Aloof Theory Part 9: From cannonfodder to glue

The Ashes starts in a few days so I'd better get my club cricket blog post out of the way! This week, we played a two-dayer against the team we thrashed in the one-dayers. I tried to dial down any overconfidence by reminding our team they were still above us on the ladder. We lost the toss and were sent in (again, our teammates were perplexed by this decision - who doesn't bat upon winning the toss?!) As the captain pencilled in the batting order, several voices suggested I bat at #3. Ah yes, the old cannonfodder chestnut. I had mixed feelings about being first drop:

• Pro: get in early, a chance to build a long innings.
• Con: I suck at long innings.
• Pro: feeling more confident after a 3 hour innings.
• Con: exposure to the shiny new pill - not a big fan of a fast, swinging ball.
• Pro: chance to get comfortable in the role of anchor batsman, turning the strike while the big hitters knock the boundaries.
• Con: prefer to bat at #5 when the spinners are on.
• Pro: helps out the team, take the shine off the ball so our big hitters can exploit the old ball.

The final point made any internal debate moot and I was informed I was batting first drop. Our openers went out to face a sharp left armer. He bowled a rearing lifter at Sticksy who fended it away, turning his unhelmeted head at the last moment. Apart from one Brett Lee wannabe I'd faced a few years ago, I'd never faced a club bowler so fast that it worried me. This Mitchell Johnson wannabe could be a handful.

However, our openers did a stellar job of seeing off both opening bowlers and taking the shine of the new ball. By the time the first wicket fell, we were 66 runs after 18 overs. The wickettaker's first delivery to me was an inswinging yorker that I managed to jam the bat down on. Next delivery was a length ball. I stepped out to forward defend, it took the edge and squirted past gully for a single. Streaky start but getting off the mark is what counts.

The bowler at the other end was straight up and down, medium pace. There was nothing threatening - the main danger was playing too ambitious and getting myself out. He bowled a full toss on the leg side, I pulled it for four. Another down the leg side, pulled finer for two. Motoring along nicely now.

Drinks were called. Coming back after the drinks break, Willy and I had a simple plan. The bowling was erratic so bat sensibly, targeting the bad balls (of which there were several per over). Facing the inswinger, I cut one straight into the left hand of gully who dropped the sharp chance. It would've been an extraordinary catch for our level of club cricket. Willy was now on strike. He went to defend an inswinger but played inside the line. The ball had started well outside offstump so I was surprised to see middle stump cartwheeling. One of the most spectacular sights in cricket. Except for the batting side, of course.

While the inswinger was keeping things reasonably tight, the straight medium pacer was spraying them around. Hoping to keep him from settling into a rhythm, I moved around the crease, one delivery batting behind the crease, the next standing a metre out. He bowled a high full toss, I went to pull, top edged it straight into the air. Square leg took the catch and I cursed my poor shot. I looked up to see the umpire with his arm raised in the no-ball position. Waist high full toss! Lucky reprieve! This could be my day.

Dan and I put on a solid partnership, taking us past 100. I drove hard at a low full toss and mistimed it off the toe of the bat. The ball flew low to mid-wicket who got his hand under the ball but couldn't hold on. Two drops and a dismissal off a no-ball. This really was my day! After a few overs of batting well out of my crease, the wicketkeeper (who had let through quite a few byes) came up to the stumps, forcing me to bat in my crease. The next delivery was wide outside off, I let it through, the keeper didn't glove it cleanly and we ran two byes. I thought he might retreat back but was mistaken. "You're still staying up at the stumps? Gutsy!" I commented. A few deliveries later, he backed off and I went back to batting a metre out of the crease.

I settled into a rhythm of 1's and 2's (damn, those boundaries were long). Dan was a big lad and was finding all the running difficult. I kept asking the umpire how long till the next drinks break. When it was only a few overs away, I encouraged Dan to keep concentrating - we could catch our breath at the break.

When drinks were called, I was pleased to learn we were sailing at 2 for 157 (off 38 overs). What really got my attention was my score of 45 runs. Suddenly I was consumed with a hunger to make it to a half century. Such a preoccupation violated everything aloof theory stood for but I couldn't help myself. Hey, I'm no zen master, I'm flesh and blood!

