I am grateful that I had been able to meet Luke at the Southern Cricket Academy today. For the past two weeks, I have been struck down with illness with a slight upset stomach. I have been able to cope reasonably well at the gym during this time while doing strength and speed work, but my endurance training has been affected by the illness.

Regardless, I was very keen to go and meet Luke, knowing that I may not get an opportunity at all for a while to iron out any issues. Previously, I’ve been able to produce swing and bounce without hitting a consistent line and length in the recent Twenty20 match. Then I was able to hit a regular line and length, but without the swing and bounce, I craved at preseason training. So, it was necessary to see where I could improve so I can become a more potent bowler.

After the first ten minutes of our session, Luke took me over to show Southern Cricket’s 10 point bowling framework video. This framework shows the critical aspects, including run-up and load, which was critical to generating pace, bounce, and movement. I was able to understand the framework and went about refining my bowling action.

Rather than going all out, I began by running in steadily to ensure the ball come out of the hand nicely. However, Luke advised me it would be counterproductive and instead to run-in at the top effort. Maybe I was conscious of the fact that I wasn’t in good health, but I decided to try considering giving it all go I got. Perhaps the words of the former Sussex and Western Province quick Garth Le Roux (who featured in the Rebel Tours of the 80s) who said if you can bowl fast, then bowl fast would apply.

Therefore my new bowling would be as follows

1. Shoulders back and start with three steps on the spot to bring my nose in front of my toes to provide the forward lean
2. Begin pumping of the arms
3. Before delivery, load the ball so that my elbow is at shoulder height
4. Flick and kick my left leg as I set up to deliver the ball
5. Deliver the ball and finish the hand across my left hip with my right knee engaged

 

Once I’ve attempted to run in hard and following the process, I was able to deliver the heavy ball, which is a quick delivery that swings and bounces and finishes with an active follow through consistently. The only problem I had was that I was delivering the ball from wide of the crease. So Luke created a corridor for me to run through in the hope I can get closer to the stumps, which should make the batsmen play the ball more and hopefully provide more opportunities to dismiss them in various ways. It has been an on-going problem I’ve been having for quite a while. Luke had been able to provide a temporary solution every time, but the issue tends to resurface. I have to now sort out the problem on my own at training and in matches, but I’m hopeful of resolving it as soon as I can, especially with the first game being about 2 weeks away.

Within an hour, Luke refined my action so that I become an explosive bowler capable of bowling consistent heavy balls. This would be provided I follow the processes and maintain my health and fitness. The fact I was able to bowl reasonably quick despite my illness has undoubtedly left me in no doubt that what I could achieve when I return to full health. This would be ominous signs for the whole of the 5th-grade competition if the wickets were initially bowler-friendly like they were last season.

If I become a 5th grade bully with the ball in hand, then so be it. I would have been able to bowl well in the higher grades if everything in my bowling action clicks into place, but the prospect of playing on Sundays is a concern (notably finals and 2-day matches). Playing all weekend occasionally has had a negative mental and physical effect in the past, and considering how I’m a married man, I don’t think playing all weekend is feasible anymore. Besides, the higher grades now have a priority for greater batting strength, and since I would really like to have a ball in my hand more often, playing in 5ths seems to be the right way to go.

In terms of opportunity, I’ve been able to convince JP to leave me out of the Twenty20s that will start next weekend. I’ve already played one Twenty20 and only batted for just 10 balls or so at no. 8. Now, being unavailable for the Twenty20s will give me ample time to fully recover in time for the first one day game on the 14th of October.

August 18, 2017

I intended to attend the first preseason training this weekend; however, there had been a change of plan. Instead, I will be gearing up to play an 8-a-side Twenty20 match on Sunday. I have been asked to try to come to the nets tomorrow morning. Why did I accept the offer even though the Twenty20 game wasn’t quite my cup of tea? Mainly because I have been told that match practice was essential by Chris Arcella. Based on his advice, I took it on, but it was slightly traumatic later in the night. I hadn’t touched our cage since adding a bike lock and a standard key lock as we’ve had break-ins in the past 18 months.

So I had begun my frantic search to find the code to unlock the bike lock but also the key to the other lock since I had to try and prise out my cricket bag, which also had my spikes. It was frantic because I tried everywhere to find both items with no luck. However, I was able to find the key to the secondary lock with Neethu’s help when she saw the key unknowingly stored in the cutlery drawer. But I couldn’t find the 4-digit code to open the code at that particular time. However, with help from YouTube, I have been able to work out my 4-digit code and open the bike lock. I wish I could talk about what it exactly entails, but I know that some people will have evil intentions of breaking other people’s locks.

That was a relief as I wouldn’t have been able to play this Sunday if I couldn’t get the kit out of the cage.

August 19, 2017

Nets weren’t too bad today. I didn’t bowl too badly, but I felt I was a little short given that the Crace practice nets have excellent pace and bounce, which the batsmen could stand and deliver most of the time and hit off the back-foot. As I had to leave early due to an optometrist appointment, I was grateful that Sudhir Yelamanchilli (who invited me to play) gave me a bat. I wasn’t too bad against the seamers as I was able to drive through the off-side with the occasional pull shot.

However, I was a little disappointed that despite all my work against spin-bowling with Masud in the past, I initially struggled. My attempts to come down the wicket were futile as Roopesh’s bouncing spinners have left me stranded as I tried to dominate from the outset. I realize now that I should have gone back and across unless the ball was really pitched-up and give myself enough time to gauge what they’re doing before I dominate. It will be a lesson that I will carry with me moving forward.

August 20, 2017

Nothing much to write home about. We got absolutely smashed. We couldn’t get any wickets within the 20 overs and conceded 219 runs before we were bowled out for 33 within 8 overs. I felt I had some promise at certain times of the day, but I didn’t carry on with either bat or ball. I opened the bowling and bowled 3 decent overs in which I got some out-swing and bounce. I even managed a bouncer for the first time in my first over, but it was later a misdirected one as it sailed over the batsman’s head for a wide.

I then opened the batting, and I got out in the 5th over of the innings. But by then, we lost 5 of our batsmen bowled and lbw to my recent foe, Simran Singh Gill, who got the ball to swing in prodigiously. I felt I was able to handle him, and I managed to clip a couple of balls that were off-line for two and three.

August 27, 2017

I managed to attend pre-season training in Weetangera. It was a little chilly, so the wisdom of not wearing a jumper and pants wasn’t that quite wise. Unfortunately, our coach Mick Delaney wasn’t present at training. So it was left to a couple of 1st-grade stalwarts of Rhys Healy (the vice-captain) and Luke Ryan (who will be going to Dubai for the Indoor Cricket World Cup for Australia) to run the sessions.

We started off with a light run before we moved to play cricket soccer, where we were required to throw the ball under-arm. The rules of the cricket soccer game were changed as the game carried on. Firstly we had to throw the ball which shouldn’t go above waist high, and we had to catch the ball. Then the rules were changed so that we can roll the ball or throw the ball so that the other person can catch it one-bounce. Much better than playing regular football given the number of injuries international cricketers from these kinds of warm-ups.

We then did some fielding, and although I spilled a few catches, I managed to take a diving catch and a diving stop to everyone’s enjoyment. Looking back, I missed a few catches because I wasn’t in position early and was on the move just as the ball is about to be hit. It’s resulted in me getting into wrong positions, which result in dropped catches.

Then it was time for some batting drills, which were from last season. Once again, I brought out my training bat, which I believe can help my timing since the ball will always hit the middle of the narrow blade. Indeed, driving the ball through both the on and offside gave me great pleasure because I was hitting the ball more sweetly. I had bought the bat last season in the hope it could help my batting, and it still is believed to be a good purchase at the moment.

The groups were then split into bowlers and batters. The bowlers (including myself) were going to be working with Luke in the nets on our bowling while everyone else is to continue with the batting drills. Luke got all the bowlers to bowl from a few steps and focus on hitting a good line and length, which is just outside off. I felt I was able to hit the spot very consistently, albeit without the swing and bounce that I craved. Nevertheless, I was thrilled with my efforts, which were an improvement from last weekend’s Twenty20 game.

September 23, 2017

Here I am heading off to Adelaide for the long weekend, having only had 3 days of cricket. This preseason sadly did not go to plan as I would like, but what could you do if work and family commitments come in your way. But it gave me enough time to work on my fitness, which at times was tough going with the endurance work (which is in the form of running at least repetitions of at least 500m at around 90-100% effort). I sometimes dislike doing endurance work because of the intensity, but if I am going to bat and bowl every match, then I need to be in good condition to consistently contribute.

Right now, the club is playing a warm-up match against Stockton CC in Newcastle with another game against the Monaro District Cricket Association next long weekend. The boys were supposed to travel to Yass for a warm-up against the locals there, but it was canceled at the last minute. It would think that the boys would have been disappointed.

