Season updates thread

[hodge]

First topic message reminder :

I just thought for anyone who is playing this season that we could have a thread where people give updates on how their season is going both personally and for their team if they are interested?

As I said in another thread I have what are apparantly my university's first every cricket games thursday and friday this week and i'm captaining the side, no pressure there We have Newport cricket clubs midweek team on thursday and face UWE 2nd XI on friday who a freind of mine is captain so we have a little wager on the outcome of the game. Loser has to buy the winner a drink for every club 2nd XI game we both play in Again no pressure there!

Anyways good luck to everyone for this season, unless somehow in some strange case you end up playing against me!

[Fists of Fury]

Bowled for 1 yesterday. Nice push down to long-on to get off the mark, then did my best Jonny Bairstow impression and played with a closed face to a straight, quick one attempting to whip it through midwicket. Bad move. Death rattle.

Bowled well, 3 overs 0-12, in which I conceded just the one boundary (and that because what was a single to fine leg turned in to our fielder slipping on the wet outfield and kicking the ball over the rope!!!). It was hilarious until I remembered it was damaging my very respectable figures. Beat the edge a couple of times, and an inside edge from the batsman missed the stumps by inches.

Lost in a low scoring T20. 110 played 111-3 (18.5 overs). Large boundaries and a slow outfield due to the rain killed it a little as a batting spectacle.

[Shelsey93]

Won on Saturday to boost my captaincy record to 50/50.

Playing against Old Albanians on their artificial track we batted first and made 166, with one of our colts getting a century. I came in at number eight and got 2...

They then decided to put all their U13s at the top of the order who couldn't hit the ball off the square, meaning that the game seemed won after 10/ 40 overs. However, some bigger men came in down the order and gave us a bit of a scare before I brought myself back to take the last wicket with them still 25 short. I don't think I bowled particularly well today (got no bounce from the artificial and was a bit leg-side) but still had the tidy figures of 5.4-0-20-1

All in all a very satisfying afternoon, particularly after a highly stressful Friday afternoon in which the team changed about 15 teams.

[Carrotdude]

I hit my first ever 6 last week, last ball of the innings, couple of steps down the wicket and over mid off! It was the opening bowler as well, very pleased with myself . I only ended on 11*, put on 59 for the 6th wicket but only scored 4 of them as I just gave the guy who was in the strike and he went a bit mental!

8 wins out of 8 now, 2 games left, promotion confirmed and playing the other team who have won all 8 games a week on Sunday so it's basically a title decider. should be fun!

[Corporalhumblebucket]

I hit my first ever 6 last week, last ball of the innings, couple of steps down the wicket and over mid off! It was the opening bowler as well, very pleased with myself .

Carrot   Sounds like a good description of job satisfaction!

[Shelsey93]

Couldn't get a 5th XI out on Saturday so no game for me unfortunately.

Played in a Sunday friendly today, away in a tiny village called Sarratt, near Rickmansworth. Didn't get any runs (I am really struggling with the bat at the moment) but bowled five fairly tidy overs, taking 1-25. They had looked like getting nowhere near the target early on but then accumulated well through the middle overs to give themselves a chance. In the end we held on by three runs.

Inter-club friendly tomorrow for the start of Cricket Week. Was supposed to be old boys v youngsters but due to uneven availability now looks like it will be mixed teams but still another game of cricket to enjoy.

[hodge]

Won both games this weekend.

Saturday the 2's beat the side above us meaning we're out of the relegation zone with a game in hand over the rest. We won the toss and chose to bowl first. Openers didn't get a wicket and I came on first change, 5 overs 1-14. Pretty happy, wasn't going to come back on as I wasn't really doing much with it, they were just slow. They ended on 168/8. We knocked it off 4 down with plenty of time to spare.

Today we had a memorial game which the opposition had won for the last 6 years. However we managed to extend our undefeated streak to 6 and win for the first time in 7 years. We were put in to bat and were 32/4 and I was thinking 'oh no not again'. But our lower middle order sorted us out. Our number 6 59, 7 hit 46 and I hit 54 batting at 8, can't have been off more than 30 odd balls as I came in during the 31st over and was out in the 39th. Wasn't pretty i'll admit with a lot of power hitting. In the end we hit 222 all out.

