We lost by 11 runs on Saturday. Typical pre-season friendly, everyone got a game. Having managed to forget my shirt, I wasn't very loose and endured the worst 40 overs of my life in the field. Back was making me a passenger in the field and was giving me sharp pains with every movement. Bowled averagely and got a caught & bowled from a full toss. Redders had a go at keeping and then bowling, was probably a bit better at the latter as he bowled one guy with a lovely flighted delivery. Chasing 168, we coasted to 50 odd before losing a wicket and then collapsed to 74-5. Went into bat reluctantly due to my back, but from then on I felt really good. Not sure if it had loosened up but timed nearly everything and felt completely in control, even managed to jog a bit between wickets. Eventually I got a leading edge needing 30 off 3 overs. Brought up my first run of the season with a reverse sweep, it was so slow that I went through the shot and swept it past leg stump instead!.
Sunday, barely made it out of bed thanks to the back but I learnt from my mistakes and loosened up. Took some painkillers and I was 100% better. Still couldn't really run but bowled 8-1-23-1 into a gale, out of a total of 244-3 off 40. We were 170-2 off 32 when rained curtailed things. Odd thing is I woke up Monday with no back problems and since Monday my back feels nearly back to normal. No explanation just feel back to my unfit self again. See how long it lasts.