Views of the blog are up at the minute with the number being recorded at 18084 at the moment, it looks as though I get about 50 hits a day?
Anyway the foot - yes it's still painful in the morning but arming up exercises do help with it, both first thing in the morning and then if do any sport. It's not too much of an issue with my bowling it seems but general running around at the minute is hindered and I can't run as fast as I could last year. I'm considering going to see a proper sports physio on Thursday and driving all the way up to Saffron Walden to do so and get some professional advice. I kind of know what she might say but I need someone like that to say it otherwise I'm running the risk of doing myself even more damage.
Today I've had a knock about with my kids at the Rec and didn't warm up that well and sure enough it's been pretty painful since coming back from the game.
Mucking about with the kids I bowled leg breaks and back-spinning Flippers, the flipper needs some work but wasn't that bad - seems fairly accurate and effective if I bowl it a bit slower than full pelt, bowled fast it seems as though I tend to bowl crap lines with it. Bowling against Ben my older son (He hit me for 6 today e.g. through the V and over the fence at the place we play for the first time he was well chuffed) I found that there maybe some mileage at bowling the flipper round the wicket from a wide position and bowling it at the legs, so I may give that a go at the Nets on Monday?
Another thing I tried today was something I read about or heard a commentator talking about in the last week which was that both Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke sometimes are heard to be saying to themselves 'Watch the ball, watch the ball, watch the ball' as the bowler approaches. I'm dogshit useless at batting and both my sons over the last couple of years have bowled me again and again with relative ease. Just of late though I've improved against them, whereas my expectation was that as they got older they'd probably be able to bowl me with increasing ease? So today I tried the Ricky Ponting thing and sure enough I got the ball on the bat 100% of the time I did it. Whether that might transfer to a net session against a bunch of half decent bowlers is another matter?
Paddock News
Again all week it's either been freezing cold and cloudy or drizzle mixed with sleet. There's been a couple of snow flurries too. The net result is that the Paddock is still saturated with water and the grass isn't growing at all and again I'm tempted to get the roller out and give it a going over? I'm off for a week so I may do it in the week sometime - possibly Monday. Again as per usual the damage looks to be caused by a big dog all down one side of the wicket (Off-side). If I roll it I'll blog the outcome as you'd expect.
http://www.iog.org/technical/downloads/cricketpitchmaint.pdf This article suggests that rolling might get started in February and suggests a light rolling. As my roller can only be described as light this gives me more incentive to give it a go?
