Season Review - Bowling

Cricket is a team game based almost entirely on the statistics of individuals. If I take six wickets in a match, for example, I’m helping the team. If I only take six wickets in the first half of the season, I’m a passenger. Unfortunately, so far in 2010 I have served RUASCC most effectively from the scorer’s table, although my enthusiastic fielding and willingness to look after the kit bag between matches will not, I am sure, go unnoticed when the awards are handed out.

Principally, however, I am a bowler. And as an opening bowler, blessed with fresh legs, a shiny new ball and two cold batsmen, my job is to take wickets and keep the run rate down - and if I can’t do both, for heaven’s sake pick one and do that. I’m not going to beat anyone for pace so in the past I have tried to bowl a consistent line and length with a suspicion of away swing and hope the batsmen do the decent thing and get out.

I don’t hold up my bowling to any great standard, I only ask of myself that I do as well as I can. Which is why this comparison with me (from 2009) is so frustrating:

• In 2009 I took 32 wickets at an average of 24.19; in 2010 I have taken 6 wickets at an average of 45.

• My strike rate in 2009 was a wicket every 38 balls; in 2010 I am taking a wicket on average every 73 balls (or 12.1 overs).

• Somewhat surprisingly, my economy has improved slightly from 3.79 runs per over in 2009 to 3.70 in 2010. And I’m still bowling a maiden every 5-6 overs.

There are many possible reasons why my bowling might be unsuccessful, but not so many that could cause such a difference in fortune between last season and this. I’ve had some thoughts, many of which conflict with each other:

1. I bowl too slowly, meaning batsmen have enough time to play whatever shot they like.
2. Sometimes I try to bowl too fast at the expense of line and length.
3. I can’t bowl six good balls, there’s always a four-ball full-toss hiding in there somewhere.
4. I’m too predictable - not enough variation in flight or pace.
5. I bowl too full, inviting the drive and too often erring towards the half-volley.
6. I’m not getting enough movement in the air or off the pitch, making it easier for batsmen to hit me.
7. I (still!) don’t have a settled run-up – I can’t decide between the short, sharp run-up and the longer, more relaxed approach.

I don’t know what I was doing differently last season, but my guess is it’s a combination of some or all of the points above. Suggestions welcome.

Season Review

Here is a self-indulgent look at the matches played so far, and specifically my contribution with the ball. Remember, there may be no I in “team” but there’s one right at the centre of “Keith”, so let’s crack on shall we.

Farley Hill: 10 overs - 0 maidens - 42 runs - 0 wickets
First game of the season, and even after a month of nets my radar was way off. Four an over with no maidens suggests it was a four-ball in each over that did the damage, although I was hit for one colossal six towards the end.

BBC Caversham: 8 – 5 – 8 – 1
On the face of it the figures look good, but you have to remember that different rules apply in this fixture. Tranter took 3-4, for example. My one important task, having been brought back on to bowl at the death, was to grab that final wicket and win the match. This I spectacularly failed to achieve.

Greys Green: 11 – 4 – 35 – 1 (had been 8 – 4 – 11 – 1)
In this match I seemed to spend a long time bowling line and length (i.e. slow) to a left-handed opener who played and missed three times an over but wouldn’t budge. And I nearly hit his guide dog once. After that, my last three overs went for 24 as Greys chased down 170 to win.

Tilehurst & Theale: 11 – 1 – 50 – 1 (had been 4 – 1 – 9 – 1)
Another decent start, with a maiden and a wicket in my first two overs, but T&T took off after that and chased down 219 to win. I came back on towards the end and tried to bowl fast, straight and full but went for some streaky runs through third man.

Woodcote: 4 – 0 – 27 – 0
Chasing 97 to win, Woodcote only needed 15 overs - four of them happened to be mine. I don’t remember doing too much wrong, just their opening bat (who made 52 very quickly) timing the pants off it.

Highmoor: 12 – 2 – 31 – 1
In this match I made a conscious effort to bowl quicker from my longer run up and this economical spell coincided with RUASCC’s first win of the season. I felt much more in control resulting in plenty of dot balls but, once again, not many wickets.

Britwell Salome: 12 – 1 – 37 – 2
Further signs of encouragement at Britwell where I picked up my first two-wicket haul of the year (I took 6-63 on the same ground in 2009). Again, it’s a decent economy rate but my season’s best figures of 2-37 would have been an average performance last year.

Peppard: 5 – 0 – 40 – 0
This really was a wretched performance. My first over was tight enough and only cost one run (a wide!) but then the full toss monster came back to stay. After the first four balls of my fifth over went for 16 runs my bewildered teammates stared at me as if I’d just defecated on the pitch. I could have saved everyone some time and effort before the match by simply walking around the rope with a bucket of cricket balls and slinging one into the hedge at twenty-yard intervals. Fortunately for RUASCC, Zia replaced me from the Pavilion End and took 5-20.

And that’s us up-to-date.

In my first ever match for RUASCC (in 2003) I took 6-25 against Tilehurst & Theale. I can’t picture myself achieving that sort of success these days, and maybe that’s part of the problem – lack of confidence and self-belief. When I’m bowling well I feel like every delivery will result in a dot ball or better. At the moment I'm trying to stop the flow of boundaries.

I’ll miss the next two matches as I’m away on holiday but I must return believing I can turn my season around. In the meantime I hope RUASCC get another two wins, and that my absence from the scorer’s table won’t be too great a loss.