It always helps if your coach has the right contacts to arrange these matches. Last season Mick organized a friendly against Stockton CC, and later on, all the grades were gunning for competition for finals action throughout the season. Having these practice matches helps the mental and the tactical areas of the game because, ultimately, you need to perform out on the field. Let’s hope the club has another successful season.

Away from the field, I have been reading cricketers’ autobiographies. I’ve picked up that flexibility is very important for injury prevention, and more importantly, I’ve started to visualize my batting, bowling, and fielding routines. I’m hoping to test out the visualization process before I go and play mainly with the fielding, which always has been a problem with me.

Talking about Training

So it has been confirmed that Preseason will be starting next week on the 20th of August. The coach, Mick Delaney, had also indicated that we have a couple of more sessions after that on the 27th of August and the 3rd of September. The time to start seems right as we have about 6-8 weeks before the start of the season, which usually has been on the 2nd weekend of October, and these words from Mick last season “The season will be around before you know it,” still rings true in my mind.

I’m hoping through this year’s preseason will be like last year’s in which there will be a gradual build-up of intensity once the basics were mastered. It worked to a certain extent, too, with all grades were in the battle for finals throughout the season (with the top four grades being involved in semis while 5ths just missed out).

Realistically, it would be feasible for me to attend training on the weekends due to work until the season gets underway. Light at the pre-season time usually fades away after 5.30-6, so by the time I turn up, there’s nothing much I can do. I would like to do everything in terms of batting, bowling, and fielding, considering I’m coming all the way from Harrison to attend. Hence my opportunities are best served from October onwards (mostly helped due to the presence of Daylight saving).  So for now, I’m hoping we can work on all three facets of the game on the weekend sessions (if possible) like we did last season when we went to train Indoors at Kaleen a few times.

Don Bradman Cricket 17

My DBC17 persona, for the time being, continues taking wickets for fun. He has taken it’s 200th test wicket in his 17th test and has now taken his 100th ODI wicket in his 30th ODI. Also, he has scored two hundreds. 112 in a Test match for Australia against South Africa batting at 7 in SuperSport Park, Centurion, and 114 not out in a First-class game for Somerset against Leicestershire batting at 8 in Taunton. Some people will not believe it; hence I’ll admit that I’m playing at a comfortable level. After all, PC games are supposed not to be challenging in my view if you’re just looking to relax and have fun.

When I was batting in DBC17, I was pretty much playing my shots according to the fields being set, whether it was a pacer, medium-pacer, or spinner. I would try to hit a boundary if the opportunity presented itself, or I would just tap and run to the other end. It made me think of how I could approach my own real-life batting, considering that I have been told to show intent in scoring.

Fitness work

Since last week, I have been working on the Fitness plan Jock Campbell had set out for me through the BowlFit app. It has been manageable for me so far (particularly weight-training and speed-related work). Still, it can be bloody hard work at times (especially endurance and core-strength training, although I don’t really struggle). I suppose though it was a case of “I tried doing things my own way,” which was at times counter-productive (to an extent I went flat as I went down to 75kg), which was why I was grateful the BowlFit app come out just at the right time.

I’m sure people will tell me why you would need to put in the hard work if you’re just playing 5th grade; you should aim higher. Well, I don’t really have those ambitions to go up the ranks since my priorities have changed. Cricket is just a relaxant for me that I enjoy. I’m not really ambitious, and I wish to do well. That is why I’m putting in the hard work so I can have the license to enjoy it.

The choice in being in 5th grade

I had earlier made the choice of staying in 5ths. I had previously mentioned that I want to balance my cricket and my married life. Playing in the higher grades on an occasional Sunday won’t cut it for me, not just for that reason. I had earlier played cricket on both Saturdays and Sundays in the 2015-16 season. I was playing City & Surburban every Saturday, along with Public Service League and Sunday Socials on alternating Sundays. I had initially done it to see what Sunday cricket was like. I was exhausted from playing cricket all weekend. Not only that, but I was also neglecting domestic duties at home, too, with the cleaning and cooking. If I managed to find the time, though, it feels as if I was being rushed, which does tire me out. I had felt the same way when I continued Sunday cricket last year, and thankfully, I stopped my Sunday commitments unless I didn’t have a game on Saturday.

As I said before, my priorities have changed after marriage, and I need to balance both my cricket, gym with my private life. Giving too much importance to my own leisure is terrible, as is cutting it out entirely is awful too. Neethu understands that I want to continue both cricket and gym for some time until my body can’t cope. However, she also expects me to be prepared to put it aside if she needs me. I reckon I can handle that aspect. I missed a few games to spend time with her last season, although to the detriment of my team. I nearly had missed a match against ANU due to a family emergency the night before only to subside in time for me to play and help win the game.

It’s honestly a lot easier to miss games if you’re just playing in 5ths as it’s only one day cricket only. I don’t see myself in playing just half a 2-day match as I have aspirations of being a dominant, if not decent, all-rounder in which I want to contribute to everything. If I had to play half a game, then just bowling and fielding is okay and not bat but not the other way around.

Anyways, sticking to 5ths is also due to the mutual respect I have not just with Chris Arcella, who’s likely to captain the side but also with the likes of Andrew Loveday and Adam O’Connor. Playing for Archie was the easiest decision I had to make because he has a vision and has excellent man-management skills. He’s already indicated to me how I can contribute and where I should look to improve on. Another reason I also believe in sticking with 5ths is that my time in the higher grades would have passed by. I feel with more youngsters coming through the Tiger ranks, they will have a crack in the higher grades as they represent the future. I am not critical in any way because I believe they need to be hardened by playing higher grades. We already have exposed youngsters to higher grade cricket like Michael Hogan and Dylan Faram, and they’re now not far from our 1st-grade side, which won’t be a surprise should they break into it for the coming season.

So it doesn’t really concern me if I just play 5ths the whole season. For me, if I at least bowl in all the matches I play in (which is very likely under Archie’s captaincy), then I’m at least satisfied. After all, cricket isn’t supposed to be the be-all and end-all. I just want to go and enjoy, and having opportunities, especially with ball-in-hand, will go a long way.

Goals for the season

I am a firm believer in achieving the triple goal of 100 games, 1000 runs, and 100 wickets in grade. So far, according to my MyCricket profile, I have 15 games, 53 runs, and 15 wickets. Basically, I have 85 games, 947 runs, and 85 wickets to go. To achieve that ultimate treble, I would need to play 7-10 games, score 70-100 runs, and take 7-10 wickets across the next 10-15 years. However, I had been told that my goals were kind of low last season.

I personally thought I would like to score at least 10 runs and take 1 wicket every game and so I guess the double of 200 runs and 20 wickets is the ultimate aim, which is achievable. The twin of 150 runs and 15 wickets is also attainable, especially if I miss matches due to the weather and when I’m out of town. It was why I initially thought the double of 100 runs and 10 wickets will just do for me, but now I am encouraged to aim further than that.

I know cricket is supposed to be a team sport, but having your own goals and achieving them can give you the motivation to go and play and help win games for your club. I learned that from reading Sir Richard Hadlee’s autobiography Rhythm and Swing in which he managed the county double of 100 runs and 100 wickets on a couple of occasions, which helped Nottinghamshire to success during his stint from 1978-1987.

Hence I personally believe that a double of 200 runs and 20 wickets can go a long way to help 5th grade into the semi-finals this season, but I need to be ready to be disappointed if it doesn’t go to plan. After all, I should just go out there and enjoy this season, but while being committed to my fitness program via the BowlFit app that I started recently.

 

 

I’m now waiting for Pre-season to get underway, but hopefully not for very long as our coach Mick Delaney is in the US (according to his Facebook profile).

Since the season had ended, I have been involved with my own off-field activities. Mostly playing Don Bradman Cricket 17 on my PC, which is turning out to be better than it’s predecessor in many ways. I digress though, the game is more comfortable with the ball than the bat. Simply pitch the ball on a length with some movement, and the batsmen will either edge it behind or onto the stumps.  My DBC 17 Avatar is going pretty good as it continuously takes wickets for fun, especially 8-40 in an ODI against India at the WACA and twice taking 10-for in First-Class cricket. 10-51 in a Test against India at Kolkata and 10-32 against Queensland at the SCG.

Apart from DBC 17, I had enrolled in Cricket Mentoring’s playing Spin program and had managed to incorporate their suggestions/tips into sessions I had with Masud Rahman. However, since my marriage on May 6th in hot and humid conditions in India, I’d never got around to pick up the gear ever since.

