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!

[JDizzle]

Yes Hampo! Lovely ground, only played there once in adult cricket so can't comment on the teas! Mainly played there in Junior stuff when I was at Marchwiel, another top ground.

[hampo17]

Marchwiel was lovely, such a shame what happened to that club after the owner did a runner.

[JDizzle]

Indeed, it's always been up in the air for as long as I can remember with regards to the ground. I did hear a rumour that this year was actually the year they were getting booted off, but that's been the rumour for years.

[alfie]

Ah well another season commences...and remarkably for once it didn't start raining ten minutes after the toss (Melbourne weather in October can be as unpredictable -and unfriendly - for cricketers as most of England , believe it or not ) : in fact a near perfect day ; sunny , stiff breeze , twenty seven degrees ...

Wasn't sure how ageing body would handle things after only a couple of light practice sessions ; but a new ball and couple of fielders who could catch enabled me to nip out the first four opposition batsmen fairly cheaply before my over allocation (perhaps fortunately) was used up and I retired to a rather stiff stance at slip for the rest of the innings...one of my better recent starts to a season so quite happy.

Day capped off nicely as we chased down a quite challenging target with a few balls to spare : my own contribution was limited to not wasting time by going in - and out - in the shortest possible manner and letting those who can actually bat get the job done ... though I can't claim it was a plan

All in all a very pleasant start to the season ; drinks at the bar went down nicely afterwards and I can still walk this morning so onwards to round two ...

[alfie]

Round three and so far so good...

Start again...

[alfie]

Round three and so far so good...

Two wins down and chasing 240 next week for a third...decent day for moi : had two for none after 11 balls at the start when a dropped catch allowed the number three to escape his duck. Got him eventually but he had seventy odd by then
Still I've finished with a handy 4/40 and can just about walk again now (five hours after stumps).

Nice weather three weeks in a row : can it last ?

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

So I played my first game of cricket for a year and a half today....

Batted #3, came in third ball of the innings and was in good touch - reached 12 briskly, before I creamed a full toss straight to midwicket who plucked it out the air with one hand - this being the same mid wicket who'd an over earlier dropped one that went right up in the air at no pace.

Blast this game can be frustrating!!

[JDizzle]

Draws in 45 over a side cricket are the biggest threat facing the game today. Terrible, terrible rules.

[kingraf]

Got a T20 today. Winter league closing off. Haven't bowled or batted particularly well, but it's expected.

Took last season off to rehab my back properly, and it's held up well. Have had to cut down on gym and weight, but I reckon 85kg is the best combination for health and vanity. All looking good for a decent crack at the summer season.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Draws in 45 over a side cricket are the biggest threat facing the game today. Terrible, terrible rules.

Have to agree with this - doesn't make any sense whatsoever!

[hampo17]

Draws in 45 over cricket? Bloody pointless, we play a 10 point system here which works fine. The top division has now gone back to a 15 point system after playing time cricket for a few years, was the daftest idea I've heard of. 110 over games, so one team would bat 60 overs, rack up a huge score and then the team batting second would just block for 50 overs.

We've had a great weekend, I'm captaining the second team this year. Won 9-1 on Saturday, and then 8-2 today. Currently sat third in the league, and our 15 year old off spinner took seven wickets today!

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Well my season with the bat started off with the innings I mentioned above, and then coming in at 6 in an U19's T20 game I got a brisk 19 off 11 balls before chopping on - feeling in half decent nick

On Saturday we were away, bowled first and restricted them to 166-9 off their 45 overs. However unfortunately our opening bat broke his thumb fielding in the penultimate over of their innings, so yours truely was promoted to open the batting!

Not a good thing, I play with hard hands and tend to take a little while to get my eye in. But I managed to survive the new ball, my teammates didn't fair so well as we slumped to 21-3 off 11 overs. Then we built a nice enough partnership as the opening bowlers tired, and the second change guys were not as good, until my partner swished and missed one to leave us 47-4 off 18 overs. 

