2022 season - Ep 1 - Choose your Captain

                   Ep 1 - Choose your Captain 

Ben Stokes. An English cricketing marvel. Dependable seamer, fantastic fielder, and box office batsman.

 
Simon Bath. Right arm medium (If there is a decent breeze with a downhill slope) and wayward seamer, solid pair of hands, can hold a bat according to a dictionary definition. 

The comparison between these two men is there for all to see, most of all this season will be their first time they take control of their team as a full-time captain. The stakes might be slightly different between a 4th XI and the captain of the English Test side but both of us have a responsibility to our players to lead by example.

 

After a winter that seemed to last longer than a Leonard Cohen song and watching my beloved AFC Wimbledon get relegated to League Two after not winning for over 20 games, it's safe to say that I am glad the cricket season is here and in full-swing.

Much has changed at the club since last season. With the 1s and 2s both enjoying promotions, more off-field responsibilities and requirement have come to the forefront. We have a new overseas pro, we have black sightscreen covers for the 1s white ball endeavours and second team skipper Sami finally grew to 5ft 1.  

Club Captain and legend Trevor (seen below) led from the front in terms of getting the club ready for the season with his horticultural endeavours. These tasks are so vital in making sure that everything is ready to go and that cricket can happen.

The social side of the club is also in full swing with a well-attended quiz night already in the book (the 4th team being truly dominant victors) and huge scope to get another organised in the not too distant future. The bar prices have finally been amended so that drinking at the club doesn't cost an arm and a leg - meaning that hopefully the social side of things can regain it's strength.  

Speaking of social side we have a number of things in the pipeline for the season including a summer social on June 25th (save the date) and also the return of the Bowl Off. 

Elsewhere in the club, we managed, for the first time, to have all 4 girls age group teams playing with  wins a draw and a loss. It's quite a brilliant thing that the girls teams are becoming such an asset to the club. A huge well done needs to go out to the volunteers and coaches who have helped to make this possible.



I started this off talking about captaincy and leadership ahead of my first full season as a team captain. Whilst I've captained a cricket side many times, I've never had the pleasure task of taking one through the whole season. The admin alone is something that I knew was a fair ask, but I never really understood just how big the ask was. The job is a weekly cycle starting from Monday asking your squad who is available. Tuesday evenings is selection -  a meeting that starts with the best intentions before breaking down into anarchy. Wednesday is continued negotiation following selection before sending a team, various members of which then remind you that they cannot drive and in fact require transport to the game. Thursday and Fridays are spent hoping to whatever gods may be watching that no one drops out of the team. Then we finally come to Saturday, the reason that the week-long sacrifice is worthwhile. The day is spent generally making sure that everyone has everything they need, are padded up at the correct time and that there is someone to score and also umpire. Oh and drinks. And are all the cones collected. Did I get a photo of the oppositions scorebook?  

Sunday morning is spent making sure the Play Cricket website is right (which can sometimes take a lot longer than you'd appreciate). Monday is then spent chasing up outstanding subs from the weekend which need to be paid into the club account and then the cycle starts again. 

I knew coming into captaincy that there was a lot of additional admin that went with it, but I must admit I didn't quite realise how much.

As for my team, the first couple of games have really laid out the kind of season I might have as captain. We started with a wonderful run chase away at Addiscombe bagging maximum points but sadly falling short last week. 

 I'm lucky that I have such a wonderful backbone of seasoned pros around me who are always pushy keen to share their opinion and help me. I also have a couple of talented youngsters who I look forward to giving a platform to develop over the season. 

With 16 more games to go we still have a wonderful chance to achieve well this season although going back to my comparison with Ben Stokes we share a struggle with our teams ability to hold catches!!!!!

Until next time, sports fans

Simon 

        

                Who run the world? Girls 

                    THEY DID IT!!!!!!!!!!! Our U13 girls team WON THEIR LEAGUE!!!!!!!!! 

Our under 13 girls completed their league campaign by winning the U13 Girls Smash It league (North)

and then......

           

  They went on to finals day and only went and came third.....IN THE WHOLE COUNTY!!! 

Such an amazing effort from all of these young ladies who really are showing up the rest of the club with their success.Well done 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Also a note for their coach, Mark Pratt. Mark has put so much effort in, not just with this team but with so many different teams across the club and we are so much of a richer club for having him on board.

