Story William Rose - My Attempt at greatness! - SOTM November -

[rosewt02]

Glamorgan Vs Middlesex
Part two​

We made them follow on and I was really up for the prospect of bowling them all out again.
What a Yorker! My first FC wicket was Nick Compton as he fell LBW to a dangerous Yorker.

Rain interrupted the day and by the time I was taken off, Middlesex were 99/2. Sheriyar, Betts and Croft were all struggling to get Middlesex’s fourth wicket however. But I was the key, with another full delivery the batsman was hit plumb in line and I took another wicket. I’d like to see Peng do that. Two overs later and I struck again and this time it was Jamie Dalrymple. Caught at short leg this time, try and stop me! I took my fourth wicketswith another yorker that Nash edged to Hemp. I was on for a five wicket haul! I felt like I was king!

Get in!! Murtagh edges to short leg again and the match ball is mine. Crofty hugs me and congratulates me. The rest of the team are going crazy with me, I don’t believe this is happening. I took my sixth wicket only moments later and I couldn’t believe my luck. I was tired though and even against my will I was taken off. But wait Middlesex were trying to snatch a draw, with two wickets remaining they were trying to bat out. Lets see if they can bat me out, I immediately told the skipper I was coming back on and started to warm up. Croft however got Kartik and I then got my 7th wicket with a beauty that was caught behind.

We needed 188 to win off about a session and a half so we had to score at a decent rate. Crofty knowing I was an aggressive batsman told me to get ready for a whack if needed. This could be close. And it was, we started off quickly but lost wickets. 60/3 off the first ten overs and I was padded up. Peng – he is useless, why does he get in this team – fell for 12 and we were worried we would lose this. Crofty and Powell looked to take us to the finish line but we needed 52 off 48 minutes when Powell fell for 65. I was next into bat and I was ready after my brilliant bowling I thought I could do this as well. Braggs out, we need 42 to win and this is my time.

Or maybe not. Another duck! Bowled, Davies goes into bat. The game rests on his shoulders; I can’t believe what ive just done and now its Three overs seventeen to win, Croft gets out! Its going to be so close. I should be at the crease right now but I can’t im just watching from the sidelines. Hoping that my 7 wickets will still make me a hero if they can win this. Two wickets remaining, seven off two overs however, Glamorgan need ten off one over.

Ball one – Dot ball.
Ball two – Four! Hit down the ground.
Ball three – Dot ball.
Ball four – Bowled him – Betts has to go.

Six needed off two balls with Sheriyar into bat. Oh wait he says he’s injured, that’s terrible! Its disgraceful! Why isn’t he batting?! I shout at him and swear at him, he says he’s pulled a muscle. It’s disgraceful!

 

[Ollie_H]

Wow, that was a real bummer to only lose by 6 runs. One of the best things about ICC 3 is that it decides how you do. You can make yourself to an extent, but unlike something like Cricket 07 where you have the ability to control how you are going to do. This is why I like ICC as something to use for a career story.

 

[rosewt02]

I agree, however that was one of the best games ive ever played on that game

 

[Littlejenny]

I love the way you express yourself
and I also love the results
* Kent 1st innings
* RWT Key 100 in 259 mins off 182 balls, 9 fours.
* RWT Key 200 in 412 mins off 293 balls, 18 fours and 1 six.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

7 for 129 is an excellent result to boost up your confidence

Hope this performance helps you in further matches to come your way

 

[rosewt02]

Essex Vs Glamorgan ​

Sheriyar said that he could even play the next OD game against Essex, the cheek. However the coach decided against the idea and Simon Jones who was fresh from injury came back into the side which was disappointing for me as I lost the new ball to him. The other change was Matt Elliot came in for Ben Wright. We won the toss and chose to bat first, great I thought I got to rest my legs for a bit. We got off to a decent start but lost wickets at regular intervals as people kept getting in and getting out. We were 173/6 when I went out to bat with 13 overs remaining.

Another golden! Stumped, I thought I could hit Kaneria out the park from ball one but apparently international bowlers aren?t easy to hit out of the park from ball one. I just expected him to bowl a no ball seeing as he is Pakistani. My batting was getting worse and worse each innings. We were bowled all out for 230 off 47 overs.

