2019 Season

[Big Mac]

So with the UK sun preparing to peek out from behind the clouds that means it's almost time for cricket. What is everybody's goals for this year?

Have I finally learned how to bat well enough in my old age to average 30+ for the season?

Has [MENTION=57506]hadi123[/MENTION] become the next Mohammed Azharuddin with his mastery of wristy legside flicks?

Will [MENTION=7032]rahulrulezz[/MENTION] try and kill himself by playing four games in a weekend again?

And the most important question, will [MENTION=46929]shaz619[/MENTION] finally gather the courage to come and get his phainty before Brexit happens?

Am going to return next summer [MENTION=865]Big Mac[/MENTION] to end your career for good

It's been nearly 2 years son, come and get it
[MENTION=2016]Rana[/MENTION] [MENTION=136729]Suleiman[/MENTION] [MENTION=134867]Kiri[/MENTION] [MENTION=64189]mastersaan10[/MENTION] [MENTION=143344]babajee[/MENTION]

 

[hadi123]

Haha. Can't wait. But can mods change this to 2019 season please as title says 2018. [MENTION=93712]MenInG[/MENTION] [MENTION=133760]Abdullah719[/MENTION]

 

[Big Mac]

Yeah good shout, that's what I get for making threads when it's past my bedtime

 

[babajee]

Haha, just saw this thread.

Going to be captaining our T20 side this season. Let's see how it goes

 

[Big Mac]

Haven't picked up a bat since last summer but might be playing a preseason friendly this Saturday. Should be interesting

 

[Big Mac]

Bowled 3 overs for 15 but had to take myself out of the attack because my spinning finger was starting to hurt so yeah, I think my bowling days are definitely finished

Went in at 3 and scored 44 runs before edging to slip playing a lazy defensive shot and I also took a couple of catches in the field.

All in all not a bad start to the preseason, this old man still has some life left in him

 

[Big Mac]

First game of the season tomorrow, got 44 and 36 in my two preseason games.

Last week was rained off, its been raining the last couple of days as well so tomorrow should be nice and damp and cold.

Perfect batting conditions

 

[Big Mac]

Got absolutely hammered in the coldest game I've ever played. (There was hail and even a bit of snow when we were fielding!) Opposition scored 320 and when I came in to bat at #5 we needed to score something like 270 runs at 10+ an over and like an idiot I actually tried to go for it and got dismissed for 18 and we were dismissed for around 120.

In hindsight I should probably have treated it like a net session and just batted 20-30 overs but I'm not really wired like that.

 

[hadi123]

First match of the season today. Was supposed to be playing for the 2nd XI but as the 3rd team only had 9, the 2nd xi skipper said to give me to the 3rd team so they'd have 10 players each. I had figures of 8-3-33-0, I bowled really well up front, got smacked a bit at the death though which is natural when bowling to set batsmen. I took a catch too.


Batting wise, I came in last and the game was gone, still needed like 80 runs of the final 2 overs so they put on some bowlers who clearly don't normally bowl, so I scored 10* off about 7 balls, hit 2 fours.

 

[Big Mac]

Bowled the other team out for 94 on a terrible wet, sticky wicket.

Then I got a 3rd ball duck and we were bowled out for 34.

 

[Abdulm123]

Y`all are lucky you guys play in the England, the pitches over there are great and groundsmen are keen and dedicated to take care of the pitches 24/7 to provide the best playing conditions for the players. The pitches in America are absolute trash, the outfield grass is 5 inches tall and all the pitches are synthetic. There are natural wickets here in the Us but they are absolute trash and have unpredictable bounce and they are horribly taken care of. I`m about to captain the team next tournament, cant wait

 

[hadi123]

This week with Watford being in the FA Cup final it's gonna be a great struggle for teams in Hertfordshire to get strong teams out as so many people will be at Wembley. My club for example, easily 20+ people aren't available due to Watford being in the final. There's absolutely no chance we'll be able to get 3 teams out.

 

[hadi123]

This week with Watford being in the FA Cup final it's gonna be a great struggle for teams in Hertfordshire to get strong teams out as so many people will be at Wembley. My club for example, easily 20+ people aren't available due to Watford being in the final. There's absolutely no chance we'll be able to get 3 teams out.

Yep. Both our 2nd and our 3rd XI conceded. So no match tomorrow. This was inevitable though and a one off, I'm sure we're not the only club to be affected by the FA Cup final.

