Halfway through the season, the decision to transfer from Adelaide University to Prince Alfred Old Collegians has so far turned out to be a masterstroke. Not only I’m getting consistent games of cricket, but (more importantly), I am also getting a decent bowl in every single one of them. Six matches, 72 runs, 11 wickets, and 3 catches are decent stats.
My batting report can only be summarised with just one beautiful day, which was a blur. Even though I made a solitary run recently, I batted for about 10 overs against good Brighton bowling on a helpful pitch and overcast conditions. They didn’t give much away, but I didn’t look uncomfortable and was dismissed by some smart captaincy to put in a short leg. Given our poor batting performances and the chopping and changing of our grade alone, my 72 runs is second to Ed Thomas’ 76, while my 67* against Athelstone not only is the only individual score past 50; it’s currently the highest score as well.
Bowling wise, it has been more reliable than spectacular as I continue chipping in with a wicket or two. As a matter of fact, it has been about 15 matches ago that I went wicketless, and before that, I took wickets in each of the six games I played. I would have loved for the half-chances that I’ve been creating to go to hand, but I’ve at least kept it tight, especially in C1s. In that grade alone, my combined figures are 45 overs, 19 overs, 70 runs, and 9 wickets. Average 7.78, Economy 1.56, and Strike Rate 30.0. Maxy has been pretty happy with the control I’m giving him, which is why I get to bowl a lot of overs, which leads to him getting the wickets. It’s no surprise that he’s our leading wicket-taker, which is 7 more than me in second place. I should continue what I’m doing, but it will be good if I work on swinging the new ball into the right-handers as well continue refining my run-up so that I can continue bowling heat like I did against Brighton.
I’ve been lucky fielding wise as I’ve been doing much fielding practice at training than I should have, but I’ve been able to take the three relatively easy chances that I was presented with. I can’t remember how many I’ve dropped so far, but I do remember getting one hand to a sliced drive off Dan Mosey that traveled quickly against Goodwood. It feels though that the ghosts of last year’s pre-season might have finally been extinguished.
So far, it has been an excellent season to date. I shouldn’t really be chasing results and instead just continue trusting my technique and routines as well as shifting my focus to facing or bowling more balls and keep being patient because once I do all of that, I’ll be able to cash in when everything is in my favor.
My overall figures would have been in contention for PAOC’s rookie of the year if there’s one, but there are other rookies that are also having great starts here as well. Lincoln Halton is one as he’s making some useful scores as well as being a gun in the field. Then there’s Yogesh Thakur, who already is taking bags of wickets. Yesterday, he took 6/17 in Limited Overs Division 1 to take him to 13 wickets in 3 games. Regardless, I think the club will be quite happy the future is in good hands so far.
Diary of a Grade Cricketer 