"New balls please"

So the season edges ever nearer, and it seems that just in time the weather is set to improve. It has rather sneaked up on me, and I must admit to feeling horribly under-prepared. Outdoor nets starts this evening, and will be only the second time I've batted this pre-season. Meanwhile my bowling's had precious little work done on it, Partly due to weather and also due to a week missed when I travelled to France. I did take some balls with me and tried to practise on a beach nearby, but it wasn't much use as the firm-looking sand nevertheless gave way every time I landed in my delivery stride, throwing me off balance.

Anyway, I am where I am. Nothing for it but a crash program of practise, so I've mad my one cricket kit purchase of the winter - some new balls. Perhaps I've mentioned it before, but all the balls I've had up to now have had a nasty habit of growing legs and wandering off, and of the wayward spinner's over's-worth (eight) I bought for practise last year, only one is still in my possession. I even lost one ball to a small child, who protested so strongly that it was in fact "MINE!" (i.e. "his") that I decided losing a ball was worth it to avoid explaining to his parents why he was crying so loudly. Anyway, this year things will be different; if anyone wants to "borrow" a ball (n.b. inverted commas), they will have to have one of my older balls. If they want a nice shiny one, they can bloody well buy their own like I did...

I've again bought eight 'Readers County Match' balls as these are as close as I can find to our specified league ball. I've had a variety of Slazenger, Dukes and Morrant balls before and there's a surprising variation in the size and feel of the seams.

Willow weep for me

My new bat arrived on Thursday, hopefully my last for a while. If I'm honest buying it was pure retail therapy, as my grandmother is rather unwell at the moment and I needed something to cheer me up. If that was ultimately the goal then it worked. Unwrapping the packaging, opening up the very swish bat carrier it came in and seeing the bat for the first time was a nice tonic. I'm very impressed by Aedos, they've been very helpful, eager to make sure I'm satisfied and they seem to have come into the business with the right ideas. The stickers, and the whole brand identity, is pitched pretty well I think - not too fussy, not too dull, just a quiet kind of eye-catching.

Also given that the person who gave me my love of cricket was my old Latin and Classics teacher, I suppose it's inevitable that I should be drawn to a batmaker whose products are named after Greek Gods. My bat is a model called "Zeus Limited Edition" (in my case an edition of one) but I prefer girls' names for my bats, and amongst the leading contenders this time is Athena - a daughter of Zeus, "shrewd companion of heroes and Goddess of heroic endeavour" according to Wiki. Well I'm neither a hero nor are my endeavours particularly herioc, but lets not let too many facts get in the way of a good story. She's also the patron of Athens, so perhaps given the state of the country of which Athens is the capital right now this could be taken to represent a sizeable chunk of money wantonly and unnecessarily spent...

As for the bat itself, Ollie at Aedos said it was a "good 'un" and he wasn't wrong - eight straight, evenly spaced grains with virtually no flaws. To be honest it did look a little strange at first; I'm not used to seeing pale willow with no oil on, and it was so highly polished it almost looked like it was made of plastic. The first backlift and swing through felt very nice though, and I'm amazed how much wood they've managed to leave on it - certainly it looks a lot heavier than it actually is. Perhaps they found a particularly light cleft of willow? They seem to have reduced the weight mainly in the top half of the blade with the bottom half still full of meaty goodness, but unless you picked it up or really took a good look at it you'd think it was a perfectly normal bat. (photos are below the fold)

A(nother) new bat

Like the 24 carat mug that I am, I will shortly be taking delivery of my fourth bat with still weeks to go until the start of my third season in senior cricket. I'm just doing my bit to help small businesses in these difficult times...

Regular readers of the blog* will have read about my frustration in not being able to find a light bat. I got into a conversation on Twitter with the great guys at Aedos Cricket about why this was and they said it may be possible to make a special light bat for me. I umm-ed and ahh-ed about it for a while but eventually I weakened and decided to go for it. Seriously though, this is absolutely, positively the last bat I'm going to buy for at least the next, ooh... 12 months or so.

Probably.

On light bats and manky boots

My ongoing search for a bat-maker who makes a full-size bat lighter than 2lb 7oz is still ongoing. I've looked up every bat manufacturer I could find, and I found at least 36, but as yet I haven't seen one that says anything other than something along the lines of "our hefty bats have monstrously large edges, a middle the size of a planet and when you walk out to bat with half a willow tree under your arm the fielding side will have no alternative but to face up to the sheer inadequacy of their own respective manhoods and spontaneously burst into tears". I exaggerate, but we all know that's what they're trying to infer.

