Purposeful practice will pave the way in 2013...

So here it is. The final week of the season. It has without doubt been one of the most unusual seasons I have played, mainly due to the fact the weather has been so torrid. This has led to many matches being abandoned or rain effected and as a result has meant that the season never really got into full flow.

At Kimberley, while there have been many positives, I do feel, slightly, that this year has been a missed opportunity to some extent. With some of the traditionally strong league challengers being hindered by the weather, it presented a chance for some of the other clubs to step forward and put together a title challenge. Cuckney have really set the standard this year, and assuming, as expected, that they win the title this weekend, it will be much deserved (as it will be for the Academy if an unusual set of results takes it in their direction). For a period in the middle of the season it looked like we might piece together a challenge, but once again, we couldn’t find the form or consistency at the crucial stages to keep the pressure on at the top.

So what could make the difference for us next season? Well firstly, I actually don’t think that we are too far off in terms of the personnel that we have. I am sure Sam will be looking at the balance of the squad and will no doubt be looking to make one or two additions in the winter months to fill gaps he thinks need plugging. But, on the whole, I think we have a group of players with the ability to beat any of the teams in our league on our day. And that is where the challenge lies. We need to make it ‘our day’ more often.

Players need to strive to be more consistent with their performances if we are to put together any realistic assault on silverware in 2013. So how do we become more consistent? Well there is only one answer. Purposeful practice. As a group, we need to find a way of practising with the intensity and desire required to attain the improvements and quality of our performances that we need to deliver on the weekend.

I have seen it all before. On too many occasions players go through the motions of ‘netting’. There is no game plan as a batsman, no focus to what you want to achieve. Without these objectives, any training or practice will lose its effectiveness. After all, why practice if you don’t actually know what you are trying to improve?

The traditional image of a club net session, but, what is the purpose?

The direction and purpose should not always come from a Coach of Captain either. As a player you need to be more aware of what you need to develop and improve and take responsibility for it. This might be a particular shot, catching in a specific position, or as simple as concentrating on your bowling for six balls in a row.

If we can find purpose in our practice next season, we might just find the success we are desperately looking for. See you all in 2013!!

Ps. Look out for my new blog on the hockey season – ‘Glove on Stick’ coming soon!

Ready to be inspired by a great Storey...

As the rain continues to pour though, I do hope that it can abate for the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games, a wonderful spectacle and celebration of human achievement. I have always been a close follower of the Paralympics since the mid 1990s when my sister became very good friends with Sarah Storey, or Sarah Bailey as she was then. In London, Sarah will be competing in her sixth Paralympics, her first being in Barcelona in 1992, and will be aiming to increase her medal tally up from the 18 she has already won including 7 Gold’s. What makes Sarah’s record even more impressive is that up until 2004 she competed as a swimmer, but when an ear infection forced her out of the pool in 2005, she then took up cycling to keep fit. Within a year she had broken the 3000m Individual Pursuit Paracycling world record. Since then she won two Golds in Beijing, won a World Championship Gold in the able bodied team pursuit breaking the world record and almost making the Olympic squad and will be aiming to increase that medal tally in her home Games.

Sarah Storey has always been an inspiration

                For Sarah’s story (forgive the pun), there are many others, and I look forward to hearing about the  remarkable tales of bravery, achievement and dedication of these true sporting heros over the next few weeks. What I am certain about, is that many peoples misconceptions of disabled sport will be challenged, and I hope to see greater opportunity and access to disability sport following the inspiration provided by these great athletes.

                With just two weeks to go of our cricket season at Kimberley, it is getting to that stage where sometimes it can be hard to find the focus. With no chance of winning the league and finding ourselves in the comfort of a mid-table position, there can often appear little to play for as the season begins to peter out to a close. We must make sure that we do not fall into this position and that we keep our standards through to the end of the season. Two wins to finish could leave us as high as third in the table, and that should be what we are aiming for as we come up against two strong opponents in Clifton and Welbeck. It was great to see Dan Birch and Akhil Patel in full flow last weekend as they demolished Worksop and hopefully they can maintain that form through the final two weeks to let us leave the season on a high note.

Finding the winning formula

As the cricket season enters its final throws, my attention has already started to drift a little on to the difficult task of preparing my Beeston hockey squad for the new season. With a new season always comes the challenge of building a new team. Very few teams have exactly the same personnel each season and once again, we will have a small amount of player turnover for the new season. It is always important to have renewal. This does not necessarily have to be new players, but renewal can be as simple as new challenges for experienced players, new tactical considerations or different approaches to previously turgid tasks. Of course, new renewal does not mean that you should not continue to build on previous achievements and successful aspects, and both at Beeston this season, and Kimberley in 2013, that will be the challenge we face.

Building successful teams though, is as much about creating the right team environment as it is about having the best players. There is no doubt having top players is helpful! However, as we have seen with England during the past two weeks, the best players at times can often be the most disruptive!

So how can you deal with awkward players as a Captain or Coach? Can you ever fully integrate players into a successful team whose goals or targets are not aligned with those of the group or who values their own success above that of the team?

For an answer to this question I have looked to the words of Ric Charlesworth, a renowned cricket player and Olympic hockey player and coach. He states “Complex integrated team activities require co-operative, co-ordinated actions, both continuous and spontaneous. An athlete whose primary goal is not the success of the team will usually not improve the team’s performance. Athletes are occasionally self-centred to the detriment of the team, but rarely is it a consistent pattern of behaviour. What is common, however, is that the athlete is distracted by outside influences such as the media, family, friends, personal issues and lifestyle issues which can absorb and overwhelm them. These influences can cause athletes to lose awareness of the team dynamic that contributes to performance. Being able to co-operate and work together is critical to team sport.”

Kevin Pietersen's desire to play in the IPL has been the real cause of disharmony in the changing room

As much as you can guess, I think this assessment pretty much sums up the situation that had led to Kevin Pietersen being jettisoned from the England team. While there is no doubt that he still takes pride in playing for England, and wants to continue, as demonstrated by the hastily put together video interview prior to the last squad announcement, the lure of the big bucks of the IPL and no doubt poor advice, has forced him into negotiations with his employers which have clearly ruffled the feathers of Captain, Coach and teammates. The inevitable consequences in any dressing room are then disharmony as the perception takes place that this man would rather be somewhere else.