Nevertheless, I had the chance to work on my fitness at the gym. I had previously started lifting heavy and running faster in the hope I could develop my fast-twitch fiber, which could help build that extra pace. I had been advised by family and friends numerous times that running really fast could provide long term knee damage. Naturally, I had brushed off those comments, but after being warned for the third time, I stopped running quickly.

By then, a new application called BowlFit came out onto the app market. Naturally, out of curiosity, I downloaded the app and checked it out. As it appears, they only charge $5.50 a month should you want to get a personalized program. But there was a catch. We had to complete a specific pre-screening test and although I did reasonably ok with the Cardiovascular and the flexibility areas, my core, and overall strength was lacking, According to the analysis, I had been a little flat and when I checked the scales later, I was weighing 77kg having previously been 78/79 kg.

Alarming? Probably yes, with the pre-season coming up and I decided well might as well follow their program and see what I could get out of it. I may not be looking to go up the grades, but if this program helps me to dominate 5th grade at least, then I’ll be thrilled.

Speaking of 5th grade, I had told JP last month about my intentions to stay in 5ths unless the higher grades are short on quality bowlers. Now with myself being married, I will need to balance married life with my cricket. So, I should keep Saturdays free for cricket and nothing else. The only problem is that some higher grade fixtures and finals are hosted on a Sunday. On that theory, I would rule myself out. It would be a shame if I was a frequent player in the higher grades only to withdraw from the finals. My concern is what others would think. I figured playing in 5ths will allow me to play all games, including the finals, if we make it.

Initially, I would be committed to going up the grades, but my marriage has changed my priorities. I can at least go out and enjoy my cricket in the lower grades, be a senior player to the younger players as well as helping out the captain. Although it’s not guaranteed, it seems like Chris Arcella may become the 5ths skipper on a full-time basis. I just recently happened to see Archie at the shops, and we talked cricket for a bit and also on Facebook messenger. The good thing about Archie is that he has a vision for both team and individual. As like previously after the last season, he’s happy to welcome me with both arms and has already outlined me a role this season. He’s hinting that I bowl in the middle overs and occasionally take the new ball while also putting me up the order to bat. It was a role that I was satisfied with as most of my wickets last season have come from the older ball rather than the new one, including my 5-for against Wests-UC.

 

Just before Presentation Night, I posted in our closed group thanking the club for making my first year of grade enjoyable and had singled out both Mick Delaney, our coach, and our president Chris Griffin. I had stated that I will be back for the Tigers at least for next season and possibly beyond.

Just when I was posting this message, I also had wondered whether I could become a mentor for the younger players moving forward. When I mean mentor, I said to try to help cricketers to unlock their potential and ensure they are positive and enjoying the game. Should the opportunity come up, I would like to take players 15 years and above under my wing if they need someone. For now, though, I am quite happy with conversing with Jeet Patel, whose cricket got better only after our chance meeting during my short Adelaide trip around Australia Day. He made some runs, but more importantly, he started being positive and enjoying the game. It would be a real shame for someone who is technically very good later give up due to a lack of enjoyment. It was kind of why I wanted to take Jeet under my wing. The results slowly improved from not making any runs to nearly carrying his bat in the last game of the season. Jeet opened the batting and survived for at least 50 overs in making 19. He was ninth man out, but Hectorville was soon all out in the same over for 82. I really just hope Hectorville Cricket Club has noticed some improvement in him in the second half of this season and encourage him moving forward. On a personal level, I just hope Jeet can buy a new bat, which will undoubtedly give himself added confidence knowing he’s going to score runs with his own blade.

The feedback I got from my season review was mainly from Matty Andrews, the 3rd-grade skipper. He felt my run targets were shallow and would have thought I could score at least 200-300 runs given my abilities from what he saw in the matches. I was using maths to derive run targets as I wanted to score 1000 runs within 10-15 years of grade cricket. Maybe I am capable of achieving such goals, but then again, the opportunities need to be presented for me to take advantage of. Matty told me I can bat in the top order and still bowl, perhaps emulating Jacques Kallis and Imran Khan, who has delivered with aplomb. Even Vishnu believes I should go up the order and could do better than the incumbents.

Leading up to the Presentation Night, Griffo won the best administrator, and Luke Ryan was named in the ACT’s first grade XI following his stellar all-round performances this season. It was a remarkable season for Luke despite being injured in the second half of the season. Hopefully, he will be representing ACT in the Futures League matches alongside our incumbent representative Cameron Suidgeest. Every year, there is the Charles Wood Medal for the best 1st-grade cricketer of the season through a 3-2-1 process like the Allan Border Medal. Given Luke’s stellar season, I already believed he would be the Charles Wood medallist for this season, and although I’m not usually a gambler, I would have certainly put decent money on him.

Arriving in the Belconnen Premier Inn for the Presentation Night tonight has undoubtedly made me felt this was going to be a better presentation night than what I have experienced in my previous two cricket clubs. Upon arrival, Lawrence Atkin, the 2nd grade towering quick, was the photographer for the night and immediately took a couple of pics of me. Immediately I was around meeting the guys and girls again since the season had ended last month. Soon after 7, we were heading upstairs for the actual proceedings.

I sat next to Dinesh Chovatiya, who is considered the best finger spinner in the club. He took 8 for 52 to usher a tight outright victory against Tuggeranong Valley. It was considered the best individual figures for this season, and I had asked him about the time he was interviewed by Cricket ACT for being the ACT Premier Cricketer of the week. The interview he told me was at the Manuka Oval, and apparently, Channel Nine (WIN in NSW/ACT) was also present, and they also interviewed Dinesh. Dinesh showed me a clip which was on Channel Nine, although it didn’t have the audio. I had jokingly said to him, he’s become famous.

Apart from that, it was a good night, although it took about four and a half hours. There were a lot of awards to give out. There were awards for each of the five grades, club based awards for the best performances along, and awards like the most improved player and the rookie of the year. We also were treated to the presence of a former Ginninderra cricketer in David Dawson who previously played first-class cricket with Tasmania and New South Wales. I was contemplating asking him if he could come back to Ginninderra either as a player in a coaching capacity. However, Jak Wilcox beat me to it, and the response from David seemed favorable for the club.

More importantly, there was the Charles Wood Medal. I heard Paras Sachdeva was the recipient last year, which was remarkable as it was his first year for the club then. During one of the breaks, I said to Luke you will win, but he thought Mick may pip him for the post. As it turned out, despite his injury-ravaged second half, he won the medal. I was proven right, and it was undoubtedly due reward after being listed in the ACT 1st Grade XI not long before. I said to him on the lines of before I left home. “I told you so, I believed in you.”

Just before I finally made my way home, Andrew Loveday pulled me aside and admitted to me that I could have easily batted at number three instead of him as I had shown proper technique. He then said it would be nice if I showed intent on scoring a bit more. This was the feedback I got from Chris Arcella, given that in one day cricket, we need at least 200 on the board to give ourselves a chance to win every time. I believe it’s a confidence thing, but I just think I have to just go out and score rather than try to grab as much batting practice in the games, especially when the matches are long gone. If I had failed, I just learn from the experiences and be better for it. I don’t have to play big shots to score quickly. I just need to turn the strike over a bit more, and still, I can perhaps bat for time. For now, I should look to hone my technique further during the off-season when I can.

Club

Ginninderra had an outstanding season in which all grades were competitive. It was an expectation coach Mick Delaney had for the 1st-grade side at least, but at least the first four grades were into the semi-finals. Both the 1sts and 3rds took part in both the one-day and two-day semi-finals (1sts played across 3 days) while 2nds took part in the two-day semi-final and 4ths took part in the one-day semi-final.

The work which was done from the off-season in August has paid off in a big way. We focused on skills before being gradually challenged through the use of scenarios, which is essential; otherwise, how can we execute our skills in matches. More importantly, it wasn’t just the coach driving the sessions; the seniors in the higher grades pitched in, which meant an attitude of “we’re all in this together.” That would have certainly helped several of our guys when they were moving up and down the grades and had done reasonably well.

The club’s tag of being the most sociable cricket club in the ACT Premier Cricket competition was justified, which probably helped in our performances. To date this season, we had the iPod Shuffle Night and the Christmas Party with the end of season Presentation Night to come.

5th grade

While the top 4 grades at least had semi-final action, it wasn’t the case with the 5th-grade side. We were on track at the start of December to continue our excellent work and head to the semi-finals, but we faded away like Rajasthan Royals (a currently defunct IPL side) done a few times. Apart from the weather (rain and scorching sun), we lost three games that we should have won. Tuggeranong beat us, having bowled us out for about 120. Eastlake then chased down 189, and then ANU put on a better all-round show than us.

