gundalf's cricket blog

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gundalf7

gundalf7

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gundalf's cricket blog

basically i'm bored so i thought i'd give this a go.

thought i may as well start with last wednesdays game as i can still remember it really well

the format is a 15 over match with 8 ball overs, so basically its a twenty20 in number of balls

we were playing at home against codsall (who were the team we had played on the sunday and lost to), generally the wednesday games are social/friendly occasions, though they seemed intent on playing seriously.

we batted first and batting 11 i wasn't likely to get a bat though that generally is a good thing for the team.
Me and one of our medium pacers decided to practice in the net next to the pitch to the batsmen that were going in while watching the game.

The team got off to a great start and had about 60 from the first five overs with one wicket down, it continued to get better from there with us losing only 3 wickets at the 14 over after a breathtaking 51 off about 25 balls from our number 3 and with our one opener who was still going looking awesome on about 70. codsall then bought on their leg spinner who though not bowling badly got hammered back over his head for 3 consecutive sixes followed by a four to finish with our opener not out on 95 and our score on 195/4 at the end. The net session felt good and i was bowling all my variations with great accuracy and flight.

So we went out to field pretty confident of defending the score though our ground is pretty small to say the least with one square boundary not much more than 30 yards.

Our bowling was good from the outset though there was alot of talk before we went to field about their left handed opener who is supposedly very good, it started alright for them with their other opener hitting a few quickfire sixes, though he was soon dismissed. After about 5 overs they were on about sixty with about 3 down. It was at this point that with one of our medium pacer bowling that their left hander who had been scoring gently, hit a ball off the toe that came straight at me at a short mid wicket, to the teams disbelief somehow I managed to take it as it was just going over my head as I was falling backwards, it was a good catch and I was congratulated by the whole team who didn't think it was going to be taken.

The game continued with wickets falling regularly and after 10 overs they were only just reaching the 90's with 7 down after two beatiful overs form our off spinner only going for 6 runs and taking 3 wickets. By the thirteenth over when i came on to bowl the game was out of their reach with their score on roughly 100.

Strangley I came on at the general medium pacers end which is downhill, and our medium pacer who i practiced with earlier can on at the other uphill end the general spinners end. Obviously I was feeling the effects of an hour of constant net bowling as my back felt a bit stiff and my first ball was a leg break that didn't turn which pitched little more than half way down the track and was promptly smacked to the short boundary with a pull. My next ball was a flat top spinner which was pushed for no score. Next ball my poor bowling continued with a very short quicker, more medium pace ball was dispatched over the short boundary for six. My next ball wasn't too bad though a bit flat but that too got pulled to the same spot for four. The next four balls were much better bowling with my natural flight and a wrong'un being nicked inches over slips head for a single and another wrong'un somehow being chinese cut off middle stump for another single. So ended one of the worst overs I have and probablly will ever bowl going for a grand total of 16. Unsurprisingly I didn't bowl the last over and they finished all out off the penultimate ball for 126, so a comfortable victory for us.

Conclusions from the game, great for the team we won with a great performance all round, turns out i'm a decent close in fielder, need to concentrate when I walk into start bowling and start with my stock leg breaks like i normally do and not get stuck in net bowling or bowling too many variations, i only bowled 2 leg breaks in the entire over.
 
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today's game now, and another post to break it up. Only my second 40 over game of the year, working weekends has its problems.

Weather was alright for once in the rainy country that is england, and another home game. Though there was light cloud and we decided to bat first in our friendly game against a social club (can't remember the name) who had some saturday club players, though our side was mostly some of the kids with a few first team regulars, with 13 of us as our away game was cancelled by the opposition. We decided to have a field rotation and 11 of us to bat. Thankfully yet again I was spared having to bat though I got a 20 min bat in the nets from some of our kids warming up and a bit of a warm up bowl.