Yet is it all KP’s fault? Of course not. This particular problem surrounding the IPL has been brewing ever since its conception. Other countries have had issues already, Chris Gayle of course a clear example. If the IPL continues to fill the window it takes in the calendar and the ECB insist on playing Test cricket in April and May then it will not go away. The ICC seriously need to take a look at the cricket calendar and decide in which direction they want the game to go. I fear that they can’t continue to have their cake and eat it for much longer.

What though, as club cricketers, Captains and Coaches can we learn from this saga? Well primarily it is that you need to have everyone working towards a collective goal. If you as Captain want to win the league, but others in the team do not share this vision, it will be hard to carry people with you. Everyone must strive for the same goal, and in doing so appreciate that personal sacrifices may have to be taken in reaching it. They also have to trust and believe in their own ability, but perhaps more importantly in the ability of their teammates. Sharing this trust, and also enjoying the success of others as much as your own is the only way to become a successful team.

Aggregate the marginal gains

This weekend proved to be something of a mixed bag for us at Kimberley. We went from the highs of a sensational innings of 180 by Dan Birch on Saturday, to the low of being 8 for 4 in our biggest game of the season on Sunday. What I was most pleased about though, was the way we fought on both days to push for the win, particularly Sunday, when it would have been very easy to roll up and disappear into the night, or the early afternoon, at Sandiacre.

                Sunday’s performance was actually, in many ways, one of the best I have seen from a Kimberley side I have played in. That may sound strange I know, having been beaten quite comfortably in the end. However, the way that we fought back from the brink to post a score, demonstrated to quite a few spectators, and members of the team, that we do have the backbone to sustain a challenge when the going gets tough. Dominic Wheatley innings of 50 was without doubt his best for the club, and is another sign of the way he is converting his undoubted talent into consistent performances. In the field, we were dynamic, relentless, and perhaps one might think a little unlucky with decisions on reflection. Ultimately though, we were beaten by a better team on the day, and we wish Sandiacre all the best in the Final.

                It is starting to get to the stage of the season now where you start to ask yourself, what can we do to get better in order to go in the future from contenders to winners? There is no easy formula of course. One of the main attractions for me when joining Kimberley was the fact they play by the rules. There is no temptation to start throwing money at players, which of course gives you a perceived advantage when wanting to challenge, but is not always a sure fire way to success.

So what can you do to break out of the pack and become top dog? For the answer, I have looked to take inspiration from Team GB outstanding cycling team. Their Head Honcho is a man called Dave Brailsford. Once again at the Olympics, the British Team have dominated on the track, winning 7 out of 10 events, in addition to a silver and bronze. This has left many teams puzzled about how the British are able to dominate so often. Is it through some hidden technology or wizardry coaching they ask. For Brailsford it is simple – just ‘aggregate the marginal gains’. In simple terms, this just means that by making small improvements in lots of different areas, it enables you to make bigger improvements overall and thus stay one step ahead of the rest. Here is an example – when Victoria Pendleton and Chris Hoy are waiting between races, they wear electrically heated ‘hot pants’ that keep their leg muscles warm, something inspired by Formula One’s tyre warmers.



guardian.co.uk (c) Dave Brailsford has a mantra based on aggregating the marginal gains

So how can this help us at Kimberley? Well as much as it would be funny to see Richard Adams wearing electrically heated leg warmers during tea, I don’t think that they will necessarily be in our budget or prove quite as effective. However, if each player starts to examine their own game in more detail to see where they can improve, it might just give us enough areas to work on to make that difference. It could be something as simple as hitting more balls in a warm up to get your eyes fully attuned to the conditions, or becoming more specialised with your fielding positions and warming up specifically. We often see slip fielders practising using a cradle, but how often do we see point fielders practising fielding balls hit square off a bat with spin taken into account?

Hopefully, if we start to think more carefully through the winter about the smaller components of our game, it might just give us the edge to ensure we stay in contention into September rather than just August. One thing that is for certain is that this weekend clearly showed that we have the quality and the fight to do just that in the future.

ICC need female Twenty20 vision when it comes to the Olympics

What a fantastic week it has been so far for British sport. I have spent Monday and Tuesday down in the Olympic Park, and it has been a wonderful experience. The tag line of the games has been to ‘inspire a generation’, and I have no doubt that the sensational performances by British athletes is doing just that. One of the things that struck me about the games, was just how well organised everything has been. Often the press have been very quick to jump on the back of politicians and civil servants for small mistakes or perceived overspends on just ‘two weeks of sport’ that few will be interested in. How wrong they have been. The country has been gripped with Olympic-fever, tickets are the hottest property in town, and now Paralympic ticket sales have rocketed as everyone wants to experience their own taste of London 2012.

                One topic I picked up being debated in social media while down in London was should Cricket be included in the Olympics? It is a question that often produces polarised opinion. Many Games purists argue that the Olympics should be the preserve of the amateur athlete, and that Cricket, a hugely popular professional sport has no place there. One clue to support this argument has been the response from the general public to football at these games. Despite the fact we are a football loving nation, those are the tickets that have been hardest to shift.

                Other critics argue that we simply could not fit it into the calendar. Cricket already has an extremely hectic schedule, and the ECB would not be very keen on another Twenty20 tournament taking up valuable time in the international schedule during the English Test Match summer. Another issue might be the problem of whether we have enough high quality teams. The West Indies would all have to compete as individual islands and the Scotland would have to contribute to Team GB.

                Despite all this however, I think the time is just ripe. Not for a full international men’s tournament though, but a women’s only competition. For me, this Olympics has been the Games of the girls. How many of you can deny feeling huge amounts of pride as Jessica Ennis won her Gold Medal. Then there was the brilliant performance of Katherine Grainger et al. on the rowing lake and Laura Trott in the Velodrome making this a perfect opportunity to capitalise on the high profile of female sport.

A packed Park Live where people have been celebrating men's and women's success in equal measure

                As someone who coaches a lot of female sport with my hockey commitments in the winter, it has been fantastic to see girls sport finally on a level footing in the way it is presented and reported. You could not even get into Park Live, the big screen at the Olympic Park, to watch Victoria Pendleton riding in the Sprint Final and I found myself spying through a hedge to get a glimpse of her epic final with Anna Mears. If cricket, as a sport, could tap into the Olympics to raise the profile of the women’s game, in doing so it would not only demonstrate to the widest female audience how good a game cricket is to get involved with, but it would also start to help cricket get access to funding streams in associate nations. This will result in better facilities, larger participation and hopefully, over time, more teams competing at the top level. Not only that, we should have a good chance of a medal! I know that our female cricketers would relish the chance to participate in an Olympics and for all of them, winning a Gold Medal would not doubt be the pinnacle of their careers. Then if it is a success, which it undoubtedly would be, a men’s competition could follow in time. So here’s to Women’s Twenty20 in 2020!

