cricket closes

hello there


and so as the sun sets so much earlier than we have become used to, look you see, the cricket season draws to a close for another year. the darker days and longer nights ahead mean, to be sure, that we can no longer watch or enjoy this most majestic of sports on this side of the equator. time, then, to wrap up some coverage of the last few games of the season for you.

James and his team had a superb season overall, finishing second in their league and, most importantly, playing the game in the spirit intended. this last part was, is and always shall be the single most important element of cricket.

in a rare move i actually rather like one of the pictures i have taken. specifically, that one right there above this. assuming it loads up properly. yes, just to confirm what you will have undoubtedly assumed, that's James in preparation for putting on a batting display.

whilst on the subject of yes, indeed i have quoted that famous poem about there is no more English summer scene than that of cricket being played upon a village green. or, for that matter, the village cricket ground. quite true, i would imagine. except amongst those who for some reason loathe and detest cricket. such people must exist, i guess.

and how, now that it fades, has the English summer been? perhaps not so summer as many would have hoped, indeed willed for. there have been bursts of blazing sun days, to be sure, with them sometimes happening two or three times in a row. we have, however, also had a lot of damp, went, overcast and chilly days.

hence my (considerably) better half, from time to time, electing to wear a most dapper rain coat on the days and evenings when we went off to cricket.

yes, i wore a jacket too, but one really does suspect you have little or no interest in my well being. all that matters, i suppose, is that i was taken to wearing my rather trusted and cared about hat.

for some of you, i know, playing the videos i add here is problematic. for the most part it appears to be a problem for those of you who use them mobile devices, such as phones and tablets, to browse this blog. no idea if it means you need a plug in or browser change.

anyhow, here's James doing some of that fancy batting i mentioned earlier, just before i got all distracted with talk of weather.

that's him batting against what in principle is our nearest neighbouring village with respect to any sort of "rivalry" within the game. but please don't take that as it being all hotly contested or bitter. the overwhelming majority of team members on both sides are at school together, and have a friendship bonded by cricket.

i do believe that last point is a truth held across the game. the sport is about doing your best, but also one that evokes and encourages mutual respect from opponents. in terms of team sports, it may well be true to say that only cricket and rugby union encourage such respect. never, for instance, have i seen a football team compliment another.

yes, that's indeed James patrolling the border at the cricket ground in another village, quite close to us. lovely ground, and a light fading evening game.

as that was taken at an evening game - and i am sorry, yes, i should keep notes - this would have been a match for the age group one up from where James would usually play. whilst ostensibly it is down to a lack of players at that particular age, it is all the same flattering that he gets called up for what you'd have to call a comparative senior level.

the picture above has loaded up, or if you will uploaded, sideways on my side. boss if you have it the right way around on your device. if you are on one of them mobile things i suppose it shall be easy enough for you to turn the device around to look at it with the correct orientation. should you wish.

indeed, William is finding ways to amuse himself as one game progresses. no, he doesn't get overtly bored and distracted, he just has that sense of adventure and a wish to play that the majority of us had at that age, until growing up knocks it out of you.

ah, that might well be more like it for some of you. a lovely sunny Sunday morning match.

in my last post - one which in retrospect could capably be described as the penultimate one for this season - i mentioned some of the problems with organized cricket in England, especially at youth level. perhaps it would be fair to include in that list how problematic it can be for parents to commit to being up and about rather early every Sunday of a given summer.

this is no criticism of parents. far from it. practicalities dictate that the kids can realistically only make use of cricket grounds on Sunday mornings, for invariably the senior teams shall take to the field in an afternoon. for working and/or single parents, that's tough, as usually Sunday morning would represent if not the only break to a week then the time at which they may get housework done.

once more, then, for the benefit of those able to play back some video, that's James taking a wicket. which yes, means he was the bowler. splendid stuff. sensational.

