Preparation and Pre Season, possibly two concepts not too high up the priority list of your typical club cricketers, but it is fair to say at the grand old age of 57, and having not played a game of cricket for 33 years I am far from being your typical club cricketer. Factor in my borderline compulsive tidiness, 5 operations on my knee, a trapped nerve in my shoulder, two degenerative vertebrae in my neck, a chronic back problem and a body that has not seen any serious exercise for the best part of 20 years this indeed promises to be a “season like no other”
Despite all of the above I have spent the winter buying more cricket gear than a seasoned Pro would need, have spent hours getting the body into something that resembles the shape associated with someone that plays a sport, and have rehabbed my old injuries with an enthusiasm I had long forgotten I had.
I am signed up on play-cricket.com (4796818), have paid my membership to Penkridge Cricket Club, will be joining my old club Barlaston Cricket Club so that I can net with them (they are local to my parents so will be a convenient option), and now await the new season with as much enthusiasm as I did all those years ago!
I have written about playing cricket again, and I have also reviewed my (many) purchases, but this post is the start of my Cricket Diary as I journal my return to this beautiful game.
March is going to be a tough month for me exercise wise: I have wintered reasonably well, but Lockdown has not been too kind on me, so I need to up the general exercise levels as well as find time to work on some ‘cricket skills’: throwing, catching, maybe some bowling, and fielding. First task will be to find somewhere to do this.
I will probably need to find a training partner once COVID-19 allows, but in the meantime I have Sandra (wife), practice balls, baseball mitt and a Gray-Nicolls Cloud Catcher to get things going. I also have three dogs, but best that can be hoped for from them is an audience as they have no interest in either chasing or fetching a ball.
On the subject of beauty I was inspired by a number of great (and not so great) pictures on Twitter over the weekend as a combination of some (brief) sunshine and a promising roadmap out of Lockdown towards normality saw the groundsmen start to prepare the grounds, and players start to think about playing again.
Without doubt the old appetite has been well and truly whetted, and there really are fewer sites better than a well turned out local cricket pitch.
I mean, where to start?! I need something a lot stronger than tea when I look at this photo.
First, keeping your kit in a shed! If space is limited in the house surely the kids can sleep in the shed, do you really need a kitchen? The least you could have done is cropped the photo.
Second, classic cricketer! Not a folded item in site, yet each article of clothing with a tale to tell (maybe not the new cricket shoes as they smack of end of season gift).
Third, bails! Why?
Fourth, envy! Unlike myself who will turn up on day one with all the gear and no idea and resembling the kid who has moved school a year after everyone else started, this collection just shouts out ‘Terry Jacks’ – if you didn’t get the reference click here
Right, will leave it at that for this week, will provide a regular progress report, but for now I am off for a run!
Thank You
Gray-Nicolls are generously supporting this diary and my return to cricket for the 2021 Season