Department of Education must recognise sport in order to encourage sport

Last Saturday at Welbeck was very much a case of who could get through their overs most efficiently, with both teams missing key bowlers. For us, James Mann was unavailable due to an injury and George Bacon was not bowling due to resting his shoulder. With new captain Alex King still recovering from a knee injury, and only able to get through 6 overs himself, our options were limited.

In saying that, it was great to see Tom Rowe bowl so well again. Tom obviously joined us with a batting pedigree, but we also had been given reports that his bowling was a useful weapon, even though it had never been used during his time with the Notts Academy. He has made a massive impact in the changing room with his dry humour, and has been a great addition for us this year.

This weekend will see us reach the half way stage of the league season as we face Mansfield Hosiery Mills. They are still catching up on lost ground from their 50 point deduction at the start of the season, and have probably not made the progress they would have hoped for. We know that have a strong group of players though and that it will no doubt be a very competitive game.

Sunday will also see us take on Alfreton in the first round of the Derbyshire Cup. This is a competition that the club holds very close to its heart and we are desperately keen to have a good run in it this year having reached the quarter finals and semi finals over the last couple of years.

After the game last week, I headed up north back to my family home in Lancashire. This was because on Sunday, I had been invited to captain my old school’s ‘Old Boys XI’ against the current school first team. This is something I have done a few times over the past few years, and it is always a pleasure to visit Lancaster RGS. It is quite phenomenal what they provide for students as a state school, and is a great example to all schools across the country of how you can balance academic achievement while developing sporting talents.

Lancaster RGS is a great example of how sport can be run in a state school

It is a major concern to me that so much of the development work of younger players is now falling solely on cricket clubs and private schools. I really don’t see why state schools can’t do more to develop young players, not only in cricket, but also in a range of other sports. It was something that was noticed this week by the Head of OFSTED Michael Wilshaw, who had had research commissioned after it was discovered that over 40% of the medals won by Team GB at the London Olympics came from athlete who had attended the 7% of private schools we have in the UK.

While there is no doubt that lack of suitable resources and facilities is a major stumbling block, it is not a suitable excuse. Ultimately, it is down to the enthusiasm and emphasis placed on sport by the Head Teacher and Governors of any given school. With Head Teachers quite rightly focused on the measures that OFSTED and the government places uses to rate school performance, if they do not have any reflection on the sporting activities and performance of schools, then ultimately it will never be a priority.

For there to be a real sea change in state school cricket, and sport in general, then the Department for Education must start to include sporting provision and performance in its school assessment criteria. In doing this, Head Teachers would then be more inclined to allocate resources, and create an environment where young athletes could thrive.

Thank you Sam!

It has been a big week at Kimberley Institute Cricket Club. After a successful result against Ratcliffe on Saturday which saw us pick up 18 points in a strong winning draw, and move ourselves firmly into the mid-table pack, on Monday came the news that Sam Ogrizovic was to stand down as captain after four and half years in charge.

While for many this will have come as a big shock, being close to Sam I know that he has been feeling for a while that it might be soon time to take a break from leading the side, a role which can be all-consuming at times due to the pressure and sheer volume of time that it requires.

For me personally, it was a very sad day on Monday, as it was Sam who brought me to Kimberley and he who has really helped drive me to become a better bowler since joining. Not only that, but Sam has been an exceptional club captain, who has led his players with intelligence, passion, courage and a damn right determination that they would become a better side, and hopefully with it, successful.  The work that Sam has put in as captain has now laid the foundations for the club to become a real success on the pitch, with this young talented team starting to show the signs that they can fulfil some of that promise.

Sam Ogrizovic, a great leader and good friend

I know that Sam is now looking forward to enjoying his cricket ‘back in the ranks’ so to speak, and with his wedding to look forward to to the wonderful Victoria in the Autumn, the rest of 2014 will no doubt be a fantastic time for him, not least because I know he will continue to deliver the type of performances that have made him the league’s best wicketkeeper batsman, and those performances will be crucial in us achieving our goals.

While I said I was sad to see Sam step down, I am also really looking forward to supporting new skipper Alex King in the role. ‘Kingy’, had a great first season with the ball at Kimberley last year, and this year has also shown what a capable batsman he can be. He now has to add the strategic capabilities of captaincy to his blossoming talents. I know that he has everything he needs to be successful. He certainly won’t be lacking in any support or help from those around him.

We now have two important league fixtures before we reach the half-way point in the season. With both games being away from home against teams in a similar situation to ourselves, we know that we will need to be on top of our game as we were on Saturday if we are to walk away with a good points haul. Yet that is no doubt where our challenge is. We have to be more consistent. This is always a challenge with young teams, but we must rise to that challenge if we want to be competing in the right half of the table.

I am sure you would join me in saying thank you to Sam for being a fantastic leader and ambassador for our club, who recognised his role was not confined to the playing aspects of the 1^st XI, but having a vision for what the cricket club should be like and knowing all the members in the club from the juniors to stalwart spectators, and taking an interest in each and every one of them. I also wish Alex best of luck in the new role. I know that cricket at Kimberley will continue to be in good hands.

Are two balls better than one?

