November 12, 2018

Having struggled a bit trying to pull over the weekend, I at least managed to ask Masud yesterday to help me perfect the shot while continuing my training with playing spin. I only just realized the fundamentals that my other coach Luke had taught me in the past, and given my lack of decent batting practice to date, I had to try to drill in those fundamentals once more. I could have easily attended club training again, but I probably need some more dedicated one-on-one assistance to help me get up to speed. The money spent will definitely be worth it.

The practice was worth it. I was able to apply the pull shot fundamentals when getting throw downs, but against the side-arm was a challenge since the pace was much quicker. It was no different from the difficulties I encountered over the weekend, but a back-foot trigger at least helped in getting into right pulling positions.

November 16, 2018

I eventually decided against a back-foot trigger after getting some last-minute advice from Luke. He suggested tweaking my bat hinge, making references to old videos he did for Southern Cricket. It was probably a piece of the missing jigsaw with the batting having tinkered it for some time without the desired results. After all, his advice helped me to a run on good form with the bat between December 2014 until February 2016, where I was reaching double figures quite often and making 20s, 30s, 40s, and even a fifty. I tried his advice with another session with Masud. Against the side-arm, I again struggled, but it gave me more power when facing spin throw-downs and proper bowling. I was timing them with some power too. It will remain to be seen how I go tomorrow. I even bowled a bit at the end. I tried my usual four-step run-up and was able to get the ball to move. I also tried a few slower-balls as variations should I need to keep the batsmen in check tomorrow. As I learned I was playing against Weston Creek, I knew that their batting approach was to go hard (even across the line) from last time. Having these variations up my sleeve will at least make me prepared, but I need to use them smartly in terms of when you should use them.

Whether I will get a bowl tomorrow depends on our bowling attack and, of course, the stand-in captain Luke Snowie. We already have some decent quality. Andy Brains, Dom Ross, Luke Snowie, and Duncan Gammage are definitely a formidable attack, with each one opening the bowling with success in the past. But I am sure I’m not too far away. I also was an opening bowler, but most of my wickets have been with the older rock than the new. If someone the quartet doesn’t roll Weston Creek tomorrow, I’m hopeful of a crack to stem the tide in the middle overs like I did last week. I would be disappointed if Luke Snowie overlooked me with the ball considering my impeccable form to date. I guess if he isn’t going to bowl me much, then hopefully he could at least bat me up the order. Likely, it won’t be in the top four as Brenton Furze, Duncan, Andrew Loveday, and Umesh Patel are playing tomorrow.

Anyways, back to the session, I did try to bowl off six steps with mixed success and accuracy, which is a sign that its work in progress. It still needs a bit of action moving forward, and the coming Monday provides a perfect opportunity in that.  I have been working well off four steps in my past two games, so there would be reasons not to fix something. Still, it would be good to return to the eight-step run-up I even tried at the start of the season, but I might have to compromise in a match situation primarily when I have recently batted.

November 17, 2018

The Mawson pitch looked similar to the one I batted last year and made 47. It was definitely a bat-first wicket. As a matter of fact, the consensus among the team felt that the pitch will get worse to bat on in the second innings. So it was good that our stand-in captain Luke Snowie chose to bat first. But we had a problem. We only had 10 men, and JP selected a guy who apparently wasn’t available, which definitely pissed Luke off for sure. Further to our woes, Lindsay Thompson was out injured, having injured his knee running through a skinny wicket at the Phillip Oval last week.

Well, the same top order story continued for us. Brenton and Duncan held out trying to drive on the up, and Michael Weston got bowled trying to drive. We were 3 for 16 in the fifth over and badly needed a fightback. We got one. Andrew Loveday, who talks more with his mouth than score runs, did much of the latter, which delighted us, but it was a real pity when he held out at long-on after drinks for a well made 33. He had excellent support. Firstly with Luke, who played some delightful drives before getting one that popped off the surface and presented an easy catch behind the wicket of Weedon’s off-spin for 24, and it was no surprise that he was pissed at throwing it away. They added 37 for the fourth wicket.  Umesh Patel also gave Loveday support in a partnership of 41.  Umesh hung around, but he also punished the loose ball. He got to 32 until he missed a ball that hit his back-leg to be adjudged LBW.     

From 6 for 115, we were in slight trouble, and only Andy Brains got us up to 150. Both the Dom fell cheaply, and then I came in. I only faced one ball which clipped my pad and ran for the leg-bye. Two balls later, Brainsy went for a slog and got bowled. We were bowled out inside the 33rd over. Again, like last week what a waste. We did set out to bat our overs and still failed miserably.

We had a job to do with the ball and with 10 men. Luke Snowie started the rot by dismissing the openers. The first one was caught at slip by Duncan, and the other bowled, trying the hack. That second opener had burned the number three just before. He played the ball to what seemed a vacant point position, and me, fielding at forward point, went after the ball. Somehow, the ball stuck nicely on my left hand, and only then I realized an excellent run-out opportunity at the bowler’s end with both batsmen at the striker’s end. I thought I blew it when I try to throw the ball quickly, and it went wide. All the fielding training I did at pre-season went down the drain, I thought. But Westo backed up my wayward throw and got the ball to Dom Ross, and the number three was run-out. Terrible cricket all round, but we got a free wicket.

Brainsy replaced Snowie before the 13th over and promptly picked up a couple of wickets himself. He had their number five fending at a shortish ball, which Umesh took a good catch at Gully before trapping Spencer Coughlan lbw with a yorker. At the other end, I replaced Dom Ross. I started with a loose short ball hit for four by Weedon. Next ball, I sprayed the ball for an off-side wide. But I soon found an element of control until my fifth ball he tried going down to seemingly slog-sweep me to the leg side and hit him on the thigh. I instinctively appealed, thinking I might have a chance and was rewarded with an LBW dismissal. Remarkably it was my 3rd LBW wicket this season, which was the same amount of LBWs I gained in the last two seasons. But I then come into some stick by Godfree and Hyauaison, who remarkably brought their team back within touching distance. Yes, I was a bit loose, but I should have at least a second wicket with perhaps fewer runs conceded overall.  My figures were terrible after five overs, but I at least tried to pull it back slightly for the rest of my spell. 8 overs, 1 for 46. I deserved better, I thought, but I could have bowled a bit better.

Loveday did break that troublesome 7th wicket stand by bowling Hyauaison with a brilliant off-cutter and brought us back into the game again. But Godfree was still there and got to fifty. Eventually, his partner hit the winning runs off Snowie in the 37th over. Ouch, more than last week, this really hurts. We were dominating, but we really let it slip. We lost it ourselves after drinks before we didn’t maintain the intensity in the first half. Quite frankly though not batting out the overs again hurt us badly, and still, the top-order failure was a problem.

Queanbeyan is next,, but I will not be there for it.    

November 5, 2018

I had spent a week off from cricket trying to regain the fitness that was lost due to illness. Lifting reasonably, heavy weights were not an issue, but running at 80% intensity was. I managed to keep up with the intensity, but I needed to catch my breath after each run. The annoying thing is that it would take some time to get over a severe illness from a couple of weeks ago, but there are some encouraging signs. I was raring to go to training today, but with my sister-in-law dropping down to exchange some food after work made me change my plans. Fortunately, my old coach Dr. Masud Rahman agreed to help me out at the local nets with my batting/bowling. In a way, it would have been good to spend some private time with a coach instead of attending club training as I would have ample opportunity to work on both my batting and bowling.   

On the game front, there could be a strong possibility of having to play on Synthetic wickets in 5th grade, which is something that I’m not really fond of. This is because the usual 5th-grade Turf wickets are being used in higher grades. I like playing on Turf since the wickets can be unpredictable, and it rewards for proper cricket. There has been some talk about moving our club’s 5th-grade matches against both of the Eastlake teams so that we play on Turf on Sunday but nothing yet.

Anyways, back to Masud. We spent the evening working on my game plans against spin, trying to play as straight as possible while opening the face to in-front of square. It was tricky against the sharp turning spin, but as Masud says, I need more practice against it to keep getting better. Nevertheless, as long as I can judge the flight of the ball from the bowler’s hand, then it should be easy for me to be decisive. I need to regain the daringness of my play: think of last season when I came down the wicket to the left-arm spin of Martin from Queanbeyan immediately and even hit him over the top for two next ball or even when I charged both Albrecht and Armstrong and hit them for boundaries during my grade best of 47.

