Chris - you've got the place as the 11th man. I'll try and call your Dad at some point before 11.00 tomorrow and speak to him and make sure this is okay.
If you can either you or your Dad ring me or text me on 07708 416012 before 11.00 to confirm that you'll be able to play Sunday. If possible could you and both your mates also attend the net practice at 11.00 at James Hornsby school as I'd like the rest of the team to meet you them and see you all bowl - not that I want to put any pressure on you - but you might end up being our opening bowler!
Ideally your other mates could come along to the match as well as we need a 12th man and they both look equally as good as you.
What we'll do in the short term is not charge you or your mates for the net practice session this Saturday, but we'll expect you to pay the fiver for the match on Sunday. We'll be able to offer you another guaranteed match on Friday June 1st - 20/20 match 5.30 start at Welstead Gardens.
There after our usual 11th man is back off holiday. This then poses a problem in that we'd really like all three of you on the team, but the team is made up of blokes that have been practicing (And paying subs) since last November and therefore by virtue of commitment to the club they've guaranteed their places in the first 11 throughout the rest of the season. That means all three of you would be additional members and this season you'd only get a knock in the event that one of the regular 11 couldn't make a match.
I can only suggest that if you are interested in joining us you'd have to start paying and turning up for all of the practice sessions (After June 1st) in the same way as we all do and all three of you would be competing for any vacancies that arise this season. You'd get the place by virtue of attendance at the formal practice sessions and in the event of you all being equally committed we'd then have to rotate you.
The good news for the winter and next season is that 2 of our players are going on round the world trips for a year and therefore there'd be two regular places vacant as from August/Sept time this year.
As off Mid October we might have to look at the way team selection is conducted e.g. do people get to play the matches next summer by virtue of committment to the club (Attendance at the practice sessions) only or could there be some kind of attendance plus skills and abilities factor included? Mulling it over I'm inclined to stick with the current situation - but make it clear that we start afresh mid October - so you'll be prioritised by virtue of attendance. Everybody will be clear what the rule is - the more you attend the more you'll get a game in the summer.
1 Day to go.............
As you can see we still haven't got a full team and there's going to be some desperate phone calls made tomorrow trying to get the 11th and 12th man sorted. It did look like we wouldn't have an umpire as our umpire has had an emergency to deal with this weekend, but Alex's Dad has offered which is brilliant - so thanks Mr Wood (Who I know looks in on the blog sometimes)!
The weather looks like it might hold out so we're keeping our fingers crossed.
Tomorrow the attendance at the nets isn't going to be that good as most of the Southend contingent can't make it because of car issues - which is worrying as they're going to be going straight into a confrontational situation without any recent practice. Hopefully we'll have ....
The 3 Great Berry lads
Nakul
Me (Dave)
Thomas
Alex
Mark
Badger
Hopefully no-one will get injured and we'll be ready to face the Aussies & Kiwis. I'll have the shirts so don't forget £5 for a shirt and £5 for the practice session.
Alex will also have the batting order sorted and strategies.
Personally seeing how good the three Great Berry Lads are I feel we've got an uphill task ahead of us. It could be that this team has been playing every weekend and we're under the impression that they've already existed as a team for 2 seasons - so they may be a bit handy? But then again they might be a team of sloggers that do very little in the way of practicing with their bowling? In which case we're in with a shout as I think we can bowl and if they're looking to knock every ball for six they're going to come unstuck. Then if their bowling is weak we might be able to notch up some runs.
I can't wait and I'm sure you're all like me and you've got targets you want to achieve. I'll be happy to get 25 runs - hoping that everyone else does the same and we score at least 275. If I get the chance to bowl I want to take at least one wicket and if I got 2 I'd be well pleased if they came cheap. I'm going to be fully committed trying to limit runs, trying to catch balls and being an integral part of the fielding - I want to be our Collingwood in the field and Shane Warne when I'm bowling and batting.
Lets do this thing!
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