The Cricketer Club Cricket Guide 2019

Club Cricket Guide 2019 Everything you need for the new season

INCORPORATING THE

GOOD GEAR GUIDE 2019 The latest bats tested & rated

Playing advice from the pros

Training & performance tips

Welcome The Baby Bio of cricket

It was a Saturday afternoon.

Mid-April. The year 1971. My father and I were mucking about with a tennis ball in the garden. Suddenly there was this strange noise in the distance.

‘Howwwwweaeesssseaaaaatttttt!!’

It sounded like someone in great pain. It happened again 10 minutes later.

We wandered up the road to the local cricket club.

The noise seemed to be coming from there.

There was a very tall, ginger-haired bowler, arms and legs akimbo, slinging them down with a funny jerky action. It looked like he was ripping himself apart every ball. He hit a batsman on the pads.

‘Howwwwweaeesssseaaaaatttttt!!’ The umpire gave him out. The batsman trudged off. I liked the look of that.

So began my close-on 51 years of trying to prise batsmen from the crease. My father, also a bowler, took me up the road to the club, Ealing, to join the colts the following Friday. I was 11. There were lots of kids in the nets. “We only take boys when they’re 12,” someone said. My father lied about my age. We joined. From then on I went up there every summer Friday night – until it was pitch dark – until I was 18. It was the best fun. Especially practising appealing for lbw at 10pm.

My father qualified as a coach. He was up at the club every summer Friday night – until it was pitch dark – until he was 80. And on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and any other days there were under-15 matches to umpire or colts to transport to nearby venues or teams to select.

His car was always jammed full of club bats and pads

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

and spare balls, and umpires’ coats and someone’s boots and odd socks. It was the original kit van.

Last week my father passed away peacefully, aged 96. In the days since, my inbox has been inundated with messages of gratitude to my father from all the club players he coached or ferried to matches or encouraged.

They are lovely to read. He is, of course, just one of many thousands of volunteers who give up their time and effort every year to keep colts sections and cricket clubs going. They are the Baby Bio of cricket. Without their nourishment the grassroots of the game would not flourish. And now when you go to Ealing on a Friday night you see the ground bursting with colts – boys and girls – some as young as five. So this is a big collective thank you to all of you hard-working volunteers from all of us players for all the pleasure we have had.

And to enhance your own enjoyment we present The Club Cricket Guide - essential reading for everyone making their preparations for the new season.

Jampacked with kit reviews, coaching tips from the stars of county cricket, expert advice on conditioning your body in the gym, nutritional guidance, tips for groundsmen and, don’t forget, voice exercises to make those lbw appeals especially persuasive.

SIMON HUGHES Editor @theanalyst

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Contents P2AL0 GIA

CLUB NOST

P46

BOUTIQUE BATS

“Big sticker,

exciting bat, P84

FITNESS

that stands up shouts at you –

humdin SOFTS

P22

TREGO BATTING

P34

2018 PERFORMANCES

P10

CLUB LIFE

“Ah yes, Freddie and KP in the 2005 Ashes!”

a middle and P34 a BATS

nger”

P22

GROUNDSMEN

10-11 12-17 18-19 20-21 22-23 24-25 26 28-29 30-31

Stories of 2018 Club news National Village Cup Club nostalgia Groundsmen Stuart Canvas Scoring KIA Summer Smash Women’s clubs

GOOD GEAR GUIDE 34-35 36-38 40-42 43-44 45 46-54 56-57 58-59 60-62 64-65

Bats £155 or below Bats £155-200 Bats £230-295 Bats £300 or more About the testing Boutique bats Dawid Malan’s kitbag D&P Cricket Clayesmore school Footwear & softs

TRAINING & SKILLS 68-71 72 74-75 76 77 78-79 80-81

Peter Trego on batting Trent Woodhill on batting Peter Trego on bowling James Anderson’s tips Pat Brown T20 bowling Nick Gubbins on fielding Katchet equipment

FITNESS/PERFORMANCE 84-86 87 88 89

Fitness dos and don’ts Dietary tips Lord’s lunch Cricket teas

TEAMWEAR & RETAIL 92-93 94-95 96-97 98 100 101

England ODI kits Serious Cricket Retailers Owzat Stockists Club notice board

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For The Perfect Pitch

Follow us on www.allett.co.uk

Proud Partners sales@allett.co.uk

01889 271503

CLUB LIFE Anticipating the new season

P10 Stories of 2018

•

P12 Club news

• P18 National Village Cup P20 Nostalgia • P22 Groundsmen • P24 Stuart Canvas P26 Scoring • P28 KIA Summer Smash • P30 Women’s cricket

CLUB LIFE

Tales of the unexpected

Staggering displays by veterans, scintillating centuries, hat-tricks and off-field heroics, last summer had it all 2,000 wickets to go with 20,000 runs

Kevin Clement, a 63-year-old medium-pacer for Godmanchester Town CC, picked up his 2,000th wicket in club cricket in 2018.

In his 49th season of club cricket, Clement achieved the feat in a Huntingdon County Cricket League Division 2 clash against Blunham, another milestone to add to his 20,000-plus career runs.

A triple hundred in 116 balls… but nothing in the memory bank A club cricketer smashed an extraordinary triple-century

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in Yorkshire... but struggled to remember much about it.

Christian Silkstone of Triangle Cricket Club clobbered 316 in just 116 balls, with 18 fours and 34 sixes, against then-Halifax Cricket League Premier Division table-toppers Thornton, setting up a 147-run victory for his side.

Silkstone’s haul accounted for 73 per cent of his team’s total of 433 all out, with the next-highest contribution the 46 made by Daniel Crosland. Only four players made double figures, with extras the fourth-highest scorer with 19.

Not a bad afternoon’s work, but he found it hard to recall what actually happened.

“I have a shocking short-term memory so I’m used to not remembering too much about an innings,” he told The Cricketer.

“I don’t remember too much of it. Certain shots that took me to landmarks and overs that changed the innings but not too much.

“There are a couple of videos. One of the Thornton fans live-streamed the shot to get to 300 on Twitter and so did my aunt so that’s a good memory to be able to relive.”

A pair of hat-tricks… in the same innings

Two village cricketers playing for Kent side Marden took hat-tricks in the same innings of a match in a Kent County Village League Division 3 fixture against Weald.

28-year-old Ben Tomkinson took a remarkable 5 for 0 while 17-yearold team-mate Anton O’Sullivan backed him up with figures of 4 for 19 as Weald were skittled for 51.

O’Sullivan kicked things off with the first hat-trick of the day as Weald were reduced to 5 for 3 early on. Later, with the score on 45, Tomkinson ripped through the opposition’s lower-middle order to take them from five to eight down in

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

the space of three balls. Tomkinson told The Cricketer: “It was bizarre.

It was pretty bizarre that I got 5 for 0, and that I was on a hat-trick for the next game too. Marden have been on quite a few hat-trick balls this season. Remarkably, no one’s found a similar story.

“I bowled full and straight, with the ball coming in and the batsmen may have been done for pace. Anton bowled more of an off-stump line but we targeted the stumps and it worked.”

What made the event even more extraordinary was the fact that Marden could not even field a full team in the contest.

“We had 10 in the field. Our barman, who doesn’t really play, said he would play if he had to but he didn’t have to in the end,” said Tomkinson.

Merseyside club clear a flood only to be beaten by wildfire

Caldy Cricket Club overcame untimely adversity to get their game against

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

Old Xaverians in the Liverpool & District Cricket League on, clubbing together to locate, isolate and fix a water leak on their ground and reconstruct the playing surface all in the space of a few hours.

The extraordinary events of July 7 began at around 8am when water from the burst pipe started rising through the turf around 10m from the square.

Keith Risk, one of half-a-dozen volunteers who look after the ground, takes up the tale.

“It was probably an area of 20m x 10m of just soggy ground,” he told The Cricketer.

“Somebody put a spade in to see what it was like and an enormous squelch came up. Somebody found the stopcock on the main road but we couldn’t have that switched off all the time because that would have switched the water off for the clubhouse as well.

“We had to try and work out where the pipe was and where the source of the flood was. It was a little bit like the gold craze in America, digging wherever with holes all over the place.

“When the opposition and umpires arrived, they were surprised to find a wet patch in the outfield, several members of the host club covered in mud, ferrying soil to fill the various exploratory holes around the ground, and the possibility that amid the height of the heatwave the game could be called off because of a waterlogged pitch.

However, thanks to the camaraderie and club spirit of Caldy, that eventuality never arose.

Incredibly, the club had got their game on. But there was another twist. During the match, a wildfire in the region forced the match to be abandoned as police evacuated the area.

200 in a T20 but his workmates didn’t care

We’ve all dreamed about scoring a T20 century, some of us have even managed it, but have you ever heard of hitting quite as ridiculous as this?

Mike Simpson of Sheffield Collegiate went on the rampage during his side’s Sheffield Alliance Midweek League match against Khan at Shiregreen Cricket Club, smashing a remarkable doubleton in an innings spread across just 12 eight-ball overs.

Simpson got to three figures in 29 deliveries, 150 in 40 and went past 200 from a scarcely believable 52 balls before finishing on 237 not out from 62. His side finished their 96ball innings on 304 without loss - the highest partnership and total ever recorded in the midweek league.

180 of his runs came in sixes.

Unfortunately for the site engineer, he did not get the chance to brag at work... none of his colleagues on the building site were the slightest bit bothered.

“They don’t really have any interest in it,” he said. “No one really cares.”

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CLUB LIFE

News Shortened formats inevitable – report Play briefer formats and merge clubs to save recreational cricket, recommend two experienced coaches, reports James Coyne Many former professionals who go into coaching lack the skills to enthuse young people, claim two stalwarts of the game who have compiled a report on how to save recreational cricket.

In 2018 Charlie Crossley and Brian O’Gorman compiled a report, The Future of Cricket: the game we love, which they sent to the ECB. Crossley is an ECB Level 2 coach of primary-school children and disabled teams based in Middlesex, who has seen a son go through the club system. O’Gorman is a former Middlesex and Surrey 2nd XI bowler who also played for Nigeria, and was master in charge at St George’s College, Weybridge for three decades.

The ECB’s previous strategy, Cricket Unleashed, made a rise in participation the No.1 priority for cricket in England and Wales; their new strategy, Inspiring Generations, takes it on. But Crossley and O’Gorman contend that “the game… from county level down to junior recreational club cricket, particularly in more rural environments, is in a complete mess”.

The pair’s central contention – drawn mainly from first-hand and anecdotal evidence – is that cricket is failing to retain the interest of teenagers and young people because the senior playing formats are too long, and coaches lack the skills to enthuse them.

The pair cite a case from Somerset in which six of the best players at under-15 and under-17 level either gave up or changed county; they also think many youth coaches could improve feedback to parents about their son or daughter. They call for county age-group teams to be disbanded below under-14 level.

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With adults in the UK working longer hours than ever, and attitudes to time away from the family unit different from what it once was, the pair recommend that adults clubs shorten their formats – certainly on Sundays. They warn: “If we continue to have all-day games of 40 or 45 overs [a side], the smaller clubs will

‘Cricket is failing to retain teenagers because formats are too long, and coaches cannot enthuse them’

CLUB CHARACTERS

1. The Survivor

Really, he should have stopped umpiring five, maybe seven years ago, but no one had the heart to tell him. Now, with cataracts crippling his vision and his 1983 MCC Handbook in desperate need of an upgrade, he struggles to keep up with the game. Overs pass in sets of four and seven deliveries, and occasionally he can drift of towards the ‘Land of Nod’ while standing at square-leg. But he turns up ready for duty on time, whatever the weather, a hearty grin pinned to his face at all times. It just would not be right to enforce retirement just yet.

be a thing of the past”.

Smaller clubs are feared to be folding in record numbers, so Crossley and O’Gorman suggest a move which the RFU has already piloted for recreational rugby: creating ‘superclubs’ “serving the whole catchment area” in order to turn bigger clubs into genuine social hubs for the community. “At present many clubs have few or no facilities other than the ground”, reads their report. Smaller clubs would effectively become satellites of the bigger club. They propose that the ECB would help fund leisure activities at these ‘superclubs’.

Perhaps their most controversial contention, however, is that the fasttracking of ex-pros into coaching can have a “long-term negative impact” on producing young cricketers, “since many have no more skill at managing young players, often at the adolescent stage, than they do of actually being able to deliver techniques in a structured manner”.

It has become habitual for ex-pros – who have experience of playing a high standard – to bypass the Level 1 and Level 2 stages of coaching badges. However, the pair feel that this does not necessarily mean they have the skills or empathetic personalities to inspire young people – which they see as the crucial factor in a world where football is omnipotent and the lure of digital devices instead of sport is all too obvious.

An ECB spokesman confirmed that their organisation had received and digested the report, and sent a note of gratitude to the authors.

This article was first published in the January 2018 edition of The Cricketer magazine CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

Getty Images

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

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CLUB LIFE

MCC amend strict beamer Law MCC amended its ruling regarding no-balls on height. Law 41.7 had been changed in October 2017 so that any bowler who bowled a ball above waist-height should be no-balled, and automatically earned a warning; if they did so again they would be taken off.

The Law change had serious repercussions at club level – especially at the lower levels, where younger bowlers or spinners would often no-ball by accident, with little element of danger, yet had to be taken off under the letter of the Law. Some captains in club games without

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standing umpires came to their own agreement before a match to take transgressing bowlers off if only it was genuinely dangerous.

“Feedback has been received which suggests strongly that the new sanctions were overly severe (especially to younger bowlers),” said MCC. Umpires will now “use their best judgement to determine whether a delivery is dangerous”, but all deliveries above waistheight are still no-balls.

This article was first published in the Summer 2018 edition of The Cricketer magazine

CLUB CHARACTERS

2. The Grump

“Definitely going down leg,” he says, in a fluster, after being hit bang on the toe in front of middle and off going back to a full length. One glove is thrown in the direction of the barbecue, the other ends up wedged in a hedge, his bat cartwheels across the outfield like Olga Korbut on a Saturday night. He’s been out lbw eight times this season, and on each occasion the umpire has given him an absolute stinker. “I get triggered more often than a millennial,” he barks. He thinks that’s funny. His technique is the laughing matter.

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CLUB LIFE

System of steel Flexibility is helping more people play club cricket in Sheffield and bucking the national trend, writes Thomas Blow English club cricket is failing. A study by a market research company shows that between 2009 and 2016, participation dropped from 428,000 to just 278,600. And those are players who play on a monthly basis – who knows how low the weekly numbers are.

Statistics like that illustrate that many leagues are failing to keep their historic and beloved clubs in existence. The Surrey Cricket League now has fewer members than ever before, and 16 of the 64 games conceded in the 2017 edition of the Cornwall Cricket League were

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cancelled due to teams folding midway through the season.

Additionally, there is now a nationwide perception that the bigger, richer clubs are swallowing up smaller counterparts, and that youngsters are only interested in playing the shorter formats.

But this is not the case in Sheffield – where participation is on the up.

The South Yorkshire Senior Cricket League – one of the region’s most prominent associations – is prospering in an age of decline.

The league has nine divisions and more than 100 teams; with three clubs putting on an extra XI in 2018.

It also has five cups and drew in 32 overseas players last season.

Adult participation at Hallam CC has increased in recent seasons, and

Millhouses Works CC – a smaller team within the SYSCL – has seen their academy grow seven-fold in the last six years. These upsurges have helped cancellations become a thing of the past. In a time where clubs are failing to fulfil fixtures, Millhouses has not conceded a game due to a lack of players for over two years. The only thing stopping club cricket matches in Sheffield is the wet and windy Yorkshire climate.

Terry Bentham, chairman of the SYSCL, believes the region is doing well because of its approach to modern cricket. “The game has changed, and league and clubs have to start thinking outside the box,” explains Bentham. “We’re good in the South Yorkshire League because we’re flexible. If two teams want to CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

play earlier or later, or if they want to play just 30 overs instead of 50, that’s fine. But some leagues don’t allow that. They’ve got their head in the sand and still think it’s the 1970s.”

The region is also succeeding in other areas of the game. Collegiate CC have trained lots of youngsters to become coaches at level one and two standards, while a recent SYSCL survey revealed that there was an umpire at 77 per cent of league games last year – a figure which is significantly higher than the national average of 25–30 per cent.

“In our league we encourage a new generation of umpires,” says Peter Ratcliffe, chairman of the SYSCL Umpires’ Association. “We give them a proven mentor and make sure they officiate big games like cup finals.”

Although participation is up, clubs in Sheffield still face two major issues. The first, and undoubtedly the most serious, is funding.

Millhouses is in dire need of money.

“Facilities are our biggest problem,” says Iain Mallett, club treasurer. “We desperately need a new pavilion but there’s simply not enough funding from either the ECB or Sport England.

We’re hoping that money from the new TV deal in 2020 will filter down to our club – if it doesn’t then what’s the point of The 100? How can new audiences start playing if clubs cannot afford it?”

Mallett’s financial worries are echoed by Richard Storer, secretary of Hallam. “Attracting sponsorship is difficult,” reveals Storer. “Bar income is also low, so our main source of revenue is member subscriptions. It’s a real struggle to survive financially and provide proper facilities. It’s hard to see how we’re going to replace our outfield mower, re-lay parts of the square, improve drainage, increase the size of our clubhouse, and put up ball-stopping netting. We just desperately need some investment.

Can anyone help?”

The second major problem is that clubs are struggling to get teenagers into the senior teams. Things such as music festivals, parties and exams are getting in the way. “We do find it increasingly hard to get youngsters to maintain a regular commitment, which in turn makes selection difficult,” admits Nick Gaywood CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

of Collegiate. “We’re working hard to install a willingness to be committed.”

Of all the distractions, football is the biggest. Sheffield sides United and Wednesday, Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley all play within this region between August and May. “The other week we had one lad who asked to change his position in the batting order, so he could get off early and see Rotherham play,” claims Bentham.

“Can you imagine if that happened when I was a lad?”

Adding to this dilemma is the fact that friendlies, a format that traditionally gives young players their first taste of senior club cricket, are disappearing. This is evident at Norton Woodseats CC. “At under-15 level we start to put teenagers into the Sunday friendly side as that helps them get into the senior side,” says Andrew Cross, club secretary.

‘The game has changed, and leagues and clubs have to start thinking outside the box’ “We used to play 20 friendlies a year, but over time that has naturally dwindled away. We now play around six to nine a year.”

Yet these problems are not just localised to the Sheffield region.

Most clubs are struggling to make ends meet and are folding or merging as a result. With a huge £1.1bn broadcasting deal, it is imperative that clubs across England receive some of this money. But with big superstars demanding big wages, it feels like wishful thinking.

Regarding the transition from junior to senior level, this is one issue that can be solved without ECB or county intervention. Clubs and leagues can ensure the next generation progresses if they can persuade senior cricketers to appear in friendlies. Right now, six to eight matches a year is just about enough.

But with that figure continuing to

CLUB CHARACTERS

3. The Sopranos

Just as behind every newspaper editor there is a well-to-do mogul pulling the strings, behind every club committee exists a club family. They have been involved in the local cricket scene since before anyone can remember, between them they have held every role from groundsman to treasurer, it is entirely likely the club’s address features a road bearing their surname.

