October 2, 2018

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

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

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

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

October 5, 2018

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

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

October 6, 2018

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

August 12, 2018

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

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

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

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

August 19, 2018

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

My figures in each grade were as follows:

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

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

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

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

Moving forward

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

February 24, 2018

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

March 3, 2018

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

   

February 9, 2018

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

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

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

February 10, 2018

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

February 17, 2018

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

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

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

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

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

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

February 2, 2018

I finally did it. I managed to break through into the 4th-grade side, especially in 2-day cricket, which really suits my style of play. Also, it allows me the opportunity to assess myself against tougher opposition and attend to areas that will need further work.

It was merely a case of motivational too. I didn’t want to stagnate by just playing one-day cricket. I wanted to test myself out in 2-day cricket, having not played a single game in the format since my very first game of the club 2 years ago.

Although at training yesterday, I was able to bowl reasonably well and got the ball to move a bit, I was expending energy through my arms, which is actually causing me to slow down (or stay at the steady pace) instead of accelerating through the crease. This was caused by my poor running form since I was pumping the arms up and down from the hip. That could perhaps explain why I was struggling to run at 15 km/h on the treadmill on Tuesday evening across 4, then 3-minute intervals.

However, I went back to an old YouTube video from Southern Cricket to try and solve the problem. Their version of pumping the arms was basically brushing the arms against the side. So I decided to try it out in the nets tonight, and it just clicked. That approach helped me to run faster and deliver the ball with more pace without much energy loss. Furthermore, it made my stock out-swinger more potent with the extra bounce.

I just felt good all of a sudden, and it was perfect timing with the 2-dayer coming right up. For good measure, I managed to get a few in-swingers to go, but it seems to me that I should use it sparingly (the same will go for my slower deliveries too) more so depending on what the batsman is doing.

At this phase, I’m one of the six seamers available (the others being Duncan Gammage, Luke Snowie, Jared Mathie, Lachie Reid, and Harry Chittick). As it appeared, Luke Snowie will only be available on Saturday. For that particular reason and with Saturday going to be cooler than Sunday, it would be a good idea to win the toss and try to bowl out our cross-town rivals in Wests-UC.

Personally, I am not fazed by the challenge, as I wanted the opportunity for some time. I suppose missing out on the last 2-day fixture as I was unavailable on the Australia Day weekend thankfully did me no harm.

February 3, 2018

I couldn’t get much sleep last night. I woke up at 6.30, having slept at 11.30 last night. I’m too excited and can’t wait to get playing today, perform, and hopefully keep my spot for the rest of the season. I’m grateful for the opportunity as the better bowlers were absent for one reason or another. It helped that Neethu allowed me to spend the weekend playing this 2-dayer too; otherwise, the opportunity would never have come.

Although I woke up early, I managed to at least spend some time visualizing my all-round game. Starting with the bowling, I was thinking about my run-in, pumping the arms, my grip, and, of course, my variations and when I will be bowling them. Similarly, I was thinking about my batting: grip, stance, bent front elbow, backlift, when I start hinging the bat and deciding if a shot has to be played to the ball.

Having fueled myself up with a banana-coffee-chocolate smoothie with Muesli for breakfast, I was soon heading over to play at Kaleen. Upon arrival, the wicket had bouts of green patches, particularly a couple around a full of a length from one end. Again I was hoping we would field first since we only have Luke Snowie only for today.

In the meantime, president Griffo who was playing 4ths for us, was his commanding self as he got us to warm-up, stretch before we did some fielding while Joe went for the toss. It was good to warm up since there’s none of that sort from what I had experienced in 5ths and 6ths. Then again, the grades are different due to the standards. Unfortunately, we lost the toss, and we were batting.

Matty Bell perished in the third ball of the day before fifties from Dinesh Chovatiya, and Chris Mair settled us during the day even when the rains were settling in. Dinesh was his usually bulldozing self (and he got out that way. As people say, you live and die by the sword) while Chris relied on timing from his shots to score runs. Dinesh made 55, and Chris made 66, his first in 22 years (as he says).

