First practice of 2021 with Joe and Ben!

 There had been a practice session a couple of nights ago, but what with it being freezing cold and getting in late we 'Longed it off'. A couple of night later it was 'Sign up' night at the club and I went down -paid my subs and paid for a months worth of games. While I was there I heard there was a chance for a practice this Saturday (Today) and I was up for that at 12.30. Joe said he'd go and my older son Ben who played up till he did his GCSE's said he wouldn't be going "Last thing I want to do - do I look like a 'Crack head'"?

It was a lovely crisp sunny day, the frost had melted a few hours beforehand and it was dry with a light breeze. I got my gear ready including some new cricket shoes, woke Joe up and got ready. As I got the bags in the car, Ben came out and said "Yeah I'm coming" and so for the first time in a few years all three of us practiced together. We're all bowlers and we all seemed to bowl okay, they were a bit knackered and sore after as they don't really do any exercise. I took loads of wickets - hitting the stumps with both Flippers and Leg-Breaks. Joe had a good day with the bat. I think Joe is better than his usual No.11 and he batted really well by all accounts today and he was well chuffed and said that he actually enjoyed it. I've always said that as he gets older he'll just get more confident and less fearful and he said he was fine, but conceded that if any of our quick's had been there he may have felt different. Ben took his wicket and he said that Ben was surprisingly quick given he's not picked up a ball in years. Joe was enjoying it so much he didn't want to come home!

The good thing was Ben (older son) wasn't negative about it and I've suggested that maybe he plays in the 4's and just play away games or something? We'll have to see...

Next game is Saturday 24th over at Mopsies and that's an interclub game, I'm really looking forward to that. Can't wait!

Bit of exercise

 With the season closing on us fast and no nets again this year, exercise has been few and far between other than stuff that I can do indoors. I'm not one for running around the streets or muddy woods as it bores me to tears, but over the Easter break I've been doing some serious gardening and that's helped out a bit as in the last couple of days I've been for a walk and round my circuit in the local woods and bowled 60 balls in a session yesterday and both went okay. In fact the walk/run around the circuit has gone pretty well with recovery rate data to suggest I'm doing quite well.

The wood walk/run takes about 19 mins and I use and interval timer that bleeps every 2 mins. I walk as fast as I physically can and on the bleeps I run for about 20 seconds. Dependent on fitness levels the 20 second run bit is done as fast as I can physically do it and this is supposed to replicate cricket scenarios - running between wickets and fielding where, you're not continuously running, but running sporadically. 

The first of these run/walks yielded a recovery rate of 26 two days ago and today with some bowling done yesterday the recovery rate improved to 36. So over the next couple of weeks I'm going to see if I can get it up to the 59 + region as per the chart below.

https://www.sundried.com/blogs/training/heart-rate-recovery-and-fitness-levels

Heart Rate Recovery

How fast your heart rate can return from high intensity near max bpm to resting rate is known as your heart rate recovery.  HR Recovery is measured after performing strenuous exercise for a given period of time and then measuring how far your heart rate drops two minutes after stopping that exercise. For example, sprinting on a treadmill as fast as you can for around 2 minutes. Follow this with a heart rate reading and then rest for 2 complete minutes and take your heart rate again. To calculate your heart rate recovery rate you now subtract the two numbers.

Findings: (These recovery results were taken from Enhanced Medical Care).

• Less than 22: Your biological age is slightly older than your calendar age.
• 22-52: Your biological age is about the same as your calendar age.
• 53-58: Your biological age is slightly younger than your calendar age.
• 59-65: Your biological age is moderately younger than your calendar age.
• 66 or more: Your biological age is a lot younger than your calendar age.

The bottom line? The faster your heart rate returns to normal, the higher your level of fitness.

Medical research also supports this analysis of heart rate recovery. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, people whose heart rate recovery times are longer are at a higher risk of death than people with shorter recovery times, regardless of physical condition or other risk factors. Another study by the National Emergency Medicine Association found measuring heart rate recovery rates is one way to tell whether an exercise program is effective.

