunately I had become massively unfit (due to having a job which basically involved driving around and sitting in my car eating pasties) a few net sessions and three games later I was physically wrecked, my knees felt like I was 54 so I called it a day again.
Then things changed, I moved away got a new job, and decided to give it a go again with a new team. The first 2 seasons have seen me churn out distinctly average results, (averaging about 8 with the bat and about 50 with the ball) However this season the summer of 2010 I am encouraged, I have gone to the gym!, I feel fitter then I ever have before (still quite unfit though) I even purchased a book on wristspin by the aussie Peter Philpott.
So with this blog I want to record this season, I want to make it my best season ever, with the ultimate gain for me of achieving a trophy at our end of season awards which would require me scoring a 50 or taking 5 wickets, will I do it?
Unfortunately that was about as good as it got, an eventual slide from the school first xi to the second then the realization through playing for my local club that kids my age and younger were much much better then me. I played a season in 1998 for my local club mainly frittering between the 3rd and 4th xis. The net result of that season was 2 wickets and a top score of 9. Frustration and teenage distractions led me to give up the game at 19 and get a job that involved working weekends. I assumed this was the end of cricket for me.
Until six years later now aged 24 I attempted a come back, work commitments allowed, unfortunately I had become massively unfit (due to having a job which basically involved driving around and sitting in my car eating pasties) a few net sessions and three games later I was physically wrecked, my knees felt like I was 54 so I called it a day again.
Then things changed, I moved away got a new job, and decided to give it a go again with a new team. The first 2 seasons have seen me churn out distinctly average results, (averaging about 8 with the bat and about 50 with the ball) However this season the summer of 2010 I am encouraged, I have gone to the gym!, I feel fitter then I ever have before (still quite unfit though) I even purchased a book on wristspin by the aussie Peter Philpott.
So with this blog I want to record this season, I want to make it my best season ever, with the ultimate gain for me of achieving a trophy at our end of season awards which would require me scoring a 50 or taking 5 wickets, will I do it?
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