Oh no, not again...

Today was our first outdoor nets of the year, and after all that's gone on in the past few weeks I'm afraid it was a huge let down. I bowled terribly, batted terribly, and my catching was as every bit as terrible as ever.

I don't know what it is about the outside nets. They're slightly smaller than the nets we use indoors so maybe I have some sort of subliminal claustrophobia or I lose my frame of reference, but today my bowling was, quite simply, abject. After bowling maybe two bad balls in an hour on Sunday, this evening the equation was reversed as I only bowled two or three balls of any real quality. One was an absolute peach, and I knew when it came out of the hand that I'd hit the third-finger sweet spot, with my good mate Duncan spooning the ball up for a dolly of a caught-and-bowled that even I could have taken. But still, the simple fact is if it had been a match I would have been taken off long before that delivery, with wide after wide (and some pretty big wides at that) and my previously immaculate length having totally and utterly deserted me. It was miserable. To be honest, it was absolutely heartbreaking.

And my batting? Well, it was poor. Very poor in fact. As usual I went in last which of course meant the light was getting a bit iffy, but I don't want to use that as an excuse. When your stumps are getting knocked over time and time again to medium-pace bowlers there really is no excuse. I just wasn't concentrating as well as I should, and was committing myself to my shots too early, and even then playing them poorly. I did hit a few good shots, but so what. If I'm getting castled that often there's no way I could start building any kind of innings. At the moment it seems I've got a decent pull shot, and frankly, that's about it.

As for fielding, the ground fielding drill got going while I was still getting my pads off and having a smoke, so I only caught the end of it and did alright. We then moved onto high catches and split into two teams with each person getting 3 skyers to take. There were two dropped catches amongst the other ten guys there, while I caught precisely none of mine. I didn't even get a finger to them, don't ask me how because I don't know. I set myself in the place I honestly thought the ball was going to land, only to find them coming down a yard short. It would have baffled me if I wasn't preoccupied with yet another acute case of the oh-for-fuck's-sakes. There must be something pretty fundamental going on as it's the only way to explain the consistent nature of where the ball landed other than to imagine the ball had it in for me and did it on purpose...

Anyway, after all that there was nothing for it but to turn to drink. I headed back to the nets with my Guinness and in between sips had a go at the standing start drill. My line and length were not terribly good but thing that surprised me was the amount of spin - when I caught them right I was turning it a mile, some real jaffas. I landed a few a good foot outside leg stump and got them turning onto and even past off. It's a drill I intend to do a lot now the outside nets are up and I can pop along and bowl on my own. At least it put a much-needed smile on my face, and it reconfirmed what I already knew from last year - I have it within my power to spin the ball BIG, so if I stick with it and apply myself I could end up being a pretty formidable spinner in a few years' time.

I headed back into the clubhouse for a couple more drinks and was chatting with some of the guys about the problems we've got in the junior section and other things besides. I asked about a leg-spinner who was rumoured to be joining the club and it seems he's gone elsewhere, but it brought us onto the subject of leg-spinners in general and my bowling in particular. It turns out that, unless there's someone we've forgotten, and discounting a couple who dabble in a non-serious way, I am the ONLY specialist leg-spinner at the club!

Revelling in my new-found status I regaled them with descriptions of Grimmett's flipper variations and why I thought lob bowling was a good way to learn them, and a few other things I've picked up from the books I've been reading. Maybe it was the beer playing games with me but they seemed fascinated with what was totally new information to them. Given that they were all pretty experienced in club cricket, it seems naivety about the art of leg-spin at my level could be a massive help if I can eventually learn some of the more obscure variations...