Which brings me on nicely to this weeks topic- volunteering. 

Without without people putting their hands up and dedicating some of their time, sports clubs and other organisations just wouldn't get off of the ground. Most people will know I'm a huge AFC Wimbledon fan and their rise from common to conference and beyond would not have been possible without the sheer amount of volunteers who have made the wheels of the  club turn. Whether it's someone parking cars, operating the turnstile or selling merchandise/shirts in the club shop, every one of those jobs would be something you'd need to pay out for, saving quite ridiculous amount of money which in AFC Wimbledon's case went towards the playing budget or other vital expenditures. 

Club cricket (in this instance) is exactly the same. Whether it's people offering to run a team, coach the colts or take care of all the administration, a club could not survive. A large percentage of any club will turn up at the ground on a match day, play their game, pay their money and leave again not to be seen again until the next weekend and for the most part, that's fine. However, without the volunteers to get everything in place, the community (one in every blog) cricket club simply doesn't function. So the next time you're coming to watch, play or get involved with any club such as ours, maybe spend a second thinking about who has made it possible. 

It wouldn't be fair to pick out a few names of people who volunteer because I'll forget someone who will shout at me. But at least on my part, I know that I'm really grateful for anyone who put a minute of time to help keep the club going (Yes,OK Paddy, you're a great treasurer. I mentioned you, stop sending me Whatsapps) 

Now for something that is a bit close to my heart (and stomach) 

Every Saturday on my way to cricket, I stop at Hooky Street Coffee in Malden Manor to get a coffee and a sweet treat.  I can't emphasise enough, Hooky Street are the best locally by quite some distance. The interesting this is that I don't actually live that close to them, but their coffee is great quality, their selection of baked goods is not only vast but the quality is something else. I'm rather partial to their lemon and raspberry doughnut. They also have a ridiculous selection of ice cream which is amazing. All of those factors are great, but their real beauty is the phenomenal customer service and how they look after their regulars. I made an effort to go there last year when they'd just opened - having had their start delayed by coronavirus. I'm a big believer in supporting independent businesses and i'm glad i made the effort. Their staff have personality and make the effort to remember their regulars.

Lemon Tart, Biscoff Cheesecake Bar and Oreo Doughnuts - just a sample of their amazing sweet treats

Hooky Street have been so kind in donating a £25 voucher as a Mega Raffle Prize and I implore you, if you're passing or 3 miles away, pop in and visit them. They can be found by the entrance of Malden Manor station (and there is parking outside) Give them a follow on Instagram as well @hookystcoffeeco and see just how good their stuff is. 

Since I've just touched on the Mega Raffle, I wanted to draw attention to a pretty large prize we have to offer:

                                     A WEEKEND SPA BREAK FOR TWO!! 

Just one ticket of £2.50 gives you a chance of winning that, the £25 voucher from Hooky Street and 99 other prizes which also include:

- Meal for two with wine from Alexandra in Wimbledon
- Mixed Case of Beer from The Parks Brewery
- Haircut and Beard trim from Globe Trotting Barbers in Kingston
- Meal for 2 from Smokings Kitchen
- Signed copy of Bobby Gould autobiography
- Many bottles of spirits and wine/ champagne 

Plus a load more stuff to let you know about including a couple more big prizes you won't want to miss out on so keep watching the club. Remember there are 101 prizes up for grabs and it's being drawn on 29th August at our 8-a-side competition. Tickets are on sale at the club over the weekend and hopefully there will be online sales opening this week.

and finally, back to the cricket..

                This week our 1s and 4s continue their push towards promotion with both teams second in their league. 2s are pushing for a Europa League Place in their league. 3s and 5s are fighting dogged relegation battles. With a bit of luck we'll have a lot of left-hand drinking going on at the club Saturday night. We also have both Sunday sides going this weekend so there is a lot of activity this weekend once again.

I'll probably write again in a fortnight when I've got something else to prattle on about 😀

                                                              Simon  Bath

                                                    Camptions vice-captain

                               (and man who just wants you to buy some raffle tickets)

    

#WePlayAsOne                                

Colts are the future!

Well, what a couple of weeks we've had and what a couple of weeks we're going into. 