I think Chris Arcella may have pinned the nail on the head a little too late after we lost to ANU. He indicated that we haven’t entirely played as a team. Although it’s a bit tricky with people coming in and out of the side, Archie felt it would be nice to have a few regulars in 5ths who can reinforce the need to play as a team. Celebrating individual successes while encouraging each other even if we stuff up. It’s essential in any outfit that we avoid the use of negative words like “don’t” because it brings anxiety to the person, and it triggers a negative mindset. Some of us had already done so throughout the season, but if we all do it as a team every game, then all of our opponents will be up against a team and will have to play really well to take us down.

Sandeep Kumar was our leading run-scorer having past 200 runs for the season where he could have got 50s against Eastlake but instead fell really close to those milestones. Sammy Gautam was consistent in making double-figure scores for us in his 1st season of grade after a nervous start with 2 runs in his first 3 hits.  He indeed showed glimpses of Virender Sehwag in his approach, and while he wanted to bat longer, he shouldn’t lose his natural flair. Those two have been making runs consistently for us, as was Michael Ison whenever he was available for us. Michael was one of the only half-centurions for us this season, which probably explains our batting didn’t have any standouts.

The Bowling was undoubtedly our stronger suit throughout the season as we had three bowlers who were at some stage within the top 10 in wicket-taking in Adam O’Connor, Joe Laria, and myself. Both Adam and Joe were our joint leading wicket-takers with 20 as their hit the deck approach with their variety proved to be very useful. We had other bowlers supporting us through every week, and they either did a decent holding job or had taken wickets.

Our youngsters/Colts players have certainty tried to hold their own during the season with bat and ball and had undoubtedly contributed to a win or two. Vishal Suresh, Sam Anavatti, and Blake Nitschke have played some crucial knocks for us with the bat in hand, which was critical. On the bowling front, both Thomas Ison and Duncan Gammage have contributed significantly with the ball in hand, and they certainly have the know-how of what to bowl. They all have an opportunity to get better and go up the grades, which will be useful for us moving forward.

Me

Ultimately, more will be discussed on how I went personally. Caleb Stevens had already asked me just recently on Facebook on how I thought I went in my first full season in Grade cricket. So here’s the quantitive and qualitative analysis of my season.

As I have mentioned numerous times, my long-term goal is to play 100 games, take 100 wickets and score 1000 runs in grade cricket by the age of 40 or so. Hence, I have about 10-15 years to achieve the three milestones. If we do the breakdown, then I need to (on average) play at 7-10 games, score 70-100 runs and take 7-10 wickets.

Let’s see how I’m progressing towards these targets:

• Play 7-10 games. Achieved (2 games in 4ths and 12 games in 5ths make 14 games)
• Score 70-100 runs. Did not achieve (15 runs in 4ths and 25 runs in 5ths gives 40 runs)
• Take 7-10 wickets. Achieved (1 wicket in 4ths and 14 wickets in 5ths gives 13 wickets)

So, I’ve met the target for both the games and the wickets but not the runs. I didn’t get much opportunity throughout the season to show my capabilities with the bat. Nevertheless, I had felt I had revealed what I could do with the bat, but there were a couple of times where I would have been disappointed not to make more runs. The two consecutive matches against Wests-UC were the only times I should have felt I should have made more runs, given that I had spent a good time at the wicket only to play loose shots and get out. 

The bowling though, it’s on another plane. Considering this is my first full season ever in grade cricket, to achieve your goal of taking 10 wickets in the season is a significant achievement. Furthermore, at this stage, I had been at one point, the leading wicket-taker for our 5th-grade side with 12 and was third of the 5th-grade competition and within the top 10 wicket-takers for the club. Of course, I went down the pecking order of these wicket-takers list courtesy of the matches missed due to the weather, among other priorities. 

These are my performances to date:

1.  1/24 (6 overs) against Western Districts & University of Canberra (won)
2. 2/14 (9) against Tuggerangong (won)
3. 0/32 (9) against North Canberra Gungahlin (lost)
4. 1/30 (9) against Weston Creek Molonglo (lost)
5. 0/23 (6) against Queanbeyan (lost)
6. 1/20 (9) against Eastlake (won)
7. 2/36 (7) against ANU (won)
8. 5/18 (8.5) against Western Districts & University of Canberra (won)
9. 1/21 (4) against Western Districts & University of Canberra (lost)
10. 1/18 (8) against Queanbeyan (lost)
11. 1/19 (9) against ANU (lost)
12. 0/32 (9) against North Canberra Gungahlin (lost)

Overall I’ve taken 15 wickets @ 19.13 with Econ 3.06 and SR 37.5. I’ve started well, but the wickets sadly dried out after my five-wicket haul. Nevertheless, I’ll be happy with these stats as it shows that I’m a genuine wicket-taker and can keep the runs down at the same time.  

However,  what if I then combine my performances in wins and losses

• 11 wickets @ 10.18 with Econ 2.81 and SR 21.72 in wins
• 4 wickets @ 43.75 with Econ 3.24 and SR 81.00 in losses

This does imply that the success of my team depends on me to a certain extent. When we win, I’m more penetrative and can keep the runs down. However, in defeats, I’ve managed to keep the batsman in check without dismissing them. I’m at least keeping it tight.  Nevertheless, I felt I’ve haven’t bowled too badly in these situations when you provoke plays and misses and chances that don’t go your way. 

I don’t think there’s much to say about the batting, to be honest, as I only batted four times all season. I’ve made scores of 9 (with 1 four) against ANU, 14 (1 four) & 6 against Wests-UC and 11 not out (1 four) against Norths to give me 40 runs @ 13.33 with 3 fours. For someone who hardly batted all season, I think I did all right. Nothing else needs to be said there.  

What worked?

I had mentioned numerous times throughout the season that the work I had been doing with Southern Cricket Academy in Perth in the past had played a significant part in my bowling success. The focus was on using the body to generate bouncy out-swingers, which certainly suited the wickets here in Canberra. 

The fitness work I did since Easter in 2016 to help implement this technique had paid off big time. Losing about 10 kilos in time for the pre-season as well maintaining the weight throughout the season allowed me to bowl long spells in both nets and matches (where my spells lasted at least 5-6 overs). Whatever the pace I was bowling on those times, I was able to still beat the bat and keep it tight most of the time. In matches, I had managed to bowl my full quota of nine overs on five occasions in which I opened the bowling.

What next?

I am quite happy with how my first full season of grade cricket went. I’ve had experience in knowing what length to bowl on the turf wickets with a 4 piece ball. I had experience in bowling with the new and old, red, and white balls. So I no longer consider myself a novice/rookie. I’ve already won favor with a few captains who want me in my side, and several people have commented that I have the capability of playing at least 4th grade this season. 

Am I capable enough of stepping up in the higher grades to consistently play one-day white ball and two-day red-ball cricket soon? Yes, I think so, and I think I would really like to play two-day cricket more so for my batting, which is generally more focused on batting for time than scoring runs. But I may need to think positively when scoring runs particularly against the spinners in matches as I had always been looking to use my feet. Basically, I need to overcome the fear of failure and just score runs. I would like to still take my time to get runs under my belt before teeing off (often at the captain’s request), which I’m confident I can pull off. Besides, my judgment of singles needs to be perfect. What happened in my last innings of the season was unfortunate, but perhaps I should make sure I can get the ball into a safe gap first. It would be difficult to practice this unless I play some social matches during the off-season. Hence I would need to use my bad experiences to get better at this aspect. 

Throughout the season, I had been bowling to literally players across all grades at training. When I had got it right, I felt I had their number, particularly those batters who play in our first three grades. I had rattled their stumps, beat their edges, and even nicking them off at times whenever I could bowl the bouncy out-swingers. When I didn’t, I was easy pickings. However, there’s a lot to like about the good stuff because I believe I have the potential to succeed in higher grades as a bowler alone. I can decipher why I couldn’t do it consistently, and that was because I had been bowling with sore muscles courtesy of the weight-training I do as if it’s the off-season. I can’t do that. I have to instead focus on maintenance, which I will keep in mind when next season comes around.

Another aspect I do have to really continuously work on is my fielding. My ground fielding is my most substantial aspect, though, and had saved runs in the field on occasions that earned the praise of my 5th-grade skippers. But my catching had been woeful where I had dropped every single chance that came to me. I have been putting in the hard work at training with some help from our 3rd-grade skipper Matty Andrews, and it will have to continue for a while yet. I would have to compromise with my love for the ball to work on my catching, and it was something I would be willing to do.

Hopefully, if I do everything I could and keep up the excellent work in my fitness, then the higher grades may be calling. I would ideally like to bowl at least 5 overs in a one-day match and 10 overs in a 2-day game, but there could be some weeks that I may have to play as a batsman. That’s fine as long I bat reasonably high up the order. Otherwise, I will be happy playing the lower grades as a bowler who can bat a bit. But I think I should look to become a decent all-rounder. 

