October 20, 2016

I had only managed to turn up training today, given that I had to prepare for a job interview, which was yesterday on Tuesday night. After warming up my body, I immediately headed for catching practice that was run by the coach Mick Delaney. I always had been hot and cold when it comes to high ball catching. As usual, I struggled initially, which is when Mick intervened by suggesting that I try to get to the direction of the high ball first and steady myself to take the catch rather than trying to taking the catch on the run. As it turned out, it proved to be useful advice, and my catching gradually improved. It’s all about getting in the right position, which is why it’s better to settle underneath the catch, having done the hard work in getting to it. This is something I will have to remember moving forward.

I continued my bowling progress from last week. I couldn’t force many edges, but at least I forced mishits which would have been caught at cover and midwicket at least. The batting wasn’t too bad, but I kind of felt I missed a few opportunities to pull, but I still managed to play shots at the fuller deliveries.

The session finished up with more fielding. This time we were fielding on the edge of the boundary trying to work in pairs in saving a boundary or even taking the high-ball catch. One has to call to make the catch or do the fielding with the other person backing up and returning the ball to the keeper. It was terrific fun and helped us to be mentally prepared whenever we have to field on the boundary during matches, particularly in the last few overs of a one-day innings.

Leading up to the game, we had about eight or nine people, which is worse than last week. I learned it might rain, and hence I was initially hoping rain could save us.

October 22, 2016

When we arrived on the ground, we had only eight players present. The pitch was the same as we were playing last weekend, but this time, the grass was evenly cut, which meant that you don’t have to hit the ball too hard to score boundaries. The boundaries were quite short, according to Duncan Gammage, who showed Dominic Ross and me that he played a Colts game on the same ground where the boundaries were a lot further.

As it turned out, that didn’t really matter. We still had eight players when Joe elected to field upon winning the toss. Thankfully the wind was blowing straight down the pitch rather than sideways, which meant more assistance for my conventional out-swing. Duncan struck on his second ball when Whelan popped a catch to Adam O’Connor at mid-off who took a diving catch. We managed to gain three more players: Michael Galen-Mules and Michael and Thomas Ison, which gave us a full team for once. It was Thomas who took a good catch to get rid of Hammond of Duncan’s bowling, and they were 2 for 12. At the other end, I was getting good vertical bounce and out-swing and had induced plays and misses, edges through the slips, and a dropped catch by Dominic Ross with the gloves that to be fair, the edge came slowly to him and died down. My first six overs went for 13 runs with no wickets.

Thankfully Joe kept me on because I soon took two wickets in consecutive overs. The captain A Wilson edged a steeping out-swinger to Dominic Ross and then JA Wilson smartly caught by Michael Galen-Mules at backward-square. In between that, Adam chipped in with a wicket courtesy of the pitch, which he got a ball to climb and took a leading edge, which was snuffled by Joe at short mid-off. Then, Thomas had Stephenson caught behind, and we had Tuggeranong 6 for 30 at drinks. We knocked them over shortly after drinks for 40 thanks to Duncan Gammage, who finished with 5/6 in 6.5 overs. I finished with 2/14 off nine straight overs with three maidens. Without a doubt, it had been the best performance I had put in with the ball since moving to Canberra.

So we needed a matter of 41 runs to get, but by then, it started to drizzle, and then it got heavier two balls into our innings. As we bowled Tuggeranong out early, we only had to wait till 6pm or so to continue our innings until sunset. Thankfully we were out on the field sooner than that. There was some panic as we lost 3 wickets in two overs. Dominic Tran padded up to one that didn’t swing and bounce and was out LBW. Then Michael Galen-Mules and Sandeep Kumar fell to catches in the same over. Their captain was heard saying, “They certainly don’t want to lose this one.” Thankfully it wasn’t the case courtesy of Michael Ison who put away filth and smashed the ball whenever he was given width. It was his effort that we managed to chase the runs down inside 10 overs as he finished with 35 not out. Once again, we sang the club song as we went two from two.

By the time the game finished, it rained pretty heavily, and I decided to seek refuge in the nearby gym and do my post-match workout which was an idea I plucked out from reading Jock Campbell’s article on Recovery Techniques in a copy of the UK cricket magazine SPIN which I bought in 2007 as part of my overseas trip post year 11 exams.