 

[Big Mac]

I'll have to keep wicket tomorrow, I'd hoped to just hide at slip for 20 overs to save my energy during Ramadhan but looks like I'll have a tough day in the field

Y`all are lucky you guys play in the England, the pitches over there are great and groundsmen are keen and dedicated to take care of the pitches 24/7 to provide the best playing conditions for the players. The pitches in America are absolute trash, the outfield grass is 5 inches tall and all the pitches are synthetic. There are natural wickets here in the Us but they are absolute trash and have unpredictable bounce and they are horribly taken care of. I`m about to captain the team next tournament, cant wait

You haven't seen our home wicket )

 

[hadi123]

Got mullered yesterday, as expected. Our 3rd XI had to concede due to lack of players this week, so we only got 2 teams out, and it was mainly 3rd XI players playing for the 2's in a much higher division. Thankfully, we won the toss, batted first, bowled out for 75 and it was so quick that we went straight back on for the 2nd innings, the food for the tea break hadn't even arrived. Knew we would get smashed, my energy levels are very low cos of Ramadan, I can't wait to get back into gym properly after ramadan, as I feel like that has a positive affect on my cricket performances.

 

[Big Mac]

Got 14* going in at the end of the innings a couple of weeks back and then went in at #3 last week (opener got bowled in the first over) and got to 28 from around 31 balls (I thought I was playing really defensively as well!) before top edging a pull to fine leg in the last over before the change bowlers came on and served up some juicy long hops

I feel like I'm right on the cusp of cracking the whole batting thing but keep throwing it away. There's bound to be a big score right around the corner, hopefully sooner rather than later.

 

[hadi123]

Heartbreaking defeat on Saturday. We lost the toss, fielded first, I struggled with the ball. I bowled one really good over, took a wicket, then the next ball I had the guy edging it to slip, who dropped the catch. He would have got a golden duck, I would have had 2 wickets in 2 balls and then he went on to make a century. Figures of 4-1-32-1. Not great, the over I took a wicket in was a wicket maiden but the rest were bad overs. I took a catch as well and fielded good in general. In the chase, looked like we would lose, but our 8th wicket partnership nearly pulled off the win, then lost a couple wickets. We needed 8 off 8 balls, 1 wicket in hand. I batted at number 11 and really struggled. Played 2 dots to get the other guy back on strike. We said that he could keep the strike but we got a single as we thought it had gotten past the fielder and a 2 was on. Needed 7 off 5 and I struggled and we eventually lost was heartbreaking and gutted

 

[Big Mac]

Heartbreaking defeat on Saturday. We lost the toss, fielded first, I struggled with the ball. I bowled one really good over, took a wicket, then the next ball I had the guy edging it to slip, who dropped the catch. He would have got a golden duck, I would have had 2 wickets in 2 balls and then he went on to make a century. Figures of 4-1-32-1. Not great, the over I took a wicket in was a wicket maiden but the rest were bad overs. I took a catch as well and fielded good in general. In the chase, looked like we would lose, but our 8th wicket partnership nearly pulled off the win, then lost a couple wickets. We needed 8 off 8 balls, 1 wicket in hand. I batted at number 11 and really struggled. Played 2 dots to get the other guy back on strike. We said that he could keep the strike but we got a single as we thought it had gotten past the fielder and a 2 was on. Needed 7 off 5 and I struggled and we eventually lost was heartbreaking and gutted

Damn, that is gutting

We won pretty comfortably on Saturday, the top and middle order got a century and a couple of half centuries so we ended up with 358 which the opposition were never gonna chase. I went in late and got 10* from the last couple of overs, I'll have to try and get higher up the order this weekend.

Ended up bowling which was a shock, first over went for 16 but finished with 4 overs, 1 for 21 as I got the final wicket of the game. Given that I only bowled like 2 overs all last season I'll take it.

 

[hadi123]

Lost by 6 wickets yesterday unsurprisingly. Were playing the team at the top of the division. Knew one of the guys on the opposition from some muslim community.

We were 20-0, then that turned to 32-7, one of their bowlers took a hat trick :/, we ended up on 70 odd, I scored 6*, was the last batsman (one for the averages)

Figures of 4-0-12-0, lost by 6 wickets, another 50 runs and the game could have been close. I was saying to my batting partner to try and bat out the 50 overs, he was on around 23 but then get bowled going for a slog. It was only the 26th over so if we batted out the 50 overs could have got a defendable total.