Anyway on with the game, it started badly for us as both our openers were dismissed cheaply with only 20 odd on the board, our one guy caught at gully after a juggled catch that he must have juggled 10 times before catching. Thankfully our no 3 and 4 got stuck in with one playing slow and the other scoring quickly, and our no 4 was out just before the drinks break at 20 over after scoring 20 and our no 3 on mid 30's. After the drinks break our no 5 hit a wonderful cut shot but picked out the kid at backward point who took a great one handed catch dismissing him for a duck and not long after our no 3 retired after scoring his 50 to give some of the kids a bat. It was just after this that I went out to umpire with two of our kids batting. The guy bowling at the end I was umpiring was bowling some decent medium inswing and soon had one of our kids bowled cheaply. The guy bowling at the other end was awful and was some of the slowest stuff i've ever seen and seemed to bowl nearly as many wides as balls.

Our guy who had just come in was one of our first teamers and set about destroying the medium pacers they had on and was dropped twice on the boundary by a pretty big guy that resembled a late 40's kallis and both went for four. After a wonderful 30 odd he was caught behind as he tried one shot too many and hit it straight up and at this point my turn of umpiring was over and I went to have a bat in the nets.

Some of our kids added a few more decent runs and we finished 197/9 after the 40 overs.
After our teas of sandwiches, cakes and biscuits, we went out to field. Our medium fast bowler started from the top bowling downhill and got some decent swing and bowled one of their openers in the first over. I opened the bowling at the other traditional spinners end and ended a very average first over conceding 5 runs from a four and a wide sticking to my leg breaks and getting very little turn. After a uneventful over from our other opener who was getting some decent bounce and swing I bowled my second over and started to cause problems with my flight and a edged ball went straight up in the air and was an easy catch for any of 3 fielders in the end they stared at each other and somehow it landed between all of them no more than 2 yards form any of them. To rub salt into the wound the guy nailed a beautiful off drive straight through the vacant mid off position for 4.
Then another ball that beat the batsman who was drawn out of his crease was dropped by our keeper and he knocked the bails off with his gloves with the ball on the ground with the batsman a foot out of his crease. At about the end of this over I changed my run up to my normal 45 degree run up and straight away got a ball to spin a couple of feet to some ooh's and ahhs from the keeper and slip.

My third over i started wonderfully with me getting the guy who chipped a dolly to mid on who preceeded to drop it. By this time the grass was a little damp as a large dark cloud had been over the field since we had started fielding had started to drop a few spots of rain. Unfortunatley this effected my grip and I bowled my only wrong'un of the day for a wide on the off side. My line was a little off and a few balls were too leg side and one went for a leg bye to fine leg. My last ball was an absolute beauty as it ripped from middle and leg to outside off with turn and bounce.

My 4th and final over of the day was easily my best and somehow my only over without a chance. Five of the balls were all as good as the last ball of my third with some even better though maybe too good for the batsman as he just prodded and missed the ball each time. The other ball a topspinner was prodded back down the pitch closing my first maiden of the year (playing 20-20 every week has its downfalls).

At this point me and the other opening bowler were taken off as in his last over he had the other guy i should have had caught at mid off by the kid who dropped the dolly off me at mid on.

In his first over our first change medium pacer bowled their number 4 with a beauty and at this point they were in serious trouble at mid 40's for 3. It was at this point that a their number 5 came in and it was clear from his first ball that he could definitely strike a ball well as it disappeared over the trees at our straight boundary towards the houses. He repeated the feat once more in the over with one not going quite as far.

It was a great duel after this as our kids bowled at one end picking up wickets regularly while this guy struck the odd ball all around the ground and regularly over it with a very spread field. He was eventually out for high 30's to one of our kids who he failed to hit all the way and was caught on the boundary and we congratulated him on his way off. By this time it was about 22 overs in and they had about 100 for 7 with one guy who came in at three who still had only just made double figures. At this point one of our kids came on and bowled their other guy and then one of our first teamers cleaned up the last 2 with ease with me running to take the last catch but a closer kid getting to it and me sliding to stop and ending up slide tackling him though he still took the catch well and held it.

So we won in the 28th over with them all out for 118 with their slow scorer still there at the end unbeaten with about than 20 and every bowler taking a wicket but me, lol.

