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[cricketbadger]

Still got to instill the winning habit, not just about turning up and getting a go batting and bowling but getting thrashed. Sounds like your doing the right thing and wouldn't worry about the bitterness from the oppo, no-one likes losing so they'll look for anyone to blame and take it out on.

[Manormanic]

Hats the way to play kids or bad bowlers. No slogging and only hit for 4 the really bad balls, the rest just play proper shots and milk. That way they enjoy their game but you still get runs. Still, unfortunately some just see 50's and 100's and get greedy. Meaningless tons on Sunday fellas.

My view is that you view your cricket in wins and losses, the number of runs is more or less meaningless, save that it indicates to an old git like me whether I am still worth a spot in the side.

[ProCricketer1982]

My view is that you view your cricket in wins and losses, the number of runs is more or less meaningless, save that it indicates to an old git like me whether I am still worth a spot in the side.

Sats yes. Suns?? Really? You care about winning or losing on  a Sunday ?

[Manormanic]

Sats yes. Suns?? Really? You care about winning or losing on  a Sunday ?

Not as much, but I'd say that if its an evenly matched game then yes, you have to try to win otherwise there is no point being there.

[ProCricketer1982]

Not as much, but I'd say that if its an evenly matched game then yes, you have to try to win otherwise there is no point being there.

As a batter.. Get 50 then get out and let someone else bat. Bowler gets a wicket so he's chuffed and you've had a decent knock so are happy. Everyone's a winner

[richthekeeper]

i really like a lot of the comments in this thread.

i spent a season as sunday captain and was definitely there to enjoy the game not to worry about runs or wickets. one day we opened up with a 15 year old girl bowling leg spin - she took 4 if i remember rightly. although i open up for the 2s i never bat on sundays as i want to give others the opportunity - that's unless we collapse and then of course i'll try to bat time to give the oppo something to work towards.

a mate of mine scored 170* in an inter club sunday game last season which was the most entirely irrelevant innings i've ever seen. he was well past 100 when i joined him at the crease but scoring slowly and not really trying. the other side also wasn't really trying and it had descended into farce. to his credit he rarely mentions it which is probably because nobody lets him.

[Manormanic]

a mate of mine scored 170* in an inter club sunday game last season which was the most entirely irrelevant innings i've ever seen. he was well past 100 when i joined him at the crease but scoring slowly and not really trying. the other side also wasn't really trying and it had descended into farce. to his credit he rarely mentions it which is probably because nobody lets him.

Some people have a bit of class in this regard and others have none.

Case in point - Mark Taylor declaring the innings when 336* because he'd rather not beat Don Bradman's Australian record against a very weak attack.  And Matt Hayden beating both against gthe weakest test side in history.

[uknsaunders]

Another example of how to play it sensibly:-

We (Marlow Vets) were pretty much me, a 1st XI player and an overseas plus 8 vets. We were playing Bledlow Village from the Cherwell League and they had a strong team out. We batted first and were 90-7. Our overseas, who we never bat above 9, joined me and they tossed it up and shared the bowling around. We got to 170 odd and they tried to tighten up but eventually we got 225 - which was par for the wicket according to the locals. They got home with an over to spare and 7 down. It was just about the right balance between sharing it out and playing a competitive game. They recognised we weren't a great team and we didn't take the mickey with our overseas or be unrealistic in our declaration. As a few have mentioned, "making a game of it" and "winning in the last over" are more the aims of Sunday cricket. It's a learning ground for skills, playing against some quality players and cricket etiquette.

Another thing that might help your captaincy skills is to play "timed" matches. This allows weaker teams to have the greater share of overs and stronger teams to play competitively but declare earlier. I find 40 overs win/lose boring on a Sunday and it's far more interesting to have the draw option and have to think out teams. Sometimes it means tossing the ball up to buy wickets and balancing keeping a side interested.

