(York)Shire it anyway!

Despite their severe hangovers, the 12 visiting Yorkshiremen beat us soundly

It was a fun game though, especially since it was played in what was most likely the last drop of sun we're likely to see all year. We had a 36 over, 12 on 12 match, where everyone bowled 3 overs, and batsmen retired on 50. We also decided to bowl out the overs regardless of how many wickets fell, so that anyone who got out cheaply could have another go. Which is good ... knowing how crap it feels to drive down the country for an hour or two and then get out first ball - imagine what it's like flying to a different country and having it happen to you!

They had two batsmen in particular that took the game away from us, both of whom made 50s at a good strike rate. One of them drove a ball from me straight down the ground for 4, and next ball picked up my "sly" attempt at a slower ball - and cracked it back over my head for 6!!! B*****d

My first over only went for about 2 runs, and not a single ball of it was off line. 2nd over he took the attack to me with a couple of big shots in a row as above and it went for about 14 with a couple of wides and a no-ball . I managed to get things back under control a bit in the third over, to finish up with 22 runs off me overall - but no wickets

I didn't finish up with the most expensive spell though surprisingly. It turned out that the two lads were just getting warmed up with me, and really let loose after I came off - hitting one of our lads for 37 and another for 41!! Luckily they both got their 50s and were off - so some normality was restored.

They set us a target of about 180 (5 an over) which looks reasonable on paper, but we never really had the strength in the side to take that on. We got off to a decent start but soon enough there was a collapse and some spirited batting in the tail couldn't compensate.

For my own innings, I got about 6 runs more that normal - that's right, 6 runs! The biggest surprise of all though was that 4 of those runs came off one of the first balls I faced! It was a a slow long hop outside leg, and without thinking about it I managed to go down on one knee and sweep it away to the boundary in front of square leg. It was only afterwards that it occurred to me that that was the first 4 I'd ever hit.

And I don't just mean in matches ... I mean ever! I can literally not think of a single other time - even in training - that I managed to hit a ball well enough for it to go. I'm normally too tensed up over protecting my wicket to attack a ball - but I guess the relaxed nature of the game let me do it. I was feeling pretty confident after it, and played a few other decent shots, picking up two singles - one driven well down the ground and under the bowler, and the other chipped over midwicket. A couple of other balls were struck OK too, but went too close to fielders.

All too soon though it all went to pot. I played across a ball that I thought was going down leg and it smacked into middle. To me it looked like it swung, but I asked the umpire afterwards and he said it didn't. I'm thinking it's some kind of mental block I have with a ball that comes in at a certain angle straight at me. Maybe I'm falling over it and it looks like it's moving away - but it's a ball that keeps bowling me. I'll have to have a think about it and start playing it with a straight bat next year.

For this year - all that is left to do is give my bat it's end of season makeover; pick up my Duck Cup at the club dinner; and start planning for next year. I'm going to wait a few weeks before making any sort of training plan, just to give my head a rest. I'm signing up for the level 1 coaching course in November - so it might make sense to coincide the start of my winter training with that. In the meantime I'll just rest up, and if the mood takes me, knock a tennis ball around at home.