Anyone for Aquatic Cricket?

Given that that was quite possibly the wettest weekend ever, unsurprisingly there was no cricket played. Someone proposed a cricket/water-polo hybrid, but as it turns out, cricket balls don't float as well as you'd expect

I was picked for both the 4ths on Saturday and the 3rds on Sunday, but on both occasions waterlogging was responsible for the game being called off. Annoyingly, the Sunday one wasn't called off until 30 minutes before the start, when we were all standing on the edge of the pitch/pool. If someone from the opposition had got their act together they could have checked the pitch that morning and saved me the drive from down home All I ended up doing was watching the Olympics for most of the day.

I've started doing a little batting drill by myself that I think has helped me watch the ball onto the bat. It's a bit like sock cricket, but more portable and I can do it in the middle when there's no-one else down at training. Basically, all I do is throw the ball a few feet in the air, get my foot to where it bounces, and then try and drive it down the pitch. I've also been using a stump instead of a bat to make sure I'm actually hitting it cleanly and not too far.

Last week when I tried it first I was swinging and missing nearly every time, but then I started really concentrating and watching the ball right onto the face of the bat .... er, stump. I realised in doing this that I had a tendency to watch the ball a bit and then assume I'd tracked it all the way - when in fact I'd looked up to where the ball should have ended up before I'd even hit it! This realisation made a big difference last weekend, where I was hitting the ball cleanly, and getting right behind the defensive strokes.

I'm still not at the stage where I can place the ball, but if I can strike the ball well enough for it to travel, then chances are that it will hit a gap or a fielder will misfield. At the very least, if it's hit well enough to pass the fielders, then they have to work to stop the run.

I've started adding a bit of decision making into the drill now too. If the ball is coming down nearly on top of me or right in front of me - then just defend it on the full (pre-bounce). If it's going to bounce on any sort of half-volley length - then drive it. And if it's landing further away - either get down to it and drive or get into some form of forward defensive position (if it's straight) or leave it (if wide). A good thing about this drill is that there is NO point in trying to cross-bat with a stump, so it should get some good straight-bat habits ingrained in me.


This is essentially the same stuff I'll be doing with the bowling machine once I get around to finishing it - but at the moment there is too much cricket playing and practicing to focus on it. As soon as the season ends I'll get cracking on it properly.

Also, it looks like I'll be getting involved in the cricket club committee next year, so am looking forward to that. The AGM is on near the end of September, so I'll know then if I get on/what position I'll have on the committee.