The Paddock 2016?

At the end of last year possibly because of the involvement of the estate association who are looking to improve the estate, the paddock fence was completely removed (See link here for over-view and images) rendering it totally useless virtually. We can't bat on it anymore as 3 sides to the paddock are woods and the balls will just disappear into the trees and be lost at £5 a go. The local kids can't play football in there for the same reason, so they're screwed as well. All of which completely baffles me when - 

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/05/obesity-crisis-projections-uk-2030-men-women 
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/loseweight/Pages/statistics-and-causes-of-the-obesity-epidemic-in-the-UK.aspx

So, the question is do we bother to use it this year and could we use it in any useful way given that there seems to be a massive concerted effort to prevent anyone using it in useful way other than as somewhere they can let their dogs s**t?

I did bowl in there a couple of times for a few minutes having strung the blue scaffold netting between some trees, but the blue nets mesh is so tight it catches the wind too easily. So the answer would be to buy some proper cricket netting. But that would mean we'd have to spend almost 15-20 minutes setting the bloody thing up. One option would be to put a couple of posts in... Dig a couple of big holes and cement two poles in so that we could just go over there and string the net up? Aggro and expense, but possibly worthwhile as we'd at least be able to bowl in there?

That would mean that with the proper cricket net and the blue scaffold net we could practice shots like leg-side paddle sweeps, slog sweeps etc. I'll have to give it some thought as it'll cost me in the region of about £100 and the posts could easily be pulled over and vandalised. 

Double click the image for the supplier of this product. 

What the hell!

What the hell? It was only yesterday, last night in fact I was saying that I was going to give up on my search for drift, because it seems because of my high arm action it just doesn't happen for me. Then today I go out and have a bowl over at the paddock and lo and behold 80% of the balls I bowl drift like crazy! What the hell is that all about?

In fact I think I know, it kind of makes sense, but again it's down to one of those situations where it just takes me an age to learn, because I'm so intent on doing it my way rather than take on board everything I know and tell other people to do! Here's the explanation...

I think this is one of the Old dogs and new tricks scenarios. I bowl in a way that kind of feels right and feels comfortable and for the most part it works for me. Every season I try out different things and generally small aspects of my bowling improve. At the end of last season I was doing okay I'd worked out a run-up that I was happy with and I'd changed my grip to a ridiculously loose one and things were coming together, but one of the things that wasn't happening was drift.

At the end of the season and only yesterday a bloke on the bigcricket spin threads said that I shouldn't be too fussed on the drift thing and just play to my strengths and work with what I've got, and that was how I was going to approach the new season. But already in the last two days I've been thinking about my run up and the approach to the crease because I've got two kind of versions...

1. The faster longer more explosive version which at the moment works well when I combine Flippers with Top-Spinners.

2. A shorter version that works well with leg breaks and top spinners, but so far hasn't felt right, I know I'm not getting side-on and I know I don't get up on the toes and trying to do so feels like a complete mess.

So today I'm having a bowl in the paddock with my 12 year old son (Joe) and it's not going too well.

"Dad, your bowling action through the crease is crap, you're not getting side on, you're not getting up on your toes and you're bowling front on... and your bound is crap". So I say
"Okay I'll try and get side on and up on the toes then and see how it goes"? I do a few run-ins without a ball and it feels weird and wrong. I persevere and it still feels wrong, but what's supposed to be happening is happening. I get a ball and try with a ball. The ball is released and lo and behold it looks like it drifts. Joe's at the other end...

"Did that drift"?

"Yeah loads" And it turned off the crease loads. Next ball up - same thing and again and again. For the next 40 or so balls 80% of them drifted with masses of turn off the wicket!

 

I can only think that it's the side on and getting up on the toes aspect and the fact that someone was there watching and telling me that I was doing it wrong - even though he is only 12 years old!!!

 

Can't say that I believe it'll happen again tomorrow, but in theory if it's the side on and up on the toes that makes the difference, then I'm going to have to work with it - although it feels awkward and difficult. I guess if I go out every day and just keep bowling in that way - getting side on and up on the toes it may start to feel natural? I think in the past I've tried this and have given up simply because it feels wrong and I've lost my accuracy.

 

Paddock maintenance

 

The council cut all the grass today in the paddock and I had a word with the bloke cutting the grass asking him if he'd try and avoid the bits we've seeded and sure enough he did. That then meant I've been able to get on there this morning and cut the back end of the strip at the bowlers end...

(Above looking from the bowlers end).

 (Above) My trusty Ransome Ajax mower circa 1970's

 (Above) From the batting end with the area that's being seeded and repaired.