Here me and mate came together, two of the last "real" batsmen and thought we'd get a shift on - we managed to knock off the next 110 odd runs in 15 overs, me playing an anchor role to finish on 61 not out and him accelerating to 63 not out.

Happy enough with my 61*, very scratchy to start off with but once I had my eye in I felt back to somewhere near my best. Looking forward to playing on our home wicket in a week or two - it has a bit more pace and bounce to it which I usually enjoy

[alfie]

Hey sounds as if you are in some good early season form Olly ...

You realize you are probably stuck with the opener's job now though

Hope you adapt to it better than Trott...

[kingraf]

well done Olly. Opening is something Kingraf could never quite conquer. Unfortunately, having been the sole southpaw on basically every high school and age level team I played in... I could never quite get away from the stereotype. Where I saw myself as a David Miller type explosivo, the powers that be saw an Andrew Strauss-type accumulator. Needless to say... my best years were wasted playing on and getting cleaned bowled

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Hey sounds as if you are in some good early season form Olly ...

You realize you are probably stuck with the opener's job now though

Hope you adapt to it better than Trott...

Unfortunately I probably am alfie! Hoping we bat first often now - can't be keeping for 45 overs then going out to bat straight away!!

Still always good to score some runs

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Update on my early season trevails....

Got called upto our "3rd team" a week ago due to lack of numbers - took a tidy catch in the field and opened the batting and got a very nice 46 (got out cutting to gully trying to get to 50!).

Back down to the "4th team" today and I was a mixed bag. I kept, and took one nick through, but shelled a dolly that went straight up in the air and through the gloves...this was followed in the next 5 minutes by being hit in the box twice standing upto our medium pacer. I've had better 5 minutes in life!! (and don't worry I checked, I'm all there down there still...)

Opened the batting again, and got 34 but got out going for a big shot, chasing 187 in 30 overs we were behind and took a risk which didn't pay off.

I'm enjoying the extra pace on the ball opening the batting...at the moment I'm leaving the ball well and then putting away the ones I can get my hands through outside off stump. Need to convert one of these starts into a big score really before my form runs out...

[Corporalhumblebucket]

..this was followed in the next 5 minutes by being hit in the box twice standing upto our medium pacer. I've had better 5 minutes in life!! (and don't worry I checked, I'm all there down there still...)

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Well I was recalled to the 3rd team today - away in the middle of nowhere, they batted first got 245 off 46 overs...so we was screwed essentially.

I went in at 7-2 (batting 4) - and put on 98 for the 3rd wicket with the opener before he fell and we decided (the captain) to bat for a "losing draw" - is there anything worse?!?

Anyways I managed to stick around until the 46th over, and ended up getting out on 71 (hit a full toss straight to cover - no red ink for moi!)

I'm in good nick at the moment - and have a game for the Sunday team tomorrow. I feel this maybe where my good run ends - I'm shattered!!

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Well today my game for the Sunday team which was a development XI friendly was a disgrace. 

As mentioned above it was down as a developmental XI friendly, one for the young uns to play against each other in a longer format of the game (40 overs rather than the usual 20 over a side).

So we turn up to Thetford, and are put into bat. Bowled all out for 124 in 31 overs, they knock them off in 15 overs without losing a wicket because Thetford decided to put out 3/4 first teamers so they could "get some form back" - thus none of their young uns batted, barely any bowled and our young uns were out of their depth. Fuming isn't the word to describe what a farce it was

[guildfordbat]

Olly - that sort of thing is maddening but still goes on more than it should.

