Season updates thread

[hodge]

First topic message reminder :

I just thought for anyone who is playing this season that we could have a thread where people give updates on how their season is going both personally and for their team if they are interested?

As I said in another thread I have what are apparantly my university's first every cricket games thursday and friday this week and i'm captaining the side, no pressure there We have Newport cricket clubs midweek team on thursday and face UWE 2nd XI on friday who a freind of mine is captain so we have a little wager on the outcome of the game. Loser has to buy the winner a drink for every club 2nd XI game we both play in Again no pressure there!

Anyways good luck to everyone for this season, unless somehow in some strange case you end up playing against me!

[Mind the windows Tino.]

We got a game in on Saturday.....just.

There was rain forecast for later in the afternoon so the oppo won the toss and batted, presumably thinking the conditions would become more difficult (sun was out when the toss was made) but we rolled them over relatively cheaply for 136 all out.

We then made an absolute hash of chasing it down and were 20 odd for 4 at one point. We were thankful for our numbers 5 (our no 5 hit 4 consecutive 6's at one point. Hitting absolute bombs) and 6 who had a very good partnership and got us to within 10 runs before another few wickets fell. I went in to bat at 8 which is probably a place or two lower than I can bat (likewise with our no 9 so we had a long ish batting lineup) and I was 1 n.o when the rain came in. It got really heavy, really quickly and despite the opposition moaning, the umpires sent us off. We waited 30 minutes as per the rules and by that point, there were puddles all over the outfield. We were ahead on run rate so took the 30 points and went home early.

I took a couple of wickets and had an absolute stonewall LBW turned down but happy with the win.

We have only played one game out of 4 due to the weather but sit second in the league as everyone has basically had most games washed out.

Tino - a couple of wickets is a proper return. Two is massively more than one. Always suggests you've been in a real contest and held your own.

Thanks, GB. I was really pleased although still simmering a little over the LBW. I know everyone thinks they are out but it hit him on the knee roll, playing back and was going to crash into middle and off. I politely asked the Umpire and he said height was an issue. Definitely wasn't going over but have to respect the decision. They call what they see and are only human. I'd have been reviewing it if I was a test player though!

I opened the bowling which I don't normally do these days, certainly as I've got older and the pace slips away. I normally come on first or second change but we were light on bowlers so opened up which I haven't done for a few years now. Was really pleased to contribute as it makes such a difference if your opening bowlers can get a couple of wickets. Sets the right tone from the get go.

Back to full strength next this weekend though so I won't be opening up.

[Mind the windows Tino.]

We have a Hundred game tomorrow. Which as no-one has seen it on TV and how it works in the pro game yet, could be absolute anarchy.

Nice! Let us know how you get on with that.

Who knows what a good score is a Hundred game!

[JDizzle]

Initial assessment is not particularly good of the Hundred! Doesn’t really save any time - certainly at our standard. As bowlers aren’t ready to go, then you end up changing the field so much if you go from seamer to spinner mid ‘over’ or vice versa, it may even slow things down. Our skipper was moaning about it being too complicated to track each bowlers balls bowled but that should come with time. The main takeaway is to be quick in the field with bowling and fielding changes. Aside from that it is just cricket at the end of the day.

We did win - I snagged 2 wickets and fired a quick 30* - and chased 130. So we get to have another go in the next round!

[Mind the windows Tino.]

Lost on Saturday. Not going into too many details but I bowled 7 wicketless overs and got a 3rd ball duck batting at 6.

I hate cricket.

[king_carlos]

It sounds like we exchanged weekends from a couple back, sorry Tino! I got a 3rd ball duck in a rank loss two weekends ago but got 72 in a 2 run win this weekend. We bowled them out in the penultimate over in a thriller.

The lad who got that final wicket is a 16-year-old who's been struggling with confidence a bit. His twin brother is a very talented cricketer playing a couple of sides above him and I think falling slightly behind the twin he's usually attached by the hip to has knocked him a bit. It was brilliant seeing the grin on his face as he took his 4th wicket to finish off a tight win!

