Even though there’s still a week to go, pre-season is about to come to an end. While I was hoping to have hit the ground running with Prince Alfred, unfortunately, it hasn’t entirely gone to my expected plan. My bowling, which I still consider my stronger suit, hasn’t wholly produced the consistency I was after while my batting had lacked fluency, which did bring my confidence down.  It was so bad that I wanted a session with just the bowling machine alone, which I managed to do on Monday with the assistant coach Keegan English feeding balls into the machine.

Before that session, I actually revised my batting routine, mainly how I lift the bat. When I went out to face the machine, I remembered exactly what I needed to do, which then not only allowed me to time the ball but also to hit it with some power. Keegan having wanted to analyze me to find faults with my technique, simply said that he couldn’t find anything. In the end, I told him that I had a routine and wanted to make sure I followed it, which I did. After that, even though I was facing slower bowlers, I felt more confident also though I should avoid trying to play across the line against the spinners.

I am more disappointed though my bowling hasn’t entirely developed as I liked due to the inconsistency of the line and length that could be brutally exposed. But a chat with Ben Lobban certainly has raised my spirits. He reckons that after facing me, he would have thought that I would be a convenient addition to his side’s bowling stocks. Having asked him further where he usually plays, he told me its B grade. While I started thinking that it would be a dream to play 1st/2nd XI cricket for a club, he quickly advised me that I’ll probably start in C grade which is fine as long as I can get some overs in every game I play (which he thinks will be a given).

Anyways, I shouldn’t be worrying too much how I’m going right now because Ben reckons that I am doing really well, and others had mentioned this as well.

The moral of the story then…… Quit worrying and start believing. Who knows what happens next?

The fixtures for the coming season are out. Prince Alfred will be fielding four 2-day teams (A1, B2, C1, and C2) alongside two one-day sides (LO1 and LO5). Looking at the fixtures, C1 has a bye on November 2 and 9 with the one-days teams having a bye on October 12 and January 11. Regardless, it seems that it’s likely that I’ll be able to get a game every week, which would make the annual fees of $315 excellent value for money.

Moving on to training, Trent English apparently threw up around himself and did not rock up to practice. So his assistant, Keegan English, took over proceedings. Due to the numbers, training finished earlier than the scheduled time of 7.30pm. Immediately, I got bowling. Last week, I felt I was often bowling short rather than the length. Having reviewed my bowling footage at the time, I had changed my bowling approach so that I can not only hit a fuller length but also get the ball to move away.

Initially, I continued hitting the shorter length, but after small adjustments like my head position, I finally managed to start bowling at a fuller length with movement. Even though I wasn’t consistently getting the ball to move, I was at least testing the defense of the batters. The next step is to deliver the ball in a fluid motion so that the ball I can deliver the ball I intend to bowl all the time. What I find is that if I pull my left-arm slowly yet in a rhythmical manner, my bowling arm will be able to come around and finish on my left hip. Perhaps I could model my action on Mitchell Starc.

Unfortunately, my batting hasn’t progressed in a similar way to my bowling. Even though I managed to sort out my bottom hand grip in between training, I still continue to have issues with it only because I forgot the change I made. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop me from guarding my wicket while wearing the British Compliant Gray-Nicolls helmet I purchased recently.

Two weeks in, I have managed to make some progress with my game. But again, more work needs to be done. Mainly on my bowling if I want to be considered among the first-choice attack in any grade. The key is consistency in line, length, and movement. I just need to get the mechanics right.