Do you know the Hortons?

Everyone knows the Hortons.

You don’t cross the Hortons.

CLUB CHARACTERS

4. The Cheapskate

“Next week, I promise boss,” he shouts over his shoulder as he leaps in a 2005 MG 35 seconds after the final over of the day.

“It definitely won’t,” you mumble under your breath and scratch another £7 in red ink on the balance sheet. This is the man, after all, who tried to claim that attending a first-aid training session at work the other week should qualify him for student subs rates. He’s the guy who hasn’t paid for a drink at the pav bar for the best part of a decade.

But when skip is short on numbers, he’s always available.

diminish, it is crucial that clubs start swimming against the tide.

This was published in the November 2018 edition of The Cricketer P.S Millhouses Works CC received a £6,000 donation via the Cricket Society Trust after seeing this article. After reading the article, Julian Shingler contacted The Cricketer to help fund the club’s new pavilion.

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CLUB LIFE

National Village Cup It is time to honour the heroes of the National Village Cup. Since 1972, amateur cricketers across the country have competed in the now-famous competition, spurred on by the possibility of Lord’s glory.

Each year, hundreds of players take part, hoping to play the innings or deliver the spell which takes their side a step closer to the hallowed turf.

It is a tournament unlike any other, reserved purely for those who play for the love of the game, and along the way it has witnessed some titanic individual performances.

Now, The Cricketer wants to ensure that the NVC’s iconic achievements are duly remembered.

Welcome to the National Village Cup Hall of Fame.

Each year, we will throw the doors open to nominations from across the country, a shortlist will be produced and then whittled down to one name by a select panel.

That player will be the guest of honour at the Lord’s final the following summer, along with invited friends and family, and their Village Cup performances will be highlighted during the festivities.

Nominations for the 2020 inductee

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are now open. All you have to do is visit www.thecricketer.com/ nvchalloffame and fill in the form.

Hall of Fame nominees need not have won the competition but they must have made a major contribution to their side’s cause in it.

The first member of the NVC Hall of Fame is Kevin Iles of Goatacre.

A hard-hitting batsmen and wily medium-pace bowler, Iles smashed one of the most

‘It’s time to honour the heroes of the National Village Cup, those spurred on by the possibility of Lord’s glory’ memorable centuries Lord’s has ever witnessed during the 1990 final against Dunstall.

It came off just 39 balls and included six fours and seven sixes, four of which came in succession.

The Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack described the innings as “the finest innings seen at Lord’s in many a day.”

Goatacre won by 50 runs that day. Two years earlier, with 4

for 45 and 91 not out, Iles had propelled his team to their first Village Cup success, a fourwicket victory over Himley.

His legacy in the competition is remarkable. No one has taken more wickets, no one has scored more runs. He is a true NVC great.

“It’s just the amount of time I’ve been playing,” Iles said modestly when asked by The Cricketer about his record in the competition.

“A lot of people pack it in at 40 or 45 but I managed to keep going.”

Iles formally hung up his bat and boots last autumn after four decades with Goatacre, during which he has played an intricate part in the club’s various successes.

But he will always have a special affection for the Village Cup. “I’ve loved that competition since I was a kid. I went to watch it when I was 10 or 11 years old. In those days we’d be lucky to win a game and if we did it was a big do.

“I grew up with it and loved the whole chance to play at Lord’s.

From playing at somewhere like Goatacre when I was a kid to playing at Lord’s was dreamland.

“A lot of us all grew up together and to play together in the finals at Lord’s was fantastic. I had a great time.”

Still the ultimate prize – playing at Lord’s in the National Village Cup final

Christopher Lee/Getty Images

Flixton fly the flag for Yorkshire again The 47th National Village Cup in 2018 did not lack the quality or drama that has been lent to many of its predecessors.

The controversy started before a bowl had been bowled when Welsh sides Carew and Cresselly were drawn against each other in the Dyfed group only months after the former’s infamous declaration to deny their opponents of the bonus points needed to challenge for the league title. In the event the game passed without occasion, with Cresselly emerging victorious.

Come round one approximately half of the 300 clubs entered were to embark on their own road to Lord’s, with the rest joining in round two.

The Cricketer team spent a memorable day in Warwickshire when Folkton & Flixton travelled to Fillongley for the semi-final. There were marquees around the ground and sponsors of the Village Cup with

Bola bowling machines and Gunn & Moore displaying their latest toys for spectators. A hog roast and ice-cream van were soon to be set up – it had a wonderful feel of a village fayre.

As the match took its course it became clear that Flixton were that bit more clinical, bowlers were keeping it tighter and batsmen were valuing their wickets more.

They faced Hampshire’s Liphook & Ripsley in the final, who had beaten Mayfield of East Sussex in the other semi-final. Flixton were grateful to 17-year-old Will Hutchinson (48) and Matthew Nesfield (60) for a stand of 85, and they set Liphook 198 to win.

Liphook made a rapid start, with 55 on the board in eight overs, but they were four down and did not have any ballast in the middle order like their opponents.

They succumbed to 126 all out.

Flixton were champions; Yorkshire were champions yet again.

CLUB CHARACTERS

5. The Glutton

“Pass us the bakewell tarts,” he gasps, through a mouthful of bakewell tart. After 45 overs in the field – hands on hips at pointless gully, of course... he swapped bowling for battenbergs some time ago he needs to refuel. There’s a constant purring as he does, a paper plate being loaded and unloaded with all the pace and precision of a F1 pit crew. A commentary inevitably follows.

“No cheese and pickle?! Shame!”

“Great scones, Sandra.” “Have Wagon Wheels got smaller?”

He’s down to bat at No.4 but as the second wicket falls, the indigestion sets in.

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You can follow the 2019 NVC at www.nationalvillagecup.com CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

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CLUB LIFE

Nostalgia

11th April 1961: Bearsted, Kent.

The car gives the date away. The oasthouses can be seen on the right

16th September 1954: A village cricket match being played in front of a church

26th July 1938: The Sussex hamlet of Ebornoe continues the 300-year-old tradition of the St David’s Day ‘Horn Fair’. The hamlet plays a neighbouring village at cricket while a ram is roasted. The highest scorer on the winning team is presented with the horns and the sheep is sold at a public luncheon

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CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

(Photo by Central Press/Harrison/David Savill/Topical Press Agency/Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

13th May 1966: A crowd watch a match on the green at Oxted, Surrey

6th August 1939: The world’s biggest bat (7ft tall) was the prize for a match between two old inns, The Lamb and The Wolf, at Norwood Green, Middlesex. William Lewis, 17, who was the youngest member of both teams, showed the bat to a little admirer. William was the son of the proprietor of the Wolf Inn

1st June 1926: Eton pupils choosing bats at Mat Wright’s shop in the village CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

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CLUB LIFE

Grounds for approval

How to prepare pitches in all weather, with Lancashire head groundsman Matt Merchant Matt Merchant has been on the Lancashire groundstaff since 1990, when, as a 15-year-old, he went down to Old Trafford for two weeks’ work experience. Twentyeight years later, he is still there.

“My full-time job here came about because Peter Marron used to drink in my parents’ pub,” he says. “One day he called me up and said there was a position going. It was just a job for me at the start, but after about five years – as I learned more and more about it – I thought ‘I quite like this’.”

Merchant has been the head groundsman at Old Trafford since 2008, in charge of several full-time staff, supplemented by seasonal workers in summer. Merchant has been commended by the ECB for his four-day pitches. He offers his tips to groundsmen about how to cope with the vagaries of the British weather.

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In the damp spring

At Lancashire we are quite lucky in that our squad go off to Dubai every spring – it’s part of our sponsorship deal with Emirates airline. But several counties are preparing pitches for practice matches in mid-March. I think the players do understand how hard it is to get pace and carry in a March or April pitch. Timing is the most important thing to remember when preparing wickets in springtime. Normally to produce a wicket would take 10 days. But you might want to give yourself two to two and a half weeks to prepare a pitch. You find yourself rolling the pitch earlier than usual to get the moisture out.

Nervous weather-watcher I’m not too bad at this! You do take a look at the medium to long-term forecast to see what the weather

will be doing. But all the apps tell you different things about the weather – so you can drive yourself doolally trying to keep up with it all.

Especially up here in Manchester!

It’s best to take it day by day.

Short-form or long-form?

It sounds strange, but there isn’t really much difference between preparing a four-day or T20 pitch.

County groundsmen often reuse T20 pitches one match to the next, depending on the fixture list, and it can depend on the composition of the teams too.

Turning pitches

At Lancashire we have often played three spinners in limited-overs games, so they’re quite happy to play on old turning wickets. Often we use PVA glue to stick the pitch together.

However, we have to be careful CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

CLUB CHARACTERS

Good days and bad: Old Trafford in dry weather (left) and on a rainy Manchester day

about the spectacle that turning pitches can produce – it might be good for the bowlers’ figures, but is it good cricket? So there’s that balance that we groundsmen have to strike. One thing that has changed in recent years is the wider attitude to turning pitches. The ECB were quite strict on them in years gone by, especially in the Championship, but now they are trying to encourage spin bowling. But you do still have to be careful not to go too far, as their pitch liaison officers may penalise you if the turn is excessive.

Get the right loam for you

At Lancashire we use Surrey Loam.

It’s crucial you get the right type of soil and amount for your conditions, because of the clay content from loam to loam. I don’t think too many other counties use it – Andy Mackay down at Sussex has started using it on some of his pitches. We used to use a mixture of Surrey and Ongar Loam – combining it all in a cement mixer – but recently we’ve gone straight to Surrey, and it works well for Old Trafford. We’ve put it on our new practice pitches too.

6. The Clubman

He skippers the Saturday league team, he bats 11 and offers encouragement to the kids on a Sunday, he’s down the club on a Tuesday night in the rain, trundling around the outfield on the ageing John Deere, he’s the one rushing to the local Spar 15 minutes before play to pick up six pints of semiskimmed, he’s head of the organising committee for the annual fundraiser, he puts a roof over the overseas’ head.

Without him, there’s no club. their drainage. About 10 years ago our drainage system was completely redeveloped, and it means there are fewer lost causes with the weather.

If it rains heavily it might still drain away and we’ll be on for a few overs – especially during televised games.

Sometimes you even find yourself watering wet patches due to the extent the water will drain away.

Things other than cricket

These days you might have other things going on on your outfield – be it [warm-up] football, softball or a marquee going up. That’s the kind of thing that could happen at a club too. At Lancashire we’ve had concerts over the last few years.

There’s been cranes and forklift trucks driving over the outfield. The fabric that goes on top of the grass tends to hold water in, and then punters jump up and down on it. So we use SGL grow lights to treat parts of the outfield. Last season our last game was on August 10 – very early – and then we had a Liam Gallagher concert the week after. So we corralled off the outfield after that and gave it time to rest and recover before we set it down for winter.

Interview by James Coyne Matt Merchant discusses the pitch with umpires Alex Wharf and Peter Hartley and Warwickshire’s Ian Bell

Getty images

Use equipment to your advantage

The advances in equipment have been one of the big changes in my time. We used to have six little pushcovers when I first started. To cover the square we used to have to make three journeys in the rain to drag the cover and sheets on. By that time the pitch was soaked! But now we have a hover-cover that covers the whole square. A lot of grounds all over the country, from first-class to club, have made improvements in CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

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CLUB LIFE

Sightscreen solutions Stuart Canvas solved a tricky problem for Gloucestershire, and could help your club too In 2013, Gloucestershire unveiled their new pavilion at the County Ground, Bristol. It was named the Bristol Pavilion, with hospitality facilities on par with the country’s finest cricket grounds.

It was a big statement from a county who, despite their domination of one-day cricket at the turn of the century, had faltered in recent campaigns. Gloucestershire’s four one-day competition wins in six seasons – the Mark Alleyne and Jack Russell era – seemed a distant memory, while England’s visits had become less and less frequent.

2012 was the first year since 1998 that no international cricket had been hosted in this cricket-mad city, and between 2011 and 2015 England’s men’s team paid only one visit to the West Country.

VIP treatment

But the Bristol Pavilion breathed new life into the club. Results were on the up, with exciting performances coming in the T20 competitions, and the ECB decided to return England matches to Bristol once more.

All was well at the club. Just before pre-season in 2013 however, a problem arose. When using

certain wickets, the sightscreens blocked the view of those spectators in VIP seats. Those who had paid good money for the best seats in the house were also restricted in their movements because they would disrupt the

about solving this particular problem.

“We quickly designed and fabricated some roller mesh that folded down from the roof.

“They are easy to manually – or electronically – wind up, and they may be white or black depending on the colour of the ball.”

‘Gloucestershire Room for spectators needed a quick and The mesh used was a light fabric efficient solution and that has more benefits than just its lightweight and transportable nature. we provided one. You “The mesh was great because from a distance, where the players would be, mustn’t block the it was pure white but when up close view of the VIPs!’ you can see clearly through the fabric. area behind the bowler’s arm.

The club needed a solution, so they sought the help of Stuart Canvas, one of the country’s leading manufacturers in ground equipment.

Stuart Canvas have been building solutions for over 45 years, designing and creating bespoke products across a variety of sectors but specialising in cricket.

They have worked with every county ground in the country and are proven problem solvers.

Steven Ball, marketing executive at Stuart Canvas, explained how they went

“This means spectators in the hospitality seats can still move around or sit in the best seat in the house – directly behind the bowler’s arm.

“Gloucestershire needed a quick and efficient solution ahead of their season and we successfully provided them with one, because you mustn’t block the view of the VIPs!” With a variety of products that includes mobile covers and electronic scoreboards, Stuart Canvas can cater for the ground needs of any cricket organisation, whether a recreational club or a first-class county.

To find out more visit www.stuartcanvas.co.uk/cricket or call 01925 814525

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CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

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CLUB LIFE

Runs on the board Stats king Ian Smith explains how he keeps up with Alex Hales and co at Trent Bridge You would imagine it was a scorer’s nightmare – the run fests of Trent Bridge.

In August 2016, England posted the highest ODI total – 444 for 3 – against Pakistan. Then, last June, the hosts went even better – 481 for 6, against Australia.

Ian Smith loved every minute of both days however, from the “safest” view in the house.

The stats fanatic has been operating one of the scoreboards at the home of Nottinghamshire since 2016. Before that he was reserve scorer for the club.

“I’m paid to sit and watch cricket, which can’t be bad,” he told The Club Cricket Guide.

Asked if keeping up with England’s 444 [not so much Pakistan’s reply of 279] and 481 [Australia 239] was difficult, he replied: “Well, yes and no. Actually I found it relatively relaxing. Hales [he made 171 in 2016 and 147 last year] smashes a six into the stand… click it in… but a scorer, doing it the oldfashioned way, has to record it three times in a book – next to Alex Hales on his way to 147 v Australia at Trent Bridge

26

the batsman, the bowler, then the total… and keep adding it up…”

And so why the safest view? “We are in the scorers’ room, behind plate glass… the best place to be, with Hales smashing it to all parts.”

Smith has a surprising confession to make. In the last two decades since he took scoring seriously, he has never used a book.

“I have always been a bit of a geek

I don’t want my head stuck in a book. I want to enjoy the cricket! and I found a scoring programme online, called Total Cricket Scorer.

I never saw the joy of scorebooks.

I always had a state of mild anxiety that things wouldn’t add up – one run short, one ball short and so on. I don’t want my head stuck in a book. I want to enjoy the cricket!

Although you are a bit tired at the end of five days of a Test match.”

The official Notts scorers still

use books though, and they are stored in the Trent Bridge library, lovingly curated by Peter Wynne-Thomas, recently awarded a British Empire Medal.

Smith played cricket to 2nd XI standard until he was about 35, but he never saw himself as “someone who would be playing as a 70-year-old in the 5th XI”. He tried umpiring, but missed being part of a team. He wrote to the Nottingham Premier League to see if a club needed a scorer (he lives in Newark) and they put him in touch with Plumtree. “Umpires seem to have a solitary existence.

I like to have a beer with the team after the game, be part of it.”

Professionally he had worked in sales and then IT, but joined Notts about 10 years ago. He scored in age-group games, and in 2011 was asked to be reserve scorer for the 1st and 2nd XIs. “They would score for the Test at Trent Bridge, and I would fill in from time to time, so I scored a dozen or so first-class matches, and 20-odd List A games.

I got to know Steven Mullaney and Harry Gurney – they were good lads, and Mick Newell and Andy Pick drove me to games. I also scored for the ODI in 2016, when Liam Plunkett hit a six off the last ball to tie with Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge. That was a cracking match.”

Since 2015 Smith has been cricket manager at Cricket Archive, owned by The Cricketer Publishing Ltd. He updates all the major matches, as well as working with a team who input scores from every level of the game.

Next time you are at Trent Bridge and the runs are flowing, imagine Smith and his colleagues in action.

“I’m sitting under the scoreboard between the Smith Cooper Stand and the pavilion, next to somebody who does graphics on the scoreboard. We worked out that there are seven people scoring for a Test: two official, one on screen (me), somebody from OPTA, two for Sky and one for the BBC.” And where would us cricket fans be without them?

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

Practice Makes Perfect!

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Over 96 years we’ve produced some memorable covers, highlighting cricket’s most historic events. We are now pleased to launch our cover archive, giving you the chance to search our cover library and order framed prints. Whether it is a gift for a loved one’s birthday or to commemorate your favourite cricketing memory, explore this treasure trove today.

Visit shop.thecricketer.com or call 0203 1981 359

CLUB LIFE

Summer Smash launched for women’s club players Kia and The Cricketer launch Saturday regional T10 tournament leading to grand final at the Kia Oval Kia are partnering with The Cricketer magazine to launch the Kia Summer Smash – a unique new competition for recreational women cricketers, giving them the opportunity to play at the Kia Oval.

Kia, long-term supporters of women’s professional cricket through their sponsorship of the England Women’s cricket team and title sponsorship of the Kia Super League, see this competition as a perfect way to join up their sponsorship of elite and recreational women’s cricket.

The competition, open to all women’s clubs in the UK, will take place over four Saturdays during the height of summer at regional festivals, with the winner of each regional festival competing at the Kia Oval on Friday September 20 to become Kia Summer Smash champions.

Played in an exciting T10 format, each regional festival will be contested by 12 teams, with the sides split into groups to ensure they enjoy a number of competitive games,

28

before a final to determine the winner.

As well as competitive cricket, each regional festival will have fun family activities for spectators, including coaching masterclasses run by former Ashes winner Lydia Greenway, representing her acclaimed coaching programme Cricket for Girls.

‘Fantastic, we have to get involved in the Kia Summer Smash. Our girls cannot wait for the tournament’ Kia marketing director David Hilbert said: “At Kia we are very proud of our record in supporting women’s cricket. A lot has changed since 2014 when we signed the first standalone commercial deal for women’s cricket: the profile and quality has been raised, and our

sponsorship has helped facilitate professional contracts for players.

Until now our support has been focused on the professional game and we are therefore delighted to be able to extend our support to the recreational game through the launch of the Kia Summer Smash.

