A Very Successful Cricket Club

Warwickshire 219 all out
lost to Yorkshire 296 all out
Warwickshire 251 all out
Yorkshire 178-8
by 2 Wickets

County Championship Division One

Played at Headingley

Friday 22 September 2017

Twitter @ball_sup

Someone wearing a cape has come to save Yorkshire. Again. Chasing 178. In a fairly low scoring game. 71 for 4. 86 for 5. 86 for 6. 96 for 7 when Hodd went. Ballance has got to 21. The highest score. In one of the worst decisions in a game full of poor decisions. Gale had chosen to sit right at the end of the Bird Ego Project Players Balcony. He had a full view of the Trueman Enclosure. And they/we/I had a full view of him.

With the scores I've listed. Culminate 96 for 7. The Members don't think we'll get there. So. Some begin to “question” Gale. He decides initially to Chirp back. Oh, do Fuck Off. How is that going to end well. I'm a big, big Andrew Gale fan. But, I'm not a fan of coaches. How many different ways are there to lay a set of cones out?

In an unlikely, but glorious, win from there, Patto top scored with 44 not out off 78. He's got the cape on. But, I actually thought the real hero was Matthew Fisher. Out at parity. For 15 off 70 balls. He just played with a clear head. Leave the right ones. Defend the right ones. Whack the right ones. Run 'em. Look calm, be calm, fly.

So. As well as new, intriguing cone patterns. That's the environment I want The Coach to set. The players need to be calm. Make the right decisions. As The Fish went about his business, I just thought - that's it, intelligent cricket.

These players. Lyth, Lees, Leaning, Hodd, Bresnan, Patterson, Rafiq. They're not bad players. We know that. They just have to get their MoJo back. That's coaching.

That leaves YCCC eighteen points ahead of Somerset. Hampshire & Middlesex are just behind us in the mix as well. Middlesex go to Taunton next week. They can't both win. It ain't over. But, that PattoFish win today was a big step. It is over for me. I won't go to Chelmsford for Yorkshire's game at Champions Essex next week. I'm going to look forward not back.

This. Is. Cricket. No quick fixes. We won two Champos. Came close in others. But, it's a Game Of Cycles. Negatively, we're a team on the decline. Positively, we're a team in transition. We're also a very successful Cricket Club. The nature of the English game is that success comes in two ways. Silverware & England Players. Instead of constantly blaming England for nicking our players. We need to CELEBRATE that our players are the backbone of the England Red, White, Pink Ball teams. Home growners Root, Bairstow, Rashid. Yorkshireman Plunkett. Incomer Willey.

Have a pop back. I'm 58. Dinosaur territory. It ain't all about silverware.

I'm not a bring him iner. I'm not a sign himer. I'm a pick themer. If our best are in Tests. And, if the other team's best. Beat our best. When our best have been the best they can be. That'll do. I just doubt that our best of the rest after Tests have been the best they can be in this underfiring season.

My strategy. Stick with the core. Get the best out of them.

Mallinsons, American S.I.P.A. on cask at 4.5% (in Sheffield Tap)

That was superb. Crystal clear & bright as a button in the glass. Thin PermaHead. Great Lacing. Some initial sweetness. Gives in to fantastic growing bitterness. Maybe some Rocket. Tangy. Then some bitter oranges. Superb.

539/1130