Blimey that was tough!
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| South Essex District Cricket Board U15's Garons Park, Southend |
Joe got his first chance today to play in the district side and it was a bit of a Baptism of fire. The standard of the cricket was good - very good and I think Joe was a little over-awed with it and nervous. That combined with the fact that he bowled into a very stiff westerly wind he didn't do too well and was quickly taken out of the attack after only two overs. But, he has only just turned 14 in the last 2 weeks and I'm pretty certain that a lot of these boys in this team are probably in their last season this year as U15's and will be moving on?
The two opening bowlers who both had Darren Gough physiques were very impressive, one was the captain (back row 3rd from right) and the other the bloke on the far right of the front row. Fast and accurate and very quick, alert, organised and generally exceptionally good players. But, I think that comes partly as a result of being that bit older and therefore more confident and instinctively wanting to compete at a different level. I noticed with my other son as he went from being 14 through to 16, the process of developing across those two years was dramatic with regards to commitment, speed, agility, strength, power and aggression - all of the things required to perform at the level seen in this match today. So, where today for Joe it was all a bit new and over-whelming, although he says he wasn't, I think by next season, he'll be that bit more up for it with a different level of confidence and if he grows anymore (Which he should do) he'll no doubt be on par with the performance some of these lads put in today.
Although todays game was a loss, one of the positives that came out of it was that Joe's bowling was looked at by the coach and he said that Joe bowls with a slightly angled arm and has suggested that I video his bowling action and get him to look at it. He said that once Joe sees what it is that he's doing he can work to correct it - bowl with a vertical arm and video the bowling action to see if it's been rectified.
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