“We believe the Kia Summer Smash will provide a wonderful opportunity for hundreds of grassroots female cricketers to play competitive cricket in a fun festival atmosphere at beautiful grounds, with four lucky teams competing at the iconic Kia Oval a handful of days after the men’s Ashes has been completed.”

Guy Evans-Tipping, chief executive of The Cricketer Publishing Ltd, added: “Working with Kia on this competition is a great honour for us. Raising participation in cricket is the most important challenge facing our game.

“Giving opportunities to hundreds of recreational cricketers through the Kia Summer Smash is a wonderful initiative and we look forward to working with Kia to deliver a fantastic

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

Getty Images

festival of cricket this summer.”

Greenway said: “As we continue on our quest to inspire more females to take up the game of cricket, we are delighted to be supporting this competition. There are thousands of females around the UK who have the passion and hunger to be playing more cricket, and it is vital that we facilitate this.

“Cricket is a fantastic sport, and if offered within the right environment and using the right formats we can ensure females especially, reap the benefits from the game and have a memorable experience, which I am confident this tournament will provide.

Gabi Brown, captain of Plumtree Ladies CC in Nottinghamshire, added: “When I told our team about the Kia Summer Smash tournament the immediate reaction was ‘Fantastic, we have to get involved in this!’ The opportunity to play in a brilliantly organised tournament, at a great venue and to be treated like cricket stars was irresistible. Our girls cannot wait for the tournament to begin.”

Greenway added: “T10 is a format we try to work into our coaching classes. But I don’t know of many other 10-over competitions in women’s cricket at the moment.

So it’s a great chance to fit several games into a day – giving players more than one bite of the cherry.

“We have to make sure women and girls stay in cricket – and the Kia Summer Smash will help with that.”

For more information and to enter the Kia Summer Smash please visit: www.kiasummersmash.co.uk

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

About the Kia Summer Smash: > The competition is open to women’s recreational clubs.

They can enter via the Kia Summer Smash website > Sides selected to enter will compete in one of four regional festival days: • Western Festival – Saturday July 13 • Southern Festival – Saturday July 27 • Northern Festival – Saturday August 10 • Midlands Festival – Saturday August 17 > The winners from each festival will compete in Kia Summer Smash finals day at the Kia Oval on Friday September 20.

The venues for each festival

will be confirmed in due course and will appear on the Kia Summer Smash website > The competition will take place in T10 format, played under normal cricket rules. Each side will be guaranteed a minimum of two games in the group format, before knockout games to determine the winner – who will be crowned regional winners and will progress to finals day at the Kia Oval > Each regional festival will be free to attend for clubs and spectators. Alongside the cricket there will be fun family activities including kids’ coaching sessions, as well as the chance to meet Kia Super League stars

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CLUB LIFE

Women’s cricket

Efforts are being made to capitalise on the rise of the game, with travel time and softball in focus

30

The ECB have tried to provide an introductory route into women’s club cricket through their successful Women’s Softball Cricket Festivals.

These are designed to be a fun introduction to the game, with an estimated 850 festivals held across the country in 2018.

The festivals offer free coaching, a free T-shirt, music and food. And the ECB message drills it right down to the core skills of cricket: “Whack some balls, bowl some balls, catch some balls. Run about a bit, laugh more than is good for you.

Repeat… Maximum fun, minimum fuss. No pads, no hard ball, no heavy bat, no head-scratching

‘Maximum fun, minimum fuss.

It’s for everybody, no matter your skill level, fitness, or age’

Lydia Greenway says softball can tempt players back into cricket

rules. It’s a game for absolutely everybody, no matter your skill level, fitness, or age. Playing time at Festivals is usually about two to four hours, so it never gets boring!”

Green said: “They’ve been quite successful. They are trying to get women back into playing who’ve dropped out, or just encouraging new players to get involved in a fun, friendly environment. Some of the festivals we held had a competitive element, but the nature of them was to be whatever the club and the surrounding clubs wanted it to be.

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

Getty images

It has become unquestionable that women’s cricket is on the rise, with the announcement of the new KIA Summer Smash the latest in a wave of good news stories.

One of the main challenges now is to maintain interest with what is in many areas often a small fixture list.

This can lead to teams being lopsided: often there are one or two superb players in a team, and lots of others at a lower level.

Another issue is geographical: as there is often huge distances between clubs with women’s sections, women’s teams tend to spend longer on the road reaching a ground than many men’s teams do.

But hopefully that is changing.

Chevy Green, participation manager at the Surrey Cricket Foundation, told The Cricketer that cutting travel time is one of the priorities in the south of the country.

“There are a lot of things in place to try to reduce travel time,” he said. “Sometimes the quality can be seriously mismatched. You could travel two hours and roll a team very quickly and it is a waste of a Sunday.

“So there’s a lot of stuff we do between Middlesex, Surrey, Essex, Sussex, Kent and Hampshire – we have regular meetings to shape the leagues on offer to suit everyone in their patches to reduce travel times and get the formats and rules matched up. We’ve got it off the ground. So if you move from London to say, Sussex, you will play a similar kind of cricket.

“The ECB give us guidance but it is counties taking ownership for the women’s game – so that if you go two hours you are matched up in terms of ability. There is still going to be quite a lot of travel because there’s not that many teams, but there are more at youth level and travel is reduced there massively.

And hopefully as girls grow up it won’t be as much of an issue.”

CLUB CHARACTERS

7. The Flake

“A host club provided food, music and all that – depending on if the clubs were clustered – it wasn’t one size fits all. It was flexible and that was really big, and we’ll see how it develops next year.”

Lydia Greenway, the former England women’s cricketer, has personal testimony that the softball festivals have brought some players back to the game.

“I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” she says. “My sister’s hockey team, Bromley & Beckenham, entered a team in their local CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

women’s softball cricket tournament last year. Some of them had played cricket before but weren’t sure about committing a whole day to it, or investing in all the expensive gear. But they just rocked up to a festival and had a great time. Some women might find their level there, and hopefully some will go on to join a cricket club again.”

A calendar of upcoming 2019 Women’s Softball Cricket Festivals can be found on the ECB website: www.ecb.co.uk

It’s happened again, hasn’t it.

The convoy left together on the dot of 11 o’clock - four cars, 11 players, one umpire - but, 45 minutes later, you’re a Renault Clio down. “Where’s Dave?”

No one knows. Not even Dave.

Once again, he’s gone awry on the backroads, probably distracted by a cow or a postbox or daydreaming about his 65 not out against Minehead 3rds two seasons ago. “He’s not that much of a loss skip,” you say. “Yeah, but the club kit is,” the captain fumes.

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GOOD GEAR GUIDE 2019 The latest bats tested & rated P34 £155 or below

•

P36 £155–£200

• P40 £230–£295 P42 £300 or more • P45 About the testing • P46 Boutique bats P56 Dawid Malan’s kit P60 Clayesmore School

•

•

P58 D&P Cricket

P64 Softs/protection

GOOD GEAR GUIDE

Bats £155 and below Kookaburra Ghost Obscene

RRP £150 (Owzat £119.99)

7.3

10

Gunn & Moore Mythos Signature

RRP £150 (Owzat £119.99)

“A bat for people who like heavy bats,” said Sam. But, despite an imposing profile and vast edges that skirt the limit of 40mm depth, this came through the hands surprisingly well. Will and Sam in particular were pleasantly surprised at the weight distribution.

And, if you’re a bit of a biffer, this is a steal at this price.

A classically shaped blade which took some of our testers aback by how small it felt in the hand.

Sam likened it to a trampoline: “The toe is tinny, but when you find the middle it flies.” Will was concerned that too much effort had to be expended to hit the sweet spot, but Tilly loved it for the even weight allocation.

Weight: 2lb 13oz Edges: 40mm

Weight: 2lb 10oz Edges: 33mm

If it was a celebrity: The Rock

If it was a celebrity: Dele Alli

INITIAL IMPRESSION

INITIAL IMPRESSION

7.20

BUILD QUALITY

7.60

PICK-UP/FEEL

6.40

PERFORMANCE

7.40

VALUE FOR MONEY

8.10

STAR RATING

7.20

34

8.1

10

£155 and below

Best in class Value

3rd

8.20 BUILD QUALITY

7.80

PICK-UP/FEEL

7.50

PERFORMANCE

8.00

VALUE FOR MONEY

8.80

STAR RATING

8.20

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

New Balance DC480

RRP £150 (Owzat £119.99) New Balance have made a splash into the batmaking landscape with their distinctive designs.

This is one of their best value entries. Our testers did feel that the sculptured toe might cause problems getting under the ball on low early-season pitches. When really given a kick up the backside it went well enough.

Weight: 2lb 9oz Edges: 32mm If it was a celebrity: Mesut Ozil

8.0

10

Kookaburra Glare 5.0

RRP £125 (Owzat £99.99)

Weight: 2lb 8oz Edges: 35mm If it was a celebrity: Matt Skelton

INITIAL IMPRESSION

BUILD QUALITY

BUILD QUALITY

PICK-UP/FEEL

PICK-UP/FEEL

PERFORMANCE

PERFORMANCE

VALUE FOR MONEY

VALUE FOR MONEY

STAR RATING

STAR RATING

7.25

8.00 8.25 8.75

7.60

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

10

A brash, unsubtle entry from the legendary Australian manufacturers almost destined to split the electorate right down the middle with its contemporary design and squared-off angles. A thick modernday bat – “meaty but light,” said Sam – but packs plenty of punch when swung with intent. Few honest clubbies will be grumbling if this flies for four or six.

INITIAL IMPRESSION

8.00

7.6

7.50 7.67

7.83 7.17

8.00 7.50

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GOOD GEAR GUIDE

Bats £155–£200 New Balance TC560

RRP: £185 (Owzat price £139.99) Joe Root’s batmaker is handed out a fair bit of praise for this model.

“It’s eye-catching,” says Sam. “Its weight is well-distributed, and it does the job well.” Will says “it hits well all over the bat”.

Weight: 2lb 9oz Edges: 37mm If it was a celebrity: Vin Diesel

8.0

10

Newbery Blitz G4

RRP: £195 (Owzat price £154.99)

7.7

10

The classic batmaker will be delighted with Peter’s endorsement.

“Lovely shape, good balance, decent connection,” he says. Sam is not quite so keen on the “Halloween colours”, but it is down with the kids. Will calls it the “best one so far”, and Harry says “Sick, OMG, cool design!”

Weight: 2lb 8oz Edges: 38mm If it was a celebrity: Ricky Gervais

INITIAL IMPRESSION

INITIAL IMPRESSION

BUILD QUALITY

BUILD QUALITY

PICK-UP/FEEL

PICK-UP/FEEL

PERFORMANCE

PERFORMANCE

VALUE FOR MONEY

VALUE FOR MONEY

STAR RATING

STAR RATING

7.75 7.75

8.25 8.25

8.00 7.88

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7.83

8.00 7.50 7.67

7.58 7.33

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

Adidas

XT Black 4.0

RRP: £200 (Owzat price £159.99) Adidas are a relatively modern maker, and the youngsters on our panel were generally fans. Ed praised its “good design”, while Henry had expected a heavier bat on past experience of the brand. Sam was disappointed though: “It produced metallic sounds, and there was not a lot of purchase.”

Weight: 2lb 8oz Edges: 37mm If it was a celebrity: Dani Dyer

6.7

10

Gray-Nicolls

Powerbow 4 Star

RRP: £200 (Owzat price £159.99)

Weight: 2lb 10oz Edges: 37mm If it was a celebrity: Zoe Sugg

INITIAL IMPRESSION

BUILD QUALITY

BUILD QUALITY

PICK-UP/FEEL

PICK-UP/FEEL

PERFORMANCE

PERFORMANCE

VALUE FOR MONEY

VALUE FOR MONEY

STAR RATING

STAR RATING

6.75

7.20

6.25

6.50 6.75

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

10

A modern feel for a traditional maker.

“Quite clean, defined, it offers instant gratification like YouTube.” Sam says “it has a decent enough feel” although it is a bit tinny.” The pupils like it however. “Big but light, nothing wrong at all,” says Will, while Paddy describes it as “powerful”.

INITIAL IMPRESSION

6.80

7.8

7.67 7.67 7.17

8.17

8.33 7.92

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GOOD GEAR GUIDE

Bats Kookaburra Nickel 3.0

RRP: £200 (Owzat price £159.99) A T20 bat for the T20 era? Yes, according to Chris. “It felt really good. I’d give it to a T20 player… it seems a bit disposable – here for a good time, not a long time, like Kieron Pollard.”

Unlike some of the bats, its strengths are not centred solely around the middle, with Libby praising its “power off the edges”.

7.2

10

MRF

Weapon

RRP: £200 (Owzat price £159.99)

Weight: 2lb 7oz Edges: 36mm

Everyone thinks of Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli when they see the MRF, and it did not disappoint. “Big sticker, exciting bat, a middle that stands up and shouts at you – a humdinger,” says Sam. Peter gave it his professional seal: “Whippy, and with a good middle.” The youngsters were also keen. Austin says: “The feel, the pickup, the middle, the shape, the stickers, everything was good!”

If it was a celebrity: James Corden

Weight: 2lb 8oz Edges: 40mm

8.5

10

£155-200

Best in class

If it was a celebrity: Novak Djokovic

INITIAL IMPRESSION

INITIAL IMPRESSION

BUILD QUALITY

BUILD QUALITY

PICK-UP/FEEL

PICK-UP/FEEL

PERFORMANCE

PERFORMANCE

VALUE FOR MONEY

VALUE FOR MONEY

STAR RATING

STAR RATING

7.00 7.20

7.00 7.00 7.70

7.30

38

8.50 8.50 8.33

8.50 8.58

8.50

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

Score at the crease.

View our full bat collection online.

GOOD GEAR GUIDE

Bats £230–£295 Adidas Libro 3.0

RRP: £230 (Owzat price £184.99)

6.4

10

Gunn & Moore Noir 808

RRP: £240 (Owzat price £189.99)

Ultra-thin handles seem to be this spring’s new thing. Peter liked it, Sam prefers the traditional kind.

Alas, both were in agreement there was something lacking in the middle. “it had no ping,” said Peter, while Sam called the middle “grumpy and reluctant.” Harry was its biggest fan: “Surprisingly nice – bottom heavy but not in a bad way, looks old-fashioned.”

Fast food is not for everyone, but Sam found this tasty. “It’s like a big burger from a US restaurant. It has a ping-a-minute middle, is good for slogging, but is also light on feet.” It was not for Peter though: “A bit bottom heavy.”

The youngsters liked the look of it. “Slick – it looks cool,” said Harry. Will agreed, liking its “sharp look”.

Weight: 2lb 7oz Edges: 37mm

If it was a celebrity: Elton John

8.2

10

£230-295

Best in class

Weight: 2lb 9oz Edges: 37mm

If it was a celebrity: Victor Meldrew

INITIAL IMPRESSION

INITIAL IMPRESSION

BUILD QUALITY

BUILD QUALITY

PICK-UP/FEEL

PICK-UP/FEEL

PERFORMANCE

PERFORMANCE

VALUE FOR MONEY

VALUE FOR MONEY

STAR RATING

STAR RATING

6.00 7.00 7.50 6.17

5.92

5.83

40

8.25 7.83

8.50 8.33 8.17

8.08

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

Gray-Nicolls Powerspot

RRP: £250 (Owzat price £199.99) Its name proved apt – when it came out of the middle, it delivered, although Sam said: “It was less forgiving elsewhere.”

Chris was its biggest fan. “It has design with heritage, I enjoyed batting with it, I was proud to use it.” Simon would not have chosen it: “I quite liked the bow, but I never want a bat with wide grains.”

Weight: 2lb 10oz Edges: 36mm If it was a celebrity: Take That

7.8

10

Puma

Evo 2.19 Bleu Azur RRP: £260

Weight: 2lb 9oz Edges: 40mm If it was a celebrity: Smurfette

INITIAL IMPRESSION

BUILD QUALITY

BUILD QUALITY

PICK-UP/FEEL

PICK-UP/FEEL

PERFORMANCE

PERFORMANCE

VALUE FOR MONEY

VALUE FOR MONEY

STAR RATING

STAR RATING

8.00 8.25 7.50

7.42 7.75

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

10

This fetching shade of blue adorns Puma gear in other sports, and Sam praised its “attractiveness”.

“It reminds me of a starter bat, it is great to look at,” he adds. Its weight distribution was also praised. “It feels like a pendulum falling, with a responsive middle,” said Chris.

INITIAL IMPRESSION

8.08

7.1

7.00

6.80 7.20

7.60

6.80 7.10

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GOOD GEAR GUIDE

Bats Optimax Pyro Black

RRP: £275 (Owzat price £249.99) This generally received a thumbs up – like a replacement car that did the job when something flashier was being fixed. Chris was the one who thought of the car analogy. “A good rental model, square but really light”. Sam was also a fan. “Really nice, slightly heavy, biggish middle; I would recommend to a friend.”

Weight: 2lb 9oz Edges: 36mm If it was a celebrity: David Walliams

£300+ 7.7

10

Chase

Volante R11

RRP: £300 (Owzat price £239.99) Nearly everyone thought this was a very good bat.

“Everything clicked for me,” for Jacob.

Edward said it had “a nice ping” and Henry described it as “a really nice piece of wood”. Only Simon struggled to find the middle.

Weight: 2lb 11oz Edges: 38mm If it was a celebrity: Sergio Ramos

INITIAL IMPRESSION

INITIAL IMPRESSION

BUILD QUALITY

BUILD QUALITY

PICK-UP/FEEL

PICK-UP/FEEL

PERFORMANCE

PERFORMANCE

VALUE FOR MONEY

VALUE FOR MONEY

STAR RATING

STAR RATING

7.50 7.50 7.75

8.08 7.67

7.50

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7.92

8.25 7.50 8.17

7.50 7.50

7.8

10

Gray-Nicolls

Shockwave 5 Star

RRP: £300 (Owzat price £239.99)

7.7

10

Newbery

Invictus Player

RRP: £350 (Owzat price £264.99)

Gray-Nicolls is that most wonderful of traditional brands, but the Shockwave delivers a… err… shock, with a jazzy cyan sticker that is a cross between a snake and a lightning strike.

“Don’t worry,” says Sam, “this is still classically Gray-Nicolls with exception of the sticker – you know what you are going to get, it performs as well as it looks.” Chris added: “it has a high punchy middle.”

According to one of the testers, using this bat can make you feel that all your Christmases have come at once. “It’s a shiny bat, glittery, it reminds me of the festive season,” says Clayesmore’s Toby.

Perhaps even more crucially, “it has a good middle”. Sam also enjoys using it: “It has a thin handle, and a nice smooth welldistributed swing.”