An example today from the other end of the spectrum - a so called Surrey Legends team (ie past players) were scheduled to play this afternoon a local side who had put a lot of work into all the arrangements. As recounted to me tonight by a mate who went to the game, it was ''a damp squib'' to find out that numbers 9, 10 and 11 in the Legends side were Ali Brown's (ex player and current 2nd XI coach) three young sons! At least the local side took some satisfaction in thrashing these Legends.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

It's just so annoying Guildford - we had 8 13-16 year olds and 3 of us are 19 including myself, and those kids gained literally zero from today - nothing, zilch. In fact it's probably put them off cricket and for what? So a few out of nick "1st teamers" could have a meaningless knock.

I'll be making a complaint to the league

[JDizzle]

Sunday 'Friendly' Cricket is an interesting one for us. We had a brilliant game yesterday where the oppo, great bunch of lads, racked up 270 off 40 (Our ground is tiny, and when the weather is dry and the outfield gets fast is no fun to bowl on) and we knocked them off with 3 balls to go. Brilliant game, and that the juniors (7 who played yesterday were 13-15) will remember for a long time, especially the lad who cracked a four in the penultimate over to pretty much get us over the line. Helped your truly was sat on 110* off 50 balls at the other end, but we'll gloss over that.

We are quite lucky though, in the sense that in the 8 years I have played at this club we have only had two sides who've decided to be morons and play gun players, and we are also lucky enough that there are enough teams who want to play Sunday friendlies in this area that we just sacked those two teams off and have never played them again.

As for Saturday league cricket, we are unbeaten and top of our league so far! Relegation has it's perks I guess! It's what we needed really, as we were at a massively low ebb last season and we needed to reboot and start again lower down. And we've played really well this year, so here's hoping we can carry it on. Got a Winning Draw (don't ask how it can only be a winning draw, when we made 240 and they only made 160-9...) against our nearest rivals on Sat, so just need to push on again. Bowled decently this year personally (15 @ 15, about) but batted like a moron till this weekend, where I got a impetus building 35 off 20 odd on Sat!

[Mad for Chelsea]

sorry to hear about that Olly, that sounds incredibly annoying. We have a busy calendar this year and not a particularly large squad, so not many friendlies this year (a couple of warm-ups basically), but when we do have friendlies we always try to give everyone a decent game. Given I keep wicket this means I tend to get shunted down the order a fair bit on the basis that I'm heavily involved for half the game. There's an attempt to pull off a "mix-and-match" friendly against the Bordeaux Bègles rugby team sometime this summer, which will be great fun it it comes off!!

On the league, it's fair to say we're cruising. Won 6 from 6, and with two games left to play almost guaranteed top spot in our pool (need to win one more to make absolutely sure). TBH without wishing to sound arrogant we have the best team in the region by a distance, and really should clean up this year, but a few hiccoughs have made the odd game interesting. Brief summary (all 40 overs matches):

- game 1. Bowled the opposition out for 70, and they only got that because our captain decided to give a couple of guys a bowl who wouldn't normally. Then had a collective brain-freeze with the bat, allied to some dodgy umpiring (5 LBWs), finding ourselves 30 for 7 before a couple of decent partnerships saw us home. I kept well (one catch, didn't miss anything, maybe a couple of byes), but scored 0, LBW to an inswinger (felt I got outside the line, but hey...).

- game 2. Didn't play. We batted first, made 219/6, the opposition limped to 156/7 again with our captain handing some overs out.

- game 3. Batted first, decent start, then a collapse, I helped rebuild by hanging around while others played around me (made about 12 or so before slashing to cover hitting out), but we didn't finish particularly well and made 165/9. Didn't bowl our best but chipped away throughout, before their sixth wicket partnership threatened briefly. On came James with his medium-pace dobblers, and one wicket brought five as they collapsed to 102 all out. Kept OK, one easy catch and a nice stumping off said medium-pacer James, but dropped a couple of tough chances diving full length to my right (one was fingertips stuff, but the other I felt I should have clung on to).

- game 4. Batted first, made 229 all out (off the last ball). I ran myself out for 2 (oops...). They started well with the bat, but the run-rate always looked too high, and we eventually bowled them out for 168 in the penultimate over. Kept very well indeed, a good low catch to break the opening partnership, an excellent stumping off James (managing to take cleanly one which kicked up off a length and whip the bails off quickly), and an easier one to end the match.

