Over-cricket-itis!!

I'm starting to get to a stage where I can't remember details about individual matches anymore! I'm glad I have the blog to remind me of stuff. One of the 1st teamers asked me yesterday who had taken wickets the previous day in the game I played - and I flat out couldn't remember. I couldn't even really remember who had played - or if I'd bowled my self!!!!

Bizarre!

Anyway after thinking about it, it wasn't too surprising that I was confused as frequent bowling changes were the order of the day, and no-one had taken more than a 3-for.

So on friday, I was looking forward to a busy weekend of cricket - with a cup game for the 3rds on Saturday and a league fixture for the 4ths on Sunday. But at lunchtime on Friday I got a text from the 2nds captain asking me to shift up to their team on Saturday. 2nds is a bit above my standard - but as he was stuck, I had no problem travelling. But then a half hour later I got a call from him saying that he'd got someone else and didn't need me any more! And by then the 3rds was full again - so I'd no game! A while later though our 3rds skipper said he needed me - only for the 2nds captain to call me again looking for me to play! At this stage I just said "the pair of you can sort it out and when you know where and if I'm needed - let me know".

View from edge of Mullingar cricket pitch

So eventually I ended up going to Mullingar to play for the 2s (3->2->no-one->3->2 in 4 hours ... phew). It was a good game, which we won well - defending 140 on a damp track relatively comfortably. I was batting at 11, and faced 2 balls before the other man got bowled - so 0* (much better than a duck ). I didn't get a bowl, but managed to take a sharp catch at square leg - one of those reaction catches that you take about once every 10 tries. Apparently after taking it I still had a look of terror on my face for a few seconds before I realised I'd actually caught it. I wasn't great in the field for the first while of the game - mis-fielding 3 due to a lack of concentration and a wet ball. Got away with it though for the most part - only costing us one run ... but boy was I glad that it wasn't a much tighter game!

We'd our annual club mid-season drinks that night too - wasn't a great turnout though. And I was fairly tired after travelling and a long game - meaning I was glad to get home before 3 and get to sleep.

Sunday then I was playing 4ths - and it was a bit of a nightmare game! We got off to a very poor start with both openers getting 3 a piece - and it pretty much went downhill from there! Only 2 of our guys made double figures, with one getting 30-odd and another 14 - with the rest of the team pitching in to get us to just 60 all out! I got a 0 not out without facing a ball. Once I came in the other batsman decided to hit out and got caught in the deep. On reflection though, it would have made much more sense if he'd kept playing sensibly and I tried to block up an end. Chances are I would have been bowled cheaply anyway - but if we'd managed to stick on another 20 runs who knows what would have happened.

We didn't do too badly in the field considering - taking 4 wickets before they managed to make the total. Even with this though, we never completely looked like pulling it off. We gave a good attempt though - with some pressure fielding and opening with a spinner to try and put some pressure on. I was fielding at silly mid off and also quite close in on the leg side. I managed to stop a few balls, and managed to avoid being decapitated by one that was cracked at me. I got a hand to it ... but only to stop it hitting me in the face. I've got a nice little bruise on the side of my hand and my ikkle finger doesn't like me much - but it saved a run or two so no complaints here.

I did get to bowl three overs in this match, taking 2 for 16. So a bit expensive again, but at least I'm taking wickets. My major problem is that my first over is usually too loose (unless I get a wicket with the first ball). Yesterday it went for 10, before clawing back the rate for the next two. I still think that I need to groove my action for a few hours a week until I'm able to ramp up faster in games - but it's been difficult to find time.

Also - one of our thirds players pulled a ball into his face yesterday and broke his nose - nasty. Funny enough I'm seriously considering purchasing a helmet now.

Midweek

Merrion's Home Ground

I had a nightmare bowling spell yesterday!! Our thirds had a midweek game that I was picked for relatively late. We lost the toss and were put in to bat, with myself as the number 11. I didn't get a go though as we only lost 7 wickets in posting 240 in 40 overs, which is the highest score for the thirds in our club.