Flipper - off-spinning variation

 The last two seasons I've been playing at a much higher level than I ought to be playing in my opinion and I've had to adapt to the situation and change my bowling. So I've been bowling flippers coming in off a much longer run-up than I have ever done and it's worked for the most part. Only once have I been aware that anyone's sussed out what I've been doing and that was young bloke from one of the Southend teams who I heard say to his Dad 'He's bowling back-spinners' and he was taking me and everyone else to the cleaners.

I've kept it really simple, mostly I'm bowling cross-seamed with the occasional up-right seamed delivery. I vary the speeds and how much spin I put on the ball and rarely I try the one out of the front of the hand with a bit of off-spin, but I've found that rarely turns and if it does it's minimal. Recently at home I was thinking about the potential of the off-spinning variation and realised that it would probably work so much better with a lower arm angle. I bowl with a very upright arm and getting the wrist into an appropriate position to release a flipper with off-spin is tricky, but my initial experiments indoors seem to indicate that simply by lowering my arm may yield benefits. Another observation is that it still retains the back-spin aspect, so it does actually work it'll be an off-break with back-spin which is an unusual delivery. 

Knee situation 2021

 The knee saga...

Last spring probably did me a favour with the Covid situation, as it mean that there was no cricket till late June? So I had all of Spring and the early part of the summer basically doing rehab. Walking for most of the time interspersed with short bursts of running. By the time we got some cricket my knee felt fine. So good I didn't really know which knee had been giving me grief.

Since Sept 2020 though, I like a lot of people haven't been doing a great deal physically apart from some Yoga and stretching and upper body strength exercises focusing on arms and shoulders. Sitting around all the time though, I'm aware that this is a potentially a bad move with regards weakening the butt muscles and eventually that impacts on the knees. I do a fair bit of flexibility exercises and put my knees through a bit of a going over doing this and I'm aware that the left knee feels less flexible or potentially susceptible to future issues, but I'm hoping as we come out of the winter and lock-down this year I can start getting out and about and exercising in readiness for a new season.

Talking of which there seems to be some really good news. It seems that we've got 10 new adult players and they sound like they're all South Asian blokes, so that bodes well on so many fronts. In addition to that there's a big crop of younger players coming through this year as well. So many it seems, that we're definitely going to be able to field 4 teams for the first time in 3 or 4 years! Hopefully there's some batters among them because that's what we seem to be missing! Hopefully, I'll get to play in a team that suits my age and abilities rather than playing 2nd XI and 3rd XI cricket! I might actually get some wickets!

Scoring symbols - bowlers analysis

Scoring's an interesting aspect to cricket and it's a shame that increasingly there's a move towards using digital systems for recording scores. I came late to cricket and had no idea of how involved scoring was and was intrigued when I looked over the shoulders of people doing it, filling in all the little boxes with weird symbols.

I've never fancied the idea of umpiring and quickly saw that if chose to score I'd be alleviated of the job of umpiring and so began to watch people doing it and asking them questions. One thing I quickly noted was that there was no one way of doing it. Different people did it in different ways, so when I was learning, I had different people saying do it this way or that way. When it comes down to it you need to learn the basics and then listen to what different people say and adopt your own way. Of course there are courses that you can do and some clubs are prepared to send players on such courses, but if you're playing at the lower levels this isn't necessary.

What is disappointing is that, as much as I try I can't get kids to do it, even my own son is fairly reluctant, but has learned to do the basics.

On-line there are a number of different resources and I'm currently trying to put together a series of videos on Youtube to help people.

