Lessons…gone with league win aspirations
I am still smarting after last week’s loss against Peninsula .
Our side has had a tough time of late. When not done in by substandard pitches, we were done in by the opposition not arriving or just the complete non-availability of a pitch! Last mentioned costing our side a valuable 10 points. Many accusations could be slung back and forth for the state our side is in at the moment, but in the long run I suppose the only people that can really do anything to turn our fortunes around is ourselves.
Face it boys…we were looking at last weeks’ game as if to say “win or lose, I am just glad to be on a field again”. In many respects I fell prey to that exact mentality. It is commendable, yes, but that attitude rarely ever delivers winning cricket.
As if exterior circumstances did not do enough to cripple our spirits over the last month or so, three of our regular players upped and left us in the proverbial lurch.
Wray, my friend, I and the team will miss you greatly in your sudden retirement! Frans packed and moved to Potch and Jacques decided that the traveling into Millies every week is too much to handle after he moved to Bellville.
So, with a depleted side in many ways, and a strengthened one in others, we set off for the game against Peninsula . We won the toss, chose to bat on a concrete slab (I never use the term “mat”, concrete slab sounds about as artificial as you need to describe the surface).
We had a good start with a solid 70 odd run partnership at 4.5 runs per over. Then the wheels came off…losing 4 wickets for 20 runs, including our import from Namibia, Vernon that missed out on a spot in the 2nd side. Then Rick, Wayne and the Banker (Another Vernon, only 30 years older) steered us to a good total of 177/5 in our 40 overs. Now let me please stress the fact that you should win more games than lose with that score.
Bowlers unite. We ended up bowling the biggest load of doodoo you can imagine at their batsmen. Yes, the track was like a runway for bowlers with balls inadvertently traveling very quickly in the opposite direction it’s been delivered from, but they still managed to bowl properly and restrict us to 177. We HAD the bowlers to do the same. Yet we handed them the game in 27.3 overs.
Lesson learned. Now move on.
Some days retirement do not sound that bad, Wray…
