By the time we set out the rain had started – light and spitting, so it was still okay, but we needed it to not get any worse. Fortunately both venues which are about 5 miles apart survived through to the end of both matches with the rain staying very light throughout the morning. Ben’s match (U13’s) was won. The Horndon boys scored something in the region of 93 for 3 (You’d be advised to look at the website to see the real results as I’m getting this 2nd hand). Ben bowled three overs and didn’t take any wickets and wasn’t required to bowl until quite some way into the game. B&PCC then batted their way to victory with a couple of overs to spare with one of the openers Regan Meade having to retire as he scored another + 25 runs. So that means that that they have now won 4 of the six matches they’ve played, it’ll be interesting to see how the ‘Core’ team do for the rest of the season as Horndon was seen to be one of the better teams alongside Wickford and Orsett who are still to come.
Meanwhile the U11’s run of wins came to an end. Our lads fielded first and did quite well, very few wides and no-balls. Their fielding was good, with very few mistakes being made, but the Horndon U11’s were good batsmen and for the most part kept their wickets and run well between the wickets. The last pair across their 4 overs, got their score up from 50+ to 90+ with a good display of batting and running. This left our lads with a lot to do and they fell short of the target they needed.
Joe’s bowling was okay, I couldn’t see from where I was whether he was turning it, but his last ball he assures me he put spin on it for a Leg Break and it turned. So maybe that’ll generate some enthusiasm for trying to spin it again? Other than that he bowled a couple that he went up for LBW and the first one that everyone else went up for as well was turned down and the second one, that only Joe went up for, he reckons the umpire gave the kid the finger in what Joe says was a bit indecisive and no-one noticed, so I’ll have to have a look at the video footage on that at a later date. Batting-wise Joe hit a decent four back of square leg with sweeping legside shot that went all the way to the boundary despite a fielder getting something on it and slowing it down and he was well chuffed with that, as it was his first ever 4.
It was good to see Frank Farrington bowling his Leg-spin despite being pulverised in one of the matches we missed out on over the last couple of weekends while we were in Spain. This demonstrates that Franks got the constitution to deal with the down-side of Wrist-Spinning when it goes Pear-shaped. The other good thing was that at the match he was spinning the ball up against a wall and watching him it’s obvious that he’s got the correct wrist action and he gets the ball spinning with differing degrees of over-spin
Then today Ben had another match after school against Hutton. I only have his account of it again, but it seemed that they felt that they did well in restricting them to 88 runs off of 16 overs. I’ve no idea of how many wickets they took, but Ben didn’t take any, but mentioned a slow bowler who was just bowling straight took most of the wickets. Ben was the captain again which is good, as it’s something I’d never have done as a kid, as I would never been encouraged to do so by my parents. The lost by 12 runs, but Ben had himself batting at No.8 and he scored 12 runs and in doing so set a family record for a proper cricket game. I think my highest score is 11, scored in the my first ever game. Ben hit 2 x fours, both leg-side sweeping shots, a 2 and a couple of singles, so now I’ve got to find some way of beating him and setting him a new target or better still Joe needs to step up to the plate and score 13 or more! The frustrating thing is I’d like to be able to bat and I’m constantly asking them to bowl to me so that I can practice and its very rare that they take me up on the offer. Just to be able to score 10 runs every now and then would be nice, but I’m just useless and it’s difficult for people to understand that if you don’t bat it’s nigh on impossible to just get the bat on the ball and score runs. I had a game recently and Reg Reynolds was umpiring and was trying to encourage me to hit the ball, I was listening and trying to take on board what he was saying but converting the advice into strokes that would get 2 or more runs, is like me trying to get him or others to walk around on their hands. I can do hand-stands they’re easy and whilst some people perceive it’s a strength thing it’s not, its balance, core strength, flexibility and a little strength in the wrists and arms. But even though I perceive that it’s easy, I know most people can’t do it. The same with skateboarding and surfing…… easy, but some people can’t even find the central balancing point on a surfboard, so whereas I’m good at balance stuff, it seems I’m no good at eye – ball co-ordination stuff when it comes to batting? So if I am to beat Ben’s 12 it’ll be a fluke or through a lot more practice in the paddock, I can only hope that Ben might be encouraged by this score and be looking to improve his batting and as a result I too may get a chance to face some of his bowling?
Paddock news
The rain continued over last night and the ground is pretty much staurated. Today the sun was out and it was breezy, but by this evening it hadn't dried still so it'll now get left till Wednesday. I've just got to hope that tomorrow night if it still is a bit sticky the football kids don't get in there and start messing it up.
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