Oh yes. I'm sorry for those of you reading who are not of a sporting disposition, but that time has come again. Summer is officially here, and that means the first game of the cricket season! You could feel the buzz in the air, as players and umpires turned up for what was to be an enjoyable day of the Gentleman's game.
I remember this day from years gone past. The literal excitement of the night before, struggling to sleep as you imagine planting a drive between cover and mid-off for four glorious runs, or diving full-length for a thick edge and feeling the leather of the ball slap against the middle of your palm. I hadn't felt that feeling all week, and for a split second, was concerned that this feeling wasn't going to come, but at 5am on Sunday morning, I felt it. The pang of brutal impulse. The lightning strike. The literal electricity of the cricket season was upon us...
Why 5am? Yeah, I'd been out on the town. How professional of me!
I hardly slept. It might have been because of the Jack Daniels, but I'd like to think it was from another form of intoxication. I might have got to sleep at about 7am, but was awake at 10.30 to get the kit bag ready and head down to The Bury. It was a beautifully sunny day, if a bit chilly, but I was really looking forward to stepping out over the boundary rope and out to the middle. Even the pre-match organisation with the scorebooks, the coin toss and the general hullabaloo did little to put me off. I lost the toss, (Naturally... My luck on the coin toss is becoming biblically terrible!), and we ended up fielding first. This annoyed me slightly, as I was eager to get out and bat, but field we did and we did it well! We got wickets at regular intervals and the bowling performance was backed up by a few good catches. Despite a slip towards the back end of their innings, we restricted them to 150. A good start, but now the real business - and the reason I'm in the team at all - batting.
I have had a good winter. I've changed a lot about my technique, now batting on leg stump and moving across, a la Simon Katich but not that extreme, and more crouched in position. My trigger is much more smoother and in the winter nets and the few outdoor sessions we've had, that seemed to work well. Yesterday, it didn't. I don't know why, maybe I had let the buzz get to me too much, because I was so impatient. First ball up, I received a full-toss that I middled straight to the extra cover fielder, and from then on, I went after everything. First game of the season, on a pitch doing a little bit against the new ball, it was only a matter of time before I got myself out. Especially after losing an early wicket, I really should have knuckled down. But I didn't. Facing their opening bowler, I played down the completely wrong line, ("down Bakerloo, when it was on the Northern Line"), and got cleaned up for a measly 4 next to my name. A poor and undisciplined start then. Team wise, a lot of people had the same problems and made the same mistakes, apart from debutant Bharat who scored a very good 70 to get us close. Ultimately, we fell 7 runs short. It was a poor batting effort, but there were positives to take in our general performance. And it wasn't our strongest team by any means.
It was still fantastic to be back out there though. Amongst the banter of the slip cordon, and just sitting chatting whilst watching your team-mates (try) and build an innings is just fantastic. It makes me such a happier person, so much so, that I woke up for work this Monday morning at 7:45am with a literal smile on my face. Oh, the joys of Summer.
In other news, a few of you may have noticed I have deleted a blog from the past couple of weeks. I've had a slight change of heart, (or to use the right jargon, a U-Turn), on the subject of politics. I won't blog why, but simply ask if you want to know!
Otherwise, it's all fine and dandy! It's brilliant what a bit of activity can to do to a mind-set and a mood...
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