This week i want to talk about how Colts (junior) cricket is not only vital to the club and it's forward momentum, but also how it's massively on the rise currently and the swell of our own numbers this season. 

but first, we have to talk about Sami (because he won't forgive me if I don't) 

Second XI Captain Sami Majid made his maiden Old Wimbledonians league hundred last weekend with a quite breathtaking match-winning innings which saw him hit a 6 off the last ball of the game to secure his ton and bring home the points. I've been involved in adult cricket for just over 20 years and this is one of the most exhilarating finishes I've ever come across. Well done, mate.       

Sami

                                                                                            

The scoreboard

                      

                                     

Sadly the 2s were our only win last Saturday with the promotion campaigns of the 3's and 4's dealt a blow. We go again this weekend with all 5 Saturday teams ready to go on Saturday and our two on Sunday. The first week of Wimbledon tennis ALWAYS brings terrible weather and it looks as though some of that moisture found it's way into the pitches on Saturday. As a club, we'll pick ourselves up and go again. 

Colts:

The main theme of this blog though is to talk about the Colts and how they are at the start of the journey towards the senior sides. Every senior cricketer was a colt once. A young bright-eyed and bushy-tailed entity of exuberance, keen to take 5 wickets and score 50 every single week. Colts cricket is where the lifeblood of cricket is located and that must be carefully nurtured in order to bring them through to the adult game. 

Our junior sides start from Under 6 and go all the way though to Under 17. If you visit the club on a Friday or a Sunday you'll see what looks to be fields of kids learning and enjoying the game of cricket.  Run by a fantastic team of coaches and volunteers, the Colts section is pure energy (that was a bit Partridge, i'm sorry). It is important just to note that there is a vast amount of volunteers who put their back into making the colts not only happen, but to keep it moving time and time again. My next blog will focus on volunteers and the difference they make and I will talk more about this in that blog.  

In the last couple of years we have seen the ranks of junior members swell by around 60 junior cricketers. A lot of this is to do with the founding of our two girls' sides who are now going great guns in the Girls Smash IT league. 

The Under 11's are in hot pursuit at the top of their league as you can see:

The Under 13s are poised nicely being second in their league.

    Having girls teams as a newer part of the club is just absolutely tremendous. We've also been able to field girls in our senior weekend teams a couple of times and look forward to being able to do so more in the future. Again, the work that has gone into getting this to be such an asset to the club is phenomenal 

    We're so proud to be able to say that in the last few years we have bought over 30 colts through into adult teams. These include Harry Chappell who is currently taking wickets for fun in the first XI and also occasionally captaining one of our Sunday sides. James Thomas who has been a fixture in the first and second XI for a few years now with several hundreds to his name. C. Topley who is scoring runs and taking wickets at will this season - with some quite wonderful figures and is the top run scorer . We also have the likes of  R. Ireland, J. Featherstone, J. Pratt, G. Burt,  and S. Ryce who are making themselves feature in the adult sides this year and are all names to watch for in the coming year. These are just a few of the names I could have chosen, we have so many coming through and next year we will look to add even more colts to our senior ranks - and that's on ability and not just because some of the senior players don't fancy doing the running in the outfield.

Our colts section are always looking for new players, please get in touch with the club if you have children who you think would benefit and enjoy. 

and now RAFFLE TIME!!!!!

We're delighted to announce that The Alexandra in Wimbledon have kindly donated a meal for two to our raffle. If you haven't heard of the Alex, I'd be very surprised. They are a wonderful, wonderful asset to the community. In addition to their great selection of beers, wines and spirits; their food menu is exceptional -  a big reason why a lot of our guys arrange to meet and eat there. Their community work, spearheaded by landlord Mick Dore, started to get attention with the quite wonderful 'Don't be alone on Christmas Day initiative' where anyone celebrating Christmas alone would be welcomed to come to the Alex.   

 

This was then taken one step further when they announced their 'Meet up Monday' initiative to help combat loneliness in the community. 

We'd really like to thank Mick and the Alexandra for helping us out with this really kind donation and implore you to visit what is a quite wonderful establishment run by some lovely people.

We have many of the featured prizes to announce in the coming weeks. There will be a number of smaller prizes as well such as chocolates, wines and a few other interesting bits. With 101 prizes on offer, the chances of winning a prize are rather good. 

