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

Chapter 1: How to Cage the opposition

Chapter 1: How to Cage the opposition                                           

I really wanted to continue blogging after my marathon effort and naturally cricket is my main summer hobby, so here we are, thank you for reading.
It is my intention that this blog will reflect the events of our season both on and off field as well as include some other topics.


The season for me started last weekend when we arrived a local ground for what ended up being a friendly after another cry off from league opposition. We now sit top of the league by default and although that is where we wanted to be after two games, we'd much rather be there by merit rather than having points conceded to us.


Nevertheless we met Normandy in a friendly and it needs to be said what a lovely bunch of fellas they were. The banter on the field was in very good spirits and a good laugh was had all round.

After captain Ben lost the toss and we were asked to have a bat (I really hope he lost the toss because if he put us in on that, I have some concerns).

After a decent opening start from the likes of Mr. Kennedy and Keith Miskelley, there was a little flurry of wickets and the middle order soon found themselves a bit busier than they'd anticipated at that time. After a solid knock from Wiji with some accompaniment from myself and a big boost from the sundries column, we managed to get to 150. As the subtext above suggests, on that pitch 150 was a good score. We did have a couple of interesting incidents whilst running between the wickets including Garfield and Mo having a clash of heads leading to a two-inch gash above Garfield's right eye (which required stitches), fair play to him, he carried on and lasted another three balls.

We got to tea which had been laid on by Ben (what the skipper had done for the team last week was nothing short of absolutely amazing and we all owe him a debt of gratitude) and we had something to eat......

This is where the notable incident of the day took place. The pavilion (glorified shed) had been surrounded by a cage (put in by the council to protect it from youths). The door of said pavilion cage unfortunately doesn't automatically open from the inside or outside once it's shut, rather there is a code. Now this generally isn't much of a problem is you either A) don't shut the door, or B) know the code that opens the door.

Unfortunately, our skipper's two-year-old son, being ever the conscientious lad, thought the door needed to be shut - therefore locking the entire opposition in the caged pavilion.


                                                       


Immediately this was a bit of a giggle (Mr. Kennedy even turned his chair around to spectate on proceedings. Quite quickly afterwards it became apparent that this wasn't a two minute thing and they were going to be caged for a little while. Credit where it's due, the oppo saw the funny side of what can only be described as a debacle. Guesses were made at the code (It wasn't 1988 - even though we were just off Haydons Road), tools appeared with the idea of removing sections of the cage and even a suggestion of trying to pick the lock was suggested.

 Finally the fire brigade were called, however in the mean time we still had a game of cricket to finish. So the opening batsmen climbed over the top to escape the cage so that they could come out to bat and restart the game

The fire brigade turned up just after the restart and opened the door via the use of some magic code only they knew. We have two fireman in our squad and neither of them were available this week - just think how much easier that could have been!


As we took the field, we managed to get some early breakthroughs leaving the opposition with an uphill struggle and it's likely we would have wound the game up a lot quicker if WE HADN'T DROPPED NINE CATCHES!!!!!!!!!!

A couple of nice bowling spells to note from Ben and Manny in particular as well as a solid effort behind the sticks from Sachin saw us win well .

Seriously nine catches went down (to nine different people as well)

To Sum up the day... 

- We batted okish, bowled well and fielded fairly poorly.
- Locking an entire team in a cage is quite frankly the funniest thing i've ever witnessed
- Catches win matches but so does bowling people.
- Isn't a cage that doesn't open once the door is shut contravene some kind of H&S law?

Tea Score: 7/10 - for sheer effort, Thanks Ben.


So for next week.....

As the injury crisis in our squad deepens, we can now boast:

- 1 broken toe (Kendo - fell down stairs)
- 1 broken wrist (Tim - not entirely sure )
- I broken thumb (Liam - probably should have caught the ball instead)
- 1 torn calf (Chairman Gomez, whilst playing tennis)


So the next few weeks means a chance for some to step up and give Ben a real headache at selection, with a couple of guys starting to look in form, there is a chance we can kick on and really maintain out league position.


We're at home next week where there is a fully stocked bar and a great excuse to watch, score, umpire or even play (seriously though if you'd like to join in, in any capacity, The Old Wimbledonians would love to hear from you). Everyone is welcome at Old Wimbledonians from novices, to pros and to those who just want to support. We have a wide range of excellent local sponsors who are also a great part of the club such as Tennison Property, Laser Crystal Awards and Snoggys so look out for those guys as well and help support them in the local community the same way they are supporting us.


So in conclusion,

The craziness of cricket continues on. It's always madly fun. Assuming next week I have chance I'm hoping to writing a slightly more serious entry about how team sport and camaraderie can have an extremely positive affect on mental health.


Thank you,

Simon



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