Negative splits and hockey sticks

Well after all the hype and build up, the Olympics are finally here, and so far, they have not disappointed me. All the sport on this week has been able to distract me from thinking too much about our sub-standard showing on Saturday. You could dissect each element and look for what exactly went wrong, but fundamentally, we were well beaten by a better team.

                This weekend we have a chance to right some of those wrongs by offering up an improved performance against another of the title challengers, Nottinghamshire Academy. They will no doubt provide us with a stern test, but often it is easier to follow a poor performance with a big game as it forces you to raise your performance levels even more.

                In watching the sports-fest that is London 2012, I have decided to look to see what ideas, approaches or tactics could be applied from other disciplines to improve performances in my own chosen sports. As a hockey enthusiast, I have been delighted to see the sport getting a good TV billing, and I recommend you to tune in for a GB match this week where you can expect to see a fast paced, entertaining and highly skilful game.

                What has really caught my eye so far though, and is something that I first heard while watching the Tour de France last week, is the concept of ‘negative split’ times in cycling, swimming and running. The principle is simple. You want to try and go faster in the second half of the race or time trial than you did in your first. In essence, it is a simple concept, and one that I am sure many athletes and cyclist have done before. However, it is something that Bradley Wiggins swears by and has become an important part of his success as a rider. The key is this, you need to find a pace in the first half of the race which places you towards the top of the leaderboard, but then have the ability to surpass that pace in the second half of the race to accelerate, not decelerate to the finish.



Daily Telegraph (c) - Bradley Wiggins is the perfect exponent of the 'negative split'

           

              In cricketing terms, it is exactly what Cuckney did to us on Saturday when batting, and in doing so blew us right out of the water by tea. As a result, we then felt we had to go at a fast pace in the first half of our innings (time trial), and in doing so we burnt ourselves out! The art of chasing a score should be the same as winning a time trial. You need to be in it at half way. Sometimes that might mean being close to the split time of your opponent at the midpoint, but if you know you can go fast at the end, it is not always the case that you need to be following the course of their innings.

                I also see this mentality applying to a bowling mind set too. Why should we not try as a fielding side to restrict the batting team to fewer runs in the second half of their innings than the first? OK, so they might have wickets in hand and bat with fewer inhibitions against a softer ball, but if we can aspire to keep them to less in the second half, and in doing so produce our own negative split, it might just help keep our focus in those difficult final 15 overs when attention and discipline can sometimes wane.

                It can also work on an individual basis. Why not try to bowl tighter in your last five overs than your first or try to score you next twenty runs in fewer balls than the last. It is just the case of focusing the mind on the task at hand while keeping your eye on the broader situation of the game.

                Hopefully we can respond it the right way this weekend and I will be able to travel down to the Olympic Park, for my own taste of the games on Monday, with a smile on my face and 20pts in the back pocket.

Sing when you’re winning…

This weekend is a huge one for us at Kimberley. We have been talking about it for quite some time and much preparation has already gone in to how we are going to execute our plan. That’s right, it’s the fancy dress karaoke. Before that though, we have a rather important game of cricket too! Cuckney have had a sensational start to the season. They have played the best cricket, and are very much worth their place at the head of the standings. After all, a table never really lies (although I am sure the Cavalliers would probably disagree!).

James Mann won first prize at last years Mickey Pearce look-a-like fancy dress

                It is going to be a tough test for us, but one that we know we have the ability to meet, and it will come down to individuals taking responsibility for their own game, and not becoming reliant on others to score the runs or take the wickets for them. A win would keep us in the hunt at the top of the table, a defeat would leave us a long way back.

                Although we missed out on league action on Saturday, it was nice to get a run out on Sunday in the Derbyshire Cup. Once again, we performed well as a unit in the field and it was great to bowl Dunstall out for just 68. Matt Wright and Dom Wheatley bowled exceptionally well up front for us and gave us a great platform to win the game. I have been delighted to see how Dom has stepped up his performances this season. With Simon Roberts still struggling with injury, the weight of opening the bowling has fallen on his young shoulders and he has taken to the challenge superbly. It was noticeable on Sunday how much more intelligent he is, as a bowler, and how he is starting to learn and master the craft of left arm swing bowling. It is no doubt a huge advantage to him to have Sam standing up to the stumps, and no batsman can be confident in their footwork when the ball beats the bat.

                The Derbyshire Cup has benefited I feel from a move to straight knock-out form. It seemed ludicrous last season to be eliminated from the competition after winning our only game. The finality of knock-out matches means that players can concentrate on winning the game at hand and not worry about run-rates and mathematical calculations. With a place in the semi finals booked, we have a date in August to look forward to, but we all know that without a positive result this weekend, the second half of the season in the league will be a tough slog if we are not in contention. One thing is for sure, we will all look forward to the party afterwards to see Colin Martin singing ‘Return to Sender’ something he was unable to manage last year.

Poznan celebrations, supersoppers and a mangle…The new cricket!

I am writing this article three days into a hectic school cricket tour in Lancashire. While it has been very tiring trying to keep up with the boundless energy of the kids, it has been ultimately rewarding and continues to remind me of the importance of tours and educational visits in developing not only young cricketers, but good young people.

On Monday night we took the boy’s to the revamped Old Trafford in Manchester. Yes, as expected it rained, and by 8 o’clock it looked like the two and half overs managed at 6pm were all we were going to see. The umpires preserved (maybe with a bit of arm twisting from the present Sky Sports producers), and so did we, and our boys were rewarded with an entertaining 16 over match in which Lancashire, the side batting second, prevailed. Admittedly, the focus of our 12 and 13 year olds lads was less on the techniques of Shazad or Croft, and more on how much silly dancing, and an impromptu impersonation of the Manchester City fans Poznan celebration, could draw the attention of the TV cameras. However, it did demonstrate the importance that getting a game of cricket on at all costs can be worth it, particularly in the professional game when crowds have paid to be entertained.

Kimberley can be extremely proud of the way in which the ground staff and players come together to get a cricket match on. Once again on Saturday, the rain looked like it may intervene, just as our run chase was starting to get into gear. However, with a little help from some sponges, a mangle, various pieces of astroturf, a supersopper, a roll of coconut matting, and the work of about 20 people, the game restarted and Akhil Patel superbly guided us to victory.

