Some Indoor cricket

 Played Sunday in the 3rd game of the winter season and won this one having loss the earlier two. I don't recall the first game, only that we were soundly beat. The 2nd game I do as the opposition cheated off my bowling and the result was they won because of it. I was bowling top-spinners and leg-breaks and the bloke played a cross bat shot at a top-spinner that did what it was supposed to do... bounce more and he top edges it through to the keeper, everyone around the bat and the square leg umpire  all agree that it's out and the bloke throws his bat under his arm and heads off to the door (near the square leg umpire) with his team above the umpire. I think they saw the standing umpire hadn't reacted and told him to wait. The keeper and the near fielders were all screaming "Mate, you top-edged it and you walked, you know you're out", meanwhile he's now making like he'd walked to square leg to adjust his pads to then walk back to the crease and resume batting.

The umpire at my end hasn't reacted and he indicates to play on, the square leg umpire is totally on-board with rest of the players ready to give it out and looks my way looking incredulous that the standing umpire has indicated to resume. The wicket keeper and others are in total disbelief and carry on with making it clear that they're not happy with his cheating in the end the bloke (In his 30's) turns to call them F***** C*** (they're 17-18 year olds). The umpire steps in as diffuses the situation and the game resumes and this bloke then takes the game away from us. Then in the car-park it carries on and one of our adults has to intervene and diffuse the situation again. 

We've got them later in the season, they wont be playing 5 x 17 year olds in that next game I'd imagine if they're blatant cheats. The celebration at the end of the game was funny a bunch of 30 year olds ecstatic they'd beaten 5 teenagers and an old duffer like me!

The team that was beaten in the 'Cheat game'

This weeks team that won

This week we had a better game with the inclusion of another Adult... Michael Gray. To be honest in the game we lost with the incident I'd bowled poorly - way too full, multiple full tosses and a number of legside wides. Any ball down the legside that goes go on to bounce over the stumps is a wide - it's pretty brutal and this weeks game started off with our fast bowlers bowling a succession of wides. Me and Kirby (None of the other teams have girls in their teams) with our bowling - Kirby bowls left-arm orthodox a bit like Linsey Smith (England)  and like Smith goes through teams some days cleaning up and with my Wrist-Spin brought the game back and enabled us to win. 

Kirby and I got a wicket each, Kirby's a stumping and mine caught behind (Daniel Gray). 

But during my 2 overs the oppo lost 3 wickets. I think they see the slow bowling as a point in the game where they should be making runs and when the runs pretty much dry up in many instances, they then  resort to a back-up plan of trying to take quick runs and in this game that was their un-doing. 

I can't say that I've seen much of this format, but it does strike me that there is definitely a place in this game for specialist slow bowlers as they do seem to have a big impact on the game and I think my inclusion in the team is testament to that as I can't bat to save my life. But I'm pretty agile in the field at 65 and I love the fact that I get to play teams of adults in a team of teenagers and me! The thing is some of them know what I do and see me as a massive asset, thankfully they're the captains and they're prospective 1st XI players who recognise what I do with the ball is not to be dismissed too readily. 

It's really nice being valued in that way by significant players at the club!!!

In other news I've been running of late, getting out twice a week generally. 

Some cricket soon, but in the meantime... More running

Cricket News: The indoor league starts next weekend and the poll has gone out to see who wants to play and this year after the initial year with only just enough people wanting to play and being registered it looks like this year there's shed loads of people queueing up to play and at the moment there's already 10 people who've put their hands up for selection...

All of whom are younger than me other than one bloke who's a decent bowler - he bowls stump to stump straight stuff - kind of you miss I hit on a good length. There's 2 other slow bowlers - Kirby and 'New Chris'. I've no idea if I've got a chance of getting in the team and or how Lennon the captain goes about selecting. What I do know is you have to be fit fast and agile and at the end of the season last year having not kept up with a robust exercise regime over Christmas I succumbed to injury because of the intensity and the need to be fast between the wickets and pulled my caf muscle. 