The thing is if you don't get it right and you use unorthodox methods, you'll pass on those methods to others, so it's important to standardise the process as much as possible. I've knocked up this post in response to my bowling figures being inflated because of the lack of knowledge with regards how to record byes and wides primarily. I know from experience that if you get it wrong and the results of the match are tight, what you've done is pored over and scrutinised and it can lead to embarrassing and tense situations at the end of the game. This is my take on how it's done and if I'm honest just by writing this blog and having to check what I'm writing is correct I've learned a couple more things about how to do it correctly. I'm not saying this is the definitive way of doing it and there may be things that I'm still doing wrong? If I am let me know.
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Figure 1

Multi-colour or single colour? I started out using a black/blue penwhen scoring, but in the last year or so I've started to use multi-colour pens. When each of the bowlers is assigned a different colour (Figure 1) and you combine this with marking the balls the batters face in the batting "Runs scored" row using the same colours as the bowler (Figure 2).

Figure 2

You might find it makes it far easier to check your figures at the end of the overs and at the end of the innings when you check everything consolidates.

Bowlers analysis box symbols________________________

1st Over F.Blogs 

Figure 3

One of the first things to consider especially if you're scoring youth matches or any game with potentially sketchy bowling is the size of your symbols in the boxes. If you get into a situation where numerous wides are bowled, you're going to run out of space and potentially may need to use the notes section to record data that you can't fit into the bowling analysis boxes.

Figure 3 In this box the bowler has bowled six balls that haven't gone for runs so 6 dots are recorded. No runs in an over is maiden indicated by an 'M'. In the running tally I've marked 0-0... No runs for no wickets or vice versa.

Score sheet layout 

Figure 4

Below (Figure 2) is how it could be recorded in the batters 'Runs scored' section of the score-sheet.

Batting row "Runs scored" Figure 2

One of the advantages of using coloured pens for scoring is that it makes it easier to establish who was facing who and this is often helpful if you lose track of where you are and ensuring your figures add up when you do the end of over checks.

Figure 3

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(B). In this box we have 5 x dot balls and a small w which indicates a wicket has been taken. Therefore no runs have been scored and this is a wicket maiden indicated by the W. 
Note in the tally box beneath the symbols is the running total of the runs and wickets 0-1 indicates that no runs have been made for 1 wicket. A lot of people write this up the other way round e.g. 1 wicket for no runs, but you simply need to be consistent with the way you do it for each match.

In the box between (B) and (C) runs have been made. The first ball is a dot ball, the 2nd is run for a single, the 3rd ball 2 runs are made, the 4th ball - 2 runs followed by 2 dot balls e.g. no runs. Overall in that over, 5 runs are made so the tally in the box below now reads as 5 runs for 1 wicket (5-1).

(C). The + symbol is used to indicate a wide has been bowled. In this instance no runs have been made as a result of the wide. The + is counted as 1 run against the bowler.

Scenario - The bowler bowls a wide, the keeper collects the ball and no runs are made. The Umpire calls "Wide ball" and signals the wide you acknowledge the symbol.

1. In the 'Runs scored' batsman's row, a dot is recorded.
2. In the cumulative total 1 run is recorded for the wide.
3. In the extras box, 1 is added in the wides section.
4. The cross (Wide) is added in the bowlers analysis.
5. In the 'Bowlers analysis to the right, there's an additional section in which to record the wide and it's useful to do so.

In box (C) the wide (1 run) is followed by 2 dot balls and then 2 balls that the batters run 2 for and then 2 more dot balls. The total for this over is 5 runs against the bowler bringing the running total up to 10 for 1. Note; Wides are not legitimate balls, so an additional ball has to be bowled, so in that box you'll see 7 (D) symbols as opposed to the normal 6 symbols. 

(E). Wides with runs; In this over, the first ball is a wide, so again the cross is used, but a single run is made (See below).

Figure 4

The run is indicated by the use of a dot in one of the quadrants of the cross. If two runs are made off the wide, 2 dots are marked in separate quadrants and so on. If the ball is bowled as a wide and runs across the field of play and crosses the boundary that is marked in the bowlers analysis in the same way. Note as mentioned before if you have bowler with the Yips this starts to get messy and you need to have contingency for a situation where multiple wides are bowled. Remember too that for every wide another ball has to be bowled as a wide doesn't count as a legitimate delivery.


So in the box (E) We have a wide that has one run made, followed by 2 runs, then 4 dot balls, followed by a wide with 2 runs made and then a final dot ball. 8 separate entries 2 wides and 6 legitimate balls.