It was also pleasing to see Paldeep Sidhu play a crucial supporting role to Akhil in knocking off the runs. Sidhu has worked very hard on his game this year to get himself into form, and his requests for specific preparation on Thursday at nets clearly paid off. It was nice to see a young player, thinking about his game, and the likely threats faced at the weekend, and preparing accordingly. I have also done this for this Saturday. I have been to ASDA to buy an umbrella and a pair of wellies. See you at Caythorpe!

50 Shades of Grey Sky...

Once again the weather has continued to thwart all reasonable attempts to play any cricket in Nottinghamshire. Last weekend, all but one of the Premier League matches was cancelled without a ball being bowled, and the only game that saw some action, Cuckney versus Worksop, failed to reach a full conclusion.

A lot has been said on this weather, but I really can’t remember a season or summer quite like this one. I think one of the elements that has been so destructive to our cricket season is when it has rained, just as much as the quantity of rain. So many times this year we have seen the heaviest rain fall on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, rather than during the earlier part of the week. This has left the grounds with no time in which to soak in the excessive precipitation.

With little to discuss on events at Kimberley, the cricketing week has been defined for me by two events. Firstly, we have seen the retirement of Mark Ramprakash, a great servant of English cricket, who despite his perceived weaknesses at the top level, finished with a record in First Class cricket few could match. Ramprakash’s passing from the First Class game, has been deemed to be a watershed moment for many, as one of the last few remaining relics of the trying period of English cricket through the 1990s. For me though, Ramprakash will be fondly remembered as a battler. In an era now of high strike rates, powerful hitters, and innovative shots, there is less and less need or desire for his type of player, who valued their wicket, stuck to their best shots, and were happy for the team to score at 2 runs per over. Coaches and Captains when faced with a difficult wicket nowadays, are much happier to see their players go down blazing, with the mantra of ‘get what you can while you can’, rather than the Ramprakash method of ‘bat and hope it gets easier’. There is no doubt that many cricketing observers, and probably Ramprakash himself, will feel that there is a gaping hole in the centre of his career where a barrel full of international runs should lie, but to score one hundred first class hundreds, he can go away knowing that he entertained and fulfilled many people, at least on a domestic level.

Guardian (C) - Mark Ramprakash has always been a battler

The second event that has caught my eye this week was the Finals Day of our own Nottinghamshire Twenty20 competition. It was great to see a former Kimberley man, Nick Langford, scoring a crucial 56 in the final to steer Cuckney to victory. Langers is a good friend, and was someone who warmly welcomed me into the club last year, so I am delighted to see him doing so well. Indeed, or duet rendition of ‘When the Going Get’s Tough’ at last year’s karaoke is still talked about in many parts of Kimberley.

Nick Langford is having a great season

 I do still think that the League Twenty20 is a missed opportunity. We currently play one qualifying day on a Sunday in June, where you play in a group of four with two semi-finals and a final. When I played at Lancaster, the Twenty20 format was developed quickly into a coloured kits, Friday evening bonanza. Music blared, the crowds poured in, the clubs made a little money, and the players enjoyed the change and excitement. If we replicated it by having three groups of four, who play in a mini league and the winner qualifies for the finals day (still keeping the space for the South Notts/Bassetlaw winner), the competition could be enlivened and differentiated. A sponsor for the coloured kits is out there, we just need to find them!

Chalking up the points

This weekend looked a very tough one on paper, Saturday’s league match against the big spending West Indian Cavalliers followed by a tricky Derbyshire Cup First Round tie against Spondon on Sunday. In the end, both games proved be relatively straight forward, with an emphatic six wicket win against ‘the Cavs’ on Saturday followed by a comprehensive 62 run victory over Spondon.

While Sunday’s victory was extremely pleasing and will hopefully be the start of a good cup run through the second half of the season, it was Saturday’s result that will have sent shockwaves around the league circuit.

West Indian Cavalliers boasting seven players with first class experience, two of whom are former Test stars, arrived at Newdigate Street expecting a tough contest from a Kimberley side who had famously turned them over on the same ground a year before. They were not, however, quite ready for the exceptional spell of bowling that Matt Wright delivered, ably supported by Dominic Wheatley and Richard Adams, to dismiss them for a paltry 63. Wright’s control of length and line was just too good for the experienced opposition line up, and was a perfect example of how to go about taking wickets on a pitch which offers you just a little a bit of assistance. He did not go chasing wickets, but stuck to his disciplines, keeping the ball in area which made it hard to score, and in doing so forced many batsmen in to taking a risk which proved very costly. I was delighted for Matt, although it now looks an uphill battle in our personal duel to finish with the best average!

One of the big disappointments of the day was an incident during our run chase. After losing Dan Birch early on, Akhil Patel and Jon Terry put together a very useful partnership to take the score to 31-1 before Saqlain Mushtaq came into the attack. The former Pakistan Test ace, was quick to make an impact dismissing Patel who pushed and missed at one outside off stump. Mushtaq had already come to the attention of the observant crowd before his first delivery however, as he had a strange white substance covering his hands. With a nose that senses a bit of wrongdoing, new batsman Orgizovic asked the umpires to take a look at what was going on. After a discussion between them, and with the bowler, the mystery substance which was being topped up from the left pocket was no longer being applied.

Chalk is often used by gymnasts to help with grip...and scurvy

I decided to enquire with the umpires after our victory, just what was going on. They informed me that Saqlain had been wearing chalk on his hands to treat a skin condition he has. Being someone who is always keen to learn about medical treatments, I have been scouring the internet to try and find the medicinal benefits of chalk for the skin. Unfortunately so far I have drawn a blank, although it was used to treat scurvy in the Middle Ages. I did however, find it was very good for drying out the hands and materials to assist with grip. Still it was pleasing we chalked off the runs and can look forward to a trip to Plumtree this week. It is important we keep chalking up the points through July if we are to stay in contention at the right end of the table. Weather permitting of course!

John fought the law and the law won!

Monday proved to be quite a struggle for me after the exertions of a hectic weekend. On Friday night, I travelled up to Manchester to see Bruce Springsteen rock the City of Manchester Stadium. ‘The Boss’ put on quite a show, and despite the seasonal Lancashire weather (heavy rain pouring for sections of the performance), Springsteen and his E Street Band played non-stop for over three and half hours. Not once did I see, the drummer come out with a brolly looking up towards the clouds, nor did Springsteen whip out a light meter. They played to entertain the crowd, something the ICC seem to forget when players walk off with full houses and the flood lights on.