They opened with 2 players who play for us on Saturdays and one went in the second over without scoring. I brought myself on first change, went for 16 off 2 overs and took myself off and came back for the 30th over and could bowl till the end if needed, ended up with figures of 3-48 off 6.2 as they had a good batter who was just swinging and connecting. Ended the match bowling a tail ender with a yorker which hit the outside of the off stump at its very base, would like to claim it was planned, I just wanted to bowl full.

[hampo17]

Won again this weekend. We scored 199-9 for off our 45 overs, me and the other opener shared a 70 run partnership for the first wicket before he was given out down the legside, I thought it his pad personally. I made my first 50 of the season, before chipping one of their leggy to square leg.

We kept them to 122-4 off their 45 overs, but in truth they never tried to chase our total and their opener batted for nothing more than his average.

[Mike Selig]

Back from 10 days actual holiday, which included a cricket match yesterday - my first and probably only of the season! Playing for the club side of 3 of our U19s (1 was injured from Germany still) and my "boss", so a bit strange. Standard fairly poor, thankfully.

I batted 4 and came in after a good start. Was absolutely awful at the start, but battled through it to score 26. They had a slowish leggie who I was stepping outside off to open up the on-side to, which worked quite well, but overall I wasn't confident enough (not surprising given it's just about the first time I've picked up a bat this summer other than to give fielding practice) and didn't go for my shots. Out top-edging a slog sweep, got a bit too far across and ended up aiming over square-leg rather than mid-wicket and toed it. Right shot to play (10 overs to go, 6 wickets in hand, no one out on the leg-side boundary and just back of a length) but desperately poor execution.

U19 captain umpired a bit whilst I was batting and was kind enough to refuse a couple of LBW shouts (both were not out, but still).

Then kept wicket for 35 overs. Bowlers a bit all over the shop, and stood up to the stumps a fair bit. Missed a tough catch off a bottom-edge, and a couple of sharp stumping chances (one I really should have got). Took a fairly comfortable catch standing up, and a decent stumping (off our U19 captain, which was funny). Felt hopelessly out of practice TBH.

Overall fun, but a bit frustrating... Should aim for a few more matches really.

[kingraf]

Scored 30-odd, and took 2/45 in six overs in a friendly 40-40. We batted first, and set 195, I got in at #6 and was caught behind in the 36th over, going large. The rules of the game was that both teams had to bat 40 overs, which sucked as they got to the target in 25, and spent the15-overs getting smacked around with out a chance of victory

[kingraf]

Also hit a picture-esque lofted off drive for six. Pretty much slept like a baby for the next few days. Greatest shot in cricket

[hampo17]

We won 10-0 on Sunday to set up a thrilling end to the season. Batting first we got 228-7, I played an awful shot opening the innings. I picked the bowlers slower ball when he was running up and got it in my head I could hit it over the club house and ended up getting bowled

We then bowled them out for 83, I ended up with 4-16 from 9 overs, having checked the league statistics this morning I'm only four wickets behind the league leader, was miles behind a few weeks ago! Huge game for us this Sunday now, if we get a good win we will go top as the current top side has played one more than us and it's their week off before we play each other in the final game!

[hampo17]

Another great win for us at the weekend. I lost the toss and we ended up batting first, I'd been down on the Saturday and the wicket seemed to play fine. On Sunday it was a different story, I took a few on the gloves and in the chest off good length balls, before toeing one that kept low to mid-wicket. We ended up 153 all out but importantly didn't give them any extra overs.

Our bowling was fantastic, we bowled them out for 59 in just 19 overs. A good 9-1 points win for us, puts us top by 8 points going in to the last game in a first vs second clash.

[kingraf]

Concussed myself taking back-pedalling one-handed effort off a swirling ball yesterday... To make matters worse, the damn ball popped out when I hit the ground.
Took 2/28 in three overs, with a dropped catch seasoned in there.
and with the bat, I laboured to two runs before being bamboozled by the offspinner - I played for turn and tried a late cut, instead in hit a divot and cannoned into my back pad... Not the best day of cricket

[Mad for Chelsea]

well after a slow start to the season where we struggled to find our feet and were out of the League play-offs we've turned it around nicely by winning the two knock-out competitions.