Unfortunately, we couldn’t keep up the excellent work, and we were bundled out for 193 in 62 overs. I managed to bat last and hung around with Luke Snowie for 6 overs before missing an in-swinger and was out LBW. Going out there to bat, I again was aware of the set up from the lower grades. I was facing quicker bowlers, but I still managed to score when the opportunity presented itself. I made 6 and faced about 20 odd balls that didn’t go unnoticed by the likes of Joe and Chris Mair in a positive way.

Ideally, we would have liked to score at least 220, but we have 15 overs to bowl at the Wests, and I was personally hoping Luke Snowie would bowl half the overs considering his absence due to work tomorrow, which he managed to do. Before we went out to the field, the senior players encouraged us to put in a full effort and always keep chirping. Griffo was specifying the needs for the basics and hard work. If we put in the hard work, we will win. As most of the dismissals were bowled and LBW, Joe and Chris Mair asked us bowlers to attack the stumps on a good length.

While I was keen to get into the action, Joe asked me to stay off the field since we had 12. I didn’t mind it having batted last and was tired. I could have retreated to the change room, but I instead stayed on the boundary edge and tried to make my presence felt through my encouragement.

After six fruitless overs, Luke Snowie stuck twice in three balls. He clean-up Aaron Eardley before trapping Hollingsworth LBW. He finished with 2/16 off 8 overs to go with his unbeaten 32 from number 9. From the other end, Duncan Gammage struggled a little through his four overs as he was a bit short. He was soon replaced by Dinesh (our own Rangana Herath/Ravindra Jadeja), who struck in his second over trapping Shahnawaz Rasheed LBW.

So Wests-UC were 3/39 after those 15 overs, and we were back into the contest with possibly a winning opportunity tomorrow. I wasn’t too sure what was going on in the huddle out in the middle, but when the guys came in, Griffo acknowledged my support and chirp from the sidelines, which spurred him on in particular since the Wests-UC batsmen were taking easy cheap singles on his arm.

February 4, 2018

Yesterday Joe told me that I was to open the bowling tomorrow, which made the visualization process a lot easier this morning. My plan was simple. Try to make the batsmen play and use the variations sparingly depending on how the batsman’s going. Since I’m aware that we have plenty of bowling options, I knew that I would have four or five overs upfront to make an impact. Make it count, then Joe would be persuaded to keep me on for longer like he previously did when I managed to bowl 8-9 in one-stretch a few times last season.

I took the second over of the day as Lachie Reid took the first over and bowled a maiden. I was bowling to Allen Xu, who was not-out overnight. My first ball was way down leg-side, which would have been wide in one-day cricket. My second ball was again down the leg-side. Then, my next delivery was on the pads, only for Allen to flick it straight to Jared Mathie. Lachie bowled Whitelum in the next over, and soon, I knocked over Connor McFayden with an out-swinger that pitched middle and hit the top of off. It was 6 for 52.

While I was generating out-swing and some occasional bounce off a good length, I wasn’t able to take wickets since I was tiring, but I was keeping it tight and building pressure. I had bowled seven consecutive overs and had figures of 2 for 6 (with 4 maidens). Soon after, Dinesh ripped through the tail and finished with 5 for 22. Wests-UC were bowled out for 76, giving us an 117 run lead. So we decided to follow-on as they were short of the follow on mark, which was 83. To take 7 wickets on this pitch in a session was a great effort.

When we started our second innings effort to win outright, we had 30 minutes until tea. We were all in the field ready to go (including the openers Xu and Hollingsworth), but there was one problem. We had no cricket ball (we asked, “where’s the ball?”), and it was hilarious that our captain Joe forgot to bring it out to play.  Unfortunately, that period wasn’t right for us, and they were 0/22 at tea.

Dinesh was brought on immediately after the resumption and struck quickly. Hollingsworth (who forgot his bat initially) dragged a drive onto his stumps. Harry Chittick came on next over and was off after 2 overs. He had cramp. Poor Harry, only three overs and now calf cramp to rub it in. Hopefully, the young lad is ok.

Dinesh bowled two overs and switched over to Harry’s end. So, Chris Mair was given a crack with his left-arm wrist-spin. He got a few to turn but was hit around and leaking runs, so I got another go. I didn’t start well either as I got pulled away by Whitelum for 2, but I was soon back to my restrictive best. Meanwhile, Dinesh struck again by trapping Shahnawaz Rasheed LBW for the 2nd time in the match. I soon had an LBW off my own on the fourth ball of my third over. Although I was reluctant to try it in the game, I decided to try to bowl an in-swinger. It did swing in, and it hit Whitelum on the boot on the full, and he was given out.