Dan and I walked out to the middle and I was unsurprised to see the left-arm, Mitchell-Johnson-wannabe back on. Frankly, I was surprised it had taken this long. Dan was on strike and the opening delivery rapped him on the pads, prompting a huge LBW shout. From where I stood, it pitched a good 6 inches outside leg and was rightly turned down. Next ball, Dan clipped through square leg for four, a beautiful shot. Two balls later, another ball smashed through mid-wicket for two. He was pasting Mitch all over the park. What was I worried about?

Next ball struck the pads. Again, it looked like it pitched outside leg but this time, the umpire's finger went up. As Dan walked off, I couldn't help myself and commented that I thought it pitched outside leg. The umpire retorted "I don't give them out unless they're out". Which of course is what he was always going to say. Antagonising the umpire was probably not my smartest move.

Next over, I was on strike to the off-spinner. I had the number 45 ringing through my head. First ball was short, I tried pulling it and bottom edged it into my pads. I blocked a few full straight deliveries. As the bowler ran in, I made to advance down the pitch. He bowled it slightly short and I cut for two runs. Edging closer to that milestone...

Millsy survived Mitchell Johnson's over then I was back facing the offie. The number 47 was now ringing through my head. The first 3 balls were dot balls. The fourth was short outside off. The thought raced through my head, "cut it for three!" I went for an almighty cut shot, didn't quite time it and it ballooned towards point. My immediate thought, "oh no, I'm out!" Fortunately, point was not the nimblest bloke on the park and couldn't quite shift his ample girth the few metres to his right required to take the catch. I ran two. On the last ball of the over, I pushed mid-wicket for a single. A half century, only the second since I'd come out of retirement. I savoured the feeling of relief and satisfaction.

I managed to stop thinking about my score and went back to concentrating on the ball. Millsy and I pushed up the scoring rate. Well, mostly Millsy who was timing the ball beautifully. I ended up on strike to Mitch-wannabe who was still huffing and puffing in off the long run. He bowled a short one at the ribs that I awkwardly pulled to square leg, no run. A few length balls, stoutly defended. Then another short one, slightly down leg. I hooked and managed to strike cleanly - it rocketed off to the boundary. The hook is not normally a shot I play so in keeping with my practice of savouring one shot per innings, this is the one I like to recall afterwards. It sucked the wind out of Mitch's lungs in what had been building into a good over - the last of his spell.

At the other end, a ginger haired 14 year old was bowling. He was the height of a hobbit and bowled fairly gentle medium pace. I knew the next drinks break was only a few overs away and a declaration was imminent. Should I bat for a red inker? Perish the thought! I decided to go the tonk. Frodo bowled a straight length ball and I swung across the line, attempting to send it over mid-wicket. I missed and he didn't.

I walked off with a sense of satisfaction despite being clean bowled by a ginger haired halfling and was informed I'd reached 66. One of my teammates commented I was the glue that held the innings together. I'll take that - from cannonfodder to glue. And the 66 runs scored today was of much higher quality than my previous high score of 84 - an innings of more arse than class. Today featured its fair share of luck but still had a lot more control.

We declared on 266 with enough time to bowl about 10 overs. I was surprised to see one of the opening batsmen was the ginger halfling. Looks like I wasn't the only one to receive the cannonfodder treatment. Our opening bowler Trev was on fire - his first ball took the edge and flew to Dan at second slip. Unfortunately Dan wasn't in quite such form and grassed the chance. Two balls later, Frodo edged straight to Dan, this time he hung on to it. A few overs later, Trev got their #3 trapped plumb LBW. Then in the last over of the day, their #4 batsman bunted one of Trev's length balls to short cover to end the day. 3 for 18 (Trev's figures 3 for 5 off 5.1 overs). A near perfect day.

As we're languishing towards the bottom of the ladder, we desperately need an outright win for any chance to qualify for the finals. The two barriers to an outright victory are Trev not being available next weekend and the weather forecast of rain over the next 5 days. If rain prevents us from crushing these guys, well, cricket can be a cruel game!

Posted by JC on Mon 6 Jul

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