This is quite satisfying - people have said I put a lot of time effort into producing this Blog, I'm not one for watching a lot of tele and I've always kept a diary so it's kind of substituted the diary writing. But it's nice to have recognition from someone outside of our circle of friends and this has come from Harrowdrives David Hinchcliffe who's listed us (Probably not in order but I'm going sell it like that)! as a blog that makes you think. http://www.harrowdrive.com/blogs-that-make-you-think/ and he's got us down at No3 in his list! Which is nice.
Tomorrow (In fact today as it's 00.53 I've just finished watching the highlights of the world cup) we've got an impromptu practice session on the grass (Thomas's idea) and there's a few of us turning up.....
Rod, Simon, Badger, Thomas and me it seems are dead certs with the possibility of Naughty & Trevor? I've checked my wicket and it's pretty dry despite the fact that in Southend we had rain, it seems Basildon missed out on the rain, so if there's no football being played there we may end up there. Hopefully we'll be at 'Great Berry Open Space' which is a much larger field and we'll be able to play out in the middle and let loose with the batting? I did check to see how flat it is a couple of weeks back and it wasn't too bad, I'll have a look early and see how long the grass is, but again this field is fairly well looked after so it should be okay.
We'll treat the practice like a game and throw overs and having running between the stumps and we'll look at all the aspects I discussed yesterday and I'll try and keep a tally on the run rates and bowling stats so we can build up an idea of how we're doing. I'm looking forward to it and I think most of the others are too. I'll report back tomorrow with all the results and how it goes, just hope the weather holds out for us.
If Alex doesn't turn up we should all come away injury free as well.
Practicing on concrete
I've bought a new ball today, I've been looking for a ball that's cricket size and around the same weight but plastic so you can practice in the street on tarmac or concrete (tennis courts/playgrounds etc). I've found the perfect ball - Practice Hockey Balls - they weigh 5.5oz the same as a cricket ball and they're the same size so ideal for throwing/bowling practice. They've got a little bit of bounce in them and they slightly soft with a little give so they are quite similar to a cricket ball. Without any seam on them it means (In my case) I've got to really make them spin in order to get any turn on the ball so they're especially good for that as it means when I then transfer to cricket balls and grass I become Shane Warneesque in my abilities! So now at lunch at work I can get outside round the back of the college and throw some balls - there's a nice corner there and a straight run up just enough for a spin bowler.If you're interested you can get them at JJB sports I've thrown the packaging away but I'm almost certain they were made by Gunn and Moore and they're £5.00I've been talking to some of the Sports Science blokes trying to get a sense of how up for this they are and I'm beginning to get a picture of their team as previously mentioned. But I'm also getting that feeling that they are of the school of thought that -
'It's the taking part that's important and not the winning' and all that liberal inclusivity crap that dictates that everyone can be a part of the team irrespective of how crap they are so as not to hurt anyone's feelings garbage.
Whereas we are in it to decimate the opposition at almost any cost as long as it is fair. So it looks like we're going to win all three matches!
Anyway cming home on the train tonight I picked up a paper and read the cricket news leading up to the world cup and there was an interesting article by some bloke called Bob Williams.
The gist of it is that the England team beat Australia by playing good old fashioned English one day cricket. Which means they ignored the power play period where most teams put in their Gilchrists and Chris Gayles and look to smash the ball over the ropes and instead went for a more measured approach looking to put down a solid foundation. The plan according to this bloke will be that England will play Vaughn, Bell and Ed Joyce to create a solid platform and then release Pieterson and Flintoff further down the order. Jamie Dlarymple commented on the tactic "You can't get away from good basics". I like the sounds of this - what do the rest of you all think with regards adopting the same approach when we play?
Next Practice Session
Ever the optimist I'm of the impression that the next practice will see our biggest turn out so far - Me, Simon, Mark, Alex, Badger, Naughty, Richard, Rod, Thomas, Trevor seem almost dead certs and then there's the chance that Tom may turn up and Carl Hodgson? The first ten in the list seem to be our ten regulars that have almost certainly cemented their places within the team, leaving only one regular place to be taken - Tom maybe? Anyway what I'm getting round to is I want to try and focus peoples attention on their bowling and I've created a bowling evaluation/score sheet that I certainly am going to use to self assess my own bowling in order that I can track my progress. The same sheet then also doubles up as stats record in the event that we eventually start to play a game with 2 sides in the practice sessions - which fingers crossed and with new bloke Trevor is going to be a possibility this coming session?
Tomorrow (In fact today as it's 00.53 I've just finished watching the highlights of the world cup) we've got an impromptu practice session on the grass (Thomas's idea) and there's a few of us turning up.....
Rod, Simon, Badger, Thomas and me it seems are dead certs with the possibility of Naughty & Trevor? I've checked my wicket and it's pretty dry despite the fact that in Southend we had rain, it seems Basildon missed out on the rain, so if there's no football being played there we may end up there. Hopefully we'll be at 'Great Berry Open Space' which is a much larger field and we'll be able to play out in the middle and let loose with the batting? I did check to see how flat it is a couple of weeks back and it wasn't too bad, I'll have a look early and see how long the grass is, but again this field is fairly well looked after so it should be okay.