Paddock update

Over the last week since putting the 2^nd batch of seed down in the paddock and feeding it with nutrients, the weather has been relatively fine. Trees are coming out in blossom, crocuses are out and here and there a few Daffodils are appearing, so spring is on its way. I had a quick look at the paddock on Friday afternoon and it is still very damp and muddy. There’s no sign of any of the seeds germinating yet and I expect it’ll be another week or so yet before any of the shoots appear.

 I think last week I may have mentioned that when I’ve put seed down in the past it always looks as though it hasn’t taken that well and without any additional nutrients being put down, it starts to struggle after an initial promising burst into life. The council have put seed down in the goal-mouths in the paddock and their grass looked a lot better than mine (The stuff put down in October). But on Friday when I had a look my grass has burst back into life again and the council grass is now suffering. My grass got some feed last week and it’s kicked into action already and the October grass is starting to look healthy.

 I’ve not put down any additional seed this week, but next weekend I’ll probably get some put down and I’ll also consider rolling it if it’s not soaked.

Paddock 2014

Here in the UK we've had a drop of rain of late. One year we have droughts, then we have record breaking snow and this year it's been rain. Fortunately for us we're up on a big hill so the rain hasn't been an issue. There's been benefits in fact as it's been mild so our heating bills been low!

The Paddock across the road though has suffered a bit, in the wind and rain and some of the big trees have had branches snapped off, but I reckon if anything it's a good thing as there may be more light in there and the grass will grow better? On the subject of grass, at the end of last year, the batting end of the wicket in the Paddock was in a bit of a mess with the grass being worn away completely. So in late September I bought some seed and planted that to try and repair it. The seeds have taken to some extent, but without any food the grass that has grown is looking a little weedy and pathetic, which is what I expected and the plan was to sow more seeds in Spring.

I was uncertain about when to sew the seeds in spring and was aware that if I was to sew then too early the frosts would possibly kill the new shoots off? What with it being mild I've made a start and put some down last weekend and today I've sewn a bit more. I bought some bone meal and fish nutrients and put that down to encourage a good growth of new grass ready for May and what I'll probably do is sew a little more every week or every fortnight looking to get a really good thick lush growth going? I've top-dressed it all as well with a mixture of clay and compost and all I've got to do is wait and see how it all goes. The weather today was really mild with the temp getting up to 11 degrees so good weather to get out there and do some remedial work.

Last year we also got rid of a load of brambles and trees that were growing up against the fence casting a shadow across the wicket. This afternoon I've finished that off and now 95% of the problem that was there last spring has now gone, so the prospects are good for the whole wicket at the moment. The wicket in general looks as though it's got a half decent growth of grass on it and most of the patchy areas look to have recovered to some extent although I will need to have a look and maybe repair other parts of the wicket. Usually the council don't cut it till almost Easter, but if this mild weather continues they may come round earlier. What I will need to do is get a roller on it at some point and make it flat while it's still wet, but at the moment the grass is far to long to do that, so I'm not sure what I'll do, but as I recall we do normally roll it either very early in March or late Feb.

 The view from the bowlers end, with the fence on the left that I've cleared today.

 The view from the batting end with remnants of a blown down branch and the fence on the rights with some shadow still being cast across the grass and the wicket.

 

The batting end with the area that I'm working on with the seeding and re-establishing some growth.

 The fence from outside looking into the paddock with some of the big branches still evident at the base of the fence.

 The bowling end with a lot of grass, this looks as though a little work will need to be done repairing it, but generally looks okay.

 Another view of the batting end.

Close up of the batting end and the patches I'm trying to repair.

 

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Reflective Practice spin bowling

Coming away from yesterdays knockabout with the 3rds and 4ths at the Rec, there were a couple of things to take away and reflect on and yep, I'll think I'll do this properly and use the Gibbs method.


1. Description; I had to bowl at people that have established records as being competent batsmen with a great deal of experience. In addition these blokes have faced me in net situations before and got the better of me.

2. Feelings; Mixed feelings, on one hand there was the chance that my bowling figures and the chance of being picked next week could be undermined, but on the other hand, my bowling's going well at the moment and there was a chance that I might do okay and in this immediate scenario I'd just taken wickets.

3. Evaluation; The good thing was that I was getting the ball to spin and it was turning off the wicket and I didn't get hit for any sixes and I got a number of dot balls. My run-up and bound all felt good and when the ball came out of the hand feeling right - it did the things that it should have done. The only really bad aspect was that my wrong-un wasn't coming out right most of the time and that cost me runs. If I'd bowled Leg Breaks, I reckon I'd have done a lot better with regards to the runs I conceded.

