Aloof Theory Part 3

Our second game of the winter season started badly as the opposition won the toss and gleefully batted. I've noticed it's common practice in lower grade club cricket to bat first - not because of the behaviour of the pitch or tactical reasons. Club cricketers just want to put off fielding as long as possible. The opposition openers hummed along at 5 per over. As our opening bowlers approached the end of their spells, the captain called out those two fateful words, "loosen up".

First change was our left arm finger spinner, I was next from the other end. Fielding at square leg gave me an ideal chance to suss out how the batsmen played spin. The tall right hander was reluctant to leave the crease but used his long stride to good effect. The nuggety left hander was quick on his feet and came out of his crease fairly regularly. He would be a challenge. Finally it was time to bowl.

This was my chance to test Aloof Theory for real. My approach was inspired by Richie Benaud who asked if you were paid a large sum of money to land a ball on a spot, where would you look when you delivered the ball? At the start of my run-up, I'd pick the spot where I wanted to land the ball. As I ran in, I'd laser focus on that point right to the moment of releasing the ball. The disadvantage is I'm not closely scrutinising the batsman for signs of movement. The advantage is I'm not distracted by the batsman or choked by anxiety of getting smashed. It's all about process, not result.

First ball was to the left hander so I aimed for a good length outside off. First ball was on the spot with a bit of flight - surprisingly not flat and short. The next few balls yielded only singles so the over was going smoothly. Last ball, the left hander charged. I managed to land the ball but it spun into his pads and he smashed it through mid-wicket for four. Bloody boundary of the last ball, ruined an otherwise good over.

Next over was to the right hander. I bowled a few flat ones outside off which he let through. Hmm, watchful, this one. Next ball, I threw up, heaps of flight. The batsman's eyes lit up like saucers, he wound up to send it into the stratosphere. Then the ball dipped on him and he aborted, letting it pass outside off. Should've pushed that one through a bit straighter maybe, force the shot. The rest of the over was dot balls and I completed a maiden. If memory serves correctly, the first maiden of my short club career. Historic.

Third over began with the right hander on strike again. Feeling confident, I gave the first ball plenty of flight. The batsman used his long reach to get to it on the full and drove it past mid-on for four. Next ball, again he got to on the full, smashing it past mid-off for another boundary. The maiden was suddenly a distant memory. I conceded only two singles for the rest of the over but those boundaries hurt.

In between my overs, I chatted with the square leg umpire who happened to play for the opposition (no umpire fronted up for the game). He advised that I should push it through a little quicker. So I took his advice for my fourth over and pushed through 6 quick flat leggies, conceding only 2 singles. I confess I was too gutless to throw in a flightier one or a top spinner.

At that point, the captain spelled me, notifying me by drawing a finger across his throat. Not because I was bleeding too many runs but because he calculated that if he didn't start his spell at that point, he wouldn't get many overs (the luxury of being a bowling captain). But I was pretty satisfied with what was the most accurate spell I'd bowled. No long hops, only a few low full tosses. Certainly no double bouncers. It was also to two top order batsmen who were well set, normally conditions that would see me hammered. Wickets would've been nice but according to Aloof Theory which values process over result, a successful spell.

The opposition ended up reaching 198 off 35 overs, an imposing total. I came in at 3 for 80, with our top batsman at the other end (the guy who smashed 8 fours and 6 sixes last week). First ball was outside off, I late cut it between gully and the slips for two. Okay, off the mark, a big relief. Next ball on the pads, tucked away for a single. Busy start, much better than pressure building dot balls.

My plan was simple - farm the singles, get our slogger on strike and we should make the total with overs to spare. However, today he was unusually watchful, uncharacteristically out of touch. One over, he was bogged down for 4 dot balls. The fifth ball, he went for an almighty slog, skied it straight into the air to be caught by the bowler. My flawless game plan out the window.

I'd never seen the next batsman, Willy, play in a game but I'd got him out plenty of times in the nets so I confess not feeling very confident. That is until he got off the mark with a six over mid-wicket, the biggest hit of the day. He followed that up with another boundary and I switched back to the old game plan again. Easy peasy!

A new bowler came on. I always prefer to get a look at a new bowler from the non-strikers end but this time, I was on strike. It's an uncomfortable feeling not knowing what will come at you first ball. Will it swing? Will it spin? Which way? Apparently, the wicketkeeper was just as ignorant as I heard him ask the captain, "what does this guy bowl?" The captain called back "off spin!" Now how is that for handy intelligence?

Knowing I'd be facing spin and the liklihood of a pie for the first delivery, I wound up. Sure enough, first ball was a full toss, wide outside off. I threw the kitchen sink at it, smashed it through cover for four. For a cautious, defensive batsman, it was the most hot blooded shot I'd ever played and damn satisfying. Next one I cut, top edging to third man for two. Two dot balls. Then as he came in, I feinted a charge. He bowled it short and I pulled to deep midwicket for a single. Damn, that was a genuine longhop, should really have thrown everything at that one.

I continued to farm the singles, getting Willy on strike as much as possible. He continued to rattle off the boundaries at regular intervals and we were motoring along at around 6 an over. Their opening bowler came back on. He was medium paced, wasn't moving it too much. Then he put in an effort ball, quicker, short one at the body. I tried to pull, was late on the ball and it ballooned to the keeper. Out for 17, the total 5 for 127.

The wickets kept falling but Willy kept our hopes alive with a steady stream of boundaries. With 3 overs to go, we needed 30 runs to win. The first 5 balls yielded 11 runs. Last ball, Willy smashed a big one over mid-wicket. It hung forever in the air then fell into deep midwicket's hands. 9 wickets down, two tailenders, 19 to win. Alas, we ended up falling 9 runs short in the end with the 10th wicket falling on the last ball of the 35th over.

So two losses in the season's first two games. Disappointing. But on a personal level, I bowled accurately, reasonably economically and contributed with the bat. Still revelling in that cover drive. Next week, hopefully I can take the batting aggressiveness up a notch. Oh and check out the CriciWiki scorecard here.

Posted by JC on Thu 14 May

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