November 8, 2018

I eventually managed to get some bowling done before the sun was out after spending the whole of Monday batting. I started with the run-up from my last game of a fortnight ago and even tried to add a bit of speed to it. Pretty impressive of four paces. I spent four overs bowling from this run-up bowling to imaginary right and left-handed batsmen, ensuring that my front-arm effectively controls the direction of where I would pitch the ball to move. I even tried the three-card trick that Malcolm Marshall applied to dismiss Mark Waugh in a Benson and Hedges Semi-final match between Hampshire and Essex back in 1992 (reference in Mark Nicholas’ book on Cricket, A Beautiful Game) with decent success as long as I again put the ball in the right areas. Having successfully bowled reasonably fast from a four-step run-up, I moved to six as I was still feeling good and not tired. It took a bit of an adjustment of my length, but the results were always the same after two overs of bowling.  Good signs. At the start of the season, I was coming off eight paces, but a combination of cramps and then illness eventually left to a shortened run-up till now. It will be useful to return back to 8 paces, but given that I can still sprint through of a shorter run-up and perhaps my past history of cramp, I might stick to six paces for the rest of the season. Especially if I need the energy to contribute with both the bat and in the field even after bowling a full allotment of overs in a one-day/Twenty-20 or a decent amount of overs in a 2-day match. If whatever reason I suffer cramp or lack of control in a game, I can always revert back to the four-step run-up given the success I had against ANU White two weeks ago. In saying so, there’s no harm trying to increase my run-up gradually during the season, preferably when training on my own or when I’m in an exclusive one-on-one duel with a batter.

Anyways, returning back to the bowling session, it later got so dark that I couldn’t even remember my starting position, so I figured after bowling six overs overall, I decided to pack up and head home. I gained a lot from that session. Bowling quick from a short run-up (the sprint sessions may have helped) while getting to swing the bowling and hit my productive areas was a significant takeaway.   

November 9, 2018

As confirmed that I’ll be in 5s this weekend on synthetic, but there’s little else we can do as not all Turf grounds are available (perhaps partly because the Women’s competition moved to Saturdays this season).  Aside from that, I will be reuniting with my good mate Chris Arcella (rather than possibly opening the bowling again under Vasu Patel’s captaincy). Archie told me with Dom Ross and Gurjiv being away, my bowling will come in handy to support Luke Snowie, Lindsay Thompson, and Andy Brains. Plus, with the batting performances not being up to scratch so far, I could very well provide some solidarity. I’m willing to open the batting. Go out there, knock it around and then take the spinners on before putting my feet up scoring before we go out to bowl (if we bat first that is). The Blue Demons from Eastlake will be a challenge for us considering how easily they chased down ANU Royal’s 200 at Deakin’s Synthetic pitch. Nevertheless, we will back ourselves to restrict them and get ourselves back into winning ways.     

November 10, 2018

After driving around Ainsworth St, I managed to find the Phillip Synthetic Oval, which was next to the turf pitch. This oval itself was very skinny compared to a regular strip. For me, it was no issue trying to run through the crease close to the stumps, but if you consider somebody like Lindsay Thompson, who is a big bloke, he might struggle. Given how skinny the pitch was, it felt though that everything will be within every batter’s hitting zone. We lost the toss and had to bat, which is what Archie wanted to do anyway. Win-win. We started poorly, though. Zeeshan Aslam (our first new player) ran himself trying to go for a third; Jay Singh, having started brightly with a few boundaries, got a leading edge off Garth Davis’ off-cutters to slip. Then Dom Tran went for a single that was never on. At the other end, there was me witnessing the early carnage. I would have gone early, too, on four occasions. I attempted a pull off Nick Unger only to just sail over Davis’ head for a single. I then got dropped by the keeper Frost off Davis’ bowling before nearly becoming another run-out victim on two occasions. I was very subdued in the batting, especially against the left-arm spin off Fox. The old me would have shown some intent towards him, but there were three reasons for not showing that. First of all, the pitch had bounce, which I felt was suitable for more back foot play. Secondly, I haven’t had a proper bat all season apart from Monday, and also, the situation of the game dictated that we needed a partnership. If I lost my wicket trying to show intent and I got bowled, stumped, or caught, then it would have lead to disaster. Eventually, I caught down the leg-side off my glove as I tried to pull. I only made 12, and when I got out at the 11th over, we were 4 for 45. As it appeared, Andy Brains didn’t show up, but we managed to grab a couple of mates to help make up the numbers.

At drinks, our score moved to 7 for 103.  Luke Snowie was smoking them until he got a jaffa from Declan Robinson on 41. Pitched middle, hit off, which would definitely made Dale Steyn proud. Shahnawaz Rasheed, our other import smoked one big six off Fox that landed in the next door oval. Massive hit that following a series of pushes and nudged. Tuk, Tuk, then Boom. Boy, even Misbah-Ul-Haq, would also be proud. Shah smashed another six as well together with two fours before he succumbed to both cramps and Robinson for 25. He never played a part in the game after that. But he at least helped get the floundering innings back on track allowing for Lindsay Thompson to take center stage. Thommo, having been twice dropped at cow-corner, went on to make a priceless 64, which lead us to a very good 202. Pity though we didn’t bat our full allocation of overs. It’s always a crime not to do that as we would be missing some valuable runs in those left-over deliveries.

The plan at the break was simple. Dot them up, build pressure, and let the wickets flow. Luke Snowie started following the script with a maiden. But we were soon in for a shock from the moment Swan top-edged a leg-side hoick for two as he soon started middling those hoicks to the leg-side. Both Snowie and Thommo (who dismissed Arthur caught behind by Archie) suffered his wrath. Hence, Archie tried Dom Tran. It nearly worked, but Jay Singh had the sun in his eyes and dropped a skier. That hurt because Dom soon suffered more punishment.

I soon had my turn at Snowie’s end in the 11th over. Given the pitch, I abandoned the six-step run-up and went on four steps. Swan tried attacking me too. My first ball was an inside edge past the stumps for two before his next hoick went to deep square leg to Dom Tran. Ok, easy single, but it went through his legs for four. I was fuming because he should have stopped that. After the game, Archie felt Dom did the right things, but it was just bad luck it went through. Swan got to his fifty. He tried another hoick though on the leg-side, but Snowie took a good catch at long-on. Out for 52 off 28. The damage he did was massive and left us with fewer runs to play with. Time to switch-on and fast.

Next over, I trapped Frost lbw. He went back rather than forward, and the ball was going to clip middle and leg.  Two wickets in two overs. Doesn’t it get any better?  I kept it tight and no further success as I got the bowl to move away appreciably, especially from Martin Boland.  Unfortunately, I even dropped a flat ball hit by Fox off Jay’s bowling. I tried taking it to my right reverse cup, but in hindsight, I could have either got my face in the way (which may not be wise given what had happened in pre-season) or perhaps taken the ball like a high slips catch by pivoting to my right. They were ahead of the rate at drinks with the score on 3/126. The Swan assault was indeed massive, and they only need 77 runs.

I bowled out after drinks as Fox was in a smashing mood showing the form from the 71 ball 102 he made last weekend. He even smashed a straight six over my head, but I soon had the last laugh. Smashed a ball straight to ball to short cover and departed for 48. I eventually finished with 3 for 35 off my full allocation of eight overs. Good, come back after missing last week. Although Thommo dismissed both P Hillian (courtesy of a great catch by Michael Weston) and Frost, the Blue Demons chased down the runs in the 32 over. That hurt. We batted well, but we couldn’t defend it with the ball and in the field. No wonder Arch was disappointed, but there was progress.

Archie messaged me later that he was impressed with how much I progressed. Having pressed him to explain further, he told me that in the past, I was overthinking things and appeared hesitant with ball in hand. But today, he noticed that I seemed to be confident and had backed myself. It was also the case with the batting, as he felt I showed intent and intelligence at the same time. Earlier, he was far from impressed with me when I was fielding as he had his game face on. But he mellowed down and appreciated me. At least, I was back in his good books. He was hoping that I could play a crucial part in his team since he thinks I could do a job in the middle overs like I did today.

    

October 8, 2018

I was conscious of the weather. If it was going to rain, I wouldn’t bother attending practice like I have been doing in the past. However, when I checked before heading out, it was going to be clear skies. Hence, I’m off to practice. Since I finished work late than expected, I ended up arriving practice after it started.  I did my catches; 10 short, 10 medium, 10 long, and just before I was about to head to the nets, Mick Delaney, our coach decided to call everyone in and sent us on a fielding circuit that was started in pre-season. Rather than doing it pairs, we were doing it in groups of four. I got some considerable help again from Lukey Ryan during slips catching with the Catch It ramps since he noticed I was not relaxed in the hands since I had a tendency to reach out to the ball with the hands, which explains why the ball pops out of the hand. So he suggested two things: One, to be relaxed and allow the ball to come into the hands and Two, to use my body rather than my hands to go to the ball. It worked….. part of the time, but I was still showing the same habits which the catching continues to be a lottery. Later on, when doing slips catches with BT, I had better luck despite being closer to the bat, so the advice did me no harm at all. During the fielding circuit, I was doing high ball catching. Despite my fingers being pointed occasionally to the sky, which isn’t quite a good idea, I was able to still catch any high tennis balls that came my way because I was trying to get to the ball to get into a steady position to take the catch.  Given that my success rate was pretty good on that day, it was a great confidence booster after the pre-season mishap.