Tickets are on sale at the club all weekend at £2.50 per ticket. As I've said before, the fundraisers we run are absolutely crucial to the club. They go towards paying for the upkeep of the club and the improvement of facilities. 

If you'd also like to sell tickets to your friends, family and neighbours (which we REALLY encourage) please get in touch to organise picking up a book or two. 

As always, thank you for taking the time to read this and also for taking the time to get involved with our cricket club. 

                                                                        Simon 

            (Injured Sunday Campions vice-captain, raffle coordinator and community enthusiast) 

#WePlayAsOne 

 

 

      Bowl-offs, Raffles and Father's Day 

This one is a bumper (but there are more pictures - it evens out). We've got the Mega Raffle to announce and everything fun about that as well as our usual recap of the last couple of weeks, a celebration of Father's day this Sunday and how the father/child relationship has a good tradition at Old Wimbledonians. 

So let's start with taking a look back over the last couple of weeks,....

We continue to put up some good results club-wide, with many of our teams pushing for the promotion spots in their respective leagues. It's been a strong start so far and as June moves on we look to continue to push.. 

Garfy celebrates with Rum (and a trophy)

In my last post i mentioned the bowl-off  which was won by club legend and stalwart Garfield Fontaine (see above). Garfield beat off competition from 4s skipper Ben Walsh and 3s skipper Max Jacobs to claim the title and bragging rights (and he has brought this up in conversation a couple off times already) .

 This was a fantastic fundraiser which was a lot of fun and appreciated by all and a massive well done to Joe (Social sec and general legend) for putting together. I've caught wind of his next idea for a fundraiser and trust me, you don't want to miss that!. 

Now for the family section...

I spoke at length in my first blog this season about the sense of community (that word again) at the club and at it's very core. Old Wimbledonians have a strong family ideal which we celebrate and with Father's Day on Sunday, I wanted to just share a few of the many combinations we have who are playing regularly. 

Starting with Mark, George and James Pratt who are always at the club, full of enthusiasm and a great family asset to the club (as well as all three individually) 

Mark, George and James Pratt are a wonderful set of chaps to have around the club

These lads play between the 4th and 5th teams as well as playing Sundays and are just one great example of colts developing into the adult teams. They integrate so well and are such an integral part of the club. 

 Many will have read last year of the amazing strength of character displayed by Sachin Shah as he went though some fairly serious health issues and to see him back playing in some capacity is nothing short of unbelievable. His dad Manoj is a wonderful club presence too, filling in with bat and ball (and nattering to the square leg umpire far, far too much) Also we mustn't forget his other son, Rahul who can't play currently as he's away at university (availability excuses really do get wild sometimes).

Manoj and Sachin Shah, batting together after a very challenging year. 

Below we have club savoir Tim and his son Jason. Tim who does so much for the club on and off the field (and probably deserves a blog dedicated just to him). Jason, started as a colt and progressed into the adult teams where he made himself a valuable asset in any team and is also a previous and extremely successful, vice-captain of our 4th team. Jason embodies the wonderful attitude of his dad and his progression has led to him being an extremely level-head to have around the club.  

Tim and Jason off on a merry jaunt 

Then we have the next generation we can find coming through. Quite often on a weekend you can find 4th Team captain Ben Walsh and his son Freddie (see blog edition 'How to Cage the Opposition' for a great Freddie Story) and Adrian Dawson and his son Leo hitting a ball around the club putting the adults to shame with their shot selection. They will both no doubt be great colts who will find their way to the adult sides in a few years time.  We look forward to seeing them start to join the colts in the next few years.  

Leo and Freddie looking onward as to what their adult life will inevitably become.

These few examples above are really just the tip of the iceberg for the parent/child players which we have at the club. There are so many others who i didn't have space or photos to mention but they are just as valuable to the club as those mentioned above (and if you tweet the club account with a photo of you and your playing child, i will gladly retweet)  .

 Without the likes of Freddie and Leo with Ben and Adrian, integrating their kids into the club at an early age, you don't get them to where Jason has got to. The development along the way showcased above with Mark, George and James is proof that club life and the process works and is something that makes club life something very special. 

And finally..........

It's time to bring up our big fundraiser of the year: The Mega Raffle. 

