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[iand123]

As per my comment in my for sale thread, this season has been far from enjoyable for me and if im honest i'm at the point where i just cant really be bothered with cricket right now.

Many factors have contributed to this, here they are (try and keep up!)

First year of skippering and availability has been a pain. We've had 15-20 people a week unavailable for a range of reasons which means that the side we are putting out haven't been a true reflection of the sides we should be putting out. Has meant a lot of scrapping around for players. Whilst selection is never easy further up the club I don't think its been very consistent and in my opinion skippers have only thought of their sides and not the greater good of the club. Not helped in that out 6th XI (who were playing friendlies this year) haven't been able to field a side due to availability which means i then become bottom of the food chain. My selection is then dictated by having to give people a game as opposed to picking my strongest or most balanced XI.

Due to some brilliant planning by the league our 5th XI (of which i am captain) were moved from the 2nd XI structure into the 1st XI structure meaning we are very much out of our depth (even with full availability would have been a challenge). So we went from 2B West where we finished mid table last year to 1B West. Its probably a better standard than what our 4th XI is playing in their league (2A West). Means we are turning up most weeks and getting battered. All in all very demoralising.

There have been a few internal issues too which I'd go into on here but cant really. Has meant alot of aggro, emails, phone calls on top of the usual chasing for players and availability etc. Culminated with me being on the phone to our club secretary at 10pm on a Sunday evening the other week telling him I'd had enough of skippering and my committee role due to an entire being weekend ruined by first the result and a bad performance and then this aggro.

Performance wise its been OK, just over 100 runs in 6 games which i appreciate isn't going to set the world on fire but my average for the last few years has been around 200 runs a season for the standard i play. I've had one knock of 36 which pretty much won us the game and then a 55 which got us within touching distance. Having played 4th team cricket for the last few years I'm satisfied with my individual stats (I've even started bowling again). I don't get the chance to net at all as I've moved further away and my work has taken me further afield. I also have a young family which i have to find time to spend with them on top of all of this.

Cricket has always been my escape and for me its all about enjoyment. Winning isn't the be all and end all for me but playing league cricket I want to compete and not roll over or give up before you've even arrived. I wanted to skipper this year and help bring through a few youngsters. This has happened in we've given 5 u-15's their first games of mens cricket and even in a short period of time their improvement has been vast. At the moment I do not enjoy cricket. I wake up on a Saturday hoping its raining really hard as it makes my decision that bit easier! I've made myself unavailable this week as Saturday was rained off and had a lovely weekend that didn't involve cricket! I'm also on a stag do the week after so figured it gave the team a chance to get some momentum as a fair few players who have been missing are supposedly available. However it really is getting to the point where i just don't want to play any more this season.

I see i have 4 options

1. Jack it all in and stop playing (not what I want to do deep down and am hoping a winter away will give me time to find my mojo back)
2. Find another club to play for (Same as above I think a winter or some time away would help and i really do enjoy playing where i play apart from this year having moved to this club about 5 years ago)
3. Play for the same club and not just play, no captaincy or committee role
4. Man Up and stop being such a girl and get on with it (to be fair this could be applied with all of the above to a degree)

[tim2000s]

I see i have 4 options

1. Jack it all in and stop playing (not what I want to do deep down and am hoping a winter away will give me time to find my mojo back)
2. Find another club to play for (Same as above I think a winter or some time away would help and i really do enjoy playing where i play apart from this year having moved to this club about 5 years ago)
3. Play for the same club and not just play, no captaincy or committee role
4. Man Up and stop being such a girl and get on with it (to be fair this could be applied with all of the above to a degree)

Man up, finish the season, play cricket, then drop the aggro components and let someone else do them next season. By the way, you ain't getting your MoJo back

[uknsaunders]

Doesn't sound great!

Given we are 5/6 weeks away from the end of the season. Maybe sticking at it for the club's sake would be the best thing to do, assuming they are trying to help as much as possible. Nobody wants a captain quitting mid-season and they should help you if they care.

That said, with a young family quitting at the end of the season would be wise. Stick to playing. I've been there at the bottom of the food chain and spending hours on the phone. It's no fun and unless things change within the club, give it a miss for a few seasons and get back to playing.

Regarding leaving the club, that's your call. If travel is becoming an issue and you want to be closer to home then why not? Plenty of decent clubs around and finding something at a lower level might help you enjoy your cricket more.

[alba caerulea]

Last season I felt pretty frustrated and underwhelmed by cricket (on and off the field) so didn't play from Mid-July onwards. During that time I went to 3 festivals, spent some weekends at the beach and had a little bit of downtime. Also began playing football more seriously again after having a few seasons at a more local level. This led to me realising that there are many more enjoyable activities to fill my weekend other than cricket!