We'll treat the practice like a game and throw overs and having running between the stumps and we'll look at all the aspects I discussed yesterday and I'll try and keep a tally on the run rates and bowling stats so we can build up an idea of how we're doing. I'm looking forward to it and I think most of the others are too. I'll report back tomorrow with all the results and how it goes, just hope the weather holds out for us.
If Alex doesn't turn up we should all come away injury free as well.
Practicing on concrete
I've bought a new ball today, I've been looking for a ball that's cricket size and around the same weight but plastic so you can practice in the street on tarmac or concrete (tennis courts/playgrounds etc). I've found the perfect ball - Practice Hockey Balls - they weigh 5.5oz the same as a cricket ball and they're the same size so ideal for throwing/bowling practice. They've got a little bit of bounce in them and they slightly soft with a little give so they are quite similar to a cricket ball. Without any seam on them it means (In my case) I've got to really make them spin in order to get any turn on the ball so they're especially good for that as it means when I then transfer to cricket balls and grass I become Shane Warneesque in my abilities! So now at lunch at work I can get outside round the back of the college and throw some balls - there's a nice corner there and a straight run up just enough for a spin bowler.If you're interested you can get them at JJB sports I've thrown the packaging away but I'm almost certain they were made by Gunn and Moore and they're £5.00I've been talking to some of the Sports Science blokes trying to get a sense of how up for this they are and I'm beginning to get a picture of their team as previously mentioned. But I'm also getting that feeling that they are of the school of thought that -
'It's the taking part that's important and not the winning' and all that liberal inclusivity crap that dictates that everyone can be a part of the team irrespective of how crap they are so as not to hurt anyone's feelings garbage.
Whereas we are in it to decimate the opposition at almost any cost as long as it is fair. So it looks like we're going to win all three matches!
Anyway cming home on the train tonight I picked up a paper and read the cricket news leading up to the world cup and there was an interesting article by some bloke called Bob Williams.
The gist of it is that the England team beat Australia by playing good old fashioned English one day cricket. Which means they ignored the power play period where most teams put in their Gilchrists and Chris Gayles and look to smash the ball over the ropes and instead went for a more measured approach looking to put down a solid foundation. The plan according to this bloke will be that England will play Vaughn, Bell and Ed Joyce to create a solid platform and then release Pieterson and Flintoff further down the order. Jamie Dlarymple commented on the tactic "You can't get away from good basics". I like the sounds of this - what do the rest of you all think with regards adopting the same approach when we play?
Next Practice Session
Ever the optimist I'm of the impression that the next practice will see our biggest turn out so far - Me, Simon, Mark, Alex, Badger, Naughty, Richard, Rod, Thomas, Trevor seem almost dead certs and then there's the chance that Tom may turn up and Carl Hodgson? The first ten in the list seem to be our ten regulars that have almost certainly cemented their places within the team, leaving only one regular place to be taken - Tom maybe? Anyway what I'm getting round to is I want to try and focus peoples attention on their bowling and I've created a bowling evaluation/score sheet that I certainly am going to use to self assess my own bowling in order that I can track my progress. The same sheet then also doubles up as stats record in the event that we eventually start to play a game with 2 sides in the practice sessions - which fingers crossed and with new bloke Trevor is going to be a possibility this coming session?
I strongly believe that you can give everyone a game and still not comprimise on performance, it just takes a canny captain.
ReplyDeleteI discuss it here: Is it more important to take part or to win?
I can see your point in the example that you've highlighted there and that seems fair enough. Fortunately I realise that I'm not the man for the job and our Captain and vice Captain Alex and Simon (Especially Simon) would take a completely different line to me and seemingly so do the Sport Science team who are our opponents. I put my hands up to being no good at managing people and I'm glad that I'm not the captain. But it's me that counts the runs and wickets being taken and it's me that is acutely aware of the fact that being the leg spin bowler there's a chance that I might be expensive when it comes to having runs scored off my overs. I want to be a key part of the team and I want to justify my place within the team and as far as I'm concerned that's a case of it being proven on merit. So I will be at all the practices, I will be putting in the time in private to become more accurate and consistent, I will be doing fitness exercises because I want to have a place in that first eleven. As far as I'm concerned I can't just assume that I'm going to be selected because I want to be in the team? Surely I must earn my place in the team? It’s like being at school again – come the next practice session when we have a 6 aside match I don’t want to be selected as the 6th man like the fat kid!
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the team profile I’ve got myself down as the 11th man, I’m crap at batting, but you bet if I can get my bowling to a level that I’m happy with that’ll be the next thing I’ll be working on and any advice I can take off of people I will gladly do so as I’d like to be up there in the top order and be the leg spin bowler that takes wickets, I can’t assume my place is safe?