The valleys and beyond - a season in Welsh cricket.

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Re: The valleys and beyond - a season in Welsh cricket.

hard luck on ure ankle, sounds like the team will need to do some Fielding practise ;)
 
Re: The valleys and beyond - a season in Welsh cricket.

That's the plan! To fair it was the first time they had used an incrediball instead of the softer kwik cricket ball but I'll have a team of Jonty Rhodes by the time the next tournament comes round in a fortnight :D.
 
Re: The valleys and beyond - a season in Welsh cricket.

Hahaha. Good work.

Stuff the batting and bowling practice, do full training sessions on fielding!!!
 
Re: The valleys and beyond - a season in Welsh cricket.

Another weekend that seems to have flown by. Played in the 4ths on Saturday, shouldn't play really due to my ankle but I wanted a game and that fits the bill.

Bowled off about 3 steps, as I'm trying to change my action a little, so that I get my foot pointing straight, rather than to fine leg as it currently does. The difference is astonishing, no pain at all, although I'm yet to try it off a run up etc.

Managed to get through 8 overs, nothing special but I picked up a wicket, which is always nice. Took a couple of decent catches in the field a well, including one moving to my left, which I just managed to pluck out of the air so all good.

Had a bit of a bat as well, managing to pick up a quickish 17 before getting myself out with a loose shot. Mistimed it and it came off the toe to the bloke at mid-on, very annoying as I was seeing the ball well and was starting to feel at ease at the crease again.
 
Re: The valleys and beyond - a season in Welsh cricket.

Yay, it rained! We got the first innings in then it came lashing down. Bell looked out of sorts until he hit a 6,4,4 and then out. Ambrose didn't last long either.

Could have been a good chase, but we'll never know!

Roll on Friday and hopefully better weather. :cool
 
Re: The valleys and beyond - a season in Welsh cricket.

A brief one as I'm knackered. Played in the 4ths again today but managed to get through 10 overs at about 3/4 pace with only a bit of pain from the ankle, taking 2-29 off 10. The other team scored 220 in total, off their 45 overs.

In reply we got about 160 all out, which isn't that bad considering that we field about 4/5 kids and most other sides are all adults. I scored 39 going in at 3, which I'm quite happy with (the batting is finally starting to click again), although I got myself out when I was seeing it like a beach ball, should have gone on to at least 60 odd.
 
Re: The valleys and beyond - a season in Welsh cricket.

Hows the ankle going now?

Great to be back in form with the batting again?
 
Re: The valleys and beyond - a season in Welsh cricket.

Ankle is so so, it hurts a little but I managed to bowl at about 60% on Saturday and by resting it during the week it seems to help.

Hope the batting form remains would like a few more runs to be honest. The ball was in the slot almost every time on Saturday and was coming off the bat nicely.
 
Re: The valleys and beyond - a season in Welsh cricket.

Awesome. Do you work at a cricket shop or something? You seem to have heaps of knowledge about bats and products.
 
Re: The valleys and beyond - a season in Welsh cricket.

I used to.

Not much to report today apart from the fact that it rained and cricket was called off. Might help to give my ankle some extra rest though.
 
Re: The valleys and beyond - a season in Welsh cricket.

A long weekend and at the moment I feel drained.

Played yesterday (in the 4ths as my ankle is still pretty stuffed) despite the heavy rain on Friday. Wicket was ok but the outfield was soaked, to the point where people had splash marks on their whites from running around. Matters not helped by only having 9 fielders (which really translates to 7.5 if you include the kids who switch off all the time).

Bowling was rubbish (thinking about my ankle too much and just couldn't settle) and I dropped a catch, which was at about knee height, but should have been taken - I'll blame the pressure of trying to cover 3 fielding positions at once though.

In the end they scored about 220-3, all three wickets courtesy of our Welsh Under 15 schoolgirl cricketer! All the more impressive as all the wickets were seasoned adults and it was her first game.

On the batting front it was even poorer - I got a quickish 13, mishitting a lofted drive to mid-on. Was really annoyed as I feel in great form and the bowling was nothing special - application is needed. In the end we got rolled for about 50 (far too many kids trying to hit across the line and getting bowled).

On to Sunday and a home under 9's tournament. Had to set up the ground, so that meant an early start. After the usual greeting and sorting out who's playing on what pitch, we went on to win 2 out of 3. Was pleased as you could see the improvement in fielding and bowling from where they were 6/7 weeks ago. Batting needs working on but it'll come.

As that was the final set of games those 2 victories should put us in the top half of the table. Overall, we played 9, winning 6. I had to miss the first set of matches, otherwise, I feel we would have been in with a shout for at least 2nd place in the table.

Moving on to the afternoon and I agreed to play in the Sunday friendly. Opened the bowling, although I felt stiff as a board. Guess the stiffness helped in a way as I bowled ok, pretty much all on off peg. Got one to nip away to the left hander to take off, and had 2 catches taken in the outfield to finish with 3-24 off my 8. Took a ball to my already sore ankle, which hasn't really helped matters.