Saturday saw us play a great game of cricket up at Welbeck, where we pleasingly took the larger portion of the points in a hard fought draw. The match was dramatized by one very unusual incident in the later stages of the home sides run chase. Guy Darwin struck the ball out to the mid wicket boundary where the ball seemed to be destined for six. John Terry, the fielder in closest proximity started to move off the pitch ready to collect the ball when he realised it has started to hold up in the powerful breeze. From his position just off the pitch, Terry leapt forward, caught the ball in the air, and landed safely a yard inside the rope. Everyone celebrated the wicket, and the batsman started to walk off. The umpires however, were not convinced. After some discussion, they informed us that it was not out as Terry had started just outside the pitch. “So its six then?” Asked a disappointed Kimberley Captain. “No” came the reply. In the end, the ball resulted not in a wicket, or in a six, but with one run awarded to the batting team. This was even more confusing as the batsmen had not even run the single!

It was an unusual situation, and one that has split opinion with the different people I have asked. Some suggested that if he had started outside the pitch then it should have been six, others though argued, how is that any different to a player who catches the ball, throws it in the air before toppling over the rope, then runs back in to catch it before it lands.

Sarah Ansell (c) - Mind those feet! Joe Denly takes a boundary catch

After looking online at the Law Book I was pleased to see that the umpires had got the initial decision spot on following a law clarification issued in 2010. Law 19 point 4 states, For it to be out, ‘the first contact with the ball is by a fielder either with some part of his person grounded within the boundary, or whose final contact with the ground before touching the ball was within the boundary’. I decided to then check to see if it should have been a six. Again, the umpires had it spot on that the ball was not six. So it appears John’s antics have found a loophole in the laws of the game! In my opinion, the correct decision on Saturday would have been bizarrely a dot ball, as no runs had been scored and no wickets taken. I just wonder if this is the last time we hear of John Terry in breach of the law in the coming weeks.

My hectic weekend was completed on Sunday when I drove up to my old school in Lancaster to play in an Old Boys game as part of the opening of the new revamped, Douglas Cameron Pavilion. Douglas has been involved with cricket at Lancaster RGS for nearly 60 years, starting at the school as a teacher in the 1950s and continuing his involvement since retiring in 1991 up to the present day. Doug is an remarkable example to us all of dedication to the development of young players, and to him I am eternally thankful for the positive way he influenced my game. Long may your contributions continue Doug, and if there were only a few more of your kind, we might just have some stronger school cricket within the state sector.

Are you proactive or reactive?

Saturday was another frustrating day for us. Once again we had to battle against the conditions to try to get a match in. I have never known a season quite as bad as this one, with the number of games and overs that have been lost to rain. It was only through the remarkable work of our groundstaff, led by the diligent and devoted Stewart Burrows, that we were able to get any play in at all on Saturday. Our frustration was then compounded by the fact that once Sam had managed to negotiate getting the game on, we then fought our way into a strong position only to be dashed by the weather again.

It was nice to get a good bowl, and I always relish bowling towards the end of an innings when batsman are trying to come hard at you. It gives you a real challenge, and puts the pressure on you as a bowler to hit your lengths and perform. It also places the emphasis on you to try and be proactive, and win the mind battle over the batsman. Too many times in the later stages of a game, you see the Captain move the fielder where the ball has just gone. This kind of reactive response, is not necessarily wrong, given that it is shrewd to avoid a player scoring in the same zone again, but as cricketers we need to be intelligent and look for the clues as to where the batsman will hit the ball before it goes there.

After being hit for a four on the third ball of the last over, I wanted to ‘react’ and come around the wicket after bowling the previous balls over the wicket. I was pleased that Sam intervened and reminded me that so far I had won the battle and that has been a one off. I carried on over the wicket, adjusted my line and length, and managed to get the stumping.

This ‘reactive’ situation crops up most for slow bowlers when it comes to where to position your mid off and mid on, and when to drop them back. I often here this phrase ‘lets see if he goes first’. But should we wait until he clears them before you drop them back? I would argue that more often than not, a lifted straight drive is an impulse shot based on length and flight of the ball. Most batsman have the confidence they will reach the boundary, so whether they are back or not they are happy to take the risk. It can be very frustrating as a batsman seeing a ball go over mid on or mid off for a one bounce four. Often the first can be a sighter, and mishit which is the best or only chance to take your wicket. Yes, we don’t want to give easy singles to mid off, but very few league cricketers have the patience of skill to continually milk this area.

Getting the man in deep right can be the difference between 6 runs or a wicket

As a bowler, to be proactive, you need to look for the clues. How are they holding the bat, which shots have they played so far? If they haven’t looked to sweep, why have a man on the sweep? Do they keep eyeing up a particular part of the pitch? Is one batsman looking to go hard, and one looking to work singles? All of these factors should be running through your mind to help you set your field and shape your approach.

The same can be said for batsmen too. One thing that players are now often coached is to try and look for a boundary off the first ball of the over. Why? Well this puts all the pressure onto the bowler. As a batsman, are you proactive in getting the opposition to set the field that you want, or are you reactive and thus constrained by the field they set? Calculated risk taking can open up your favourite shot to enable you to milk easy runs.

As the season progresses, and we move into a crunch phase of the year, it is important that we continue to be a proactive as possible with our cricket and try be smart with everything we do. If we can master that balance, we still have a good chance of being in the mix at the right end of the table.

STOP PRESS

It would be untoward not to express my sadness for the events of the last week. My thoughts are with the Maynard family and those of the children hit by the tree at the club in London.

Finding the right balance...

This weekend saw a rich smorgasbord of sporting festivities on the television. On Sunday afternoon I found myself flicking between the Test Match, the Euro 2012 football, the French Open Tennis Final and the Grand Prix. While such riches provide you with great entertainment, it can be a real hassle deciding which one to watch and trying not to avoid any crucial moment in each!

The Test Match, despite the weather has provided many headlines. It was great to see Tino Best showing everyone just what a good number 11 batsman is made of with a scintillating innings of 95 to break many a record. Then we saw Dinesh Ramdin post a hundred before revealing a poster admonishing Sir Vivian Richards for questioning his selection. However, it was the English selection which drew most of the initial headlines.