Pad comparisons

For reasons that escape me I have arrived at the point where, ludicrously, I own no less than four sets of batting pads. Since they are each in their way rather different, I thought someone somewhere might benefit from reading my verdict on each:

"Let's have a warm hand..."

A couple of weeks ago I was in Waterstone's, inevitably browsing the cricket section of their selection of sports books, when my eyes alighted on a table of gifts and I spotted something that every spinner should have: hand warmers. They're very clever thingies. From having studied chemistry I'm sure it's some sort of reversible reaction that's highly exothermic one way and endothermic the other, with the upshot that when you press a little clicker inside the pouches, the gel quickly crystallises and heats up. Once they've given their heat off, you pop them in a pan of boiling water for five minutes, the crystals dissolve back into a gel and once they've cooled down they're ready to go again.

I first became aware of them when Steve Smith used them in the Australia 'A' game against England at Hobart (they were hidden in his pockets but they showed up on HotSpot). Next to a wet ball, I can't think of anything more debilitating for a spinner than cold fingers, so they should be a nice little gadget to keep in my kitbag for those "multi-jumper" match-days.

A few new bits of kit

In the past few weeks I've been on something of a spree, buying the odd thing here or there to either replace worn items (such as batting gloves) or else to upgrade to something a little more to my liking.

Putting my best foot forward

I made a couple of interesting discoveries at nets tonight, one relating to bowling and one to batting.

My bowling was the same as ever, some wonderfully tricky balls, some OK deliveries, the odd wicket and a few sprayed wide. The sprayed balls were largely the result of a loss of concentration, as the nets are pretty well attended and it can be pretty hard to focus at times - having to start your run-up from outside the line of the net doesn't help. Hopefully in a match I'll be better able to concentrate and this should remove some of the poorer deliveries.

I batted half-way through (Hyacinth got the gig today) and the coach was observing. After a few balls he came down and asked about my trigger. I explained how I was using it to prevent myself from backing away and he said it was a good idea, but he suggested I move my left leg first rather than my right so I don't get caught in a closed stance, and try to make some more positive movements forward and back. I tried it a bit and it seemed to help quite a lot, with more of a feeling that I was able to come further forward. It wasn't bullet-proof by any means, but it was a definite improvement. I wasn't trying to hit out, and again I was quite happy to leave balls, but by the end I felt I was seeing the ball well and able to try and drive the ball, and although my upper body messed things up a bit it was promising. Anyway, the really good thing is all winter I've made steady progress with my batting, and I've still got room for improvement.

Ice ice baby

After that rather nasty blow I took on the ankle this weekend just gone, I'm pleased to report that it's nothing serious and it seems to be sorting itself out remarkably quickly. It's about a day and a half since I got hit, and after spending yesterday struggling to even walk, right now my ankle is up to about 90-95% of it's normal range of movement and the pain is virtually gone save for the odd twinge.

The harem's newest member - "Olivia"

My new pride and joy arrived today, even if initially it was inexplicably delivered to a Mr Hill at number 39, a house a significant distance down the street from mine. It matters not, she's here now and she looks gorgeous. I've never seen such a piece of willow. It's a good thing I'm not superstitious, as I counted thirteen grains on the face...

I spent a while wondering about names. I knew it had to be a girl's name beginning with 'O', and came up with about a dozen candidates. I whittled these down to Odessa, Ophelia and Olivia before finally plumping for Olivia after I got one of my twitter friends to decide a winner. Given the olive-green colour of the labels I suppose it's rather apt!

So now comes the preparation, and I'm really rather nervous about it. I really don't want to muck up such a lovely, expensive bat. I rang M&H for some tips and they were very helpful, and I'm going to try my best. The first coat of oil went on at 2pm today and the second is due at 10pm. By the time the tea-break rolls round tomorrow (much of my life at the moment seems to revolve around the timings of Ashes Tests) the oil should have soaked in and I can start with the knocking in, which is the part that terrifies me the most. One thing M&H were at pains to stress was that I will probably need to hit the bat much harder than seems sensible, so no namby-pamby taps... Once I think I've got it nicely knocked in, the facing can go on, and the bat will be ready to start the season.

One simple, really nice touch was the guy at M&H wishing me good luck with the bat. I'm already dreaming about what shots I'm going to play and how many runs I'm going to score. I know a bat, however good, can't turn a rank amateur into VVS Laxman overnight, but for the moment it's nice to dream a little...