First up was the Siddalls Cup, a 35 over comp. Winning the toss in the final, we batted first and settled down to watch a fine opening partnership by Adie and Alex. By the time Adie was out he'd hit 120 and the score was about 200. Alex was unfortunately bowled for 96, Clint smacked a quick 40-something and we ended up on 293/2, a formidable score. Damazan in reply hit a few decent shots against some aerage bowling but were never in the hunt. The umpires kept us out there despite the pouring rain, and we wrapped them up for 170-odd to complete a resounding win. I kept OK in awful conditions, one stumping (easy enough), had a blatant caught behind not given though.

T20's finals day was yesterday. I was 12th man having not played much this year (captain went with the regulars, fair enough). We had the first semi, and arrived to find the ground covered in fog. Bizarrely despite the damp conditions the opposition stuck us in (remember it's played on astroturf, "green" wickets don't really exist). Hugo and Adie opened up and after a quiet-ish start had 22/0 after 4. The 5th over signified the start of the assault as 24 runs came from it (including one wide which went for 4 and 4 other boundaries), from then on we kept at roughly 10 runs per over throughout, and ended on exactly 200/3. Hugo scored a fine 105* (61 balls, 14 fours and 3 sixes), while Adie hit 36 and Clint a rapid 25). A good start from Kashif and Ramiz with the ball quickly had them 3 down, and the change bowlers kept up the pressure, so that at the halfway mark they were languishing at 40-odd for 5 and the contest was effectively over. A decent rearguard allied to some dodgy bowling and lazy fielding saw them finish on 130/5 but it was still a thumping win.

The final saw us face 9-man Noe, who'd squeaked pas St Aulaye in a semi-final hat while tight had not a huge amount of genuine quality in it. We felt confident, to say the least. Hugo lost the toss again, and we were in the field. We started nervously with about 9 wides in the first 2 overs, by which stage the score was 12 for none. That was as good as it got however for Noe, as Kashif found his line to pick up 2-1 in his next two overs, while change bowlers Imran and Mohamed squeezed the life out of the middle overs, with combined figures of 2-19 from their 8 overs. The pressure told, and there were a couple of run outs. Mike and Snooke cleaned up (despite Mike spraying his first over all around the ground), and they were bowled out after 18 overs for just 75. Adie and Hugo got us most of the way, before both were dismissed and it was left to Ramiz and Clint to wrap up the win by 8 wickets with 8 overs to spare.

Convincing performances, and there remains some regret that we never hit our straps like this in the league, but nonetheless we'll happily take this season's efforts. In Hugo "captain Kolpak" himself's own words: "2 out of 3 aint bad".

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Excellent thread - good mixture of triumphs   and disasters!  

[kingraf]

For clarity - I played for turn against the off-spinner and tried to cut it because Im left-handed. Would be a stupid shot if I was right handed.

Great post MfC - Reminded me of days when I could buy runs

[hampo17]

We ended up winning the league, our game got rained off with us 80-3 off 19 overs, it rained petty much all game and was difficult to bat.

The average age of our team is 16 so I'm over the moon to have won the league, been a pleasure to captain some very talented youngsters this year.

[hodge]

Well think I finished with a record of 7 wins and 1 loss as Sunday captain this season, if I weren't away doing a Masters which will keep me from playing for my home club next season I think I was going to be 2nd team captain for next season, I had a fair bit of backing for it at any rate.

But anyway, last game of the season I had agreed we would spoof our batting order (if anyone doesn't understand the game, can have from 0 up to 3 coins in your hand, everyone guesses a different number to guess the total amount and if you guess correctly you're out, last person loses), we had agreed that the 13 year old player we had would get to choose his number as would be pretty harsh on him if he were low down being a batter and all, so he chose 6, I was first out and chose 7 thinking I could give myself a bowl and have a reasonable chance of a bat.  