 Stats to date

Batting

15 matches, 8 innings, 4 not outs, 53 runs, highest score of 14, average of 13.25, hit 3 fours

Bowling

15 matches, 13 innings, 587 balls, 304 runs, 15 wickets, best bowling of 5/18, average of 20.27, economy of 3.11, strike rate of 39.1, taken 1 five wicket haul. 

 

February 28

It was business as usual at training today. Just bowling and batting was all I did, and I was able to make some progress with my bowling as practice went on. I was initially was bowling too straight and short at times, which make me cannon fodder to batters like Dominic Ross, who kept smoking them out of the middle. Although I managed to get him out with a short ball that he under-edged to the keeper, I was perplexed that he’s not able to replicate this confidence and form in the matches. I wonder why? He had his chances with the bat during this season, but I feel he hasn’t quite grasped those opportunities, or he’s just likes batting on astroturf.  At least he tried to bat like he did last weekend only to cream a catch straight to silly mid-off. Some progress there, I hope.

Anyways, back to the bowling, I realized that my front arm was the main culprit for my bad bowling as it was closer to my bowling and pointed down towards the batsman. I made an adjustment by keeping my front arm away from my body and pointing upwards. As a result, I was able to reproduce my bouncing out-swingers, which allowed me to bowl well against John Prior and Matthew Bell (who later nicked off twice against my bowling). I cannot go further without discussing who I was able to square up Matty Bell and take the edge of the shoulder of his bat without disappointing Isaac Deeker.

Batting was okay, but the bouncy nature of the pitches in the nets has made it harder to find my fluency with the timing of my batting strokes as the ball tends to hurry on, especially against the quicker bowlers. That’s why I occasionally like facing spinners or slower bowlers at practice. But batting in the nets hadn’t harmed my batting in matches yet as the wickets are slow, which does help with my fluency in playing shots and keeping out good balls. During practice (including my batting session), Isaac was bowling spin to me (yes, you read it right!) as he was apparently carrying an injury from bowling fast over the weekend. With a quick arm action, Isaac was able to impart significant spin without much flight, which will undoubtedly make it hard to advance down the wicket to him but perhaps easier to paddle sweep if he strayed down leg. I thought after training if he can’t bowl fast ever again one day, he could turn to spin because I would think he has potential even if the wickets are slow because of his pace and spin.

March 4, 

Leading up to the game, I wonder if I should really play as I had actually caught a cold on Thursday, which certainly had sucked the life out of me by the afternoons. It was why I ditched training (the rainy weather also played a part as I didn’t want to aggravate it) on Thursday. I had thought it’s only the last game of the season for us might as well play because I won’t be playing with these people until next season. On the other hand, I was risking worsening my current all-round stats, particularly with the ball as Weston Creek Molonglo has some powerful batters in their line-up.

Overnight rain plus rain in the mornings eventually caused the pitch in Mawson to be unsuitable for play as it was covered in mud, and Chris Arcella thought we may need a canoe to get by for the game. Hence our last game was canceled, and our season came to an end. Some I would imagine be disappointed in not playing, but I was glad for once the cricket was canceled since I didn’t have to risk my health to play one last game for now.

I had pretty much decided to stay at home all day because I wanted to fully recover since I was heading to Melbourne for the long weekend to spend time with Neethu and her parents. More importantly, I didn’t want to get other people sick since several of our guys will be playing semi-finals next weekend. Further washouts ensured that our 2nd and 3rd grades were off to the semis.

Later on, our 1st-grade side did too after chasing down 169 with 2 wickets in hand. As it turned out, it was the first time in 24 years, Ginninderra has had a 1st grade side in the ACT Premier Cricket competition, which is a tremendous achievement. As our coach, Mick Delaney, said, “There’s more work to be done.”

 

 

 

February 21

Today appeared a little different from usual. All the 1st/2nd graders were out practicing on the center wicket while everyone else was in the nets. Pretty much three batsmen get padded up together and switch between nets, so all bowlers bowl at everyone. As usual, like last week, I had been able to find my rhythm and hurry the batsmen with my bouncy out-swingers. I had the likes of Chris Griffin and Matthew Hogan (both who play 2nd grade) playing and missing at times. I managed to clean up Kris Oliver by getting the ball to come back into him as he tried to defend.

Furthermore, I even knocked over our tall, lean, mean 1st grade quick Jak Wilcox. The first in-swinger I bowled to him (as he’s a left-handed bat), he left it, but luckily, it was bouncing over the stumps. So he tried to leave my next delivery, which crashed into the stumps (some people think it hit middle while I had felt it hit off stump) much to the delight of onlookers behind me. Tom Carmody called it a Glenn Maxwell moment named after the batsman who left a Ryan Duffield in-swinger two years ago that crashed into his middle stump.

That’s probably how good it got because I was taken to the attack soon after. I suppose I could be rattled in the nets or possibly a game if a batter plays shots against my decent bowling, but I’ll continue to run in and try to get the batsmen out. I wanted to possess the determination that the great Dennis Lillee had.

February 22

It was extremely unusual for me to wake up with a sore left leg this morning. Maybe it couldn’t tolerate the stress I was putting it under while bowling (perhaps I was trying to run-in quickly through my delivery stride). Thankfully I could focus more on core strength at the gym this evening, but it looks like I need to take the foam roller out and use it over the legs before attending training tomorrow. Not only will I need to continue to bowl at the nets, but I will also need to be sharp for fielding practice.

This afternoon was spent at the Southern Cross Cricket Shop in Fyshwick as I had learned of an end of season sale of cricket bats, including my beloved Gray-Nicolls. So initially, I had shortlisted four bats that I wanted to consider.  I managed to pick one, the Oblivion e41, that’s about a 2 pound 9 oz bat with some advice from the owner Vinesh Bennett (Australian Indoor cricketer and a former allrounder with Queanbeyan and Wests-UC). I quite liked the Obvilion e41 and wanted to purchase it immediately. But Vinesh was trying to lead me towards other bats and immediately took me to the Southern Cross Cricket range. He showed me one of the bats from the Tyrant range, which I found as good a pick up as the other bat. I remember picking up a similar bat during the preseason, and the power on the bat was immense. It was Lukey Ryan’s bat, the SCC Assassin, but Vinesh candidly confessed that Lukey’s bat was a Tyrant, but he wanted the Assassin bat stickers. The Tyrant actually had a good weight, although it may feel a little heavier compared to the other bats that Vinesh referred to as those with a ‘concave’ face. So I decided to part with the Gray-Nicolls and purchased the Tyrant, which would have saved me $20 had I bought the other bat. All is required is for Vinesh to prepare the bat for use (including adding a toe shield, extracted and tape to protect the edges), which I expect will be ready by Friday. It may not be used for the rest of the season, but I do intend to bring it out in practice and also whenever I go out with a hit with friends. I suppose best to get a new bat at a discount sooner rather than later.

February 23

There wasn’t going to be any training today at the club as it is the junior/senior day. This is where members from the senior club mingle with their junior counterparts so knowledge can be passed on for future generations (especially those who graduate in the senior ranks). It was why the club stresses this so much every year and was imploring all of us senior cricketers to get on board. Those days have reminded me of the times I used to coach junior cricketers back in Perth when I wasn’t actually playing. Maybe I should have gone, helped out, and pass on some advice.

On the other hand, though, I was keen for some more bowling as I wanted to keep up the good work despite the ongoing soreness of my left leg. So I went to the nets at Reid Oval, where I caught up with a few others who have a semi-final for PM&C/Finance against Treasury on a turf pitch at Deakin Oval on Sunday. I thought I bowled all right like I had been doing recently despite the unevenness of the run-ups, which made it hard to get my rhythm right. Nevertheless, I managed to surprise the captain Gurjiv Singh Khehra amongst a few others with my out-swingers. I managed to beat every single batsman I bowled to, but I suppose Shahnawaz Rasheed probably hated it the most since he was consistently beaten.

I think I also batted quite well, although I still have a bit of work to do against the short ball at times as it is a delivery that I hardly expect because most of the time, the bowlers will be pitching it up. But it shouldn’t be much of a worry as the short ball is of powder puff variety on turf as it sits up for the batsmen to cut or pull. Anyways, at least I didn’t get out and felt my footwork against Gurjiv’s spin was good when it was decisive. I also was happy the way I played on the front foot, particularly my drives and glances against Khurram Shehzad and Shah while keeping out their good balls and leaving most of the wide deliveries alone.

I felt my preparation is pretty good for the upcoming weekend. I thought of being available for the Public Service League semi-final for them on Sunday should they need players. After all, I have this feeling that I’ll never play with these guys again after this season as my marriage is ever approaching closer.