We also had an ideal start in the defense, when I took a catch at square leg off the 2nd ball of the innings - giving me a total of 8 catches from 12 games so far this year. We were a bit short on the bowling side - so it was likely I'd be getting a few overs. Unfortunately though, their number 7 was a very good batsman. He was very solid against anything full and straight, granted he wasn't great outside off stump, rarely getting a shot away out there for runs. But he had a great eye - and anything short was thumped away over the pavillion for 6

One of our opening bowlers got hit for two 6s in one over - including one lost ball. So the skipper took him off and tried me at his end......

Two overs, 22 runs and three more lost balls later .....

Numerous balls last seen bouncing on this roof

Needless to say, another bowling change was tried. Luckily (for me), he got the very same treatment - going for 23 in his two overs. We managed to get him out eventually though, when our spinner got him to mis-hit a shot to mid off who gladly took it. We went on to bowl them out 99 runs short of their target.

I also dropped a difficult chance at deep square leg - it was well struck and was coming at me flat, and I didn't pick it up until late - so it bounced off the edge of my palm and out. It's a bit bruised, but not that bad. I made up for it a bit later in the over when he tried a similar shot through mid-wicket that I just pulled back inside the boundary. But I was disappointed not to take my 9th.

Unfortunately, I didn't get back on to try and fix my figures a bit - and I reckon it'll be a while before the thirds resort to bowling me again. It was especially disappointing after a good spell of bowling at the weekend. I think the problem was that I was trying to bowl too fast, and I ended up dragging it short too often. I was trying to keep it full, but it just didn't click for me for some reason. It didn't help either that I couldn't establish a rhythm because we kept having to retrieve or replace the ball and I was a bit knackered.

As soon as I get a chance I'm going to get back down to the pitch by myself and get some more bowling in. I haven't had enough time of late to practice my bowling, meaning that a lot of my overs come in games - where as I've figured out, you cannot afford to be off.

We've a few games at the weekend, so I may be in action twice. Hopefully I can do a bit better if I get a bowl.

Longest day

Sandyford v Merrion - Cars came in handy for keeping the book dry

On the weekend that contained the longest day of the year - and supposedly the middle of summer - 3 of the clubs 4 games were called off :( The only game to go ahead being the 4ths fixture against one of the two teams that had beaten us already this year. Somehow we managed to dodge the rain and squeeze in a match - only having to come off the field 3 or 4 times for heavy showers.

This was a mixed blessing - good that we got it completed, but bad because we were soundly beaten.

They batted first on a pitch that constantly kept low and started well - with both openers making it into the 20s. We were a man short for the first 14 overs, and so were constantly having to adjust the field. But one of the openers in particular was finding the gaps well. Eventually we got him, and soon after our last man turned up. The game started going well for us for a while then, getting a few quick wickets.

I was brought on with the score around 80-5. My first ball was a rank long-hop wide outside off :blush: - which has happened to me in a few games. But then my 2nd was a length ball on middle stump. Their man tried to play it onto the leg side, but only succeeded in popping up an easy catch to short-midwicket (inspired field placing ;) ). Unfortunately though, this only resulted in their number 8 coming in, and in true Vettori fashion - this guy went and made 83!! Including around 8 or 9 6s!!! In my third over he hit me for about 12 runs, including one 6 that cleared my man at deep midwicket :(

At that stage, the captain started a bowling change war against him - which resulted in him destroying everyones figures. At one stage he hit three 6s in a row over mid-on - each going a bit further than the last. Eventually the captain brought me back on, and I managed to get under his bat when he was trying to get the ball into orbit and take out middle stump :) At the very least, this saved us having the last 4 overs going for 90-odd runs :D Once he was out, it was easy enough to clean up the tail with a bowled and an LBW to finish their innings with 2 balls left.