After the fielding circuit, it was time for the nets. I ended up spending the whole time bowling simply that I was more focused on fixing up my run-up, which can also help in fixing my accuracy together with my running technique. I was bowling well as I was beating the bat with either length or with movement. Mick Dentrinos who started giving me crap because I played for his club’s enemy Riverton Rostrata (he used to play for SJ Blues in the SMCA competition in Perth) was kind enough to notice that I was slowing down before delivery (I was worried about the front foot no-ball) and suggested that I tried to breath to pump oxygen into my muscles to help me power through the crease (perhaps it might also help me to relax a bit since I might be a little tense).  I started incorporating the suggestion, but I will probably have to try over a more extended period and see if I can maintain energy on the ball for a full spell of bowling or not.

Overall, it was the right decision to attend practice today even though I will not be playing this weekend. Had I not gone, I wouldn’t have received such invaluable advice from senior players and perhaps would continue to struggle for a little longer (especially given how I bowled over the weekend).

October 10, 2018

I was starting to get a bit obsessed with my running technique. Especially my set up position and stride lengths in particular. Rather than hit the treadmill today, I decided to focus on my running routine at the gym but in the functional rooms. Jock Campbell, the former Australian fitness coach, calls it the Running ‘As’ in the BowlFit app that I use (co-initiated with Mitchell Johnson). From the repeated efforts of these ‘As,’ I was able to work out a decent bowling run-up so that I can gradually increase my speed before delivery. I still need to practice this continuously, but as long as I run on the balls of my feet, then the technique itself would be efficient. My only regret was why didn’t I work this out during the off-season or even pre-season. Only because it never really occurred to me. Still, I was happy with what I came up with, but I need to try it out in the nets soon.

October 11, 2018

Today would have been club practice, but I was under the impression that it would be a hard session, as Mick Delaney would have told me. I interpreted as if practices would be similar to how we would play in a match. For me, it’s probably no good for two reasons. One, I’ll be away from action this weekend, and Two, I’m not mentally ready as I’m still trying to get my bowling right. Hence, I ended up practicing on my own after work rather than go to Kippax to practice.

I started off by focusing on the running technique working on the drills from yesterday before gradually moving to bowl with the same technique. I was trying to sprint through the crease, but I slowing down in momentum with my rhythm going astray. Gradually, I worked up a happy medium in terms of my running speed that will allow me to maintain my technique and momentum. I was bowling a bit full and wide, but the pace was there. Not extreme pace but enough to maybe beat the bat. But I had to be careful since I soon realized that I was twisting a bit, which could give me back trouble. So I adjusted myself that can get closer to the stumps and altered my running technique slightly so that my hands are brushing my sides. My lines suddenly improved as I bowling a lot straighter, and I didn’t feel any back pain at all. My front arm is going to be the key in terms of where the ball will land. I still am trying to hit the right length, but if I don’t give too much room that I might be okay. Later on, I realize if I can get that front arm higher, than I might be able to hit the right lengths. Significant progress has been made, and I’m ready for training next Monday.

So, training on my own proved to be the right decision.

October 20, 2018

Unfortunately, I did not do any sort of cricket activity outdoors for the whole week as I was really sick, which lead to me taking time off from work as well. The doctor did advise me to rest instead of undertaking physical activity for a week. So I ended up being stuck at home instead of going out to the gym, training, or even going out to play. Missing out on game time wasn’t a big deal, given that the club had full availability across all teams that weekend. I told JP that I was disappointed to miss out because of my sickness, but he told me to rest up and assured me that there will be opportunities later on since it’s only the start of the season. Today, because it rained so bad around mid-morning, I was doing a rain-dance, which helped me feel better with regards to missing this week. As it turned out, most of the matches were washed out.

October 21, 2018

On the way back from a short gym work-out, I thought I might try to roll my arm over at the Franklin nets, having had the week off from physical activity.  I was experimenting a bit more regarding my load up technique before delivery, which allows me to rotate my bowling shoulder a bit quicker. That involved angling the loading hand a bit so that I can also swing the ball. When I tried this approach, I was able to swing the ball a lot better at an extra pace. Then, an old colleague of my brother’s Ashok (who now works for APVMA) came down to practice. As he recognized me from previously, he asked me to give him a few balls to face. I immediately obliged. I was bowling a bit short, which was reflected when Ashok was backing away and hitting strong uppercuts. When I pitched up a bit more, he was going after me still. Then I realized that I was giving him width, which made him free the arms regardless of the length. I tried to focus on bowling straighter, wicket to wicket, which provided immediate results. I was beating his bat more often than not with my out-swing, even knocking his poles out once as well as hurrying him with a short ball that would have grazed his elbow. Today was a success in terms of fixing my running technique and my bowling arm. If I can maintain it for a more extended period, then I could well be too hot to handle.

October 22, 2018

Given that I was still on the recovery trail after a week off cricket due to illness, I decided to go for another short session of bowling instead of practice. I wasn’t quite at my peak health either, and it showed in my bowling. After the equivalent of 2-3 overs of bowling at full tilt, I was out of breath. I did try cutting down my successful intensity, but I felt that I would be more potent if I can recreate the efforts from yesterday. Perhaps it was a right call not to attend practice today, given that we now have the fielding circuit in place, which is at full intensity. I could have fallen even sicker and miss another week of cricket, which would have been a disaster. Nevertheless, despite the minor setback today, I finally felt at peace with my run-up, having managed to video record my bowling to find that I had been able to land my front foot in the middle of the popping crease.

October 27, 2018

So I managed to get picked for today, but in the 2nd 5th-grade side, that will play ANU White. Last week I would have been selected there since they didn’t have many bowlers compared to the other 5s side lead by Archie only for my illness to prevent me from playing. Today, I wasn’t really that great as I was coughing and sniffling, but I keen to have a crack regardless because I won’t be able to play next weekend.

When I got there, the wicket looked green (similar to the wicket I saw in Kippax three weeks ago; hence I thought it would deteriorate slightly) but looked good to bat on. I shadow practiced bowling of a shorter run due to my slightly improving health. I knew it was the opposite of bowling off the long run, but at least I can try to get through as many overs as I can.

We lost the toss and were bowling first. Simon Edmonson and I were primary out-swing bowlers, so we had to compromise on who gets the end with the breeze. In the end, I gave in, allowing Simon to bowl with the breeze blowing away. Simon immediately bowled a maiden, and I had my chance soon after. The first ball went down the leg side, but instead of being penalized for a wide, I got away with it and also proceeded to bowl a maiden. Simon then conceded two runs (albeit of an edge that fell short and bounced over our keeper Dan Heinrich’s head). Three overs, 0/2. I bowled another maiden but after bowling two wide and loose deliveries (one full and one short) that were not punished. Again 0/2, which stayed that way after another maiden from Simon. Both of us were keeping it tight. Pretty good start on a batting wicket.

However, I was getting a few deliveries to jump and keep low at times, and despite the breeze blowing into the right-handers, I was able to generate my out-swing movement, which explained why I had yet to concede a run so far. It stayed that way for my third over, but I had a wicket on the 2nd delivery. I over-pitched, Lang tried to drive, but Malik Prasad took an excellent low catch to his right at short cover. I got a wicket on return with a bit of luck, but it was created by all the pressure that was created.

Considering the situation there were in (6 overs, 1/2), the other opener Whitehead chanced his arm against Simon and I and picked up a couple of boundaries. Their run-rate improved (for the record, I finally conceded a run in my fourth over, eventually going for just three) slightly. Before my fifth over, Vasu Patel, our captain, told me it was my last over since he was saving me up for the end. Fair enough, but it would have been nice to bowl out. For that reason, I gambled with a slower ball (the only one I bowled all day), which was a full toss hit for four by Whitehead, but I got a ball to keep low, which the breeze helped it to pitch on the stumps. After a prolonged appeal (by then, I was on the ground after a slip), the umpire gave it out. I finished my spell with a wicket and had both openers dismissed. They were 2/18 after 10 for which my analysis was 5-3-7-2.

Adam O’Connor replaced me with his left-arm spin and prized out two for himself.  Bell caught well at slip by Simon before having Giddens lob up an easy catch to Sumanth Purelli at slip.  They were 4/49 at drinks after 20 overs, and we were over them.

ANU White improved their run-rate by the end of the innings, but we still ensured that we restricted them to a straightforward total. In the process, Brandon Edgerton had a wicket with Simon taking a good catch at deep-mid wicket to dismiss Ford after Vasu Patel bowled a tidy but wicketless four-over spell. During his spell, Vasu went over for me for advice. He was telling me that with the shiny side on the left, it should swing into the right-hander. Technically that’s correct, but I suggested that he angled his wrist though since swing was also from the wrist. I thought he got a few to swing back after the chat from the way the batsmen were defending him rather than letting him go.

