(Title make sense now, eh, yeah .... no?)
First game was called off on Thursday evening, as the opposition couldn't get more than 5 players - and this was after I'd booked a days holidays
. Friday turned out to be not a complete write-off however - aside from getting the car ready for my NCT (which it passed this morning 
), I managed to get in an hours batting practice by myself. Basically I was throwing a tennis ball against the wall at the back of our house, and then trying to drive or defend it with a stump when it came back to me. I spent a while of this concentrating on balls at my legs - trying to get used to getting my front foot out of the way so I had room to hit the ball.Saturday then was due to be a day off, but I had made myself available for the 1sts as they were having trouble getting 11. Sure enough, 9am (
) on Saturday morning I got the call up for my first 1st team game of the season. We needed a good win to have a chance of promotion, and we got off to a pretty good start having them at 65 for 6 about 25 overs in. Unfortunately though their number 4 and number 8 both knuckled down to get the rate up over the course of about 15 overs. They both eventually got 50s (the number 8 being not out) to leave us chasing 165. The firsts hadn't had a game in around 5 weeks due to weather and some scheduling issues, and unfortunately it showed. None of the top order really fired and despite a few well made 20s from the middle batsmen we were fighting a losing battle.I was in at 10 (much to the chagrin of the number 11
), and came in to bat with 15 overs to go. The guy at the other end was batting well, so I just made sure to keep out the straight ones and hoped to nick a few singles by connecting well. I did manage to play a few shots, but nothing that really cleared the field. Eventually I got one run, (which was given to me really to keep me on strike 
), and the next over was on to face a spinner (don't like spinners).This guy actually didn't turn it much, but he put the ball down fast with an off-spinner's action. I broke my own new-found rule and forgot to play each ball on it's merits - instead playing for the non-existent turn. After 5 balls I fished at one that was well outside off without moving my feet - and managed to get an inside edge into off stump
Interestingly, this is the first time I've scored a run that resulted in my average dropping
We ended up with 115 ao, with the poor number 11 only getting to face 1 ball - 0 not out
Fielding was a bit of a mixed bag for me, but mostly good. I'd a few nice stops that saved 4s, including one that nearly saw me run full tilt into the sight screen - evasive action being needed. I also chased a few that other players had given up on, and came within inches on two occasions of saving another 4. I really need to learn how to dive or slide, it's such a shame to be quick enough to get close to the ball, but then not have the skill to make use of it.
The worst bit though was my first drop of a dolly. I was moved to long-on, and my second ball there was creamed in the air directly towards my. I ran in towards it - then realised I'd overshot it and tried to backpedal. Then with a full stretch jump I just managed to get a hand to it, but couldn't hold on
(stopped it going for 4 at least). I was pretty annoyed with myself, but I just decided to put it behind me and get on with the game. These things happen to us all, ya know! I think if it happened to me last year I would have gone into my shell completely and been afraid to go for a ball for the rest of the game, but after taking 10 catches this year I still had some confidence in my ability. This paid off a few overs later when I took a nice one - running from long-on to behind the bowler and taking it two-handed at full tilt, making the tally 11 this season.Sunday, I had made myself available for the 2nds as a backup, as they were playing the game that would potentially decide the league. 1st v 2nd. If we won, we were beyond catching. A loss meant that they had a slim chance of overhauling us in the last two games. In order to be available for this, I had replaced myself on the RTÉ taverners team for the day. So when it turned out I was surplus to requirements on the 2nds, I was left cricketless
It was still a good day though, not sure what Dave was complaining about in his blog - the last day of August over here was the hottest we'd had in months! I watched our boys score 170-odd in their game, which looked a safe total, then called down to the taverners game to see their run-chase. 2nds ended up winning comfortably to get the league title in the bag for the 2nd time in three years
. And the taverners got within 3 runs of winning in their game before losing 3 quick wickets in the 2nd last over to hand the trophy to the opposition .We had a meal afterwards to mark the end of the taverners season, and a good day was had by all
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