It was my only wicket in the second innings as I continued to keep it tight. I had bowled five consecutive overs and had figures of 1 for 4 (with 2 maidens). As it appeared, I never bowled again in the day. Wests-UC, after the initial setback through Dinesh and myself, they defied us for a while, which made us go flat. Joe and Dinesh struck soon after the stubborn resistance, but it was too little too late since Allen Xu batted through the innings to post 56 not out. They finished with 5 for 112 when Joe decided to finish 7 overs early.

We were disappointed that we were unable to win outright, but a win is a win, and we should be happy to beat our cross-town rivals. I am glad I played my part with the bat and ball and with the chat. I finished with the day’s figures of 12 overs, 6 maidens, 3 wickets for 10 runs. I was happy that I have performed in a higher grade, and while I hope I can retain my spot in 4ths moving forward, I am so glad that I have some exposure in the higher grades, which I could build on in the higher grades.

January 16, 2018

Started with fielding upon a usual late arrival at training. We were doing some slips catching. I took some excellent catches (including one down low to my left) but dropped one. As part of a group, we were aiming to catch ten on the trot, but it took a since there was a dropped catch from somebody. So once we managed the sequence for the fifth time, we were all pumped, and we decided to head to the nets.

However, Kris Oliver decided that since fielding is our weakest point (he meant 3rd grade, but it still applies to everyone), we went out and did some more out ground fielding and catching work as we saw that the 1st/2nd grade boys were still out fielding. I don’t think I did too badly. I managed to juggle a catch, but I also had overrun a ball while trying to field it.

It wasn’t long before we moved to the nets. For the batsmen, it was a case of “If you’re out, you’re out” mentality. This meant that guys had an opportunity to bat for as long as they like without being dismissed. I didn’t do too badly as I made sure I played with a bent front elbow, which allowed me to time the ball against both pace and spin. I did get out eventually (instead gave myself out) when I skewed a square drive in the direction of Point.

I had initially struggled with the 15-meter run-up that I had worked on in the past, so I decided to extend my run-up to add some rhythm to it and to get some swing and bounce like previously. As a result of that adjustment, I managed to give President Griffo a run for his money (although he was technically outstanding), and I also managed to trap Joe Laria LBW. I suppose if I wanted to play two-day cricket this season, getting the captain out probably would have done me some good.

January 17, 2018

I had a personal feeling that I was to become a better bowler; I would need to learn out to properly swing the ball both ways. Instead of going to the gym, I decided to spend some time perfecting my in-swinger. I had previously tried to swing it in with suggestions from Wasim Akram via YouTube, but that didn’t really work for me. So I decided to try a grip that I remembered from watching a Bob Woolmer coaching video on YouTube. The result was promising, although it took a few goes to firstly getting the ball to move in, and secondly, in sorting out my line to land it in the right spot. At the same time, I also practiced my stock out-swinger to ensure that I could still bowl it.

During my practice, Archie messaged me. As I learned that the selections have been left to the captains now, he wanted to know my intentions for this season. I told him that I will be unavailable for the finals as I’ll be with family and so he can plan for his finals preparations without me. Before I was going to tell Adam with the same news, Archie also had passed on the message to him.  I also told Archie that it will be useful to play some 2-day cricket, especially in 4th grade. For the first time this season (I think), I’ve heard him speak so positively about my chances. He believes that once I’m in good rhythm, I’ll be able to bowl longer spells and pretty much bat for a very long time. Another good thing for him is that he acknowledges the part I have played for him to help 6th grade get into the finals.

January 18, 2018

I don’t usually attend two trainings in the same week, but I thought of going anyway so that I can practice my in-swinger. Which I managed to do, but I wasn’t able to land it where I wanted all the time. When I did land it, I at least played with the batsman’s mind after bowling a few out-swingers.

I also later learned that my front arm was an issue in my bowling, so over time, I was able to correct that and get back my swing and bounce, although I wasn’t able to pose much of a trouble to our batters this time round. At least I was able to self-diagnose and correct myself.

