Outdoor nets

Had a fun evening at nets tonight. I started off bowling, and it didn't start too promisingly - my first two balls had far too much flight and landed on the roof of the net - but after a while I got my rhythm right and it went much better. Adjusting to my new action hasn't proved to be nearly as much of a challenge as I thought, and after a while it felt perfectly natural.

In fact, I think it's a massive improvement. It's got so much more potential, particularly in terms of variations. I tried a few top-spinners and top-spun leg-breaks and they were both noticeably better than what I've produced before. My stock leg-break still needs some work to get it back to its best, particularly in terms of turn, but it was OK. Some balls got the treatment they deserved, but a few of the batsman seemed to be treating me with much more respect than I'd consider my share, so that was an encouraging sign.

At the end I had a bat and that also showed encouraging signs. I'm still not moving my feet enough but the open stance seems to be the right way to go. I'm much more confident against pace than against spin, as I've probably mentioned before, so I really need to work on how to deal with the slow bowlers. Gary, the team sec, was giving me a few pointers on trigger movements so I'll work on that between now and Saturday.

Ah yes, Saturday... Turns out it's pretty much turn-up-and-play, regardless of numbers, so it seems I'll be making my debut on Saturday on the artificial wicket. I'm not sure how much I fancy having a bowl, as I'm not sure I'm ready yet, but I'll see how I feel on the day. I was feeling good about my batting tonight so I'm hopeful I can get a few runs under my belt before the season proper starts. Watch this space...