Overall a great fun day and another win and was good to see some of the young kids having a good time as well. Worryingly some of them seem scared of the ball and that contributed to 7-8 dropped catches as well as numerous other times they should have run in to take comfortable catches





lol thats ended up as an essay, added pics of ground and view from it
 
Re: gundalf's cricket blog

What team do you play for mate? I've played at Codsall this season, it really is a dreadful track!
 
Re: gundalf's cricket blog

I play for springhill, we have a rematch tomorrow with them, weather dependant.

Unfortunately I didn't get to play the sunday game at codsall but I know it was a pretty low scoring game so I guess it is probablly pretty bad. Our track is the exact opposite it really hasn't got much pace in it and the bounce is pretty flat, combined with being a small ground our place is pretty good for batsmen
 
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unfortunately the weather got the better of the game in midweek

arriving at our home ground again it looked like the weather might get the better of the game again, a decent downpour for about an hour before the game and combined with saturdays rain made the pitch look awful to begin with. Straight away it started to shower again and we had to get the covers onto the pitch.

Eventually the rain passed and we started about 45 minutes after the scheduled start and we won the toss and decided to bat. Amazingly the pitch had dried out and with sawdust on the run ups it didn't look that bad at all.

Things started well with us with a great opening stand of about 130 with our one opener scoring a wonderful 100 with back to back sixes over square leg while the other opener scored a painfully slow 10 when the other opener was caught on the boundary in the 18th over. The innings went well from here and we only lost a few wickets with our no 3 and 5 making useful 20 odds and the number 4 finishing 49 not out as we score 256/4 from our 40 overs.

The teas were alright as usual consisting of some sandwiches, biscuits and cakes. Meanwhile while we had been batting i'd been having a net with some of our younger players having 2 hours of bowling and a half an hour bat, only being dismissed once batting to a full toss lost in the background. So it looks like my batting is improving quite alot. With my bowling looking good and spinning it on a soaking wet net track was nice too with all the variations looking good.

Meanwhile back to the game, the weather had brigthened up a bit with some sign of the sun between the clouds amazingly with the day resembling more of an april day rather than august. The game started with some of our medium pacers bowling and getting some life out of the pitch which was looking quite slow though pretty evenly paced, though maybe a ball an over was really lifting with extra bounce. Their openers were very nudging nurdling batsman and after 7 overs they must have been on about 15 maximum when our medium pacers were taken off with a few rash shots had been taken and one edge had seen the downfall of one of them to a good catch at mid on right at the end of the spell. The next 2 bowlers bowled the majority of the innings 15 overs between them sharing 5 wickets between them with some good bowling with one a quick flat leggie who wasn't getting any turn and bowled a few beamers, i'm guessing due to the ball getting some damp from the outfield and our other guy bowling medium pace cutters and some swing bowled really well with 2 catches being taken in the deep on the leg side. By the end of these guys spell the score had only reached about high 50s-60 -6 and the opposition were really beginning to take on some big strikes to try and put something on the board as me stood at long on on the boundary watched a ball sail over my head and the trees on the boundary.

At this point I got to start my spell and bowled an alright first over that went for 5 runs with the first ball loosener being put to the fence for four. The guy who came on at the other end bowled with some real pace bowling seam for the first time in a game and took a wicket from a skier, the big hitter trying to hit him out the ground caught straight on the boundary. My 2nd over was much better spinning the ball past the bat on a few occasions getting even more turn than last week. Finally one took the edge and was dropped at slip sharp chance at ankle height. Though 2 balls later it took the edge and went straight short mid wicket who took a good low chance. Unfortunately the 6th ball of my over I bowled a wrong'un as a waist high full toss (and got called for a no-ball on it??) and it got promptly dispatched for 6, so 7 runs lol.

The next over saw our quick bowler with 7 men towards the slip cordon and all the other 3 on the leg side in short catching and unfortunately a sharp chance to the keeper was dropped and a sitter went straight thorough one of our teams best catchers hands, a looping dolly of all after he had aught 2 beautys earlier. All this meant I came back for a third over and was having some problems trying to find a dry landing point for my front foot( I really need to get some spikes) after slipping and conceding a wide. For the final few balls I got it perfect and got one to spin away beautifully and it was nicked to the keeper for my second wicket.

