Howzat!!
Played a two-day cricket match over both days this weekend - usually we play two-dayers on consecutive Saturdays, but to accomodate the Christmas break into the draw we played this one over a whole weekend.
Now, my stock-in-trade is bowling. I'm a legspin bowler, and generally I go alright at that. I've got a few variations which keep batsmen on their toes. My ground fielding is pretty good and I make good use of my speed in the field. My catching can vary - from very good to very ordinary.
However, it's my batting that I want to talk about here. When I started playing Warehouse cricket, I put together a few scores in the teens, but could only usually get a couple of runs here and there. Batting in the tail meant that usually I didn't get much time in the middle, and I used to just go in there and try to hit everything. My first ever innings in Warehouse was my top score for ages - 16 not out. Then about a season or so later, I went through a patch where I was ultra-tentative at the crease, and that was worse - I got a number of ducks, and basically my batting was going nowhere. However, last winter season I turned the corner, and managed to put together a few scores in the teens (and, more importantly, build partnerships with other tail-enders to help the team cause). My batting statistics last season were:
One-day matches
===============
Runs B/F Pos. Partnership Team Total
--------------------------------------------------------
1* 4 10 6* (9th wicket) 8/130 (34 ov.)
0* 10 11 7* (10th wicket) 9/170 (35 ov.)
19 21 11 41 (10th wicket) 134 (26.4 ov.)
0* 1 11 1 (10th wicket) 112 (26.3 ov.)
Avg = 20.00
S/R = 55.56
Two-day matches
===============
Runs B/F Pos. Partnership Team Total
----------------------------------------------------
0* 19 11 19 (10th wicket) 165
18 30 10 42 (9th wicket) 157
11* 20 9 19* (9th wicket) 8/164 dec.
11 13 10 24 (9th wicket) 9/139 dec.
4 8 9 13 (9th wicket) 193
0 3 11 4 (10th wicket) 70
Avg = 11.00
S/R = 47.31
Key:
---
Runs = runs scored; B/F = balls faced; Pos. = batting position
Avg = average runs per innings; S/R = strike rate (runs per 100 balls)
For the uninitiated, there are 11 players per side, therefore a maximum of 10 wicket partnerships per team innings. In one-day matches each batting team faces a maximum of 35 overs, while in two-day matches each batting team bats until either they are bowled out or the captain declares the innings closed.
It was one of the running jokes in my team that if I scored 20 runs, it would be the equivalent of a top-order batsman scoring 50 runs. I and some of my teammates dubbed 20 "The Final Frontier", as a piss-take of the whole "Final Frontier" business of Australia winning a test series in India. In what has turned out to be a massive coincidence, Australia broke through their Final Frontier in the same week as I broke through mine! They won their first test series in India in 35 years, and I finally cracked 20 in my first innings of this season. I scored 28 not out, in an unbeaten last wicket partnership of 59, as my team made it to 9/306 declared. I hit a couple of cracking shots that day, including a full-blooded pull shot for 4. Since then, I seem to have hit a purple patch! I made my highest ever score on Saturday, scoring 38 runs. I had 50 at my mercy, but I played a lazy shot and dragged one back onto my stumps. This has brought my season average to 29.33, with scores of 28*, 22 and 38. I am, quite simply, ON FIRE!!
I bowled alright, but got hit for a few runs by the other team's gun batsman (as did all of our bowlers), who ended up scoring a century. However I was unlucky on Saturday arvo as he was dropped off my bowling (a bloody tough chance though), and an appeal for caught-behind was turned down (the stand-in umpire said that the ball hit his arm, but I was sure it hit his glove and ballooned up to behind our keeper, who dived and took the catch). I had my revenge though, as I got him out caught in the deep after he slogged across the line and miscued the shot. I ended up with 1/40 or thereabouts.
The other thing was that I took a brilliant catch yesterday as well. I was fielding at short mid-wicket, and I dived full-stretch to my right to take the catch. Two of my teammates had already taken screamers on Sunday, and even some of the fellas from our seconds team (I play in the thirds) saw my catch and said that it was a classic catch!
So, I've had a pretty satisfying weekend at cricket. Unfortunately, I'm quite stiff and sore today, having not played two days in a row for a few months! I would have liked to reach 50, and taken a couple more wickets, but I contributed in a pretty big way to our team winning first innings points for the match, as it petered out to a draw.