February 24

That left leg soreness never seems to go away, but I wonder now if it’s a strained muscle. If I was to play back to back matches this weekend, I would need to give the leg as much rest as I can in between games, which means my usual pre/post-match gym sessions will need to be put aside.

Tonight most of us 5th graders along with Umesh and Vishnu (who are going to play in 4ths) caught up at Adam’s place for a BBQ as well as watching Australia vs. India test match. I was initially going to skip the catch up since I was going to Vishnu’s to watch the cricket and eat pizza. However, it was a smart suggestion from the others to bring Vishnu along and come since Adam also had Foxtel at his place.

I was grateful for the food since I had hardly eaten since lunch. I managed to stuff plenty of garlic bread and sausages (with medium chili sauce that I brought) as well as two pieces of Caramel Mud Cake that Jess brought. All part of what experts called carb-loading but probably not what they would expect. Overall it was a good night a lot of banter between players, which pretty much was targeted more towards Dominic Ross and Jess. I also had hinted to Chris Arcella (‘Archie’) that I will be willing to open if we bat first. But I wouldn’t mind if I didn’t. We will just have to wait and see. Archie had been right earlier that we would be watching Australia bat tonight, although I had rebuked him earlier in the day, thinking India might grind the Aussies to dust. However, I was astonished that India did collapse against Stephen O’Keefe’s bowling, losing 7 for 11 in the process of being bowled out for just 105.

February 25

Thankfully today, when I checked the weather forecast that it wasn’t going to rain. It is good because not only will we finally be able to play today, we also have to win to keep our semi-final hopes alive (that is provided ANU, who’s currently ahead of us loses to Queanbeyan). It was going to be cloudy all day, so I was hopeful that it would be a good day for bowling regardless of how the pitch at Keith Tournier Oval was going to be like. In the past two games, we played on this season, the teams who batted first have comprehensively won games. We were on the receiving end the first time against North Canberra Gungahlin after we barely reached their 224. Then we were on the favorable side against our cross-town rivals Wests-UC after posting 212 in our 45 overs before bowling them out for 132 courtesy of my maiden five-for (which I’ve on occasions kept on talking about).

Basically, get plenty of runs on the board and apply pressure is pretty much the go on this ground provided the bowling and fielding are in top order. Before I left for the ground, I learned that I wasn’t in the playing 12 for the Public Service League semi-final. It was ok, no big deal because I can at least chill on Sunday. I got to the ground, and the pitch looked really green, which meant that we were considering bowling first if we win the toss. According to what others had said, batting first on this deck means that the likes of David Hohnke would be licking his lips upon the sight of this wicket, hoping he would tear us apart.

This what we did. Archie was the toss and decided to field first. Although Adam and I were able to extract some movement off the pitch, the North’s openers, captain Coughlan and John Hohnke raced away to 125 at drinks. It wasn’t so pretty, and Archie reminded us about it in a hard manner, saying that we were flat, and we needed to tell everyone in the competition that we were here to play regardless of win, loss, or draw. To make matters worse, Vasu Patel pulled up with a hamstring strain and was ruled out for the rest of the match.

We did well to bounce back in the second half of the innings. Dom Ross had John Hohnke caught behind by Archie in his second over after drinks. Then Jason Cooper clean bowled Sam Holland by hitting the top of off stump. He then run out Coughlan, and then Dom Tran took a good catch on the boundary off Jess’s bowling to dismiss David Hohnke. To finish up, Adam clean bowled both Riazuddin and Harendra Kumar as Norths finished on 6 for 241 from there 45 overs. Once again, on Keith Tournier Oval against Norths, I couldn’t quite get on the scorebook and finished with 9 wicketless overs for 33. Same story as last time. Economical considering the overall run-rate of under five and a half runs per over.

From there, it was going to be a struggle when Dan Millane had Sandeep Kumar caught and bowled and Andrew (a.k.a Ginninderra Mouthpiece, according to Stephen ‘Clarrie’ Grimmett) lbw in his second over. Sammy Gautam shone briefly until he was bowled by Harendra as he tried an ugly hock across the line for 18. Apparently, Harendra had accidentally beaten him through a change of pace only because his thumb got stuck into his pocket.

I was soon in once Jason was bowled by Hohnke for 14, and Sam Anavatti was caught attempting a hoick of Clarrie. I went out to bat with my newly acquired SCC Tyrant despite not having practiced with it. It did help me to defy David Hohnke initially, and on the fifth delivery off his over, I managed to clip his natural in-swing into a leg-side gap and thought I could quickly get off the mark, which is why I called yes. But I didn’t foresee the disastrous result when Adam set off pretty late and was run-out. Dom Tran chipped a full toss into the hands of Riazuddin at a short mid-wicket. We were soon 7 for 55, but Jess and I managed to settle down to the drinks break (for me only just since I nearly chopped on a John Hohnke googly that I didn’t pick from the hand).

I managed to get away a beamer from Riazuddin over the keeper’s head via a top edge to get my first boundary for my innings. But I had unfortunately soon after called for a quick single after a misfield by the close-in fielder at short-midwicket only for Jess to be run-our having set off late. I was feeling crap having run-out two of our batters (although I would maintain my innocence in saying that they should have said no immediately if they didn’t think they could have made the run).

Archie came out to bat with a sore left shoulder from keeping in the first innings where he was hit from a vicious delivery from Adam and tried to get me to relax by forgetting about the run-outs. He said we should enjoy batting as it is the first time we’ve batted together in grade. The sore left shoulder only limited him to three shots he could hit with his bottom hand. He managed to smoke Riazuddin over a vacant mid-off to get off the mark with a boundary, but he was soon out bowled behind his legs in the next over. Dom Ross came out and told me he was going to try and swing, given his stuffed ankle from bowling. He slogged a boundary on the leg side to get off the mark, but he was out in the next over to Riazuddin (who changed from spin to medium pace to try to finish the game off) caught by Harendra at short mid-off. We were bowled out for 88, our worst batting performance for the season. I finished on 11 not out, but I wasn’t too happy not only because I run-out two batters, but we were also out of semi-finals contention.

Archie spoke again at the end of the game to all of us. He admitted that there wasn’t much seam movement as he would have thought. But given the wicket flattened out at the end of their innings, it would have seemed a good toss to win. It would have been harsh to make it one of the worse calls since Nasser Hussain sent the Aussies into bat in the first Ashes Test at the Gabba in 2002-03, who then proceeded to smash 2 for 364 at the end of the day. The thing is that Archie had backed his judgment, but it just didn’t work out for us.

I was back to my gloomy self until Archie told me to move on and not dwell on those mistakes for long. He started talking about some issues like his ideal team should he captain next season, and immediately, I was recognized as one of his core players in his side. It shows that both of us have mutual respect for each other, which is good. Given the opportunity next season, I would like to play under Archie’s captaincy, but he hinted to me that if I need to go up the grades, I go up the grades. It is something I could flag with the selectors next season, but I’m happy to play anywhere as long it’s for my strong bowling and my useful batting. Archie had highlighted that we would bring in some new blokes to play for our club next season, and we (including myself) can guide any upcoming talent that comes through our sides through some issues like how to face cunning older bowlers or bowling to a plan and field against particular batsmen.

Driving home, I had wondered if I could have batted a lot differently from what I did. Maybe I could have warned my partners a bit more regarding my desire for quick singles every over. Given that I was facing spin for the most of my innings, I could have used my feet to get to the pitch of the ball and hit it into the gaps, or I could have employed the sweep on balls that were drifting on the leg-side. So many theories, but I wanted to bat time unless I was told to get a move on. Only then could I have shown the work I was doing in the nets against spin, but I wasn’t that confident of trying it as I was using a new bat of mine for the very first time.

Some food for thought moving forward, perhaps I should bring out the new bat at practice next week just to get used to it.

I was amazed to see the Aussies win for the first time in India for 4502 days (their last win was in 2004 in Nagpur) on a pitch that was supposed to hurt them and help the Indians. Steve O’Keefe bowled himself to the best test match figures by an Australian (and the second-best overall) with 12 for 70. Miracles do happen, but the work the Australian team did in Dubai (as well as the lessons learned in Sri Lanka) leading up to this test match seems to be paying off. Australia is 1-0 up in the series. If they can win in Bangalore, then they have the Border Gavaskar Trophy in their grasp.

February 9

For once, I arrived at practice before the scheduled start at 5pm. I arrived from work via the car dealers since I was looking for a brand new car to replace my current Hyundai i20, which is not only small but doesn’t have the latest technology compared to the latest cars like my brother’s i30. I was interested in Mazda 3 since it had blind-spot monitoring, but the purchase didn’t quite materialize since the trade-in cost was lower than I expected.