Weight: 2lb 10oz Edges: 38mm

Weight: 2lb 8oz Edges: 35mm

If it was a celebrity: Liam Hemsworth

If it was a celebrity: Simone Biles

INITIAL IMPRESSION

INITIAL IMPRESSION

BUILD QUALITY

BUILD QUALITY

PICK-UP/FEEL

PICK-UP/FEEL

PERFORMANCE

PERFORMANCE

VALUE FOR MONEY

VALUE FOR MONEY

STAR RATING

STAR RATING

7.50

8.00 7.42 8.17

7.50 7.67

7.8

10

7.80 7.80

7.40

8.40 7.40 7.80

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GOOD GEAR GUIDE

Bats £300+ Salix

9.1

X Performance RRP: £350

A resounding thumbs up for this elegant blade. “It has a beautiful pick-up with a fantastic middle,” says Simon. Chris calls it “masterful, with beautiful poise” (it sure sounds like a super model!). Sam observes that it is “surprisingly light”, and says “I could bat with that for hours, it is a real top-ofthe-range bat”.

Weight: 2lb 8oz Edges: 37mm If it was a celebrity: James Hunt

10

Overall

£300+

1st

Best in class

Value

2nd

Gunn & Moore Diamond Original

RRP: £400 (Owzat price £319.99)

Weight: 2lb 11oz Edges: 33mm If it was a celebrity: Zac Efron

INITIAL IMPRESSION

BUILD QUALITY

BUILD QUALITY

PICK-UP/FEEL

PICK-UP/FEEL

PERFORMANCE

PERFORMANCE

VALUE FOR MONEY

VALUE FOR MONEY

STAR RATING

STAR RATING

9.14

8.79

9.64

8.86 9.29

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10

They say diamonds are a girl’s best friend, and Libby was the most effusive about this bat. “Every shot I played felt good,” she said. Edward agreed that it had a “nice middle” but added “it had a heavier followthrough.” Chris argued that it was a “simpler blade, a lot of bat” but “it didn’t quite connect” for him.

INITIAL IMPRESSION

9.14

7.5

7.17

8.50 7.50 7.67 7.17 7.17

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

How did our testing day work?

Clayesmore School opened the doors to their superb indoor sports centre to test the latest bats on the market. Each of the 29 were given about 20 throwdowns from the school’s most promising cricketers, ranging from short-pitch deliveries to half-volleys and full tosses to test out a full range of shots. Premium-quality Grade A balls were used, with ball ages ranging from 10 to 80 overs old. Our journalists then recorded the testers’ observations. Our observations were based purely on how the bats felt on the day. The testers were also put on the spot to be asked, “If the bat was a celebrity, who would it be?” Sometimes the explanation is obvious, sometimes it is not; sometimes the testers had a long think, sometimes it was the first thing that came into their heads. It was just a bit of fun though, so do not be offended! A couple of thank yous. Firstly to Owzat-Cricket. One of the leading cricket retailers in the UK, the bats were handpicked off the shelf, with £10,000 of equipment handed to us. Gavin Young and his team were superb again. Likewise to Clayesmore School, their team led by Dan Conway and Andrea Cheverton. Your facilities were perfect and your pupils a credit to your school – we are grateful for your hospitality.

The testers PETER TREGO A cult hero at Somerset, and a superb allrounder who has been unlucky not to play for England, especially in the white-ball formats. He will continue to represent the county in the limited-overs game this summer. The pupils were delighted by his presence, and he even let them use his bat. He has regularly written for The Cricketer.

CHRIS SMITH Has been at The Cricketer for six years and looks after all things finance and subscriptions based. He plays for

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

Copford in Division Two of the Essex and Suffolk League.

More of a caresser of the ball – you would rather him going in at 60 for 6 than needing 20 off the last two overs.

SAM MORSHEAD Sam arrived at The Cricketer just in time for the Ashes in 2017. A middle-order batsman with way too much bottom hand, he proudly holds the record for the most sixes ever hit by a White Horse CC batsman.

Also coaching JIM HINDSON Is managing director of CricketArchive, which is owned

by The Cricketer. He had a professional career with Nottinghamshire for six seasons, taking 93 first-class wickets at 32.74 with his slow left-arm. He also played in New Zealand, and now plays in the Nottinghamshire Premier League.

SIMON HUGHES The editor of The Cricketer was a seamer who played 12 seasons for Middlesex and two for Durham. He had a Botham-esque bowling arm and was knocking on England’s door early in his early 20s. He then forged successful careers in journalism and television. He wrote the award-winning A Lot of Hard Yakka. In television he is known as The Analyst. He pioneered innovative, more technical coverage of the game as part of Channel 4’s Bafta-winning team (he was the Royal Television Society’s Sports Pundit of the Year award in 2002), before moving to a similar role on Cricket on Five.

AMONG THE PUPILS WERE… Austin Andrews, Libby Andrews, Toby Berry, Henry Dunlop, Jacob Gordon, Josh Parsons, Edward Rimmer, Will Tripcony and Tilly Townsend.

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GOOD GEAR GUIDE

Boutique Bats Black Knight Bats Grade 1 RRP: £ 233

This one arrived as if from another era – like Peter May being beamed into an IPL match. Black Knight are a family-run manufacturer linked to Sanderstead CC in Surrey. Clean-cut, trim, light and understated – the Grade 1 doesn’t need flashy stickers to show that it’s a quality piece of wood.

The retro design and light pick-up appealed to all our testers. It doesn’t completely break the bank either.

Weight: 2lb 9oz Edges: 29mm

8.1

10

Bradbury

Forte Players RRP: £ 475

Plentiful grains and a handle like a trunk are the calling cards of this top-of-therange blade. This felt beautifully soft when our testers connected with the “voluptuous middle”, as Chris so delicately put it.

Achieves the holy grail of being bulky but impossibly light.

8.9

10

Overall

2nd Boutique

Best in class

Weight: 2lb 8oz Edges: 33mm If it was a celebrity: Hugh Jackman

If it was a celebrity: Dan Walker

INITIAL IMPRESSION

INITIAL IMPRESSION

BUILD QUALITY

BUILD QUALITY

PICK-UP/FEEL

PICK-UP/FEEL

PERFORMANCE

PERFORMANCE

VALUE FOR MONEY

VALUE FOR MONEY

STAR RATING

STAR RATING

8.17

8.33

8.00 8.17

8.00 7.83

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9.00 9.00 9.00 8.83 8.50

8.83

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

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Have total confidence that your unblemished bat will play the same as the one you have been practising with all winter. blackknightbats

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GOOD GEAR GUIDE

Boutique Bats Kippax

Sancta Grail RRP: £ 500

Another substantial bat with plenty of grains, this time with squared-off edges and a powerful bottom. Sam, known to give the ball a biff in his time, decided it was “friendly to those who like a bit of bottom hand… if you swing through the line it will go the distance”. The slim handle was well liked.

Weight: 2lb 10oz Edges: 37mm If it was a celebrity: Mako Vunipola

8.2

10

Mongoose

Rajgoose Bush Linka RRP: £ 349

Weight: 2lb 7oz Edges: 38mm If it was a celebrity: Johnny Bravo

INITIAL IMPRESSION

BUILD QUALITY

BUILD QUALITY

PICK-UP/FEEL

PICK-UP/FEEL

PERFORMANCE

PERFORMANCE

VALUE FOR MONEY

VALUE FOR MONEY

STAR RATING

STAR RATING

8.33 8.33

8.42 7.83 8.17

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10

Mongoose – who made waves in 2009 with their cut-off MMi3 bat – are now helmed by entrepreneur Raj Tulsiani, who has lent his name to this distinctive beast. A bat with beautifully defined grain structure, though an almost impossibly waif-like handle. Peter thought this featherlike bat was “a beauty”, and we had to drag him out of the net.

INITIAL IMPRESSION

8.33

8.3

8.40 8.00 8.20

8.60 8.20

8.40

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

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GOOD GEAR GUIDE

Boutique Bats Mongoose Lioness RRP: £ 199

Specially designed for the burgeoning women’s and girls’ cricket market, the Lioness has, Mongoose tell us, “a longer blade, lower middle, lighter weight and thinner slightly oval handles”.

Libby was happy with “the thin grip and good balance”. Simon was impressed too: “Nice and light with a very good pick-up. Having a daughter I know what she would want and this is it. You can see it is quality wood.” Voted the best-value bat this year.

Weight: 2lb 5oz Edges: 36mm

8.3

10

Value

1st

Pryzm

Instinct Exclusive Pro RRP: £ 400

8.4

10

Pryzm are based in leafy Worcestershire, though the flashy cool of their design screamed “Shoreditch” to fashion-alert Chris.

Luckily, there was substance to go with style – Chris took a liking to the feel and the weight, and Harry felt the middle was so vast that he could edge one for six. “I’d buy it now if I could,” he said.

Top-class willow.

Weight: 2lb 11oz Edges: 37mm If it was a celebrity: Mo Salah

If it was a celebrity: Keira Knightley

INITIAL IMPRESSION

INITIAL IMPRESSION

BUILD QUALITY

BUILD QUALITY

PICK-UP/FEEL

PICK-UP/FEEL

PERFORMANCE

PERFORMANCE

VALUE FOR MONEY

VALUE FOR MONEY

STAR RATING

STAR RATING

7.60

8.00 8.20

8.40 9.00 8.70

50

8.40 8.20 8.10

8.80

8.40 8.70

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

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GOOD GEAR GUIDE

Boutique Bats Woodstock

Classic Players LE RRP: £ 310

Unanimous bouquets for this old-school classic which came out towards the top of the performance stakes. A beautiful, graceful build and grain structure allied to a curved bottom. Simon loved the pick-up and feel and the “even spread of grain”; Sam the “authority and excellent value”; Chris felt assured by strong coverage all over the bat. In short, all bases covered.

Weight: 2lb 10oz Edges: 36mm If it was a celebrity: David Attenborough

8.7

10

Overall

3rd

Woodworm IB Select RRP: £ 224

Weight: 2lb 8oz Edges: 37mm If it was a celebrity: Robert Downey Jr

INITIAL IMPRESSION

BUILD QUALITY

BUILD QUALITY

PICK-UP/FEEL

PICK-UP/FEEL

PERFORMANCE

PERFORMANCE

VALUE FOR MONEY

VALUE FOR MONEY

STAR RATING

STAR RATING

9.00 8.33

9.08 8.50 8.58

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10

The colour scheme may have changed, but the memories are still fresh: “Ah yes, Freddie and KP in the 2005 Ashes!” says Peter. “Good quality results, too.” Or, for Jacob, one of our younger testers, it reminded him of Woodworm’s slightly less boxoffice allrounder, Tim Bresnan.

INITIAL IMPRESSION

8.67

8.2

8.00 8.20 8.20

8.40 8.20

8.00

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

Handcrafted Professional Bats

Woodstock Cricket Company are makers of the finest hand crafted professional cricket bats and kit. We bring traditional cricketing qualities and professional craftsmanship to today’s modern, competitive game.

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Woodstock Cricket Co. Red Furlongs, Clee St Margaret, Nr Ludlow Shropshire, SY7 9EB Mobile 01584 823575 Email john@woodstockcricket.co.uk Website www.woodstockcricket.co.uk

Woodstock-HalfPage 14.1.16.indd 1

15/01/2016 11:18

GOOD GEAR GUIDE

Boutique Bats World Class Willow Players Pro RRP: £ 525

Genuine innovation from a boutique firm helmed by ex-navy engineer Mike Kennedy, who are experimenting with a unique round splice rather than the traditional pointed cut.

And with no compromise on the middle, as Simon, Guy, Sam and Chris all found. All were happy with the pick-up, which tells you a lot about a 2lb 12oz bat. Simon was at his most effusive: “A carefully made, modern, innovative, pioneering build.” You pay for it though.

Weight: 2lb 12oz Edges: 38mm If it was a celebrity: Sharon Stone

8.6

10

CLUB CHARACTERS

8. The Whippet

You turn for an easy two, the ball trickling as it is down towards deep midwicket all on its lonesome.

You trundle. ‘No need to run hard,’ you think. Then, out of nowhere, a flash appears across the outfield, a whirlwind of arms and legs and bright-white hair pinned back by a garish headband. “Jesus,” you exclaim, perhaps briefly thinking you are witnessing the second coming. Prayers can’t save you now, though. Whizz, he scoops up the ball.

Ping, it flies into the keeper’s gloves like an Exocet on a date with destiny. Flick, the bails fall. You’re five feet short of your ground. You never see that boundary-riding mirage again. He doesn’t bat, he doesn’t bowl, though on one occasion you think you see him flirting precariously with the skipper’s daughter. Is he real? Are you hallucinating?

Time for a lie down. Or at least a beer.

CLUB CHARACTERS

9. The Cocksure

He’s the bloke you can’t stand to be around but without whom the team doesn’t stand a chance.

He’s pushing 40 now but, collar popped and shades pinned to his brow, in his mind it is permanently his 25th birthday. “You know what Ravi told me,” he says as he adjusts sweatbands on his wrists, forehead and, for some reason, ankle. “You know…

Bopara” (he played for Essex 2nds four times in 2002 and hasn’t shut up about it since). “He told me…”. You’ve already left the conversation. Later, he makes 90 and takes 4-for almost nothing.

You don’t know how you feel about that.

INITIAL IMPRESSION

8.60

BUILD QUALITY

8.40

PICK-UP/FEEL

9.20

PERFORMANCE

9.00

VALUE FOR MONEY

7.40

STAR RATING

8.70

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CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

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GOOD GEAR GUIDE

What’s in your kitbag?

England and Middlesex batsman Dawid Malan lets us look at his kit Bat

I use the Gunn & Moore Zelos DXM LE. It’s picked for performance, and weight of the wood, made from English willow. I am fussy with my bats. I use really light ones – 2lbs 8.5oz with stickers, 2lbs 6oz without.

I am always asking G&M to fiddle with them. I have four in the bag.

This one I use in the nets. G&M put

cross-weave on them, and I have put some tape on the face. This one is quite well-used. This one I used for the whole of the New Zealand tour – so it didn’t do that well! The one I scored my Ashes hundred with [at Perth] is at home, as it broke, in the first T20 against Australia at Hobart. I like a bat to have a little bit of a higher middle. When I feel I play well it is when I stand taller at balls and I hit on the up.

Subcontinental players tend to have lower middles.

I wash the dirt off them occasionally.

Sometimes you have to get the whitener out with that more reddy dirt you get on the subcontinent.

Boxes

I like to wear two.

Gary Kirsten told me to wear two as he got hit in his first international game and it hurt… a lot. I have a longer one (like a hockey one) underneath, which moves around a bit, then a traditional one over the top. That one takes the brunt of the hit. My old jock strap keeps it all in place… but you don’t want to look at that!

Bag

An Original Easi Load Bag. It can fit a lot in. I prefer bags that are not that fancy, that don’t have three compartments. A bog-standard big, open bag. It has a couple of places where I can put spare grips. Extra tape. Sandpaper… for the bats, not the ball!

Pads

I am the least fussy when it comes to pads. I use Original Limited Edition.

As soon as I find a pair that I like I stick with them for three years or so.

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CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

57

GOOD GEAR GUIDE Interlocking Batting Glove

Taking a grip on the world game Batsmen the world over curse their gloves. They are too sweaty!

Their hand is not close enough to the bat! It twists in the hand! They feel too loose!

Rassie van der Dussen (recently played SA T20 and ODI)

Fret no more. A company in South Africa, D&P Cricket, have devised a solution – an interlocking batting glove that comes in two segments. Already popular in the Republic, they are sending them over to the UK, with the message: “Try this… you need to see it to believe it.” Part one is the gripper palm, which comes in three thicknesses. Then over the top of that comes the shield glove.

The product is used by a number of current international and first-class players including South Africa’s most recent Test debutant, Zubayr Hamza, and Rassie van der Dussen, who debuted and averaged 120 in the Proteas recent ODI series against Pakistan.

Laura Wolvaardt, opening batter for South Africa Women, Khaya Zondo, captain of Dolphins and South Africa ODI international and Henry Davids, Titans and South Africa, can also be seen using the Shield gloves. The confidence of these players to use it at the highest level is confirmation that the product not only works, but makes a difference.

“This is a great innovation,” Zondo says. “It is very comfortable, like you haven’t got a glove on. It gives me more control and you sweat a lot less. You have nice air going through.”

So comfortable

Davids says it is “really exciting – the grip is unbelievable.

I batted for five hours in them and only used the one set.

I am a keen golfer and it is like a golf glove. They are so

58

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

Zubayr Hamsa (recently played SA Test)

1

2 3

“...Opinion on the new inter-locking batting gloves?

For me, they are a good innovation. Feels like I have the bat in my actual hand, like I don’t have the glove on” Khaya Zondo, Dolphins & South Africa comfortable. They are awesome.”

“They are a game-changer for cricket, and the women’s game,” added Wolvaardt.

The gripper palm is a real innovation, providing optimum control. It comes in three different thicknesses. Thin offers the ultimate grip for purists. Medium provides the same quality and the cotton palm is even softer. Thick provides extra padding. All three ranges come in small, medium and large.

Then over the top of that comes the shield glove. It looks like a normal glove, but the space in the palm allows the gripper palm to lock in.

Now there is no need to dispense with the whole glove when the palm wears away.

You retain the shield glove, and just replace the gripper palm.

The product air-dries easily, the extra air flow keeping the hand cool for a lot longer.

Paul Borst, the owner of D&P Cricket, is the inventor.

An Englishman who moved to South Africa 21 years ago, he explains the thinking behind it.

“I have been selling cricket gear for 20 years, and had the initial idea 15 years ago. We had a pool of players who wanted the tightest-fitting glove possible, like a golf glove. They were using junior gloves, but they tore easily. I didn’t have the time initially to make this as running the business was time-consuming, but in the last three to four years I have been able to move this forward.”

Problem solving

“It solves the problem of the bat

4

ABOVE - GLOVE SELECTION 1. Gripper Shield 2. Shield Gripper 3. Gripper Palms 4. Hybrid Shields

twisting in a batsman’s hand. There is no loose material. It allows batsmen to personalise the inner section. It also totally negates the need for batters to have two or three grips on their bat, or for players like Adam Gilchrist to have a squash ball in their glove.

“We launched this in South Africa last season and it sold out.

The benefits were immediately obvious to players. Now I strongly urge cricketers in the UK to try this. You need to see it. Give it a go. You will not regret it.”

The glove is part of D&P’s SPEC range, standing for speed, power, efficiency and control, all with enhanced design.

It will not be long before big-name players in the UK will be sizing up these gloves for themselves.

FOR MORE INFO VISIT WWW.DPCRICKET.COM CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

59

GOOD GEAR GUIDE

Clayesmore goes batty for Trego The Cricketer team test the latest blades at a lovely school in Dorset with the help of the Somerset ace. Huw Turbervill reports We should have known we were in cricket country when we entered a village called Compton Abbas.

Presumably it was not named after Denis and Zaheer. Just two miles later however, and there it is, the lovely Clayesmore School.

Set in the bucolic Dorset countryside, the grounds are exquisite. It has an intimate feel, with only 480 pupils (60 per cent of whom are boarders).

This is where The Cricketer team have assembled to test out this year’s new batch of bats. And arriving at lunchtime is Somerset allrounder, cult hero, contributor to this magazine and generally good egg, Peter Trego. Tin helmets on – but more of that later.

