Highlander999
ICC President
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2006
- Location
- London
Friday 28th March
I had a pretty good night's sleep and it took me a few seconds to remember that I would be playing cricket again today. I'm not used to this 4 day stuff. I arrived at the ground at 8:30 and went into the club's lounge. A few of the boys were there chatting and I went over to them. We discussed England's terrible performance in the World Cup and how they really needed to improve.
The pitch did look to be cracking up a bit alreday which did surprise me. If we were going to be bowling last on this pitch it would probably make our lives a lot easier. As the rest of the team turned up, us bowlers went outside to warm up in the nets against a few batsmen. I was a bit stiff to begin with but eventually got into a good rhythm and felt I was bowling well. When it was nearly time to head out the skip gave the team a talking to:
"Right lads. We have a good chance today to quickly rip through these guys. There is a lot of cloud cover and it is slightly warmer out there today. The pitch is also looking to be providing some variable bounce. Martin and Andy are going to be key with the new ball. Bowlers just keep to a tight line and we should be fine."
Things however did not go to well for us. The opening pair of Wagh and Knight started very positively against our opening pair especially Andy. They hit Andy all over the place as he was bowling a bit too short. He was quickly taken out of the attack and replaced. However the opening partnership still grew. The batsmen were not playing very few defensive shots and were looking to drive us quite a bit. This forced the bowlers back to, too short of a line where they started getting pulled and square cut for a few runs.
Eventually Jimmy was brought into the attack, to hopefully provide a breakthrough with his spin. He had a couple of really tight overs then he did. He used the quicker arm-ball which Nick Knight did not pick up. He attempted to sweep him missed it and was clean bowled for 25. The score was now 65/1. We had made the breakthrough.
19 overs had passed before I was brought into the attack. The score was 71/1 and there was half an hour till lunch. The skip came over to me:
"Right Tom. Your main task here is to bowl a consistent line on off-stump and try and get an edge. We don't want too many runs given away before lunch."
Things didn't go as planned however. I had an absolutely terrible first spell. I bowled 4 overs and went for 7 an over. I just could not seem to find the right length. I was either too full and driven or too short and pulled away. Wagh hit me for my first ever six in professional cricket which was not a nice experience. Rob stuck with me for 4 overs before taking me of with two overs left before lunch. I was just too expensive.
That meant that at Lunch on day 2, Warwickshire were 103/1. We looked to be in a spot of trouble as Wagh was looking in excellent touch and Bell had begun to play some good shots. We had also been quite undisciplined bowling, giving away 24 extras.
Lunch was a prety sombre affair. There was not much banter and we all concentrated on our food. Eventually Rob stood up:
"Ok boys. That was a really bad first session. We bowled pretty average. We really needed to make in-roads into them and we didn't. However we can start the next session differently. Let's go back to bowling a tight line and restrict the runs."
We headed back out soon after this. However the Warwickshire boys just continued from where they left of. Bell and Wagh looked in fine touch. Although we did bowl slightly better the runs kept flowing. Eventually the skip went into a defensie field to stop the boundaries. The partnership seemed unbreakable though.
Things just did not seem to go our way. The batsmen seemed to be in excellent touch and we could not do anything to stop them. We bowled short and they pulled and cut us. We bowled slightly fuller they drove us away. We bowled on a line on off-stump and they just guided us away. Both batsmen reached their half-centuries. The skip did not look at all pleased. Cook, Sheriy and Jimmy had been keeping the score down but could not make a breakthrough.
Wih the score tumbling out of control, we could only watch. I highly doubted I would be given another bowl in this session, after my first spell had been so bad. We needed some help.
I had a pretty good night's sleep and it took me a few seconds to remember that I would be playing cricket again today. I'm not used to this 4 day stuff. I arrived at the ground at 8:30 and went into the club's lounge. A few of the boys were there chatting and I went over to them. We discussed England's terrible performance in the World Cup and how they really needed to improve.
The pitch did look to be cracking up a bit alreday which did surprise me. If we were going to be bowling last on this pitch it would probably make our lives a lot easier. As the rest of the team turned up, us bowlers went outside to warm up in the nets against a few batsmen. I was a bit stiff to begin with but eventually got into a good rhythm and felt I was bowling well. When it was nearly time to head out the skip gave the team a talking to:
"Right lads. We have a good chance today to quickly rip through these guys. There is a lot of cloud cover and it is slightly warmer out there today. The pitch is also looking to be providing some variable bounce. Martin and Andy are going to be key with the new ball. Bowlers just keep to a tight line and we should be fine."
Things however did not go to well for us. The opening pair of Wagh and Knight started very positively against our opening pair especially Andy. They hit Andy all over the place as he was bowling a bit too short. He was quickly taken out of the attack and replaced. However the opening partnership still grew. The batsmen were not playing very few defensive shots and were looking to drive us quite a bit. This forced the bowlers back to, too short of a line where they started getting pulled and square cut for a few runs.
Eventually Jimmy was brought into the attack, to hopefully provide a breakthrough with his spin. He had a couple of really tight overs then he did. He used the quicker arm-ball which Nick Knight did not pick up. He attempted to sweep him missed it and was clean bowled for 25. The score was now 65/1. We had made the breakthrough.
19 overs had passed before I was brought into the attack. The score was 71/1 and there was half an hour till lunch. The skip came over to me:
"Right Tom. Your main task here is to bowl a consistent line on off-stump and try and get an edge. We don't want too many runs given away before lunch."
Things didn't go as planned however. I had an absolutely terrible first spell. I bowled 4 overs and went for 7 an over. I just could not seem to find the right length. I was either too full and driven or too short and pulled away. Wagh hit me for my first ever six in professional cricket which was not a nice experience. Rob stuck with me for 4 overs before taking me of with two overs left before lunch. I was just too expensive.
That meant that at Lunch on day 2, Warwickshire were 103/1. We looked to be in a spot of trouble as Wagh was looking in excellent touch and Bell had begun to play some good shots. We had also been quite undisciplined bowling, giving away 24 extras.
Lunch was a prety sombre affair. There was not much banter and we all concentrated on our food. Eventually Rob stood up:
"Ok boys. That was a really bad first session. We bowled pretty average. We really needed to make in-roads into them and we didn't. However we can start the next session differently. Let's go back to bowling a tight line and restrict the runs."
We headed back out soon after this. However the Warwickshire boys just continued from where they left of. Bell and Wagh looked in fine touch. Although we did bowl slightly better the runs kept flowing. Eventually the skip went into a defensie field to stop the boundaries. The partnership seemed unbreakable though.
Things just did not seem to go our way. The batsmen seemed to be in excellent touch and we could not do anything to stop them. We bowled short and they pulled and cut us. We bowled slightly fuller they drove us away. We bowled on a line on off-stump and they just guided us away. Both batsmen reached their half-centuries. The skip did not look at all pleased. Cook, Sheriy and Jimmy had been keeping the score down but could not make a breakthrough.
Wih the score tumbling out of control, we could only watch. I highly doubted I would be given another bowl in this session, after my first spell had been so bad. We needed some help.
). 