The next over was bowled by the youngest lad in our team only 12 and unfortunately he got hit for a couple of boundaries though a hard low chance was missed by one of our lads.
I came back to bowl the next over which turned out to be the last as I bowled 3 great leg breaks, 2 pushed for singles. The next ball I bowled a full quicker ball and clean bowled the no 11 to finish the game knocking over off stump, finishing with 3.4 overs 3-17 and they had only totalled 85 after 28.4 overs. So a huge 170 run win for us in a great all round performance and finally after 2 wicketless games I was back in the wickets.

Overall a great day for the team and our saturday team are still unbeaten in the staffs club cricket league 4th division :)
 
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Matt,
Congrats for getting wickets after 2 matches.
R the batsmen scoring more of ur bowling considering the run rate.
DO u practice ur leg spin more or the medium fast one.
 
Re: gundalf's cricket blog

thank virender

I practice my leg spin alot more than my medium pace and only really bowl my leg spin in games unless the conditions are hugely favourable for swing. In the nets my accuracy is around 85-90% in nets though out on the pitch it seems more like 75%. On the whole I only really bowl one short or wide ball an over now. I think the problem is my run up as out on the pitch I seem to change my run up angle every few balls.

going to have all winter to practice though now as our midweek games have finished as the season is coming to an end and I'm only going to be able to play one more sunday game this year.

On the whole i'm pretty happy with how i've bowled this year with 20 wickets at 11 a piece though the economy of just over 5 isn't so nice.
 
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Yes the run rate is an issue......i felt after reading ur blog.
Is it possible for u to keep practicing leg spin or medium fast....any one
If u are sticking to one u can work hard on it develop it for good results.
But ultimately it is your choice and team's requirement as well.
 
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from late september/ early october i'm going to be back at university so i'll be able to have 2 and a half hours practice a week. I can practice at home though the practice area is only about 18 yards or could pop down to our ground to have a practice in the net there though its a good walk and with the weather in the uk at the moment its hard to find a dry day.
definitely going to stick with the leg spin as i'm getting good turn and bounce though alot of it is to do with inexperience I guess. I am definitely the clubs most threatening spin bowler as the others we have are more containing bowlers. The medium fast I just practice every now and again and the accuracy is good but I just don't seem to threaten batsmen though i've bowled medium fast for years.

The advice I seem to be getting is just to try and keep it simpler what I bowl on the field and just concentrate on the leg breaks when bowling on the pitch. I might try and get some video of some net bowling up
 
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just finished what will be my last game of the season, unfortunately the opposition cancelled late on us as they couldn't get a side together so it ended up a mix of sunday 1sts and 2nds making 2 teams of 9 for a game.

We started out aiming for a 35 over a side game with the pitch showing the signs of alot of wear from the season. The team I was on bowled first and were on top straight away with 3 wickets for our opening bowler, including the clubs best batsman who made the most of being dropped and backward point and unleashed a forray of sixes in all directions before being out with sparked a mini collapse. I came on first change with the score on about 40-4 as our other first change had bowled a beauty to dismiss another and straight away got it right with 3 leg breaks on target turning nicely to outside off and the 4th ball bowled antother of there guys, and finished up with another 2 nice balls to finish a wicket maiden. My second over was just as good as the first ball the guy got a top edge trying to chip the infield and was lucky to get 2 for it, next ball i flighted it tempting him to do it again and bowled him. Unfortunately attempting a wrong'un I managed to bowl a wide (was maybe a little harsh) though completed another 4 dot balls to finish the over. In the next over the other guy bowled one of the kids to bring the final 2 in. Then some of our kids came on to bowl to the last pair who hung around for an over an a half before being bowled out for 56, with me finishing with 2-3.

On another great note our saturday team got promoted and wil be in division 3 next season.

The openers for our team were 2 of our normal top order/opening batsmen and made the whole thing look completely easy on the dodgy surface and knocked off the runs in a little over 9 overs with 2 drops and a few missed run out opportunities.

With so little time gone we decided to play another 15 over a side game with a little more balanced sides, so I swapped teams with one of the kids.