Since the cricket season had started, I lost further two-three kilos to be at 78 kg. I always strive to keep eliminating body fat so I can be at my best.

I immediately commenced preparing for the 2016/17 cricket season with the help of Dominic Tran (whom I also met in the preseason training). I helped him deal with deliveries pitched around off-stump, and he helped me with my footwork against spin. Whenever the weather was good, we trained in Weetangera nets on Sunday late afternoons; otherwise, we would be at the Kaleen Indoor Sports complex on the early Sunday afternoons.

Both of us had benefited from the practice sessions with both bat and ball. I had tried the James Anderson wobble ball, which at times became a problematic ball for Dominic to negotiate when it swung into him (he’s a left-hander) and then seamed away. I still ensured that I got my stock delivery the inswinger (outswinger to a right-handed bat) to work. I also experimented with off-spin by using the principles that I learned for pace bowling since he needed to practice against spin bowling by hoping to use his feet to decide whether he should go back or forward. As a result, I gained loop and flight, which also troubled Dominic a lot, and since I was bowling cross-seam, some would turn, and some would slide on. I felt I had another string to my bow, but unfortunately, I never tried to bowl spin ever since.

Cricket aside, I had been working on my fitness also since I felt I needed to be fit for grade cricket. I got ideas from Luke on the muscles I should be developing to be able to enhance my skills. Then I sought some initial help from the trainers at Anytime Fitness to help me build muscle the correct way. Although the cost was significantly more than the basic membership, I felt it was money well spent. Gradually, the fat started to melt away. At the end of the previous season, I was 86 kgs, and I gradually lost 5 kgs. It was a good start, but It will be useful to lose as long as I don’t get too thin, which will then make everyone puzzled about my health. I haven’t mentioned this to anyone, but I was inspired by the success story of a family friend in Tarun Sharma. I learned that he became very fit through dedication and discipline despite his busy work-life schedule. We are quite similar people in a way that we both love playing sport and keeping fit and healthy.

My Goals

Without much thought, I wanted to play 100 games, score 1000 runs and take 100 wickets in grade within 10-15 years. As long as I stay fit and not injure myself much, I can achieve all my goals within the specified timeframe.

It meant I have to play at least 7-10 games, score at least 70-100 runs, and take 7-10 wickets each season. It should be achievable. I’ll be happy if I score at least 10 runs or take at least a wicket per game.

August 2016

Change in Ginninderra was in the air as they had hired a former Tiger in Mick Delaney, who was a former ACT Comet and South Australian fast bowler. He had captained and coached Weston Creek Molonglo to a title a couple of years ago, which was one of the main reasons why the club brought him into the club. Going through his video interview on YouTube, I also learned that Ginninderra was a stepping stone towards him getting the South Australia contract, and he was happy to be back.

I liked Mick’s ambition and desire to help the club improve in their on-field performances. I was also grateful that he wanted to commence pre-season training sooner rather than later because, in his words, “the season will be around before you know it.” I was very eager to commence pre-season myself, so I was grateful that he was beginning early.

From the moment pre-season started, I always had looked forward to attending the sessions. I enjoyed all the drills that he introduced for batting, bowling, and fielding, which helped those who participated in these sessions to build from the base so that we will be all set to when the season came around. It was the first time ever that I enjoyed fielding training. To be honest, I used to hate it so much, particularly when we get penalized for dropping catches, which isn’t fair because people don’t mean to drop them. Now, I enjoyed it because Mick made them fun and a good learning experience if we ever stuffed up. I even told Mick myself on Facebook, and he appreciated the feedback.  I had really felt that I made the right choice to train with Ginninderra. I wanted to improve, and it has been a great environment to work on your skills to get better.

September 2016

Unfortunately, once the mid-week training sessions started in September, I wasn’t quite in the right frame of mind. I admit that I was distracted, but I had my reasons. I had begun doing after-hours duties at work, which meant I had to be accessible to the phone at all times. Besides, I got engaged on September 3, and I was also distracted with my interstate trips in late September to early October.