Adam O’Connor replaced Vasu and got the wicket of Blackman, who hit a full toss straight to Malik at cover. Knowing that they were going after the bowling, I suggested Malik to stand back, and thankfully, he was able to catch it since it came at chest height. Adam apparently told me that he tried a front of the hand variation, which didn’t quite come out, but it prized out a wicket nevertheless. He finished with 3/22 from his 8 overs. Simon and I soon came back on to close out both the innings and our allocations of 8 overs maximum. Simon kept it tight as he did earlier in the day and finished with the wicket of Connor Boyce (who anchored the innings with 28) LBW as he tried to hit across the line. His figures were 1/17.

At the other end, I leaked two boundaries to the wily old fox in Peter Foley. I firstly over-pitched, which he cleared Malik before swinging me over mid-wicket for two boundaries. But I came back. I nearly had Foley holding out at long-on, but Dan Heinrich (who passed the gloves to Sumanth at drinks) couldn’t quite get around it, and it went for four. Apart from that, I kept it really tight and only conceded nine from my last two overs. I finished with 2/24, pretty good return despite not being at my best health.

ANU White, therefore, finished with 7/119. If they perhaps batted a bit smarter with intent, we could have been chasing at least 150 if not 180. But we have no complaints as it is just a matter of batting sensibly to get the runs (simple maths, exactly 3 runs an over).

We didn’t quite get off to a good start. Malik tried to drive but hit a catch to mid-off in the first over. But Rahul Desai and Sumanth guided the chase, but they soon departed to leave us on 3/53. When Simon got out, we were 4/70. We were slightly shaky, but we just needed one partnership to guide us home. Aditya Dwivedi ensured that the chase went smoothly as he punished anything loose to the boundary as he compiled an unbeaten 58, his first fifty for the club. At the other end, Vasu supported him initially, but he soon perished. He nearly got run out. He pushed a ball to the off-side, called for a run, which Aditya denied before he tried to scramble back. He dropped his bat mid-way, but the ball missed both the keeper and the stumps by which it allowed Vasu to return to safety. Nevertheless, it triggered a series of discussions on how not to run out the captain on the sidelines. I overheard Simon telling us that he had run out the captain once, and he ended up fielding at fine-leg and not bowling for three games. Ouch!

Vasu eventually perished when he tried to sweep a ball away on the leg-side but was bowled when the ball hit the back-end of the bat and onto the stumps. It was 5/103, but it was soon all over just before drinks as Aditya continued his merry way.

We had won by 5 wickets and continue our unbeaten start to the season courtesy of an all-round performance, and we ensured that we sung the team song with full gusto. I went over to the Keith Tournier Memorial Oval to see how our other 5s side was going. But by the time I arrived, I heard the team song chanted nice and loud, so that meant they won too. It was great catching up with the guys I played with last season.       

October 2, 2018

Cricket season was really ‘round the corner, especially when JP started asking for availabilities. JP regained the central selector role having taken a break from it in the middle of last season when he stood down to look after his knee. Having made myself available, I quizzed him further about the existence of a 5th-grade side this season. He had summed it up that things have been a little disorganized and that the 5th-grade season will commence only next week, so it meant that we will have at least one 5th grade side this season (although Archie told me there could be two). Immediately alarm bells started to ring in my head because I knew that I will be away for the next 1-2 weeks after this Saturday. So I told JP, because of my unavailability soon after, I would really like to play although I did tell him some time ago that I would play anywhere as long as I am treated as a serious bowling option. I know to some it might sound selfish, but I love having the ball in my hand, and that’s usually when I enjoy my cricket.

Perhaps I might be going a little cold going into the season with no practice, but the truth is that everyone except the eleven guys who played against Wests yesterday maybe going without touching a bat or ball this week. In saying so, the fact that most of us attended pre-season training probably should hold us in good stead.

Going in slightly cold may not be a wise idea, particularly against Queanbeyan, who is one of the best clubs going around in the competition, and to top it off, my stats against them aren’t that flash at all. In four games (across a 2-day match and 3 one day matches), I average 15 with the bat but 35.50 with the ball, although my last two outings against them were pretty promising (1/19 off 8 overs and 1/13 off 6). However,  having worked on my bowling previous month alone with some help from Luke Wimbridge via Facebook, I have some confidence leading into the season opener (as long as I get picked). During this time, I at least sussed out my own bowling dynamics, having viewed past footage of my bowling together with the advice I received from Luke in the past. Although I haven’t really bowled much of late, I am still confident leading into the weekend.

It will be helpful to get some bowling though if I am to play, but the next two days are indeed going to rain.

October 5, 2018

Yesterday evening I was resigned to the fact that I may not be able to play this weekend with the possibility of starting my season late this month as I’ll be away after this weekend. So I messaged Peely, the 4th-grade captain and wished him well for his captaincy debut but then, he replied back that I was picked in his team and also learned that due to the sunset still being around 6pm, the match will start at 12pm (not 1pm). From what I am aware, it will also be a 40 over match instead of 45 overs. I can only speculate that because in lower grades, there’s the tendency to leak more extras (particularly wides), which means that extra deliveries need to be re-bowled; hence matches finish later than scheduled. With the early start and the change of overs, Peely wants us to arrive by 11am so that we can do some warm-ups before the match. I told him I hope I get the opportunity to bowl and will want to give it my all since I’ll be away, which seemed to impress him. So far, a good start in getting into his good books but hope he can give me the ball, though.

I managed to get some bowling done after work today. Across the 7 overs I bowled today, my pace was up, and I got the ball to swing away from the right-hander, but I did have a tendency to drop short. Immediately it got me thinking that I should have some protection on the leg-side. Especially a deep fine-leg and deep midwicket just in case I spray the ball leg.

October 6, 2018

I arrived almost at 10.40am this morning since all of us had to come at 11am so we can do warm-ups. The wicket looked green, but it was grass clippings, and the wicket might deteriorate over time, according to Peely. Once we all got changed in our one-day strip (black with yellow), Peely took us through warm-ups before finishing up with a series of stretches before we practiced some catching. He later won the toss and chose to bat.

Before a ball was bowled, it appeared that Chakra Ravinuthala (our club secretary as well) only had walked out with one pad. Queanbeyan team recognized it, and we all had a laugh too. That was the highlight of the day before Queanbeyan started to strangle us again.

Brenton Furze chipped a catch to mid-off; Aditya Dwivedi ran himself out, thinking there was a single before Chakra was adjudged LBW when the ball hit his back-leg. We were 3 for 14 in the 10th, but Harry Chittick, our top scorer from the Tuggeranong game last season, steadied us with 21 and had support from Chakra’s son Kris and Peely. Once again, Queanbeyan wasn’t to be denied; they bowled us out in the 39th over for 114. The lower order, including myself, had to go for it, and we got bowled out in trying to hit out.

Sporting my new black colored Gray-Nicolls pads, I came in the 36th over with Peely still at the crease. At that time, I had to get him on strike since he was smoking them. I got off the mark against Kyle Ditton. I just played a forward defense, and despite a mid-way stutter, I made it for a quick single to get off the mark. It was almost suicide, but my quickness got me through. Facing Will Graham the next over, I played a forward defense on the first, a back-foot punch to cover on the second before edging the next delivery as I was a bit lazy getting forward. It went through the vacant slip cordon (as the field had spread) for three. That was the last ball I faced since Peely, Jared Mathie, and Aiden Gunning all fell trying to score. I finished with four not out off four balls. First time I reached a 100% strike rate ever in official cricket.

So we had to defend 114 in 40 overs. Peely’s team talk was positive. The wicket wasn’t going to get any better, and he thought we might have a chance if we bowl full and straight. Initially, he was to open the bowling with Jared, but instead, he promoted me to open as he felt the pitch wasn’t suitable to his bowling style. It was good to get the opportunity to bowl with the white ball and that too being a brand new one as well. Unfortunately, I couldn’t quite hit my lengths. I mostly bowled too short, but at the same time, I suffered an attack of cramps across both calves from my second over onwards. It was disappointing to finish after a maiden over, but having batted and immediately went to bowling at full tilt caused the cramp. In hindsight, a combination of lack of pre and during game hydration together with the unexpected opportunity were the reasons behind it. Once I came off the field and consumed water, I felt better when I went on the field after drinks as I was able to run almost at full pace when chasing the ball.

Despite all of this, I managed to swing the white ball both ways and troubled their openers with short deliveries. Their left-handed opener, in particular, copped a short-ball from round the wicket and nearly chopped it onto the stumps, which showed I had a bit of pace, but these short balls were accidental.

I was soon replaced by debutant Pravin Bhatt (who I think is a doppelganger for Bollywood actor Ali Fazal). He took a bit of stick, but he bowled unchanged for a full eight over spell and took three wickets. One bowled, another lbw, and another caught by Ben Peel at slip. An impressive start and he might be in at least 4ths for some time this season. His efforts, as well as two early wickets to Jared, kept us in the game at drinks at 5 for 79, but it wasn’t to be. Queanbeyan’s sixth-wicket stand guided them home by the 29th over. They’re on the board with a five-wicket win. They kept us down to a below-par total and chased it down a sentiment shared by Peely as he appreciated the bowler’s efforts and signaled out both Pravin and Jared.

