Wrist Spin Legend Joe Thompson

Just for a bit of fun I might start hyping my younger son up as a wrist spin legend. He's got off to a fairly good start he took 9 wickets last summer in one evening against a bunch of us while we were on holiday including one particular kid who was quite handy until he met his match 'Wrist spin legend Joe Thompson'!

He's the little bloke batting in the mast head picture and the one with his hands in his pockets in the B&W picture. On a similar subject Ben the older of the two who's a pace bowler in red in the mast head image is currently looking at schools a year early and I'm looking for a decent school with a cricket team, because he's quite handy as a bowler as well. Maybe they could both play together for Essex at some point in the future? That'd be nice - bit of a dream - but who knows?



24th Oct – Tractor

I came out of the house this morning at 07.45 and straight away could hear a strange rattling noise coming from the field. As I walked past the field I then noticed that they were using a tractor to cut the grass!!! Normally it’s a bloke on a large sit on mini tractor mower with a hover mower type blade, this though was the full monty – big tractor with a massive set of rotary blades like my Ransomes Ajax mower. Potentially that means there could be 2 benefits, if the blades are sharp they’ll damage the grass a lot less and there’s also the benefit that the tractor probably weighs a few ton and will act as a roller in some way? The good news is that they look like they may be looking after the field a lot better this year, but it may also mean that there may be more football on it this winter? Having said that it didn’t get played on last weekend at all – it wasn’t even used for training. At the weekend I’ll go over and have a look how it’s getting on, what it will mean is that the cricket wicket will now almost certainly be cut at the same length as the whole field and may now be invisible, hopefully the markers that I put down will still be there and I’ll be able to locate where the wicket is/was?

Later..... 17.45hrs

This'll be the last time I'll walk across the wicket on the way home in the evenings as the clocks go back this weekend and I'll be walking home in the dark till March now. I had a look at how well the tractor had cut the grass and it's cut the grass surprisingly short, but despite that you can still see where the wicket is/was because the grass is just a different colour (More healthier)? I checked to see if the markers were all still in place and they are. It looks as though the groundsman had been in and re-painted all the white lines for the footballers, so no doubt there's going to be either a match or training on the field? I'll have to wait and see.

I’ve been thinking about this idea with my younger son. I’m liking the idea that if he goes on to play cricket at school and he continues at the current rate that he is the idea that he’s got a blog already written in his honor as such extolling how good he is ties in with that psychological aspect of being a wrist spin bowler. It’s a bit like Shane Warne and the way the press used hype him up before matches. I remember before the last Ashes in the UK there was loads of stuff about whether he could still bowl the flipper as well as he used to and then there was rumors as to whether he had another variation and all this is tied in with people like Richie Benuad saying that it took him 4 years to develop the flipper and use it in a match. The whole mystery thing around wrist spin bowling variations just works on a psychological level against the batsmen. You read threads on the internet about the fact that batsmen like playing against spinners and it’s all about bull**** and the psychological war. Yeah the reason they like playing against spinners is that yeah if they get hold of the ball they do tend to hit it for 4’s and 6’s but as Warne says and no doubt all spinners - it’s a part of a carefully crafted plan and invariably the batsman will come unstuck.

So I’m thinking that if I start now a part of Joe’s plan is that his mates and maybe the opposition will know that he has a reputation as being a massively affective spinner who takes wickets. The whole school by the time he reaches year 5 or 6 will know that he is a wrist spin bowler who wins games, so when he plays cricket he will be the kid that everyone wants on their team and he will be the kid that the opposition fears because he is "Joe Thompson Wrist spin legend" the kid that bowls the Leg Breaks and the wrong one. Maybe I should do it with my older son Ben as well and sell it as The Thompson brothers - bowling legends as Ben’s pretty good too? It’s just that Ben gives an air of indifference about his enthusiasm with the sport whereas Joe does sort of revel in his abilities and I think this summer that will become more evident?

This evening primarily I suspect to stall going to bed they were both into throwing a ball around and catching. Then later Joe had a bit of old cardboard and he was batting. I'm so looking forward to next summer, because it's obvious at their ages another year makes such a big difference to who they are and their physicality. They've both decided that they don't want to go to Cubs anymore and there was a hint of enthusiasm with regards going to cricket? Grays and Chadwell CC (My team) I think have nets and indoor cricket over the winter, so I reckon that Michelle may take them to cricket on Tuesday nights, but I've got to check it out with Neil the captain and see what the situation is? So this coming Tuesday when it's the clubs AGM I'll find out what the score is?