- game 5. Batted first, solid start but losing too many wickets through the middle, and about 100/7 after 30 overs. My best innings of the season so far with a well-paced 30 from n°8 at about a run-a-ball, putting on a quickfire 50+ stand with Momo at n°9 and wrestling the momentum back. A not so great finish from us, but we still made 184 which seemed a good score. Bowling was a mixed bag, but we kept chipping away, and eventually bowled them out for 172 winning by 12 runs, Naeem the hero with 4 wickets. I kept very badly unfortunately, possibly suffering form the heat after my batting, dropped three catches (one hard, two fairly straightforward which I really should have taken, though one was caught on the rebound by slip). Not my proudest moment, though the skip was nice enough to call me up on the drive home and say that he thought my batting was great .

- game 6. Bowled first, got their only decent batsman out early going for an overly ambitious pullshot and dragging on, then watched them mostly stallwall for 40 overs, finishing on 90/8 (off 40 overs!!). Captain got so bored that he brought himself on for his first bowl in two years, and promptly sent down about 7 wides in two overs. Kept well, having made some technical adjustments from the previous week. No byes, and a couple of pretty good catches (didn't drop anything). Chased the score down comfortably for two wickets down with nearly half the innings left, captain playing very nicely for 55*. Wasn't even close to being required to bat .

So there you go, some details can be found here: http://www.cricket-sw-france.org/5.html (go to Nothern Pool - which is ours). Quite possibly my last game coming up for the club on Sunday as I'm moving to Glasgow after that for a three-year position with the University of Strathclyde. Hope to sign off in style!

JDizzle: I simply can't get my head around the concept of "losing draws", I mean what's the point?

[JDizzle]

JDizzle: I simply can't get my head around the concept of "losing draws", I mean what's the point?

I don't know if anyone else plays this system, but we have two types of win. If you win the toss and choose to bowl first and win, you get 20 points. In any other scenario, you get 24 points. Obviously you 'win' if you bat second and chase down the runs, but if you bat first you have to bowl the opposition out to get the full win. If you don't bowl the opposition out, it is a winning (or losing, depending on what side you are on) draw, where 10 points are divided up depending on what % of the first innings runs the chasing teams gets. 60% = 9:1, 70% = 8:2 etc. If you lose or get a draw, batting and bowling bonus points are available (max of 5 each). Imagine explaining that to a youngster, definitely enoucourages them to play exciting cricket...

I am informed, as I hate it, that this system a) forces attacking bowling/fielding places, rather than negative lines and lengths b) gives the team batting second something to play for if they concede 300 (Don't concede 300 then is my argument!). But it's nonsense, win/lose cricket please.

[Mad for Chelsea]

well that sounds incredibly silly. Basically a batting team is "punished" for scoring too many runs for the other team to reasonably attempt to chase. The other team can shut up shop and just bat out time to deprive them of full points. Not that they'll get massive points themselves either, they're just depriving their opponents of points. Incredibly negative IMO. Also there's just such a huge discrepancy between the 20/24 points available for the win and the (max) 9 points available for the winning draw.

"encourages attacking approach" my rear-end... I get the "give the other team something to play for" (fair enough IMO) but surely that's the point of bonus points, or even simply playing for pride or having the most fun you can have. I've certainly played in a few utterly desperate situations, but always found some little targets to try to achieve...

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Well I was recalled to the 3rd team today - away in the middle of nowhere, they batted first got 245 off 46 overs...so we was screwed essentially.

I went in at 7-2 (batting 4) - and put on 98 for the 3rd wicket with the opener before he fell and we decided (the captain) to bat for a "losing draw" - is there anything worse?!?

Anyways I managed to stick around until the 46th over, and ended up getting out on 71 (hit a full toss straight to cover - no red ink for moi!)