Won the toss and chose to bat as 4 of our bottom 5 were all league batters (exception being a ladies player who stepped in late notice) and we had an opening bowler (who can bat a bit) and a bowler who can't bat opening the batting, I was doing facing end for umpiring and I think most batters in our side would have struggled with how much he was swinging it. Thing was I came in at 35/5 ish with the 13 year old at the crease only on a couple. Knuckled down for a few overs in the mean time the kid was dispatching the bowlers to the boundary repeatedly  Had to tell him to calm down a bit as there was still 28 overs left. But having said that a few overs later I started teeing off myself so looked a bit hypocritical  

In the end we had a 96 run partnership when I got out for 60 off of 50 balls (owe a jug when i'm back next season  and the 13 year old was run out on 40 having batted for 30 odd overs. We set 170 ish and they were always behind the run rate from the start with us picking up regular wickets, I even bowled spin as their wicket was on so much of a slope! Ended up winning the game fairly comfortably.

[hodge]

On the league side of things we finished 4th in our table which should see us safe of relegation (5 down in a division of 10, but rumour going round was 6 would be relegated as team coming into the league). Having only played my first game for the 2's this season in the final match of the first half of the fixtures and having another game for the firsts meaning I played 9 games I was happy that I managed to finish with an average over 30 for the first time ever, usually I would do well and slide away at the end of the season.

One particular innings that stood out was in the last couple of weeks of the season, chasing 170 odd I came in at 6 with us on 34/4, decent batter at the other end and we put on 60 odd before he goes, I end up batting with the tail 8 down and manage to get over the line finishing 70* putting on 30 or so for the 9th wicket.

Also finished on 10 league wickets for the season considering I only started bowling in the second half of the season I was happy and think I was one of 3 or 4 to take double figures for the season.

[kingraf]

funny thing form - having not been able to score a run for a month, I turned it on last weekend, against a group of guys flying under the first class radar!
scored a 55-ball 118* in the t20, where I just exploded from ball one, then in the Sunday match (40-over), CHASING 290, I scored a 51-ball 69. We lost both games, but I'm looking a shoo-in for the player of the series in the t-20 tourney, being second in the wicket column, and #2 in the batting averages.

[hodge]

Had my first training for the Uni cricket side Friday, good standard by the looks of it, the flooring makes for a bouncy net so facing the quickies is interesting.

Looks like I won't have to be up north next summer though so will be playing for my club side again and our 2's apparently need a new captain with our current one stepping down, thinking of putting my name forward after having a decent season leading the Sunday side.

[Guest]

after achieving back to back promotions, ive been elected to stay on as skipper for a 3rd successive season next year

[alfie]

Please forgive a self-indulgent note : but for the first time in half a century I have found myself struggling to get onto the field at the start of a new season. Neck and back problems have kept me to a routine of exploratory nets and revisited chiropractors offices for a month or more ...but today I got back on the field !
Only a one day game in a low and modest grade , but to be back opening the bowling again was a huge relief.
Tentative start : and when catches went down off successive balls in my second over I began wondering if I had shot an albatross recently ; but it gradually came back and I finished with two wickets and was still upright after half a dozen overs so I count it a decent start...

Tougher games perhaps lie ahead ; but if I am still able to walk tomorrow I will call it a good - if belated- start to the season. Should probably be thanking the gods of cricket that I am still able to get on the ground at all  

[hodge]

Just been named 2nd XI captain for next season  

[alfie]

Quite enjoyed Saturday , even though we lost. Got a few runs and a couple of wickets , and it kept me away from watching Clarke and Warner extending the pain for England's bowlers !

The returned back pain I am now suffering , however , is not so much fun  

Think I might give practice a miss Tuesday...save it for the matches...

[alfie]

Well my team has come to the end of the season's rounds...a win today sees us into the finals , albeit due to face the three teams who have beaten us during the year. Still finals are a different beast...

I have run into a bit of form over the last few games so am hoping for results : but am battling badly timed foot injury. Ice and massage more important than practice right now.

Fingers crossed.

[Pal Joey]

Good work Alfie. Pretty inspirational stuff really.

I hope you get the body through the finals unscathed and your team fares well.

Then you can work on the back, neck and foot strengthening work in the off season.  

