Cricket in 2014

2014 was a great year for me and my cricket because I was the leading wicket taker for Bury St Edmunds Ladies (which I had only joined recently) and for Suffolk U13s Girls. The David Randall Foundation helped me through the cricket season and for that I am extremely thankful.

I love cricket and this year I feel that I have really improved how I play; ever since joining Bury Ladies my fielding has improved a lot and my bowling has become more consistent. This showed (according to my dad) in most of the games I played. Also, as part of my fielding, I actually took some catches this year!

Although my favourite thing about cricket is bowling, I would have to say the highlight of my cricket in 2014 was my batting. I have become so much more confident with my batting and I scored my first ever 4 in a game a played at Malvern (the first ball I faced!). I could not have done it without my ladies team because they helped me become more confident as a cricketer, by making me focus on the areas that I was/still am(?) worried about.

Even though I feel like I have improved a lot with my cricket in the past year, unfortunately I did not get into Suffolk U15s Girls this year, but I still have next year to trial and hope for a spot in the team. I was extremely disappointed at first, however, I realised that this just means I have a whole year to work on my cricket and impress the coaches at the trials next year. :)

This Sunday I start cricket training again and, although I am looking forward to seeing all my friends from the ladies cricket team again, I will probably be dead stiff and will forget how to bowl, bat and field...

A poem about cricket

Cricket is a game,
Played only by those
Few distorted people
Who do not fear
The Ball.
A fist of fury
Held by the bowler,
Leaving its blood-stain mark.
The bowler aims
To falter the fearless
Faces surrounding them.
The batsman,
Poised and ready
To fight.
A look of determination.
Yet,
Behind the stone pupils
There lies a secret
Terrified (yet excited) young child
Holding the wooden bat
For the first time;
They had started to love the game
Which they knew
They would never stop playing.

Everyone who plays
Loves the game.



                                                                                          By Alex P-S

Malvern

Malvern was amazing this year! Even though Suffolk didn't win any of their games, we still had a tremendous amount of fun.

When we arrived at Malvern college (which is beautiful) we sat down on the green grass and ate some lunch. We had a few hours to spare before we could go to our rooms to put our belongings away, so the team slowly walked around and watched parts of some cricket matches.

Our rooms were either single rooms or double rooms. I had a single room, with no one to bother me. However, my room was bigger than some of the double rooms, so I had lots of room for myself. :D

Our first match was the day after we arrived and it was the closet match I have ever played. We batted first and I got my highest score of the season: 7! The first ball which I faced, I hit for a four. I have to say, it was one of the proudest moments of my life. 

Alas, there had to be a downside to that game for me. My bowling, sadly, was not very good. I got a wicket but I also got some no balls and wides. :( 

The food at Malvern was delicious but I did miss the lovely food my mum makes. It satisfied everyone after the long day of cricket and we all managed to eat without a fuss.

After our first game, which we barely lost, we ate and did various activities. Somerset, Suffolk's favourite U13s team, played some hilarious games of 'Mafia' with Suffolk, during which, the two teams bonded. In a common room. At 9pm. 

The next day, two T20 games were played. In these games, my bowling was better than the day before, which I was very pleased about, but my batting was, to be honest, appalling. 

In the second game, in which we played Surrey, something terrifying happened...

Our captain tore some ligaments in her ankle. During the match.:'( Both teams went off the match for about 15 minutes (but it seemed like years) and on the first ball Surrey faced when we went back on, they got the four they needed, and won the match.

That day, we went swimming, which was funny because lots of people were diving from the side as professional swimmers would, but I did not have the skill to do that and ended up belly-flopping as did 2 other members of the team. It was painful. 

The weather was not on our side on the third and final day so we were made to play short indoor matches against the other teams. We lost both of those games as well but we played Somerset which cheered us up because they are such a friendly, funny team.We left soon after we had played Somerset and we were sad to leave such an awesome place. 

(I dedicate this blog to the Suffolk U13s captain for being extremely brave and amazing!) 

No cricket :(

No cricket.

For 2 Sundays in a row I have had no cricket. This week was worse than last week though. Today, I literally did nothing.

However, last week I went to cricket and then after 3.2 overs the heavens opened.

"We will go inside for 5 minutes while the rain dies down." They said.

"The rain will stop soon." They said.

The rain did NOT die down or stop.

When everyone realised this fact, we had been in the changing rooms for about half an hour. Early lunch!

Only this could cheer us up. Food.

The table, which was covered with cakes, sandwiches (which I despise) and crisps, stood there waiting for everyone to grab every last item of food from it's midst. Plates piled high, we made our way back to the changing room, savouring every bite of our food.

During the few hours that we stayed in the changing rooms, there was a fake marriage, drumming on the walls with the other team, an egg sandwich was stepped on, someone tripped over a stump during an imaginary ball and a dog ate our food droppings.

So, that was an interesting day!

 

Car cricket

How do people make up these car games? I had been oblivious to the game 'Car cricket' until Wednesday 25th June. Kate taught me how to play. 

• A car is one run
• A van is two
• A lorry is four
• A motorbike causes a wicket

Simple. Yet, boring. You should know that I can be very impatient. Apparently, so can Kate. Waiting for a motorbike to come past can be excruciatingly dull. So, I invented 'Road kill car cricket'. 

I know what you are thinking: "That is a horrible game to play!" or "Why would you even think of that?", but it is actually quite interesting.

• A small bird or hedgehog is one run
• A pigeon or rabbit is two
• A fox is four
• A deer or LUA (Large Unidentified Animal) is six
• A balloon on the road is a no ball (resulting in one run)~ explanations will occur later in this blog
• If a car overtakes you it is a wide (also resulting in one run)
• Finally, if you hit an animal that was previously alive, you are out

Now, I should probably have mentioned that Kate will always stick to the speed limit; she hasn't been driving for that long. Also, her car, which isn't very large, can not really go very quickly. That is how the rule about overtaking cars came about. 

And the balloon...

To win, we needed 40 runs. Alas, a balloon appeared on the road. Should we completely ignore it or take it as a chance to win this game? I took a chance.  

"Look, Kate, a balloon! How about we say a balloon is a no ball? It is, after all, not a dead animal, but also, not a piece of rubbish." 

Thus, the rule about balloons.

We had no one to play against but the thrill of the game caused us to make up a run count and chase it. Sadly, we did not get the 40 runs required to defeat the imaginary team we were up against. A score of 39 made it a draw. Okay, I guess.

Not anywhere near Kate's normal 'Car cricket' score of 222, but we were getting there...