Essex got off to a brilliant start and they were 105/0 when I came on to bowl. They had 27 overs to hit 126, the game rested on my shoulders. I was up for it however and I bowled some brilliant long hops and half volleys as they played my first five overs away all too easily. I was fuming but Croft and Betts took two quick wickets and Si Jones and Davies bowled really economically so when I was brought back on with eight overs to go I was ready to finish them off. I was top of the world still after my brilliant bowling performance last week. Eight overs to bowl, 41 to win. First ball and I totally squared Alistair Cook up, the England international was playing and missing me! I did again two balls over and then I was determined to have his wicket so I really put everything into this delivery, so much that my foot missed the line and Cook drove me for a four off a no ball. :crying

The over went for six in the end and we still fancied our chances. Betts bowled an over for five at the other end and the game was still wide open. Cook was still at the crease however and that didn?t help our chances but he wasn?t looking confident and I really was begging for his wicket. Bowling a tight line outside offstump had him playing and missing last over but I couldn?t do that again as he played me off his legs twice in two balls for consecutive boundaries, the over went for twelve and they needed 18 to win off five overs. William Rose ? Hero to Zero in one simple step.

Davies and me tried to stall them but they continued to nag at the total and Cook ended up on 93* as they won quite comfortably in the end and we were still on the hunt for a victory.

 

[rosewt02]

Surrey Vs Glamorgan​

The next day an unchanged side took on Surrey in another OD game, we bowled quite poorly early on with Jones and Davies being dispatched by Ramprakash and Harinath. But Croft and me slowed things down with some tight bowling and Betts did the same. I even took a wicket with a brilliant delivery, a huge away swinger that Harinath chipped to Elliot at mid on and bang, I was off again. The next over I had a plumb LBW shout turned down and the over afterwards only went for one. Brilliant I thought, I was hero again with this good piece of bowling. Confidence was found and I was ready to bowl my last two overs but this time I prepared myself for an upset but it didn’t seem to come. My first over showed that I could even swing the ball with an oldish ball and the second was tight as the last two overs went for 8 between them. I bowled 10 overs for only 36 runs with one wicket. But with nobody backing me up they got to 259/4 off the 50 overs and I thought we had lost with our poor batting this would surely be too hard to chase down.

Yet Crofty thought this was chaseable, I couldn’t disagree more. My big mouth got me into trouble, I said “not with our batting.” Oops, Crofty made some sarcastic comment about me and I was so embarrassed, too big for my own boots. But it didn’t matter because we got off to a great start, Elliot hit 61 at a superb rate and Hemp, Maher, Peng, Croft and Bragg all hit decent contributions as the team continued to hack slowly away at the score and it was going to go right down to the wire. Bragg and Croft needed fifty off 9 overs, a hard task but they batted reasonably without losing a wicket and it was suddenly 30 to win from 30 balls. But Schofield bowled a maiden and we were struggling. Croft and Bragg tried to attack but it was eleven to win off the last over with Schofield bowling and I was in next. Pads on but I was so nervous that Id ruin the teams first win. Clarke takes a brilliant catch on the boundary and im in with the intent to win us the game by hitting 11 runs of five balls, I have too much self confidence.

Ball 1 – Play & miss
Ball 2 – I’m batting at 11 next week, bowled.
Davies takes a single then Bragg hits a four but we still fall short, another loss for us.

Crofty then tells me he is impressed with the way im gelling into the team and says I could be a good player in the future if I can continue like this. Stuff the loss, im over the moon.

 

[chappers]

Very nice story. I like the way your writing is in the Glamorgan colours as well.

 

[qpeedore]

Pretty sweet so far. You must be pretty happy with the way "you" are bowling. Batting is a bit off though.

 

[rosewt02]

Glamorgan Vs West Indies
One Day Warm Up Match​

This could be amazing! I was buzzing with my chance to show the England selectors what I could do, I could show the world. The Swalec Stadium would host West Indies in a day/night match. We lost the toss and would be bowling first, a chance for me to get into the game as I shared the new ball with Simon Jones. I didn’t disappoint, my first over was a maiden to Chris Gayle of all people! My next over only went for an edged three down to third man so there was no disappointment. I felt in good sway as I was position the ball where I wanted to. Unfortunately three good overs from there batting line up left us going from 12/0 from four overs to 38/0 from seven overs. Fortunately I was at hand! Hinds chipped a rank full toss from me to cover and Id made my mark.