at youth level there's an approach in place that sees all the team both bat and bowl. the one exception, and i think this is in place across all levels of organized cricket, is that the wicket keeper does not bowl. probably due to time considerations, really, as it would be quite the faff to have a change of the protective gear worn.

yes, James and William one morning in Marske, prior to an early Sunday game. as i recall, this one was a tough match. our team was heavily depleted, what with some of the regular players away on summer holidays. in celebration of the spirit of the game, and indeed to ensure the match went ahead, the opponents "loaned" us a couple of players to help field, whilst some of our team batted twice.

another image or two from the sunny Sunday at Marske? no good reason comes to mind as to why not, so sure.

my (considerably) better half assisted with that match too, taking on the official scorer duties. William helps out too. over the course of the season he has become quite the dab hand at updating the scoreboard. he is particularly good at operating the controls for electronic displays at those grounds which have such.

no, i suppose i don't do a good deal in terms of practical help. at the matches i have mostly watched, and indeed kept an eye on William at the times when he was playing about rather than running scoring systems. also, via the wonders of modern communication devices, i provided a running commentary on matches for the benefit of the substantial fan base our team has in New Zealand.

and there i am. dear me, that beard of mine is getting all out of control. i suspect, whether i wish to or not, and whether people like it or not, soon i shall have to take the clippers to it. my understanding is that William is in the minority who prefer it when it is gone, for he "does not like his Dad looking old". it's always wonderful when someone expresses care.

yet more video footage, then. once more this is James providing a batting display.

for those unable to watch it, or not quite able to make it out, that's James knocking the ball far enough away from the fielders to take two runs with his batting partner. nice one, valuable runs.

does James have a preference for batting or bowling? in truth he seems quite adept at both, which goes some way to explaining call ups to the older level. whilst i suspect, on the basis of how he speaks and what he likes to practice, he would really rather excel as a bowler. but then again, the appeal of smashing a sequence of deliveries for 4 or 6 is irresistible.

William in the nets above, then. once more this is at Marske. it would seem the better pictures i decided on come for the most part from that game. which is kind of disproportionate to the fact that images from four different games are on the go here.

English summers are incredible. well, not for those that wish to go to sleep on an evening without heavily reinforced curtains. at the peak of summer the sky stays light until well past 11pm at evening. in the above image, not so much. as the evenings draw in darker earlier we know that, to use a phrase now apparently linked to some sort of television documentary, winter is coming.

the summer not being six straight weeks of blazing sun has some plus points. it has, for instance, been a while, i think, since England has had a much dreaded, groan inducing "hosepipe ban" enforced. normally after a week or so of hot weather we are all informed that the reservoirs are bone dry, assuming bones are dry, and that none of us may use water for things like washing cars or watering gardens. apparently a hosepipe is central to both, hence how the ban is named.

ah, now i do know what this picture above is - perhaps because it is so recent and that my memory has not totally faded. that's James leaving the field after batting for the last time this season, a superb innings against a great team from Maltby.

in the same match James also gave a superb bowling display. for a final video, here's a not so bad one i managed to record of him taking a wicket.

what shall we now do what with the cricket season over? perhaps sleep a little longer on a Sunday morning. i dare say i shall still get up reasonably early, be it to do some laundry or attend to other concerns. beyond that, i am uncertain. in truth no one can really be too certain of much.

another picture from the game at the village close to us, then, or if you like Stokesley. yes, i included that one purely for the most splendid photo bomb thing that William managed to pull off.

well, that would be just about all i could say on the cricket for this post, indeed this season. Ashes in Australia coming up, so perhaps should i be around and have something to say maybe cricket shall feature once more before the year is out.

for now, though, let me more or less end with one of them "symbolic" like images, for it features the sun setting down after the last game of the season. 

my thanks to the many of you who have come by and read these reports. the readership figures, since they exceed the number of fingers i have, are all far more than the number of family and friends i am aware of in this world. it's fantastic that there has been such interest. in the pictures and details of games, if of course not my words.

until the next time, then.......



be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!