It wasn't that it was too short, or too full, or too slow, or that it wasn't drifting and turning, it was that I seemed utterly incapable of performing the relatively simple task of getting it into the net in the first place. Plenty ended up on the roof, some were dragged wide down off, some down leg, and some just stuck in the hand and fell pathetically short. I honestly can't remember ever bowling so badly. And the more it happened, the more frustrated I got, so the more it happened. Welcome to the frustration vortex. I tried taking a break, I tried bowling round the wicket, I tried going through each stage of my delivery and seeing what was wrong. Nothing worked. To be honest it was bloody embarrassing.
With the bat, there was some evidence of progress, although I'm still not getting behind the line of the ball enough, if at all. This perhaps explains my relative comfort on Saturday's game, against a bowler who for all his skill missed a trick bowling at me - he bowled it arrow-straight, so I wasn't hampered by poor footwork! I tried to have a defensive mindset this evening, and on the whole I did a fair job, although I do have plenty to work on such as spotting the length and the shape of my elbow when defending. Anyway, I was reasonably satisfied.
I went back to bowling but it seemed worse than ever. However later on when everyone had left I was alone with just the one guy batting, telling me where the ball was landing, and my bowling seemed magically transformed. The odd wide delivery aside I had the ball landing on a beautiful length, a pretty consistent line, with excellent turn, I was slipping in variations which worked well, and the whole thing just felt right. One thing's clear - when I land it, I get easily enough turn for someone at my level. SO F.F.S. WHY THE BLOODY HELL COULDN'T I DO THAT EARLIER???!!!
Let's just hope the good me turns up on Saturday...
No comments:
Post a Comment