So I've got to wait till later in the week to find out If I've been selected. 

Today's run...

The usual 5K around Gloucester Park. Yesterday I had a flu jab and otherwise I'd have run, but with that and the fact that it rained all day I didn't go. Today though was dry but very windy, but I just didn't feel up to it and I don't know whether than was down to feeling a bit ropey becuase of the flu jab? But I wasn't looking to be any records and I was only looking to run slow around the whole circuit. But once I got running and did the initial Kilometer to the skatepark I couldn't be arsed and walked and ran the rest of the way with very long walking splits. On the subject of 'Splits' on this 5K run there are recognised 'Splits'...

So it seems there's these 'Splits' on Strava that people possibly focus on and try and set records for and they're differentiated by age groups, so I'm in the 65-69 and without even trying on one this splits see below...

I'm already the 2nd fastest and being the leader is only a matter of 17 seconds difference. 

This is the one I'm more interested in. The Goucester Park Sprint.

In my age group I'm 4th place and that's with no real knowledge of this sprint.

What I do have to do is figure out whether you have to do it in one direction or not?

At the moment I run this section 3 times during the 5K run, at the start just after half way through and at the end. My current time as you can see for my age group stats is only 5 seconds behind the leader, so I reckon this might be one that I tick off on the next run? 

Wednesday Run 1st Oct

Wednesday Oct 1st

So it worked.

My older son Ben who runs was saying I was doing this all wrong and that I should run slower and steadier and not stop and see how that would work out. So was at Heathrow airport today and stopped off at ours in the early evening to run with me and see if he could see me through a proper run. I'd watched some videos on Youtube and what he was saying correalated with experts advice. 

So the run was quite late and I'd had some tucker before we set out. I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to sustain a full 5K, but was going to give it a go.

We set off a what was quite a pace, but he was doing the thing where he was encouraging me and he had his strava on and it was tracking the pace and so he was feeding back whether to speed up or slow down. He'd pre-determined that I'd be aiming to to do 6.00/KM splits for each Kilometre and so that's what was aimed for. 

Sure enough down the first straight bit alonside Upper Mayne I was thinking 'I'm done with this I want to stop and walk - I'm not that bothered and it's boring' but he was still going and waffling on like a proper trainer and so I kept going and at each split after the first KM we were on track and faster than the proposed pace. On the last section between the lake and the finishing point I still had some extra 'Gas in the tank' and banged out a 5.36 kilometer...

In doing so I smashed the previous record by a lot. 

Saturday run

 Another run and another 5K record. But lots going on and it's all getting a little obsessive already..

I discovered on Google Maps you can measure distances, so I was able to plan the route before going out trying to get it down to virtually 5K. Ended up doing 5.26K, so need to shave off 260 metres. Which'll be easy enough.

So today with my son in my ear telling me I'm going about this in the wrong way. I watched a video today about the principles of running 5K and they explained the slow at the start and save energy for a faster finish. So today I gave that a go.

It may have worked a little bit. I tried the slow start, but it didn't feel efficient, it felt like the same amount of exertion as a faster run, but I wasn't going anywhere. Not sure how long I sustained it for and for some reason my heart rate analysis didn't work, so I'm lacking that data. But it was a bit slower. 

Today the first KM was done at 6.22KM an hour and then I settled down to an average of 6.12KM which in comparison with the previous run was much faster. When I'm running I'm running at speeds that if sustained would be sub 20mins over 5K which even I admit would be crazy. In terms of heart rates, the fast sections reach highs of 142bpm which as far as I can make out is not the way I should be doing it as this doesn't build overall running fitness. 

The good news though? Is that despite the fact that my heart rate gets that high *Note the time above is 32'12" in less than 2 minutes my heart rate recovers to 122bpm in a minute and half. 

 

I checked this with Google Gemini and the answer back was...

A recovery of 20 beats (from 142 to 122) in 1.5 minutes is considered good; a drop of 18 beats or more in one minute is generally considered a sign of a healthy heart, and your rate is showing a good recovery rate, so it's unlikely to be bad. A slower recovery can sometimes indicate heart problems, so faster recovery is usually better. 