I managed to get a bit of a bat today. Although I nicked Josh Carpenter to the keeper, I felt that my game was in good order. I was playing some good drives and using my feet well to the spinners. For good fun, I was hitting Tom Carmody out of the net a few times and was pretty much playing a shot a ball to him. When he moved to pace, I was more defensive, but I at least managed to brag a little that he still couldn’t get me out.

Tonight, I had messaged Archie, asking him whether I’ll be playing with him. The short answer was No, but the longer answer was that I would have been with him in 6ths only for the ANU White team to forfeit the match since most of their players were on university holidays. He confirmed that I would be playing in 5ths.

He asked me if I was going to be 100% unavailable next weekend and I told him while I’ll be in town, I’ve said to him that I’ve got family over for the long weekend. He broke the news that if I was available for both weeks, I was going to be picked in 4ths, which was a bummer for me (since I wanted to play 2-day cricket) and also for Joe. Hopefully, Joe still needs me from February onwards because I want to have at least one crack at 2-day cricket before the season finishes.

January 20, 2018

We started at 11am instead of the usual 12.30 due to the extreme heat forecasted in the afternoon as the temperatures are expected to reach about 39 degrees today. We were encouraged to take multiple drinks breaks were possible. As it turned out, both teams took the drinks breaks every quarter of each innings.

Queanbeyan had nine players at the start, yet they decided to field first. I was hoping we would field first since we could at least field in the morning where the heat may not be that bad. As it turned out, it was still hot even at the start. Yet they rolled us for 76 with Dan Stiller topping the scores with 29. Most of our batsmen were bowled or LBW, which concerned Adam very much when he rocked up just as our innings was about to finish. He just arrived back from Brisbane an hour later than planned. He was there watching cricket which was played last night. Adam thought most of the guys got out playing across the line (which was partly true) and not straight (absolutely right).

My contribution to our innings was 3 not out batting at 10. But I was happy about my change of mindset in that innings. When I came in, I was facing John Martin, their left-arm spinner who flights it and lands it on the spot. On my second ball, I decided to try and charge him and hit it straight, but it went to mid-off on the ground. Next ball, I came down the wicket again and went over the top of a vacant mid-on for two as it didn’t quite get to the rope. In my view, I courageously got off the mark as I generally not that proactive against spin. Once John bowled his next delivery short, I went back to cut, but the ball went straight to the fielder. Nevertheless, I continue to gain confidence when being proactive against spin, which started when I made that 47 last month.

So Queanbeyan needed 77 to beat us, and they probably might do it in a canter. There were reasonably comfortable at 1/39 at drinks (after 12 overs and Adam took the wicket opening with left-arm spin), and I had bowled one over for four runs and had two fingers in my left-hand ringing in pain after attempting to stop a drive in my follow-through. So probably it was a matter of time for them to finish this reasonably quickly. But it was going to be a canter for them.

Instead, Dom Ross and I exhibited panic for Queanbeyan as we both orchestrated a collapse. I kept it tight at one end while Dom continued his wicket-taking habits. He got rid of the Ferns by clean bowling John and trapping Michael LBW. He also had a batsman caught at mid-on by Mark Wilson as well as another batsman LBW. He finished with 4/15 after 6 overs, and I was hoping he would continue after drinks to try and get another five-for, but it wasn’t to be for him.

It was amazing that I was able to keep it tight because I was probably a little over the place with my run-up initially. Vasu Patel at least recognized that I’m landing way behind the popping crease, which made me correct my run-up so that I land just behind the popping crease. It helped me to land the ball and get the ball to swing initially, but I was still bowling a little full to my liking. Nevertheless, I managed to dismiss the left-handed Haskins with a slower ball, which the batsman dished up a lollipop of a catch for me to gobble. It was my only wicket for the day, and the second time, I dismissed a batsman caught and bowled this season (and my third catch for the season too). It was only in my sixth and last over that I finally managed to get some deliveries to swing and bounce a little, which had Couch defending a little uncomfortably from the crease. I had realized up to that point that my load wasn’t high enough as it should be at head-height at an acute angle to my body. Overall, I finished with 1/13 off 6 overs and made sure with Dom’s help that the game could still be won.