To be honest it probably shouldn't have been a thriller as we dropped 5 or 6 catches and gave away close to 20 runs in wides and no balls, but still really great to get a win.

As a club the senior mens set-up had some really poor losses in our warm ups and round 1 of the league 2 weekends ago. So there was a really great feeling around the club on Saturday afternoon when all 5 senior mens sides won their round 2 league games. Sadly the ladies lost a really tight game on Sunday so not quite a full house but very close.

[Mind the windows Tino.]

I got a 3rd ball duck in a rank loss two weekends ago but got 72 in a 2 run win this weekend. We bowled them out in the penultimate over in a thriller.

I went against all the advice I tell the colts about taking a look at the bowler. Came into bat against an off spinner. Three balls in, down on one knee eyeing up a maximum over cow and hit the ball straight up in the air.

72 is a great effort, KC. Well played champ. Sounds like a proper thriller you were involved in!

[king_carlos]

Finger spinners get an inordinate number of wickets in club cricket due to brain farts. I think all of us have got out to a straight break bowler and had to trudge back to the pavilion wondering what possessed us to play that shot. "It looked like a pie coming out his hand I promise skips".

Mine was a pretty dour innings to be honest, Tino. After 5 failures in a row opening the batting for a new club I'll take it though. Gets me going so to say!

The outfield was absurdly long so the majority of the it was run between the wickets and my fitness was severely lacking. I was getting run off my feet by a former 1st team player twice my age during one partnership!

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

We got thumped by 9 wickets on Saturday - I was out for 4, no complaints - opening bowler just nipped one off a good length which beat my defence and clipped top of off stump. Gonna happen from time to time!

[Mind the windows Tino.]

Back to winning ways this week. We scored 216-9 off 45 but on a very, very slow outfield. We thought it was more like 240. We were pretty confident defending it and so it turned out. Their openers put on 30 odd between them but we bowled them out for 123 in less than 35 overs.

I got a couple of wickets bowling first change and scored 22 batting at 7 before feathering one through to the keeper. Unfortunately, it was to an off spinner for the second week in a row so now all my teammates are claiming I can't play spin (they may have a point) which will no doubt stay with me for the duration of the season no matter how many runs I score off them.

Much better personal contribution than last weeks disaster.

Glorious weather to play cricket in as well. First time this season I've really felt like it was cricket weather.

How did everyone else get on?

[king_carlos]

A good win for ourselves at the weekend too.

Bowled first on a tasty uncovered track (sadly the club we were playing had vandals destroy their covers and nets over the winter) and a disciplined bowling performance saw us bowl them out for 107. Given the very green pitch that wasn't as awful a score as it seemed. We had a bowling heavy side and they batted very well to only be around 60-2 after 20 overs of our first 4 bowlers hitting great areas. Thankfully the bowling depth told and our 5th and 6th bowlers took 7 wickets between them for not many at all.

I made a start opening the batting, fought through the tough period against decent opening bowlers and then threw it away just before the change bowlers came on. I was pretty furious with myself but had done the important part my job in a way by seeing off their better bowlers as we were 65-4 when I got out and chased down the 108 to win with 5 wickets to spare.

Frustratingly I've woken up with a horribly swollen knee out of nowhere. Bizarre as it felt absolutely fine during and after the game but has blown up over night. I've dislocated my knee cap on that side a few times playing rugby and have had a meniscus tear as well, so tendon issues since those injuries aren't alien to me. I'm hoping it's just a flare up of tendonitis rather than anything more serious as I've really enjoyed playing cricket again so far this summer.

[Mind the windows Tino.]

Frustratingly I've woken up with a horribly swollen knee out of nowhere. Bizarre as it felt absolutely fine during and after the game but has blown up over night. I've dislocated my knee cap on that side a few times playing rugby and have had a meniscus tear as well, so tendon issues since those injuries aren't alien to me. I'm hoping it's just a flare up of tendonitis rather than anything more serious as I've really enjoyed playing cricket again so far this summer.

