Story Three Lions on the Shirt? - Match Day: Northamptonshire fight back!!!
- Thread starter Highlander999
- Start date
Highlander999
ICC President
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2006
- Location
- London
Thursday 11th April
As David and Matty headed out to begin our reply, the team were in a jovial mood. We had really performed well, as a team, with the ball, meaning there was a lot less pressure on the batsmen. I had my pads on ready just in case, Matty or David fell early. I was really excited about batting at number 3 and really wanted to shine with the bat. Andy came over. He was not even in his kit anymore so confident that he wouldn't have to bat,
"Hey Tom. Remember if you go in during the first 5 overs you become an opener pretty much. Therfore the ball will be swining all over the place, so treat it with respect."
"Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Hopefully though it won't be happening."
I headed up to the balcony to watch the team's progress. I arrived just in time to watch Matty hit Streak for a beautiful 4. It was very professional looking, with perfect balance, a text-book drive. However, the very next over, we lost Matty. He attempted to run one down to third-man, but misjudjed it and got a very thin edge to Piper. All of the Warwickshire team went up and Matty slowly headed back, head down.
"Oh crap. In I go I suppose. Wish me luck guys."
I passed Matty as I walked out and he wished me luck. Looking up at the scoreboard we were now 11/1. There was now a bit of pressure on me to perform.
Out in the middle David was waiting for me,
"Ok, Tom. Bit of pressure on us. Just knuckle down and keep your head. Remember the run-rate is stupidly low so no risky shots. I know you've got no experience batting this far down. Now is the time to impress."
"Sure thing Dave. I won't let the side down."
I was pretty nervous if I am honest with myself. I had never come out in an innings so early on. Normally at worst 20 overs had been played and there was not too much pressure on me. Here however, I was meant to be the foundations of the innings. The Warwickshire boys saw I was pretty nervous and I was on the end of some pretty heavy sledging as I prepared to face my first ball. I have a real fear of ducks and wanted to get off the mark as quickly as possible. I came extremely close to getting a duck here, when I edged my first ball. Luckily it fell just wide of Piper and ran away for 4
Now that was out of the way I wanted to settle down and make a big score.
David began to look in very nice touch and was really accelerating the run-rate with a couple of fours. I think he might of got slightly cocky as he tried to hit Pretorius back over his head but did not quite fully catch it and found the fielder back on the ropes. He slammed his bat into his pad and looked furious with himself. He had made it clear to me how shots like that were not called for and then he had gone and done one himself. The Warwickshire boys were jubilant. Rob was the next batsman and he was in very poor form.
As he approached the square I walked out towards him. We briefly touched gloves,
"Alright Rob. Conditions aren't too hard at the moment. Ball isn't swinging around too much, I think we just need to play sensible shots."
"Sounds like a good plan Andy also said to tell you that if you get out soon, he's emptying your bag all over the place as it means he will have to get changed again 
"
:laugh That was pretty funny thinking how confident Andy had been he would not have to bat. He obviously did not have much confidence in us Rob had been in appaling form recently and had been dropped in the last match. He really needed to find form again and this match would be crucial. I was a bit worried for him as he had been pushing for a place in the England squad at the beginning of the season and had yet him a really bad patch. Hopefully he could recover soon.
He made a really positive start but soon through it away. He quickly raced to 11 and we were both looking in pretty fine touch. In a moment of madness he decided he would try and advance to Pretorius and was completely beaten by a well placed yorker, which hit right at the base of off-stump. We were now in a bit of trouble at 45/3, and it now meant there was a huge amount of pressure on me and Martin to bring Kent home. I had felt in pretty decent touch but it seemed like the rest of the team were just wanting to throw there wickets away.
Still only 7 overs had been bowled and yet we had lost 3 wickets. We needed 101 runs which meant I would need someone to build a partnership with me, and soon. Martin soon arrived and passed on a message from the pavillion,
"On no account is either you or me allowed to hit the ball in the air on purpose. Just keep it on the ground and just focus on winning the match."
I did feel slightly annoyed at this as I had been keeping it on the ground it was just everyone else who had decided to bat like Afridi. I decided I would just keep going along at my present rate and I would be fine
As David and Matty headed out to begin our reply, the team were in a jovial mood. We had really performed well, as a team, with the ball, meaning there was a lot less pressure on the batsmen. I had my pads on ready just in case, Matty or David fell early. I was really excited about batting at number 3 and really wanted to shine with the bat. Andy came over. He was not even in his kit anymore so confident that he wouldn't have to bat,
"Hey Tom. Remember if you go in during the first 5 overs you become an opener pretty much. Therfore the ball will be swining all over the place, so treat it with respect."
"Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Hopefully though it won't be happening."
I headed up to the balcony to watch the team's progress. I arrived just in time to watch Matty hit Streak for a beautiful 4. It was very professional looking, with perfect balance, a text-book drive. However, the very next over, we lost Matty. He attempted to run one down to third-man, but misjudjed it and got a very thin edge to Piper. All of the Warwickshire team went up and Matty slowly headed back, head down.