After drinks, I went off the field, and Jared Mathie came on to bowl. He got the wicket of Couch caught by Adam, but they soon finished the chase off in the 27th over. They won by three wickets, and it was the tightest of contests so far. Adam was pleased with the bowling and fielding effort and thought if we could have at least made another 30 runs or so, we could have possibly won this game. Instead, we had to contend with a tight loss (and a fourth consecutive defeat).

Although I wasn’t going to play next weekend, I was hoping on going to practice on Tuesday to continuously work on my in-swinger and my bowling fundamentals. Making sure I land closer to the popping crease and loading the ball reasonably well, allowing me to generate some swing and bounce. I later realized that our club was playing a t20 game against the Hong Kong cricketers. So I would have to practice on my own in Franklin unless there will be a few guys going to do some practice during the Twenty20 match.

Off the field, I would need to convince Neethu to allow me to spend the first weekend in February playing a two-day match, but I do have time for that.

January 11, 2018

I had learned that we were going to get a couple of cricketers from Hong Kong for the rest of the season. One of them was Nadeem Ahmed, who famously spun them to victory in a World T20 match against the hosts, Bangladesh, back in 2014. As far as I know, he already had slotted nicely into 1st Grade with a disciplined 3/54 off 31 overs. I believe it couldn’t have come for our top side, which probably lacked a specialist spinner.

So I was hoping at training I would at least observe them from close quarters, but they didn’t come today. It was bloody hot, and as usual, I didn’t bowl as well as I liked, but I later realized at the end of the session that my arm upon load up was too high for my action. I had remembered from my previous footage that I was able to get movement if my wrist was at the shoulder level. At the end of the session, I was able to rediscover the movement with a few deliveries, but given as I was tired, I had stopped bowling.

Earlier on, I had tried on the new Techshot Batting Trainer that I recently purchased with the hope that it would iron out any technical issues with my technique and also allow me to watch the ball and play it late. While it appeared to be very tight on me, I was able to remember the bent front elbow and fixed up my stance so that the bat will come down from the direction of the first slip rather than dead straight.

January 13, 2018

It was game day, and we had a bit of rain at about 11am, but thankfully, it dried out, and we were able to start on time. Adam won the toss and decided to field. I would have thought that any moisture from the early morning rain could have dictated the toss. I opened the bowling with Thomas Ison. Thomas bowled a reasonably tidy spell upfront while I struggled.

Although I was able to generate some movement, I basically struggled while bowling into the wind, and Ian Chattin took me apart for a couple of sixes. After four overs, I was rightly taken off, but it was hinted that I would return given we only had five bowling options.

Sidu Macal came on and bowled his full quota and removing both Chattin (bowled off an inside edge) and Kerum Koralage courtesy of a chest mark like catch from Caleb Stevens. Thanks to him, we fought back to have them about 3/89 after drinks, but they motored along to 133 with 15 overs to go. At that point, I had got a fingertip to a drive from Marty Boland off Thomas’ bowling and had switched places with Caleb in Thomas’ next over. However, we all pulled it back, and they only managed 9/188 after their 45 overs. So we inflicted a collapse of 6/55 to ensure that we didn’t have to chase over 200.

Thankfully I managed to play my part during the day as my second four-over spell was much better. I had come back on the 37th over after Adam bowled through his full quota, and I managed to bowl reasonably well in the ‘death’ overs. I managed to land a couple of yorkers, but I was trusting my own slower balls to slow the scoring down and possibly take a couple of wickets. Which I managed to do as Sudheer Bandara holed out to Sidu at deep mid-wicket, and Harvey chipped a slower ball to Michael Ison on the ring at Cover. I finished with 2/36 off my 8 overs, which was a reasonable comeback for me.

We had to chase 189, but Adam believed it can be done since the wicket wasn’t doing much, then it was at the start of the match. Although Sidu and Michael Galen-Mules got us to a good steady start, we were in trouble at 4/49. However, we still tried to fight our way back into the contest courtesy of Michael Ison (who made 42). He put on 37 with Justin Murray, but then the run rate began to rise sharply, so we had to tee off immediately.

When I came in to bat at no. 11, we needed about 34 off 17 balls. I managed to get off the mark off my third delivery, but Thomas couldn’t pierce the gaps. So that left us 33 off the last two overs. I managed to get off strike for the first ball of the over, but after two dots, Thomas went for a drive and was snaffled at slip. Eastlake had beaten us by 32 runs, and I finished with 2 not out.