I'm in good nick at the moment - and have a game for the Sunday team tomorrow. I feel this maybe where my good run ends - I'm shattered!!

Updates since then....

Got 2 the next when pushed upto open - went to flick one off me pads, too early and leading edge caught at cover!

Dropped down to the 4's the next week, we scored 270 off 45 and I got a brisk 43 off 31. Also managed to break my batting pads when sliding my bat in!!! (If I knew how to upload pictures on here I'd show you all the outcome!)

Next week back in the 3's, we knocked off 145 only 1 down so didn't get a bat

Last week we bowled them out for 89, I opened and got 40* to help the old average!

I'm going well this season without ever feeling in good form. I used to be able to play off my pads for fun, now I'm really struggling. However I could never play offside before, now I cover drive like a prime Tendulkar (well maybe)

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Any suggestions on how I can regain my old ways would be helpful

[Pal Joey]

Any suggestions on how I can regain my old ways would be helpful

Yeah, I've got a suggestion for you, Olly.

Just be yourself and learn to be more patient. You'll be fine....  

[sirfredperry]

After some of the wash-outs of previous summers, my side - Twyford and Ruscombe in Berkshire - chalked up 13 successive weather-free Sunday matches until we were rained off this last Sunday July 26.
Reckon you have to go back many years to find another sequence as good as this one. I seem to remember playing 16 successive Sunday matches in 1990 which was a very hot summer.
Our last match on Sun Jul 19 saw us fielding out to 328 in a 40-over match against Woodley, with one of the Woodley guys making 200 retired out. We managed 253. Not a great day for the bowlers.

[alfie]

I see I haven't written anything on here this season ...but no , I haven't retired...

Some might say I may as well have done so , given a singular lack of personal or team success so far  :  I have been in charge of our club's lowest (6th ) XI ; and in truth we have had an underwhelming first few matches - no wins , a couple of heavy defeats , and not a lot of notable individual performances.  
On the other hand , the team spirit remains pretty good.  We are composed of a mix of very young lads , a few old timers and some players who enjoy the game but would not claim any great expertise ; and it is a quirk of the club grading system that in some years particular grades are noticeably stronger than others : judging by the teams we've played so far this is one of them for our grade ! No skullduggery is involved - it is just the way clubs lower grade teams are allocated ; but when one club's 6th XI (ours) finds itself playing other strong club's 3rd XI it is clear the computer has had a glitch

That winning isn't everything is a bit of a cliche ;but I must admit that watching a young player of no great natural ability nevertheless grind out a defensive effort for more than twenty overs in an (ultimately vain) attempt to secure a draw , these days gives me as much pleasure as seeing a talented batsman hit a fast fifty. I don't wish to teach kids to lose ; but when a parent tells me her boy has derived more enjoyment from battling it out in my side than he does from more easy success in the junior competition , I suppose what I'm trying to do isn't being entirely wasted...

Today was to have been the last day before the Christmas break. And we were actually in a decent position after day one , though we needed to bowl well today ...however the Melbourne weather intervened ; and the Hot Weather Policy caused the complete abandonment of the round - a first , I think.  Some bemoan the influence of the Nanny State ; but with temperatures in the low 40s an hour or so before the scheduled start of play I cannot really say the competition overlords were wrong. I've played in conditions like this in past years ; but though the majority of people may get through such days with mere discomfort , I recognise that some less than fully fit chaps are at risk on such days - and there are a fair proportion of youngsters involved who might also suffer.  In any case , we have our first points for the season , courtesy of the draw

[guildfordbat]

That's a lovely post, Alfie. Good to hear your spirit remains strong and is reaching out to others.

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Yes - thanks Alfie, a great read.  Nothing like a really good rearguard action for us older hands!  Wow - 40c +   Also unseasonably warm in UK at the moment. Rhododendrons in full bloom in our local park in Kent.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Well the season is upon us, I have a friendly tomorrow - in our clubs 3rd XI again it seems which is a step up from the 4th XI I started off in last year

Weather report - glorious sunshine expected

Shame it's gonna be 7 degrees with a wind making it feel like 3 degrees....

