Nets went well through February - getting a fair few hours under my belt, but more importantly with input from a variety of coaches who look after the Essex disability players. Very few people at my own club offer any advice, so it's difficult to make any progress. Over March it looks like I'll net with my club for 2 sessions totaling four hours and with the disability players somewhere between 8 and 12 hours with input and a variety of drills as well as bowling machine work and throw downs with specific goals, so all is good. From all of this work I'm now moving my feet a lot more and generally feel a lot more confident.
As mentioned last month the captain of the 3's has been announced and it's a bloke called Alistair Hayton...
I'm not so sure about what he thinks of my bowling whenever I've been around playing in any teams that he's been in I've not got to bowl that much. He's a decent bowler himself right arm orthodox as I recall - accurate and wiley, changes in pace, length and speed with a little bit of spin. I kind of half expect that I wont get to bowl that much, in which case I'll be off to another club. We'll have to see how it goes.
The end of February was amazing with some incredibly warm weather with records being broken, we sat in the garden for two days in shorts with temperatures up around 22 degrees centigrade over one weekend! March has started with blustery winds, hail stones and a little rain. I've continued with the hollow tiner - aerating the paddock, there's no obvious benefit as yet, but the seeds that I sowed last autumn have come through okay as a good new sward of grass. The shady stuff though - not so good.
9th March
Had a good net this Saturday was at Writtle for three hours, the additional hour at the end was with the Boreham cc blokes. Ken the chairman who is the opener in the first XI? commented on how well I bowled at him. I got him a couple of times - stumped once and potentially mis-hit balls to mid on and off. He also helped with the batting - giving me some pointers.
Fitness/exercise_________________________________________________________
This resonated with me... I watched this video about Glen Hoddle having a heard attack and surviving because there was a 1st aider around who administered CPR. But it was some of other stuff. Hoddle saying that he considered himself as being fit, but then alluding to the fact that his exercise regime possibly wasn't up to it because doing exercise is dreary unless you're kicking a ball around (With the grandchildren). I'm of the same opinion. It is dead dreary - really boring and because of that my exercise regime with regards - aerobic exercise is virtually non-existent, but this was a bit of a wake-up call. Watch the video if you're 40 + especially if you have as I have a family history of people dying from heart attacks. Double click on the image to open it.
One of the things that puts me off is the monotony of the circuit you run or walk, but today I tried a circuit around the local woods right out the back of my house - mud and all and it worked for me. The woods are beautiful and peaceful, I don't run, I just power walk, I don't want high impact exercise that ruins my knees, just something that works my legs, glutes and heart and it was spot on perfect. So, hopefully I'll be able to keep this up and do it daily. We'll have to see how it goes. When it dries out I may vary it a bit - by adding short sprints every minute or so to re-create the running and resting between wicket, so that its more cricket specific.
17/3/19
Later in the month I started to look at my recovery rate after exercise and it seems that looking at the data my recovery rate at the moment isn't particularly good.
My blood pressure data today from stopping normal activity and sitting down for a few seconds was... 114 - 79 - 57.
Which is in the ideal section. I then went for a walk - this isn't a normal walk this is walking as fast as I can without actually running and includes a couple of meaty hills. The walk is about 21 minutes and my measurement once I got in was...
117 - 67 -90 . I then took another measurement a minute later and then every minute thereafter. (The end number 90 is my heart rate.
111 - 66 - 84
113 - 68 - 81
116 - 70 - 79
113 - 68 - 78
114 - 69 - 78
So it seems the jump from 90 down to 84 in the first minute is the one that needs to improve and this is an indication that my hearts not in tip top condition. Almost certainly down to lack of exercise. At least I can take one thing from the readings - my blood pressure is okay!
The other thing that concerns me is my lower back. When I sit when relaxed I slouch and then when I go from a slouched sitting position to straightening to stand I get what feels like a trapped nerve or some sort of spasm. Associated with that just bending over to do stuff brings on similar reactions. This is all due to the fact that I've been less active over this winter than I ever have been and now it looks like I'm paying for it!
Plenty of nets this month - every Thursday had 2 hours at Woodlands with my club and then on Saturday mornings 3 hours - 2 with Graham Davies, Paul Jones and the Essex disability players and then an hour with Boreham cc's boys. The Boreham boys are mostly 1st XI players from Division 6, I'm playing in Division 10 this year. They're decent players of the standard seen at 2nd XI in the old league and appropriately they'll be up against our 2nd XI. So I'm having a really challenging work-out in the nets against good standard players - bowlers and batsman.
The same thing is happening at the clubs nets, so few people go to nets, the only people who are there are generally blokes that are much better than the standard I have to bowl against and bat against, so it's a real challenge and potentially beneficial.
The paddock_________________________________________________________
Made a start on
the Paddock this is where my son and I practice during the summer, so over the weekend of 23/24th I've cut the grass at the batting end and had the roller on it. Over February I've been aerating it using a hollow tiner, but this hasn't had any obvious impact. I'm hoping the council over the next few days will be in there and they'll cut the rest of the grass and I'll be able to get the other half of the wicket cut.
29th the council cut the grass allowing me to cut the entire length of the wicket on the 30th I had a bowl. Weirdly I didn't seem to be able to bowl as well as I have been in the nets, but they might have been because I'd bowled and batted for 3 hours this morning and just cut an entire wicket with a cylinder mower, so I may have been a bit knackered?
Later I did some fitness drills and they didn't go that well either, but I have been ill over the last 2 weeks with a cold and therefore not doing much exercise.
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