They finished with 150-6 (I think) and we got around 90 in reply. Undone by a few of their first team players (play about 2 leagues higher than our firsts) but it was an ok contest. Think I scored 7, before attempted to cut their 'spinner' and getting an edge to point. Once again, I give my wicket away - will I ever learn?

All in all, a so-so weekend. I can live with bowling 'averagely' as I know my ankle is stuffed; the problems is that I feel in great batting form but just can't kick on. Maybe this weekend, eh?
 
Re: The valleys and beyond - a season in Welsh cricket.

Played a touring team this evening - a twenty20 in the rain. Batted first and scored 145 from our 20 (I scored 10, coming in 6 near the end). Matters not helped by a wet outfield or else I reckon we'd have gotten 15/20 more runs. I said no to a 2 and managed to run out the other batsman, although it was a direct hit, otherwise he'd probably have made it back.

Fielded in a mixture of showers and the encroaching darkness - never easy at my place due to the large number of trees with dark green leaves dotted around the boundary. Personally, I took a half decent catch and picked up a wicket, although bowling wasn't easy. The ball was getting bigger every time it went to ground due to the rain.

In the end they finished on about 125, good game all round with the highlight being the opposition members fielding in a multi-coloured dressing gown and wig!
 
Re: The valleys and beyond - a season in Welsh cricket.

Crap week, crap weather. Has rained pretty much everyday, with Wednesday seeing about 16hrs worth and leading to an interesting mid week game being called off.

Tomorrow was looking doubtful but a dryer day today, coupled with the fact that the game is towards to the top of the 'valley' may mean that it's on. Not sure if I'm going to play as my ankle is really sore. It's been swollen and bruised now for about a fortnight, even walking has been painful. Feeling better at the moment, but I'll see how I feel in the morning. May play, but only as a batsman.

Added 22 hour(s), 15 minute(s) and 23 second(s) later...

Well, to my surprise the game was on and a trip up the valley was needed after all.

A late start caused by having to find a few players (the oldest bloke in the team cried off with a hangover!) we set off on our way only to get totally lost. Ended up about 12 miles to the west of where we needed to be!

Finally got to the ground (after being guided in by a mate who comes from that part of the world) 20 minutes late, only to be told that we were still missing 4 players! Thankfully the pitch was a little damp and they had already agreed to cut the game to 40 overs and start 30 minutes late.

I opened the bowling and had the opposition playing and missing pretty much every ball, using swing and the slope of the pitch to take it away from the right hander. The pitch was very slow but it carried through ok. Finally got the breakthrough in my 6th over - a double wicket maiden. Finished up with 2-14 off 8 and the other team on about 30-2 off 16, so it was looking good.

I got then a chance to sample just how wet the outfield was in places, chasing a ball to the boundary and literally running through a bog. Myself and the other kid both had soaking feet for the rest of the game. Anyway, back to the game and we fielded well as a team and despite some big hitting kept the opposition to 182 (all out).

On the way to tea, the captain asked if I fancied opening, in order to have a youngster paired with someone with experience, which I agreed to. Tea was one of the best this year as it was a ploughman's style lunch, and not poxy sandwiches.

So, out to open and face like a mug. Pitch was very slow with the odd ball skidding through but no pace and not coming on. I felt out of sorts from the start but decided to scratch round and see what happened. Lost my opening partner very quickly (played around a low ball which cut back in) and the no. 3 soon after that (same ball almost).

At this point I'd scored about 4 off 10 overs, but thankfully the other guy was a big hitter and we agreed to rotate the strike, set small targets and revise as needed. Worked really well as we were able to take the score onto about 130 off about 30 overs before I edged behind (got myself out again!).

I trudged off thinking I'd scored about 25 to be told I'd reached 42. Anyway, not my most fluent innings but an important one as it set up the victory. A late flurry of wickets kept it interesting but we eventually won with 6 balls to spare and for the loss of 5 wickets. My main partner scoring 65.

So, a few wickets, a few runs (I have to get to 50 :mad:) and a win. Not a bad end to the week.

Single wicket tournament tomorrow, never played in one before, should be interesting.
 
Re: The valleys and beyond - a season in Welsh cricket.

Broken toe! Got pinned by a yorker, not the quickest but in the right place!

It's hard to appreciate the colour, the swelling and how far the bruising extends under the foot in the photo, as the flash seems to lessen the impact.
 
Re: The valleys and beyond - a season in Welsh cricket.

Ouch!! Did that happen in the SW comp or the game you made 42 in? It's unlucky to pick this up on top of the ankle injury. :(
 
Re: The valleys and beyond - a season in Welsh cricket.

In the single wicket competition. It happens, although it's the first time I've ever broken a toe in this way. It was a pretty good yorker in all honesty, right up in the block hole and I was just too slow to react.
 
Re: The valleys and beyond - a season in Welsh cricket.

Not sure yet, the toe is pretty numb at the moment and only really hurts when wearing shoes etc. I'll probably sit out the midweek game and see how it feels on Friday. I may play as a batsman only to save the stress that bowling puts could put on it.

At the very worst, I reckon I'll miss 2/3 weeks.
 
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