Founded in 1896 in Enfield by Alexander Devine, a Greek-Irish Mancunian, Clayesmore School has been on a journey. It started life in Middlesex in 1896, before moving to Pangbourne, then on to Winchester. Finally it settled in its present location, relocating to Dorset and acquiring Iwerne Manor, the main school building,

60

in time for the summer term of 1933. It went co-ed in 1974.

Ex-pupils include John Stephenson, who played for Essex (1934–39) and Worcestershire (1947); and current Hampshire wicketkeeper Lewis McManus.

‘Prep to professional’ is the motto of the school, suggesting you can

‘Our motto is prep to professional – Lewis McManus went from our junior school to the Hampshire 1st XI’ move seamlessly from the junior school – which is on site – to the professional game – and McManus is a prime example of that.

The school has five cricket pitches, and the 1st XI one has a lovely old wooden pavilion. It is going to be replaced by a new facility

however. There will be a balcony overlooking the field and a room at the top for meetings. There will also be ample room for parents to sup drinks and eat sandwiches and cakes during cricket teas.

There are also eight artificial lanes of nets down behind the chapel, four of which are going to be renovated soon, and 12 grass nets.

The main pitch enjoys a beautiful setting under the gaze of Hambledon Hill and its iron-age fort. It is also near a scenic lake, which is being dredged to look even better.

There is a clear love of cricket here. The school has held a cricket week since 1957, the girls’ game is really taking off, and a shorthaul tour to Europe is being planned for next year, the details of which are yet to be confirmed.

Our bat-testing line-up, which features Trego, The Cricketer editor Simon Hughes plus most of our staff, is joined by the school’s most promising cricketers, male and female. The session takes place in the main sports centre, with its excellent nets. It is an already impressive facility, with its large main arena, wonderfullooking swimming pool and pair of squash courts, but there is ongoing work converting office space into sports scholarship-specific areas, overseen by Chris Humpage, the school’s sporting events manager.

Former Yorkshire seam bowler Dan Conway is head of boys’ games.

“Sport has grown a lot here over the last 10 years or so,” he says.

“Sports scholarships have increased.

We are going in a positive way. We have been so proud to have been in The Cricketer’s top 100 schools for the fourth year in a row.

“We play schools like Canford, Bryanston, Truro, Sherborne and King’s Bruton. Most of them are a lot larger than us, but we do compete.

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

The beautiful main school building at Clayesmore, in which a certain chandelier scene was filmed

Many people say we punch above our weight, which is fantastic. To illustrate that, recent results have included the boys’ 1st XI beating MCC in the final over in 2016.

“We like the ‘prep to professional’ motto. Andrea Cheverton, the head of girls’ games, and I coach in the prep school, so we help youngsters develop from four to 18 – as Lewis McManus did.

“We are currently very strong in years 9 and 10, and we have some good year 12s as well, so we are sitting pretty for the next four years, and the prep school is looking strong as well. It goes in cycles, and we are lucky we have strong numbers coming up from there. The prep school is on the main site, which makes it even easier for progression, so once the youngsters do come up they have a sense of familiarity, they are working on the same sort of schemes as us.

“To pick out a few players – we have Jacob Gordon, Toby Berry, Josh Parsons, Will Tripcony, and two year 9s, Edward Rimmer and Austin Andrews. They all look promising.

It should be a good few years, and we are very much looking forward to using the new pavilion within the next two years as well.”

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

Conway had three years with Yorkshire CCC, then spent four years playing in Australia, and now he opens the bowling for Herefordshire.

He has vivid memories of bowling to Michael Vaughan at Headingley, when the England captain was recovering from knee trouble.

“That was such a fantastic experience for all the young bowlers. There was me, Tim Bresnan and Steve Paterson bowling at

him. It was great to look up to somebody like Michael. We were used as cannon fodder maybe but it was a wonderful experience.

“There is also a video going around on YouTube of a Matthew Hoggard master class. It features me as a fresh-faced 17-year-old with a helmet on, facing a brand-new ball, in the indoor nets so it was quite quick, with him going through his different variations of swing.

I grew up as an opening bat but it was still scary and the youngsters here have had a laugh about it.”

Conway hails from Middlesbrough.

He learnt his cricket at Marton Cricket Club, and they played Middlesbrough CC, who were led

by Ian Renshaw, father of Matt, who now plays for Australia.

Cheverton and Laura Thomas set up the new girls’ side in 2017.

“It is a really encouraging time for us at the moment,” says Cheverton.

“Since last year we have developed the programme, and we are trying to get more girls involved in cricket – not just in games lessons, but actual matches. We are looking to get 1st XI and under-15 matches up and running and there is some interest from other local schools. We also want to integrate girls into the boys’ programmes. We have also

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GOOD GEAR GUIDE

Trego gives a fielding masterclass; the outdoor nets and pavilion at Clayesmore

entered the T20 national schools competition, and this is the second year of entering the Dorset indoor tournament. We are pleased with our overall progress. It is great that so many prep schools are moving away from rounders to cricket.

“We hosted the group stage T20, and welcomed St Swithun’s, Canford and Sherborne. England’s Katie George came down for the day (she plays in Dorset).

She chatted to the girls and played with them in the nets. England’s 2017 World Cup win went down a storm here. It certainly helped with cricket taking off. Bigger schools don’t put out as many teams as us – we punch above our weight in all sports.

“I will highlight a couple of girls [they were testing bats with us].

Tilly Townsend is in year 9 and on a sports scholarship. She has come from the prep school and plays in the boys’ under-13s, and they were county champions last year. Libby

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Andrews is in year 12. Her game has really taken off in the last two years.

Both are seam-bowling allrounders who play for Dorset Girls.”

After the interviews, a return to the sports hall saw Mr Trego arrive. Looking lean and raring to go, he soon had the youngsters eating out of his hand. After we had tested all the new bats, Trego plucked his hefty slab of willow out of his kit bag, and let the pupils have a hit with it. To say they were enthused was an understatement.

He then demonstrated his skills. Facing Hughes – bowling off-breaks (rather well actually) – Trego tackled the session as if he was playing a T20 innings. He launched several booming drives that threatened to bring the roof down, and saw us all diving for cover with our arms over our heads.

Then, to order, he delivered all his variations – leg-cutter, offcutter, slower bouncer – before

conducting some fielding drills with the youngsters. He is Action Man! After all this action, it was time for refreshments.

To illustrate the idiosyncratic feel of the school, we went to lunch through a building called ‘The Underground’, which was decorated with posters from London’s Tube.

The main school building was owned James Ismay, brother to Joseph Bruce Ismay, who owned the Titanic (James Cameron’s blockbuster film depicted him as a coward for abandoning the ship while others perished – although descendants of Ismay have tried to clear his name in recent times).

In the building is a familiar place for fans of British sitcom: the chandelier room from the Only Fools and Horses episode, A Touch of Glass. The shattering conclusion to that classic episode was voted Best British Comedy Moment in 2000.

On this occasion it was being used for inoculation jabs, so I was reluctant to venture in, but I plucked up the courage. The room is brighter now, but yes, there were a pair of chandeliers in there. Do not worry, pupils and teachers are quite safe… the Trotter family are no longer up in the loft, loosening the bolts. ‘Grandad!’

It is another quirky feature to a school with character and charm, one that seems to have cricket running through every pore.

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

Delivering a first class education An outstanding boarding and day school for 2-18 year olds, quality sports coaching led by talented staff with professional cricketing backgrounds

www.clayesmore.com 01747 812122

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TRAINING & SKILLS Playing advice from the pros

P68 Peter Trego on batting

• P72 Trent Woodhill on batting P74 Peter Trego on bowling • P76 James Anderson’s tips P77 Pat Brown T20 bowling • P78 Nick Gubbins on fielding P80 Katchet equipment

TRAINING & SKILLS

Peter Trego on understanding your role as a batsman The allrounder explains how to modify your approach in longer and shorter forms In Twenty20 Powerplay and death periods, it is predetermined as a batsman that you are going to hit boundaries. It is not necessarily the batsman’s choice, but it is what the game dictates to him or her.

My job as an opener is to find the fence. I am instantly gripping the bat a lot harder than I would in a fourday game, where I would be looking to block and hit bad balls for four. My gameplan is out the window… now I am thinking in fours and sixes.

So how should club and school cricketers go about a similar role?

My son is playing a lot of junior cricket and I see a trend of dismissals where the ball is hit in there. I see a lot of pretty shots – nice and smooth – but the ball is going in the air and they are getting caught on the boundary.

I think to myself, “if you’re going to play that shot with that level of intensity, just a nice shot, why not hit it along the ground?”

My philosophy is, if you’re going to hit the ball in the air, make it meaningful.

1 - Within practice, you have to find out how hard you can swing at the ball and how far you can hit the ball within a relatively comfortable state. You still need to be able to maintain your shape and base.

2 - Don’t hold back. If I’m going to hit the ball in the air, I’m going to go full out. The drill is simple. It’s all about expressing yourself and seeing how hard you can hit the ball.

3 - You have to discover how fast you can swing while maintaining balance. It is the same in tennis and golf. If I’m stood at a tee and try to swing myself off my feet, I am likely to hit the ball out of bounds.

4 - You have to understand your strengths and weaknesses but you’ll never find them unless you practise it. This is what frustrates me. A lot of coaches are teaching technique but there is a technique to hit sixes as well, and it is about learning what you can and can’t do. You have every chance to surprise yourselves.

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CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

Three T20 shots that have improved my whiteball batting Batting in T20 cricket has become an art in its own right. A growing number of cricketers are dedicating themselves entirely to the shortest format, and the style of batting in it is becoming increasingly specialised.

Plenty of players, if not most, who open or bat in the top order in T20 do not open in red-ball cricket, because the role contrasts so much.

I believe my batting style is perfectly suited to T20 cricket, and here are three key shots in my arsenal:

Inside-out off-drive

This is the shot that gives me most pleasure because I think it’s aesthetically the best-looking shot. It’s also the hardest to defend because no off-spinner in their right mind would ever have a fielder out at deep extra cover, so I’m trying to access that position.

It’s very much a lofted off drive that will take me over mid-off, but at the point of impact I’m trying to slightly bring my bottom hand through to create a slice and dip my back leg, and sort of come off the shot.

With a lofted off-drive, my body position would be much more straight on, whereas with this particular shot over extra cover, I’m creating an angle. This means I can get inside-out while still getting a nice contact.

It’s a shot where I’m not trying to hit the ball too hard. It’s a proper cricket shot because it’s all about timing and angles.

I’ve had to develop my offside game quite a bit during my career.

One person who helped with that was Stuart Law, who was coach of the Sylhet Royals, the side I was playing for in the first Bangladesh Premier League back in 2012.

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TRAINING & SKILLS

View the Club Cricket Guide 2019 online at www.thecricketer.com/clubcricketguide to watch this video

Peter Trego explains the inside-out off-drive

Inside-out off-drive

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Long-on back foot hit

If I’m looking to go downtown, as baseball players would say, and there’s an off-spinner landing it on a middle to leg line in order to tuck me up, my ideal position is to go forward into the ball and generate power that way.

I go forward because I want to hit the ball where it’s pitched. I will probably press onto my front leg, I’ll see that it’s short and slower, and I’ll rock onto my back foot, then I just put everything I’ve got through the ball. The transfer of weight is key.

However, if they drag the ball down and take pace off it, which a lot of good off-spinners do, this means you can transfer that back and still have that belief that you have the power to hit from the back foot.

It also means you are able to generate loft, but there are a number of different methods you can use to do this.

MS Dhoni uses the helicopter which means he ends up standing on his back foot only, whereas I try to keep myself a little bit more stable. I’m still dropping my back knee though because it allows me to create loft while keeping the bat straight.

It is about belief and full commitment to the shot. If you try to just ding it over them, you’re going

Long-on back-foot hit

to hole out, because it takes a lot of strength. It takes real flat-out power to hit a back-foot shot for six.

Chris Gayle, in particular, does that brilliantly against spinners.

He has the ability to rock back and still belt them. He may come across as incredibly chilled – regardless of whether he hits a six or gets out – but he has an ultimate belief in what he’s trying to do.

With all power shots it’s about belief. You have to believe that if you get 60 per cent of the ball, the ground’s not going to be big enough.

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

Getty images

He said that as a top-order batter in T20 cricket, you’ve got 360 degrees of the field and you’ve probably got 20 degrees taken up by boundary-riders.

He made it something of a team forbidden to hole out because if you haven’t got the ability to hit the other how many degrees of the field that are left, you probably shouldn’t be doing it. He taught me to not target my most comfortable shot which was probably on the legside, but the shot where there weren’t any fielders.

Down the wicket straight drive

This shot is one of my more favoured options against seam bowling because I like running at them. Some people will do a side step where they will tap their feet together as they advance, but I prefer to cross over.

Crossing over means that when I take my first step down and the bowler sees me coming and throws one wide, I can still get out to it. It also means I can open out to the legside as well if need be. I would say it’s a more athletic position than having my feet together.

The point in running at the bowler is that I’m predicting that they are going to try to tuck me up, and I’m looking to change his length to my favour. Once I get there I need to follow it up with a fully committed swing of the bat.

Bringing my back leg through with the shot has the same effect as in golf and tennis – it’s all about the generation of power.

I’ve got these arms which can

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

generate x amount of power, but that pales in comparison to what I can do with my whole body. The big tee shots and big Rafael Nadal backhand slices all come from the whole body.

To perfectly execute this sort of power shot, you should be conscious of how hard you can swing a bat without it adversely affecting your head position.

There’s no way you can make good contact on the ball consistently if you’re swinging wildly – you have to be able to swing your bat in a fashion which means you can still keep it under some level of control.

The man who was really important in me becoming so conscious of balance was someone not known for his big-hitting – Justin Langer.

He referred a lot of things back to the other sports he practised like martial arts, and we would do some drills where he would often flip it back to boxing.

Langer would throw a ball at me, I’d play a shot and he would make

CLUB CHARACTERS

10. The Greenkeeper

Twilight is looming and the club’s kids are milling on the outfield. A football bobbles its way towards the square. Most of the youngsters know that danger is close at hand but not one unfortunate girl. “Whaaaaattt do you think you’re doing,” booms a crackling, croaky voice from the heavens. “Get away from there.

Now”. Don’t go near the old man’s grass. It’s just not worth it. me hold the pose and then try to push me in the chest. He was essentially judging how balanced I was by how easy I was to push over.

He brought the mindset in that, if I’m generating the sort of power I can from a position of balance, the consistency of my strikes is going to go through the roof – and they did.

Down the wicket straight drive

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TRAINING & SKILLS

‘Play in your natural way’

Trent Woodhill is the list manager for Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash.

He was also a consultant for The Hundred. He has been batting and fielding coach for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils in the IPL. Here are his batting tips…

Trust your method

In Australia we have to spend a lot of time listening to commentators from Channel Nine lecturing us on technique and how batsmen with supposedly poor techniques will always struggle to score runs at the very highest level. The problem with that is that these commentators, generally, understand only one technique – and that’s their own. For me, the best way of getting someone to play at their best is to let them play in a way that’s entirely natural to them. Here in Australia, Steve Smith is something entirely different.

You look at India and the fact is that there are so many cricketers and so few coaches in comparison.

There are that many players in India who don’t receive any coaching and that allows different styles to flow through. I look at the positive impact I can have on a player and the best way of doing that is to get them to trust their method. Steve is someone who trusts his implicitly.

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Don’t fight your instincts

Steve is someone who perhaps fought his natural instincts a lot when he first got into the Australian side but now he’s someone who looks at nothing more than his contact with the ball. In many ways he’s similar to KP [Kevin Pietersen], who used to be so good in Australian conditions. He has always said that his focus is on contact; he’s big on having a presence at the crease.

He said during the Ashes that Peter Handscomb had lost that presence and that he needed to re-find it.

That was his focus rather than on technique. The fact is that once you ask someone to do something that doesn’t come naturally to them then you’re going to struggle. Steve is a player who plays the game the way that he wants to. Not the way that other people believe he should.

Feel bat on ball

The leading cricketers are no different from the top tennis players

or golfers. They need to feel bat on ball. A golfer will go to the driving range and hit hundreds of balls each day. This is where cricket is so far behind. Steve will spend hour after hour in the nets in the same way a Roger Federer or Rory McIlroy would spend in time on the practice court or on the range. He loves batting, he loves the feeling of bat on ball.

It’s this appetite that makes him so special. I see it as my job to make sure that whatever the gameplan is, players are hitting the ball well enough to execute that plan without changing their natural style. I’m a protector of that natural style and grooving that style.

Every ball is ball one

The thing that sets the likes of Smith, Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson apart is that they treat every ball as entirely different entities to the last. They’re never fazed by what has gone before. You would watch them play and have no idea whether they were on 20, 50 or 0. It makes no difference. Virat and Steve don’t put any emphasis on any ball in the match other than the next one.

The difference between Joe Root and Smith, Williamson and Kohli is that hundred conversion. When the latter three are batting that’s when they’re at their most comfortable.

They see every ball as a gift. They don’t see form or style, they just see ‘make good contact, make good decisions and win that next ball’.

Then it starts again. After each ball they hit reset. It’s almost a shock to those guys when they get out. They ask themselves ‘how could that happen?’ – not in an arrogant way but in a way that they’re so ingrained in that next delivery that they don’t entertain failure, they just want to focus on that next delivery. That’s what makes Steve so special. He loves batting, he loves scoring runs and he has worked out the best way of doing it.

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

The Analyst inside cricket Weekly comment, opinion, insight and interviews from Simon Hughes, Simon Mann and guests.

Download the latest episode today via iTunes, Acast or at www.thecricketer.com

A brilliant podcast covering the world of cricket – Marcoos14 The conversational style between The Analyst Simon Hughes and TMS commentator Simon Mann brings to life the key talking points of cricket – FWright29 Great discussions and some brilliant punditry – Tom2392

PODCAST

TRAINING & SKILLS Peter Trego’s guide to T20 bowling variations The Somerset allrounder knows a thing or two about short-form bowling, and he shares some of his top tips with The Cricketer…

It is crucial now to have multiple deliveries, different speeds and a gameplan of what you are trying to do to counteract the attacking nature of a batsman in a powerplay.

T20 batsmen are always looking to get on top of the bowler, and if you do not know what you are looking to do, and do not have the variations to keep them guessing, then you are going to struggle.

The strategy

It is important to stand at the top of your mark and know what you are going to bowl and have belief that you are going to execute that skill.

Running up and bowling and being unsure of what you are going to deliver will generally land you in a bit of hot water in modern-day T20 cricket.

Executing your skill and what you

are trying to bowl is all part of the thought process, and something you probably should decide before you start your run-up.

Ultimately as a bowler, it is very tough in the Powerplay and death scenarios of modern one-day games, and belief is a huge thing.

Stand at the top of your run, believe in what you are going to do, and execute it to the best of your ability.

The execution is in practice, and your belief is in good experiences you have had executing those in practice and in matches.

The importance of variations

You know that when you bowl your first delivery the chances are that the batsman is trying to hit you for four or six, so it is quite an intimidating

thing for a bowler to face up with.