A disappointing start to both the club and myself, but I gained the ability to bowl bouncers and swing the new white ball both ways. I also realized that I need to monitor my hydration levels, which can help my performance to the full tilt with minimal cramping. Furthermore, as I will not be playing next weekend, I have some time at least to work on my running technique and all my skills during practice, particularly trying to get the ball on a decent length.

I was hoping to attend the whole of pre-season training this season, but I only managed two Sunday morning sessions. A shoulder complaint plus catch-ups with family and friends were the main reasons for my limited attendance. Nevertheless, I at least managed to get value in the limited opportunities I got.

This pre-season was different from what I was accustomed to under our coach Mick Delaney. He had stressed that our fielding standards had to improve throughout the grades, and he had a desire of us, hopefully becoming the best fielding club in the ACT. Thereby he had announced that each player must take 30 catches (10 short, 10 medium, 10 long) before they hit the nets, and it seems that we have to work in pairs so that both players can meet the minimum requirement.

August 12, 2018

My fielding partner was Austin D’Alessandro, the best rookie from last season who progressed from 5th grade to 2nd grade in an entire season on the strength of his batting. The fielding session had started smoothly as we both completed the short and medium distance catches. The long-distance catches were a challenge to us, especially for Austin, who was battling against Canberra’s cold weather. As it got too much for him, he ‘threw in the towel,’ and soon it was my turn. It wasn’t too bad of a start for me until a passage of time that shook my confidence. First of all, while trying to take one high ball. I slipped, landed on my back, and hit my head on the ground with a bit of force, which resulted in me missing the ball. Then the worst moment, I tried taking another high ball; it clipped my finger before landing on my plastic sports glasses, which were then shattered to pieces. I immediately realized that I broke a fingernail, which let out a stream of blood. The worst was to follow upon arriving home. A bruise and a cut underneath the left eye, which my wife later discovered much to her annoyance.

But I was to carry on. We were then to continue in our pairs and take on the fielding circuit that was put together by Mick. We had four minutes at each station before we move to the next one. Although there were my positive comments regarding my body type and the fact that I’m a gym junkie, I was tested but not quite at the level of exhaustion. Nevertheless, the fielding sessions were fun and engaging. The ‘cricket’ version of squash where people have to throw the cricket balls at the net. If one person’s throw hits the net, then the other person has to try and catch the rebound even if you have to get in the way of the other person. But I found the catching the high tennis balls as they were hit from the racquet more challenging. Although the tennis ball will not pain as much as the cricket one given its weight and material, it proved to be a significant challenge, especially if the wind causes the ball to change direction horizontally or vertically. I was able to catch some balls, and I guess after the earlier mishap, it was a welcome morale booster. What I found was that if I tried to get into position early enough, I could allow the ball to settle into my hands. It was a handy piece I had previously received from Mick, and it was absolutely helpful yet again.

Following the fielding circuit, we then move to batting drills. This time, I partnered Dominic Tran, and despite his limited ability, he can provide the odd comment or two, which would be helpful to the other person. Sometimes he used to remind me of myself when I was coaching Under 15s players as a teenager despite my own modest performance at the junior level. It was an excellent time to knock in the brand new Gray-Nicolls Kronus I bought recently. Without much strength required, I was able to hit the ball with some power, which was to be expected from the bat itself when I initially checked it out.

Just to finish up, I did some bowling practice. Since the two-day 4th grade match against Tuggeranong (which was back in early March), I had not bowled a single ball. Still, I had spent the time theorizing about my own bowling run-up, mainly where I should commence my pre-delivery jump so that I can land the ball and swing it. It was no surprise that I was pushing the ball down the leg side most of the time. Still, I managed to get some useful advice in the form of our newly appointed 2nd-grade captain, Albab Masud (apparently he played one List A game in Bangladesh, but I can’t remember when or who he played for and against). Albab, known more as “Bobby,” suggested some technical adjustments, and it was refreshing to hear how these suggestions will help and why. I was told that too many coaches say “Don’t do this” or “Don’t do that,” but they’re unable to suggest anything to remediate the issue. Anyways, Bobby suggested that I run in with my chest up so I can stand taller all the way through and together with the other suggestion of driving the non-bowling arm (as a right armer, it will be my left) through as it usually is responsible for the direction of my delivery, I was able to hit a better line. It was indeed an improvement as I got the ball to bounce and swing, but Bobby felt that I was bowling a foot shorter. So he said that next time, I should try to get the ball up a bit more.

August 19, 2018

Leading up to the session, I was bereft of confidence after last weekend’s near disaster. The fact my left eye got away with minimal damage was a blessing in itself, but it was clear that my high ball catching methods needed reviewing. More on that later.

After a quick warm-up around the oval, we again had to go through 30 catches before we commenced another round of the fielding circuit. This time, I was partnered with Daniel Leggett, the club’s most improved player from last season. Definitely going through the fielding circuit with him was absolutely hard work, but I was able to keep up with him since he was going full tilt (although he was still kind enough to give me time to breathe). The fact that I was able to keep up with ‘Leggs’ shows how much work I had put into my fitness during the off-season.

That aside, I got a bit of help from our new 1st-grade captain Luke Ryan regarding my high ball catching (obviously Mick would have briefed him). He still wanted me to attempt the Reverse Cup method but form a triangle vision so that I can track where the ball is going to land and meet it accordingly. Given my shocker from last weekend, it was a mixed result but still managed to take a couple of high balls under his supervision. It’s a matter of adapting this into practice this season.

Later on, Leggs and I worked on our throwing by attempting to hit a single stump. My focus was on my throwing technique since it has known to a bit weak, especially when trying to throw from the outfield. Rather than throwing front-on with a horizontal arm, which will put pressure on the shoulder and increase the likelihood of injury, I tried throwing side-on with a vertical arm, and I appeared to be more accurate. The key is to twist the body as you throw while using your non-throwing arm for direction. It needed a few goes before the improvement started settling in. Over time, I managed a lot of near misses with a couple of direct hits. Doing it then is one thing, but it’s now a case of remembering what you did right so that you can repeat again and again.
From a fielding perspective, it was very encouraging. I learned a few techniques along the way and had subsequently improved both in mind and in results. Moving forward, it will be useful to test out my throwing technique from the outfield at practice during the season.

The 2018-19 Season is about to start in 2 months, and pre-season training is underway. I recently bought a new stick, the Gray-Nicolls Kronus (worth $149 only would you believe it?), and got it knocked in. It just needs several sessions of batting either against throw downs or against older balls before it can be used in a match. I’m expecting that this bat will replace the SCC Tyrant I used last season as the new bat has a lighter pick up, which should allow me to react to the ball quicker than before while still expecting good value for shots.

There were some changes during the off-season. I tweaked my own diet so that I eat more fruits during the day, but one thing that does fail to stop is my love for desserts, sweets, and savories. If I can at least keep that to the minimum throughout the season, I’ll be pretty pleased, considering I’ve always had to battle against my weight for quite a while.  Furthermore, flexibility is becoming more critical in my routines as I had learned that it will help injury prevention and increased mobility, which should help both batting and bowling. These days I do it after each gym workout, which means I spend time on it at least 3 times a week. The next step is to make sure I do it after each cricket training session.

This off-season also allowed me to understand where my priorities lie, and definitely, it’s with my family. For the last two seasons, I had expected to be available for every single game of the season. Still, I had to miss matches to spend time with family (as a result left me disappointed in missing some games of cricket since I had paid full fees). This season I know I’ll be missing matches throughout the season to be with family and friends, and with the possibility of me paying fees after each game instead, this will allow me to put in my full effort on the field while enjoying myself off the field.

On a long term basis, I also do realize that I may not be able to play forever, especially once kids come into the picture (previously I was hoping to play until my 50s or 60s). Therefore, I have ruled out the grade cricket treble of 1000 runs, 100 wickets, and 100 games as it’s likely to be out of my reach.  If I get it, then great otherwise it doesn’t really matter.

A quick glance at my overall MyCricket stats shows 112 games, 786 runs with a highest score of 48, and 110 wickets with best figures of 5/18. Basically, I already took 100 wickets and have played 100 games since 2009-10. So it seems to me that the MyCricket treble is in reach if I can score the remaining 214 runs and that now is my long term goal. I am hoping out of those 214 runs, I can compose my maiden official half-century (my 60 not out in a 2015-16 Sunday Social semi-final does not count). That is my second long-term goal. My third long-term goal is to learn how to swing and control the white-ball. Ideally, I want to achieve this in matches (which I will need to play at least 4th grade), but I just realized that I can at least achieve it by practicing with the white-ball at training.