After two days washed out, could we have picked 5 bowlers? - Guardian (c)

After opting to rest Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad for the match, in order to include Graham Onions and Steven Finn, the selectors were heavily criticised for not selecting ‘the strongest team’ available for the Test and showing disrespect. To be honest, I have no real issue with rotating a squad in international cricket. With the series won, and Anderson and Broad both prone in the past to picking up injuries, why not keep them fresh for the upcoming South Africa series? Onions and Finn are both very capable young players, who will be needed to be called upon soon in the future, so the more exposure they can get to Test cricket the better. Some argue that you can’t draw the comparisons with club football and rugby where players are rotated on a regular basis. However, with the advent of central contracts, and the increasing workload of the international cricketer, I see no reason why you can’t use a squad and prioritise your matches. You wouldn’t expect Stuart Lancaster to keep the same side for a midweek match on the current England rugby tour, or criticise Roy Hodgson for including squad players in the third group game should England secure qualification after match two.

I think many people missed the real question about the selection this week. After losing the first two days to rain, why only pick three seamers? To win the game in three days you are going to have to take 20 wickets. With the series won, why not gamble and take a risk? Who to leave out would of course be the question. Some could argue that Graham Swann would be the one to go, but of course it would be madness not to include the World leading off spinner in your team. So that would mean losing a batsman. Which leads us on to another point, why is it bowlers get rotated but not batsmen? Yes its physically tougher as a bowler, but why shouldn’t you use the opportunity to give Trott, Cook or Bell a rest? It might just give you better balance and put some pressure on others to step up to the plate.

Finding a selection balance can be notoriously tough. From speaking to Oggy at Kimberley, it is something he is always looking to achieve. Just how do you get it right though, giving yourself the correct amount of options in each of the different areas to meet the challenges of that specific match? We saw at the weekend how Spain struggled to really exert themselves after failing to select a clear identifiable striker in their team. Only when the mercurial Fernando Torres came on did I feel they truly look better balanced. When I select sides at hockey, it is something that I always think carefully about, and of course, you never always get it right. Picking the team with the correct blend of attackers and defenders, or in our case, batsmen, all rounders and bowlers, is no precise science. It is something that comes with practice, experience and getting a feel for the blend that will bring you the desired result. Let’s just hope that Sam can find that mix throughout the rest of the season to get Kimberley competing at the top of the table. Oh, and yes, you obviously have to have a round left armer in your team! Obviously.

STOP PRESS

A big congrats to Oggy and Victoria on your engagement!

The Left and Right Spectrum

As I arrived at Newdigate Street this Saturday, and drove through the entrance, I nearly turned straight back around and left. My heart sank after gazing out across the field and seeing the wickets pitched at the far end of the square. The 30 yard circle almost kissed the boundary, and I immediately stomped across to stride it out myself. At its closest point I estimated it was just 35 yards, and as a spinner the alarm bells began ringing in my head.

In the end, any fears I had were dissipated by two mesmerising knocks from Andy Platts and Mick Blatherwick, which took the game away from Wollaton, and enabled us to bowl with the confidence of a large score behind us. With a tough score to chase, Wollaton had to come hard at us, and with a plethora of early breakthroughs we were able to secure the positive result we wanted.

One thing that was very noticeable on Saturday was the lack of left handed batsmen in the team (just me unfortunately!). Obviously, when you have one short boundary it is nice to have at least one batsman at either end who is able to exploit it. With us only having right handers at the top of the order, and the umpires offering a generous interpretation of the wide law outside off stump, it enabled the opposition to employ a negative tactic to make it difficult for us to score to the short boundary.

Brian Lara on the drive

It does pose an interesting question. Is it of a distinct advantage to be a left handed batsman? This has been a much debated question over the generations. There is no doubt that a number of the best players of all time have been left handers (Sobers, Lara, Pollock, Border, Lloyd, Gower et al.). Indeed, a look at top eight teams in the Test rankings tells you that of the 48 batsmen that regularly make up the top six in each team, 15 of them are left handed.  Considering only 10% of the population are deemed to be left handed and this represents 30% of the total, it is a clear overrepresentation. But why?

Well firstly there are some obvious advantages. Generally it is much tougher to get a left hander out LBW. Right handed bowlers bowling over the wicket have to get the ball to straighten if they are to induce the umpire to raise their finger. Left arm over bowlers are an increasing rarity, so the left handed batsman does not have to face the same issues as the right hander.

Secondly, bowlers in general just aren’t as good at bowling to the left hander as the right hander. They perfect the away swinger to the right hander in the hope of forcing an edge to the keeper or slips, but this proves less effective to the left hander as it becomes an in-swinger. In addition, slip fielders at club level rarely practise catching to the left side. Most feeds prepare them for fielding to a right hander and so they become less comfortable moving to their left.

Some bowlers employ the tactic of bowling around the wicket, but more often than not they are uncomfortable bowling this side as again, they do not practise it enough during the week. Perhaps there is a sense of arrogance amongst the bowlers that they will not change their plan. But all this does is often feed a batsman’s confidence when a bowler is forced to come around the wicket as ‘plan B’.

Scientists have argued that left handers also have a biological advantage. The possession of right brain to left side wiring gives them increased special awareness, and the capacity to think and react quickly to three dimensional moving objects.

I also argue that it is an advantage being a natural right hander, but left handed batsman. This means that your top hand is your strong arm, and as a result it resists the temptation for your bottom hand to come through and create ugly shots!

So should we get our young right handers to turn around and bat left handed to increase their chances? One of our close family friends , Ian Whitehouse, was a talented all round cricketer who was right handed but batted left handed. The reason for this? Well his father, a talented bowler in the Yorkshire leagues, hated bowling to left handers. So as he brought up his son’s (and grandson’s for that matter), all were turned around and told that ‘this is the only way to bat!’ All of them went on to be talented players, and certainly gave support to the argument that left handers are the scourge of many a bowler.

Let’s just hope that both our left handers at the top of the order (Dan and Akhil) in the 1^st XI can continue to show the form that suggests they can dominate the Premier League scoring charts for the season.

A batsman's game...

After another disappointing weekend, the season is not quite turning out how we had planned. In situations like this, it is important to keep our heads, go back to basics and focus on doing the simple things right.

One of our biggest problems at the moment seems to be that, as a side, we are just not batting well enough. All this comes despite Jimmy Adams claim on Saturday night to me that ‘it is, and always has been, a batsman game’.

It is an interesting accusation, and one that I feel needs more exploration. Yes, this may seem like a bowlers moan, and given this argument has come from Jimmy, there is no better person at moaning. However, there are some valid points to be made.