Figure 5

1. The first wide with the 1 run = 2 runs against the bowler.
2. The 2nd wide with 2 runs = 3 runs against the bowler.
3. Add the 2 regular runs made off the 2nd ball, the runs against the bowler in this over add up to 7 in total meaning the running total is now 17 for 1.
4. Note on the right hand side in the wides column the 2 and 3 wides have been recorded.
5. The runs from the wides must be recorded in the cumulative tally.

The 5 wides would also need to be recorded in the Extras and in the cumulative tally. The runs gained as a result of the poor bowling are NOT credited to the batters and are recorded as dots in the batting row.

(G) Byes; These are not credited to the bowler. 

Despite the fact that Byes (And leg-byes) are not credited to the bowler, they still have to be recorded in the bowlers analysis, but the bowler is not penalised... 

The bowler has bowled a good delivery and it's either glanced off the batters body (Leg-Bye) or everyone has missed it (Batter and wicket keeper) and the ball has evaded all of the fielders enabling the batters to run.

In the bowling analysis for A.Nother in the first box marked (G) we see the symbol for a Bye which is an upward pointing triangle. In the bowlers analysis this is worth nothing and some scorers don't even use a bye symbol and simply mark a dot ball, but this I feel is bad practice as if you're struggling to make sense of your scoring when it comes to adding everything up and checking the data at the end of the innings, the use of the correct symbols helps with the process.

Scenario; The bowler bowls a legitimate ball, it misses everything and it beats the wicket keeper for pace and runs down towards long off. The batters see that no-one is going to field the ball and make 2 runs before the fielders get the ball back to the keeper/bowler.

1. In the batters row (Runs scored) you have the option of marking dots or the Bye symbol, some scorers don't mark anything.
2. The two runs must be added to the cumulative tally.
3. In the extras box the 2 runs have to be added in the Byes tally.
4. Finally the bye symbol is added to the bowlers analysis -  you do not record the runs made as a figure in the bowlers analysis, otherwise they will not tally up correctly at the end of the innings/game.

(H) Leg Byes; These are not credited to the bowler and the rules are as above for Byes except that the symbol is downward pointing triangle. 

(J) Maiden with Byes/Leg-Byes. If in the over the bowler bowls a series of dot balls as in the case of a normal maiden (See above in section 'A') but one or more of the balls goes for runs off of either Byes or Leg-Byes which is no fault of the bowler, the over is still a Maiden and the M should be written in the box in the usual manner to indicate it is a Maiden.

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(K) No-Balls with runs off the bat
Scenario - The bowler runs in and bowls an illegal ball and the Umpire calls "No-ball"! The batsman strikes the ball hitting it for six in the case below in the bowlers analysis for (K). 

Figure 6

In this instance the No-Ball is down to the bowler, so the bowler is penalised heavily, with the No-Ball indicated by the circle and then any runs made off the illegal delivery credited to the bowler. The batsman in this instance has hit the ball for six, so the six runs appear in the circle.

Figure 7

Figure 8

How-ever many runs the batsman scores having hit the ball, these are recorded inside the circle as a number.

Additionally at the end of the bowling analysis row on the right-hand side, see image above circled in black, the 7 runs (1 for the No-Ball and 6 for the runs off the bat) should be recorded. The other two singles that are recorded in that same column in the circle are for the No-Balls associated with the leg-byes and byes in columns L and M.




(L) "No-Ball byes". Scenario - The bowler runs in and bowls an illegal ball and the Umpire calls "No-ball"! The ball then either evades the batsman and the wicket keeper and runs away enabling the batters to run byes; or the ball strikes the batsman's body and runs away enabling the batters to run Leg-Byes. In this instance we'll say they run 2 runs. So they get 1 run for the team for the No-Ball and then 2 runs for the team for the Byes or Leg-Byes run.