"Oh crap. In I go I suppose. Wish me luck guys."
I passed Matty as I walked out and he wished me luck. Looking up at the scoreboard we were now 11/1. There was now a bit of pressure on me to perform.
Out in the middle David was waiting for me,
"Ok, Tom. Bit of pressure on us. Just knuckle down and keep your head. Remember the run-rate is stupidly low so no risky shots. I know you've got no experience batting this far down. Now is the time to impress."
"Sure thing Dave. I won't let the side down."
I was pretty nervous if I am honest with myself. I had never come out in an innings so early on. Normally at worst 20 overs had been played and there was not too much pressure on me. Here however, I was meant to be the foundations of the innings. The Warwickshire boys saw I was pretty nervous and I was on the end of some pretty heavy sledging as I prepared to face my first ball. I have a real fear of ducks and wanted to get off the mark as quickly as possible. I came extremely close to getting a duck here, when I edged my first ball. Luckily it fell just wide of Piper and ran away for 4
Now that was out of the way I wanted to settle down and make a big score.David began to look in very nice touch and was really accelerating the run-rate with a couple of fours. I think he might of got slightly cocky as he tried to hit Pretorius back over his head but did not quite fully catch it and found the fielder back on the ropes. He slammed his bat into his pad and looked furious with himself. He had made it clear to me how shots like that were not called for and then he had gone and done one himself. The Warwickshire boys were jubilant. Rob was the next batsman and he was in very poor form.
As he approached the square I walked out towards him. We briefly touched gloves,
"Alright Rob. Conditions aren't too hard at the moment. Ball isn't swinging around too much, I think we just need to play sensible shots."
"Sounds like a good plan
Andy also said to tell you that if you get out soon, he's emptying your bag all over the place as it means he will have to get changed again ":laugh That was pretty funny thinking how confident Andy had been he would not have to bat. He obviously did not have much confidence in us
Rob had been in appaling form recently and had been dropped in the last match. He really needed to find form again and this match would be crucial. I was a bit worried for him as he had been pushing for a place in the England squad at the beginning of the season and had yet him a really bad patch. Hopefully he could recover soon.He made a really positive start but soon through it away. He quickly raced to 11 and we were both looking in pretty fine touch. In a moment of madness he decided he would try and advance to Pretorius and was completely beaten by a well placed yorker, which hit right at the base of off-stump. We were now in a bit of trouble at 45/3, and it now meant there was a huge amount of pressure on me and Martin to bring Kent home. I had felt in pretty decent touch but it seemed like the rest of the team were just wanting to throw there wickets away.
Still only 7 overs had been bowled and yet we had lost 3 wickets. We needed 101 runs which meant I would need someone to build a partnership with me, and soon. Martin soon arrived and passed on a message from the pavillion,
"On no account is either you or me allowed to hit the ball in the air on purpose. Just keep it on the ground and just focus on winning the match."
I did feel slightly annoyed at this as I had been keeping it on the ground it was just everyone else who had decided to bat like Afridi. I decided I would just keep going along at my present rate and I would be fine
Pakistani Army
Panel of Selectors
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2006
- Location
- Sheffield, England
- Online Cricket Games Owned
- Don Bradman Cricket 14 - PS3
You need to build a partnership and build the innings here Tom. 1 more wicket and Kent will be in deep trouble. David was out cheaply.
Great works Tom. Keep up the great graphics!
Great works Tom. Keep up the great graphics!
treva
ICC Chairman
Pressure is on you boy. Lets hope you don't crack like when you bowled 
Great stuff Tom, keep it up!
Great stuff Tom, keep it up!
formula1man
International Cricketer
keep it up Tom hope you perform
thesweepmaster
County Cricketer
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2007
- Location
- Baghdad, Iraq
please choke, for Warwickshire's sake .
Good presentation Tom, I do like the graphics that you have put in, Perfect!
.Good presentation Tom, I do like the graphics that you have put in, Perfect!
madmusician
Club Cricketer
This is superb stuff yet again, it's what all stories should be! Best of luck in winning the match.
Karachi Xpress
Chairman of Selectors
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2005
- Location
- Canada
One partnership needed to win this one...
Great presentation as always!
Great presentation as always!
Pranav
ICC Board Member
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2007
- Location
- New Delhi, India
Kutgw
tonka998
Club Cricketer
Great pres as always Tom! Well done! And also love the animations and lets hope you and MVJ can build a good partnership to see Kent home!
shantanu_rooney
Chairman of Selectors
great Stuff Tom....Great animation ...KUTGW
Wow!!!u cud be a hero...and one partnership can win the match....Pressure on u mate...
Wow!!!u cud be a hero...and one partnership can win the match....Pressure on u mate...
Chetan0304
Chairman of Selectors
great animation tom great work love to see all
shefellover93
Club Cricketer
I'm so happy this is back! :happy
Good luck Tom and great update!
Good luck Tom and great update!
mattfb
Chairman of Selectors
Wow great update! Fantastic read amd the graphics are great.
Shame all the other boys are playing ao recklessly.
Shame all the other boys are playing ao recklessly.
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