The Mega Raffle will consist of 101 prizes, ranging from the smaller prizes to some quite interesting big ones we'll mention along the way. With tickets on sale at £2.50 soon. The draw will take place following our 8-a-side tournament on Sunday August 29th and tickets will be going on sale soon so keep your eyes on our social media channels to find out more in the coming weeks. 

Sourcing 101 prizes is not a simple task (but it will be rewarding) we are already working with some local businesses who have donated some prizes but we're always looking for more to get involved. We have a captive audience at the club with a number of inter-club communications where we'd love to feature your business. 

If you'd like to donate a prize to our raffle (and I can't express how grateful we would be) please drop and email to matthew.hopkins@hyde-housing.co.uk 

Or if you'd like to take it one step further and discuss sponsorship opportunities within our vastly populated club, please email mdjacobs@mail.com and joseph@guardiansofsafety.com

Or if you have any other raffle enquiries you can email me sbath14@gmail.com and i will gladly get back to you. 

As always, thank you for reading, enjoy your weekend if you're playing or watching cricket or even if you don't even like it. 

Simon 

Campions Vice-Captain and man due runs. 

#WePlayAsOne 

     Playing on a literal road - and other jargon 

Even to the initiated, cricket is a game full of nonsensical jargon. Silly Mid-wicket, Googly, Duck - all terms that sound like absolute nonsense. 

But what do they all mean? And when would you use them? Well, we'll come onto that a little bit later. 

Firstly, lets start with a look at last weekend:

We arrived at our hosts to find that the pitch was a literal road and so, to cut a short story slightly shorter, the game was cancelled and another cricket-less Saturday ensued. 

A literal road

We had some good results from the rest of the weekend however, with 4 of the other 6 teams getting the win and the vibe around the club being extremely positive and jovial. 

This weekend promises to be even more fruitful however, as 7 sides over Saturday and Sunday will take to the field. We also have the club's first social of the year, the club's inaugural Bowl-Off Cup. Hosted by Social Secretary Joe. He has promised that this will be a social not to be missed and that is will all be streamed live on our YouTube channel  (subscribe and hit the notification bell) so you can see slightly inebriated gladiators fail miserable at a relatively simple cricketing task. 

The Bowl-Off Trophy

    Fundraisers and socials are a massive part of club life. It allows us to firstly stay afloat financially, giving not only our adult sides a home and a club but also the vast amount of colts teams and kids that use and enjoy the club a place in which to enjoy and develop their cricket.  Additionally, money coming through these fundraisers and socials allow the club to improve facilities and buy new equipment. With around 250 colts and nearly 100 adult members using these facilities on a weekly basis, development of these things is absolutely vital. 

This seems like a good time to start mentioning a large fundraiser that will be coming along towards the end of the season - The Mega Raffle.

With 101 prizes, the Mega Raffle will be drawn on August 29th with tickets being sold at £2.50 each which will be going on sale soon. As head of the team running the raffle, I would like to invite local businesses and club members to donate prizes if they wish to help us get closer to that 101 prize goal. 
    Any local business who would be kind enough to donate a prize will naturally get many good mentions in our social media and internal club literature. Additionally, we have a plethora of sponsorship opportunities which will have the wonderful benefit of that large captive audience mentioned above.  Please do get in touch with myself or anyone at the club to talk about this or to donate some nice prizes. We already have some local businesses who have very kindly donated and we would be honoured to bring more on board.  

    back to the cricket....

So, as promised, here is a guide to understanding some of the more technical terms in the cricketing world:

Pie Chucker - interchangeable with grenade launcher. This is a colloquial reference to bowlers with perhaps mediocre ability and a higher likelihood to bowl poor deliveries. Interestingly, these types of bowlers take a high amount of wickets frustrating many others especially bowlers with higher skill levels.

Googly- Sounds fun. What does it actually mean? The truth is no one actually knows. It was a buzz word in the 90s. Something about a posh delivery spin bowlers bowled. Probably.

Sledging - a term often used to describe vocal anti-encouragement between opposing teams. At a professional level this was once described by a professional Australian cricketer as 'Mental disintegration'. At an amateur level, it's known as 'a bit of banter' and in truth it's just people telling crap jokes.

Dolly - Easy Catch that should be taken, but often isn't, ANDREW!!!!!! 

Duckworth Lewis Method - invented by someone who actually liked algebra at school. It is based on an equation that is also capable of turning lead into gold. Devised purely so that a TV audience had another hour of one-day cricket to watch when weather effected a game. Despised by the purist and teams that bat second.