[mohawks94]

They actually suggested to make it 35 overs each rather than 40 because of the weather, but I felt that with the batting and bowling we had we could stick it out for the 40 each way. I agree with the comments that Sunday tons are worthless, one of the lads from my club got 100 in a Sunday game last year, and a fixture against that team is coming up this weekend, and the captain is getting players by suggesting, to paraphrase, "fill your boots time" and that it will be easy. At uni I applied for the position of mixed captain in the ultimate frisbee team, but the captain felt that I had a tendency to get a little too tense about things for mixed captaincy, and would potentially allow that to boil over. I can totally agree with this, so try to stay calm when playing cricket or frisbee, and allow myself the chance to set attacking fields rather than use verbals etc. Winning is something that I do care about, more for the serious games rather than the academy, but I find that it is a nice confidence booster for the colts to get a win under their belt. I made sure I texted the lad who opened the bowling to let him know I was really proud of how he did, which considering last year he was almost scared to bat, to last 15 overs is a great effort.
I do definitely have a strong competitive streak (I came within a broken rib/torn intercostal of playing frisbee for GB juniors last year) but for the academy, I would much rather a fun game, without my team complaining about opposition being annoying and lippy than a mauling!
I tend to over analyse things and worry about them, so thanks for all the opinions everyone

[ProCricketer1982]

Why do people assume that only less competitive people choose not to win Sunday games? Some of the most competitive people realise what it's about and just keep it for sats etc. For some reason people think that they are more competitive because they must win. It's more childish than competitive.

[Manormanic]

Why do people assume that only less competitive people choose not to win Sunday games? Some of the most competitive people realise what it's about and just keep it for sats etc. For some reason people think that they are more competitive because they must win. It's more childish than competitive.

But on the other hand, if you don't want to win the game, why bother even keeping score?

[ProCricketer1982]

But on the other hand, if you don't want to win the game, why bother even keeping score?

The standard of scoring is usually quite bad so it's a lottery if it's right or not anyway. Ours are good as most of our team score properly but some of the oppos books are terrible, barely add up ever etc.

[WalkingWicket37]

Some people have a bit of class in this regard and others have none.

Case in point - Mark Taylor declaring the innings when 336* because he'd rather not beat Don Bradman's Australian record against a very weak attack.  And Matt Hayden beating both against gthe weakest test side in history.

Matt Hayden wasn't playing against England in the last Ashes series?? 

[Manormanic]

Matt Hayden wasn't playing against England in the last Ashes series?? 

Now now - the bowling was better than the batting! 

[richthekeeper]

i really like a lot of the comments in this thread.

i spent a season as sunday captain and was definitely there to enjoy the game not to worry about runs or wickets. one day we opened up with a 15 year old girl bowling leg spin - she took 4 if i remember rightly. although i open up for the 2s i never bat on sundays as i want to give others the opportunity - that's unless we collapse and then of course i'll try to bat time to give the oppo something to work towards.

a mate of mine scored 170* in an inter club sunday game last season which was the most entirely irrelevant innings i've ever seen. he was well past 100 when i joined him at the crease but scoring slowly and not really trying. the other side also wasn't really trying and it had descended into farce. to his credit he rarely mentions it which is probably because nobody lets him.

i spoke too soon.

the lad i mentioned above (let's call him Chris) is a first team player but is also captain of one of our two sunday sides. a team we have a frosty-at-best relationship with turned up yesterday with their first team captain, 3 guys over 50 and 4 young kids. 8 men in total. they could have called the game off but fair play to them for making a game of it with 8.

Chris chose to bat first and refused to allow them to borrow a fielder or 2, forcing them to field with 8.

He then opened the batting and proceeded at pace, reaching 79 after 20 overs with the score on 156/0. At this stage i was not at the ground, so i was getting updates from my mate in the score box. I suggested it was high time that Chris retired out and let someone else have a go, particularly as we had a few promising youngsters of our own waiting to bat.

By the time i got to the ground Chris was on 141, and i was genuinely dismayed at what i witnessed. In the time i stood watching he proceeded to smash the oppo for boundary after boundary, making his way to 168. The fielding side had all but given up even bothering to chase the ball and were clearly getting frustrated at his antics. It was only when the lad batting at 3 retired on 50 that he decided to call it a day, and not before i had shouted from the boundary that maybe it was time he called it a day. I had to walk away at this point because i was disgusted. Apparently he had no idea what he'd done wrong.

In the time remaining our two youngsters both got 11* and they both bowled their allocation as we won by 100+ runs. Chris' captaincy left a lot to be desired - he basically couldn't be bothered in the field, knowing the oppo would never reach our score.

I'm going to selection tonight and am trying to calm myself down so i don't rip into him, as he's a friend of mine. However i think the assembled club personnel will do that for me. Truly shocking.