You have to arm yourself with deliveries that can get you out of jail.

If you are playing on a flat pitch, which most of them are now in oneday cricket, you then have to rely on multiple different deliveries.

My go-tos are generally my stock delivery, a back-of-the-hand slower ball, a leg-cutter, and an off-cutter.

I can also bowl a slower bouncer.

My stock delivery is probably my quickest, the off-cutter would be 10mph slower, the legcutter about 15mph less, and the back-of-the-hand would be closer to 20mph slower.

You need different degrees of speed because batsmen can either analyse you pre-match now or can suss you out during the game. One type of slower ball is not enough anymore.

View the Club Cricket Guide 2019 online at www.thecricketer.com/clubcricketguide to watch this video

Peter Trego explains his bowling variations

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CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

One type of slower ball is no longer enough, says Peter Trego

Stock delivery

My stock delivery is the same in all forms of cricket. I will be pointing the seam to first slip, with the shine on the outside of the ball to try and create a bit of away swing.

My thumb will not be applying too much pressure on the back of the ball, just to give me the opportunity to flick my wrist at the point of delivery.

In one-day cricket with the Kookaburra ball, I think cross-seam and the wobble-seam delivery might get you a little bit of nip back towards the batsman, which obviously means they are more likely to get out lbw or be bowled.

Getty images

Off- and leg-cutter

When gripping the ball for my offcutter, I will turn the ball and have my middle finger across the seam to create an off-spinning motion. At the point of delivery everything looks the same, but then I will rip down the inside of the ball to create off-spin.

My grip for the leg-cutter will be the opposite. One thing I probably would do is drop my fourth finger out the way so I can get the ball out the side of my hand. This time I would rip down the offside of the ball to create leg-spin.

The best way of concealing a cutter is to make your alterations as last minute as possible.

My Somerset team-mate Marcus Trescothick says he always knows what I’m going to bowl because he can see the ball in my hand halfway through my run-up. I CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

find it phenomenal because I look to stay as correct as I can for as long as possible and make my alterations in the very last split seconds of my delivery motion.

With a left-hander I would go for an off-cutter, and for a right-hander I would go for a leg-cutter. Whatever creates an away motion is generally better.

Most batsmen are looking to hit into cow corner, which is across the line. If you can hold anything up away from that, then that is when you are going to get your top-edges.

Back of the hand

The back-of-the-hand slower ball is probably one of the hardest to get the feel for. It has the same grip as my stock ball in the load because you’re trying to not give any tells to the batsman.

You want to hide it for as long as possible and keep it as traditional as possible right until the very end of your action where you bring your hand round as your arm comes over, and try to get some flick on the ball so you get over-spin dip. Jade Dernbach is very good at creating that over-spin to get dip on the ball.

Slower bouncer

If the batsman is really starting to get going on a docile pitch you’ve got to rely on change of length and pace – slower bouncers are becoming particularly effective.

The slower bouncer is by definition some sort of cutter.

You bowl it shorter than your normal bouncer because obviously it has less speed.

I would normally bowl it as an off-cutter, but I’m trying to really wrap my hand over the ball to get a bit of over-spin so it will bounce and dip on the batsman.

In terms of gripping the ball, I would be holding it across the seam with my middle finger on the outside to create some purchase on the ball to get an off-spin action going.

Ideally, you want it coming down by the time it gets to the batsman so he’s got no pace to work with and to improve your chances of deceiving him.

Reining batsmen in As an allrounder, I also know what it’s like to be facing a batter in full T20 mode.

My job then is to combat what the batsman is trying to do.

The majority of batting wagon wheels will be from mid-off to midwicket, maybe squareleg. That’s generally where people power-hit, where they hit the ball in the air.

The best delivery to counteract somebody trying to hit to those areas?

Wide off-stump yorkers. If anyone learns to bowl six of those in a row, they’ll make a lot of money in the IPL because that statistically is the hardest and most economical ball to bowl in death periods and powerplays.

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Changes of pace are also crucial. If I’m the batsman and I have decided, ‘I’m hitting this ball for six’, and I’m facing a guy who bowls 85mph, I’m preparing to hit at that speed.

All of a sudden I’m through my shot because he’s bowled a back-of-the-hand slower ball or a cutter into the wicket, or a knuckleball.

2

Variety is key. Can you arm yourself with not one but two or three different styles of pace variation to deceive the batsman and put him off what he’s trying to hit?

3

Express yourself with the ball. It’s not the easiest thing to do but you’ll be the first name on the teamsheet if you can nail the skillset, and having the confidence to take on the batsman in a battle of wits is really important.

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TRAINING & SKILLS

‘Get your head right before each game’ James Anderson on the techniques that allowed him to become England’s leading Test wicket-taker Establish a strong seam position

I found the first five years pretty tough when you’re trying to learn the art of bowling but at the same time I had action problems and injury problems and that takes away from the skills you’re trying to focus on. I saw that World Cup game from 2003 [when he took 4 for 29 against Pakistan] on telly the other day. I was a different bowler. Different action, different load-up, quicker run-up. But the seam position is pretty much the same. And that’s something I’ve always had ever since I learnt to swing the ball. I’ve always kept that seam position. That’s stood me in good stead even through the difficult times with my action.

When I played for Burnley I just tried to hold it straight. It’s only when I went to Lancashire and the second-team coach Mike Watkinson showed me how to swing the ball by tilting the seam slightly. It didn’t take me too long to get used to it and figure it out.’

The mental side CLUB CHARACTERS

11. The General

Around an hour into the game, a familiar figure glides through the gate on the other side of the outfield. His distinctive walk gives him away, a lopsided lollop caused by 50 years of grind. There’s always something presidential about his arrival - handshakes and kisses on cheeks. He doesn’t play anymore, the annual intraclub beer match aside, but he remains intricately involved. In the corner of the bar, a seat has been named in his honour. No one ever sits in it, not even him.

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The mental side has always been a big thing for me. Getting my head right before each game. When I was younger I always thought if I have one or two good games in a row then I’m due to have a bad game. It took me a while to figure out that you can have a good game every time you go out there and bowl. The anxiety I used to get was that if the ball didn’t swing, I’d have nothing to fall back on. I wasn’t great at holding length.

Practice and just the sheer repetition of bowling has given me the confidence to know that if it is the flattest pitch in the world I can go at one an over setting the right field and bowling the right length. That’s happened in the last five or six years, everything has just come together.

‘Don’t obsess with speed’

I wasn’t in a great place mentally [around the time of the 2005 Ashes].

I was in and out of the team and going into games I was thinking about my action rather than about the contest with the batsman. It was in that period when everyone was obsessed with speed and trying to get an extra two or three miles an hour out of me. We lengthened my run-up and my load-up was different and it just sent me completely out of rhythm. Looking back it was probably something I needed to go through, if nothing else just to confirm that what I had been doing before was good.

‘My run-up is now the same as I had when I was about 15. The last six steps are the key. That’s where I build up pace and hit the crease right. I need my front foot to get good amounts of grip because that’s where I get my power from – the bracing of my front leg and driving over the top of it. When the footholds are dusty I don’t get as much grip and I feel as if I haven’t got as much force, but fortunately the groundstaff are pretty good in this country and repair them every night.

My head is in a good space, my action and skills are as good as they ever have been and I feel confident that I can compete in all conditions.

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

‘Nail your skills’

Pat Brown’s 31 wickets (at 13.35 apiece, economy 7.64) in the 2018 Vitality Blast were an essential component of Worcestershire’s maiden T20 triumph. Here is his bowling story Learning to bowl

“I didn’t play much at school, but I started playing for my club when I was about eight or nine. It is five minutes from my home. I had a nice action and in those days I just tried to bowl straight. A lot of lads couldn’t do that at that age!”

Variations

“I then got quicker but the variations have come since I have been at Worcestershire, although I never boast about them. I used to bowl the back-of-the-hand ball a lot but I haven’t been able to bowl it since I had a stress fracture of the shin. I have been working on my

‘If you do not know what it is going to do, how can the batsman?’ knuckleball with Worcestershire.

I tried it in the nets last winter for the first time and it came out OK so I have stuck with it. I back myself with that more than bowling a yorker. The knuckleball has natural variations, so the shape and trajectory changes, and sometimes it has nice dip, while other times it picks up pace off the pitch. It is a bit of a lottery – if you do not know what it is going to do, how can the batsman? The cutter comes out differently – some skid on, some come out full – but I am not that good at it yet anyhow. I need to nail it.”

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

“T20 can be lucrative, but it is such a slippery slope. You can be an unbelievable player one minute, then average the next. You need to rely on luck, and batsmen pick up on your tricks. People cotton on and you can be stuffed. But with red-ball cricket, you can prosper for a decade.”

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TRAINING & SKILLS

Fielding

With preparations at cricket clubs well underway in advance of the new season, we spent a day with dynamic Vitality Blast player Nick Gubbins for his top tips on improving your team’s performance in the field

View the Club Cricket Guide 2019 online at www.thecricketer.com/clubcricketguide to watch this video

Nick Gubbins’ tips on diving catches If the power and range of batsmen is the most noticeable development of T20, then the athleticism and versatility of fielders is not far behind. The breathtaking catches, the brilliant stops and shies at the stumps while in mid-air and the acrobatic over-the-boundary catches have helped make T20 cricket almost a cross between sport and circus.

Middlesex’s Gubbins is a good example of a modern cricketer who can field in any position. At the MCC Academy at Lord’s he demonstrated some of the drills the modern player performs to enhance those dynamic skills.

These simple drills can be set up at your club, during practice or before the start of a game and when practised regularly, can make a significant difference to a team’s performance in the field.

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It’s particularly interesting to see his technique fielding in the ring. The gentle stroll in with the bowler is redundant. There is a brief two-step before he adopts a sort of goalkeeper’s position (as if he was about to face a penalty) knees slightly braced, weight evenly distributed on either foot, head slightly forward ready to pounce.

Interestingly, when the ball is hit hard at extra cover or midwicket region, modern thinking is to go towards and at the ball to narrow the angle and have more chance of stopping it. Even if its catchable, the attitude is take the ball going forward rather than ‘give’ with it.

Low body positions are all important – explaining why lunges, squats and core work feature so prominently in players’ training these days – and when shying at

the stumps, aim low, i.e. at the base of the stumps, ensuring the ball doesn’t miss the target on height even if it does miss on direction.

Nick was at pains to point out that the key to improvement is practice, practice, practice.

Clubs that are prepared to work hard on their fielding drills will be rewarded with those brilliant run-outs or diving catches that can change the course of a season.

NICK GUBBINS’ TOP 5 TIPS FOR CLUB CRICKETERS 1.

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Solid base Get low, stay low Watch for shot shape Cut down the angle Aim at base of the stumps

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

View the Club Cricket Guide 2019 online at www.thecricketer.com/clubcricketguide to watch this video

Nick Gubbins’ advice on catching

View the Club Cricket Guide 2019 online at www.thecricketer.com/clubcricketguide to watch this video

Nick Gubbins’ techniques for runouts CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

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TRAINING & SKILLS

Katchet

Peter Trego puts Clayesmore pupils through their paces using the Katchet

Make your fielding drills electric with Katchet equipment A decade ago players could get away with not being agile in the field. Now, in T20 in particular, each run is precious and every fielder has to be electric.

Simply using an old bat to thump balls towards fielders is not enough for coaches to get the best out of their players. They need drills to be dynamic, intense and adaptable, but the problem is most don’t have the tools to execute these drills, or the time to set them up.

While at Clayesmore School, The Cricketer ran a coaching session with the school 1st XI using Katchet TOP TIPS FOR A DIRECT HIT RUN OUT 1.

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Attack the ball Pick ball up cleanly Throw off a solid base Align body sideways on to target 5. Aim at the base of the stump

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coaching equipment. Leading the session was Somerset’s Peter Trego.

Productive

Trego was already familiar with Katchet and their products. “I have been using them with Somerset for quite a few years, they really are a stock item in a county coach’s bag.”

‘The most important thing is to have fun. Make your drills different and exciting’ It was immediately noticed how quick and easy it was to get the drill underway.

Co-founder Colin Smith explained that this was no accident. “The equipment had to be easy and simple to use. As soon as drills become complicated that’s when

things go wrong because people can’t be bothered and mistreat the equipment. This could also lead to injury if some participants in the drill are disinterested and therefore not concentrating. However, the Fusion Stumps are great for training. They are simple to put together and even simpler to use.”

Made of flexible plastic and secured to a base, they bounce straight back once hit. This allowed for the intensity of the drill to be maintained. Trego used the Katchet to fire balls at fielders, then once they had gathered they would shy at the stumps.

Many hit the target, but Trego could immediately carry on with the next fielder because there was no pause required to put the stumps back together. He said: “This is exactly the sort of high-intensity drill we’d do before a game. It’s great to get your hand-eye co-ordination in tune and the Fusion Stumps mean you can continue the drill without pausing.”

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

Fusion stumps

Smith was also wary when designing the products that safety is of utmost importance. “The ball goes straight through the Fusion Stumps, rather than rebounding in a totally different direction or into a nearby fielder. Keepers or those at the bowler’s end will like them too because they are soft, so if their hands are just behind they won’t get hit by a hard wooden stump if the throw knocks them over. Similarly, the ball won’t deflect upwards into the face of the awaiting fielder.”

An integral aspect of this drill was the Katchet itself, which Trego would use to fizz catches at the pupils.

Productive

The KoachSak is used to transport all this equipment. Equipped with shoulder straps and wheels it can be comfortably carried or dragged. But it is the design that sets it apart from other large holdalls and makes life infinitely easier for coaches.

Following run-out practice at Clayesmore, attention turned to the Skyers, a smaller bat with a thick foam on the face, designed for giving catches.

Stingers

Smith had some tips up his sleeve for how to get the most out of the new Skyer range.

“It works even better when warm.

I’m not sure why but the fibres seem to become extra springy when heated. In the summer when the temperatures are higher it goes crazy.

That is why we have painted the foam black. Naturally it’s white but the black attracts more heat. So if you see your coach laying it out in the sun prior to the training session you know you’re about to get some stingers!

“The most important thing is to have fun. Make your drills different, exciting, and fun for your players.

I hope that our products do that and help coaches to become innovative and different.”

The Cricketer’s Jim Hindson tests the new Skyer range

WWW.KATCHET.COM CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

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PERFORMANCE Maximise your potential P84 Fitness dos & don’ts P88 Lord’s lunch

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P87 Dietary tips

P89 Cricket teas

PERFORMANCE

Don’t delay!

Are you starting to think about getting your body tuned up for the season ahead? Yes? Then listen up, this is for you.

Surrey lead strength and conditioning coach DARREN VENESS knows a thing or two about getting players fit and ready for the new campaign and he’s here to give our readers advice on the dos and don’ts of pre-season training.

PRACTISE YOUR RUNNING AND REPEAT SPINS You need to build your repeat sprint ability. You’re going to do it a lot during the season and the more you do it, the better you’ll do it… and the less chance you’ll have of blowing a calf. If you’re going to do running sessions, it’s a smart move to keep them in relevant distances – 20-yard shuttle runs.

Start them steady and build them up.

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TEST OUT YOUR TURNING This is one of the biggest areas you can get exposed on. I’ve shaved up to four-tenths of a second off a couple of the boys’ run-to times.

At the speed they’re moving, that equates to almost three yards. Ours is a game that talks in millimetres.

It’s applicable across the board.

When you hit the turn, your head needs to be facing the direction it’s going, not the direction it’s been.

Unless your straight out of The Exorcist, your shoulders and hips will tend to follow. That will keep you lower in the crease and make the turn quicker. The more you practise it, the more it will stick.

SET OUT YOUR SQUAT PATTERN Wicketkeepers and fielders… keep your back flat, your spine flat and your hips deep. If you can do a nice squat, it will keep the pressure off your lower back. If your hips stay high, it takes you longer to get back up. Make sure you don’t spend a few weeks missing work and cricket with a dodgy spine and a bulging disc.

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WORK ON THROWING… RIGHT NOW I don’t care if you’re not starting to play until April, you have to work on this now. It doesn’t have to be a lot but start doing it. Make sure you follow through fully. This can be with a tennis ball against a wall at home. When you release, as your right hand lets go of the ball, your left shoulder should be following through. That way, most of the energy get dissipated through the body. There’s a group of muscles at the back of your shoulder which decelerate your arm. They’re not very big. If you don’t pull your left arm through they have to slow your arm down and that’s how you start picking up those rotator cuff injuries.

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

Getty Images

PRACTISE YOUR CATCHES Acclimatising your hands will make them more used to taking hard catches. It’ll be freezing in April, you’ll have a beanie on and when you come to take your first catch it’s going to be a screamer. Technically, you’ll be tidier with your catching if you practise, plus the bones in your hands will have increased in their density so you’ve got less chance of popping your finger.

TRAIN YOUR HAMSTRINGS If you’re regularly in the gym, make sure you train your hamstrings.

More often than not, they’ll be the first things that let you down. It’s a common injury across the sport.

Lower-level exercises like hamstring bridges and higher-level options like Romanian deadlifts will do the trick.

Hamstrings attack over your knee and it’s good to focus on that region as well. Try Nordics and modify those exercises accordingly - hold for as long as you can and drop into a press-up position or, if you’re strong enough, pull yourself back up. Failing that, if you go to a gym use a leg curl machine. Sprint work will accustom your hamstrings to sprinting, too, of course. Focus on what you’re going to be doing in the game. If you know you’re never going to be running more than 20 metres, maybe go for 30. And allow plenty of recovery time - two or three minutes between each one if you’re going full out. There’s no need to do more than 200m of high-intensity sprints in a session.

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

STRETCH Dynamic stretches before a game are crucial. Start with jogging and gentle shuttles, then lower level skips. Then half-squats.

Then deeper squats and lunges.

Build up slowly and start from the ankles and work your way up.

STATIC STRETCHING AT THE END OF THE DAY When everything is nice and warm,

do lots of stretching around the hips. Hip-flexor stretches are important - single-leg lunges are a great option. If you put your back foot on the bottom step or elevate your front foot and go down in the lunge position, getting your knee to the floor, that will give you a deep stretch in the hip.

Lie side-on on a fit ball, putting your arm over your head. Relax your arm so your bicep is by

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PERFORMANCE left it too late and need to pull your finger out. A light straw colour is fine but be aware that if you are taking regular multivitamin or hydration tablets, the colour could change.

Use isotonic drinks sparingly. If you are playing in hot weather you need to be replacing your minerals but if it is mild weather do not neglect water.

your ear. Wiggle around and find a position that feels right. That will stretch all your obliques and your trunk muscles, but it was also stretch your upper back muscles.

For the seamers, if those muscles get tight you’ll start bowling with a lower arm, you’ll lose your accuracy or you’ll bend over more and stress your lower back.

BOWLERS, PRACTISE TEMPO RUNNING Get used to bouncy, rhythmical running. It will carry over and you’ll find you are doing it more in your bowling run-up. All of your energy can then move into the delivery stride.

BATTERS, PRACTISE ACCELERATION Focus on three big strides, steadily building up in size, then four, five and six will take care of themselves.