Firstly, I am going to look at the laws of the game. In league cricket now, it is common place for the rules to state that any ball down the leg side is a wide. Yet why is this the case? All this rule does is take away a perfectly effective line of attack. The actually law as written by the MCC states “The ball will be considered as passing wide of the striker unless it is sufficiently within his reach for him to be able to hit it with his bat by means of a normal cricket stroke.”  There is nothing within that saying we want batsmen to only be able to score on the offside or the bowler must bowl to the batsmen’s strengths, so why do we now meddle in the laws? Yes, it does provide consistency of decision, but surely we can trust our umpires to decide what is a wide or not. In addition, with the advent of switch hitting, and the batsman’s ‘right’ to effectively change what is the leg side and off side, it could be argued such laws are now just outdated.

The same logic applies to regulations on how many fielders you can have on the leg side. Why are we limited to 5? If a batsman is hell bent on swiping the ball to leg, why can’t I set a field which says to him ‘hit me in the off side son’.

Jimmy’s main gripe was one I had never actually considered. Currently, the bowler is reprimanded for running on the pitch. Fielders are told to avoid the pitch. Yet the batsman, the apple of the umpires eye, is permitted to wander down, pick up any loose bits of turf he or she wants to discard, prod down any protruding parts of the pitch that might invoke some uneven bounce, and just generally alter the condition of the surface. What right does he have to do this over the bowler? Never mind the ‘accidental’ running down the middle of the wicket in the last ten overs of the innings!

A batsman out 'gardening'

Finally, I would just like a quick word on technology. Since arriving at Kimberley, I always knew the ‘cozy’ boundaries would prove a challenge to a slow bowler. As a spinner, you don’t mind having short boundaries provided that when you do deceive the batsmen, you get as much value as when the batsmen hits you cleanly. Unfortunately, nowadays, with modern bats, even the clothed hits can find their way to the boundaries for six. So while bat technology has moved on, the ball has remained ever the same.

All in all, we know that people come to watch batmsen not bowlers, but we need to be careful that as batting techniques and equipment continue to improve, the ‘equal’ partners in our great game don’t get too rough a deal.

Schooling the cricketers of tomorrow

Departing Birchover Park last Sunday, following our disappointing collapse against West Indian Cavaliers in the National Knock Out, many of our dressing room were left scratching their heads trying to work out the best method of playing the devilishly difficult spin of former Pakistan Test ace Saqlain Mushtaq. Saqlain has been kicking about the club circuit now for a couple of years, playing as an amateur of course, his love of the game obviously being the huge pull bringing him into league cricket.

I first came across him playing for my former club Leicester Ivanhoe while Saqlain was turning out for Syston. That match produced one of the best innings from a 16 year old that I have ever seen. Shiv Thakor, now with Leicestershire and England Under 19s, scored a fine 50 to win the game. It was a brilliant innings, not because it was explosive or innovative, but just because he refused to play the script that Saqlain had written. Setting 7-2 leg side fields, Saqlain encouraged Shiv to play against the spin, but time and time again, Thakor just worked the ball with the spin into a gap that Mushtaq had not been able to plug.

Shiv Thakor in action for Leicester - Leicester Mercury (c)

One of the great disappointments from that season was that we could not have Thakor playing more often. Shiv, continues to develop into a fine young cricketer under the tutelage of Trevor Ward at Uppingham School. This means that Shiv, as do many of England’s upcoming young cricketers, hones his talents playing not in Premier League Cricket, but on the school playing fields of the independent education sector. While this was ultimately frustrating from a personal and club point of view, it does beg the question, what form of cricket should our top young players be playing to best develop their talent?

Let us start by looking at the facts. In the current England side (if we remove our two overseas players Pietersen and Trott) 6 of the remaining 9 attended Independent Schools for their education, including all of the batsmen in our top 7. Only Jimmy Anderson (St Theodore’s RC High School), Graham Swann (Sponne School) and Tim Bresnan (Castlefield High School) attend schools in the state sector.

Why does school cricket seem to have the formula for player development? Well firstly there are some obvious advantages. Independent Schools often employ the services of top quality cricket coaches, who work with excellent facilities, indoor and out, for extended periods both in and out of the season. In addition to this, there is a culture where sporting success is treated as almost equal to academic success, so pupils are driven to perform to the highest level possible.

Perhaps more crucially though, players are given the time to develop their skills in match situations. Some schools still operate around two day matches, and if not they certainly play time matches. This enables batsmen to spend time building an innings, being selective with their shots and mastering the skills of constructing and chasing a score. Too often in league cricket, a young player is brought in, bats at seven in the order, and goes in under extreme pressure to score from the off. As a result, a couple of bad innings’ and their confidence can be shot. It can be the same for a bowler. In a school game they might get the chance to bowl their overs, develop strategies for taking wickets and be allowed to make mistakes along the way. In league cricket, you might come on in the 40^th over, go for 10 runs in your first over with an incorrect field, and be taken off an over later.

So does league cricket hold any role in developing the international players of tomorrow? Of course it does. How else are the next generation of state school players going to make the international scene otherwise? The ECB and club cricket in general have made great strides in recent years improving the provisions for young players coming into the game. The junior club cricket scene is now much stronger, and the Chance to Shine programme has seen cricket brought into primary schools. However, much still needs to be done. Too much cricket in the secondary state sector is a token gesture. Not enough specialists, not enough facilities and exam pressures mean cricket is done but with a small c. Schools should be talent identifying, and directing young players to clubs where they can develop their talents. In addition, I would also like to see the development of a Sunday U19 league at a club, or cluster club level. These matches could be developed into two day games across two weekends in the middle of the summer where young players can learn to play with more patience (too much of junior cricket is twenty over slap and dash).

So while I can’t wait to see Shiv Thakor pulling on an England Test shirt in a few years’ time (no doubt claiming to the person sat next to him I taught him all he knew) I would love to think that a pupil at my school might have the chance to go and play alongside him too.

Weather to rearrange?

Could I say it? Might I risk it? It looks like the dreadful weather that we have been experiencing might just be starting to turn the corner. There I’ve done it. Now before you touch wood, cross your fingers or spill salt over your shoulder, whichever superstition you prefer, it is important to consider just impact the weather has had on our cricket season already.

As I write, two of last year’s title challengers in the Nottinghamshire Premier League sit in the bottom four of the table. This is wholly due to the fact that they have only managed one completed game between them. West Indian Cavaliers, have yet to bowl a ball in anger and Welbeck Colliery have only managed one outing, last week’s home defeat to high flying Cuckney.

