Prosperity in dexterity

After the excitement of last Sunday’s victory against the West Indian Cavaliers in the National Knockout, this Saturday’s defeat to the same opposition was very much a heavy bump back to earth. However, on some occasions you need to hold your hands up and say that you were well and truly outplayed, and that was very much the case this weekend. Cory Collymore may no longer play Test cricket, but in his impressive opening spell at the 2bm Private Ground on Saturday, you could see why the Bajan played 30 Test matches and 84 One Day Internationals.

His control of the ball and skill in moving it both away and back in to the batsman, made him a tough prospect to face, and along with able support from Kafeel Shafique, they took the game away from us within the first 90 minutes of the match.

It takes many hours and years practicing to develop the kind of skill level that Collymore was able to exhibit at the weekend. Those who have been following the recent celebrations of James Anderson reaching 400 Test wickets will know that it took him many years to develop his full repertoire of deliveries. Yet another story on this theme, really gripped me this week and it may be one that might have passed you by. If I say the name Pat Venditte it might not mean a lot to you. However, this week he became first pitcher in 20 years to pitch with both arms in a Major League Baseball game.

It is quite a remarkable story. The guy can pitch a full range of deliveries with both his left and right hand, and he will switch which way he pitches depending on the dexterity of the batsman. Yet he is no young spunk. At 29, Venditte has been selected by the Oakland Athletics (famous for their willingness to choose the unfashionable for those who have read or seen Moneyball), after 8 years trawling through the minor leagues. He started throwing with both hands as a young child at the encouragement of his father when he first started to play baseball.

Pat Venditte throws with both left and right arms when pitching (c) Getty Images

Inevitably this got me thinking, could we at some stage see a bowler at the top level of the game offer deliveries not just of different pace, swing or spin, but even of different arms? It would certainly provide a levelling up to the switch hitting, and it would allow the bowler an opportunity to provide an additional string to their bow. I have played with a few people who throw with one hand and bowl with another, so why couldn't this develop further? One thing is for sure, you would need to start young, so I think my chance of developing a right arm over variation might have sailed!

Play smart and park the bus!

Last weekend was one of mixed fortunes at Kimberley. After a disappointing result on Saturday away at Radcliffe-on-Trent, where we twice failed to capitalise on excellent positions within the game, Sunday saw us complete a very polished display against a strong West Indian Cavaliers side in the third round of the Royal London Cup.

This is the first time I have reached the fourth round and regional final of the National Knockout despite numerous attempts, so it is pleasing to finally get a run together in the competition. We were very much indebted to a superb innings by Sam Johnson on Sunday where he carried his bat through our innings scoring 95 not out in the process. Sam really showed his class on Sunday, and while he has not scored quite as many runs as he would have liked so far this season, despite some very good contributions, he will now hopefully use that innings as a springboard to really kick on.

Sam Johnson was in great form on Sunday showing great discipline

If we are to have a successful season, we must now do our best to eradicate the poor performances, such as Saturday’s, as developing greater consistency is obviously the key to challenging.

There was no doubt that Saturday was always going to be difficult with the pitch offering a lot of help to the bowlers. What we failed to do was to react the situation, and learn about the conditions while we played. We have many talented young players within our side, many of whom have a dazzling array of scoring shots. Saturday however, was a day for playing within yourself to get the job done.

Jose Mourinho famously described opponents who defend deep as 'parking the bus', ironically a criticism that has at times been aimed at his current team.

Sport can be like that sometimes. There are certain days you need to operate in a certain way to get the result you require. It might not always be the most aesthetically pleasing or the purest of performances, but you do what you need to , and play to the limitations the game and the opposition allow you to. Perhaps we are more familiar with this with invasion games such as football. We often refer to Jose Mourinho and his phrase of ‘parking the bus’, where teams operate a low defensive block (or defend deep to avoid tactical jargon) to limit the space and room for opponents to attack. You can then attack on the counter, playing to your specific strengths.  On Saturday, we needed to ‘park the bus’ more with the way we played. Showing caution and patience was the way we needed to go about chasing 160 on a difficult wicket. With the exception of a superb innings from Alex King, too often, our attacking flair overpowered our defensive discipline. That is why Sam Johnson’s innings was so important on the Sunday. It demonstrated someone had learnt the failings of the previous day and applied themselves with steadfast dedication to singlehandedly set up a winning position.

New Zealand played smart by attacking hard at the right times (c) Getty Images

Playing the situation is not always parking the bus. Sometimes you come out and press hard in a footballing analogy. If you think about the way New Zealand played their cricket over the last week you saw a team who set up a winning position from attacking the game. Were they gung ho though? Nope. They attacked smartly. Not when the ball was new, but when it was old and the change bowlers were on. Teams that win on a regular basis play smart, and play the situation. That is where we need to get to in order to be consistent.