My Best Didn't Cut It

Yes, another game of cricket after "the last game of the season" or indeed "last game of my life" or whatever I've been saying.

We played a friendly against Bingham today, a side who we've played a fair bit over the years in the Saturday leagues, but never before on a Sunday. With it being a friendly, the assumption was that they'd pick a fairly low key side to take on our young (apart from me) and inexperienced Sunday eleven.

Suspicions were roused when our one first teamer, our usual Sunday opening bowler, was hit into a adjoining field early on. Other end our fastest bowler, who took a wicket in his first over, was being driven to the boundary off perfectly pitched deliveries.

"These aren't third team bats" I remarked to a team mate, and no, they weren't. They'd bought a slew of their first team Division C bats, and aside from our youngest player, they hammered us to the back of beyond.

You know, today was the best I've bowled all season. No no balls. No wides. No pies chucked. I caused problems, beat the edge of the bat, bowled a ball that almost seemed to go through the stumps. But the Bingham first teamer I was bowling at just shrugged off being beaten before blasting perfectly good deliveries down to the straight boundary.

I couldn't have bowled much better, it just wasn't enough against bats of this quality. I fielded bloody well today too, unusual for me.

Anyway, after nearly dragging me on he got to 50 and retired, and the new left handed bat struggled against a maiden over from me. Unfortunately another of the bats decided to kick off on me, again off good bowling, and I was taken off having bowled 6 overs for 35.

After my being removed from the attack, the Bingham scoring rate, already high, accelerated further, with sixes being hit with gay abandon, although one of our bowlers suddenly took 3 wickets in the very last over we were faced with chasing a total of 227 in only 35 overs.

There were a lot of glum faces, and the chair brought us together for an inspirational team talk. Having shouted at me for making a very mild joke not at his expense when he was bowling, he must have calmed down a bit.

Note to self - don't make jokes when he's not long been hit for 6.

Anyway, the gist of it was not to let our heads drop, and to bat well on an easy paced pitch, and see how many we got. Sensible advice.

As it happened, I wasn't needed to bat and it would have been at number 11 anyway, and so I ended up umpiring for most of our innings, so got to wave my arms around a bit. Their bowlers were thankfully not as good as their batting, but not so bad as to let us get anywhere near their run rate. Our opener got 53, our captain got 37, I got sunburnt on what was the finest day for cricket we've had all year.

It wasn't massively exciting stuff, but we let our two young kids get a bat, we weren't bowled out and we could leave with our heads held high.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 13.09.20

Two Seasons in a Photo Set

There are still butterflies at work, but also now there are shaggy ink cap fungi by the cycle track, their lawyers wigs melting away into a black slurry of spores.

It is the season where the low sun makes for beautiful evenings and long shadows across the cricket ground; for turning the Trent into a river of rose and gold above which the pigeons fly in unruly circles before settling down to roost on the castle walls.

Yet the day has been marked by the horrid despondency of increased infection rates; the fact that the feeling that this may never end is increasing back as it did in me in April.

Can only keep on keeping on, the cliched day at a time.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 11.09.20

The Handsome Knave

As you all know, I enjoy taking in the weird and wonderful contraptions my fellow cyclists commute to work on, and almost certainly this is the most attractive.

It's a Triumph Jack of Clubs, probably from the mid 1950s, and is the proud steed of a colleague in the other building. The patina on it is absolutely beautiful, as are the badges and paintjob.

I hope he rides better than I do, I was a nervous wreck riding home today.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 09.09.20

A Surprising Amount of Colour

Did my lunchtime nature walk at work today, and I was surprised to see how much there was in the way of flowers out there.

There were scarlet pimpernel, a new crop of speedwell, a beautiful grass the Flora Incognita tells me is hoarey plantain, and a new crop of borage on the spoil heap that was never quite tidied away after we dug out the herb garden that mutated into the wild vervain patch it is now.

There's still a little bird's foot trefoil in the pictorial meadow, and above my head there were buzzards circling at a high level looking for dead rabbits to feast off.

I haven't seen the local kestrel since I came back to work, I'm sure that will re-appear.