As I left my house on Saturday with the rain slapping down on my windscreen, I have to admit, I was not that optimistic of us getting much of a match in. Knowing that Plumtree was not the best ground and taking bad weather, I headed down the A52 on the short trip expecting another disappointing washout. Thankfully, through some excellent work of the Plumtree groundstaff (Mark Oldham) and the perseverance of both sets of players determined to get a match in, we managed to get through a 35 over match.

While it was disappointing for us not to hit our straps again with the bat, there were some real positives with the ball, and it was nice for me to get another good bowl and pleasing a few wickets for good measure.

I enjoyed bowling on Saturday, not just because the pitch offered a little turn, but also because the match ball felt good in my hand to bowl with. It is strange how sometimes you get a ball that feels really nice, almost a doting friend who you can command at free will to do what you wish. On other occasions, it just feels like an alien object, a disobedient child from a Year 11 maths lesson who will not follow any instruction!

Cricket balls, by their nature and construction are all unique. As much as the process of manufacture is a repetitive one, each product has variations in its many raw materials. As a result, each may behave slightly different to the next. Likewise each brand of ball can be quite different in its manufacture, the Dukes balls famed for their more pronounced seam and ability to swing for longer periods, the Kookaburras their flatter seam, durability and lack of swing after the first twenty overs or so.

A Dukes cricket ball with its darker appearance

It is a strange thought that in cricket we use a different type of ball in different parts of the world, or in different matches. Imagine in other sports where for instance a football might have a slightly different composition for Champions League matches than Premier League, or a tennis ball which has a different type of felt which effects they way it plays. I suppose at the South African Football World Cup in 2010 we saw a big fuss about the match ball supposedly swinging more than it should, Oggy would call this ‘wobble’.

Yet rather than have a continuous battle between two or three manufactures around the world, could we make the ball, and the way we use it, a more interesting part of the game? If you look at the way that cricket bats have developed over the last two decades, the batsman have once again benefited at the bowlers expense, as the cricket ball has remained exactly the same as it always has been. I am not suggesting some radical change up of its manufacture or allowing bowlers to tamper with the ball. No, my thoughts are more geared around how we could introduce a more tactical use of the cricket ball.

We could for instance, make it a rule that each team uses one innings with a Dukes Ball and one with a Kookaburra during a Test Match, allowing the bowling team to decide when they use each ball. This would then provide a consistency in the balls being used around the world, and also allow an interesting insight into what difference there really is in each type.

You could also adopt a similar approach in league cricket, where the team who lose the toss are allowed to decide which type of ball is used in the match. Or even allow teams to use 11 Dukes and 11 Readers balls during the season, but they can decide which matches they use them in and just declare their ball choice at the toss. This would then allow a captain to use a Dukes ball on a day where it might swing and seam a little more, or does he use them on the days where there is not as much assistance in the local conditions so as to get some benefit for his bowlers.

This could provide a really interesting tactical aspect to the game, and would also challenge manufacturers to provide the best ball for bowling with, and maybe just a little swing back in the bowlers favour, after all, we need it!

One small step for Butler, one giant fuss over Mankad

In close matches we often look to little moments which went, or might have gone your way, when looking to find the key factor that affected the result. On Saturday at Caythorpe, we just missed out on what would have been a big 20 points, and since then, we have done some soul searching to understand why we did not get out on the right side of a game we thought we should have won.

While it would be easy to point to a close LBW shout we had on Martin Dobson, whose stalwart 67 not out saw the home side over the line, or the five penalty runs we incurred for running on the wicket, our real downfall proved to be our failure to tough it out for another 20 or 30 runs to complete our innings. We made some poor decisions, myself included, and we must, and will get better at playing smart cricket.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the importance of making good decisions as often as possible. I feel as a group, this Saturday’s result is an excellent opportunity to learn and take stock of what that means. Dominic Wheatley was exceptional on Saturday in his reading of the game and his shot selection. It was just a real pity none of us could match his application. That is where we must now learn quickly.

During the week, many people have discussed the controversial decision making of Sri Lankan Captain Angelo Matthews following his decision to support an appeal by Sachithra Senanayake for a ‘Mankad’ run-out of Joss Butler who was caught out of his crease backing up. While what the Sri Lankans did was within the Laws of the game, many people argued that it was not within the spirit of the game.

Joss Butler run-out Mankad style

I think the key to this point is the fact it is a silly law. How can a batsman be out if no ball has been bowled? There is no doubt that batsman stealing yards has become an increasing problem, and that is ultimately cheating, but there must be a more sensible way of dealing with this.

I personally would like to see the umpire ‘call’ batsman for excessive backing up in the way that they do for bowlers or batsmen running on the wicket. They could then be admonished with five run penalty, which would prove deterrent enough for them to do it. They key would be to allow the umpire to interpret what is taking the proverbial Michael with it and what is genuinely good backing up. Anyone who watched the replay of the Butler dismissal from midweek will be hard pressed to say Butler was, to coin a Baseball phrase, ‘stealing a base’. Yet with the change in the law which has now moved from allowing the bowler to do it during their action, as oppose to before their back foot landed, it becomes very hard for a batsman to back up well and keep focused on the other end.

I will leave you with a thought. If a bowler runs in and breaks the stumps with his bowling hand during his delivery accidently, with the batsman out of his crease backing up, is it a no-ball for the bowler breaking the stumps (recent law change a-la Steve Finn) or could the bowler then appeal for a run-out?