With the team batting first I umpired and we got off to a good start with the team making a much better fist of things even though our best guy got out early we scored steadily with a good run rate throughout finishing with a respectable 96-4.

After teas we went into the field and quickly got off to a good start with a wicket of the team captain as i made a simple catch look hard by juggling it twice before taking it. They lost another wicket to one of our quicks of an inside edge to the keeper. With them going well after 8 overs and being on target with 54-2, i was brought into the attack and in my first over had one of the guys who had looked so good in the other match as he top edged a pull off the only long hop i bowled all day. Rest of the over was good but 2 good shots brought 3 more. My second over was good bowling round the wicket to a leftie and 5th ball he missed a slider (wet ball slip straight throught the hand) and lost his middle stump, a single of the last ball was the only run. Meanwhile at the other end it was a little looser and they needed 18 to win from the last 2 overs, I bowled the penultimate over and with the run rate up the other guy who had batted through in the other match charged down the track towards me but I put it a little outside leg stump and bowled him round his legs. A single brought the batsman who had been there most of the innings on strike and he put me for 4 with a great sweep through mid wicket. That finished my spell of 3 overs with 3-9 and them needing 13 to win from the last over, with a decent bit of big hitting a a few helpful balls from the kid who was bowling they were left needing 7 to win off the last 2 balls. But a good comeback from the bowler saw a inswinging yorker bowl the guy who had been there most of the innings. The final ball he got right again and we won by 6 runs.

Overall a great days cricket and a nice day with figure of 5-12 for me and being on the winning side for both teams, lol.

Unfortunately thats the end of the season and finishing the season with an average of a little under 8 from 11 games I feel is quite good, can't wait for next season. Winter nets start in 2 weeks at uni so I guess practice over the winter will help me be even better for next year.
 
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well its the general off season practice had a few nets sessions at uni, my bowling was looking great for the first few practice with my improved accuracy and pretty decent turn. Sunday's practice on the other hand was certainly a mixed bag, I barely knew where the ball was going but some of the balls I bowled turned so much they would have made shane warne proud. On the other upside my flipper seems to be working perfectly and looks like it may add another dimension to my bowling.

Had another practice today by myself, seem to have figured out what was wrong in my action and fixed it and still spinning the ball loads though so looks like it going good. Flipper and amazingly slider which i've had lots of trouble with both coming out perfect and frequent inswing on the flipper. Probablly some of the best stuff i've ever bowled.

On the downside my batting looks to have gone from bad to can barely hold a bat anymore, not a clue what i'm doing wrong, but nothing is going right, missing straight balls and half volleys all the time, been bowled regularly just don't seem to be picking the ball up at all I think. Worse still my feet aren't moving at all so i'm in no position for any shots.

On the upside again over the winter there are some indoor games, so hopefully may get a game or 2 though it will probablly depend significantly on my batting. If I can just learn to be competent with the bat i'm nearly a shoo in for the first team next year with the way i'm bowling.

Few targets to focus on over the winter:
#1 most importantly batting- work on watching the ball is necessary, maybe some work on footwork to.
#2 keep practicing the leg spin to keep it up to a good standard with accuracy
#3 try and learn the off spin thats been eluding me and hopefully integrate into my leg spin action.
#4 fitness work- improve strength for throwing and suppleness in leg joints(especially rehab for right knee).
#5 Learn to play the leg glance, would be useful
#6 more spin variations- doosra? carrom ball grips? other?
 
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Wow, sounds like it's all coming together great. Hopefully you can build some momentum to carry into next season - just a pity it's so far away!!
Is there anyone at nets that can help you with your batting? Is this just a temporary dip in form do you think, or have you changed your approach to batting recently? Maybe you just need some more time at the crease to get comfortable?
 
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yeah the bowling looks on track for next season hopefully I get to play at least one indoor game, shame it is so far away but on the positive it leaves more time to practice.
On the batting i'm not too sure I think it may be a dip in form but I can't have faced any more than 10 overs in the last 3 months combined which may be it. On a good note I hit the ball along the ground when I do hit it which is an improvement over earlier in the year. On another note I found out my eyesight is bad so will be wearing glasses to bat from now on which may help
 
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Gutted with the eye-sight thing! Daniel Vettori seems to get on with alright though. Hope it goes alright and you get used to them pretty quickly.
 