Hope that clears up for you, champ. I'm in my early 40's so at least one section of my body falls apart after each game really. Just have to navigate the week to make sure I'm ready for the following Saturday.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

We won by about 45 runs on Saturday - I lose the toss and we were inserted (I wanted to bowl first, our pitch was covered but the outfield dries quickly and was a little wet, so wanted to bat 2nd when everything was a tad drier), we got to 52-1 and then ended up 65-5...fortunately our number 6 got a very handy 46* to get us to 142 all out, which was defendable - and defend it we did! Bowled superbly, and our fielding was great, didn't drop one catch and I even took one at slip!

Batting wise, I got 31 off 50 balls opening the batting - fairly annoying at myself this week, did the hard work of seeing off the 7 overs from their opening bowler, and they then brought on a county woman bowler (U18 level), who was quick and a good bowler, but skiddy and a bit erratic. Unfortunately, after noting how skiddy she was, I said to myself don't get caught going back to anything, as it wasn't bouncing much...then two balls later she bowled one which I thought was short, I rocked back to hoik it over mid wicket, and it cleaned me up middle stump. As soon as I went to hit the shot I knew I was in trouble...stupid stupid! Feeling in pretty good nick at the moment, so just annoyed at the mental lapse letting me down

[Mind the windows Tino.]

We won by about 45 runs on Saturday - I lose the toss and we were inserted (I wanted to bowl first, our pitch was covered but the outfield dries quickly and was a little wet, so wanted to bat 2nd when everything was a tad drier), we got to 52-1 and then ended up 65-5...fortunately our number 6 got a very handy 46* to get us to 142 all out, which was defendable - and defend it we did! Bowled superbly, and our fielding was great, didn't drop one catch and I even took one at slip!

Batting wise, I got 31 off 50 balls opening the batting - fairly annoying at myself this week, did the hard work of seeing off the 7 overs from their opening bowler, and they then brought on a county woman bowler (U18 level), who was quick and a good bowler, but skiddy and a bit erratic. Unfortunately, after noting how skiddy she was, I said to myself don't get caught going back to anything, as it wasn't bouncing much...then two balls later she bowled one which I thought was short, I rocked back to hoik it over mid wicket, and it cleaned me up middle stump. As soon as I went to hit the shot I knew I was in trouble...stupid stupid! Feeling in pretty good nick at the moment, so just annoyed at the mental lapse letting me down

Good stuff, Olly. Didn't realise you were skipper. Always feel like anything close to 150 generally gives you at least a chance to defend it in village cricket but you've still got to do the business with the ball. Always good to lead from the front with runs and a catch. Well played.

I also feel in pretty good nick so far but just haven't translated it into a proper score yet. I would consider myself more of a batter who can bowl but this year my bowling has been the better of the disciplines by a mile. I need a gutsy half century like Carlos got t'other week then I reckon the runs will flow a bit. Just need to stop getting out to non turning off spinners!

[king_carlos]

We won by about 45 runs on Saturday - I lose the toss and we were inserted (I wanted to bowl first, our pitch was covered but the outfield dries quickly and was a little wet, so wanted to bat 2nd when everything was a tad drier), we got to 52-1 and then ended up 65-5...fortunately our number 6 got a very handy 46* to get us to 142 all out, which was defendable - and defend it we did! Bowled superbly, and our fielding was great, didn't drop one catch and I even took one at slip!

Batting wise, I got 31 off 50 balls opening the batting - fairly annoying at myself this week, did the hard work of seeing off the 7 overs from their opening bowler, and they then brought on a county woman bowler (U18 level), who was quick and a good bowler, but skiddy and a bit erratic. Unfortunately, after noting how skiddy she was, I said to myself don't get caught going back to anything, as it wasn't bouncing much...then two balls later she bowled one which I thought was short, I rocked back to hoik it over mid wicket, and it cleaned me up middle stump. As soon as I went to hit the shot I knew I was in trouble...stupid stupid! Feeling in pretty good nick at the moment, so just annoyed at the mental lapse letting me down

I know that feeling all too well from this weekend.