 

[Big Mac]

I scored 10 on both Saturday and Sunday and then threw away my wicket :

Really need to channel my inner Boycott and just focus on batting for a long time rather than worrying about playing shots because the runs will flow naturally.

 

[Big Mac]

Game tomorrow has been called off due to weather

 

[Big Mac]

Sunday game called off too

 

[hadi123]

My game was on yesterday. yet another loss, we batted first, were going decently but collapsed as expected. Scored 0 not out. They chased it down easily, I had yet another catch dropped off my bowling. Highlight of the match was one of their batsman edging the ball onto his helmetless face, there was blood everywhere, must have broken his nose, he went off straight away.

 

[Big Mac]

My game was on yesterday. yet another loss, we batted first, were going decently but collapsed as expected. Scored 0 not out. They chased it down easily, I had yet another catch dropped off my bowling. Highlight of the match was one of their batsman edging the ball onto his helmetless face, there was blood everywhere, must have broken his nose, he went off straight away.

Would prefer getting hit in the face to seeing this Pakistan performance

 

[Abdulm123]

I'll have to keep wicket tomorrow, I'd hoped to just hide at slip for 20 overs to save my energy during Ramadhan but looks like I'll have a tough day in the field



You haven't seen our home wicket )

what is it like?

 

[Big Mac]

what is it like?

It's an uncovered wicket that belongs to a local school, kids often play football over it midweek and if Curtly Ambrose ran in and bowl a 90mph bouncer it wouldn't bounce above knee height. Every week there are couple of batsmen who walk off fuming after being bowled by a ball that hits the stumps an inch above the ground

 

[Big Mac]

Our captain still isn't back from holiday so I had to take the reins for yesterday's game against a team that were unbeaten so far this season.

I opened the batting, got given LBW for 16 and we were bowled out for 181.

Opening bowlers did brilliantly to get them to 19 for 3 and then they had a couple of nice middle order partnerships. A couple of our players kept asking for a second slip (We didn't even have a first slip!) or to move this man there or that man here in a bit of desperation to get a wicket and I told one "Sabr karo. You need to shut off your Afridi brain and relax. Today is a day to listen to your inner Misbah, it's under control"

On a slow and very low wicket we bowled them out for 130-ish and I made 2 field changes in 40 overs

[MENTION=46929]shaz619[/MENTION]

 

[shaz619]

Our captain still isn't back from holiday so I had to take the reins for yesterday's game against a team that were unbeaten so far this season.

I opened the batting, got given LBW for 16 and we were bowled out for 181.

Opening bowlers did brilliantly to get them to 19 for 3 and then they had a couple of nice middle order partnerships. A couple of our players kept asking for a second slip (We didn't even have a first slip!) or to move this man there or that man here in a bit of desperation to get a wicket and I told one "Sabr karo. You need to shut off your Afridi brain and relax. Today is a day to listen to your inner Misbah, it's under control"

On a slow and very low wicket we bowled them out for 130-ish and I made 2 field changes in 40 overs


[MENTION=46929]shaz619[/MENTION]

I am suspicious about this captain of yours being on holiday before you took over

Best thing about being captain, open the batting and bowling then have substitute fielders ready to jump in for you while you take a nap / go KFC )

 

[Big Mac]

I am suspicious about this captain of yours being on holiday before you took over

Best thing about being captain, open the batting and bowling then have substitute fielders ready to jump in for you while you take a nap / go KFC )

I had planned on going in at 6 or 7 to give everybody a chance but nobody wanted to open

Same thing happened in the Sunday game yesterday, nobody wanted to bat 3 so I quickly put my hand up just in case I ended up batting #10 otherwise

 

[hadi123]

Another loss on Saturday. 2 ball duck. I got a good ball, I'm a tail-ender for a reason, just too good for me.

 

[Big Mac]

Another loss on Saturday. 2 ball duck. I got a good ball, I'm a tail-ender for a reason, just too good for me.

I don't like this attitude


James Vince is a tailender and he gets to open the batting in a World Cup!

 

[Big Mac]

Playing Saturday and Sunday and the forecast says it's gonna be 30C tomorrow. Way too hot to be outside!

 

[Big Mac]

Sooooo, won the toss on Saturday and decided that we need to aim for 280 from our 45 overs. Opening batsman (who tbf is in his 60s at least so not quite at his peak) was dismissed in the 24th over having scored 4 (four!) runs. In that time the other opener got out trying to up the run rate, I got out caught on the boundary trying to slog a spinner even though five men were on the boundary because I had no choice but to try and score 10 runs every over and then he ran out our #4 who is averaging 70 this season.