1. In the batting row "Runs scored" you have the option of entering nothing or a dot or a Bye symbol, the batsman gains no credit for the runs accrued.
2. In the Cumulative Tally you add 3 runs - 1 for the No-Ball and 2 for the Byes/Leg-Byes run.
3. In the extras box - 1 is added to the No Ball row and 2 is added to the Byes/Leg-Byes.
4. In the bowlers analysis (See below) a circle is used to indicate the No-Ball and in the circle you have the option of using a upward pointing triangle for Byes or as in (M) a downward pointing triangle for Leg-Byes. 
5. . You do not have to record how many runs were accrued as a result of the batters running - these have already been recorded in the extras section and the bowler is not penalised for the runs from Byes/Leg-Byes. The bowler is penalised for the No-Ball and when adding up the bowling figures the circle counts for 1 run. 
6. On the right hand side of the bowling figures at the end of the row you need to record the No-ball element, but not the runs.

Figure 9

Figure 10

To be continued...

...

If you're not sure still, I found the best way to learn was to sit in front of a computer and watch a complete game on Youtube and score the game. That way if you miss something you can re-wind it. I've discovered a better way that is less likely to be confusing is to watch these XBOX/Playstation games here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-mgbdTeQP4&t=1284s




https://basildoncricket.hitscricket.com/pages/page_25500/A-guide-to-scoring.aspx
http://www.snitterfieldcricketclub.co.uk/page.php?page=scoring
https://cornwallcricket.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/MCC-law-changes-2017-code-guidance-for-scorers.pdf

June 2020

I should write about the last two months in general terms as well as cricket. April and My have been ridiculous in terms of  how sunny and warm they've been. In terms of sunshine hours for Spring all previous records have been well and truly smashed, well not smashed - decimated beyond comprehension.

Unfortunately, it's coincided with the Covid 19 pandemic which has been weird. Most of us have been off work in some form or another for over 2 months now as 10's of thousands of people die from the pandemic. But the Tory governments tactic has been to tell us for the most part to isolate for the last 2 months meaning we've not been able to mix with anyone other than our immediate family in order to reduce the impact of the virus and reduce the spread rate. As a result a lot of time has been spent in the back garden in the unbelievable sunshine and warmth, but not elsewhere. 

Historically as a diary writer when I was younger I'd have written more about this in a lot more depth, but with the internet it'll be extensively recorded in real depth. Going back to the weather though, there's obviously a degree of concern on the part of the Met office and they cite the fact that we had an extremely mild, wet and rainy winter and that's now been followed by a this ridiculously dry, hot and sunny spring which is more akin to an exceptionally good June and July.

It's scheduled to cool down in the next 48-72 hours with some sporadic rain, but the Met is warning that it'll be insufficient in terms of beneficial affects on farming. I guess, that once this current weather pattern moves on we'll need for the weather to establish itself in the usual way with periods of rain and cloudy weather other-wise we'll be watching the news and the prospect of droughts, crop failure and an increase in food prices? 

The other outcome of the Pandemic is that like almost every other sport cricket has been cancelled. The ECB has apparently pumped loads of money into the sport even at club level in order that clubs survive. This year was going to be a big year off the back of all the successes the National side had last year and a new format 'The Hundred' was due to be launched this summer to try and capitalise on the boost in popularity and the fact that cricket was again in the public eye for the right reasons. Sadly that's not happened, so there's a fear that, that momentum might be lost and opportunity to get kids and girls especially involved has been missed. That aside there's a sense that with the season being non-existent this summer that might see people leave the game and 100's if not thousands of small struggling clubs go under never to be resurrected.

Anyway all that aside - the first bowl of June 2020. 2/6/20

This doesn't look too bad given that the last few sessions were a bit ropey. The pitch map below is the last few of May over-laid with each other...

You  can see in the top pitch map I seem to have reduced the amount of full tosses on the leg-side and there's a few less balls on the leg-side generally. The good news is the balls are generally fairly accurate today with a lot more threatening the stumps and on the off-side. 

The lack of real accuracy might be down to the run-up and approach to the crease. It's rough - really rough and if it does rain I might do some work on the run-up area and try and make it a little more even. 