[alfie]

Hah ! Been trying to strengthen all those bits for several years now. Might need some replacement parts   

I suppose I was fortunate to miss only one match in forty- seven years with an injury ...and that was actually an illness. But it is starting to catch up with me lately...

[kingraf]

Good on you Alfie - single handedly proving cricket isn't a sport!!

[kingraf]

Hey all - been enjoying my cricket a lot this season, to a very large degree. Statistically, it's been my best season ever in both formats I play (T20 and 45-overs). In the 45-over league I've scored 767 (2nd in the league) runs in fifteen games at an average of 76.7, strike rate of 90+, three tons five fifties, HS of 122*, in a chase. I'm also leading the league in terms of wickets bagged, with 27 wickets at 14.1, economy rate under four. In the T20s I've been, without blowing my own trumpet, sensational... 379 runs in ten games, highest score of 101, strike rate high 140s, and sixteen wickets at an average <6.... Been really proud of myself, and I've done this as captain of the T20 team and VC of the 45s (most of you will know of my previous struggles as captain). We've got finals of the t20 this Sunday, (undefeated and thrashed the team we are facing in the RR), and on Saturday we are playing in the Semi's of the 45s (13-3, finished top of the log). Anyway, the issue arose last Saturday, during our final 45 game, the older players in the team didn't quite feel up to playing in the final game of the regular season, with it being basically inconsequential to us. I was thus elected as skipper of what was essentially the seconds on a one and done basis. Didn't really mind as I thought my captaincy had matured this year (in other words I'd stopped hiding myself from the big moments).

Game Day: lost the toss (again), bowling first on what looks a fair pitch... We go in and are reasonably tight from ball two (one was a wide). Pretty soon we have them on 27/5, and eventually take drinks at at 70/8, with the opening bowler bowled out having taken a fiver. Half the runs they'd scored had come off extras, so I was reasonably miffed about it, as it coulda been 40/8 with a better performances. The #10 comes on gets dropped once or twice, and scores a 40-ball 70. Thanks to that and more ill-disciplined bowling, we're chasing 175.

We start off okay enough, before losing an opener just shy of the 50 partnership on a run-out after ten overs... as so often happens one wicket becomes three, and I come in at 64/3. Target 111 off 177 balls. Not exactly a war.

I took my time getting in before going scorched earth... Unfortunately, on 47(37 balls), I got caught in the deepgoing for the switch hit... And quite quickly afterwards, 132/4, became 151 AO... I'm still not sure I know what happened... But I do know my coach is quite pit55ed that I only bowled one over during the carnage that was the ninth wicket partnership (for four runs) and that I played a stupeed switch hit when we were cruising.

He sent me an interesting e-mail this afternoon (although it showed he probably has too much time on his hands), basically a statistical overview of my stats as captain vs my stats as a team player (sounds complicated but the club really does like looking "professional" so has the software)
essentially

- average ten runs more as skipper
- strike rate +4 as skipper
- bat on average two positions lower
- bowls FOUR overs less!

I knew I bowled less, but that absolutely shocked me. Anyone else struggle to adequately use themselves as captain?

[alfie]

Hi kingraf

In my experience , bowler captains always either underbowl or overbowl themselves s bit (though I suppose which it is might be in the eye of the beholder   )
I decided many years ago that if I rated myself as "good" in the context of the team I was leading , then I was going to err on the side of overbowling...sometimes this was a good thing , occasionally perhaps not ... you can never please everyone so you just have to do the best you can. And I suspect there is more harm to the team in backing off out of fear of being thought "greedy", than in taking responsibilty yourself. It is a powerful motivation too!

I reckon the best thing is to take it on in the tough games and wear any criticism if it goes wrong - and maybe take a bit of a back seat when the going is easier.

Hope you keep enjoying it !

[kingraf]

Thanks Alfie - always found it challenging, using myself adequately. I'm probably the best bowler on the team, so I'm always trying to leave myself till the death (challenging for a spinner)... The captain and coach prefer me bowling nine straight in the middle. We bowled 35 overs, of which I bowled 3, admittedly too little for the "spearhead", but the opening bowler bowled well, so I gave him nine on the trot, and at 70/8, no one questioned why I hadn't bowled yet. Seems a case of me being right, until I was wrong

Much easier in the 20/20, I just bowl 12-20, and thats that.