My season goal would have been to play 3rd grade (which a couple of teammates believed to be achievable when they told me at presentation night), but that doesn’t really matter for me now. If I get consumed in the goal, then my performances get affected. It was a lesson that was learned the hard way but the likes of Kurtis Patterson and Mike Hussey. Instead, I should focus on my attitudes, routines, fitness, and diet. If I do that, then performance and selections will take care of itself. This includes practice with a relaxed mindset, which should improve decision making out in the middle as well as attending training even if I’m not playing on a given week (fitness and weather permitting).

Looking back, this season was a successful one for me personally. Although I didn’t play in both the semi-final and the final, I at least played my part in securing the club’s first premiership for 14 years when 6th grade won by a wicket against ANU White. I initially wanted to spend my entire season in 6th Grade since I cared about enjoying my cricket, particularly when it comes to bowling. As the season went on, that all changed when opportunities in 5ths and then 4ths soon presented itself when the first-choice players weren’t available, particularly bowlers. I am just grateful that I managed to play some two day matches for the first time since my Ginninderra Debut 2 years ago. During the season, I thought it would be good to play at least one two day match mainly to see how my cricket is going and where I could possibly improve. As it turned out, I did pretty well in the two-day games this season.

At the start of the season, I wanted to achieve a double of 200 runs and 20 wickets. Unfortunately, I didn’t achieve it at all, let alone reach the double of 150 runs and 15 wickets. The biggest disappointment was the batting. I had started the season with the bat well with 67 runs from 4 innings, which included a knock of 47 against ANU White. Unfortunately, that proved to be a false dawn for me as I soon registered single-digit scores. Those 67 runs were made in 6th grade, and so these single-digit scores occurred as I went up to 5ths and then 4ths. I’m not really looking for excuses for my batting which is why I felt that it was disappointed that I couldn’t push on to at least double figures for the rest of the season has shown some promise either by playing some good shots or by occupying the crease for a brief time. It wasn’t the first time I experienced a ‘slump’ after a decent score. I suffered two such slumps exactly four seasons ago, having made scores of 37 and 39, but I was able to gradually bounce back with a decent score or two. I think the key to starting the next season well with the bat is to understand my game plan through my strengths and weaknesses and developing a mental approach at the crease to help me relax.     

While my batting went backward, my bowling was pretty consistent all the way through even as I went up the grades. I managed to bowl in 11 of the 12 games I was listed for (one game was a washout), and I only went wicketless twice (those two games resulted in 11 overs for 66 runs against ANU White).

My figures in each grade were as follows:

1. 6th Grade: 2/11 (5.1 overs), 0/50 (9), 1/22 (9), 3/23 (9), 0/16 (2) – 6 wickets @ 20.33
2. 5th Grade: 2/18 (6), 2/36 (8), 1/13 (6) – 5 wickets @ 13.2
3. 4th Grade: 2/6 (7), 1/4 (5), 2/32 (9) and 1/16 (5.4) – 6 wickets @ 9.67

Looking at it, that’s 17 wickets with an average around 14.5, which was an improvement in both aggregate and average from last season where I took 15 wickets @ 19.20. It’s hard to tell exactly why I had more success this season, but the stats show that I got better as I went up the grades. Perhaps the higher the grades I go, the more motivation I can gain since you want to do well. It also had helped for the last 2 seasons that I have been bowling to batters in the higher grades, which played a major mental part in my preparation.

Apart from all that, I managed to contribute in the field as well. I started the season with a run-out in 6ths and finished the season with 4 catches (including a catch in my final match of the season), which featured 2 caught & bowled dismissals. I think the significant difference from last season with the fielding from last season was indeed the mindset. Last season I wasn’t expecting any catches my way, and I ended up dropping all my catches, especially when the balls were hit up in the air. This season I ensured that I had a change of mindset as I was saying things like “hit it to me,” which did help.

Overall a season haul of 91 runs, 17 wickets, 4 catches, and a run-out definitely made it a good season because I contributed in all aspects of the game. If I can continue with a positive mindset, I can have a much better season.

Moving forward

I still believe I’m on track for the treble of 100 games, 1000 runs, and 100 wickets with the hope of achieving it within 10-15 years. However, it doesn’t seem to be necessary since the overall aim of playing grade cricket is to improve my game as a whole in an organized environment and making use of my abilities before age and reality take over. Even if I don’t get the treble within my desired timeframe, that’s not the end of the world. I do have the option of playing in my 50s and 60s like some of the existing players from the likes of Eastlake, Norths, and Queanbeyan. Even the great Dennis Keith Lillee was bowling outswingers of a long run in his 50s against the touring Pakistan side at Lilac Hill in the 1999-2000 season (where his first 6 overs yielded 3 for 8).

Having played some more two-day cricket and performed reasonably well with the ball in hand this season, the next goal is to learn how to swing the white ball, which will be a critical skill, especially on good pitches. If I can swing the white ball, then it would also help when swinging the red ball (which generally moves more laterally and frequently compared to the white).  That’s my focus moving forward, and so I am targeting a place in 4th grade at least (hopefully Joe will captain again because of our mutual respect to each other). However, both Kumar and Matt Hogan positively believe that I will be playing in 3rd grade. It would be great though if it happens but if I do all the right things, who knows.

We had won a premiership last weekend when our 6th-grade side won a 1 wicket thriller against ANU White at the Nest. I wish I was there to witness it even as a player, considering I had played half my games in 6s. Nevertheless, my contributions to the path of glory were already acknowledged by Archie when I had told him that I was going to be unavailable for finals, so I was therefore happy that I actually played my part.

Apparently, it was the club’s first trophy in 14 years, and there was no doubt the jubilation was felt when everyone sang the team song on that night itself. I suppose it’s all right timing with the presentation night coming around tonight. I was intending not to go with family being around, but I had changed my mind when I wondered if I won something, and I wasn’t around to get it. That something was probably going to be the Most improved considering that I had progressed from 6s to 4s by taking the opportunities that presented itself through the unavailabilities of other bowlers. I wasn’t thinking that I was going to win it as I felt that Austin D’Alessandro was going to be the frontrunner anyway. He had progressed from 5s to 2s in a single season with the bat, which wasn’t surprising to some people who thought he was a very decent bat. Dominic Tran would also be an outside chance, particularly after hitting his first six for the club before hitting the winning runs that took 6s to the premiership. If I eventually got it, Great! I was there to claim it. Otherwise, never mind it was a long shot, but I will be there at least to catch up with my mates before disappearing away from the field for at least 5 months.

I remember a piece of advice that I received in Perth from Mark Charman at the Riverton Rostrata Cricket Club. He told me that awards shouldn’t be the sole focus of playing cricket. It should be for fun and to enjoy ourselves with our mates. My motivations were partly that, but I’m anyways here to play cricket on turf and try to improve as much as I could before it gets too late. On that front, I felt I’ve gained some new skills since joining Ginninderra, and I think that I can still get better. If I get some recognition via awards, then great. Otherwise, never mind. I really do care about an environment that gives me opportunities, and so far, I felt I made the right choice because the club has been great to me.

Given the official presentation was to be at 7pm, I decided to rock up closer to the time since I was spending time with family by showing them around Canberra. Like I was able to correctly predict last year’s Charles Wood Medallist was to be Lukey Ryan, I will predict that this year’s medallist is our 1st-grade vice-captain Rhys Healy who finished as the 1s leading run-scorer,. Still, he might have some competition against the reigning champion who was the joint leading wicket-taker for 1s as well as making some useful lower-order runs. Last year I was seated with Archie and Andy Loveday, but this year, they were at their own table with most of the premiership-winning side. Despite the table list at the bar was different from the one near the door, I would be sitting in Table 8 with the likes of Kumar, Kris Oliver, and JP.

Although I eventually didn’t win anything, I still had an excellent relaxing time without any incident. Not quite, but there were minor incidents. First of all, I had a plate of garden salad, and when I left to grab a tall glass of soft drink, I had the whole bowl of salad on my side of the table. I had suspected someone like JP would have done this, but I didn’t care so much. Secondly, there was duck on the menu for tonight, and I was served that for dinner. Next to me, Kumar was served Lamb, so thankfully, he switched dishes over with me. I thought being served duck was a bad omen because I believe the next time I’ll bat, I score a duck or even worse get the duck trophy, which is something I do not want. Speaking of the duck trophy, I got a special mention by Darren Walker, the club’s assistant coach and MC for the night because I made a mention about our defending duck champion BT recently mainly because of our past duals in the nets and my desire to get him out which I did. Anyways, BT passed on his ‘crown’ to Fernsy, who actually knew that he was going to get it because he had a speech in mind.

On the night, they gave away trophies for every player who took a 5-for or scored a hundred during the season. I was feeling a little bitter since they didn’t have this award last season when I took my five-for against Wests, but it made me determined to take more hauls in the future so I can get one myself. Never mind that, but I could console myself with the fact that I correctly predicted the Charles Wood Medalist again, which did go to Rhys Healy, but he was a joint winner with Jak Wilcox. Both had excellent seasons with bat and ball, respectively, and Griffo pointed out that both were living proof of the junior-senior linkage within the club and how important it is to maintain the bond so that more juniors can be easily integrated into the senior league and perform. It’s probably why Griffo will be pushing for more senior participation in such things.

