First Match

In my first match with Australian National University (ANU) cricket club, we played against the Brewers Best at a ground that seemed that it needed a lot of grooming, but since it’s the same for both sides, we didn't complain too much about it. (well we did, but it didn't matter). 

Well...maybe this isn't the most accurate representation of the grass there...there was no cattle present!

Our captain won the toss and we elected to bat and thus it began. Our openers looked a bit shaky, but the bowling was very wayward to my liking, a lot of balls were down leg and not really given wides (due to the nature of the grade, but seriously..just so you can simply roll your arm over doesn't mean that you can simply make the ball pitch on the ground, not caring for where it is heading!) there was an absolute multitude of deliveries that were down leg and since they don't get penalized, it just went down as dot balls. I personally really wish that there was some kind of rule that was agreed upon by the association and all the teams would stick to it.

Such bowling concessions coupled with a slow outfield meant that we limped manfully to a total that seemed under par to me. But the grass was so thick in places that it resembled a swamp, so carefully hit drives would not go anywhere. I made 20 not out and hit a 6 (my first of the season) off an off spinner that was talking a tad too much for my liking.  Zeeshan (Zeeshy) batted really well and made a fluent 33 from memory.  We did manage to bat out all of our overs which was excellent in my opinion.

Not batting out the overs is almost criminal in this format, with the amount of loose deliveries on offer and also the fact that you keep the opposition out in the field, and specially when it happens to be a bit hot, every moment that you can keep them out there is crucial.

I think our batting improved constantly as the competition went on.

I had been informed by my captain that I would be opening the bowling for our team.  I personally hadn't opened the bowling for  a long time. I always enjoy my bowling but I always prefer to actually bowl with the semi new ball, bowling first change. It allows me to actually control my swing and my bowling rhythm is easier to come by.

Personal note: (There is a certain feeling that comes with holding the ball for some bowlers. I used to prefer holding the semi new ball in my fingers and not have the hard seam cut into my fingers as it is with the new ball and so I would run my fingers down either side of the seam and get it to move in which direction I wanted it to go. Also in practice we hadn't been using new balls, I had just been using the older ball, trying to understand how to get some reverse swing. I also use a slightly different grip with the 2 piece ball, having a slightly more open and looser grip so that I can control it better.
Watching a lot of Mohammad Asif  and Mohammad Amir, and the way they use their wrists and fingers it seems that they have very loose wrists and fingers to allow the ball to be delivered with more backspin on it. There is also a certain amount of scrambled seam involved on the release from the ball which doesn't allow it to be picked from the hand at the best of times.

The 2 piece ball swings a bit too much at times, with a wider grip of the fingers on the ball, I find that I could negate the amount of swing that I was getting.)

Mohammad Asif/Mohammad Amir Tribute video

The opposition was quite aggressive in the beginning, I was smacked for a big straight six back over my head. I was really surprised at that, and both of the openers hit me for boundaries as I was too straight and couldn't swing the ball as I wanted to.

It was hard to run in on that ground so my rhythm was very disrupted, I kept on slipping every time I tried to actually run in on my run up. I slid a few balls down leg side, and actually that was how I got my first wicket, a ball sliding down leg and got the edge and was taken by my keeper effortlessly. (after all my complaining about the "freaking leg side bowling by the opposition" so I didn't really celebrate too much.)

Seeing how the batsmen were hitting straight or rather trying to, I posted my fielders on mid on and mid off a tad deep and bowled straighter and fuller to encourage them to do so. The second opener soon obliged and was caught at mid on. I had bowled a few wide of off stump and then bowled one from closer to the stumps and that would be fuller but cramping them for room.

The quality of batsmen that now followed weren't all that good to be honest, I could tell from their techniques and batting stances that it wouldn't take too much to make them collapse. (Not trying to be arrogant here, but you can tell from the quality of cricketers on the opposition that this wasn't their first choice team)

One batsmen wasn't moving his feet too much so I tried to bowl at his stumps, and followed up with a yorker from wide of the stumps that was inside edged onto the stumps.

I followed up with my fourth wicket after that with one that was simply a ball that was a length ball that the batsmen tried to drive on the up and instead got a leading edge that popped up nicely for gully.

After that, the fight went out of the opposition and the other bowlers in the team chipped in with wickets, I bowled out all of my overs and went past the edge a few times and the stumps as well, but that elusive five-for remained exactly that ...elusive.

But we won the first game as the opposition collapsed quite effectively and the boys cleaned up really well.

I wasn't particularly happy with my bowling as I had literally bowled without any rhythm, but normally I find that whenever I do so I take a lot more wickets!

Match details and scoreboard can be found on the link below:

Scoreboard