[hodge]

I wouldn't say being skipper affects my batting, maybe just that I ensure I bat 5-6 usually now as I feel that's where I make the best contribution in either seeing out a chase or having a good finish to the innings.

Bowling wise I would say I'm quite good, I know when it's not working for me and I need to take myself off. However flip side I think I put more faith in my own bowling than others have in me. Bowled myself near the death in a game last season I remembered where some people questioned why I was coming back on (figures of 1-11 or similar) and I ended up with 4-20.

[hodge]

Captained a pre season friendly yesterday against a side promoted from the league our 2's were in last season. We probably had 3/4 1st teamers playing. Won the toss, chose to bowl as it had been a bit wet and forecast was horrid for later. I opened the bowling uphill and returned modest figures of 4 overs, 2 maidens for 7 runs. 4 of those came when I didn't pull out of my run up after landing on the side of my foot a couple of paces from delivery stride   

Anyway we bowled them out for 86, 1st team opener taking 4 wickets including a hattrick and a 14 year old lad taking 2 wickets with his first 2 balls to finish their innings. We then knocked it off for the loss of 2 wickets and in under 20 overs.

Unfortunately I'm not around to captain the 2's for the first 2 games or so as I still have university but luckily for me I'll hopefully be playing some university cricket in that time.

[kingraf]

We lost the t20 final by six runs. I bowled one over and scored zero runs. Was quite upset. Won the the one day comp at a canter, and went on to the National Champs (I didn't play - work commitments) Got to semi's and only made 68... Disappointing, but a good season nonetheless.

[Mad for Chelsea]

First league match of the season yesterday. Dodgy weather throughout with a few quite heavy showers but the umpires were keen to keep us out there as much as possible (I think we "only" had 3-4 interruptions), and remarkably got a full game in (40 overs).

We lost the toss and were put into bat. Made a solid but very slow start as our openers rather laboured to score in difficult conditions with the very wet outfield and our opponents bowled a disciplined line and length. Lost the first wicket for 49 to a run out in the 19th over! Unfortunately this put a lot of pressure on those coming in and despite our new recruit making a quick-fire 20 or so at n°4 we were always struggling to up the rate, not helped by a wet ball which was hard to hit any reasonable distance and a wet (astro) pitch which led to some questionable bounces.

Anyway I went in at n°8 and felt I was seeing it quite well, before I was given out run out attempting a quick two to keep our captain (and best batsman) on strike. now it's not always easy to judge, but I reckoned I was in by a decent distance, and after the game the bowler who took the stumps off also said he though I was in by about three feet!! My mood wasn't helped by the umpire giving the decision from somewhere in the vicinity of mid-on, but hey ho! Anyway when our captain holed out to long-on a couple of overs later we were 100 or so for 8 and really struggling. Thankfully our 9, 10 and 11 scrambled quite well, and we ended up being bowled out in the final over for 121.

Considering the conditions, we felt that to be a defendable score, if a little below par (150+ would have been a very good score). The tough conditions for run scoring were perfectly illustrated by the fact our opponenets failed to hit a single 4 throughout their innings (they did hit 4 sixes). Anyway, our opening bowler struggled with his line and length (being hit for 3 of said sixes), and though our other opener picked up an early wicket, their star batsman (captain of the French U19 team) and n°3 played sensibly, cashing in on anything loose, and just before the halfway drinks break had taken the score to 70-odd for 1.

However, with the final ball before drinks our left-arm spinner Naeem got one to slide on and trap their n°3 LBW on the back foot, and this prompted a collapse as Naeem promptly picked up 3 more wickets in the next few overs, finishing his 8 over spell with 4-14. With our medium-pace change bowler keeping a very disciplined line and length from the other end, the runs dried up, and the pressure told as their n°7 was run out by a pin-point throw from third man coming back for a tight second run. Their n°8 then fell to a fine diving catch in the gully, before left-arm quick Mohammed struck the vital blow, inducing their opener (who'd just passed 50) to sky one to our captain at mid-off. Mohammed then wrapped up the last two wickets in his next over, their n°10 nicking off to give me my first catch of the season, and their n°11 skyeing one over cover who took an excellent catch over his shoulder. Bowled out for 100 in the 35th over, giving us a win by 21 runs in an exciting start to the season.