Michael Flatley looks fast but you don’t see him accelerating too well. Very busy feet don’t give you too much momentum.

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START NEW REGIMES YOU CAN ALLOW DON’T UNLESS A FEW WEEKS TO ADJUST Are you going to get stiff after your first few nets? Of course you are. There is very little you can do to mitigate that. You have to allow time to acclimatise. If you do a brand new session – gymwork, running, skillwork, whatever – after the first one you’re going to be dusty. By the third one you’ll be adapting. Plan for that and expect the stiffness but if you’re starting a new regime before your first game there are going to be repercussions. Whatever you’ve been doing through the winter, stick with it through the summer – although tone it down a little.

FORGET TO HYDRATE It has to be proper hydration, before the beers. There is no way that lager, bitter or stout qualifies as hydration.

The easiest indicator of your hydration is the colour of your urine.

If it looks like Orangeade, you have

GO MAD AT TEATIME Easy on the cakes. Cricket is a game dictated by ground reaction forces.

We have lots of bony stress because of all the running and impact. If you are putting on a little bit of timber because your willpower is crumbling at the sight of carrot cake and scones, that is all going to stack up. By the time we come to August and September the repercussions will be right there in front of you.

You do not want to be increasing your injury risk as you go through the summer, simply because you cannot shake your head at a biscuit.

STOP THE GYMWORK Cricket will not be enough. If you’re regularly using the gym, stick with it. Modify the amount, do a bit less but don’t stop. The sport will not take care of it and you’ll increase your injury risk at the back end of the season. That’s when trophies are won and the stronger, fitter, more physical lads or lasses will come through. If you can still go through the gears, you’re going to set yourself up for matchwinning opportunities.

FORGET TO DO THE DOS It is not rocket science.

Remember to consult your doctor or physician, too.

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

‘Focus on specific goals’ Tom Webster, Lancashire first-team strength and conditioning coach, on what you should eat and drink

HOW SHOULD CLUB CRICKETERS APPROACH THEIR DIET? With full-time professionals, nutrition is of utmost importance.

We monitor what the players eat, what they take supplement-wise, what they drink, their nutrition and their hydration. For a club cricketer, it is a bit trickier. They need to focus on their specific goals as they build up to the season. For instance, if a player is looking to lose weight to help them bowl longer spells or bat for longer periods, they need to look at a calorie deficit. This would involve minimising excess calories, including saturated fats and sugars within their diet. Others might be looking to get a bit stronger as part of their pre-season, to help them bowl faster or hit the ball further. They would need to increase their protein intake, which I would recommend people do through diets rather than supplements. Taking extra protein alone will not work, but doing so alongside a training programme will help build muscle and help them repair faster. As a result there is no ‘one fits all’ approach to optimising nutrition prior to the season but instead it must be tailored to the players’ goals and needs.

WHAT SHOULD I EAT? A common misconception when people are looking to lose weight or eat well is a complete cutting out of carbohydrates. It is not the right way forward for a balanced diet for someone looking to perform to the best of their ability.

Limiting carbohydrates should mean limiting the contribution of sugars.

Slow-releasing carbohydrates, on CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

the other hand, will help you perform: rice, pasta, potatoes and vegetables will all supply the body with energy that it needs to train and perform.

A balanced plate should include a contribution from carbohydrates, protein, fruit and/or vegetables.

Find a carbohydrate source to go alongside the protein, which could come in the form of fish such as salmon, chicken, quorn or eggs.

Make sure that protein is lean and grilled rather than fried. Minimise the number of saturated fats, especially fried food, and look to consume natural fats instead. Furthermore a dairy source rich in calcium will be of benefit to optimise bone health and healing, with examples including milk and yoghurt. A balanced diet also contains vitamins and minerals which will also help with immunity and predominantly come from fruits and vegetables. Really try to make sure you get your classic five a day as regardless of your interest in physical fitness every team requires their best players on the park for as many games as possible and thus optimising your immunity is crucial.

SHOULD I BE TAKING PROTEIN SUPPLEMENTS? There are thousands of different supplements and everyone is trying to plug their own.

A lot of what these supplements do can be achieved naturally through diet. The protein in a protein shake, for example, is exactly the same as the protein you’ll get naturally through chicken or salmon.

Professional players take electrolyte supplements during exhaustive exercise or when performing at warm temperatures. Electrolytes are lost when sweating and it is important

that they are kept replenished.

They also take a protein shake at the end of each day’s play – a blend of carbohydrate and protein, a bit more substantial than a typical protein shake. The carbohydrates are used to replenish the calories that they have burned, while the protein is used for growth and repair of muscles which may have been broken during performance. However my underlying message would be to adapt protein intake through your diet and remember any excess protein will be stored in the body as fat.

WHAT SHOULD I BE DRINKING? Cricketers of any level lose a lot of water (and salts) through sweat during training and games. Maintaining hydration is crucial. If a cricketer loses as little as 2 per cent body weight in water both physical and mental performance will be significantly impaired, including concentration and decision making. If you are thirsty, there is a high probability you are already dehydrated. We try to get the players drinking electrolytes prior to and during performance. A lot of the well-known isotonic or energy drinks are very sugary and, while that might give you an initial burst, it can burn out very soon. I would recommend drinking a little and often. Plain water should be fine for activities lasting under an hour and checking the content of your sports drink to avoid unnecessary sugars instead choose one containing electrolytes only.

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PERFORMANCE

Given what’s on offer at Lord’s, players need a longer lunch...

Catering in elite cricket is some way detached from the amateur world.

While you’re faced with a dubious marmite and cucumber concoction which looks more like an oil slick than a tasty snack, the world’s top players are tucking into the sort of spread which would have top food critics asking miss for more.

Take Lord’s, for example.

The home of cricket has made a habit of sharing its players’ dining-room menus on social media for all to see, and salivate over, in recent years. And it makes for quite some reading.

Three-course meals, freshly made and featuring highquality ingredients, certainly beat a sorry-looking loaf of ham-salad sandwiches.

“Every team has a set of nutritional and dietary guidelines which they send to every ground before the start of every season,” Andrew Whillas, the players’ dining room manager, says.

“There’s a format for what they require as snacks, lunch, afternoon tea and post-match. We build our menus around their requirements.

“On a typical matchday at Lord’s,

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on a Test matchday, we’d have a vegetarian soup, a choice of five mains – a red meat, a chicken or white meat, a fish, a carby option and at least one vegetarian option as well. On top of that there are vegetables, potatoes, rice or more carbohydrate, depending on what the choices for mains are.

“There is a choice of desserts, too, with fruit salad and ice cream.”

The players’ meals are signed off by the national team’s nutritionist, and some intricate tweaks are made to recipes to better suit them to an athlete’s diet.

The muffins, flapjacks and brownies on offer, for example, are made using a sports protein powder which is shaken into the mix by the kitchen. Each dressing room, meanwhile, comes equipped with its own blender and stock of milk, yoghurt and fruit – a handy self-service smoothie counter.

Given the nature of what’s on offer – anything from beef bourguignon to grilled poussin to pea and mint tagliatelle – it seems somewhat incredible that the players are able to make it on to the field of play after a mere 40-minute break.

“If the bowlers are due to be

bowling they’ll have something lighter or more carbohydrate-y,” Whillas says. “If the bowlers have got their feet up for the day, at Lord’s anyway, most people dive into the richest-sounding dish followed by dessert. It definitely varies day by day.”

Every meal served to the players at Lord’s is cooked on site – no microwavable Indian variety packs from the local Tesco here – and a team of four chefs, led by Andrew Kennedy prepare the feast.

“I suppose you would call the food quite clean,” says Whillas.

“We don’t use a lot of oil. There is not really any deep-fried stuff.

“The nutritionist has signed off everything we’ve provided for them.”

Catering for an England squad, their backroom staff, opposition, their support team and match officials is a feat of logistics in itself.

During last year’s Test against India, Whillas was effectively operating an 80-cover restaurant for multiple sittings each day.

The legacy of Nancy Doyle MBE, legendary Lord’s chef back in the 1980s, is safe.

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

Tea is an intrinsic part of cricket... but did you know it started in Australia?

Cricket is the only sport in which there is a scheduled break for tea. It is almost easy to take for granted how significant that is in contributing to how the sport is perceived by those who do not watch or play it.

It is undeniably quaint, but it means so much more than a simple cuppa. The reputation of a club often has much to do with the quality of their tea, for instance, and it’s much easier to swallow a poor pitch or a dodgy umpire if the half-time spread is of a high quality.

The concept of tea is inseparably British. Though most in the UK do not now strictly observe afternoon tea – finger sandwiches scones and all – as a meal, it is still a standard go-to cliché when describing the concept of Britishness. Remarkably though, the addition of a tea break in cricket

actually started in Australia.

It was during England’s tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1881/82 that players first started the practice of stopping play to enjoy a refreshing cup of tea. However, it did not catch on properly in England until Australia arrived for a tour in 1899.

Upon the suggestion of the Australia captain Joe Darling, tea was brought out to the players on the field. The same happened when he brought Australia over again in 1902. In 1905, with him still at the helm, the players actually began to officially leave the field for their tea.

Tea has become so much more than a hot drink. Now, it has become a social occasion in itself – be that among the players on the village green or spectators at the Lord’s Test – with sandwiches,

often disproportionally cucumberbased, and a glutton’s delight of savoury and sweet treats.

The de facto tea menu has remained largely unchanged since tea became a part of cricket, perhaps because afternoon tea has fallen out of fashion and not been given the chance to evolve.

Instead, the convention remains rooted in the past, with few modern-day additions.

That said, it would be wrong to suggest that tea has not changed at all. The invention and proliferation of refrigeration has significantly widened what is possible, for example, and introduced controversial new items such as pizza (boo, hiss).

So here is to a wonderful tradition. May your plates be forever full and your Victoria sponge supremely moist.

MY WORST CRICKET TEA At Dorchester CC, a bloke made a profit from the £27 tea money a few years ago. Tesco value all over the table, butter your own bread from a block of butter that had the softness of a house brick, value Swiss roll, value teabags and a multipack of value crisps. Not a classic.

Stuart Voss We were once told we weren’t having any! And were offered a few token Penguin bars Adlestrop CC Eleven sandwiches consisting of stale bread with stale cheese, no fruit, no cakes, no drinks, just water. Our fixture sec complained and rightly so. Won’t mention them but they’re based in Chiswick. Avoid!

And they had the audacity to ask for £55 tea money.

Amer Malik

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

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TEAMWEAR & RETAIL Where to buy the kit you need

P92 England ODI kits

• P94 Serious Cricket • P96 Retailers P98 Owzat Cricket • P100 Stockists • P101 Club notices

TEAMWARE & RETAIL

ODI kits 1. 1979/80 – post-Packer party

When peace was brokered with Kerry Packer, England were invited back to Australia for the second winter in a row. Coloured kits were now en vogue, but England did not play ball.

Not only did they refuse to allow the Ashes to be up for grabs in the three Tests against Australia, they said no to stripes down their whites in the one-day Benson & Hedges World Series Cup, unlike the hosts and West Indies. Australia wore yellow and black stripes, West Indies grey and maroon. England kept their whites pure as if they were playing tennis at Wimbledon – although they did use black pads as white balls were being used. “We had a rather buttoned-up board and the chairman of selectors and tour manager was Alec Bedser, who was pretty conservative,” said Bob Willis. England won all four games against Australia, and one out of four against West Indies, but lost the final to the latter 2-0.

2. 1982/83 – World Series Cup

England went for the full monty three years later: powder blue.

Australia had an Australian gold ensemble (not canary yellow, Tony Greig) and New Zealand had a fawny affair, with black trim (so not quite

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the Beige Brigade yet). Weirdly the countries wore the World Series logo, three black stumps and a red ball rather than their usual badges - lions, kangaroos, fern leaves. So they really were puppets of Packer (perhaps). Although David Gower was sky-high, with 563 runs, 172 more than anyone else in the competition, England failed to make the final, which Australia won 2-0.

3. 1986/87 – Perth Challenge

My personal favourite, a classy number: the top half of the shirt was navy blue, with horizontal navy and sky-blue stripes and then a white band; the rest of the shirt and trousers sky blue. It was given to England for the Perth Challenge – a four-team tournament involving Australia, Pakistan and West Indies, devised to celebrate the staging of the America’s Cup, 12 miles away in Fremantle. England – already on course for the Ashes – appeared unstoppable in all forms of the game by now. They beat West Indies, which seemed incredible for any England fan who had grimaced through the 1984 and 1985/86 Test series, while Ian Botham’s assault on Simon Davis – 26 in one over – in the group game against Australia was unforgettable.

England then beat Pakistan twice, the second time in the final.

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4. 1986/87 – World Series Cup

Back to something more closely resembling the kit from four years previously. Nothing especially memorable about the outfit itself, but the campaign was wonderful, especially its outcome. Tired England only actually beat Australia once in four meetings in the group stages (that win courtesy of Allan Lamb’s 18 off Bruce Reid’s last over at the SCG) but three wins from four against West Indies were enough to make the final. Botham’s scintillating 71 from 52 balls sealed the first encounter with Australia (who were once again sick of the sight of him by now), and his 3 for 26 was decisive in the second. England’s 2-0 win ensured a clean sweep for the winter.

5. 1990 – Texaco Trophy

England were famously slow to embrace pyjama cricket, so the Texaco Trophies (home one-day internationals) from 1984–1998 were played in whites. Of course there is nothing in sport that beats England’s Test jumpers, which made a welcome return in 2017. The one-day sweaters were quite nice, however. Rather than the iconic design of three navy blue lions ranged vertically, these had just one lion, in a lighter blue. England

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An XI of England limited-overs kits – by Huw Turbervill had a pretty good record in these tournaments: they won 11 series, with four draws and five defeats.

ADRIAN MURRELL/ALLSPORT/ TORSTEN BLACKWOOD/FARJANA K. GODHULY/AFP/GRAHAM CHADWICK/ROSS KINNAIRD/GETTY IMAGES

6. 1992 World Cup

Probably the best World Cup, possibly the best kit. Nine teams played each other in the group, and then it was through to semis and a final. Bold primary colours were allocated with a band of royal blue, green, red and white horizontal stripes over the shoulders. Zimbabwe were mainly in red, South Africa emerald, Pakistan lime, India navy, West Indies maroon, Sri Lanka royal blue, New Zealand grey (OK they were a bit unlucky there), Australia yellow (sorry, Australian gold) and England their usual powder blue. Everything was perfect, until Graham Gooch’s men blew the final.

7. 1994/95 – World Series Cup

Another decent England kit.

Mainly sky, but with navy stripes predominantly down the right side, running vertically, thick on the outside, and getting thinner closer in (all with a Tetley Bitter logo).

England may as well have worn clown outfits, though, such was their humiliation. They lost one and won one each against Australia,

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Australia A and Zimbabwe, and their fielding throughout was abject. As England practised ahead of the defeat to Australia A at the SCG, the music for The Muppet Show was played over the speakers. They then had to watch the hosts play their own second string in the finals. “I was not at all happy with the concept of Australia A,” said Graham Gooch.

“In a way it took the mickey out of us – why should we help develop young Australian cricketers?”

8. 1996 World Cup

England wore a shade of blue that matches ‘celestial’ on a Dulux paint chart. Like football strips of the time, the designers were prone to shove on some gratuitous bit of piping or striping – in this case a multi-coloured band of chevrons pointing right to left.

The teams wore their usual colour schemes, except for West Indies who wore a brighter shader of red than usual. The Dutch had quite a decent orange ensemble.

England were terrible, Neil Smith providing their most memorable moment when he chundered while batting against the UAE.

9. 2003 World Cup

It did not really matter what

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England wore at this tournament.

The government urged the ECB to encourage their team not to go to Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, and after that points loss, they had too much to do, although they did blow a winning position against Australia.

England wore a tasteful navy kit with red and white trim that became de rigueur for the next few years.

10. 2014 World Twenty20

England won this tournament in 2010, their only global limited-overs success, in a navy/red affair, so it was unwise to deviate from that four years later in Bangladesh.

They opted for a solar red shirt with black trousers. It was an unimpressive effort, which matched their cricket. Although they beat Sri Lanka, they lost to New Zealand, South Africa and – fittingly De Sinaasappel (the Orange), the Netherlands.

11. 2017 – the pink one

While New Balance’s Test sweaters were welcomed back with open arms, the new one-day kits received a mixed response. The 50-over one is navy with red horizontal stripes. It looks smart although the thin stripes could look strange/turn pink on non-HD TVs. The T20 one is mainly red with two thick sky-blue bands.

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Time for clubs to get Serious When all your members are proudly wearing shirts, caps and hoodies, it shows you mean business. Have your own webpage and receive your kit in only five working days Clubs operate at their best when all involved are wholly committed.

Subs are paid on time, members enjoy socialising, and this positive atmosphere emerges on the field too.

This all happens if the club has an identity. Members proudly sporting the club crest on shirts, caps or hoodies creates the feeling that everybody is pushing in the same direction.

They are part of a community and proud to represent the club.

Serious Cricket enable this feeling.

Unique

Tom Mahoney, brand manager at Serious Cricket, explains: “We came up with the club shops model whereby all your club’s kit is on a unique webpage. So rather than having to put the burden on one person to order it all they just pass the link to the page out to all the players, and they place the order themselves. This means that the poor person in charge of kit doesn’t have to guess everybody’s size or possibly hold more stock than they need to.”

Clubs place their logo on one of Serious Cricket’s designs who then

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Serious Cricket’s Kitbuilder offers a vast array of design and colour choices

make the club their own webpage from which members can order kit. Players can even personalise their kit by adding initials or squad numbers. But these are not the only benefits of Serious Cricket.

“What people really buy into is that we deliver kit in five working days, including any personalisation, such as initials. That was our big selling point and the business grew organically from there, everybody was talking to each other saying

how great our system was.

“After the initial success we had to take our product to the next level, so we brought in our kit builder.

Teams wanted to design their own kit, particularly for T20, with bright colours and stars like those in the Big Bash or IPL, so we set up a kit builder on our website and brought the technology in-house. Clubs build their kit, whatever colour and design they want, and this will be delivered in two weeks.

“We now have 1,000 cricket clubs in the UK. And it’s not just whites we provide. We have an entire range of teamwear and training wear.

Whether it’s a loyal supporter in the pavilion who wants to wear a hoodie, or the players who want personalised kit to training, we are the one-stop shop for your club.”

Proud

The online club shop model gives club players a feeling of professionalism.

Seeing an enormous collection of your club’s merchandise from shirts, to shorts, to caps, makes it seem as if you are buying the replica kit of a professional team, and gives

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

‘We had a popular and successful kit night and all our members found the range to be of good quality and reasonable price’ the club an identity. Locals not involved directly with the club will still recognise the crest when it is proudly worn around town.

Serious Cricket will launch the new Evolve match shirt in March this year. Mahoney says: “It uses a process called sublimation to dye colours into the fabric. This means that clubs whose colours aren’t traditionally associated with cricket – such as pink or gold – still receive their kit quickly.” The shirt is white but has trims on it that can be dyed to whatever colour you choose.