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

We've had our first two league games of the year (in our 3rd xi this year I am!)

First game we lost by 15 runs with ten men - I opened and got 16 which was annoying because I'd just got in then edged behind a cut shot

Today we lost by 6 wickets and again I opened and got 43, felt a lot better at the crease and got out trying to up the scoring rate and plunkt one to mid off

Two opening stands of over 50 in a row with my other opener, shame our other batsmen aren't very good...

[guildfordbat]

Good start for you, Olly, averaging almost 30. Always difficult as well for an opener to get a red inker. Trust your seconds are noticing. Keep going!

[JDizzle]

We passed 100 for the first time today. 4 games in. We lost by 10 wickets. I'm bowling well though!

[packofwolves]

I've made my comeback to competitive cricket this season after an 8 year hiatus - its good to be back! I'm primarily a slow left armer who fancies his ability to scratch the occasional contribution from around no8. Playing for Millhouses in the South Yorkshire league we've had a tough start to the season; three completed league games so far, two lost to rain, and we registered our first win yesterday! The wet and not altogether warm weather hasn't resulted in many raging turners as yet...

Playing away at Worsborough Bridge we bowled first and dismissed the opposition for 96 on a seaming deck. Our opening bowlers stuck to good full lengths and got their rewards, Tom Roper taking 5-28. Sadly they bowled so well i didn't get to turn my arm over myself. After a lunch which featured the scandal of the home team snaffling ALL of the chips our batsmen got to work. Our debutant keeper, also a long time out of the game, made a scratchy 5 but stayed in long enough with our other opener Sri (45) to settle any nerves. Our number 3 played calmy before accelerating to 33 off 35 balls. Sri was bowled shortly before the end, attempting to bring a rapid demise to the chase, and so an 8 wicket win was completed in the 20th over.

Picked up my first wicket of the season last week... 7-0-27-1 out of the oppo's total of 196-5(46ovs). It turned out to be far too many on a low seamer, mainly due to a last minute exodus of our batsmen to the 1st XI, and some rather headless shot selection.

Looking forward to next Saturday away at Bradfield (lovely spot for a game). Fingers crossed for fine weather!

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

http://horsfordcc.com/news/default.aspx#news105517

For the cricket lovers - if the weather holds, Mal Loye (former lancs and England international) is playing in the t20 comp for our club tonight - buzzing to watch him bat!

[hampo17]

I've made the decision to drop down and play 3rds this year, mainly due to wanting to spend Saturdays with my kids. Tomorrow I've worked out our average is 14, and that's only because there are 3 of us over 28.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Not really in season anymore, but unfortunately our club chairman died suddenly Monday morning. A great loss to cricket in the area, he had great enthusiasm for the game, and put a lot of money into the club.

Hopefully everything will be ok to continue with him not there, but a bit uncertain at the moment

[alfie]

As a break from worrying about England selection issues I thought I'd record my latest personal cricketing story.
Haven't posted for a year as about this time last season a seemingly innocuous training incident resulted in my right shoulder being put almost completely out of action - something of a handicap for a right arm bowler
Medical opinion was it could fix itself pretty quickly with rest ... But as the new year wore on it became apparent that injured tendons don't bounce back too soon for chaps of my vintage : while the acute pain period passed , I couldn't actually raise the arm above the shoulder at all ; so although I finished the season as a captain , strokeless batsman and ornamental slip fielder ( we were very short of players) I really did fear this was career ending.
Happy now to report that after a couple of injections , a good deal of osteopathy , more doctors fees than I want to remember and months of rehab , I am now able to bowl pretty much in the manner I did before : a huge relief. Am careful to warm up thoroughly first , and take a bit longer than I used to get in the groove ...but after bowling some eighty odd overs these first five matches without ill effect I'm feeling reasonably confident it is "fixed" .
Took 6/60 last week off 22 so I also feel justified in taking so much trouble to come back. Unfortunately the team is still chasing lots so it probably won't be a match winning performance but still quite a nice feeling.
Now if I could just find a cure for my increasing inability to move quickly enough to be some sort of use in the field I might ask for a promotion

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Well done Alfie on persisting - glad to see you in the wickets! 