Nevertheless, the interstate trips helped me an excellent refreshing break ahead of the cricket season. I went to Adelaide and Perth during this time. Adelaide will remain memorable to me for years to come. I arrived in Adelaide on September 24th afternoon, intending to surprise my fiancee, Neethu, on her 24th birthday. It had been on my mind for some time, and it was closer to the time that I told her parents, who then advised a couple of Neethu’s friends who were looking after the program, Akhil, a.k.a Sonu and Anjutha, a.k.a Anju. Basically, I was in touch with both Sonu and Anju regarding the plans for my surprise entry, and then Sonu’s parents were involved in the planning. On the night before I left, we were quickly going through the events and the motions, as I wanted to ensure that everything went to plan.

While it was a good start that I arrived in Adelaide on time, things didn’t quite go to plan. The idea was that I would be ready to leave my hotel room in the nearby Adelaide Inn by 6.30, but instead, it was only after 7pm that Sonu’s dad asked me to make my way to Arya’s Indian Restaurant.

Due to the unforeseen delays, I was to wait in the main restaurant until the video I created for the occasion was to commence playing. I was grateful that I was offered drinks by the manager, and given that I hardly ate anything since lunch at Sydney Airport and some cookies on the flight to Adelaide, I took advantage by drinking two tall glasses of Mango Lassi (yogurt drink). Considering that dinner at the party was to be served until 8.30 or so, these drinks came at the right time; otherwise, I would have collapsed or fainted.

When the video started playing, Sonu’s dad Ramesh took me closer to the hall where I was to wait in the bar until the Malayalam song, Arikil Pathiye, started playing. My cover nearly got blown during this time when a lady stepped out of the hall with her baby daughter and sat herself down opposite me. She asked me via sign language about my presence or something to that effect, and I immediately nodded my head. As I later came to know, she was Neethu’s Kathak dance teacher who recently gave birth to her baby daughter.

The Arikil Pathiye song commenced and I soon with a rose in hand made my way into the small hall in front of sixty guests and promptly went down on one knee in front of a blindfolded Neethu (who had no idea what was going on at the time) and holding a rose in front. Before too long, Sonu removed the blindfolded, and she was shocked that I was there in front of her. After the initial drama, it later became a fun-filled night and had a chance to meet all the guests and enjoy a much-deserved dinner. The party simply went on till 11.30pm when I eventually arrived back in my hotel room.

October 2016

After the memorable visit to Adelaide, I arrived in Perth on Monday morning. I mostly stayed at home with parents and watching some cricket, India vs. New Zealand test matches, but I had a chance to catch up with Luke for one last time before the season was about to start.

For once, my session with Luke went very well. He liked my progress with bat and ball and my physique and provided little suggestions to improve with both bat and ball. He also asked me to work on my trunk rotation, which I have read before in Dennis Lillee’s autobiography, Menace. He simply told me that I had come a long way since I started working with him in 2013, and he’s happy with the progress and hard work I had put in.

I returned back to Canberra on the 3rd of October, but I couldn’t return to mid-week training due to after-hours duties again, which also means that I had to withdraw from selections for the opening weekend, which will be Twenty20s. As it turned out, only 1st and 2nd grades played while the 3rd and 4th grades were to be played at a later date. So I didn’t miss much.

The season was now fast approaching.

 

I never classified myself as a Twenty20 cricketer due to my inability to be brave with the bat, as I always would like to occupy the crease. But such thoughts had to be put aside as I was called up to play due to lack of numbers.

When I learned that we were in ANU South Oval, I was back to where I used to practice with a couple of friends from work. The outfield was very evenly cut, and the pitch seems a good cricket wicket.

Unfortunately, we lost the toss and were fielding. I later learned we were using a white ball for the match, which meant I had to borrow a spare one-day shirt from Chakra, the captain. Overall it was a good experience playing with a white ball for the first time. The feedback was mixed. Some said the ball does move a lot initially before becoming soft and comfortable to hit. While some people said the white ball doesn’t act any different to its red counterpart except is gets heavily scuffed up, the more it gets used.