Knee - The reason I hadn't bowled for a few days was they knee felt slightly sore, so I rested it and it was a lot better. Of more concern at the minute is my lower back - back spasms and a real sense of stiffness. I've been doing core strength work to try and improve the situation along with stretching and Yoga and there may have been a bit of an improvement, but it's negligible.

28th June

Throughout June my physical fitness declined with increasing sitting down whilst working. Normally I'd be walking around at work - walking up and down several flights of stairs and also walking on the way home - getting off at one of the stations early to walk to the next to re-join the train home (It's a coastal walk of about 20 mins). It reached a point where my younger son Joe joined me for a bit of practice and I basically couldn't bowl because my back was so stiff.

I did some research and it appeared that this was a result of so much sitting down and having weak glutes. I then watched some Youtube vids and got some ideas about what I could do to reactivate my glutes and three days later I'm back in action bowling 60 + balls twice a day with no negative outcomes.

Today there was some really good news, my club have announced that they're expecting to get the green light to resume cricket around mid-July. The League has been cancelled and so all of the games will be friendlies with an Inter-club match being the first one as they sort out fixtures for the rest of the season. This coming Wednesday there's a practice session at the club, so at last some cricket and an opportunity to see how these Flippers go without an on-going knee issues.

Knee injury update May 2020

On the 19^th May with a slight relaxing of the Covid 19 ‘Stay at home’ rules I was able to get out and mow the wicket over at the Paddock and have a bowl. With my knee having been bad for months almost a year I’ve got to say in recent months it’s felt significantly better with a slight increase in basic activities such as walking. I started (Before the Covid 19 lock-down) to get off the train at Westcliff, breaking my journey and walking to Chalkwell and then getting back on the train. Since the Covid out break I’ve been walking around the wood and running a little – short bursts equivalent to running up and down the wicket twice every now and then during the walk.

So on May 19^th I bowled 24 balls off of a run-up to see how it went and it was fine. I’ve been watching a bloke on Youtube

 On the 20^th I bowled another spell of 24 balls around 3pm and 30 later in the day 7.30pm. Using the Martin Koban rule, I reckon I came back with a pain level of less than 1. Something like 0.25.

21^st I’ve had a rest day today – some angled board calf stretches, a 20 minute walk, couple of deep squats and I’m feeling okay. Also 10 seat squats.

22^nd A bowling day; So, I know I can bowl 24 balls and not have any negative outcome and it’s likely if I rest as seen before a few hours later I can bowl another 24. Koban says not to accelerate the increase in activity too fast, small gradual steps, combined with your physio regime. The same applies with that, if you increase what you do in your physio this too should be increased gradually, noting what the outcome is e.g. any increase in pain or discomfort.

If anything for me it’s the other knee that feels as though it’s been affected, so I need to keep an eye on that. Another thing I noticed was I didn’t wear the same trainers today. I’ve been wearing newish Adidas Sambas with a cushion in-sole, but today I wore my old knackered Samba’s and it didn’t feel so good – so the cushion in-sole seems to make a bit of a difference.

I think what I’m going to do is bowl 24 each day now and see if that works okay and then after about three days I might then start adding a ball a day and working up towards the 60 balls which as I recall might be the maximum I can bowl in the league I play in.

To make it more interesting I’m going to record my pitch maps, which should be pretty good as, so far this first week has been spot on, so it’ll be interesting to start plotting the data.

23^rd – Had a bowl today, completely ignored the plan – bowled more than I intended, but that was out of frustration that it went so bad. Since the resumption of bowling I’ve bowled with good accuracy, so yesterday I decided that I’d record my pitch map. Isn’t it always the case that when you start to do something, and you want to do it really well it doesn’t work out like that? That’s how it was today. Before I went out, I felt ropey anyway, but went despite this. The weather was sunny but really blustery 40mph winds. The intention was to bowl the usual 24, but there were so many bad ones I bowled extras to try and get it right.