Anyways, we started training with the usual batting drills. For the first time in a while, I brought out my Gray-Nicolls Training Bat since I wanted to ensure that I was able to hit the middle of the bat. Matty Andrews, the 3rd-grade captain, was curious about the blade when he saw it because I was able to time the ball very well during the drills. That was why I had bought the training bat at the start of pre-season, so I can hit the ball right in the sweet spot nine times out of ten.

After fielding in which we continuously stuffed up the drill that we learned during pre-season, we were back in the nets for the rest of the season. It was stinking hot, which was not overlooked by our coach, Mick Delaney. Despite that, he wanted everyone to maintain the high intensity at net practice and that we would finish training early rather than close to sunset.   

Despite the heat, I (as well as others) felt that I was in good rhythm regarding my bowling. The run-up and the mechanics in bowling the ball clicked most of the time, which meant I delivered bouncing out-swingers at a good pace. I felt my action was quite like the right-arm version of Mitchell Johnson without the ferocious pace and mustache (even if I was running on sore legs courtesy of leg day at the gym yesterday). Nevertheless, I felt I was a handful against all our batters, mainly our PNG imports Kipling Doriga and Hiri Hiri Patana, when I get it on the right spot.

I felt good after training as a result, and I was looking forward to unleashing my rockets at our cross-town rivals, Wests-UC, on Saturday.

February 11

Usually today, we would be playing cricket, but yesterday, Cricket ACT announced that they were canceling all grade games due to the extreme heat as the temperatures were 42 degrees. Understandably, most people in our club were pissed off about the news because they were looking forward to the weekend. I’d too would have liked to play given that I was in excellent bowling form at training (not to mention the whole season). Also, I had been through two weekends back in Perth at similar temperatures, and I had bowled pretty well (in Jan 2013, I bowled 21 overs, took 4 for 92. Then in Jan 2014, I took 3 for 46 in 12 overs). Not to mention, even the Australian cricketers have played in such extreme heat, mainly in the UAE.

On the other hand, though, I had read in ESPN Cricinfo that the Sydney grade cricket games today were also canceled due to the heat.  I learned that the Cricket Australia Doctor, John Orchard was saying that in amateur competitions like Sydney grade cricket, there isn’t enough personnel to monitor players’ health in extreme conditions, unlike in the more professional levels.  So I could understand Cricket ACT’s reason for the cancellation, and it would undoubtedly be exceedingly terrible if people get seriously ill or die due to a heat stroke.

It now makes next weekend a desperate one to keep our semi-finals alive. We need to win every single game from here rather than lose one of them and hope other results go our way. What seemed a possibility is beginning to slip away from our grasp. It seemed that we will lose the grip of the semis unless we win three on the trot starting next weekend.

Despite the cancellation of the cricket, I was able to redeem myself with a purchase of a new Hyundai Elantra, which has the updated technology and more prominent space than my current one. I’m hoping that I could pick it up on Friday afternoon and start driving it to the upcoming game.

February 16

I couldn’t attend training since it was Valentine’s day and Neethu was in town due to work. But I managed to participate in today’s training session, which started off for me with a fielding drill that involved every player.

Yesterday was the coach’s birthday, and he celebrated by playing in the curtain-raiser between an ACT XI and a Papua New Guinea side. He did go reasonably ok by taking a wicket and scoring 11 not out in the end. He later appreciated the support he got from some players of the club, which made him look ten feet taller. But he was in no mood to hand out the presents as he continuously demanded full effort in our fielding.

It was then straight to the nets where I was requested to immediately pad up to bat with Dominic Tran in one net. I ended up facing mostly spin from Sam Anavatti and Vishal Suresh, although Umesh Patel was there to bowl some medium pace. I felt really good with the bat again, mainly when I use my feet to get to the pitch of the ball, which was an improvement to my old approach, which was to play from the crease. I think for me moving forward, the key is not to get too over-confident that you either miss a ball and get stumped or slice one, which could present a catching opportunity. I am hopeful of a batting promotion this weekend as Joe had promised me of a batting opportunity having to sit out a few times, especially when we were chasing.

The focus for me was whether I could produce the bouncing out-swingers from last week. The answer was yes, and although I could be targeted by anyone taking a free swing like Dominic Ross or could be negated by Umesh and Prasad Karlapur, I still managed to beat the bat with those out-swingers most of the time. I had a good rhythm like I did last week, although the pace remained the same despite carrying fresh legs (courtesy of the use of the foam roller after gym workouts). It was certainly contrary to my expectations, but it showed that I can still bowl at a decent pace if I carry some soreness in the body. Leg soreness is okay, but the pain in the shoulder is not.

February 17

I was already on cloud nine when I finally drove home my new Hyundai Elantra and already had grown to like it, especially with the leather interiors and, more importantly, it’s power when driving on 80+ km/h roads. Getting the new car came in handy, especially when I actually will be driving down south to Conder instead of Kippax 1, which is deemed unfit for use. I was looking forward to playing at the club headquarters on the primary ground, but all season, I was aware that a drainage system was being applied in time for the upcoming AFL season. What a shame, particularly for the 1st and 2nd-grade cricketers. Nevertheless, I was looking forward to returning back to Conder. After all, my first three wickets in grade cricket came from there, and I bowled reasonably well there in winning games.

Selections had come out while I was waiting for my car to be ready for driving away. Joe Laria had been promoted to 4ths for the weekend, which meant the captaincy went to Chris ‘Archie’ Arcella. To be honest, it’s good he got the captaincy because he has excellent ideas for the game and a grand vision. He was the one who drove the candid chat a couple of weeks ago after the defeat to ANU. So he seemed the right choice for the role. Chatting with Archie after his appointment, he told me that he would work out his batting order tonight. I hinted to him that I’ve been batting well in the nets and hadn’t had much of a go with the blade. To him, he’s concerned with winning the game, which is fine because all I got to do is turn up and hopefully bowl nine accurate overs.

As it turned out, both Sammy and Umesh are playing for us, which meant our successful opening partnership is back. Hopefully, Sammy can continue making double-digit scores for us no matter how quickly the runs come off his bat. We got a decent batting line-up, so if Archie was kind, he could bat me around 7-8, but I’ll have to wait and see what will be his final batting order.

Archie was kind enough to invite me over for a BBQ at Adam O’Connor’s place, but I had turned it down as I was feeling a little exhausted. Then Andrew ‘Lovey’ Loveday messaged me asking to keep saying he dislocated his thumb and wanted me to take the gloves. I declined given my inexperience with the gloves and the desire to ball more. It’s only because that such a big move on my part will deprive Archie of one his strike weapons with the ball in hand. So I told Archie that Lovey wanted me to keep, and I refused for the same reasons I gave. I then realize that both Archie and Lovey decided to stitch me up, but Archie said not to worry as it was all a joke. I’m like Dennis Lillee during his playing days since I’m naive, gullible, and prone to a practical joke. Sometimes I just don’t get it.

Phew, at least I can bowl my bouncing out-swingers tomorrow rather than take the gloves. Someone will have to do the job if Lovey can’t.

February 18

I was very conscious of the weather this morning when it rained, and my mood didn’t improve when showers were forecasted around the time we were supposed to play. Although right now the sun is shining, there could be some likelihood of abandonment or at best a delayed start, which I still believe in since showers aren’t forecasted in the second half of the afternoon game (so a twenty20 may be on the cards).

Even if they called the game off, I wouldn’t have minded so much because I could go shopping instead and have a more relaxing Sunday in front of the couch playing Don Bradman Cricket 14 most of the day. That’s what happened eventually. Both Archie and the opposition skipper called off the match, and I managed to complete my shopping. So I will have a more relaxing Sunday ahead tomorrow.

But admittedly, the decision to abandon the game was made with a bit of reluctance on our part since we want to go out to win to keep our semi-finals alive. The wicket at Conder was very green, and I would have relished in bowling on the wicket. The only issue was the rain, which started again as I approached the ground, and it got heavier as the afternoon went on. Archie was in a bit of a fix whether to play or not, given it’s a must-win situation. Hence he was asking the other bowlers and me whether I’ll be ok to bowl on this track. He received a mixed response, but I was keen to bowl despite the wet outfield. I wanted to go out, and bowl liked I’ve been doing at training. Ultimately at 1pm, the match was abandoned, leaving us needing to win our last two games with results needing to go our way, including ANU losing their previous two games (provided they didn’t beat Weston Creek Molonglo).

The only highlight of the afternoon was the thunderstorm, which scared the crap out of Jason Cooper. It was funny, but I could sympathize with him for being shaken up because the thunder was so loud.

I was really looking forward to playing this weekend as I really enjoyed the progress in both my bowling and batting during the week at club training.