For those who asked, here are a few photos of my new bat:

Picture 1 - Picture 2 - Picture 3 - Picture 4 - Picture 5 - Picture 6 - Picture 7

A new blade

I've finally done it. I've finally bought myself that bat that's been nagging away at me all season.

As you read this a Millichamp & Hall Original weighing 2lbs 7oz with facing and a toe guard is winging it's way closer to my loving embrace. I don't quite know why I've bought it though, My batting average is, as I keep reminding myself, a mere 1.43 after my seven innings last year. How can I possibly justify spending £185 on a piece of wood? Well, it's a very nice piece of wood, and I've never seen anything but praise for Millichamp & Hall's hand-made bats. I suppose it fits in with my age-old maxim of making sure I'm never in a position to blame my tools. Certainly last year I felt a few times that I'd struck the ball pretty well but it hadn't gone as far as I'd expected. With my new bat, if it doesn't go like a rocket I'll know I can't blame the bat.

To justify this expense, nothing less than a ten-fold increase in my batting average will do, although 14 runs an innings is probably still too small a contribution to be meaningful. I still think in our league a team needs 160 or more to have a good chance of winning, so I need to be looking to 20 or more before I'm really pulling my weight with the bat. Hopefully having a lighter and better bat will help me to regularly make double figures.

So what do I call this one then?

Not bad for a first go

With my cricket withdrawal symptoms reaching a new peak all my obsessive-compulsive tendencies are being furiously channelled towards my kit, and today it was Virginia's* turn for the TLC.

I'm disproportionately fond of Virginia, my first "proper" bat, but unless the most apocalyptic scenario were to unfold I'll never use her in a match. Hyacinth is ahead of her in the pecking order and by the time Hyacinth retires I'll have another member of the "harem" to take her place. Virginia does, however, have an important role to play in the nets, as her extra two ounces and smaller sweet spot compared to Hyacinth will, I hope, mean I can get into position just a fraction earlier in matches, thus evening out a quick bowler's tendency to ease up a bit when practising, and encourage me to really middle it.

Anyway, Virginia's grip was starting to get a little tatty and in need of replacement. I've never changed a bat grip before - I've never before used a bat often enough for the grip to wear out - and it's one of those tasks you approach with an even mix of excitement and trepidation. It's a new challenge (and there's something weirdly awe-inspiring about those who can make putting a new grip on look effortless), but also a new way to utterly humiliate yourself by making a gigantic mess of something that looks so simple. I took the old grip off and had a couple of goes at putting it back on using a gripping cone, which didn't go fantastically well, but the new grip was much more pliable and as you can see, in the end I did a pretty good job of it!

*for those new to the blog I should explain that my bats have girl's names - the Kashmir willow V1 is called Virginia, the English willow Hyper Blade is called Hyacinth Bucket - Hyacinth for short.

When looks can be deceiving

I had a little time to kill at lunchtime today, so I popped into the sport shops in town on the off-chance that there were any good bargains to be had. There weren't really, but I came across something that absolutely astounded me.

Batting pads fit for a God

I love the way every now and then you come across a story of a man with a tremendous passion. Look at Barnes Wallis and his half-bonkers, utterly brilliant Bouncing Bomb, and those of you like me who love their motor racing will be aware of the story of Connew F1 team where a bunch of three guys literally built a Formula 1 car in their garage at home and ended up with it lining up on the grid in a World Championship F1 race.

Such a tale came to my attention today. It starts with an Englishman called Mr R.H. Lewis, who in the early 1970s had an unconventional idea about how to make the lightest, most comfortable batting pads.

2010 Season evaluation part 1: Batting

So with the season now over, I thought I'd do a series of posts looking at how I've developed over the season, and looking at what I can do over the winter to come back next year even better. My starting point should probably be the targets I set myself in January, and in batting terms I set my targets out thus:

Right now, in batting terms I just want to get out in the middle and face a few balls, see what I'm up against and not be a complete ferret. From there on it'd be nice to score my first boundary, then aim to reach double figures for the first time, then once I've done that a few times think about 25 as the next target, and after that I can see whether I can aspire to anything greater.

How successful have I been? Well I'm not a complete ferret, and can usually count on sticking around for a dozen balls or so, and I have at last scored a boundary.

"yeah that's going to sting a little..."

Back at nets tonight, I had a little real-world frustration to get out of my system so I turned up about half an hour early. I did a more thorough warm-up than I usually do, then started to bowl. It seemed to be coming out pretty good, and my first two bagfuls (I have a bag of a dozen or so balls I bowl at a time) was some of the best bowling I've done all year. Too bad that, as usual, I was the only one there to see it...

