Diary Of A Vegan Cricketer (Week Twenty Six)

C is for ….. close season plans, C is for ….. C+, C is for …….. Conclusions. A good approach to Vegan Teas. Final game of the season called off. I have a golf handicap, which I don’t understand at all.

2024 Season Week Twenty Six: September 23rd – September 29th

Final NBCC Game Rained Off

A certain symmetry and predictability to the fact that the season started and finished with the rain cancelling the pre and post season No Boundaries Cricket Club games. The fact that (like the pros!) were were forced into scheduling them early April and late September was always going to be a risk, but to be honest they could have been scheduled for any month on the season and the rain would have won.

The scheduling was partly self imposed with the amount of cricket I had planned to play, but largely because of the early start and late finish to League Cricket these days. This is something (below) I have thought about throughout the season and will prioritise differently next season.

With the weather cancelling the last four Sunday games I was hoping to play, my season ended on the 1st September this year, and my body (and golf) has certainly benefited from the extended break.

C+

It has been a really up and down season personally, with some highs (Staffs Seniors, Bowling, More Patience at the Crease) and a lot of lows, so overall I am giving myself a C+.

The overall message I take away from this season is that I am capable, not very consistent and to use a phrase I picked up watching some golf …. I need to have access to my body …… i.e. I need to ensure that my body has the ability to do what I need it to do.

I think it is fair to say that I have suffered by not having clear priorities for my own cricket this season, both in terms of playing and coaching and that has to change moving forward. There are a few things that may change in the next month or so, but the plan currently is>

PLAYING

• Staffordshire Seniors: this is my main priority as it is the only cricket I play with my age group, is the most competitive and has the potential for me to play the longest ie into my 70s. It will be the only cricket I play mid week (with the exception of the occasional NBCC T20) and my practice, playing and coaching will all be geared up to being as ready as I can be to play on the Tuesday.
• NBCC: this is growing year on year and has become the best ‘vehicle’ for me to play and help players develop. We will be scheduling more games next year (Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays) so these are my second priority as they a) help players that want to develop and b) NBCC is something I can do when I have finished playing. In addition to the NBCC games I will continue to support a number of causes as a guest: Runs4Research, Save Village Cricket and Mersey Rose BUT I am hanging up my T10 boots and have told Gloucestershire that after two year of captaining their T10 side they should give someone else the opportunity and have told Out4Cricket (as organisers) that I won’t be playing next year and unless someone else from NBCC picks up the batton we won’t be putting a team in.
• League Cricket: has to be the third priority as I have to be realistic as to how much cricket I can play and get any benefit from, and fair as to how much time I spend not being with my parents and the older pets. Sands continues to be amazingly supportive of my attempts to turn back the clock, and we have life set up so the Summers are mine and the Winters are hers, although now I have added Golf and Shooting to my ‘old life crisis’ I do have to give back some of the Summer!

COACHING

Can’t deny that the season got disrupted both playing and coaching wise with the Birmingham Unicorns situation, but the end result has worked out really well for both NBCC and myself with stronger partnerships, more clarity, and a lot more people now involved with NBCC.

From a coaching perspective it has helped reinforce that my strength is is working with players that really want to develop their game both mentally and physically and that will be my focus going forward:

• Level 3 Coach: I will complete my Level 3 Course over the winter, and will then focus on working with individuals and small groups.
• Edgbaston Nets: am really looking forward to the NBCC Winter Nets from both a playing and a coaching perspective.

I have no interest in being a ‘Club Coach’, although I would happily work with a small number of players as part of a Coaches Development Plan for their club (few discussions taking place) and if, and it is a BIG IF at the moment, NBCC contracted to develop a club, or a side within the club I would get involved with that.

The mantra is clear: Off Season for Coaching, Season for Practice and Playing.

Close Season Plans

As usual I have a plan ………

• Fitness: I have some rehab to do on the same old areas – Left Knee & Hamstring (linked), Right Hip, and Right Shoulder/Neck – but they have come on a lot over the season so this winter I will be working heard on running, strength, general fitness and weight loss. I have a very specific programme in place, have got a training buddy, am putting more exercise machines into the garage, and four (4) trips to Spain sorted out for some warm weather training!
• Practice: my role for Staffordshire next year is very much as a impact player with the bat (bat 6/7, high run rate, close games, bat with tail) and as a holding bowler to hold up an end and (hopefully) frustrate the batters, so all my focus with my own practice sessions will be on the skills required for these roles. IF I get my arm sorted out I expect to spend a lot of time on the boundary, but if not short mid wicket and mid on seem to have my name on them.
• Golf: I have really enjoyed playing again (an upside of the rehab) and I am not sure how but I have a handicap of 12.2 (below). I have a regular partner for Wednesday Golf (we alternate between courses) and have set up a Staffs Seniors Tuesday Golf ‘thing’ (Tuesday because I wanted to keep the stability of doing something on a Tuesday) and because the plan all along was to play golf the day after a competitive game as a means of loosening up. I plan to pay 9 holes on a Friday (Sands has started talking about playing again) and have my name down to upgrade to 7 day membership as a) in the winter given the weather an extra two days when might be able to play is attractive, and b) during the season playing at a weekend rather than cricket may be a good option.
• Target Shooting: Firearms Certificate in the works and have sorted first gun! If nothing else a sport that can do when raining (and stay dry and warm) and lying down has a lot of appeal.

Vegan Findings

What a voyage of discovery this was!

The intention was to use the fact I had become Vegan to experience what it was like to be ‘different’ in a sport (and society?) dominated by tradition – white, middle class, middle age, meat eating, and beer drinking.

I will write in more detail later (I have been asked to submit a report which I need to do before I publish too much detail) but a few ‘lessons’:

• being accommodated is not the same as being included
• people don’t like their ‘normal’ being threatened
• those that bang the inclusivity drum are very often the least inclusive (they just want everyone to do it their way)
• if you believe the onus is on the individual to tell rather than be asked you haven’t understood the issue at all
• change is hard, even with good intent
• modification not always the best approach when an opportunity to establish something new often is
• by chance I had the opportunity to assess cricket against golf, and both are as bad as each other (probably no surprise given the demographic)
• not all doom and gloom, are some great people around and some good initiatives (see below)

Golf Handicap

Back in the day it was so simple: put in three cards, get given the average of the 3 cards.

Now …. put in 3 cards and get given a handicap 2 strokes better than you best card!

So I have World Golf Index of 12.2 which will level itself out the more cards I put in (20 seems to be the key number), which is great but given the winter conditions it may be some time before I get that done. I have multiple new apps on my phone which being a bit of a techy stil I am intrigued by, but they are not user friendly as they need live updates of not only your strokes, but the outcome of each stroke to give you the best returns – and they don’t integrate with other apps very well.

As with my cricket plenty to be going on with, and documenting maybe …… Diary of a Vegan Golfer

Source: https://chrismarshall.ws/diary-of-a-vegan-cricketer-week-twenty-six/