I've  always had a bit of a heavy head, have a tendency for my front leg to fall across, blocking me off so I can't access balls on my pads, prime LBW candidate. Since joining the new club I've put in a lot of quality training hours drilling a smaller trigger movement and keeping my head forward so I don't fall across my stumps.

On Sunday I felt really solid against their strong opening bowlers even though I wasn't scoring much on a tough wicket. When their change bowler came on I missed out on two gimmes in a row that I hit straight to fielders and got frustrated with myself. Next ball I'm preempting smashing one rather than just concentrating on my basics, across the head drops, my front leg falls bang in front of the stumps and I was absolutely plumb. I practically walked for an LBW appeal.

Batting can be so brutal mentally because of that. One lapse and your day's done.

[JDizzle]

If anyone needs to feel better about their batting, after I was dismissed LBW on Saturday both the opposition keeper and wicket keeper came up to me at drinks to tell me how I unlucky I was! It was more out the middle than some of the boundaries I hit.

We were poor on Saturday. Collapsed to 130 chasing 190. But cause of the BH we basically had 5 non cricketers filling in so could do nothing after the fifth wicket fell. Which was frustrating against one of the weaker teams in our league. The relegation dogfight is on!

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CSkc93Djcqm/?utm_medium=copy_link

New personal best today! Second ever century! Was 25 off 62 balls, then 50 off 77 and out for 129 off 128. Proper old school ODI behaviour. Hundred was brought up with an advancing six over extra cover, legitimately think it’s the best shot I’ve ever played in my life
Youngster in the photo JC is only 12, but not out of place in adult cricket at all. Heck of a technique on him already.

Been having a decent season, but not had that big score until today. A lot of 50 and out (4 fifties this year, and now a hundred).

[alfie]

Hey well done Olly !

Century always a great moment but to reach it in style with a (very stylish sounding) six adds a extra touch

You are indeed having a good season ... Keep it up mate

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Hey well done Olly !

Century always a great moment but to reach it in style with a (very stylish sounding) six adds a extra touch  

You are indeed having a good season ... Keep it up mate  

You’re too kind Alfie - only two more games left now!

[Mind the windows Tino.]

Hey well done Olly !

Century always a great moment but to reach it in style with a (very stylish sounding) six adds a extra touch  

You are indeed having a good season ... Keep it up mate  

You’re too kind Alfie - only two more games left now!

Great stuff Olly. Been many years since I scored a ton. I'm barely over 100 runs combined this season sadly.

Not been a good season with the bat for me. I actually got our first team coach to film me in the nets the other day. First time for years I done that. When he showed me the side on view, I was horrified at my backlift. It is basically pointing at gully and he could read all the stickers on the back of my bat. It is then coming down at all sorts of funky angles on impact. I'm either edging behind or getting hit on the pad as I can't get my bat down and round my front leg quick enough.

I'm going to work hard in the winter nets and try to get my backlift pointing at 1st slip instead. Bit late for this season but hopefully will help next year.

Well played, champ.

[alfie]

Momentous weekend : first club game since last February. Despite dodgy forecast the weather was fine (unlike last week when the first scheduled round was totally obliterated by biblical downpours)

We lost - narrowly. Personally happy to get through my eight overs undamaged , one wicket and not too much hammer taken - though regretting dropping a low C&B which could have influenced the result as well as giving my own figures a bit more polish...

Just nice to be back on the field again. And that it seems the umpires are now happy to hold one's hat while bowling rather than having to employ it as an extra fielder behind the bowling mark

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Excellent news Alfie - glad to hear you got back out there, and turned the arm over. Look forward to reading your updates, hope you go well!

[alfie]

Latest update : four rounds in and we are 2 and 2 (mainly thanks to receiving a walkover in round two) Nice win today , albeit a team that for once had more 13 year olds than us

Personally glad to be still on the park at all as the left ankle is giving a lot of grief : after about six to eight overs it tells me I am nuts to be still doing this and renders late innings fielding seriously painful. Can't train but it keeps coming up OK by the next week so can do my bit - and frustratingly it's coming out OK as long as I can keep running in , though I've not had a big bag of wickets yet. One more game then I can rest a bit over Christmas...