Of course when other people do turn up it inevitably gets in the way, as they'll want to have a chat, borrow my balls, use the net I'm using... They're entitled to, obviously, but it does distract me. I hate queueing up to bowl. It's impossible to get the rhythm you do when you're just bowling on your own, and those pesky batsmen just look to slog. Much better to just aim at a mat and bowl as many as you can one after the other.

Trying to get my leg over

After the comments I got on the video I posted last week I've been back in the nets tonight working on the pivot around my front leg. I dispensed with any meaningful run up, just walked into the delivery stride and bowled, trying to swing that right leg round and seeing what happens. I had my target positioned on a length slightly on leg-side but I wasn't too fussed about hitting it.

Obviously with a whole new method of delivery I wasn't expecting much in terms of accuracy and I was right not to, but I was surprised at how much faster I was bowling, without really trying to, and how even with this extra speed I didn't lose any spin. Most of my balls are still too shiny and new to be naturally conducive to turn but on occasion the older balls that are a bit roughed-up seemed to spin further than I've ever managed before - one in particular turned about two feet! I was bowling pretty flat though, something I've certainly never been guilty of before, so I'll need to get a bit of the loop back at some stage if I'm going to get proper drift. Previously I've been looping the ball too high so I need to find a happy (i.e. effective) medium. All in all though it was a promising start and after a winter of work on it I'll hopefully be in a very good state come next season.

This evening I've given "Virginia" and "Hyacinth" some TLC, as I doubt I'll play more than one more match this year and want to make sure they're ready to go in the loft. I took the tape off, a very messy procedure involving scraping all the sticky goo off, then I've given the faces and edges a sand down and a coat of oil to keep the moisture in. I also rounded off the front edges with a knocking-in mallet, something I should probably have done ages ago as the many edges and nicks had been leaving dents. Anyway, all in all they're both looking in good nick and should be back for more next year.

A bit more retail therapy

My veins are throbbing with the endorphins of hard cash spent. It may be a little strange to be shelling out so close to season's end but never mind that.

My first purchase was an old copy of Clarrie Grimmett's "Getting Wickets". £30 seems a lot for a beat-up old paperback but Wisden describes it as "one of the finest of coaching manuals, which should be reissued and distributed to every school and club in these monotonous times of pace, pace and more pace" so hopefully there should be plenty of food for thought in there. That's my gentle reading over the close season sorted then.

When Saturday comes

Looks like I'll be playing for the 4ths against Keele Park 2nds on Saturday. It's a league game so this will be my proper debut for the club. Wish me luck...

Unfortunately I had a commitment last night, and have another tonight, so I haven't had any chance to practise my batting at all since the 3rds V 4ths game three weeks ago. It's a real bind but I'll just have to do my best. I've no idea where I'll be in the batting order, but the best I can hope for is to get the odd run - any more than 5 and I'll be pleased. As for my bowling I'll struggle to have the confidence to have a bowl, as I haven't had too much of a chance to practise lately and what practise I have done has been a little discouraging. Too many balls on too full a length, too inaccurate a line, and the spin's been a bit hit and miss, in so far as my garden gives any reliable indications. If I do bowl it'll mainly be top-spinners and top-spun leg breaks, but I might try the "Baffler" if the situation dictates.

I also have a new bat. I was browsing in Sports Direct in Stafford the other day and saw they had some old stock on sale, so I looked them up and down, went home and thought about it, and today I've gone back and picked up a Slazenger Hyper Blade Elite Pro, a steal at just £50 - about 75% off. This is advertised as being Grade 2 English willow, so it should be plenty good enough for my purposes. It's also a shade lighter than "Virginia", which should hopefully suit me a bit better, and has an oval handle with a green octopus grip. I think I'll call it "Hyacinth" (as in Bucket). I've taken the labels off the front and sides, sanded off the varnish and oiled it, so it's ready to go for tomorrow.

Virginia gets some TLC

For those of you who don't know, I should say that Virginia is the name of my bat, and yesterday evening I had a close look at her and decided to do a few things to prepare her for the season ahead.

Firstly some of the stickers seemed to be a bit cracked, which surprised me since she's only done half a dozen net sessions. I thought rather than let them get progressively more tatty I'd just take them off altogether. Walking in to bat with tatty, untidy-looking bat just gives off the wrong vibe, in my view. The front and sides are now bare, giving a pleasingly old-skool look, but I left the back stickers on.