Why your heart rate recovery matters

• A quicker drop in your heart rate after exercise is a positive sign of good physical fitness and a healthy cardiovascular system. 
• If your heart rate takes a long time to return to its normal pace after exercise, it might be a sign of potential heart issues. 

What to consider

• Your target heart rate: 

  While not part of the recovery calculation, ensure your exercising heart rate is within a safe range for your age. For a 65-year-old, the estimated maximum heart rate is around 155 bpm, with a target zone of 78-132 bpm. Your maximum heart rate of 142 bpm was within the upper limits of this range. 
• Consistency: 

  While this one event is positive, consistency is more important. Regular exercise and proper recovery are key for maintaining heart health. 

So the bit high-lighted in orange is the bit my son is focused on, being able to run more consistently maintaining a less stressful heart rate. His argument is If I ran slower maintaining a BPM of around 122 I'd still beat my 5K record and wouldn't be putting my body and hearth through so much stress. 

Currently I'm trying to run every 3rd day allowing for 2 days of recovery and the good news is he's coming down to Essex on Tuesday and he's going to run with me and see if he can guide me through a 5K run at a far more suitable level. So we'll see how that goes on Tuesday. 

The other thing I've done is signed up for the Free trial of Strava for all the data and looking through it I've found this feature where you can set 'Splits'... sections of your circuit where other people's records of their times on specific sections of the run. The good news is that it's broken down in to age groups and I'm on there already at No.8! I reckon I can easily improve on my time!

My new 5K time is 

https://www.strava.com/activities/15955589700

Old Chelmsfordians Sunday game 14/9/25

 Leading up to this, everyone was speculating as to whether the game would actually happen as there were a series of rain fronts coming in from the west one after another all week. In the final 24 hours it looked like the morning would be OK and the early part of the afternoon, but then it was scheduled to go down hill and rain. That's what happened...

I was there first and joined by a few others and we dragged the ropes in place and had a look at the wicket. Very wet and covered in worm casts. When Michael Gray showed up he got out the heavy roller and rolled the wicket for 5 minutes.

We won the toss I think and decided to bowl? I over-heard that they'd organised their batting order by basically picking the name out of a hat. Possibly not the best idea. Both teams agreed, because of the potential for heavy rain in the afternoon to reduce the game to 30 overs. We'd also bowl from one end for 15 and the swap ends to speed up the game. Teas would also be truncated and no longer than 15 mins. 

We ran through the first six wickets really quickly with Krishna taking 2, Tony 3 and me 2. But then they dug in and started to play with more conviction and tactics. The Aussie bloke seemed to orchestrate a plan whereby the looked to run quick singles and it worked. Even then when another wicket went down they kept putting us under pressure using the same tactic and they combined this with hitting the bad balls for 4's, 3's and 2's but they accumulated a lot of singles. 

The wicket being so wet didn't offer much by way of turn, apparently if you were bowing from the main road end, it was tougher and no-one bowling from that end took wickets from our team and I don't recall many from the oppo. Tony bowled his usual stuff with Krishna. Krishna took a good 'un with a slow off-cutter and his other was regulation fast. Tony's were all catches, but he had some put down as did Sri. My two were a one- handed casual catch in the covers from Ali Abbas and ball chopped onto the stumps playing a widish one outside the off-stump. 

I bowled OK, not particularly well. I bowled a couple of leg-breaks in the first over to see if there was any turn and there wasn't that much and I got the line wrong - outside of leg-stump, but got away with it. Over the 6 overs I must have bowled 75% top-spinners, most of these were too full and were hit through the off-side and were fielded well by Koush for the most part. My spell seemed to be over in a flash because we were all bowling from the same end. I came away with 6-1-22-2 at 3.66 an over I'm happy with that. Kirby bowled well for no wickets and Sri came away with no wickets as well, but had 3 chances not grabbed, one definitley should have been caught, but Ali went for the catch with one hand when he could have easily used two and increased the chance of keeping hold of it exponentially and ended up dropping it. Sri wasn't best pleased. 