179 was the target, which given our track record of batting was never going to be easy. We had a shaky start, with one of our openers pulling a hamstring early on. All their players ran over to see if he was OK, while one of the umpires (from our team) stood back and took photos!!! I'll put them on here once they're on the site ;) I went on as a runner for him, and he made a quick 20 before being bowled.

Bowled was to be a word that featured heavily in the scorecard, with 9 of the 10 wickets on our side being such. The odd one out was a well taken stumping. I was batting 11, and came on for the hat-trick ball of one of their bowlers - luckily, he put it down wide of off. I managed to nick one run in the next over before being bowled on my third ball ::) So Sandyford all out for 82.

My dismissal was from a ball I always have trouble playing. It starts looking like it's going down leg and then swings back onto the stumps. And for some reason I always play right across it. It didn't swing very much, but it was enough for the likes of me to misjudge it.

So as I said - not a great result for the team, but I was happy enough with my first 4-for ... even if it was a bit expensive (~6 rpo). Then again, none of the bowlers came out of the encounter very well off. Their number 8 was the difference between the teams, with scoring almost 4 times more than anyone else and taking 3 wickets. If you take away his batting and replace it with a usual number 8s 6 or 7 runs, then it might have been a very different game.

Busy week ahead - our thirds have games on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. And the 4ths have a fixture on Sunday. So potentially a lot of cricket in the offing. Though the weather forecast isn't looking great. Below is also a picture of one of the wheels from my bowling machine with motor attached. I've levelled the wheels now too - and it's cut down vibrations a lot, but there's still some work to do when I have more time.

Red and silver thing is a motor - not a beer can ;)

Nets update - 19/06

Nets went pretty well again last night. I bowled OK, and managed to put the vast majority on a good length. And the ball was almost always pitching on leg stump. However, all of the balls were seaming in This basically meant that if it was a little bit short it moved outside leg and it was whacked. But it wasn't too bad - as it was being whacked to Deep-Midwicket, so in a match situation it would be covered (hopefully).

I got a short bat at the end of the session too, and it felt really good. Two of the first teamers were trying to fire in yorkers, and I was having great fun with it. I'd a lovely looking drive past mid-off, and another through covers - both of which felt "right". It was another one of those moments where you do something - and a switch trips in your head going "So that's what they meant"! I'd say that this was the first time I'd ever actually played a ball directly under my eyes - and it makes such a big difference!

I was still lucky not to be bowled, I'd two inside edges that missed leg stump. But I suppose the difference is that previously I wouldn't have had the bat anywhere near the ball. And I guess that it helped that I knew they were trying yorkers, so I'd an idea where they were trying to pitch it. Still, it was good fun.

I effected a few run-outs again too, but generally my fielding was poor. I dropped one (admittedly difficult) chance, and some of my throws into the keeper were at his head instead of into his hands.

One thing that really does annoy me though is other players attitudes to fielding in nets. Very few of us were walking in, or trying to field with any sort of intensity. Instead some people were moping about looking bored until they were called to bat or bowl. As far as I'm concerned, if you're a lazy fielder in training thinking "I'll do it properly when it matters" - then the laziness is goint to follow you into the games. There's nothing worse than seeing a ball drop just short of a player when they're still trying to transfer their weight off their heels, and still taking their hands out of their pockets

I found my old camera last night too, but I have no idea where the USB cable is. I'll try to pick one up on the way home from work today. Our 1sts have a big cup game tomorrow so I'll take a few pics during and upload what our pitch looks like here.

A different type of spinner

On a training front, Tuesday went quite well. I was bowling more consistantly than in previous weeks. I think I need to be bowling a few overs every weekend to keep myself in any type of form. Spot bowling is all well and good, but it doesn't teach you how you should be thinking in the middle of a match. There weren't enough at training to have a full field either, so it was basically just a ring field. But I was paying attention to where the ball was going, and how that would have fit with the field I would have set. As usual, all the big arial hits went either over my head to long-off (where they would have been dropped ) ... or were pulled over Midwicket. These two positions (long off and deep midwicket) are going to be my strategic fielders I think. The guy I was bowling to is a good bat, and so I reckon he was hitting the ball where is deserved to go (not forcing shots) - so therefore it makes sense that long off and midwicket are generally where people want to hit me. So by having fielders there it will either result in catches, or make the batsman think twice about playing that shot.

