Pleasure and Pain

I recently had a heavy fall, ended up in hospital and spent some hours in A&E on one of their beds before being discharged. As a result of all this, I now get terrible pain in my lower back when I stand for more than a few minutes. It is a recurrence of problems from 20 years ago and it is not a good thing for a cricket coach to have, given I spend most of my time on my feet in this job. I will need to keep moving as much as possible to stop the back seizing up.

On the plus side, the programmes we have been running for the Herts East Area boys are coming to a conclusion. There have been one or two small hiccups but on the whole everything has gone pretty well. The Under 15 age group has been completely under-subscribed but will be topped up with the better Under 14s, who will benefit greatly from playing up a year. Since there have been so few Under 15s, they have had a good ratio of coaches to players and we have used the bowling machine to good effect this year as well.

The Under 14s have had some very good tactical sessions recently. Unfortunately I won't now see most of these lads again until the first matches in the half term break, so will have to try to keep in contact with the club and school coaches and check the results on the web to find out if our hard work has paid off.

The Under 13s continue to improve and I hope have a better understanding of what is required now. Last year there were a couple of distinctly average performances from this group. Although I know that there are stronger players elsewhere around the County, strength of character counts for a lot and this could be what takes them through.

The Under 12s punched above their weight last year. They don't have any "superstars" but are a great bunch of lads who will be a good team. With hard work I hope that one or two of them might get an opportunity with the full County squad.

The Under 11s have some real talent amongst the group. They have all trained very hard and are extremely enthusiastic. I look forward to great things from them, although that doesn't necessarily mean I expect them to win all their matches.

The Under 10s again have some top notch cricketers, a couple of whom should probably be in the County squad. That's another story though and if they perform the way I expect this year then the County squad beckons next season. The team as a whole should do well and at this age, everyone seems to improve with every game. By the time I next see them at half term, who knows what the story might be?

Chance 2 Shine starts with the school term, with its own special challenges. I'm looking forward to that and will report back next time.