If you look at the pitch map for 23.5.20 you’ll see that generally for much of the time I bowl really full, thankfully most of the leg-side balls are really full mid-stump height full tosses which I usually get away with. But generally, that was a really poor bowling performance. I will just have to see what happens tomorrow. Despite the extra 6 balls or so, my knee feels fine, so the same again tomorrow 30 balls and hopefully better accuracy.

I’m going to make excuses now – the approach to the wicket for my run up is rough – really rough. I might look at how I might be able to level it out a bit, because I’m sue that doesn’t help.

24.5.20

Better today and again more bowling, but the knee seems to be holding out...

.The clusters on the leg-side behind the wicket are full tosses, they tend to be about middle to top of the stumps and would probably be given as wides. The grey rectangle is my optimum length and the measurements are in Yards and feet, Ideally I'd be getting them on that grey rectangle, but I'm okay with the slightly wider option as I can bowl the flippers with a little bit of off-break with some practice. But as yet I've not worked on them as yet, I'm still trying to get it to the point where I can bowl 60 balls with confidence and not suffer any swelling or pain. It looks as though I'm getting there as this appears to have been around 45 balls. 

Red balls are balls that went on to hit the stumps. 

The two sessions over-laid below...

 

 

 

25/5/20 

No bowling today, well that's not strictly true. Got up and did some stretches as I'm having aggro with my lower back and struggled to do some of the usual ones. Yesterday while I was bowling because of the lower-back aggro and feeling my 60 years, I did some work on running and attacking the ball on the ground and throwing down the stumps. Whilst it was a bit creaky, the main issue that arose was that this involved using my knee in a different way and this morning it felt like using the Koban pain index I was probably at No.1, so decided to not bowl properly.

Instead I bowled probably a couple of hundred Flippers off of a couple of steps and my younger cricket playing son Joe joined me and batted against a wind ball and I had a bat as well. It was lovely and sunny and we were out there a couple of hours which was nice. 

I'll see how the knee feels tomorrow and probably have a bowl in the evening. During the day I need to do some stretches and yoga and work on this lower back soreness as today I also suffered back-spasms which is something that has happened over the last 20 years on and off, but it's not something I want happening on a regular basis. 

26/5/20

Again another bat and bowl in the sun with the wind ball - bowled a far bit off of a long run up. The knees fine. I think the issue is side-ways movement - Pliques are required or something similar I reckon might have to look into options for physio with side-ways movement. 

27/5/20

No Joe today he's gone fishing so I had to bowl on my own and do so properly and plot another pitch map.

A lot of balls today and no affect on the knee it seems which is good news. Instead I've seemingly got a really stiff back and never felt that comfortable bowling during the session and it resulted in loads of wides - highlighted in orange and loads of those full tosses on the leg-side, they ranged from a couple of no-balls around chest/head height and the other were all withing stump height.

Towards the end of the session I changed the angle of the run-up and that seemed to help considerably with the accuracy. So now I've got to work on this stiff back situation. It does feel like I've got a weak core - so I'm going to work on planks and see how that goes and other back exercises. 

30/5/20 

Bowled tonight and last night as well. I was going to plot a another pitch map but the start last night was so bad I gave up and tried to figure what was going wrong instead. Towards the end of the session it was coming together okay again. It seemed as though because I was plotting where the ball landed I was putting undue pressure on myself. So, then as soon I scrapped the plotting my line and length came back. 

Tonight like last night I bowled for an hour - yep, the knees doing well and I'm no longer counting balls bowled. I'm probably bowling 60-80 balls a session at the moment with no ill effect. Tonight I went out and just bowled - no pitch map plotting and it went a lot better, probably the best session so far. I did notice that I was bowling far too front-on and had to re-adjust by making sure that in BFC I was looking over the outside of my leading arm at the stumps. As soon as I was doing that my accuracy improved considerably, so that's obviously something I need to keep an eye on next time. 

31/5/20

Last session of May. An hour or so bowling, pretty consistent and accurate - good line and length, worked with varying the speed and moving the wrist position to create variations. Went well. knees fine as well.