4. Analysis: I need to be more confident in my abilities and spend some time correcting the things that are not working. Perhaps also recognise after a couple of variations that go wrong, perhaps go back to the stock ball and vary that in some way.

5. Conclusion; Bowl to my strengths and stop bowling the variations if they go wrong 2-3 times.

6. Action Plan; Get out on the paddock and work on the wrong-un and maybe one other variation. The plan this year is to have the Flipper working as well.

Paddock Today

This afternoon I wasn't intending on practicing with any intensity, but was hoping to mow the paddock with a view to using it some time in the week. Just as I was finishing it off, one of my mates Thomas Slater (One of the original MPA 1st XI players) came by and joined me, looking to have a knock about in the sun. So that was it, all the plans to take it easy were dropped and I got to bowl at him.

Historically being a left-hander I've always struggled to bowl against him, in addition he's athletic, agile and got very good eye/bat/ball coordination. But today I had no problem and I think this is just a case of I am a better bowler for several reasons and I reckon the main one is the intro of the bound and the incorporation of some of the things that Stuart Macgill has mentioned to me, the key one being the leg coming through. I also had the chance to try bowling some wrong uns and get some practice in with them and playing around bowling to a plan. The good thing was that he adapted and changed his strategies in accordance to what he thought I was doing. The mainstay of his approach was that he moves his feet a lot and was prepared to leave his crease and meet the ball at the point that it pitched. There were a number of different ways I managed to over-come that - Flippers, wrong-uns and Leg Breaks with more spin bowled shorter with loads of dip. The difficult part was recognising from 22 yards away whether he was in his crease or out of it. But overall it was a very useful bowling session in that I was bowling to a LH bat and one that a couple of years ago used to massacre my bowling and this time around the boot was very much on the other foot.

But I still need to work with the wrong un, getting it to come out right first ball up, because when it does come out right it turns very well off the wicket. What I did notice was, it works better with a really relaxed grip, so that's something I need to keep in mind. I also tried bowling the wrong - wrong un, one of Clarrie Grimmetts obscure variations and that was coming out pretty well and I may work with that as it seems to come out better than the conventional flipper which I have been struggling with.











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Homework - Gibbs reflective practice

Cricket Homework

So, in the manner of professionals across all sorts professions and disciplines that require reflection in order to force and encourage improvement I've done a couple of things.

1. Peer review; I had a practice in the paddock last night and went about it in a particular way. I didn't warm up with a pre-bowl, I just went straight in as though the captain and had thrown me the ball in a game and said "It's your spell now". I bowled 75 balls one after another and video'd it - the good, bad and the ugly. I then edited only the walking back to my mark sequence and then uploaded the vid over night to Youtube and here it is...

In less than 24 hours I've had a number of responses to it, some of which is very insightful. I've also just loaded it up to my Google + page and asked for Stuart Macgill to have a look at and comment on it with the idea that he may be able to give me some additional advice or tips.

2. Reflective practice; This is where you look at what you do, how you do it and analyse if there are ways in which you can make improvements. I use this at work in a couple of situations. I have to reflect on what I do as a part of my professional development and practice and like many people do this in a formal way at least once a year. But I also do it in a less formal way and use it more frequently to review my practice at key points in the year in my job as a photography lecturer. But I also use it in conjunction with the students work. I and my colleagues get them to use this model to review their own work at key stages and it actually works.

The model we use is the Gibbs model...

How it's used...

Simply write up the headings starting at the top and work round the headings writing up a response. A few sentences is usually sufficient, but different people approach it in slightly different ways...

Description What happened?

Having prepared the paddock, I took the opportunity to have a bowl. I decided to not warm up with an over or two, but went straight into it bowling 75 balls one after another with no rest. This was to test how fit I am and whether I've got any stamina at 52 years old.

Feelings What were you thinking and feeling?

I was relatively positive, because I've been doing a little exercise here at home and I feel relatively fit and healthy and the bowling I did in the winter nets wasn't that bad. In addition towards the end of last season, I'd begun to tie down how it was I was going to run-up and approach the crease.

Evaluation What was good and bad about the experience?

Good aspects included the fact that I didn't get that tired. Others included the fact that my wrong-un comes out well and looks to be fairly accurate and consistent. Another is that my arm seems to be coming over at speed, with a lot more energy than the last couple of years and yet there are no indications that I'm straining the my shoulder. Bad, included the first 6 balls were very messy and a high proportion of the balls went leg-side throughout the 75 deliveries. Reading the feedback on Youtube, one of the things I am doing which is a negative aspect is that I'm not running in straight and therefore the energy is not being 100% directed at the target.