Recognise the issues about warming up for the maturer sportsman I've certainly realised in making my return from a running injury that I really do need quite a prolonged warm up to get the limbs moving freely.

[alfie]

Thanks Corporal. I am indeed happy to be back on the park !

By the way , we didn't win (as I feared). And my own contribution with the bat was ...well it wasn't

Ah well ; two wins out of five so we soldier on...

[Pete C (Kiwireddevil)]

I'm now 2 net sessions into my season (our first game isn't until late May) - we booked a lane at the Lords Performance Centre last Sunday, and one at the indoor Oval nets on Sunday. My bowling shoulder was sore for over 2 days after Lords, much better this week. And the knee is holding up (I managed a meniscus tear playing dodgeball in February - joys of getting older).

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

We have our first friendly game organized for 23rd April - hoping work commitments fall so that I can make more net sessions this year and really try to become more consistent when batting...may even try my right arm dobblers a bit more

[Pete C (Kiwireddevil)]

We have our first friendly game organized for 23rd April - hoping work commitments fall so that I can make more net sessions this year and really try to become more consistent when batting...may even try my right arm dobblers a bit more

Nice one.

All our games are friendlies - joys of "village" cricket. I was batting nicely on Sunday, still trying to cut out a bit of excessive bottom hand. And the leggies were turning quite nicely. Couldn't get the wrong'un to go, but the flipper was working OK, if a little short on occasion

[Pete C (Kiwireddevil)]

For my sins I'm Match Manager/Captain for our season opener (yes I know it's late) this Sunday, a nice wee friendly down in Surrey at VECC in Chobham. A good old fashioned 85-over declaration match.

I've managed to assemble a whole 10 players for the day (mutter mutter, I've tried asking over 30 people), & it looks like I'll be opening the batting

[Pal Joey]

Good luck Pete. No doubt your plucky Kiwi touch will see you through.
So you need just one more player, yeah? Hope you find a decent all-rounder... or whatever.

[guildfordbat]

Yep, good luck, Pete. Valley End is just up the road from my gaff Guildford Towers. A bit of a yoyo side, being regularly promoted to and relegated from the Surrey Championship. Mind you, that's the top level here before full-time County cricket. Some of their players were on the books at Surrey and Middlesex - hopefully, they won't be featuring on Sunday although it might be best to try and get your numbers fully up!

[Pete C (Kiwireddevil)]

Yep, good luck, Pete. Valley End is just up the road from my gaff Guildford Towers. A bit of a yoyo side, being regularly promoted to and relegated from the Surrey Championship. Mind you, that's the top level here before full-time County cricket. Some of their players were on the books at Surrey and Middlesex - hopefully, they won't be featuring on Sunday although it might be best to try and get your numbers fully up!

We're in Guildford this weekend mate, playing Sanford Arms CC

Unfortunately for us we only had 10 men, while Valley End's first XI were rained off on Saturday so 2-3 of them opted to play against us yesterday. We got put in on a pitch that their 2nds defended 80 on on Saturday. It was green enough for plenty of swing, and soft enough that the odd ball was stopping, meaning we struggled through to 101 all out in 40 overs - I carried my bat for 32 not out, after struggling in the early overs (I was on 7 at drinks ) then not getting much strike at the end. Only 2 others made double figures.

We started OK with the ball, knocking over both openers early, before their giant of a #3 started depositing balls into the treetops on the boundary, and knocking off the last 70 runs in 6 overs

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