Now, my stock-in-trade is bowling. I'm a legspin bowler, and generally I go alright at that. I've got a few variations which keep batsmen on their toes. My ground fielding is pretty good and I make good use of my speed in the field. My catching can vary - from very good to very ordinary.
However, it's my batting that I want to talk about here. When I started playing Warehouse cricket, I put together a few scores in the teens, but could only usually get a couple of runs here and there. Batting in the tail meant that usually I didn't get much time in the middle, and I used to just go in there and try to hit everything. My first ever innings in Warehouse was my top score for ages - 16 not out. Then about a season or so later, I went through a patch where I was ultra-tentative at the crease, and that was worse - I got a number of ducks, and basically my batting was going nowhere. However, last winter season I turned the corner, and managed to put together a few scores in the teens (and, more importantly, build partnerships with other tail-enders to help the team cause). My batting statistics last season were:
One-day matches
===============
Runs B/F Pos. Partnership Team Total
--------------------------------------------------------
1* 4 10 6* (9th wicket) 8/130 (34 ov.)
0* 10 11 7* (10th wicket) 9/170 (35 ov.)
19 21 11 41 (10th wicket) 134 (26.4 ov.)
0* 1 11 1 (10th wicket) 112 (26.3 ov.)
Avg = 20.00
S/R = 55.56
Two-day matches
===============
Runs B/F Pos. Partnership Team Total
----------------------------------------------------
0* 19 11 19 (10th wicket) 165
18 30 10 42 (9th wicket) 157
11* 20 9 19* (9th wicket) 8/164 dec.
11 13 10 24 (9th wicket) 9/139 dec.
4 8 9 13 (9th wicket) 193
0 3 11 4 (10th wicket) 70
Avg = 11.00
S/R = 47.31
Key:
---
Runs = runs scored; B/F = balls faced; Pos. = batting position
Avg = average runs per innings; S/R = strike rate (runs per 100 balls)
For the uninitiated, there are 11 players per side, therefore a maximum of 10 wicket partnerships per team innings. In one-day matches each batting team faces a maximum of 35 overs, while in two-day matches each batting team bats until either they are bowled out or the captain declares the innings closed.
It was one of the running jokes in my team that if I scored 20 runs, it would be the equivalent of a top-order batsman scoring 50 runs. I and some of my teammates dubbed 20 "The Final Frontier", as a piss-take of the whole "Final Frontier" business of Australia winning a test series in India. In what has turned out to be a massive coincidence, Australia broke through their Final Frontier in the same week as I broke through mine! They won their first test series in India in 35 years, and I finally cracked 20 in my first innings of this season. I scored 28 not out, in an unbeaten last wicket partnership of 59, as my team made it to 9/306 declared. I hit a couple of cracking shots that day, including a full-blooded pull shot for 4. Since then, I seem to have hit a purple patch! I made my highest ever score on Saturday, scoring 38 runs. I had 50 at my mercy, but I played a lazy shot and dragged one back onto my stumps. This has brought my season average to 29.33, with scores of 28*, 22 and 38. I am, quite simply, ON FIRE!!
I bowled alright, but got hit for a few runs by the other team's gun batsman (as did all of our bowlers), who ended up scoring a century. However I was unlucky on Saturday arvo as he was dropped off my bowling (a bloody tough chance though), and an appeal for caught-behind was turned down (the stand-in umpire said that the ball hit his arm, but I was sure it hit his glove and ballooned up to behind our keeper, who dived and took the catch). I had my revenge though, as I got him out caught in the deep after he slogged across the line and miscued the shot. I ended up with 1/40 or thereabouts.
The other thing was that I took a brilliant catch yesterday as well. I was fielding at short mid-wicket, and I dived full-stretch to my right to take the catch. Two of my teammates had already taken screamers on Sunday, and even some of the fellas from our seconds team (I play in the thirds) saw my catch and said that it was a classic catch!
So, I've had a pretty satisfying weekend at cricket. Unfortunately, I'm quite stiff and sore today, having not played two days in a row for a few months! I would have liked to reach 50, and taken a couple more wickets, but I contributed in a pretty big way to our team winning first innings points for the match, as it petered out to a draw.