It's been a few months since my last outing as a batsman at the nets. Despite the ball and bowlers getting more and more blurred by the day, I decided to have a bat at the nets last Sunday. The medium pacers were not much of a problem, but the leg spinner was testing me. He could turn the ball sharply which meant that if I did not get to the pitch of the ball, it would take the edge, or I'd miss it.'s
I was hitting the ball well and generally dominated the bowlers once I got in. I hit the leg spinner well when he erred in length. Then after 20 minutes or so the physical aspect took over and I got tired. Mistakes crept in and I was getting out more often. I played on gamely trying to be more aware, trying to increase my levels of concentration. At the back of my mind I knew I could go on for another 5 minutes if I wanted despite the sweat dripping off.
I pulled my concentration back to handle the medium pacers but the leg spinner challenged me because the margin for error with his bowling was very little. I got out once, twice and then made up my mind to be more careful the next round. But once again my drive got an edge.
Suddenly I took off my gloves and walked off.
As I walked off I realised that I did that because I was disappointed and did not want to get out more times. I had a good net overall. But there was another 5 minutes left easily for me and the bowlers.
Clearly I did not want to fail more times against this bowler.
It struck me while taking my pads off that I could have taken the next 5 minutes. I coud have taken time to settle down and decided to counter his next five or six balls well. So I could end on a real high. A high of having ended on top. Instead I ended on a note when the last ball got me out.
Point to note - always end well, on a high note.
I was hitting the ball well and generally dominated the bowlers once I got in. I hit the leg spinner well when he erred in length. Then after 20 minutes or so the physical aspect took over and I got tired. Mistakes crept in and I was getting out more often. I played on gamely trying to be more aware, trying to increase my levels of concentration. At the back of my mind I knew I could go on for another 5 minutes if I wanted despite the sweat dripping off.
I pulled my concentration back to handle the medium pacers but the leg spinner challenged me because the margin for error with his bowling was very little. I got out once, twice and then made up my mind to be more careful the next round. But once again my drive got an edge.
Suddenly I took off my gloves and walked off.
As I walked off I realised that I did that because I was disappointed and did not want to get out more times. I had a good net overall. But there was another 5 minutes left easily for me and the bowlers.
Clearly I did not want to fail more times against this bowler.
It struck me while taking my pads off that I could have taken the next 5 minutes. I coud have taken time to settle down and decided to counter his next five or six balls well. So I could end on a real high. A high of having ended on top. Instead I ended on a note when the last ball got me out.
Point to note - always end well, on a high note.
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