A three day Bank Holiday weekend with no cricket. Two great days at the Test Match. A new hobby/business/addiction and “Suits you sir”. Bothered by no cricket? Being honest not at all! Body needs a lot of rest and good to have some time at home doing NOTHING!
The Week That Was
Monday: progress of sorts in that the body still aches a lot on Mondays but by way of a “change is as good as a rest” on the whole they are either new(ish) parts or the old injuries slowly getting better. By that I mean that as I am fielding and running more certain muscle groups are from happy to have been reawakened and are not holding back on letting me know. An ongoing Monday morning habit is to check Spond and with 25 Available, 26 Unavailable and 12 Unanswered it is hard to be remotely optimistic that the 4s will have a game at Penkridge again this week, and with Barlaston Sunday 2s having no fixture and the Bank Holiday NHS Game at Penkridge never getting off the ground a long Bank Holiday weekend beckons. Catch 22 – body would really benefit from a weekend off but cricket would really benefit from playing and building (hopefully) on recent momentum. Nothing I can do about it really, other than make myself unavailable for Penkridge which is tempting but as it is likely to be the last game I am available for this year I want to have every opportunity to play.
Tuesday: scored on the Spond doors at close of (selection) play read 29 Available, 7 Unanswered and 27 Unavailable. As one of the Unanswered was a scorer that made 35 potentially available, so again looks like zero chance of putting out a 4s team on Saturday. 3s may be short, but I am not really on the radar for selection so looks very much like my season at Penkridge is over, or to be more accurate ended on 24th July when I last played, and scored 35 Not Out. No nets for me at Barlaston as with me being at the Headingley Test on Wednesday and Thursday Sands went to Formby and I did all my usual fortnightly Thursday chores, and took delivery of Sands new Greenhouse!
Wednesday: Day at the Test at Headingley, on my own! I rarely get any time on my own so every now and again I like to get away, enjoy my own company and just enjoy ‘being in the moment’. Not many better places to do this than at Headingley which holds such fond memories and is always full of friendly and approachable people. Of course it helps when it’s a brilliant days cricket as well which it most certainly was bowling India out for less than 70 and being over 100 for no wickets at the end of the day. Stopped overnight at the excellent Hinsley Hall a Pastoral Hotel and Conference Centre which is only a 10 minute walk from the ground.
Thursday: Day at the Test at Headingley but this time I met some mates for a pre match pint or two and then met up with them again at Lunch and Tea before heading home after yet another excellent day.
Received the by now expected message confirming no 4s on Saturday which once again was frustrating and disappointing although I guess I should be thankful they at least contacted me this week which sadly means the end of my season with Penkridge as I am not available next two Saturdays. Will write later about my thoughts and lessons from this year (but for now let me say that I really appreciate that both Penkridge and Barlaston have allowed me to join them and play) and will see what next year brings BUT this season has confirmed what is the priority for me in terms of a balance between cricket and family and that is to focus on playing with Barlaston Cricket Club on a Sunday because:
- Sunday is a day that I usually do something with my parents so a 2pm start allows me to see them first if we want a late breakfast, and playing in North Staffordshire means that even when we are away from home they can easily come along and watch for an hour or so.
- Selection (and notification) on a Tuesday night after nets means that we have plenty of time to plan the weekend around whether I am playing or not
- Fielding one senior and one development team on a Sunday means games are not cancelled due to a lack of availability.
- Playing from April through September gives me plenty of games and a long enough season.
- Barlaston have a Live Stream which my parents enjoy.
- Barlaston have a bar, a bar man, and bar staff who are all very friendly and this makes a difference for my parents in particular when they come to watch. Not that they drink at all, but they appreciate a familiar and friendly face and it’s good that they can sit inside with a coffee and watch the cricket.
I would like to find a way to play on a Saturday if the old body allows, but think the only way that is feasible is if I just fill in as and when required rather than commit to playing, and if that means I get no games then so be it. I will also have to see how things are health wise with my parents and Sands mother next year as well, so for now it seems sensible to concentrate on mainly one game a weekend.
Need to think on how best to do this. If I make myself available for Barlaston on a Saturday I would know on Tuesday night if required, which means if not selected (which will be most weeks being honest about my chances of regularly playing for the 2s) then I can plan ahead and if required step in for either Barlaston or Penkridge towards the end of the week if they are short. I would be happy with this, but understand the clubs may not be in which case just playing on a Sunday would be good enough for me.
Friday: nothing to report really – watched the third day of the test (think I got the best two days), and enjoyed the start of the first long weekend with nothing at al planned for a LONG time.
Saturday: watched the end of the Test, worked on a couple of bats (SS and MRF) I am repairing and refurbishing (having sold the first one I did), had a BBQ, watched a movie. A remarkably normal day, yet pretty much the first one since April that I a) wasn’t sore or b) wasn’t playing the next day.
Sunday: nothing, zilch, nada!
In Other News
Don’t really have a day job as such these days, but one thing I do still turn my hand to is the occasional bit of consultancy, either educational or business, and this often involves helping people and organisations with Working from Home. As such I often get attracted to rather random articles, including this one from The Times, which says that around 50% of Marks & Spencer stores no longer stock suits. M&S where my suit of choice aka budget when I started work in 1986, followed by Jaeger, and nowadays I am a fan of Ted Baker although there is little call for one playing cricket or walking the dogs, but I do like to wear one whenever the occasion allows, and as I regularly tell people Working FROM Home is not the same as Working AT Home, and there is no reason not to go out for lunch or to meet people during the day at all (in fact is one of the benefits) so it’s not mandatory to wear jogging pants and slippers all day!
Body Count
Whilst my little finger remains an issue it hurts less, bends more, and there is light at the end of the tunnel, but the real ‘news’ is that I no longer have any bruises on my toe nails. Yep after three months they have all grown out!
Not a great year for Masuri players and getting broken fingers
Email from Tom Kohler-Cadmore
Knees are getting stronger, so still ache but in a different way and the other three areas I will need to work on the most remain left hamstring, right thigh and lower abs.
Opinion
Have waited for the dust to settle before commenting, but recently played one of the most toxic sides you could ever (not) wish to meet.
I have written before about the lost art of sledging and the way it has moved more towards a personal attack on an individual than an attempt to put them off their game.
In a recent game the opposition opted to bat well beyond a score our development team could hope to beat, so we had one option: to bat out time for the draw. I opened and 18 runs off 17 overs will tell you all you need to know about my approach (especially when that included three 4s) so the non stop chipping away about being bored with this Test match cricket, counting the dot balls was water off an old ducks bat. On the other hand telling a bowler to see what a 13 year olds ribs were made of did not sit well, coming from both the veteran captain and many a youngster of similar age.
Unfortunately once the game was over the sledging continued as we left the pitch, again of a personal nature, and again coming from the mouths of the younger players who obviously were taking their lead from the elder players.
‘Funny’ thing is they could dish it out but when challenged played the ‘only youngsters’ card. Well let me tell you, the youngsters are your future and if that is how you want to develop your club then good luck to you, you wont be making many friends on or off the pitch.
Thank You
Gray-Nicolls are generously supporting this diary and my return to cricket for the 2021 Season.