Captaincy can be a tough gig!

It has been quite a hectic couple of weeks for me. After a wonderful wedding day two weekends ago, I was then challenged with the task of starting my new job two days later. Perhaps the biggest task though, was taking on the Kimberley Captaincy from Sam Ogrizovic last weekend!

With Sam taking a well deserved break this week, I was asked to ‘take the reigns’, so to speak, and after 25 overs of their innings I was probably wishing I hadn’t ! After losing Atif Sheikh to injury the day before the game, and on a fresh new Kimberley wicket which proved to be a beautiful surface to bat on, the opening pair from Plumtree batted exceptionally well, and made us work very hard in the field.

Thankfully we did eventually make a break through, and although we slowed their scoring in the later stages of the innings, their total of 310 was always going to be a near impossible chase.

Captaincy can be a tough gig. Saturday was a casing example! Sometimes, whatever the resources at your disposal, you can’t seem to find the right formula to get yourself into the game. Like any team sport, you need the backing of all the team members for you to be successful, and when we lost young Liam Webb to injury early in the game, it really highlighted that point.

This week I have been able to reflect on the decision that I made on Saturday and evaluate if I would have done things differently. There are certain things that maybe I would have looked to change, but fundamentally, I think you have to stand by your decisions. It is important though, in any sport or walk of life, to review your performance to see if you can improve on what you have done for next time.

It will be good to have Sam back with us this weekend, as we get towards the crunch part of the season. With two games remaining we are in a good position to avoid the drop, but we are also very conscious of the fact that we still have much work to do to ensure our safety.

We face a difficult job this weekend as we take on West Indian Cavaliers. The ‘Cavs’ have a remarkable ability to recruit players seemingly from all over the country. I am always impressed with the dedication their players show in travelling so far to play for them. I must take this opportunity to congratulate them on their success in the ECB National Cup, which reflects well on the Nottinghamshire Premier League. It will no doubt be a really though game for us, and one in which we will need to raise our performance levels significantly from last weekend.