They ended up with 138 off their innings and we all came off for tea and pretty much within the 15 mins allocated for tea, the weather changed and it started to drizzle. It then pretty much rained for the entirety of our innings - ocassionally stopping for a few minutes, but 85% of the time light drizzle. It looked pretty miserable being in the field and I was ready for either side to say 'Let's call this off', but they didn't. Dan Gray's Dad (Michael) turned up at around 3.30-4.00 pm having been home and said he expected us to have given up the game and was surprised we were still playing. 

As I was scoring I wasn't really taking a lot of notice of the run of play. But then there was a flurry of wickets and I noticed Krishna and Sri were padded up and I was after Sri. Then Krishna was walking out to the middle to Join Dan who was nearing the point where he'd have to retire. Then on checking the score I realised the dynamics of the game had changed, it was getting a bit tight... In fact it was nearing squeeky bum time!

I got changed quickly handing the scoring over to Michael Gray and came out to find that a couple of more overs had been eaten up and Krishna was out there having replaced Amrit. The scoreboard in the meantime had hardly moved, neither he or Dan were able to pierce the circle and Krishna was bowled having made no impact. Sri made his way out and more of the same and another couple of overs were soaked up for next to nothing with Dan now needing one run before he was forced to retire. I wanted to shout out... 'Dan - this last ball needs to go for 6 or 4'!

Dan hit a single and was called in, there were about 9 balls left as I walked out and we needed about 6 off of the 9 balls. I can't work out what happened at the end, but it ended up with 1 over left and 5 needed. The bowler Wallace was a faster bowler with 2 wickets already. Sri, had the most slippery shoes ever - no spikes... "Normally I have spikes in my bag, they've been in there all summer and this is the first time I've needed them and I left them at home". Things were stacked against us, up till this point in Sri's last 12 balls, he'd laid the bat on it 5 times.

Wallace ran in from the Road end and Sri out of nowhere hit the ball back past the bowler, I'd walked in with the bowlers run up and was down Sri's end in double quick time coming back with Sri sliding around like a bloke on ice, he managed to get back for two and on strike easily looking across to the clubhouse expecting a signal for four, the ball was picked up in a resigned manner as though it had gone for four, but no-one signalled... just 2. 

The bowler ran in again - same approach, but Sri slipped and ended up without his bat mid-way down the wicket on his arse covered in mud, the throw came if to execute the run-out, but in the panic they messed it up and Sri got back to his ground. Three needed - four balls left.

Sri hits the ball and I scamper through for a single. So I'm on strike, so we're now in trouble... The bowler runs in, the ball wizzes past massively wide and I have a swing that seems to be well short of the ball... I look to Brian... Nothing. Sri looks back at me in dismay. I think just get on with it and ready for the next ball. 2 balls left.

Bowler runs in, I slash at it and make contact - the ball not hit hard finds a gap and we run through to win the game with only 1 ball left of the game. A good win and a good game played in the right spirit in pretty awful conditions. Everyone seemed to agree and a great way to finish the season. 

Running Log No.2

 Don't know how frequently I'll log these runs as they're not that exciting. I'm still trying establish a 5K run over the winter months and as yet not settled on one. 

I did this one late evening, so was running at dusk and even though it's a park where loads of people run, the paths are a bit lumpy and uneven under-foot in the dark, so I'm not sye if it's going to be suitable. 

I'm still nowhere near being able to run the whole 5K, so what I'm doing is during this run is running for 1'15" and then walking as fast as I can for 2 mins. Then everytime I run again I'm increasing the run time, so the next run which will probably be on the 27th Sept I'll run for 1'25" and see if that beats the previous time. 

No. 1 Running Log Sept 2025

 So I'm 65. Most of the blokes in my family don't get to 66, but they smoked, drunk and ate Bacon and other crap food. Hopefully, having seen that happening around me, particularly my favourite Uncle dying aged 40 out of nowhere leaving a wife and two small boys, I kind of took notice. 