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considering its not cricket season i'm practicing lots for some reason. one net practice and a mess about indoor game, bowling looking great had a few balls pitch on leg and spin wide down off!? For some reason both backspin deliveries refused to come out my hand right over the weekend, don't know why they work one day and not another. On a good note my batting looked a good bit better faced only slow bowlers looking very strong through the off side as my batting is usually one sided. Didn't get a proper net though as there was alot of people at nets.

Last 2 days, with a day off after watching mendis the day before in the t20 final I decided i'd finally learn off spin. Took me a long while to actually get it coimg out right but by the end of the day i'd progressed up to using a incrediball and was bowling top spinning off breaks and some small spinning off breaks fairly accurately.

Had a proper 3 hour net today at a outdoor net by one of our uni campuses which is really good. The surface was aboslutely waterlogged though and the ball barely gripped with puffs of water everytime it hit the deck. It was rare to see one turn much at all even with a bit of backspin in the leg breaks. I decided to make good use of the net to practice my backspinning balls with it being perfect conditions for them and on the whole they worked quite well with some lovely low skid. I bowled an hour of spot bowling with some nice results accuracy wise but my body didn't quite feel at its best with the energy levels not quite being there. Bowling to batsmen for the next hour and a half felt a bit better, i always seem more up for it actually bowling to someone. It was alright but i've come to the conclusion i'm maybe bowling with too much flight, how much is too much flight?. Finished the session off batting for half an hour against a medium pacer and an off spinner, first time i've batted on a sodden wicket and i mean ever. The skid took a bit of getting used to but I only got bowled once driving over the top of a shin high ball. Rest of the session was good still looking much better on the back foot than front though the shots are all on the ground now. Even hit a few leg glances which is surprising for me. One big weakness still though anything thigh height on my legs ends up smacking me in the thigh, definitely gonna need to keep wearing the thigh guards.
Still noticing that i'm only watching the ball to just before the pitch and predicting where it will and than watching it fully.

Lots of positives more so than negatives at the mo, still alot to work on with my batting but its getting better again, still haven't faced quicks for a while which is always the problem if it was only slow bowlers i'd be fine. Yet to wear my glasses batting yet is I get a bat at the indoor net this weekend i'll see if it makes much difference.
 
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Just been on the wrist spin page and saw the mention of that bloke Mendis and the Carram ball. Yeah what a weird grip - I can't really see what he's doing but it just goes to show that if you play around with new ideas things can happen. It does look a bit like the Knuckle Ball in baseball and that's supposed to spin weirdly and move faster through the air, I noticed that the speed gun had it as a fastish delivery - I reckon it's a derivitive of the knuckle ball and he's been reading this forum! LOL.

Give the Doosra a go - that's a good ball and it might lead to you getting the Googly as it's quite similar in lots of ways. Do you bowl the flipper?
 
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yeah I can already bowl all the leg spin variations which is why i'm having a go at the off breaks. My grip is similar to mendis' anyway and i'm still bowling it with the same action as my leg breaks which is a bonus. Probablly give the doosra a proper go in a month or so though bowling the top spinning off breaks I had a couple go very very slightly from leg to off.
 
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haven't posted in a while but been practicing a fair bit.

Had a lot of batting practice lately seems to be improving and my glasses have helped no end, i'm actually being early on shots from pace bowlers now.

last friday had a practice with one of our best batsmen our keeper who is trying to help me improve had lots of throw downs working mainly on stuff of the pads and a few drives.

last sunday- awful nets session was knackered after working for 8 hours before cricket, seem to have lost my leg break, couldn't get it to turn at all for the entire nets and bowled loads, action felt right but think it maybe my grip. Got one top spinner to turn slightly and bounce head high which was a bit weird freak ball, only one that did anything all night. Too tired to risk batting no concentration. Last half hour reverted to medium pace which seems to be very rusty to say the least.