ANU was off to a flying start with 29 runs on the board after 3 overs, which prompted Chakra to trial spin through Rony Sood. It worked immediately as he claimed an early wicket and kept the runs down in his four-over quota. Similarly, Adam O’Connor continued his excellent work from yesterday to bowl out with 1 for 25 from his full quota. I was hopeful of a chance once Adam was finished, but that chance never came.

I could have looked at two sides of the coin. One was that the fast outfield, which the batsmen could use the pace to score their runs. The other side was that the spinners were also taken some tap due to some good footwork by the ANU batsmen. My contribution was a sore shoulder, and ANU finished with 6 for 170 from their 20 overs.

Chakra spoke about the need to time the ball given the fast outfield, which was the focus for the first six overs of our chase. Dean Wickham perished in the first over, but that didn’t stop us from a rollicking start courtesy of Vijay Selvarathnam. He smashed 22 in one over, including a hook shot for six that landed out of the ground. He made 36 in quick time, but it was adjudged LBW, and then our innings slid down as the wickets kept tumbling, and the runs continued to dry up.

I ended coming in at number eight, which wasn’t quite the confidence booster I needed, but I thankfully made the most of what I got on a good batting surface. I took some quick singles, punished a short ball to the boundary (which was my first in grade for Ginninderra), and ran hard between wickets. I only made 9, but I managed to add 26 in three overs with Adam as we challenged each other while running between the wickets. We could only muster 8 for 149 in reply, and hence we lost by 21 runs. As this was a knockout comp, ANU proceeded to play the semi against our cross-town rivals, Wests.

I felt that I shouldn’t have turned up, given my lack of opportunity, and I knew I was against it if we had too many bowlers. I’ve told our head selector JP that I’ll be happy to stay in 5ths unless there’s a bowler shortage in the higher grades.

October 11, 2016

Finally, I had managed to attend mid-week training at Ginninderra. By then, I had decided to replicate Ben Hilfenhaus’s bowling action, which generates good out-swing at a decent pace. I had experimented with his bowling action in a Sunday Social game and took 2 wickets in 4 overs, but I had issues with my run-up, especially when I bowl wide of the crease, which doesn’t control my outswing very well.

That’s why I decided on Tuesday to buy and use a bowling marker at training. I placed the marker near the ‘stumps’ at the bowler’s end, where I would place my right foot. The idea is to help me stay closer to the stumps and not give width to the right-handed batters.

As a result, I ripped out three 1st grade batters and nearly had a fourth much to the delight of their teammate Luke Ryan. I clean bowled the vice-captain Rhys Healy, then Lochlan Christian chopped on before captain Brendan Roweth got a faint tickle to the keeper. As I said, I nearly had a fourth, but I spilled a return catch off the coach, Mick Delaney.

Batting was a bit of a challenge with the lack of consistent light in the nets, particularly against the tall fast bowlers. But I managed to bat well. Then we finished with fielding. It was ok to start with, but it got really tough when we were penalized whenever someone missed a catch. The last thing I needed is to remind me of the bad times back in Perth.

October 13, 2016

Thursday training was a big turnout compared to Tuesday. So I didn’t get much of a bat. However, I used the opportunity to continue the excellent work with the bowling. Having managed to control my out-swinger, I decided to engage my right knee, and the results were mind-blowing. Immediately I gained extra bounce, which caused plays and misses, edges, mishits, and the occasional clean bowled.

On Tuesday, after a while, batters were able to hit through the line, but suddenly I felt the tables were turned, and that has brought a bit more confidence for my bowling. The fielding component was better as well. We tried to simulate what we would expect in a game and, from there, practice our catching, throwing, and backing up the wayward throws.

We later had a BBQ afterwards where the selections had gone out. I was hoping to play in the lower grades so I can get some bowling, particularly in 4th grade, whom Jason Cooper reckons I’m better off in that grade based on what he’s seen. As it turned out, I was to play in 5ths at Conder so I can get some bowling. I later got encouragement from Chakra Ravinuthala, the 4th-grade captain, to go and set my field rather than let the 5th-grade skipper Joe Laria set for me.