While this has really thrown open the league this year so far, it does beg the question, can this be fair? Surely, for a team to be over 40 points behind the leaders, having yet had a chance to get out on the pitch, it seems a little harsh. Yet how on earth could we do it in such a way that would avoid such disparities, when the circumstances are beyond the control of any of us?

Kimberley Institute has its own mangle to save us from the rainy days

Coming from a multisport background, my experiences playing and coaching hockey and rugby through the winter months opens up some suggested solutions. It is quite common during the winter for our hockey matches to be lost to snow or frost (occasionally a waterlogged pitch too!). Yet, we do not go down the route of an abandoned game with equal points awarded. We have set slip dates, Sunday’s across the season, on which rearranged league matches are then played. If the slip date is also off? Then another date is scheduled. Indeed, this year we needed to extend our season by a week in order to get our last match in.

So why can’t we just do this in cricket? Well firstly, we all know that cricket loves a cup competition (PK Riley especially). There is the 45 over National KO, the County Twenty20, the Derbyshire Cup and so on. So our Sunday slip dates are already mostly booked, and in addition, where would the slip dates for the cup games be?

Secondly, and probably most importantly, the incentive to play a match on a damp day would quickly evaporate. As I eluded to in my recent article, the hard work of ground staff, players and volunteers to get games of cricket on in wet conditions, often produce some of the most exciting games of the season. However, if we move to a culture of slip dates and rearrangements, you would see more and more people, who are less willing to play on a wet day, ‘when we could wait for a better day later in the year’.

So how can we solve the problem? Well one option is to alter the points so it is not such a big difference between an abandonment and a win, however, we would suffer from many of the issues just mentioned with it proving to be a disincentive to play. Another, more pragmatic option, which has been used by some leagues in the past, is to call off all league matches on a particularly wet weekend, and fix a date for all the block fixtures to be played later in the season. While it may hit a little friction in that there may be cup clashes, it does seem a sensible solution that perhaps could have been used during round one and particularly two of the Nottinghamshire Premier League fixtures.

The fact is, with a game which lasts for a full day, and that is so dependent on the elements, including the daylight hours, there is no easy solution when the weather intervenes. So reach out for the table, get those fingers crossed, or throw that salt over your shoulder and let us that hope May and June bring a little more sunshine than those dastardly April showers.

Benefit of the doubt or doubting the benefits?

With a Brother-in-Law as a Blackburn Rovers season ticket holder, it was not a good night for the family on Monday, as a late goal from Wigan consigned them to relegation. The 87^th minute goal, was almost clawed off the line by Paul Robinson, the Rovers keeper, and for a moment, I sensed another goal line technology argument about to erupt in our ‘national sport’. In the end, his hand was too weak and the ball slipped over the line. Yet throughout recent weeks, the issue of technology in sport, particularly football, has been hitting the headlines as frequently as Oggy goes through a superstition when batting.

In cricket, assistive technology is something we have now become accustom to. It first started with the TV replay for run outs and stumpings, then came the video help for whether a catch had been taken, and now we have seen the plethora of electronic tools for ascertaining LBW and snicked off decisions.

Obviously, league cricket in Nottinghamshire has not got the resources or necessity to introduce technology (although word has it Rob Naylor is in the market for a second hand JVC Handicam), but can we see its effects in the way our games are now umpired?

When I first started playing, it was rare to see the ‘close call’ run outs given in the fielding sides favour. However, with the technology now in the professional game, we see that when the tight ones are often slowed down, it is that batsman who is often left short of his ground. This is especially the case with direct hits as Athers and Bumble so often tell us ‘when its direct, they’re usually out!’

TV replay's have changed umpires perceptions on run outs

So now in league games, you hear umpires declaring, “he was just out, his bat bounced up as he slid in” or “it was only a centimetre or two but it was the direct hit you see”. Yet I find myself thinking, can you really see that well from 20 yards away? Even the slow mo’s on TV are often inconclusive until it is taken to frame by frame. So maybe, just maybe, the umpires are starting to see things that they think they should be seeing, and not what they actually see which is a very close call.

Technology does seem to have eroded the concept of ‘benefit of the doubt’ to the batsman in the matches it has been used in. They have tried to temper this, with the ‘Umpires Call’ element on the Hawk Eye system, a worthy addition which I think is a most practical way of finding the balance. Yet the truth remains that technology is eroding away the levels of doubt that league umpires once trawled through before they could even muster the thought of raising the dreaded digit.

League umpires do a splendid job for the vast majority of the time in finding the balance. However, it is clear to see that as technology continues to change perceptions in the professional game, at an amateur level we must also begin to deal with the consequences. Most notably, how many of those LBW shouts from very round arm left handed spinners are actually plum. I hope your reading umpires of Nottinghamshire…



Scoring high results behind the scenes

With all the rain that has engulfed the country during the last couple of weeks, it was remarkable that we managed to play almost a full game on Saturday. This was only down to the hard work of our ‘ground staff’, as they are most commonly referred, but in reality, they are just volunteers who kindly give up their time to ensure we get to play some cricket.

Cricket clubs are wholly reliant on volunteers to operate. Whether it be the secretary who co-ordinates the membership, the Welfare Officer who ensures the Junior Section runs efficiently, or the many people who kindly work on the ground during the week, all of these people give up their own time for the fulfilment of others. It is this selflessness that can easily be forgotten by the players who turn up on the Saturday and expect everything to be in place.

One of the most important aspects of your game on a Saturday is the scorer. I played for two seasons recently at Premier League level where our side failed to have a regular scorer. Not only was it embarrassing, it was also less than helpful when trying to organise your batting order and your scoring rota at the same time. Kimberley are blessed with a fantastic scorer in Rob Nayler. His dedication to the job goes beyond the cause, and he is always quick to assist a bowler keen to spy his stats or a batsman looking to brag about his strike rate (JT?). Rob is particularly excited this season to be able to use a computer based system which is able amongst other things, to produce wagon wheels for both batsmen and bowlers. Despite Jimmy’s disappointment that these were not edible, this feature will no doubt prove extremely useful in analysing and improving individual player’s performances, as well as providing useful information on opponents. I really hope we can harness this facility well as the season progresses.

With two matches to look forward to this weekend, I am hoping the forecast is correct and we get some dry weather, which should hopefully ease the burden on our ‘ground staff’ to again work miracles. However, when you do arrive for your game, just spare a thought for the people that make it happen each week, without them, league cricket just simply wouldn’t function.

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If you have a view on anything I write, why not comment with your own thoughts? Or just a topic which you think might be of interest…