Club cricket blog 26-27 season

[sussexpob]

My early season golf rounds have been dismal too haha!!!

I played the Belgian National in Sterrebeek Easter Monday. The front 9 teetime were delayed due to a few groups slow playing on the course, so as I was solo the guy told me I could tee off earlier from the 10th if I didn't want to spend all round stuck behind a few slow 4 balls. The 10th at Sterrebeek is surrounded on all three sides by a hotel, with just a tiny moat separating the tee box from the hotel beer garden/terrace. It was a unseasonable lovely day, and the terrace was rammed with people drinking and eating.

No warm up on the range, 100 people watching, I promptly crumbled and squirted my tee shot along the floor into the wild rough and got a sarcastic cheer from a few tables. Rather than the walk of shame and the long wait to find my ball, I just left it and hit another, which thankfully was ok.

[sussexpob]

Yeah our squares are very green so will be plenty of early season movement I would expect haha

In my experience the problem with April pitches was more the bounce than anything with lateral movement. It took a lot of heavy rolling and 1 or 2 games into the season to get the pitches flat enough to be confident with the bounce, and I distinctly remember a few instances where I faced balls that took off from fullish lengths, and one particular game we played away which got called off halfway through after a worrying amount of decent length balls took over.

Bowling, different story. I used to love bowling in April, I'd bowl off spin all year but at the start go seam up medium, full at the stumps. Always felt you had chance when the ball seams half a metre of the deck.

[andy]

Our decks are notoriously known for keeping low however we had the squares relaid over the winter they will take time to settle however hopefully when they do they will be better to bat on than in previous years

[andy]

First friendly on Saturday not at full strength at all few bodies missing but will be good to get some overs in legs and time in the middle

[Durhamfootman]

I suggest you don't get out to a first baller, then

[andy]

I'm aiming to be batting in the middle order this year and bowling my quota of 10 overs ..we have some younger guys to open the batting this year luckily haha

[sussexpob]

What you bowling? Pace or spin

[andy]

These days left arm spin...turn the ball at pace, normally bowl through the middle overs but have been known to take the new ball should conditions dictate

[andy]

Beautiful weather this morning for our first friendly...1pm start for friendlies like I said not full strength but we will use it as important prep time in middle and overs in legs fingers crossed for a positive day!

[Arthur Crabtree]

These days left arm spin...turn the ball at pace, normally bowl through the middle overs but have been known to take the new ball should conditions dictate

Like Derek Underwood...

[sussexpob]

These days left arm spin...turn the ball at pace, normally bowl through the middle overs but have been known to take the new ball should conditions dictate

I bowled off spin personally, but never turned the ball a great deal. When I was a late teenager all I wanted to do with turn it square, but I found getting that rip out the hand meant I lost control with ball placement, and while the ball moved off the deck its somewhat academic if you pitch it 3 meters outside leg stump. In early season I'd bowl seam up or cutters from a short run up at medium pace, I was actually much more successful bowling this way but once pitches dried out and you can't get bit of swing and seam off the deck, bowling at pedestrian pace gung barrel straight is hardly sexy. I could physically bowl quick for club standards, but like trying to turn the ball a lot, the faster I bowled the more it sprayed all over the place. At full speed I'd be lucky to nail one decent length ball an over.

[sussexpob]

Beautiful weather this morning for our first friendly...1pm start for friendlies like I said not full strength but we will use it as important prep time in middle and overs in legs fingers crossed for a positive day!

Good luck Andy.

[andy]

Well it didn't go to plan....first friendly definitely some cobwebs and an under strength side which resulted in a heavy defeat...

I lost the toss and the opposition chose to bat, and they made 284-8....our new overseas from NZ suffered a bad day he bowled 3 overs and went for 42 runs.... The pick of our bowlers took 3-28 from 9 overs....I myself didn't have a great time I bowled 9 overs and finished with 2-60....

In reply we were never at the races and were bowled out for 135 with only three people reaching double figures the top score being 63....I myself only made 5.....

Rusty performance but some cobwebs blown off ...we have another friendly next week and hopefully get closer to full strength...

When the league starts and the side is how it should be il list full sides and do proper description of the game itself

[Arthur Crabtree]

...our new overseas from NZ suffered a bad day he bowled 3 overs and went for 42 runs....

Blimey. Nightmare.

[andy]

Yeah he had a shocker putting it down to rustiness....I hope...