Obviously, it depends on how the batsman is playing, but as a starting point it's good to have an idea where the field should be. Currently I'd be setting a field like:
Mid On - Deep Forward Midwicket - Short Midwicket - Square Leg - Shortish Fine Leg (at 45) - Shortish Third Man - Backward Point - Cover - Long Off.


We'll see how it pans out this weekend. In a repeat of last week we have three teams out on Sunday. This time though it looks like the captains will have the teams set earlier - so I should be playing 4ths (barring any last minute changes). We're playing on a ground that has a notoriously bad mat, with absolutely no bounce. So it should be a low scoring affair. I'm going to dig out the camera and try and get some more pics up on the blog. I bought it a few years ago, so it's not a great one (Fugi Finepix something), but I'll see how they turn out.

In other relatively exciting news - there was some progress on the bowling machine yesterday. I got a pair of wheels at the weekend, and I now have them mounted on the motors. I used some hot-melt plastic as the "adapter" and it seems to have worked quite well. I have the motors pretty much centred (thanks to some dental floss and a padlock ) but the wheels aren't level at the moment, meaning that there's still some vibration when it's powered. If I can get my hands on a spirit level (or failing that some chalk or a ruler) and a hairdryer I should be able to sort it out this weekend.

The wheels are hard (not air tyres), so I don't think I'll be able to use hard balls in the machine but if it fires tennis balls reasonably fast I'll call it a prototype and that'll do for now If I sort out the camera I'll take some pics of the different parts and show you guys the progress so far. The next step is to make up a frame and a way of guiding the balls down the centre of the wheels. I reckon a bit of pipe (like a drain-pipe) with slots in the sides might do the job - but I might have to revise that once I start looking into it properly.

Out for the 2s

Another good weekend for the club



We had three teams out on Saturday, which meant it was bit difficult to get enough players - but we managed, just about. Myself and one of the other 4th teamers were drafted up to the 2nds, along with some lads from the 3rds. And most of the 4th team were names I'd never heard before - I don't know where the captain found them :?

The 4ths had an interesting game by all accounts. They batted first and were all out for just 57 - but then they bowled the opposition out for 30 including one lad getting 5 for 7 off 10 overs.

Our game was just as dramatic - if for different reasons. The top order did it's job well, with the first 3 getting 91, 72 and 77, which led to us getting 294 in the 45 overs. Which is a record for the club, beating the previous best (267) that was set in 1987 (in a game that they lost believe it or not)! There was also plenty of activity aside from the free run-scoring - with scuffles between the batsman and the keeper; a dog trying to eat the ball; some comical attempts at fielding the ball; and no less than 4 arguments over the rules - all with the same member of the opposition. I didn't get to do much during the first innings obviously - being set to bat at 11 in a game where we only lost 4 wickets. But I did square-leg umpire for a bit. I still haven't had to do the bowlers end umpire yet this year - I'll have to start doing it at some stage I suppose, but a 2nds match is probably not the right place.

I did manage to get a bowl too. I wasn't really expecting to get on, but just after drinks the captain gave me the nod. My first over was a perfect study in how NOT to bowl! I was a bit nervous, and was alternating between long hops and full tosses down the leg side. And my run-up was just feeling wrong. My first over was carted around the place, going for 12 runs , 8 of which came from 4s hit straight over my head! I have recently been putting some thought into setting a field for my bowling - which does include a long-off that would have discouraged the batsman from playing that shot - but I wasn't confident enough to set the field coming on ... I was more worried about not screwing up! It would have looked bad if I'd set a field for my normal bowling and then proceeded to give them balls that were crying out to be hit into the gaps. I'll definitely be doing it next time though.