February 24, 2018

I felt good bowling the whole week at training as I was bowling faster than previous weeks while still generating out-swing and bounce. I managed to bowl to our selector Tom Carmody on Thursday night and gave him a good contest when he asked me to bowl a few overs at him at the end of the training session. Unfortunately, he got cleaned bowled off the last ball of the day not by me, but by our bearded wonder Matthew Boustow who having bowled a series of out-swingers to TC, he clean bowled him with an inducker that would have snuck through bat and pad to clip middle stump. Earlier in the week, he took the piss out of me when he used my last diary entry as a reason for dropping me into 5ths. I said to him later that I intended no malice against him and was just honest opinions. He took it light-heartedly and assured me that I’ll still be picked for 4ths. That’s how naive I can be, but even if TC was serious, I wouldn’t have minded being in 5ths for the rest of the season. Thankfully, a rare third consecutive 4th-grade appearance in 2-day cricket was very welcoming indeed.

The fact that I was able to run and bowl as fast as I could while trying to swing the ball all week was all down to a tweak in my running action with the arms which had been the case last week. I’m not trying to become a tearaway quick, but I am trying to add more potency to my ousting and bounce (and possibly so that I don’t have the keeper to stand up to me and of course, to try and beat the batsmen with pace). I think I bowled the equivalent of 15 overs over the two sessions, and I don’t think I was exhausted after each session.

Now it was time to back it up out in the center on Saturdays, but my opportunity would have to wait since Joe won the toss and elected to bat on a hot day. We didn’t get off to the best of starts. Umesh was trapped by a yorker first ball. Michael Galen-Mules, who started positively, tried to work one on the leg side only for the ball to hit the back off his bat and into the leg stump. TC, who received a jaffa first ball where the ball hit the glove which was dropped by second slip, was caught out at short mid-off. Matthew Bell played a needless swipe and was caught out at square leg. We were 4 for 31 after 10 overs, and Chakra, who could have been run-out trying to steal a bye, needed someone to stay with him.

Indeed, Chakra got support from Harry Chittick. They put on 69 for the fifth wicket by being positive in their run-scoring before Chakra was run-out on 48. However, Harry continued our resistance with an 80 run stand with Lachlan Reid. They both ran a lot of quick singles, 2s, and 3s, which brought our scoring rate to around 4 an over. I was told that we had to win outright to stay in the finals hunt, and this quick scoring was helping our cause. Harry eventually brought up his first grade fifty, but he fell on a tired stroke on 76. Lachy carried on until he got bowled for 38 when our score was 212. After a further two quick wickets, I was going out to bat at no. 11, considering the depth we have in our batting line-up in 4s.

I was facing Joel Armstrong, who picked up those two quick wickets with his off-spin. His first ball spun, and I worked it on the leg side and took a single to get off the mark. At the end of the same over, I played a cover-drive for two, which was risky as I was playing against the turn (considering Caleb Stevens was bowled trying to play a similar shot at the start of the over). In his next over, Armstrong bowled a long hop, and I smashed a pull shot away for four behind square before hitting a single in the same area on the next ball. I was on 8 and had been at the crease for a short while. Unfortunately, my eagerness to dominate Armstrong eventually got the better off me. He flighted his next ball to me, and I came down the wicket and got bowled. The instant feedback I got from Umesh was that I closed my face a little and could have played it straight, and I had also yorked myself. The intent was there, but the execution wasn’t yet. I already won a few fans in my own teammates who loved my cover drive and pull shot. I also was pretty pleased with the fact that I did better than some of my guys who batted higher than me, particularly Belly and TC, and people don’t really regard me as a serious batsman, haha.

We were bowled out for 239, having been 4 for 31. It was merely a case of Deja Vu for us like last weekend. A top-order collapse followed by a lower-order resistance.

As we were bowled out in the 61st over, we had 16 overs to bowl tonight with 3 overs lost for a changeover. I was hoping for a crack with the ball tonight, but Joe told me that I won’t be getting a chance. Caleb and groundsman Robbie McPherson opened up, and the Kippax 2 wicket was showing to be up and down in terms of bounce. Caleb was getting some to bounce at head height where one missed Wayne Lucerne’s nose, clipped Snowy’s gloves, and went for four byes. At the other end, Robbie was getting a few to shoot low. Probably the ball would have hit a few cracks on the wicket. I don’t really know.

Anyways, we got our only breakthrough for the day when Lucerne chopped on off Caleb’s bowling, and while Chakra and TC probed away with their finger spin, both Bilal Bhatti and Armstrong were defiant, and they finished with 1 for 37. We probably did well against the top-ranked team at the moment, but we need to firstly restrict them to under 139 and bowl them out quickly to give ourselves enough time to take another 10 wickets next weekend. At least we had a similar day to our 1st-grade side, who made 246. However, it wasn’t the case of the 2nds or 3rds. 2nds conceded 428 and had their captain Nick Owen go off the field momentarily due to a heat stroke.

To make matters worse. Jake Floros smashed an unbeaten 230 while former Southern Stars off-spinning allrounder Erin Osborne made 79. 3rds who were playing at Chisholm 2 (Eden Park according to TC) conceded 359 in 69 overs and are 2/68 in reply. In effect, it was a crazy day for the boys.

March 3, 2018

I had spent a whole week working on my bowling action since I was trying to generate pace to maximize my bounce and movement. I had spent most of my season at a medium pace, which probably resulted in keepers standing up to the stumps to prevent the batters from batting outside my crease. The disappointing thing was that while I was able to rediscover my Mojo on Wednesday and Friday, I wasn’t able to do so on Thursday since I was perhaps doing the wrong things in particular with my loading arm. Today, I wanted to make sure I was doing the right things with my action, so thankfully, I had some time to go to the nets to work on it for a short while before we got out to field.

Tuggeranong needed a further 203 runs with 9 wickets in hand to win, and while we still need to try and bowl out them twice to effect an outright win to keep our finals hopes alive. For that, we had to bowl them out by tea with at least a 100 run lead. Before we can do that, we observed a minute silence with the sad news regarding the passing of President Griffo’s mother, which I realized why we wore black armbands on the left sleeves of our shirts. It was great that Tuggeranong respected this sad moment by taking part in the minute silence with a couple of their players also wearing black armbands.

On the pitch, though, it was going to be tough going as the wicket was a road, and we had to bowl really well to win. We got off to a decent start with Harry and Caleb keeping it tight. Harry even took the first wicket of the day trapping Bilal Bhatti with a yorker with the score at 56. After that, we struggled to break through as Joel Armstrong, and Paul Ayers defiantly put on a century stand in almost 40 overs. Joel was the more attacking of the pair as he wasn’t afraid to hit over the top and through the field with such power. That partnership helped them avoid the follow on and effectively killed our chances of an outright. So we had to try and win the first innings instead.

After Harry and Caleb, Lachy Reid and Robbie had a go since the pitch actually had a bit of moisture, and the ball was still reasonably new. So I had to bide my time. At drinks, though, Joe asked me if I could come around the wicket to try and create some rough for Chakra to exploit for his off-spin, but I wasn’t comfortable with the idea. So Joe comes on instead and tried to do that for three overs until I finally got my chance with an almost 40 overs old ball. While the ball was soft, it was still shiny on one side and rough at the other. After the first over, which went for 8, I had started to find my rhythm while generating some out-swing and bounce. I was pretty disappointed that I was taken off, but Joe assured me of a second spell sometime after tea. As it turned out, I never got the chance until the 80th over when the match was almost over.

I ended up having to bide my time as Chakra, Joe, Gary Stephenson, Caleb, and Matthew Bell had a crack with the ball in hand. Gary had broken the century stand, having Armstrong caught at long-on by Robbie before Caleb trapped Ayers LBW. They were about 4 for 180 odd, which brought us back in the game for a short time with two new batsmen at the crease but not for long as David O’Keefe and Ryan McCaughan took the team score past 200. Matty Bell ended up breaking that little partnership with a loopy full toss with missed Ryan McCaughan’s bat and hit the stumps. 5 for 205 at drinks.

I almost effected a run-out almost immediately when Sean McCaughan tucked around the corner, and I got a throw into Joe who was keeping as Snowy was going to bowl. Still, Joe took the bails off before the ball arrived and a chance to claim a second run-out which missed. I couldn’t believe it since O’Keefe was way out of his ground, and Joe didn’t realize that which was why he panicked in trying to remove the bails off quickly. Thankfully I managed to play a part in eliminating both batsmen soon after. I caught Sean McCaughan of Belly’s bowling. It was a simple chance with looped up to become a sitter, but with the ball slightly further away from me, I dived to take the catch. I had thought my chance of bowling was gone from the moment I took the catch, but thankfully, the game was still alive when I finally come back on.