Jug - They who perform well shalt be required to purchase this. (it's beer) 

 

LBW - Leg Before Wicket. It's pretty straightforward, unless the ball hits the batsman outside the line of the off-stump unless he's offering a shot and then he can be given out. The batsman can not be given out if the ball pitches outside the leg stump. Clear? Good.

Ringer -  A player you 'ring' when you're short who isn't part of the normal side. Often a mate of the vice-captain's from the pub. Usually a former Middlesex Second XI player who is a bit handy and spends the day being sheepish about their superior ability. 

 So there you have a small glossary of terms to help you with understanding cricket. I'm sure they probably didn't help but i did manage to get all the way through the blog without using the word community (see last blog to get that gag)

   With seven sides playing and the Bowl-Off social this weekend, there isn't many places much better to be this weekend than Old Wimbledonians and remember, as always We Play As One         

                                                               Simon Bath

                                                            @simondobath 

                                                           #WePlayAsOne

2021 Season : Chapter 1 - A sense of community

 

                 

                  THE 2021 SEASON BEGINS 

                                          With a sense of Community in focus

As lockdown begins to lift and the weather begins to improve, cricket is finally back with league fixtures up and down the country. 

My club, Old Wimbledonians again embark on the season with seven adult teams playing teams across each weekend (Five League teams on a Saturday and two two friendly teams on a Sunday).

     For those who don't know, Old Wimbledonians is a very pleasant club located in Raynes Park. Boasting two home pitches with two good tracks - a truly excellent facility. There are very few places locally that are so tailor made for a nice family day out. 

    It's Mental Heath Awareness week and i felt it was important to give the first blog this year a bit of a mental health related theme and highlighting the positivity that club life and community can have. 

(Author's note: At this point i want to apologise for the sheer amount of times i have written the word 'community' in this post.)

    For many people, team sports can be something of a lifeline. The benefits of having a group of people around you who all want you to do well can be a very uplifting thing to have. The feeling of being a part of something and being amongst friends can often be crucial to overcoming a tough or stressful week at work or even the pressures of every day life. Of course the social side of things is also a massive part (groups of 6, 2 households etc etc ) 

    Catching up after games with both your teammates and fellow club mates is another huge part of club life and the sense of community which we all enjoy. The first social of the season takes place (socially distanced) next Saturday evening - the club's first ever Bowl Off Cup. Which promises to be.....interesting. - Keep focused on all of our social media channels for the results/videos of that.

Whilst the affect that restrictions have had on mental health has been quite alarming, having this kind environment to be a part of and to come back to is a fantastic boost.               

    Coronavirus has helped all of us embrace that greater sense of community. Whether it's the work of Dons Local Action Group that has been such a tremendous asset to the local community, or the tremendous work that Mick Dore of the Alexandra public house in Wimbledon has been for many years in addition to his fine community work through the covid crisis. They are wonderful examples of just how community efforts can make a real difference and although we operate on a smaller scale, the benefits that we can offer in our local area can also be hugely beneficial for people. 

    Changing tact somewhat, the club is currently doing very well for players and availability, which is a reflection of the hard work of people both on and off the pitch. You couldn't generate 70+ people for a weekend of cricket without making sure that you have a positive environment. It also goes to show, if you've been following our social channels this week, you'll notice that we were able to field two colts teams of girls for the first time in the Girls Smash it League . These girls teams are growing rapidly and its a wonderful thing to see happen and become part of our all encompassing........wait for it.......community. 

    To conclude, the community (last time, i promise) aspect of our club and the camaraderie that surrounds it makes it such a vital aspect to many people's lives. We pride ourselves on being a welcoming place for all walks of life and are always welcoming to new additions. 

                      We are the Old Wimbledonians and we play as one

                                                                     Simon Bath

                                                  Sunday Campions Vice-Captain 

                                       (and only person who wanted to write a blog)

* Tastefully borrowed from Formula 1 

#WePlayAsOne

Chapter 2: Electric Boogaloo

                                 Chapter 2: Electric Boogaloo 
          I wonder whether I could get a game of CharDeeMacDennis going at the club one night


I'd hoped at the start of the season that these blogs were going to become a little more frequent, sadly I didn't account for rupturing an intercostal muscle meaning I missed seven weeks of the season. That is a new kind of pain, I must say. For the first three weeks, a single sneeze would have me doubled over in pain. Luckily now I've managed to get a few solid weeks of cricket in where I have managed to be part of a good few wins.