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

You have to ask if it would be wise to rest Alfie for the day nighter after Christmas….

Happy one Englishman got a win down under today! Top work

[alfie]

Another forfeit gives us another "win"

Silly season , this. Good timing for me as I am struggling to walk leave alone run and would have had to miss anyway. Hope I can get this fixed over the Xmas break.

Meanwhile I get to watch the Test in peace...which might be a mixed blessing

[alfie]

Last Saturday saw the end of my season as our team was pushed out of finals contention by a series of losses this month...

Probably a good thing for me : I have for the past five weeks been unable to walk by the end of the day (all being one day games I have bowled my eight overs just about each time) and indeed it has usually taken me until at least Wednesday to start moving remotely easily again. Should have packed it in I guess but we've been struggling for numbers so kept getting up each week - but will be glad now of a chance to rest properly and get the calf/Achilles injury sorted .

I actually had an OK season with the ball considering the handicap - at least until last week when a big chap took a liking to my stuff and took me for an embarrassing 18 off one over : I felt like Chris Jordan I guess he had a licence to go wild as we had only set them a miserable 71 to win on a small ground. He maybe did me a favour as I now have to play on next year - can't finish on that note !

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Glad to read you managed to survive the season despite your ailments Alfie! Sounds like it might be worth a trip to a physio just to make sure all is ok?

Things are beginning to churn our end for our new season now - in fact winter nets have been happening but I have been unable to attend, and our club has produced all manner of fancy new "strategies" and "visions" this offseason, following our 1st XIs rather poor output the last few years. On one hand it is nice to see the club really want to strive to make improvements both in the short and long term, on the other I am not sure it's really going to translate down to me in the 4th XI all this talk of KPIs and team goals....

[alfie]

Blimey , Olly : is Peter Moores or Chris Silverwood taking over your club ? Whenever people start coming out with a lot of verbiage in an attempt to lift the performance of a club I start to glaze over...

Sure every team should strive for improvement ; but that usually comes down to getting the right leaders in place and making sure practice sessions are well run. Get the basics right , etc...but I know I'm old fashioned

Thanks for the good wishes -I have already spent a fair amount of brass on various sports medicine therapies ! They do work though. Expect to make a full recovery now I'm no longer re-injuring myself each week...though it may take a little longer than similar problems did when I was only sixty or so ...

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Glad to read you managed to survive the season despite your ailments Alfie! Sounds like it might be worth a trip to a physio just to make sure all is ok?

Things are beginning to churn our end for our new season now - in fact winter nets have been happening but I have been unable to attend, and our club has produced all manner of fancy new "strategies" and "visions" this offseason, following our 1st XIs rather poor output the last few years. On one hand it is nice to see the club really want to strive to make improvements both in the short and long term, on the other I am not sure it's really going to translate down to me in the 4th XI all this talk of KPIs and team goals....

Well my natural pessimism might have been misplaced - the club seem to have really galvanised over the winter, a lot (upto £7k so far) new sponsorship on board has allowed us to buy some new equipment and plan for some more in the future. And all four sides have started the season quite well!

As for me, two games in and two fifties on the board! 56 and 58 the past two weeks. Feeling good, carrying off from where I left off last season, slightly annoyed I didn't kick on in either of those knocks and got out as I just got going...

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

My ridiculous run of form continues apace with the bat - followed up the 56 and 58 with a 54 last week, and an 80 (88) this week.

I am seeing it like an absolute beachball at the moment...albeit I was dropped on 1 today (creamed a pull shot, directly to square leg - was a tough catch but should've been taken).

[guildfordbat]

My ridiculous run of form continues apace with the bat - followed up the 56 and 58 with a 54 last week, and an 80 (88) this week.

I am seeing it like an absolute beachball at the moment...albeit I was dropped on 1 today (creamed a pull shot, directly to square leg - was a tough catch but should've been taken).

Hi Olly - I'll say very well done! However, if I get a chance to mention your run of form to Alec Stewart, I'm sure he'll voice frustration that having got so far you haven't gone on to 3 figures.

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