continuing cricket coverage

g'day

yes, indeed. September is almost here, look you see, but whilst it remains August we can have a spot of cricket, what what why not. 

well, in terms of the somewhat convoluted question there, English summer rain. not to be confused with the song English Summer Rain off of Placebo, as splendid as that is. yes, no, we had one game called off for the rain. 

but no matter, there are still some pictures and some videos off of a game we did get to watch, and of course James played in. this, then, is really more of an excuse for some pics of us for those family and friends around the globe (or across the planet if you are one of them gender identified as flat earth types; all welcome here so long as you don't make a spectacle of yourself) who rely on this blog for such updates. 

oh yes, i do feature later on, so you have been warned (or teased). but, for now, then, a splendid look or bit of a gander at my (considerably) better half and young William. they are quite clearly as eager (palpably so, if that is a word and indeed the right one) and keen for the cricket to start as they are for me to stop taking pictures.

compared to last year you may have noted there has not been all that much in the way of cricket for us this season. sadly, or alas, this has been the case. at the age level James is at there are not nearly as many teams available to arrange games against. the age group below and above has ample, though. it is peculiar how it all gets worked out, but anyway there should be more games next season.

and, as hinted at earlier, the weather has sometimes meant that games we had lined up simply did not happen. here you go, here's James trying to get ready for one, valiantly so despite the rain starting to fall and eventually falling so hard the game was called off.

quality not quantity should always be the way to look at things. except, i suppose, in terms of cigarettes here in the UK, where the terrible and totalitarian levels of tax mean that you just get as many of what you can get. and getting back on topic, we have had the pleasure of watching some truly spectacular matches this season, with James and his teammates doing a sterling job. this is always, and irrespective of victory or defeat.

as i have said all along, when it comes to cricket, losing a game does not really matter so long as the ultimate winner is the preservation of the beauty and spirit of cricket itself.

reasonable warning was, i believe, given in respect of the content of the above picture. and yes, i was trying to get one of them "nice" pictures of my (considerably) better half and i that i do from time to time, but William was eager to be in it. do a "photo bomb", i believe, was his idea. quite an effective one.

yes, cricket. from one of the games that went ahead, as opposed to highlights from a match that was not played, here is some quality bowling from James.

no, he has not quite made his mind up as to whether or not he wishes to concentrate on batting or bowling. although i think he has. when it came time to discuss the reasonably recent Test Match between England and Australia (the 1,000th such form of cricket to feature England), i noted it was the gentlemen called Broad, Stokes and Anderson of which he spoke in admiration. three chaps quite noted for their bowling skill.

this, or that, would suggest a proclivity for bowling, would it not? although two of them are pretty decent with the bat, whereas Mr Anderson has a go. my own cricketing heroes have been discussed here in the past (and will be in the future), but the short answer, for those interested, is Sir Ian Botham. a player so good that the majority of Australians have expressed a wish that he was born Australian. you do not really get a higher compliment than that in the world of cricket, and it is a compliment i believe has been afforded to a bare handful of non-Australian players.

yeah, that's William, not in cricket whites, and James and a teammate, in cricket whites, running around the ground in the rain after the match was called off.

what's that? actually you do like me and you all want another image of me, preferably by a tree on an overcast day? i can certainly assist with that.

something else i can also assist with, or otherwise provide, is a bit more video.

whereas James seems to be leaning towards a passion for bowling, it is not like his batting is all that bad. far from it, although of course i have some bias in this regard.


here you go, then, some footage of him belting the ball right off the vegetable of the bat.

a nice single. if the saying that "catches win matches" is correct, and not just a convenient rhyme, them it is important to clock up as many runs as you can prior to such a catch being taken off of your batting.

that would be it for cricket pictures and videos for this post, but if you are of a mind to do so there are a couple of family ones next.

like, for instance, this one.

yes, that is William attempting to extract wheat (or hay) from the ground in the most difficult way possible. he is most decidedly and determinedly an outdoor child, is William, and loves to ramble around the fields as and when the cricket is on.

before long, i suspect, he will work out that he can take either his walkman or his mp3 player thing with him on such adventures, giving taking in the wonders of our world the added beauty of quality vibes.

indeed,  to finish off, one of them "family selfie" type of pictures. this was in the car, heading home, after the one game we had looked forward to had been called off due to the rain. 

and with that, this is this and that's that, friends and family. for this post, to be sure, at the least......

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