Off Season Plans: Fitness, Rehab & Training
Here we go again another off season that starts with the need to rehab an injury I have been carrying since the second game of the season and which I …
Season Two: Reflections
Time for some post season reflections again, a season which in many ways mirrored last season, my first playing again after 33 year break between innings. Next Season then, what are …
Season Two: September Round Up
Final month of a very mixed season: dominated again by injury, but when I played I played much better than last season, introduced myself to Staffordshire Seniors, got more clarity …
Season Two: August Round Up
Last month was a very mixed month with the focus being on rehab and getting my mind around my future cricket. To that end August saw me sign up to …
The Forty Club
I mentioned in my July Diary that I had played for an invitational team against a Dubai Club and that I was becoming more involved (well aware really) of the …
Season Two: July Round Up
Last month ended on a high, albeit a painful one, so I carried a couple of bruises, sore knees and stiff legs into the first game, my second for the …
Season Two: June Round Up
First game of the month was the first game of the season to be rained off. Mixed emotions as wanted to carry on from previous weeks form, but with regards …
Season Two: May Round Up
If last month was a mixed start to the season then May has been very mixed, very frustrating and very rewarding. Fair to say that following my limited involvement in …
Yorkshire County Cricket Club NED’s: My Thoughts
At the Yorkshire County Cricket Club AGM on May 28th members will be asked to vote on a number of new Independent NED appointments, a few ‘housekeeping tasks’ but not …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Arlott, Swanton and the Soul of English Cricket
Racism throughout cricket, incompetent and rudderless leadership from those responsible for English Cricket, and concerns over the increased focus on the short format of the game. Welcome to the 1960s …
Time to stop selecting and start building the Test Team
The background to this post is the not unexpected early finish to the first test in Australia for the England Team. Well I say not unexpected, and I am pretty …
Gray-Nicolls 2022 Range Launched
No secret I am a big Gray-Nicolls fan, and have been since I started playing in the 70s, and they continue to be supportive of my attempts to turn back …
Product Review: Gray-Nicolls Powerbow Inferno 2000 Batting Gloves
Well when you have stunning Gray-Nicolls Black Legend Batting Pads which you will probably never use (T20 theory to one side) of course you need a pair of matching gloves. …
Product Review: Gray-Nicolls Black Legend Batting Pads
I bought these a) because I could, b) because I could and c) because I wanted them. I have little expectation of using them, although I do have a theory …
What Next 4 Yorkshire County Cricket Club Members
What started off as a potentially explosive week for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and cricket in general in England, fast became a highly emotive week for Cricket in general. Still …
What Next @ Yorkshire County Cricket Club
I write this the day before the Digital, Culture Media and Sport Select Committee formal meeting, chaired by Julian Knight, on Tuesday 16 November which will hear oral evidence on …
Refurbished TON Cricket Bat
A genuine refurbished TON bat with one new grip (a second can be added if required), a new scuff sheet and edge tape and new stickers. The bat has been …