Last year was a shocker off the field while I was trying to balance both my cricket and family commitments which proved to be a disaster. It was a shame that my actions left me no choice but to leave PAOC and start afresh having fallen out of favour. Nevertheless, I must acknowledge that PAOC gave me the opportunities which Adelaide Uni couldn’t guarantee, and I responded with runs, wickets and catches in the handful of games I was there for, thereby justifying their faith and confidence in me.
However, I needed to start afresh at a new club with a new mentality, which I managed to do by joining the Adelaide Warriors. So far, they have shown to be a very family friendly club and so far, several people in the club have gone out of their way to look after me. I remember one time when a couple of people from the club who were also on the Indian Mela organising committee, took me aside, shared their food and we talked cricket and the club. One of them assured my wife that cricket will not get in the way of family which matters the most. That statement gave me the confidence to just go out and enjoy whatever I am doing, whether it’s cricket or family.
While, training had started a few weeks back, I didn’t really rush towards grabbing my kitbag since there was work to do at home. Previously, I used to be desperate to go to training as I was over-serious about my game. If I was disappointed over a net session, I would be looking to go to the nets every day until the eve of the match to regain my confidence. Now, I should take the positives to keep my mind fresh and confidence high towards the match.
Today, my new mentality worked at training. Having been short of a gallop as I hadn’t bowled for a while, I regained my rhythm having adjusted my grip and eyesight and started swinging the ball both ways at pace which caught the eye of the new leadership group for the season as I troubled all the batters I bowled to, even though I couldn’t rattle the stumps. With the guidance of the seniors, I learnt how to be a thinking bowler which will help save runs and possibly gain wickets. My pace was the result of the intense diet and fitness over the last two months that resulted in a weight loss of 8 kgs. I had initially swaped the BowlFit program with the program that I received some time ago from Southern Cricket, as my technique was honed through them. As the weight ballooned towards the high end of the 80s, I added both HIIT on the Treadmill and power training which resulted in the significant weight loss.
On the eve of the training session, Vikram Rajpurohit messaged me to advise that I was to be added to the LO1 squad, which seemed that the team manager, Suresh Wadala would have had a say as he had told me that he was going to recommend my name. From what I learnt previously, LO1 is a tough division, more tough compared to the C grades in ATCA. Nevertheless, having performed well in higher grades in ACT Premier Cricket, LO1s will be no different if we bowl with a 4-piece ball compared to a 2-piece ball I was using in LO6s.
Given that I maybe a critical piece of the LO1 jigsaw, I will need to look after my body in terms of diet, fitness and workload. Before leaving training, I was experiencing soreness in my inner thighs and right now as I write, my soreness has transferred to the shoulder. As I’m only going to play one day matches where I’ll bowl no more than overs, I will need to be smart with my bowling workloads in the lead up to every match. If I don’t play every week, that will be good for the body.
Diary of a Grade Cricketer 