Analysis What sense can you make of the situation?

In comparison with last year at this time, there's a considerable difference and it appears that the recommendations that people have made through reviewing my videos has made a difference for the better. There have been people that have said at different times that I try and do too many things in these training sessions and that I should focus on one or two aspects that my have an affect that is positive.

Conclusion What else could you have done?

 Maybe get in the zone slightly more and bowl with more focus, without getting wound up and tense. I could have had a wicket keeper or someone look at the bowling and feeding back there an then, but only Joe would do that and he's a bit young to keep to me at this stage.

Action Plan If it arose again what would you do?

In the next session I'm going to put a target down which wont get knocked out of the way if the balls hit it and I'm going focus on the following aspects...

1. Out of the bound land with the foot side-ways to get the body side-on.
2. Have the leg coming through rather than swining around the pivot foot.
3. Regulate the length of the run-in by putting a marker down and work on trying to keep everything straight going towards the target.

Hopefully I'll get this done tomorrow night.

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Check out my other blog here - this is all about Leg-spin bowling and nothing else. Double click on the image below.

 

 

Paddock 2013

The Paddock 2013

Last years attempts to get the paddock fence came to nothing. At one point there was a discussion around the possibility of a metal fence being put round it, but in the end we didn't even get a small part of the fence repaired just so that balls didn't end up in the road. In the end I was asking for just the section along the road to be repaired and the bloke who I was liasing with at the council just chose to ignore me in the end.

I did notice though that in the last few months or so the council have been in there and filled in a big hole left by the removal of a big old willow tree, so maybe as the weather improves more might be done? In the meantime I've tracked down one of the main blokes at the council who offered me a lot of help and support several years ago on the basis that I was encouraging grass roots cricket. By my reckoning, since then, I've been integral to introducing several of the players in the U15 and U13's at B&PCC to the sport... Kieran Barbaro, Oliver Bybuke, Harry Hodgson, Mathew Cruse and my own sons Ben and Joe. The paddock has been an integral part of that process. Furthemore, possibly because of the access to such practicing facilities, Kieran, Ben and Harry have all won awards for bowling and fielding at the club and I reckon that if Oliver Bybuke was to start playing in games he'd make his mark within a season and would go on to win awards too?

At the end of last summer though, what with the fence coming down a couple of dog owners took using the cut strip to run their dogs back and forth up the length of the wicket. Throwing the ball along the length of the wicket their Staffordshire Bull terriers would run down the wicket and then skid at the end ripping the grass to shreds, running back to their owners. This over a couple of months runied the bowling area and despite asking the people not to do it and pointing out that I maintain the flat smooth area of grass, didn't seem to make any difference. Footballers; I can't do much about them as the area is for sport and they're entitled to be in there as much as us, but in November after some serious rain, a bunch of 17-18 year olds - 10 of them, played football in there for 2 or 3 hours and trashed it.

So it's a mess and I'm not sure whether I'm going to bother this year, especially if the dog owners are in there again. I'll try and get in touch with the main man at the council and see if he's able to help us out and if there is something that he can do for us I may give it a go and try and get it back to a usable state. I need to make a decision quick though as I need to get grass seed down and therefore need to buy some.



 From the bowlers end. The shadow cast from the bushes on the left-hand side is beginning to reduce the light and therefore affecting the ability of the grass to grow and re-grow. They really need to come down.

 This is the fence along the road-side which needs to be replaced.

This is the earth I put down at the end of the summer trying to flatten out the batting area, this is in desperate need of seeding.

General update 51 days to go

Just back from another training session at James Hornsby school. Ben did really well batting. They had the Bola machine set at 55mph for most of the time he was there and I think they speeded it up to 60mph for one or two of them and he coped with it for most of the time. He seemed to be following their instructions to step out towards the ball and he was playing the ball with a straight bat in the way that Frank McLeod showed him last summer which was good to see. He needs this if he's going to secure a place in this team (U15's) as there's a lot of competition for the places in the first XI as such, especially with regards to the specialist bowlers, it may turn out that it's simply not good enough just to be able to bowl. Fielding might be taken into consideration and is always something I like to see e.g. full committment to fielding and I'd want to see Ben making 100% effort with regards stopping the ball in the field and chasing the ball down, but the ability to get 10 or more runs on the board on average each week might make a massive difference in the games. So a good start by Ben this early in the year. The main thing is that he came away having enjoyed it. My only worry is that it is a psychological thing and when confronted with a real ball and the additaional human variation factor, he may not do so well?