It's been good to see some colts coming through and doing well in the games that I've managed to play in. A young firebrand in Charlie Topley seemed to have come into the fold and held up really well (and climbed quickly to). Wonderful to see the Chappell boys come back into mix as well and young Hiren Doshi who is always a enthusiastic add to a side. Young Jim Kennedy also seems to be developing well and scoring a lot of runs

 It's also great to see the likes of Kendo (Kennedy Warwick) coming back from a broken toe, and for all the banter that him and I have, the work he puts in to recover from injuries is actually quite inspirational and doesn't always seem to be realised be everyone - on that note a word for Liam Hearty who has worked equally as hard with a couple of horrible injuries over the last couple of years who always keeps his smile even when my vice-like handshake pushes back his recovery time from a broken thumb (sorry mate).

Last week's weather turned out to produce a wonderful mixture of humour and spirit where the majority of us walked up and down alongside a very wet section of grass, loudly umming and arring about whether it would be suitable to play on. It also involved conferences of many different mobile phone applications being consulted - often at the same time.

 "Siri - what's the collective noun for a group of weather-frustrated cricketers?" 

  Something that possibly doesn't get said enough out loud is how brilliant the work that Helen is to our club. She does so much for us- especially considering that she isn't a playing member. Last week she sorted out tea after it looked like there might not be enough cricket - All of this is on top of her broken leg/foot/something (i'm sorry I can't actually remember the specifics) But the thanks that we all owe her should not be overlooked. Everything that is being written in this post is about the positive mental aspect that a club culture has - Helen is just as much a part of that as anyone else - We are lucky to have her involved and would be at sea without her.


I'm getting a little bit more serious here about things as I want to discuss how team sports can be a positive in helping good metal health.

I mention enough in my blogs that I suffer from anxiety. It’s a pretty central theme and it’s become a hurdle to find a way around every single day. Being part of a cricket team is something that is such a wonderful thing in dealing with this. It’s not as basic as just standing in a field with ten other people. It’s the belonging, the standing side by side with comrades where you all have one common goal. The banter (for the want of a better word) in the field is usually worth turning up for alone, the ridiculous call from someone in the field reminding a bowler that they should be pitching the ball "on off stump" (Yes, batsmen, WE KNOW WHERE IT’S MEANT TO GO!!) 

From a personal perspective, being part of a team is something that is extremely important to me. I look forward to coming to play on a Saturday where I can join up as par of the team, enjoy my teammates success, watching their personal development and working towards a collective goal of winning the match. The camaraderie that takes place in the team is the best part of a day. The fact that people all want you to succeed as much as they want to succeed themselves, your teammates willing you on gives such a release of tension.

When my anxiety plays up, it basically means that my brain chemistry isn't quite blowing in the right direction, being part of my cricket team is something that helps no end. Being in an environment where I am comfortable, I can do something creative (even if it's only chirp crap from first slip) and I have the capacity to contribute, is such a helps to give my mental health a tremendous boost - and can quite often help to change the direction of my brain chemistry. Let it be said, exercise is not a cure for mental health ailments, not by any stretch but the alleviation of some symptoms is an incredibly positive thing. The cricket field is somewhat of a space where I am always comfortable, there's a certain safety there. Not always off of the pitch, sometimes it can be daunting to stay after games and there is nothing rational to explain why sometimes it's just easier to drive home. This is one tiny example of how anxiety can affect me and it is a real struggle, the team environment often helps to push me in that right direction. 

Anyway, back to a more upbeat tone. Big parts of being a part of the club is enjoying other people's successes. Over the last couple of weeks, it was great to hear Garfield got to 500 club wickets - a fine achievement for a club stalwart, as well as that it was fabulous to see Andrew 'Wiji'  Wijayasinghe take his first steps in captaincy  (victoriously as well) and to see how much energy he bought to that team environment (properly proud of you, mate)

                                             
                                              Is this the right Garfield?....Yes 



I won't be writing for a few weeks as I'm actually having a holiday (much needed) but hopefully at least one more before the end of the season.

Simon