By then, the ball had really lost its bite and became incredibly soft, but I was hoping I could still use my body to try and generate more bounce and movement, which I was able to do. My first ball to David O’Keefe swung in and hit him in front, but it was rightly given not out as the ball wasn’t going down leg but also O’Keefe got an inside edge. The next ball O’Keefe tried to pull, but the ball didn’t rise enough and was bowled. I finally got a wicket, my 17th for the season, and one that encouraged Joe to bring Caleb back for one last roll of the dice at the score of 7 for 234. But Caleb conceded a boundary of his previous ball when Richard Austin swung him away on the leg-side.

I was bowling with the scores level, but Sam Zaja swung me over the top to score the winning runs. So our season ended with a three-wicket defeat, but it could have been a lot worse for us.

   

February 9, 2018

I am grateful to be provided with another opportunity in 4ths after an impressive display last weekend with the ball. It also helped that some of our top players weren’t available, which gave me another chance to impress. This week at training, I was able to bowl the ball at a good pace while getting the ball to swing and bounce a little. I also managed to get my in-swinger to work from time to time, but I’m still trying to land them in the right line. I managed to pick up a noticeable scalp in Bradley Thomas (our incumbent duck champion from last season) on Thursday when we miscued a drive to where Point would have been at a catchable height.

Apart from that, the biggest gain from the week was my batting. On Tuesday, I had caught the attention of our assistant Coach Darren Walker who was impressed with my reliable technique, but he suggested that I should wait for the ball to come on against the spinners and try to hit the ball with the middle of the bat. I ended up facing Brendo, our 1st-grade skipper, who wanted to get me out. He was getting the ball to swing and had taken a few scalps himself, and so he wanted his moment of fame by getting me out. He did everything right, but he couldn’t dislodge me even though my last ball against him was a peach that missed my straight bat.

I had also picked up a few warm-up techniques from the Fitness for Cricket site, which should relieve any tightness in the muscles and possibly increase my pace, which it did at training this week.

February 10, 2018

It was a warm day today, and so I was hoping of batting first and piling on the runs. However, there was a slight issue with the pitch being very green. The expectation would be of some seam and swing movement. So the hope is that we bowl first, given the possible help in the wicket.

That’s what Joe did. He won the toss and sent Eastlake into bat. It indeed went to plan. Caleb’s first ball of the match climbed off a length, took the edge, and Joe took an easy catch at slip. Josh Carpenter, at the other end, got into the act, having had an underwhelming opening 2 overs. He had the other opener bowled off an inside edge before snaffling Kerum Koralge with a caught and bowled having bowled a slower ball the previous delivery. We were on top with 3 wickets down for less than 30 on the board.

Then came their fightback. There was some resistance during the fourth wicket stand of 35 between Anujaya and Leeshan before a fifth-wicket stand of 168 between Leeshan and Chamina really hurt us badly and had set them up for a dash later in the day. To be honest, we were on top in the first hour and a bit of the day before we allowed them to get back into the contest with sloppy fielding (through missed chances and poor ground fielding. That includes a missed run-out of my bowling, which I failed to get back to the stumps for although there was no guarantee that I would have collected Josh’s throw knock it into the stumps) and bowling (as we bowled too wide). As a result, we were really flat, and they took a full toll of it. Leeshan made 73, and Chamina made a counterattacking 109. It allowed for a quick dash to get us into bat as they finished with 8 for 279 declared.

I got my chance to bowl after drinks. I initially had struggled with a newish and shiny ball as I had struggled to get the ball to swing. After a couple of overs, I thought about changing ends, but I soon got the ball to move away from the right-handers as I hoped. I had Leeshan dropped by Michael Galen-Mules, and he probably missed a few stumpings down the leg-side since he was keeping up to the stumps, but it was my fault for bowling down leg-side though. So I ended up bowling a seven-over spell and had struck with the fourth ball of my fourth over. Anujaya, who was batting well on 30, tried to drive me through the off-side only to get a thick edge for Caleb to take an easy catch. By the time I completed my seven-over spell, I was starting to lose my line by bowling too short or too full. So it was the right decision by Joe to take me out of the attack. Nevertheless, Joe told me at tea that I’ll get a second spell today since I bowled well earlier.

I eventually got my second chance, but it was only for two overs. I had come on when Eastlake was going for the quick runs, and when I finally broke the partnership of 168 with Leeshan miscuing a shot to Harry Chittick at Mid-off with my slower ball, I decided against a third over for the sake of protecting my figures. It might have been selfish of me to do that, but I felt I didn’t quite bowl quite my best on this wicket. I couldn’t find the perfect line and length on this wicket, and it would be better if I finished for the day. I wasn’t done, though. Joe asked me to open the batting when Joe was frustrated that the people he wanted to do it couldn’t because they were tired. I jumped at the chance since it was for just 11 overs and thinking I might be able to get through. But I couldn’t. I got cleaned up for 1 in the sixth over.

Nevertheless, Joe was happy with my contribution and thought I bowled well. He also said that I was his ‘ideal’ player, given that I was giving 100% effort no matter what and would like me in his team for the future. I hope it would be the case for the last two-day game starting in two weeks against Tuggeranong.

Despite a tough day, we managed to get one laugh when Kris Oliver hit Irantha Rajapaksha in the groin. KrisO can be quite tough to get away (I’ve experienced it in the nets) since he swings it and gets bounce through his height. It’s always funny when somebody gets hit in the groin, but it’s never amusing if you’re at the receiving end.

February 17, 2018

I was reasonably happy with how my cricket progressed with bat and ball on Tuesday. Having gone through past video analysis of my bowling as well as those of Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson, I made some tweaks to my run-up and load so that I can get the ball to swing and bounce of a length again. It was a pleasing feeling to cause a bit of trouble to President Griffo. He inside-edged onto his stumps before beating his drive with a perfectly pitched out-swinger. I couldn’t get him out after that, but I was in the right direction. The pleasing factor was that those tweaks allowed me to bowl sixty deliveries in a stretch without any proper rest, and I hardly bowled a loose delivery either. I had my chance to bat towards the end. I made a slight tweak to my stance, which certainly got me into trouble last weekend, and I felt I was mostly untroubled as I felt comfortable facing mostly spin.

On Wednesday I had some time to myself at the Franklin nets to keep working on my bowling, and I was able to work on some Yorker bowling which came about via trial and error in some tweaks to my bowling action which was based on the advice I had picked up from a youtube video from the late Clive Rice as well as from Ian Pont’s fast bowling book I had bought from Kindle. Through these pieces of advice, I was able to land the yorkers more consistently, but like any other variation, it should be used sparingly and according to the situation.

Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to testing my current skills while bowling to the guys before they go out to bat. There’s a likelihood of myself not doing anything directly to the team cause having been dismissed late last week. The only hope of contributing further in the match is that Eastlake bowl us out and possibly either deciding to push for the outright by bowling again or deciding to bat. I would like to have another crack with the batting, having ironed out my issue with my stance over the coming week, and I was confident that it would withstand the pressure against the Eastlake bowlers again.

As it appeared, I was restricted to just giving Joe and Umesh some bowling as well as scoring for the whole day as the boys really made a fist of the chase. We had two ACT umpires for a change after two weeks of the batting team providing umpires. We didn’t start too well in the pursuit, though. Umesh was out LBW but only after 10 seconds of an apparent ’not-out’ decision. We were all befuddled by the chain of events, but there’s nothing you (or anyone) can do once the final decision has been made. Michael Galen-Mules chipped a drive to silly mid-off, and Kris Oliver played an uppish flick straight to silly mid-on. We were 4 for 54 and up against it. In amongst the carnage, our captain Joe Laria was doing his best in leading from the front. He finally found support with Karan Patel. Karan looked excellent out there as he showcased his timing and power. No wonder Julian Mules rates him highly. They added 57 for the fifth wicket before both of them got out pretty quickly. Karan made 31 and was out trying to hit over cover, and Joe, having made his second fifty for Ginninderra, chipped a flick to short square leg for 55. We were now 6 for 119.

The follow on target was 180 since Eastlake had to claim a 100 run lead at least to try to push for outright if they wish. Nevertheless, we continued to fight through the lower order. President Griffo made 34, Jared Mathie made 10, and Matthew Bell made 48 from no. 9. Alas, we fell short. All out for 218 in the 72nd over. Eastlake was the comfortable winners in the first innings by 61 runs, but it could have been a different story if we fielded well last week as well as showed a bit more fight with the bat thought the top order. Nevertheless, we made Eastlake (they’re a top-four side) fight for the win, and Joe was pleased with our efforts.

I am hoping for another crack in 4ths against Tuggeranong, and Joe had once again indicated his wish to have me in his side since I do everything that he wants me to do, and I put in 100% effort. Let’s see what happens, but I would need to bug TC again to keep me in 4ths.