U13's weren't that well presented with only Harry there in attendance, and Joe watching. No sign of Stevie this year as yet. There was some confirmation that Ryan G-Mans son was playing for another team this season and there was some speculation that Killer Barnes might not be playing this year?

Joe update.

Joe's on 51 days to go now, but I've got a feeling I was being a little pessimistic with that schedule. I seems to recall that if he was on track and if it hadn't been for the slip in the ice he'd only be looking at 3 weeks now before some sense of normality could return. This week coming... Friday he's got another visit to the fracture clinic (4.30) and prior to it 5.15 he's got a physio session. I think the main emphasis of the fracture clinic observations is the wound (Stiches/pin removal wound) rather than the bone, so I don't expect that they'll be taking more Xrays. But it'll be interesting to see what they say with regards what he can and can't do and any update on when he can return to normal activities. But overall things are going well, the treatment clinic change the dressing on a 2-3 times a week basis and check the wound and we re-dress it on a daily basis removing everything except for the Steri-strips.

Limp and movement-wise, Joe's getting on well, today he was running from the car to the hall because it was raining and cold and when you watch him and he's unaware he does tend to walk fairly well and looks 65% okay, with only a bit of a limp. I'm quietly confident that by the end of the season/summer the limp with have gone and if I'm really optimistic I wouldn't be surprised if the limp was gone by the end of April. A lot of this is down to the weather though. If we have an early spring and the weather is conducive with getting out there and doing stuff, I'm sure that the increase in activities and sport will simply mean the muscles will develop quickly and normailty will resume. The bad weather holds everything back - me included.

Dave update.

As yet my training plans and schedule are still behind where I'd like them to be. During the week I'm just exhausted by the time I get in and as a partial sufferer of SAD syndrome, I can't motivate myself to do stuff when it's dark. I'm enthused by seeing the gradual return to summer and every evening getting on the train seeing more light in the sky. A couple of mornings ago the sun was up when I went to work and today I've seen a Black Headed Gull with its spring plummage (Chocolate Brown Head)

Which is a good indicator that summer is on its way.

But when I have been enthused I've been working on my deltoids as they were a problem and core strength and flexibility drills. Stretching and planks mostly with some yoga moves thrown in. I have noticed though in the stretches, my knees creek like hell which doesn't sound good at all, so I've been massaging my knees as well. What I really need to do is get a little sequence of exercises and stretches put together so that I can just do a regular sequences every day, rather than a mixture with something here and something there as I am at the minute. The other thing I need to do having seen on the news that people like Andrew Marr have keeled over with a stroke and he's only the same age as me and you'd imagine he'd be one of those types that would have been down the gym at least once a day? So I should be doing cardio-vascular stuff too. The CV stuff doesn't appeal to me at all, but really it is something I should be doing. What I have done though which I think I am seeing the benefit of is the reduction in meal sizes and the avoidance of fat in my diet. I've reduced the amount of chocolate that I eat and I need to maintain this.

At the training session I had a bit of a bowl, to see if it would affect my foot as I'm suffering from metatarsalgia, and the good news was that I seem to have come through that quick session okay. The work that I've been doing on my deltoids seems to have paid off as I'm not suffering from any pain there, it does feel like they've had a bit of a workout, but not like they've been over-loaded, so that's good news and encouraging from a point of view where I feel more inclined to continue with the exercises. This here is the one that I'm using at the minute as it only requires working with your own body weight. Hopefully if it all goes well, I'll move up to something a bit more demanding and resume doing handstands.

The Paddock

I've yet to mention the paddock as far as I can recall this year as the weather has been so bad, I may have mentioned it a month or so ago as a group of youths all about 17-18 years old went over there a few times all wearing football boots. The paddock is as wide as it is long, it's tiny 80' x 80' maybe and there was about 8-10 of these blokes and they played football in there for about 2-3 hours. I couldn't look after they'd finished, the impact of so many blokes in such a small area would have been devastating, so I've no idea whether it's recovered or not. I know from my own garden, that the weather in the last couple of weeks has been in excess of 4 degrees centrigrade and therefore the grass has been growing. But it has been raining and the drainage is poor in there, the upside of that is, it's so wet you can't play football in there, but at the same time it makes it difficult to maintain the grass. I may have a look at the end of Feb or over half term, I think I usually get in there with a roller during Feb, to give it a flattening. I need to clear some bushes as well as they're shading the grass which is never a good thing, so there is some work to do.




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