wolf
International Cricketer
I'm pretty sure that if your foot is raised it is a no-ball. If I am wrong I am a really bad umpire. 
Anywhere here are my match reports from my three games so far this season I wrote on another site: -
Anywhere here are my match reports from my three games so far this season I wrote on another site: -First match of the season today and it went like a dream for us. We bowled 'em out for 82 and knocked them off for four down. I took two catches at cover in the first two overs, which doubled my tally from the whole of last season from pretty much the same fielding position. First one their opener had hit three fours in the first five balls and was looking pretty good and then just belted, and I mean belted, one just to the right of my head and I managed to take the catch. The one in the second over was a dolly. We took wickets at regular intervals, our openers got three each, and then with the game in our control we just gave everyone a chance to bowl, even me (out of the three disciplines, bowling is definately my worst)! I got a wicket with my first ball (long hop, caught at cover) I ended up with 3-1-5-1, and then telling my skipper "that's my lot get the opening bowlers back to finish I'm freezing" (our opener came back and took a 5-fer). With such a mundane total to chase we could sit back and freeze in the cold, our keeper got 43* to see us through (I was in next but oh well).
When playing cricket, everyone has a dream day. Just a day that everything goes right. If you haven't experienced it yet one day you will. Today I lived the dream. Not only did I score 52, my first ever 50, I also took a wicket with my gentle bowling, and, most importantly, I took the winning catch of the last ball of the match.
I will tell you the tale of this day. We lost the toss and were put in, and our openers got us to a quick start, both scoring 29 to set us a good platform. We were about 105-4 in the 25th when I strolled to the wicket, and I told myself just to keep my head and don't play any silly shots, which are so often my downfall. I lost my partner with 117 on the board, but me and my skipper put on 82 for the 6th wicket, both retiring after 47 overs to give the rest of the team a bit of a bat. After starting slowly, I gradually worked my way into it, cutting and driving a few fours while keeping the singles coming. I scored my first six in senior cricket with a big hit over long on, and had the widest smile ever as I raised my bat to the pavilion after a drive through the covers brought up my 50. We ended on 215, and as I eat my lunch I stuffed myself thinking my part in the match was over. How wrong I was....
It was clear from the start that the opposistion has one thing in mind - the losing draw. They made no attempt whatsoever to surpass our total. So after about 16 overs where they defended their way to about 20 runs, I was shocked to find myself with the ball in my hand ready to bowl (my wicket last week was only my third in as many years) and after having an easy catch dropped at mid-off in the first over, I got my man caught at second slip in my second. I didn't get another but finished with the impressive figures of 5-2-6-1. My next moment in the game came after an impressive 7 wickets by our strike bowler, who showed devastating pace and a killer slower ball to rip through the batting line-up. The opposistion were 67-9 after 49.5 overs. For the last twenty or so overs we had virtually everyone crowded around the bat, to not much avail as almost all our wickets were bowled. So with our captain bowling his medium pace, and the last pair holding out for about six overs thus far, not much hope was held out for the final ball, even with 10 men crowded around the bat. But alas, the ball popped up a bit and came to me, one of three silly points, and after a little bit of a juggle which probably caused 10 heart attacks, I clung on, giving us an extra 11 points on top of the 14 we would have got for the winning draw.
As my teammates piled on top of me, I realised as club cricketers we don't play for glory or fame, we play for the respect and gratidude of our teammates, and that feeling inside of satisfaction. There is no greater feeling in the world.
Easy win today, I expected a lot from the opposistion but was gravely disappointed. They arrived no less than an hour late (credit to the one guy who was actually there on time) after going to the wrong ground (??????). Strangely there was no penalty for them in the rulebook except for we claimed the toss, so the game was reduced to 40 overs a side.
We sent them in and although you could see they were good players they just didn't look interested in scoring runs at a decent rate, we restricted them for 134-8, despite my one over for 10 runs. It continued in the same vein for our innings, we were 70-0 off 10 overs I think, as our openers thrashed it about, I finally came in with 11 to win and I managed to contribute 8 not out with a nice four over the top against the spinner.
Had a party afterwards though and I was in a bad mood all night and my girlfriend got really pissed off with me because I had a go at her for saying it's only cricket. Probably should say sorry 