It was good to beat them, as they've generally had the beating of us over the last couple of years, so a good confidence-boost to start the year. From a personal viewpoint, I felt I was hitting the ball OK in my brief stay so not too worried about that. Keeping a bit rusty at times, though didn't miss anything (unless you count the one off Naeem which the batsman edged onto his pad onto my knee - I don't), and no extras against me either.

We'll probably re-think our batting approach for the next game, putting a more aggressive player at the top of the order, and our captain will hopefully be talked into batting a little higher too...

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Gutted I'm not gonna be able to play much due to work this year, I fancy a good game of cricket again.

Especially since my new philosophy of batting of just taking my chances rather than prodding around, I wanna play. Gonna have to wriggle a few Saturday's off work

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

So how's the season started for everyone?

[hodge]

Think the swear filter would probably stop my attempts to say how my season has started. Got into double figures twice I think so far, bowling has been okay though, generally get a wicket or two for not many.

Captaining my club 2's is difficult as the 1's have been missing loads of players so I've lost loads as a result.

[Shelsey93]

Haven't posted much here this year so will try and get my season so far into one short post.

Spent the first few weeks on the sidelines - was unavailable one week, couldn't find any opposition for my 5th XI another and was otherwise not in 4th XI plans.

I finally got a game in June and played five in a row. Though my bowling has, on nets evidence at least, trailed off sufficiently to be trusted with just three overs (I did take 1-2, leaving my average at 2.00) I have had my best season with the bat. After being run out for 2 the first week - entirely the other guy's fault - I have made double figures each week including a new career best of 35. Not anything to celebrate by most standards but included an enormous six and was comfortably the top score in a total of 108. After coming in at number eight and seeing nine and ten go quickly I put on 40-odd for the last wicket.

Last week our match was cancelled, wrongly in my opinion, largely because of a bad forecast that proved to be wrong. With private school cricket now finished our teams are back to full strength this week which leaves me out of the fours despite currently being fourth in the run scoring charts having played less games than the three ahead of me. That means skippering the 5ths or, more precisely, trying to get a team out which is sometimes easier said than done (a long list of names given to me by the 4s skipper has already been whittled down considerably).

[Mad for Chelsea]

Our season has gone very well indeed so far as a club. We won 5 out of 6 in the league (40 overs), topping our pool and securing a home semi-final in the play-offs. We got through the qualifiers for the T20 competition, winning both our matches in triangular round-robin format, so we're through to finals day there (another triangular showdown). Finally we've made the semis of the knock-out competition (35 overs) after a convincing win last Sunday. So things are going well.

From a personal viewpoint I'm having a decent year with the bat, my role this year being that of the "finisher" (batting at about n°7 usually), so either giving it a quick bash when batting first or guiding the chase home - something I've done successfully on two of the three occasions we've actually been chasing this year (the other being a ten-wicket thrashing which didn't require yours truly), including a nice little knock after we'd stumbled to 120-7 chasing 147 in our final league game of the season, looking to secure top spot.

Keeping's been OK, though a little below what I'd have liked. I've dropped a couple of chances (one tough one-handed effort, the other again a diving effort but got both hands to it and really should have clung on), but have generally been pretty solid (very few byes, maybe 5 or 6 all season so far).

[Mad for Chelsea]

well we won again yesterday, meaning we'll be defending our title in the knock-out cup at least!

We lost the toss and batted first. Got off to a flyer (loads of wides, about 10 in the first over!!), then lost three quick wickets to be 50-3 after 12. I batted 3 (a few of our top-order players missing, and VC suggested I should step in, I was happy to have a longer bat), took a while (something between 10-15 balls) to get off the mark but generally was seeing it pretty well. Ended up anchoring the innings with 31 as our n°7 came in and smashed it around in a quick cameo 39.

