This summer I'll be 63 and I'm still looking forward to playing and bowling and I'm still optimistic that something will click with regards my batting and I'll score some runs beating my current best which is up in the 30's somewhere.
The team I play for Basildon & Pitsea have grown in the last few years since joining a different league and as a consequence last year I captained a 6th XI for the first time in the clubs history. We had 4 league sides and our 5th XI played friendlies, but this year the fifth, having won virtually every game last year are now in the league and at the AGM I was asked to be the captain, but I turned it down. I captained the 4's some years ago - probably 10 years ago almost and didn't enjoy at all, I did the club a favour as no-one wanted the job and it would have meant loads of the kids wouldn't have played all year and highly likely would have left.
I turned it down because in the last few years I've suffered from anxiety and just the thought of taking on the role makes me feel anxious and I don't want to be feeling anxious about the weekend coming up I want to be looking forward to it. I don't like things going wrong and I remember in the 4's I was let down so often and left in crappy situations with insufficient players and or playing blokes that had no respect for me. This year the club seemed a bit vague on how teas were going to playout, I know that in the 5's last year we struggled with umpiring and I was the only scorer. All that was fine while it was Friendly games, but what with now being league games I'd have my own expectation that the whole show should run smoothly with everything in place. I just feel that may not be the case, I know I'd end up being the scorer and the captain and I'd find that stressful and definitely not enjoyable. Thankfully they've found another person to do the job and that then leaves me as the scorer. It might leave me in a situation where I might be wanted by the 3rd, 4th and 5th team because of my scoring and as a bowler.
20/03/23
Nets this year is at Billericay cricket club, they have their own indoor nets (2 lanes). I've been working on Leg-Breaks, Flippers and Top-spinners and it's the Top-Spinner mixed with the Leg-breaks that proving to be the wicket taking delivery assuming the wicket Keeper takes the bails off, because the Top-Spinner is the ball they don't get to having assumed it's Leg-Break and the run past it. I call it a Top-Spinner, but it rarely spins perfectly straight and much of the time it's a decent - faster Leg-Break which I'm able to bowl more accurately. At the moment it looks very promising and it might mean I move up the ranks of bowlers at the club this year? 2022 saw me in 13th place.
24/3/23 - the penultimate net last night. Went OK. Batting was OK running down the wicket to negate whatever the bowlers were trying to do. It'd be a different story if the keeper was up though. I just can't bat which is rubbish. Bowling went OK though. I think I got everyone out a couple of times mostly stumped and potentially a few catches. I've been bowling at the better batters and it's obvious that slow and loopy works well with a lot of people, but most of them - nice and full on the leg-stump. a little short and it's hit into the leg-side with some power. Shots that were adopted against me - dabs down to 3rd man and through point, some flicked through fine-leg and anything short though square leg and deep mid-wicket.