Needless to say I was not amused.

 

[FreakCricket]

Scored 25 of 35 and took 2 crucial wickets 2/16 5 overs, two great catches as well. Feeling good about my performance, very difficult pitch today at VCP Ny.

 

[MenInG]

Our season will start in late September as currently temps around 45C

But when it does, I will be back to my specialist number 11 position in the batting order....

 

[Big Mac]

Scored 206 on a difficult rain affected pitch with inconsistent bounce and pace. It was a well above par total but apart from a couple of bowlers who were fantastic, we bowled too many loose deliveries and lost a close game.

My own contribution was 23 from 23 balls before being given caught behind when the ball hit my elbow.

I'm destined to have a season of getting to 15-20 and not converting any of these starts for one reason or another

 

[Big Mac]

Averaging 21 with a top score of just 29, a season of constant starts

 

[Big Mac]

Well, made a change from my usual 20-odd by being dismissed for a duck when I gave catching practice to mid-on

 

[hadi123]

Won my first game on Saturday since May last year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Was playing for 3rd XI, we were bowled out for only 130, but we knew it was defendable as that pitch was a minefield, some balls kept super low, whereas some would hit the batsman's helmet even if just pitching on a length. We got them all out for 78. I took 2 wickets, should have been 3 but had an absolute SITTER dropped off my bowling, was so annoyed as he is normally a fielder, but the win is what matters the most.

 

[Khan12]

Last time i played cricket was for my school team. Now finally finished my studies and Alhumdulliah have a settled job decided to join a club. Was put stright in to the 3rd team on the 29th. My captain asked what position I normally bat and i said the middle order, but he told me to open and went ahead. We lost the match but i got 41 and got our to a long hop. Though we should have won if we didn't drop 5 straight forward catches. At the end we lost by 4 wickets.

Last Saturday we played on the minefield and we bowled the opposition out for 103 which was a decent score on that pitch. Was opening again and we found ourselves 4 down for 7 runs in the 4th over and all bowled. Luckily I was still batting somehow, probably played and missed half of my deliveries and was batting with our no.6 batsmen who's the best batsmen in our team by far. Me and him went along building the innings together while him scoring majority of the runs i was playing a Misbah like knock. After doing all the hard work again I got out to another long hop for 35 of 113 deliveries when the score was 99 only needing 4 more. Was very frustrated that i didn't finish it. The batsmen on the other had scored a 50 not out to see us home after batting 41 overs. A well hard fought win.

I need help on how to play spinners. I get bogged down by them and even more help on how not to get out to long hops.

 

[Abdulm123]

I’m a tail ender on my team but I open the bowling. Our season is starting on August so I gotta get prepared to bowl a couple good spells

 

[Abdulm123]

my coach is an ex Indian player and is currently playing for the USA cricket team. I am basically playing domestic cricket as players in my league are selected and are chosen to try out for the USA cricket team. I’m getting on that grind, my dream and goal is to play for USA in the 2023 wc qualifier. It’s gonna come home in 2023 boys

 

[Abdulm123]

Scored 25 of 35 and took 2 crucial wickets 2/16 5 overs, two great catches as well. Feeling good about my performance, very difficult pitch today at VCP Ny.

Have you ever played at central broward stadium in Florida?

 

[Big Mac]

Got given out LBW for 1 even though I got a big inside edge on it so I'm going to be in a very bad mood the rest of this week.

 

[hadi123]

Had a match yesterday. We only had 22 players available. So we got a first team out but the remaining players were 3rd xi quality so we decided there was no point them playing for the 2s as it would just be a farce. Naturally if the 2nd team conceded so did the 3rds, but we played a friendly against the team we would have played in the league. Got a wicket with the first ball of the match. Scored 1*. We lost badly but was to be expected as they haven't lost all season.

 

[Big Mac]

Got rained off last weekend despite a so-called heatwave and then yesterday I scored 1 run and dropped two catches as we lost by 8 runs.

Cricket can be the absolute worst sometimes

 

[hadi123]

Yesterday as Watford were at home, we were very short of players so roped in 4 of my cousins. Was great fun. I scored 11*, highest score since 2017 season, including a 2nd ball six . I bowled really well, my figures wouldn't suggest that but by far it was the quickest I bowled and I was definitely bowling with a spring in my step. Lost badly, it was our bowling that let us down, normally it's our batting.

