Eventually the rain came this morning after an amazing sunny Sunday where I even had my shirt off bowling on the field. Still sticking with the Leg Breaks but after the realisation that a place on the team was no longer a foregone conclusion the landscape as such looked bleak. So in part it was a day of contemplation and the bowling without any real raison detre trailed off a bit enthusiasm-wise. By the end of the day I'd evaluated the situation a looked across this new bleak and ruthless G&CCC and thought - Yeah I'm up for a fight for a place on the team. If it now takes 10 -15 hours a week training to make an impression then so be it. So maybe I'll get an hour in each day before work once the light is bright enough and it's not too wet? That'll give me an extra 5 hours.
Anyway tonight. After a superb weekend it's rained all day today and it was looking as though Ben and Joe's first outdoor training session might be called off. Michelle rung the man and he said 'If it's not actually raining - it's on'. So as soon as I got home from work I had my dinner and got them sorted and made our way to Mopsies Park.
The main feature of the night was loads of new kids. It looked as though 60% of the kids were new, kids that would need training as to how to bat, bowl and field. I was concerned before I came out whether Ben and Joe would be up for it. We've just come out of 2 weeks of school holidays where the weather for Easter (Especially the 2nd half) was excellent - dry, warm and for the most part sunny. I'd have though that given the fact that they were about to start training on a field Ben and Joe might have jumped at the opportunity to play cricket over the holiday? But they didn't and I had to be careful not to be to persistant with my requests that they play cricket or practice their skills. In the end they practiced at the start 2 or 3 times and played a game with the other kids on the estate once. So come tonight when I asked them to get ready for cricket Ben had already come up with 'I've got headache and a fever - I don't want to go' and Joe was just lethargic and looking for an easier option than cricket - like sleep. So I said to Joe 'You're coming because you're like me - you just can't get started - but once you're there you'll love it', and he agreed. Then once he started getting his whites on Ben for some reason sensed he might be about to miss out on something and said 'I'm coming Dad'.
So on a spitting rainy day with a slate grey backdrop of clouds threatening to tip down any second we turned up. They did some drills and then played a match where they were partnered by wicket keeper Jodie. Again of all the kids both of them looked particularly good with their actions, Ben with his new 'Super Dave' action and Joe with his loopy Leg Breaks. Both of them struggled a bit as they were using Windballs over a short distance whereas they've been using 4-1/4 ounce cricket balls over 17 yards recently so the difference had them flummoxed a bit to start but then they got into it. Both of them threw 3 x 5 ball overs (I think) and Joe took 2 for 6.
Both of them followed in the Thompson tradition of not being able to bat and were both dismissed cheaply! Once they'd batted there was a young bloke on the outfield that then went through their bowling with them which is good as they take a lot more notice of other people than me. The bloke had asked Joe what he bowled and Joe had said.....
"I bowl Spin".
"What kind of Spin"?
"Leg Spin".
"How do hold the ball"?
"Across the seam like this"....... And away he went with the bloke suggesting that he adpated his finger positions slightly. It'll be interesting to see if Joe follows this up? The bloke also had a look at Ben's bowling and got him bowling at another kid. The net result of all this was that whereas I was thinking this looks like it's all going downhill as far as their cricket futures were concerned, they came away refreshed and excited and gagging to do more! That's what I pay my money for, so I was more than pleased. Well done B&PCC!
But the main thing was th
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