I came back well though - I relaxed a lot and only gave away a total of 6 runs off the next three overs. There were a good few close chances in there too. About 2 in each over beating the bat, and somehow just missing the stumps; I'd 3 or 4 good shouts for lbw too, but in all fairness I probably wouldn't have given them myself; and there were 3 catchable opportunities, 2 fell short of fielders (who should have been walking in), and one was driven just over my head and I just managed to get my fingertips to it at the top of a jump, which at least took the pace off it and stopped a possible 4. There were a couple of byes off me too, strangely enough. Two of the balls that beat the bat, also confused the keeper it seems. It's not that they were too fast, if anything they were slower balls. But perhaps the problem is that it so rarely gets past a batsman (either hits or defends) that the keeper's not expecting it when it does

Four overs was all I got though. When coming on for the 4th, the skipper said I could stay on if I got a wicket ... but it wasn't to be. I even tried a deliberate slower ball with my last one, but the line was off and it just resulted in a single. The game was over fairly soon after anyway. The other 4th teamer (who was given the chance to open the bowling and took 1 wicket from his first spell), came back on and did a great job - being rewarded with 3 more wickets. The last being a decent enough catch from me running from mid-off to cover and taking it at a stretch to end the game with the opposition on 153. So a 4-for for the other 4th team bowler! It's quite likely now that the 4th team mightn't be getting to keep him for much longer

That catch was my 7th of the season from 10 games, which puts me currently joint top of the table with the 3rd team keeper. If I can keep up with this sort of pace it might result in a cup that can be used to "cancel out" the now near-inevitable duck cup. I could also do with a few more wickets too. I racked up 11 wickets in 4 games (6 if you count games where I didn't bowl) and then didn't get to bowl for almost a month. I'd like to be getting a lot more overs in, but we almost always seem to be in games where we bat first and then don't have to defend for long enough for me to get a chance at them. Maybe this weekend?

Wanted: 4th teamers ::)

Bit of a woeful training session Tuesday night! I started well enough, putting every ball on a line and length - and then I had a bat that went really well. But I was a bit knackered and when I came on to bowl again I just couldn't find a length ... My run-up felt all wrong, where I'd be reaching for the crease one time and having to hold back the next time - meaning I wasn't concentrating on delivering the ball. My run-up is normally very consistant - so it was a bit annoying.

Good training session last night though ... My batting was quite good compared to before. I was making a concious effort to be as still as possible before the ball was delivered, as someone pointed out that I was tending to shuffle around. And I think it helped, as I felt like I had more time to watch the ball and still had time to play it. A few balls got through me, and I was C+B once - but mostly not bad.

Bowling was better than Tuesday too - not brilliant, but I think I figured out where I was going wrong. On Tuesday I was trying to run in fast and use that speed on the ball, whereas I should have been just running in consistantly and try to put pace on the ball with the delivery.

I was fielding at square leg too - which was fun. I did drop a catch that I should have taken, but I was trying to chase it down and catch it over my shoulder on a bumpy part of the outfield - so I never got close enough to where it was going to land and it just bounced out of my hands I was able to effect a few runouts though - 4 in a row at one stage . Though it was more due to the fact that the batsmen were refusing to call and running everything ... and one of them had shinsplints. Still ... had to get in on the ball quickly and get it into the keepers hands.

This Saturday coming is turning into a bit of a mess games-wise. Three of our teams are out on the same day, and our 4ths were the first to have a team mostly picked - but now they're being ransacked from above. I've been called up to the 2nds, which is fine ... but I'm not likely to be able to contribute at that level as much as I possibly could have on the 4ths I'll do my best though - the captain seems to have a policy of bowling as much of the team as possible, so I might get an over or two. Hopefully they won't be carted to all ends of the country