Satisfied

Ampthill Town CC are one of many satisfied customers. The Bedfordshire club required coloured kit at short notice but Serious

Cricket ensured everything was delivered on time. A member says: “Since we have changed to Serious Cricket we have been very pleased with their support. We had a popular and successful kit night and all our members found the range to be of good quality and reasonable price.”

But Serious aren’t just creating identities for clubs. “Right at the start we got minor county Berkshire on board. We did everything from their 1st XI to the juniors. The biggest team we work with are Southern Vipers in the Kia Super

League but we also do everything for Hampshire from their academy downwards, the only team we don’t do are the 1st XI. Additionally Serious Cricket work with Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire.

The next step for us is to take up a first-class county and we aren’t a million miles away from that.”

Serious Cricket aren’t losing sight of clubs though: “We’re really proud of how high our retention rate is, while we keep growing and adding to our number of clubs.” #TeamSerious

Receive 20% off your first order

FOR MORE GO TO WWW.SERIOUSCRICKET.CO.UK CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

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Retailers Owzat for service?

Gavin Young, of leading retailer Owzat-Cricket, offers this upbeat assessment on the state of the game: “There are more youngsters coming in to our shops than there were a decade ago.”

That suggests that cricket has an opportunity to arrest the decline in participation figures that has been reported in recent times.

Young, Owzat-Cricket’s store manager, puts it down to the ECB’s All Stars Cricket programme for five to eight-year-olds, and other initiatives like Kwik Cricket.

“They have been great starter points,” Young told The Club Cricket Guide. “Parents enjoy the social side – a barbecue and a beer.

When the youngsters get to 16 and 17, that is a different matter...”

Once these new recruits enter the store – either OwzatCricket’s one in South Normanton, Derbyshire, or Scarborough (which opened four years ago), they are offered all the help they need.

“Everyone needs advice,” says

Young. “Often the boys or girls have started playing but the parents have never played. There are a lot of brands, so it can be confusing.

Owzat-Cricket advice on bats Make sure you buy the right size. Do not think you will hit it further with a massive bat. It is important to get your technique right.

Look after your bat. We know the pros do not do it anymore, but knock them in.

Don’t just leave them lying in bags, without a cover.

They will get damp. They need looking after.

There are so many brands and it is confusing – we are happy to advise.

We like to give people a good choice – it is like kids in a sweetshop.”

His uncle, Andrew Mitchell, started the business up, founding Mitchell Sports 28 years ago, before creating its offshoot, Owzat-Cricket.

Young left school and joined, then soon after the internet arrived to change things significantly, and now the company focuses 80 to 85 per cent on cricket. “We decided to specialise in cricket, and it worked,” he said. “It has really taken off over the last 15 years.”

He says that the famous brands like Gunn & Moore and Gray-Nicolls are still the most popular. “Cricket is so traditional. They have been going for more than 100 years. Kookaburra is a big one too. Little Johnny uses a Gunn & Moore because his father did, as did his grandfather. That is cricket. But we offer as many as 15 brands. There is still interest when people see a new one like SF, or they pick up an MRF and think of Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar.”

One thing Young would like to see is

All Stars Cricket is helping drive participation

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Carnaby Street was one of the hot spots of Swinging London in the Sixties. Thanks to the Pro:Direct store there though, it has played host to the swinging bats of Joe Root, Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes in recent times.

“It’s taken me 14 years to get you out but well worth it! @ benstokes38#newbalance,” Root wrote on Twitter after bowling the allrounder in a game of street cricket there two years ago.

In 2017 the venue, off Oxford Street, was also used to announce welcome news for traditionalists – England’s kit suppliers were bringing back the classic woollen jumpers for Test cricket.

“There are some great iconic moments in English cricket that are associated with clothes like this so hopefully there will be many more in the future,” said an excited Root. “It feels like I’m a kid again, playing my first

Getty Images

companies freshen things up more regularly. “We do all our buying in September for the following year, the big brands tend to launch things before Christmas, the others in February. I would like to see some new kit get launched twice a year otherwise things stay the same for 12 months and can get a bit stale.”

Owzat-Cricket’s busiest instore day is Saturday, which is why Young, 39, no longer plays himself (he played for Derbyshire youth teams and Matlock CC) but his family – including his uncle – are still involved with South Wingfield CC in the county.

“Things have changed in the industry over the last decade,” he says. “Back then people would buy a lot of gear before the season started.

People now buy bits when they need them. If a pair of gloves has a hole in them, they will buy new ones in July, rather than waiting for Christmas, or next season. Perhaps they want to spread the payments out, otherwise it can be costly all in one hit.”

It’s swinging London again with Pro:Direct

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

couple of games.”

The company began with humble roots, opening their first shop in Torquay in 1981. They still have two stores in the town, plus the Carnaby Street one. They have staged various exciting events there, including those involving New Balance kit, while Pelé even attended a football one.

Pro:Direct’s head office is in Newton Abbot, and they have warehouses in the Czech Republic and Atlanta. They sell sports equipment – they focus on cricket, tennis, rugby union, basketball, football and running – to more than 200 countries.

The cricket side of the business began 10 years ago, and the focus is on the digital side of the market.

They concentrate on “premium, top-end products”, and their mantra is “own the performance”.

“We have ambitions to grow our market share of cricket, but we also want to elevate the game,” says Andy Pitt, the company’s cricket category assistant. “Cricket has had its peaks and troughs like any sport. The 2005 Ashes was obviously a real high spot.

“Cricket equipment has become more expensive of late. Bats have jumped from £400 to as much as £700 in the last five or six years, but we are working hard to play our part in growing the game.”

“One thing we have noticed is that the selling window seems to be later now,” said line manager Adam Parker. “Christmas used to be the big time, but now we sell a lot more in March and April. The new generation of buyers – aged between 16 and 25 – are happy to buy online as well, rather than going into the stores.”

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Cricket retail therapy

Retailer Owzat-Cricket supply all of the major manufacturer bats used in this guide and are perfectly placed to give advice to players of all ages…

Purchasing cricket equipment is an exciting prospect but that can quickly turn into an overwhelming experience. Take a bat, for example.

Once you confirm the size and weight you are after, the decisions keep coming. Grade of wood? Where would you like the middle? Short or long handle? Protected face?

All choices that need to be made before you are required to consider the price you are prepared to pay.

It is a familiar story to Gavin Young, manager at Owzat-Cricket, who explained: “There are a lot of products out there and customers can get lost in it all and come to us for advice. We’ll speak to them and make sure they know exactly what they want – and then guide them to the correct product for them. If that means they don’t spend as much as they necessarily anticipated

then good for them and good for us – because it builds up trust and they will come back for more.”

Those customers can range from experienced club cricketers with a

We walk the family through the process of kitting out the young player without breaking the bank trained eye for a particular piece of willow, through to parents looking to kit out their child for the first time.

“Not all parents have played cricket,” Young explains. “They come in here and say: ‘My son or

Gavin Young is on-hand to guide your equipment selection

daughter has got through to the local district team. We’ve never played – can you help us?’ We’ll take our time to understand exactly what equipment is required and then walk the family through the process of kitting out the young player without breaking the bank.”

Repeat custom is at the heart of Owzat-Cricket and the loyalty built up with punters is also mirrored by the relationships cultivated with the major cricket manufacturers over the last two decades.

“We offer a good service and these brands want to be associated with that as much as we want to be associated with them,” says Young.

“They know we are one of the best and have a lovely looking shop and website and are great with customers who really appreciate the social side as much as the service we provide.”

FOR MORE VISIT WWW.OWZAT-CRICKET.CO.UK

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Stockists 3D Sports 3 Brakey Road, Weldon North, Industrial Estate, Corby, NN17 5LU www.3dsports.co.uk Activinstinct www.activinstinct.co.uk AJ Fordham Sports www.ajfordham.com AJ Sports 61 Broomwood Road, London SW11 6HU www.ajsportsglobal.com All Rounder Cricket 39 St Michaels Lane, Headingley, Leeds, LS6 3BR Units 2-5 , Penistone Road , Trading Estate, Hillsborough, Sheffield, S6 2FL www.allrounder cricket.com Aswani Cricket SSE SWALEC Stadium, Sophia Gardens, CARDIFF, CF11 9XR www.aswanicricket.co.uk Baggies Cricket Caps 123 Woodville Road, Hartshorne, Swadlincote, Derbyshire DE11 7EX www.cricketcap.co.uk Barrington Sports Northgame House, Haig Road, Parkgate Industrial Estate, Knutsford, WA16 8DX www.barrington sports.com B46 Clothing Solutions Rossington Business Park, West Carr Road, Retford DN22 7SW Beckenham Cricket Specialists 181 High Street, Beckenham, BR3 1AH www.beckenham cricketspec.com Boundary Sports 206 Station Road , Kings Heath, Birmingham , B14 7TE www.boundary sports.co.uk Broadwater Sports 37 Broadwater Street West, Worthing, BN14 9BY www.broadwater sports.co.uk Cicada Sports Unit 2 Pikehelve Street, West Bromwich, B70 0TU www.cicadasports.co.uk Cook & Matthews Sport 68A High Street, Chislehurst, BR7 5AQ www.cookandmatthews sport.co.uk Cricket Box 123 Woodville Road,

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Hartshorne, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, DE11 7EX www.cricket-box.co.uk Cricket-Hockey Unit 25 Parkers Close, Downton Business Centre, Salisbury, SP5 3RB www.cricket-hockey.com CricMall www.cricmall.com Discount Cricket Outlet www.discountcricket outlet.com Fenton Sports 60 High Street, Brentwood, CM14 4AN www.fentonsports online.com Game Set & Match Unit 1 Beaver Trade Park, Quarry Lane, Chichester, PO19 8NY www.gsam.co.uk Get Padded Up 11 Courtland Road, Wellington, TA21 8ND www.getpaddedup.co.uk Holt & Hoskell 387 Shirley Rd, Southampton, SO15 3TS www.holtandhaskell.co.uk Intersport – John Henry Sport 207 Wellingborough Road, Northampton, NN1 4ED www.johnhenry sports.co.uk Intersport – Gyles Brothers 188 Whiteladies Road, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 2XU www.gylesbros.co.uk It’s Just Cricket Unit 14, 289 Kennington Lane , Kennington, London, SE11 5QY www.itsjustcricket.co.uk Kent Cricket Direct 150 London Road, Southborough, Kent, TN4 0PJ kentcricketdirect.co.uk Kick Back Sports www.kickbacksports.co.uk/ cricket Lord’s International Bradford St, Caerphilly, CF83 1GA www.lords international.co.uk Lord’s Online Store Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood Rd, London, NW8 8QN shop.lords.org Lorimers 22 Finkle Street, Bishop Auckland, County Durham DL14 7PL www.lorimers4cricket.co.uk

Lukeys Sports 75 Meadow Street, Preston, PR1 1TS www.lukeyssports.co.uk Martin Berrill Sports Unit 9-10 Morelands Trading Estate, Bristol Road, Gloucester, GL1 5RZ www.martinberrill sports.com MB Malik 236 Farnham Road, Slough, SL1 4XE www.maliksports.co.uk Morrant Unit 5 Station Estate , Eastwood Close , South Woodford , London , E18 1BY www.morrant.com Mr. Cricket The Old Blacksmiths Yard, Newnham Lane, Burwell, Cambridge, CB25 0EA www.mrcricketshop.co.uk Nick Rivett Sport 64 Church Road, Hove, BN3 2FP www.nickrivettsport.co.uk Owzat-Cricket 72 Mansfield Road, Derbyshire, DE55 2ER Scarborough Cricket , Club Ground, 118 North Marine Road, YO12 7TJ www.owzat-cricket.co.uk PC Sports 67 High Street, Yeadon, Leeds, LS19 7SP www.pcsports.co.uk Pro-Direct cricket www.prodirectcricket.com QDOS Cricket 298 Torquay Road, Paignton, Devon TQ3 2ER www.qdoscricket.co.uk Ram Cricket Unit D2, Send Business Centre, Tannery Lane, Send, Surrey GU23 7EF www.ramcricket.co.uk Rhino Cricket 8 Commercial Square, Freemens Common, Leicester, LE2 7SR www.citycricketacademy. co.uk/rhino-cricket Robert Pack Cricket 103 High Street, Irthlinborough, NN9 5PU www.robertpack cricket.co.uk Romida 11 Avebury Court, Mark Road, Hemel Hempstead , HP2 7TA Unit 3 West Vale Buildings, Wakefield Road, Brighouse, HD6 1PE

18 Shaw Rd, Newhey, Rochdale, OL16 4LT 70 Kingston Rd, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 7BW Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood, London NW8 8QN www.romida.co.uk Serious Cricket The Dummer Cricket Centre, Dummer, Basingstoke, RG25 2AR www.seriouscricket.co.uk Solly Sports 66 Savile Road, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, WF12 9PJ www.solly-sports.com Somerset County Sports The Cooper Associates County Ground, St James Street, Taunton, TA1 1JT www.somersetcounty sports.com Sporting Billy Unit 10 Bumpers Farm Enterprise Centre, Vincients Road, Chippenham, SN14 6QA www.sportingbilly.com Super Sports 39 New Hall Lane, Preston, Lancashire, PR1 5NX Talent Cricket Unit 2, 31 Bakewell Road, Loughborough, LE11 5QY www.talentcricket.co.uk The Cricket Company Cotley Barn, Woodhayes Lane, EX5 2QR

Thompson Sports Total Cricket Oxford Street East, Ashton Under Lyne, OL7 0RE www.totalcricket centre.co.uk Try Sports 26 Deans Court, Bicester, OX26 6RD www.trysportsonline.co.uk Uzi Sports Unit 109 Basepoint Business Centre, Rivermead Drive, Swindon, SN5 7EX www.uzisports.com V Sports Unit 4 Amphion , Business Park, Silverstone Drive, Coventry, CV6 6PD www.vsports.co.uk VKS 31 Bond Street, Ealing, London, W5 5AS www.vks.com Whitchurch Sports 11A Watergate Street, Whitchurch, Shropshire, SY13 1DP www.whitchurchsports.co.uk World Cricket Store www.worldcricket store.com Wyvern Cricket Supplies Riverside House, 42 Coldharbour Lane, Harpenden, AL5 4UN www.wyverncricket.co.uk

CLUB CHARACTERS

12. The Fraud

You’ve made a decent start. The oppo, on a flat and true deck, are 30 for 3 and you sense a chance of killing them off early.

Hold up, No.5 looks all right. Clad head to toe in top-of-the-range kit, boutique bat spinning in his hands seductively, as if emerging from a glistening pool in slow motion. Then he takes guard and, suddenly, the illusion is broken. Knockkneed, bat pressed to his stomach, top and bottom hand several inches apart, swinging from the hip haphazardly, like an OAP trying to shoo off a swarm of flies. He doesn’t last long, he never does.

CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

Staff Chief executive Guy Evans-Tipping Editor Simon Hughes Managing editor Huw Turbervill Assistant editor James Coyne Art director Geoff Barton Finance and subscriptions manager Chris Smith Cricket Archive managing director Jim Hindson Digital editor Sam Morshead Digital journalist Tom Edwards Social media editor Owen Riley Commercial executive Ed Krarup Customer service executive Thomas Blow Photographer Paul Carroll

TO SUBSCRIBE or for any subscription enquiries call 0203 198 1359 Online Our website www.thecricketer.com features daily breaking news, exclusive features, colourful opinion and the latest from across the world of cricket. Keep up to date with everything that’s going on via our Twitter and Facebook channels. www.nationalvillagecup.com is the home of The Cricketer Village Cup Where to find us Editorial, advertising and administration The Cricketer, Court House, Cleaver Street, London SE11 4DZ Tel 020 3198 1360 email magazine@thecricketer.com To advertise in The Cricketer please contact: Jim Hindson tel 0203 198 1354 email jim.hindson@thecricketer.com Subscriptions The Cricketer, Court House, Cleaver Street, London SE11 4DZ tel 0203 198 1359 email subscriptions@thecricketer.com Please note Views expressed are those of the writer and may not be shared by the editor. Unsolicited articles are welcome but cannot be returned.

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CLUB CRICKET GUIDE 2019

Club notices

Hadlow Down are a friendly and exciting team looking for new players in the Brighton area.

Contact Luke 07869232927

Want to enjoy your cricket?

Be part of a ‘family feel’ club then join Minster Lovell Cricket Club! Be happy!

Hawk Green Cricket Club, Marple, Stockport are moving to the Cheshire UK Fast League and are looking to recruit Senior Players. Sponsorship deals also available. Initial contact – secretary@hawkgreencc.com.

Salesbury CC Blackburn welcomes girls to play in our two age-group teams. Training Friday nights in the summer.

Sheriff Hutton Bridge CC host Yorkshire v Durham U19s on July 5 then U17s, July 9th–11th Reed Cricket Club welcomes non-players as well as players of all ages and ability. Please look at the website www.reedcricketclub. co.uk or contact Peter Baker (Club Secretary) Telephone 01379 644660 petergbaker54@gmail.com Bidborough, winner of Kent section of NVC winners of divisions 1 & 6 Kent County Village League planning new pavilion Horton House – be part of the Premiership in Northants plus Ladies and Junior Cricket, the most beautiful surroundings, all welcome.

Kingston Bagpuize (in Oxfordshire) have opportunities for players of all abilities and junior coaches.

Contact Simon Watts: simon@ swatts1.com / 07786 337118.

Read CC, based in East Lancashire, are looking for Sunday teams to play. Please contact samueljmarshall407@gmail.com Ambitious and friendly Leedsbased club are looking for players to bolster our three senior teams. Contact rodleycc@ gmail.com if interested.

Roche, Cornwall, welcomes new players of all standards to the 2019 season. Three senior teams, three junior teams and women’s softball.

Level 2 or 3 senior coach needed too. Contact sec 07791380147 Dinton CC, Bucks – Join a thriving family club near Aylesbury. Cricket for all – from five years old to Home Counties Premier League.

Eaton Socon CC based in Huntingdonshire is delighted to enter the National Village Cup in 2019 for the first time.

South Wingfield CC in Derbyshire are looking for playing of all ages and abilities, please contact us for more details Interested in joining a cricket club?

Stoke Green CC (4 Saturday Teams & 1 Sunday) are looking for new players of all abilities. Contact us via www.stokegreencc.co.uk Eynsham CC is looking for new playing members to play Cherwell League plus growing ladies and junior sections eynshamcc.org Three promotions in a row for Coton CC. Can you help to make it four? Senior players wanted.

Beehive Southwick CC (Wiltshire) friendly & growing club require league umpire + always open to new members. http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/ beehivesouthwickcricketclub Borstal CC, near historic Rochester, encourage players young and old to join our growing club. For all enquiries email: borstalcricket@gmail.com Elvaston CC are hosting the Elvaston Village Fete on Monday 27th May 2019 at Elvaston Castle in South Derbyshire.

Yelverton Bohemians Cricket Club – recruiting players of all standards to enjoy the wonderful game at a local friendly rural club.

If you wish to join or learn more please contact on YBCCCommittee@ virginmedia.com or visit our website at www.ybcc.co.uk

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