So over the years I've generally had a decent diet and it's one of the more important aspects of our family life - eat well. But in the last 5 years or so I've been diganosed as having high blood pressure for which I'm taking Amlodipine. Originally 5mg and then 10mg and then I made efforts to reduce my blood pressure holistically and recently at the last check the dosage was brought down to 5mg. 

But this July I had a blood test and I got a call from my Dr saying that your Cholesterol is a little high, when you got to get your Amlodipine, there'll be a bunch of statins. Take these and we'll see how you're doing in October. 

I've watched a lot of stuff on Statins and have seen that you might be able to regulate and reduce your cholesterol by life style changes. So since then I've been making adjustments to my diet and doing more exercise with the hope that come October the Drs do another blood test and come back with 'Guess what mate... the Statins have done the job, these will now be part of your daily life along with the Amlodipine'. Hopefully, I'll be able to turn around and say "Ha ha! I've not touched the Statins, I'm just eating better and doing more exercise".

Whether that happens remains to be seen, but in the meantime I've started to run and my older son Ben who runs advised me from the start to buy some proper running shoes otherwise I'm going to end up with knackered knees. So I've bought myself some Hoka Challenger 8's which cost £140 - most I've spent on footwear ever. But, to be fair they make it so you feel like you're running across a mattress.

When I was younger our family never had a car, so I ran and walked everywhere if it wasn't further than about 3 miles. If I ever felt unfit or bored I'd go for a run to kill an hour or so or just to test out my fitness levels. For a winter or two I did orienteering with a mate and we were pretty fast at that and at school I would alway place in the top 3 on cross country runs in PE.

But as I got older I did less of it and if I ever did it for fitness purposes it bored the living hell out of me in the same way as going back and forth in a swimming pool does. But with this desire to live a few more years and play cricket into my 70's this kind of fits in with the whole health and fitness agenda. So since August I've been running sporadically.

I've been trying to work out what routes I like and which ones are going to be usable in the winter. I have another aspect to the running, ideally I want to do it after work and for it not to be something that gets in the way of other aspects of my life. With this in mind these last couple of months I've been doing this route here above which is around 7KM. I get on the train at Southend and then get off at Leigh-On-Sea and run to Benfleet along the creek. This is my favourite route in terms of the desolation and the fact that I'm not breathing diesel and petrol fumes. More on this later.

Initially I wasn't set on beating times and what have, but it was very apparent from day one that my ability to run continuously over any distance - even 400 yards was gone and so I went to a technique I used in previous summers - interval training. I run for a short period of time and then rest for an extended period, when I say rest, I mean I'm walking as fast as I possibly can for around 2 mins at the start. 

Since then I bought a chest heart monitor and a belt to put my phone in which allows me access to a bunch of data and then I got Strava https://www.strava.com/athletes/147680321 and then things started to get interesting. Remember, I don't really enjoy this a great deal, but as someone pointed out to me - this is similar to your obsession with your wrist-spin bowling and cricket data, which is true. So now when I run, I'm able to look at the data and analyse the results and see if I'm improving and that for me is interesting and hooks me in. 

The most local run is a shorter run in the local woods 'Marks Wood'...

The last time I did this one was back In August. At the time I set a series of PB's...

These PB's have all been beaten since on longer road runs, but the run I've done on Sept the 16th on this same route "Marks Wood" if compared shows improvement, which is what I'm looking at and pleased with.

This route around the woods is more like cross-country and involves rough terrain and hills.

So tonight the details are...

Another thing I'm looking at and comparing is my recovery rate. Yesterday I was a bit disorganised as I approached my house what with getting my phone out ready to turn off the Strava app used for recording the times. As a consequence the final section where I run fast and try and get my heart rate up to maximum rate was a little short, so it only got as high as 122bpm . Despite that it dropped to 99bpm within a minute and 82bpm within 2 mins which is very good for someone my age. 

https://www.strava.com/activities/15833451843