October 15, 2016

The Conder Oval was right behind the Lanyon Vikings Club, where I attended the Canberra Malayalee Association’s awards night back in July. The pitch was a lot of green, and the outfield was not even across some areas, not adequately cut. The Western Districts & University of Canberra players believe the pitch will cause deliveries to misbehave. Sensing we didn’t have a full team with our captain Joe Laria to rock up later, they put us into bat. We ended up having 10 people turn up with a couple of players that were about 14 years of age. I think they were hoping that could roll us over extremely cheaply, and the start would have reflected that view.

Sammy Gautam, Blake Nitschke, and Will Thomson were dismissed with 14 on the board. Sammy and Blake were bowled playing across the line while Will copped a brute of a delivery that climbed and brushed his glove. We managed to at least bat to drinks when we were 4/45 after 23 overs courtesy of Govind Thiagarajan’s patient 10 that was made across 20-odd overs. After drinks, Caleb Stevens and Sam Anavatti batted really well for us to put on 70 for the 5th wicket. Caleb’s knock was an incredibly mature one, and it came at the right time for us. He got himself in, sussed the pitch out, and went to play his shots. Sam did likewise, but he rotated the strike more when Caleb was dealing in ones and twos. From 4/106 with under 10 overs to go, we would have hoped for 130+, but we lost the plot and got bowled out for 121 in 42.3 overs. Caleb made 44, and Sam made 22. I ended up coming in last and didn’t face a ball when Dominic Ross held out. Had he survived, we could have eked out a few more runs.

I got the opportunity to open the bowling in our defense with Will. I started things off by claiming one of the openers as they tried to go over the top and hand Adam O’Connor (who just arrived from Canada 2 days ago) an easy catch. Will chipped in by knocking over their number three with a similar delivery that Will himself got out to. Meanwhile, the Wests captain, Dean Whitelum, was holding the innings together briefly, and he got lucky against my bowling. A couple of high balls fell short of fielders, and then he was dropped by Blake at mid-on. In amongst off this, I managed to get a few plays and misses while he worked me away through mid-on for a four and then smash a rare full toss of mine for six.

I was done after my sixth over in which I had 1 for 24, and as it turned out, I never bowled again in the match. Not soon after, the number four bat was dismissed by Adam (who was previously in Canada for the last two and a half years) with Will taking the catch. Then Dominic Ross bowled Whitelum with an in-swinger, and Wests were 4 for 40 odd. They obviously had a mini partnership going, but we managed to claim two more wickets before drinks. Sam Anavatti deceived Neil Hathaway with flight and loop to bowl him, and then Surojit Samanta was run out when he tried to get off the mark. At drinks, they were 6 for 70. They were ahead of the rate, but we had a chance knowing we needed just a further 4 wickets.

They continued to take the attack to us, and it seemed that they may have run away with the victory. Joe bowled their number seven who was anchoring the innings, and then Govind claimed the eight-wicket when the number nine batter was caught out trying to clear the infield. As it turned out, Govind had bowled the wrong-un, so that was a piece of smart bowling on his part. Then it got tense, and it really seemed that Wests would sneak through. I was guilty of making that happen as I spilled a simple offering off Govind’s bowling.

However, what transpired next was unbelievable. The number ten bat, Szabo, was adjudged run out by the square-leg umpire when it appeared he plonked his bat down rather than sliding it, which could have saved his wicket. Then Adam clean bowled their number eleven to ensure we snuck home by a single run. Wests all out for 120 with all the bowlers taking a wicket and Adam O’Connor the pick of the bowlers with 2/14 off 6.3 overs.

We managed to sing the club song, which is a tradition similar to how the AFL clubs celebrate when they win. To beat our cross-town rivals by a single run is a great way to start the season despite having only 10 players. As it transpired, all our grades were taking on Wests, and all of our grades won except 1st grade, which is a pretty good achievement.

I had a yarn with Joe after the game; as it turned out, I was given a crappy end with the wind not conducive to support my out-swing. I ended bowling cross-seam that allowed me to generate the out-swing through my action, but it harmed my run-up, so my rhythm was out.

I was hoping for better luck next time I bowl, but it’s an excellent way to get my first wicket in the ACT Premier competition for Ginninderra.