The highlight of my knock was a glorious pull for six over midwicket. Saw the short ball (bit of a long-hop in all honesty, but in a few years it will have become a vicious bouncer ) early, got into a great position and just creamed it. Didn't hit it that hard, but timed beautifully and right off the middle. Got away with nicking one down the leg-side on about 20-odd, but other than that a good little knock. Ended up being run-out calling our n°8 through for a sharp single to short third-man. He just didn't respond at all and by the time I saw that I was too far down to get back. Shame.

We had a bit of a collapse, finishing on 173 all out from our 35 overs. A good, but not great score. We defended it well though, our opening bowlers and first change bowled really well, and after 12 overs they were 30-7 and it was game over. Their tail hung around a bit and swung the bat with a fair share of good fortune, but we wrapped it up in the 26th over for about 100 to complete a convincing win. I managed one (easy) catch behind the sticks and kept well.

So onwards and upwards we continue. Lots still to play for in all three comps, things looking exciting!

[kingraf]

Off to a two week tour of Singapore. Hopefully going to score a boatload of runs. Wish me well.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Didn't even realise they play cricket in Singapore 

If you don't score at least three double hundreds you've failed

[kingraf]

I've been told its an international tournament, with quality players all the way. Wouldn't be the first time we get to desert and play the blind, mind.

[Mike Selig]

My more recent absence from these boards has been due to coaching commitments. Our (that is to say France) U19s had their annual 4-nations tournament this last week, pitting us against Switzerland, Germany and Belgium. Round robin 50 over matches, with a T20 finals day (3rd vs 4th, followed by the final) - an interesting and challenging format.

I'm delighted to say France won the tournament, in spite of an opening defeat against the Swiss. Picked ourselves up really well.

As is often the case at associate and age-group level ball dominated bat, and this is reflected in the scores which you can gather from here:
http://francecricket.com/u19.html

From our perspective every player contributed at some point. We won simply because we were the better team and played the better and more coherent cricket - I don't think any of the other sides would argue against that. Our outcricket was better, our tactics were spot on and our field settings were good. Our spinners made a huge difference, as did our keeper - none of the other keepers in the tournament were close to his standard, and taking 2 or 3 stumpings off the seamers in the tournament makes a huge difference.

That's now 2 wins out of 3 in this tournament for us (we finished 2nd to Belgium last year).

Really really proud of the guys. Great team spirit as well.

[Mad for Chelsea]

I'm away at the moment, so didn't play, but my club won the T20 competition with two comprehensive wins on finals day (3 team round-robin format).

First game batted first, good start, kept the momentum going and finished on 166/3. Opposition never in the hunt and could only limp to 116/6.

Second game bowled first and again tight bowling and fielding (direct hit run-out in the first over setting the tone) restricted our opponents to 100/8 which we knocked off inside 15 overs for the loss of three wickets.

So tournament retained from last year, delighted with that obviously. T20 seems to suit our game, we've got a few aggressive batsmen, and good strength and variety in our bowling attack.

Next up, knock-out tournament final next Sunday (again I'll be missing), against local rivals Eymet. After that, League play-offs in September. Chance to complete a historic triple? You betcha..

[hampo17]

Completely forgot about this thread. I hadn't played up until about two weeks ago as I had just had enough of some of the newer guys at my club feeling they ruled the roost, however now they have left I have gone back.

Our second team which currently plays in division one is made up of our under 15s due to us losing a lot of the players I grew up with to work. Last week we played away at Conwy, nice ground up the coast on N.Wales. We won the toss on a sticky wicket that looked like it would only get harder to bat on, I went in at three and scored 47. Disappointed to get stumped trying to work it down the ground, unfortunately we were bowled out for 135 and they knocked it off for 5.

We'll get relegated this season, no doubts about that. However the younger lads are experiencing a level of cricket higher than they've played at before and it'll only serve them well going forward.

[JDizzle]

Never played at Conwy, one of the few I didn't manage in NW.

Story of our season on Saturday, they made 110-9 off 35. We were all out for 90. Not good enough really. 4fer and 30 odd for me though.

[hampo17]

Did you ever play at Pontblyddyn JD? That's my club Best teas in N.Wales

[Sponsored content]