 

[Big Mac]

Got rained off this past weekend

Yesterday as Watford were at home, we were very short of players so roped in 4 of my cousins. Was great fun. I scored 11*, highest score since 2017 season, including a 2nd ball six . I bowled really well, my figures wouldn't suggest that but by far it was the quickest I bowled and I was definitely bowling with a spring in my step. Lost badly, it was our bowling that let us down, normally it's our batting.

Hope the six was a flick off your pads after all that leg glance practice

 

[hadi123]

Got rained off this past weekend





Hope the six was a flick off your pads after all that leg glance practice

Haha. Was over mid wicket. I didn't even mean to hit a six, I just meant to flick it but the boundary was so short and I must have timed it nicely.

 

[Big Mac]

Haha. Was over mid wicket. I didn't even mean to hit a six, I just meant to flick it but the boundary was so short and I must have timed it nicely.

My coaching working wonders

 

[hadi123]

What a match yesterday. We made 148-7 from our 40 overs. The game was always on a knife edge, we took wickets regularly but there was one partnership they got where it looked like they would win the match. Then one of the guys got out, and they had quite a young side, 3 or 4 kids, around 14 years old, so we knew we had an opening. However, the runs required was still quite low, but we got the only remaining adult via a freak dismissal, he edged it, the keeper couldn't catch it, but it was stuck between his shoes, never touched the ground and slip picked it up. Was bizarre. Then it was just kids, who were very talented bowlers but not as good batsmen, and we won by 7 runs!

I'm glad we won, as I would have been at fault, as I bowled the worst I've bowled all season.

 

[Big Mac]

Starting to score runs right as the season ends, typical

Got a new highest score of 61 yesterday and we won our first game in six weeks to avoid relegation. Should have carried on and got a hundred though

 

[hadi123]

Was captain last week in a friendly as the division our 3s are in has already finished. We lost badly, I bowled awfully. I scored 17 at the end. We had a 12 or 13 year old score a very flukey century somehow. We lost badly, but it was a frinedly played in good spirits and we beat them in hte league when it mattered

 

[Khan12]

My first season is going better then i expected specially playing after ages. Been averaging 45 which is great. Have played 7 games got 1 century and 2 fifties 107 being my highest. But, i keep getting out when i am well set. But, the main concern for me is against spinner i pretty much get out to them every time.

 

[Danyaalr01]

First match of the NZ season. Played a One day for college first XI Opened the bowling:

bowled 6.2 overs, 3 maidens, for 13 runs and 3 wickets. figures: 3/13.
I got run out for 2 batting at number 4.

Also accidently broke the number 11s thumb by hitting it with a full toss (it was raining and the ball slipped, plus there was mud on the seam).

It was a seaming track. First wicket was good/full length pitching on 4/5th stump seaming in and hitting top of off. Second was a yorker hitting the pads plumb in front. 3rd was pitching on middle and off, seamed in and clipped leg stump.

We rolled them over for 108 and chased it down it in 24 overs. Won by 4 wickets.

 

[Danyaalr01]

2nd match of the season. Opened the bowling and batted at 3. We lost the match by 40 runs (One day match)

Got a 5-fer today. 3 clean bowled, 1 caught behind and 1 caught. 2 wickets were in my opening spell and 3 at the death. Figures of 10-1-35-5

Batted at 3 and made 2 runs again, my bad batting form continues. The ball was doing a bit and I came in the 3rd over. I made 2 off 22 balls . The ball was swinging and seaming and we were chasing a low total (194). I was told to play out the new ball and the opening bowlers, which I did. But as soon as the short medium pacer cam on and bowled a full one, my eyes lit up and I went for the big drive, the ball nipped in and hit off stump. The team were at 107/3 after 24 overs, then we had a Pakistani style collapse and were reduced to 109/7 and all out for 142.

It was a difficult pitch in the second innings with some balls taking off and seaming around corners. The pitch during the first innings was quite flat and hard, but we were deceived by a tinge of green, which helped a bit, but not as much as the second innings.

 

[Danyaalr01]

Won the 3rd match of the season. I got 3 wickets. My figures were: 7.0-3-14-3
My horrible form with the bat continues, got 5 off 21

I am the highest wicket taker in the competition (college 1st XI A grade) so far with 11 wickets in 3 games at an average of 5.45 and strike rate of 12.73 and an economy of 2.57.