Monday-woke up feeling awful, sore shoulder, bad wrist, sore fingers, sore back- no chance of practice for next 2 days.

wednesday- working early week meant I had no chance to see if leg break problem was permanent, turns out it may seem to be. Nice day saw a chance for an outdoor nets with a couple of the guys. Started bowling, feels the same as sunday ablls seems to me slipping in the hand when I come to bowl, could it have been caused by learning off breaks?. Bowled for about 15mins by myself from stanidng position over 10 yards and still only just getting the balls to turn maybe an inch or 2. Tried all my variations, nothing is working even flipper is ending in the roof of the nets. Decided to mix up bit of pace and attempted spin to bowl to the lads having a rotation of when you get out you swap batsmen. medium looks a little better, decent accuracy and a little swing no rhythm though. got one ball to turn all day and that was a very small leg break, just enough to take the edge from a straight bat.
On a positive though batted with glasses for the first time, seems I can actually see the ball again, which helps :p. Looking stronger on leg side though still not picking the ball up correctly, still watching and predicting where it will pitch, which means I lose very full balls completely. This accounted for all but one dismissal which was a thin nick to a fullish ball. Hit some nice back foot shots especially square on both sides and a few nice drives was looking like I may actually be able to bat when I got my final bat, though may need to phase in some defensive shots again as I seem to be playing everything.
End of the session my spinning finger feels really bad, later this evening it begins to swell up a bit and I've ended up with blood blosters all down the outside of the top of my finger and under my nail, won't be bowling spin for a few days, hurts to hold a ball.

Friday- another indoor game amongst ourselves, on our keepers team who batted all the way through for our alloted 25 mins as we made 110 with the last pair at the crease, me lasting 3 balls against our county level pace bowler who got me with a slower ball, through the shot by the time the ball reached me :(, still didn't score any runs.
Other team batted and we got hammered as they had better batsmen and our bowling was poor, I got slaughtered and bowled a couple of wides in my over of very gentle medium, finger still seems quite bad.

Sunday-
finger feels better again, spun a few ball from hand to hand and balls seems to be coming out much better. Got to nets and started off quite well the ball slightly turning again, seem to have solved the problem mostly, only had bowled less than an over when I decided to pad up. Nets was alright batting against some alright bowling though our best bowlers were in the other nets. The keeper was practicing in the same net trying to give me some help. Picking the ball up alright tonight it seemed, just the timing a little off, just too early maybe a side effect of seeing the ball better. Got bowled 3 times and missed a couple with wild swipes across the line to length balls around middle and middle and leg. Keeper got so annoyed at me he left the net after telling me to play straight about 10 times. Other than these problems I looked a lot better than I have been though nearly put my shoulder out trying to hit a wide cut too hard and missing. After this I played pretty defensive for the rest of the net and my defensive shots are defensive shots are definitley the best shots I play, if I don't want a bowler to get me out they likely won't. Still alot stronger off the back foot than front foot, playing too many back foot shots though to length balls when I should be forward.
Rest of the net was great my bowling felt great, the action was perfect though my arm seems to have reverted to a slightly higher position than it was, probablly reverting to natural action a bit. Ball was turning loads again from leg to outside off and I was able to vary amount of turn again. This seems to be the perfect amount of turn as I was causing alot of problems for some very good quality batsmen including a inducing a few edges to what would have been keeper or slip and hitting off stump twice and bowling one guy round his legs. Bowling to our left handed keeper was the best though I had completely fooled numerous times and had him come down the track to a small wrong un that had the same behaviour as a top spinner as well and would have had one of the easiest stumping ever. The only thing I noticed was that this slightly higher arm action has adjusted my wrist position slightly so I may have to practice the load up for the googly and big leg break that I couldn't quite get to work. On the whole though I'm feeling great and there aren't many negatives.

If its dry this week probablly have a couple of nets at home or at the outdoor nets and work on my batting focussing on drives a bit after watching woolmers most of woolmers batting coaching vid and one of don bradman. I'm confused whether I should be going back and across or not when batting as the coaching vids say yes, but our best batsmen have told me to cut it out completely.
 
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