While I write this, we head back towards increased lockdown restrictions. Well, I'm hardly surprised, ever since the pubs opened here social distancing flew out of the window before getting a fast car out of here. The nearest bar to me was having very unsocially distanced fights the first night it opened.

And who'd have thunk it? "Eat Out to (Help spread the virus) Out" had groups of 8 folk from blatantly different households sat in a local hip eatery cum bar, with crowded tables of other diners close by.

I doubt that helped.

Si

All texts and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 08.09.20

Out of Love with Cricket Again

After being not too hopeless in both my matches, I was optimistic for the play off semi final with Midland CC, especially having worked hard on my action and my run up in the nets to correct the fall away problem I've been having. It was going well.

There then followed 36 overs of standing where the ball never went, getting rather disillusioned with it all. I'd envisaged a strong game today, especially as I thought we were light on batting and bowling. But no, it was a fielding only required job today, as Midland racked up 171 for 8 off their 36 overs.

I was second in the club bowling stats before today, so I must be finding the stumps somewhere!

I wouldn't mind so much if co-ordinational difficulties make fielding rather difficult for me. I felt horribly uninvolved. There wasn't much in the way of amusement either, although the usual suspect from an in general nice bunch of Midland chaps was being a pain in the backside again, trying to claim he wasn't out when he was caught off a full toss.

I didn't even have to ask if I would be batting number 11, I just took as it as a given and so wandered around the outfield in circles, muttering touretically and darkly, cursing the game of cricket as a foolish pursuit.

It doesn't help that I tend to take everything personally and was a right grumpy sod. Although our players soon got grumpy when we batted as the Midland umpire had a shocker, giving LBWs with the speed of Zorro for balls that wouldn't have hit a barn door let alone the stumps.

This meant that only two of our batters got going, although the 72 scored by one of them before he was euthanised by the umpire was a high class innings.

I did get to bat, always feeling off balance and clumps before I missed a spinning ball that just clipped the leg stump for 2 so to be fair I probably deserved to be 11 today, although other days I certainly haven't.

We were bowled out for 120 or so, before an argument broke out with the mouthy chap again, with him saying their umpire was giving folk out because ours wouldn't, which was flagrant nonsense.

So that's that. A damp squib and I just feel like a crap cricketer again.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 05.09.20

Another Coddington Walk

Finally, after 4 fruitless days of waiting for a boiler to be fixed - apparently I'm getting a new one next week which I will believe when I see - I've got a bit more freedom during the day and was able to get outside and walk.

I needed a long one, as I feel a bit far this week - too many jaffa cakes I think which I've become addicted to in lockdown as they are cheap as anything. I've not been able to run this week either as I have a slight calf strain and need to preserve it for cricket tomorrow.

After a visit to my stepfather, where we discussed an all action police car chase that took place in the next street down this morning, I carried on towards Coddington, just for the sake of wanting to go a bit further out - serious walking is planned this winter, I hope.

It was cool but not cold, pleasant enough. There wasn't a lot to see as all insect life seemed to decide to keep out the way today, I was reduced to photographing a very colourful garden next to the cattery that looked rather cat unfriendly, filled as it was with scrap cars and farm machinery while a mad doberman barked next door.

It was really just one foot in front of the other stuff, nothing eciting, just the joy of being out there, bimbling along, listening to the radio.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 04.09.20

Now the Colours are Autumnal

After another fruitless day off work wondering if my boiler was going to be fixed. to go with Tuesday, Wednesday and probably tomorrow as well.

At least it meant I could get out for a walk on what has been a very pleasant day - I took myself off to the park for a stroll before heading off for a spot of cricket practice.

Yes, I lied, I have another game on Saturday as we qualified for the end of season play offs.

Summer is over, and nature knows it. The berries, seeds and conkers are out on the trees, and the leaves are just starting to turn. Only the odd butterfly about today, and no dragonflies. The drake mallards are all ashamed of their lack of colour and sit in huddles, waiting to get their green heads back.

The swans see you, and follow you for bread. Well I didn't have any, no matter how much the swan did his angry arched wings display.

House martins over my flat. Soon they will be gone too.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 03.09.20