Firstly the batting. For quite a while, I’ve been batting outside my crease to negate the swing and avoid being LBW. However, at training, there were times that I was caught out for pace as the ball was, therefore, coming quicker. I remember Chris Lynn in one of his YouTube videos was explaining that batting outside your crease is a great way to speed up your reflexes, particularly against pace bowling. However, given that the ball doesn’t come on well to the bat on turf wickets, I’d decided to go back to basics and bat with my feet either side of the crease. The result was remarkable as I was able to let the ball come on to my bat with good timing. The shot I really liked was the back-foot punch through the off-side of Joe Laria’s bowling, which earned his approval as I was able to get back and across instinctively to get on top of the bounce and play the shot. Similarly, I was able to drive on the up against the medium pace of Dominic Ross and Jess Howard by getting my head towards the ball.

Then, more importantly, bowling. I continued the ‘Early not late’ mantra from before and combined that with a focus towards an acceleration in my run-up before delivery, I had decided to try to let it rip and see how my body can cope. On Tuesday, I had a sore right hamstring and a sore left foot. But on Thursday, I didn’t feel any pain. I was quite happy with how my stock delivery was coming out of the hand at times. Although the odd delivery maybe of powder puff variety, I felt that the ball coming out of my hand had a bit more energy than before, which was evident every time I beat the right-handers at training with the ball occasionally getting a ‘kick’ off a right length. People like Tom Carmody and Sean Burgess were wondering if I wasn’t copying Hilfy’s (Ben Hilfenhaus) action anymore, and I confirmed that by explaining that I had gotten stronger over time and decided to emulate Brett Lee’s action. It didn’t quite come out like Brett Lee, but I was copying his method of loading up before delivery, which helped him bowl fast and swing the ball. During this week, though, it felt that I had my own action, which was based on the action honed at Southern Cricket.

So I was ready for the weekend with my game in order having found extra pace through my run-up and action. I will never be a tearaway, but I’m confident that I had enough pace and movement to trouble any batsmen as long as I hit my areas very well. Nevertheless, I will have a big part to play, given that we don’t have much frontline options as before, although Adam O’Connor, Joe, and Caleb Stevens were playing. It’s pretty much up to me and those three to strike or to keep a leash on the ANU batters. While we don’t have the Patels, Umesh and Vasu alongside Sammy Gautam who all went up to 4ths this weekend, we still have a decent batting line up with Sandeep Kumar, Joe, Govind, Vishal Suresh, Andrew Loveday, Chris ‘Archie’ Arcella, Blake Nitschke and Sam Anavatti.

It’s really nice that people appreciate it when people go up the grades and sent their best wishes. That was the case when Matthew Hogan went up from 2nds to play 1sts and when Jess went from 5ths to 3rds. This is what the club is all about appreciation for other people’s achievements, which implies the strong chemistry we all have. Hopefully, these people won’t be overawed by a slightly more robust experience, but they can come back better cricketers.

As I was coming by car, raindrops were falling, so I thought although Adam was to go for the 2nd innings only, is it worth taking a gamble in bowling first so we could extract any moisture that might be left courtesy of the rain. When I arrived to play, Joe had indeed decided to bowl first. Not for the same reasons I had, though. He thought the current overcast conditions might help us in prising out some early wickets. Caleb, as it turned out, got shifted to 4ths and later took 5 wickets. So we got Duncan Gammage, which is a bonus given he took 5 wickets in his last game for us.

Both of us were to opening the bowling, so Duncan took me to the pitch after warm-ups (where he suggested that banging the ball into the grass is the best way to warm-up before bowling). The pitch had one side with 2 almost adjacent grass patches that Duncan would like to take advantage of. It then left me with the other side, which is full of cracks that Duncan believes I would be okay with as I would pitch the ball up more. As it turned out, the side with the green patches made the ball swing too much, which made it very hard to control it at times. Nevertheless, Duncan’s first spell was a beaut. He beat both openers Josh Butson and Sandeep Gangal and had Sandeep squared up at times. Sandeep was dropped in the slips in Duncan’s 2nd over. He later finished with 2 for 15 off his 9 overs.

Meanwhile, I was struggling for rhythm when I couldn’t land the ball on the 4th stump line and swing it out. It took me 2 overs to realize that my run-up was stuffed, so I remarked it again and had better rhythm as my spell went on. I managed to get an edge of Butson’s bat that just didn’t carry to Joe at gully then a leading-edge off Sandeep’s bat just fell short of our debutant, Brandon Edgerton at square leg. I was able to regain my out-swing soon after making a slight adjustment in my angle when I went slightly wider of the crease

I finally had a wicket in the 7th over. I had beaten Butson with two out-swingers, and I was attempting another out-swinger, and Butson would have thought that too. So he left it except the ball hit the top of off-stump. TIMBERRRRRR!!!!!!

I was extremely overjoyed when I finally broke through, and after a few hi-5s, I celebrated with another dab. Archie thinks I set him up beautifully with two-outswingers and a cutter. But I told him that it happened by accident as I was trying another out-swinger. The ball was probably angled in from wide of the crease, so that’s probably done for Butson. I suppose I was due some luck, which I managed to get. I would have had a second wicket having trapped Kalyan Chakravarthy in front of the stumps in which he got the benefit of the doubt. So I finished up with 9 consecutive overs, 2 maidens, 1 for 19. Once again, keeping the bowling tight like I did in my last match 2 weeks ago.

Joe (who finished with 3 for 27 off his 9 overs) trapped his opposite number Sandeep LBW before a terrible mix up between Kalyan and his young partner led the latter to be runout by Sandeep with help from Govind (to knock the bails) after I shouted ‘Bowler.’ John Piechowski was out handling the ball, and ANU was 4/86 after 30 overs when we took drinks. ANU managed somehow to get to 157 in the end despite an excellent low catch by Sam in short mid-wicket of Joe’s bowling. I was filthy in myself when I fluffed a tough chance at short mid-wicket while trying to catch a pull shot off Brandon’s bowling. I was filthy because not only I denied Brandon a maiden wicket, but I was a regulation catch having worked on my catching at training in the past. I managed though to redeem myself with a run-out by taking the bails off from a throw from Archie to run-out Vedant Gupta, who made 29.

That was going to be my last contribution for the day as I decided not to bat. It would have been hard to bat given that Brandon was to have a crack at opening in addition to our talented batting line-up that I’ve mentioned before. To be honest, my preferred position would be to bat in the top 7, given that I’m more of a batsman who’s more capable of staying around than scoring quickly. So, I would not bat and probably wait until an opportunity came by. At the moment, I’m happy to just bowl at least my 6 overs for the game and help out umpiring and scoring where necessary.  I believe Joe told me he’ll give me an opportunity later in the season, but I’ll have to wait and see about that and continue to bat well in the nets for now.

Even I had to bat, I wouldn’t have been able to deal with another top-order collapse we had when we were 5 for 58 at drinks with Brandon, Andrew, Adam, Blake, and Sam all in the pavilion. Nevertheless, we had a remote chance once Vishal and Govind were at the crease constructing a crucial partnership of 33, but both batsmen were out for 25 and 17, respectively. There was faint hope that Sandeep, Archie, and Joe could guide us home, but ultimately, the task was too high for us. We were bowled out for 124, and we lost by 33 runs.

We now lost 3 in a row and now have to win almost all our games to qualify for the semi-finals. Thankfully we still have a favorable draw with Wests-UC and Tuggerangong in our next two games while ANU has it tough against Weston Creek, Norths, and Queanbeyan. Unless we improve even Wests and Tuggerangong can still beat us. It was good that Joe and Archie had a serious talk about our current situation and what we need to do from here. Joe was encouraging us to attend training more so we can work on our fielding on Tuesday and then running between wickets on Thursday, which was the areas that are failing us time and time again. Archie spoke a lot about mateship and the importance of playing as a team every weekend by being supportive of our teammates, especially when one makes a mistake out on the field. The idea is to send a message across to the opposition that although they won, they can say that they were beaten by an energetic close-knit team rather than a bunch of youngsters with some seniors.

So we know where we stand and what we need to do to get better for the rest of the season. On a personal note, Joe appreciated my work in our honest chat that despite me bowling 9 overs, I was putting in the effort in the field in stopping runs, nearly taking a tough chance and being involved in a run-out.  So I am getting into Joe’s good books for reasons other than my bowling.

My new mate Jeet Patel was continuing to bat for time. He might have made 6 runs and batted for about 8 overs, but the right thing was that he was starting to enjoy batting again and being positive. Having made ducks and the start of the season, he’s slowly getting better. After all, he’s going to be 20 soon, and if he continues to work hard, he can be an outstanding batsman (as long he buys a new bat).