Season Two: April Round Up
A mixed start to the season! It was a nailed on certainty that after all the winter nets, the analysis of my game, the talking rather than doing that in …
Happy Birthday Fleur
Our little (literally) girl is twelve (12) years old today! Fleur arrived small and vulnerable and she has remained that way. She is a very small cat, with a huge …
Happy Birthday Tito
Somebody please try and tell Tito that he is six (6) years old today and not 6 months! I think the pictures speak volumes for what an idiot (loveable) this …
Happy Birthday Tobi
Tobi is six (6) years old today. We still call him Baby Cat because when we adopted him we assumed he would remain the youngest, but he is no longer …
Happy Birthday Dusky
Not sure how but today Dusky is eleven (11) years old. Rather like the man himself it has just crept up on us! He is a remarkably laid back cat, …
Happy Birthday Moreno
Moreno is sixteen (16) today! He remains the most amazing cat. Externally he has hardly aged at all, and whist old age and arthritis have slowed him down and made …
Season Two: I have a plan
I have a plan, well several actually, for Season Two and they involve wearing tights! I think that anyone reading the diary last year will have worked out that it …
What Next For England Cricket
A lot has (and is) being said about the future of England Cricket, and as usual lots of symbolic comparison to the deckchairs on the Titanic are being made. This …
Net Strategy
I write this at the beginning of my first week without any nets planned since I started the winter Members Nets at Edgbaston on 18th November (and I could have …
Happy Birthday Orla (RIP)
Beautiful little Orla would have been fourteen (14) years old today which highlights just how long ago we lost this lovely lady, but just how much of a change she …
Staffordshire Seniors Cricket
Returning to the cricket field last year, aged 57 after a 33 year break, I wrote several times that I had set myself the target of paying Seniors Cricket for …
Happy Anniversary Teo (RIP)
Nine (9) years ago Teo came into our life, and turned it around for the better in so many ways. Can’t begin to say how much I still miss him, …
Remembering Sophie (RIP)
It is six (6) years since we lost our sweet Princess Sophie, the most gentle, happy, loving little cat you could ever wish to have in your life. It still …
Happy Birthday Dinky
Our reclusive, beautiful mummy cay, Dinky, is three (3) years old today and she will spend it doing exactly what she always does: whatever she wants! She remains very war …
Happy Birthday Marti
This amazing cat is six (6) years old today. He is by far the most versatile cat ever: he loves the older cats, the kittens, the dogs, people in fact …
The Changing Face Of Cricket Commentary
I have become slightly obsessed (no surprise I know) with watching cricket on TV not so much out of any interest for the actual games, but for the detailed technical …
Happy Birthday Teo (RIP)
Teo would have been thirteen (13) years old today. He was a very special dog and an extremely special friend that I miss each and every day. Please take a …
Happy Anniversary Oscar
Oscar aka Big Pud has been with us for thirteen (13) years today, a very lucky 13 for us and it has to be said for Oscar who was saved …
Happy Anniversary Hollie
Hard to believe that it is only four (4) years since we adopted Hollie as she seems to have been with us for longer than that, yet at the same …
Structured Net Sessions
I have written several times with my thoughts regards Development Cricket – a term used in this context for the introduction of junior crickets into senior cricket – and it …
Nets, Running & Core Strength
Should probably start by saying that I passed my ECB Core Coach Course at the weekend. This is the new course replacing the old Level Two and no longer required …
What Next For ECB & Team England
I have been trying to write this post for a while but every time I thought it was ready England and/or the ECB shot themselves in the foot again. Mens …
Product Review: Gray-Nicolls Off Cut Pro Batting Gloves
You could argue that nothing symbolises the way that cricket has moved on than when a classic, understated, established brand adds funky to their stable. Say hello to the Gray-Nicolls …
Happy Birthday Charmin
Prince Charmin is ten (10) years old today and if ever a cat landed on their paws and was a puurrrfect fit it is this superstar. He has simply been …
Time to restructure County Cricket Membership
I am a Full Member at both Yorkshire and Warwickshire County Cricket Cub and from that fact alone you would get extremely good odds on me being white, the wrong …
Happy Birthday & Anniversary Saidi (RIP)
Sweet Saidi would have been seventeen (17) today and it is fourteen (14) years since we adopted her. We lost her in June 2020 and these posts do not get …
Dry January: 35th Year
Here we go again, my 35th Dry January in a row! If ever a sentence made me feel old. I can remember the first year I went dry, my first …
Taking Stock (Off Season Reflections and Next Seasons Intentions)
In a recent post I discussed the Edgbaston Indoor Nets and what a great insight they had provided as to how the pros train, and given me some thoughts not …
Edgbaston Indoor Nets
I will talk about the impact the indoor nets, and specifically the coaching, has had on my own game in a separate post. In this view from the boundary edge …
Product Review: Payntr Bodyline 263 All-Rounder Spike
Didn’t take long! In my defence they are replacing a pair of Gray-Nicolls Cricket Shoes which unfortunately didn’t exactly last very long. I returned them and put the refund towards …
View From The Boundary Edge
I mentioned in my recent post confirming the return of my Cricket Diary in 2022 that it would be concentrating on my life on the field – over the white …
Cricket Diary
Returning to play cricket in 2021 aged 57 following a 33 year absence from the game was one of the best (and worst) decisions that I have made. Neither my …
Late Cuts
Late Cuts: Musings on Cricket by Vic Mark was highly recommended by a friend who is a Somerset fan through and through and eagerly anticipated by myself, a big fan …
The Cricket Kindness Project
One of the Heaven Help Us CC charity partners is The Cricket Kindness Project. We are forever dedicated to addressing to the desperate shortage of cricket kit in developing countries around the world with …
Product Review: Payntr T20 Rebel Cricket Shoes & Payntr Evo Pimple Cricket Shoes
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and often a costly thing not to have. My Kookaburra shoes which I bought initially were fine, but turned out to be too small Size …
12 Christmas (Time) Movies
It’s that time of year already, the official start of Christmas. The tree has been up (and down thanks to the cats) since the 1st of December and the Waitrose, …