Me and Jones were both taken off after five overs each with them at 54/1. My figures superior to his however. Sheryiar and Davies couldn’t calm things down until Davies sent Chanderpaul back to the pavilion at 72/2. Brian Lara walked into bat and I was begging Crofty for the ball and he took Sheryiar off after only two overs and brought….Croft on. Gayle didn’t last out Crofts first over as he edged to first slip. I can’t believe it, three wickets in three overs for Glamorgan and Im upset! Davies gets Lara for seven, 88/4 (16).

Sarwan and K Pollock are at the crease and they give Davies and Croft some wild stick! They put on over fifty and improve the run rate massively before either bowler is taken off. Me and Sheryiar back on with the intention of me bowling the rest of my overs. I can’t quite continue my earlier success because they play me away far too easily but Sheryiar bowls Sarwan and I finish off my remaining overs at a steady rate. Even though I couldn’t get another wicket I was pleased with 10 overs for 47 with one wicket.

The team bowl out the remaining 18 overs rather averagely as Pollock goes through past fifty and Baugh hits a rather convincing 53*. They end up 277/6 off the full fifty overs. Very hard score to chase.

When you’re a team struggling to beat teams in division two of England its never going to be easy playing West Indies and we didn’t expect it to be easy. Powell was ran out from a direct hit and Maher was bowled second ball – for four albeit – no one could say we weren’t struggling. 19/2 and more wickets to fall or so we thought and we thought right. Elliot reached eighteen before Cory Collymore had him bowled. Hemp was ran out for eight, 49/5 (10 overs). Good news was needed? I was in next! Peng and Bragg added just less than thirty when Bragg was out. I was in with a big point to prove.

Me and Croft have a word in the middle, he tells me Fidel Edwards is probably the fastest bowler ive ever faced but he isn’t that good. Gulp. Croft pushed Collins away for three first ball of next over and I was facing. He wasn’t that quick however and I played him to third man for two first ball. I thought he was easy as I pushed him away for two more. He then sent in a full ball that swung into me ridiculously! Big LBW appeal, I think it could be out but no says the umpire. Hawkeye shows it to hit me outside offstump, tense moments. An edge for a single and everything’s going fine. Ryan Hinds is brought on and from what ive heard he’s a very average spinner.

His first ball confirmed what id been told as I played him off my legs for a single but that wasn’t good as Croft played him away for two and the rest were dots. Fidel Edwards brought back on to bowl after having one over off. He had me play and missing but nothing much else as he bowled a tight line outside off stump for the first three balls. But he sent in a full straight one that found my edge but fell just short of slip. Four dots in a row, I needed to sort myself out but he was quick and straight. Hard work! I then cut him away for two and the pressure was off.

We still needed to go at a decent rate and even with all that going on I was still only on 6. Croft bossed the strike the next few overs showing he was in good form with a couple of boundaries as I just played a few singles away when on strike and after twenty overs we were 104/6. Run rate was fine but we were sill struggling. Hinds continued to slide balls down the leg slide and the wides were piling onto the score. The overs continued to bowl and we continued to bat, Croft managed to find his way to fifty and I continued to build on my highest score. But my game ended with 20 runs to my name when Pollock bowled me a straight ball that I skied to mid on.

The tail didn’t last much longer as they took the remaining three wickets for sixty runs as we scrambled to 194 all out.

Note - Does the scorecard look better like that or with screenshots?

 

[chappers]

It would look better with a bolder font, but good work.

 

[rosewt02]

Cheers, all advice is appreciated

 

[Gaurav_7]

For the scorecard, proper text formatting would do wonders. You can download the scorecard psds from sources thread. Chewie has listed everything on the first post. Might very well improve the overall presentation.

Nice to see you doing some new things already.

 

[rosewt02]

DROPPED!​

The day before our FC match against Essex, the coach called me into his office. I was hoping for some big news about my bowling or maybe even a batting demotion. I couldn’t expect what he was to say. He told me I needed a rest! I tried to persuade him that I was fine but he wouldn’t listen. I told him that he couldn’t drop me after my seven wickets but he just told me to get out! I couldn’t believe it, it was probably the worst moment of my career.

It was another close match, Essex won by one wicket. Think about it, if I was there then the whole game would have been different. Bridge and Kaneria put on eleven to win the match. The team was devastated as we still hadn’t won a game yet and we had
been piped on the line yet again. Serves them right for dropping me.

 

[Chewie]

Man that sucks Not nice to be dropped, especially after such a spectacular performance in the previous game.

What if questions will always pop up after you miss a game that the team goes on to lose, but there's also the unspoken what if I was playing and gave up 80 runs in my overs as well

Hopefully you get included in the next match though!