The English domestic season is nearly upon us. You could argue it’s already started if you count the counties’ annual fixtures against the hungover students. The sun is out, at least for now, and club cricketers across the land will start their preparations for the new season. Some will begin rigorous fitness training (the sad ones), whilst others will simply oil their bats and start doing some preliminary stretches – hoping that last season’s ailments won’t resurface as soon as they take a quick single.
I’m a bit worried about my hamstring to be honest. My physio (NHS of course) reckons my hamstrings are tighter than a World Cup game between England and an associate nation. I didn’t think anything could possibly be that tight until I tried to touch my toes and had a back spasm.
I’m proud to say that this year my preparations for the coming season have involved house buying (still no joy), rearing a baby, and drinking more beer than usual. I suspect the final two might be connected. This weekend I intend to hone my skills by watching The Masters. The one thing I will certainly not be doing is going to net practice. I find batting in the nets about as useful as Martin McCague i.e. not very.
Last year I figured out that the more I practice in winter, the worse I do when the season actually starts. I’m a batsman you see. Conditions in the indoor nets at the Oval are completely different to early season wickets on the average village ground. I had a habit of getting into rhythm indoors, ‘timing the pants off the ball’ (©David Lloyd), and then getting caught at cover in my first match because I tried an ambitious drive on the up against some dobber on a wet wicket. The moral of the story is – never practice.
I’m sure the above strategy would horrify most cricket coaches as well as my club captain (although he’s hardly a shining example of professionalism), however I think England’s travails in the World Cup prove the futility of warming up in alien conditions.
Strauss’ boys prepared for a tournament in Asia by playing seven ODIs in Australia. The result? The batsmen hadn’t got a clue when they arrived in India and were confronted by fiddly spinners on slow spinning wickets. We made Yuvraj look like Bishen Bedi. Meanwhile, our bowlers either struggled to adapt or did a KP and went home injured.
I guess what I’m looking for is some moral support on this one. Winter nets always draw me into a false sense of security. The ball usually comes onto the bat nicely, there’s plenty of bounce, and there’s hardly ever any seam movement or spin to worry about. Do you feel the same, or are you just grateful for the opportunity to feel leather on willow?
Personally I’d be all for indoors nets (or even outdoor nets on astroturf) if they resembled anything like the pitches I face when the season finally starts. However, my home ground is nothing like the WACA.
And don’t get me started on bowling machines. Nobody ever, not even Waqar Younis, can swing a ball that late with that level of relentless accuracy. And last time I looked, yellow balls with golf ball style dimples are illegal in cricket.
No. Until someone convinces me otherwise, the best way to prepare for the new season is sitting on one’s backside watching golf. And if you’re my captain, or one my teammates, and you’re reading this, ignore this post completely. I’m not at today’s practice because I’ve got a bone in my leg.
James Morgan
Absolutely right (with a similar proviso to that in the last paragraph)!
Whereas some will undoubtedly play for the sort of sides that have professional ground staff and on tracks for which the covers appear at the slightest sniff of moisture, many of us play on strips that are still waiting for their first attention of the year. Result – the ball comes so slowly onto the bat that the hapless batsman could play one and a half shots, and everything goes in the air….
That’s my excuse, anyway!
Hear hear! We can’t have nets before the AGM, and the pub we usually hold it in is being renovated.
So that’s that.
But how do you get a chance to test out all the new season’s gear – e.g. the new team box? Perhaps just adjust to it in front of the fire with a large brandy and an impressionable women?
That’s my plan Jim!