Planned not to play atall this year but in the winter transferred to a club where a good friend of mine is 3rd XI skipper, I explained to the chairman and skippers that I wouldnt be available every week but I would always give 100% on the field, give good notice of my availablity and would play for any team that selected me. Despite only playing 5 league games I have enjoyed each of them - scored a couple of 50s, took my first ever league hat-trick and have ended up playing my first ever game in an ECB Premier league. The club as a whole have reached 3 cup finals, are battling near the top of 2 leagues and are doing pretty well off the field

They have made me feel welcome and held no grudges over my sparse availability. Whilst I have thoroughly enjoyed the games I have played I can honestly say that when I haven't played I don't miss cricket atall. Hope this helps in some way. The way I looked at it was that I was a paying member and I wasnt enjoying it - where else in life do you pay to do something you dont enjoy? It seemed ridiculous so I changed it!

[iand123]

Man up, finish the season, play cricket, then drop the aggro components and let someone else do them next season. By the way, you ain't getting your MoJo back

Wise advice Tiom, and yes my mojo is very much yours!

[iand123]

Given we are 5/6 weeks away from the end of the season. Maybe sticking at it for the club's sake would be the best thing to do, assuming they are trying to help as much as possible. Nobody wants a captain quitting mid-season and they should help you if they care.

Thats where we got to really. I have a young Vice Captain who is very keen and wants some experience so have said i'll hand the reigns to him for some games and be there to help him out. We've already had two skippers quit this season which isnt great. I think i rather naively figured skippering wouldnt be too much hassle, at least i now know its not for me going forward regardless of where i play

[Seniorplayer]

It seems that although well intentioned you have taken on to much and consequently it has got to you losing matches issues with teams selection etc.
I think you need to put it all into context and decide what really matters to you and maybe take your option 2 without a Captaincy or committee role just turnout on matchday and enjoy it.

[horseman]

Dont stop playing, Its a long retirement from what is essentially our favourite pastime.  In terms of this year get what you can out of it. Dig in with the bat and try and make each game as positive for yourself as possible.

[uknsaunders]

Dont stop playing, Its a long retirement from what is essentially our favourite pastime.  In terms of this year get what you can out of it. Dig in with the bat and try and make each game as positive for yourself as possible.

I agree, I'm getting on and cherish the fact I can still just about play. I know retirement is round the corner and that's it for something I love doing. I do however agree with alba that there is a balance to be had. I work off an assumption that 15 out of 18 league games is a decent commitment - roughly 80-85% of the time. The other times doing something special makes it worth missing cricket (just about).

[AverageCricketer]

I played my first season of cricket when I was 10 and I didn't enjoy it as I made no friends in the team and they all went to private schools, so I was the odd one out.

 I played my second season last year and our team didn't do well, got to bowl once and didn't bat  higher than 8 (even though I only got out once the entire season). I was the Binny of the team.

Now I love cricket more than ever because of the atmosphere at the ground, the sledging (yes, even at junior level!) and the atmosphere at training was really nice, as everyone was smiling and making jokes but the batting and bowling was serious at the same time.

If you leave cricket, you will regret the little things that make you come back. For the rest of the season, you should try splitting up the jobs to make your life easier. I guess you are facing the same problems as Cook without the loss of form. I believe teams should work on and off the field as a team, because one person cannot carry a team!

[horseman]

I agree, I'm getting on and cherish the fact I can still just about play. I know retirement is round the corner and that's it for something I love doing. I do however agree with alba that there is a balance to be had. I work off an assumption that 15 out of 18 league games is a decent commitment - roughly 80-85% of the time. The other times doing something special makes it worth missing cricket (just about).

Im 29 and hate the politics etc that comes with a selection and captaincy, but I didnt play for 5 years due to bad knees and didnt realise how much I missed playing til I started again. So dont stop.
The commitment issue is a good one, usually a winning side and/or an enjoyable one gets good availability.  Hopefully the challenging standard is sorted during the winter as that may help.

[Gingerbusiness]

I agree, I'm getting on and cherish the fact I can still just about play. I know retirement is round the corner and that's it for something I love doing. I do however agree with alba that there is a balance to be had. I work off an assumption that 15 out of 18 league games is a decent commitment - roughly 80-85% of the time. The other times doing something special makes it worth missing cricket (just about).

I think most clubs work off this assumption.

Our club has the policy that you need to be available for roughly 85% of league fixtures to qualify for the 1st XI. This was put in place to help promote the youth policy (Usually available more - and lets be honest, are the future). It's the reason we do not pay overseas players either (Short term fix for a long term problem).

Unfortunately, we had a regular 1st XI player from a few years back come back to the club demanding to open the batting for the 1st XI (He is definitely good enough and we wanted him back) however, because he was only available every second week, he was told by the Chairman he would have to drop down to the 2nds and prove his form (More-so to give the Chairman a reason to drop someone from the 1st XI who was available more). We explained how the club policy has changed and what we were trying to achieve (It had to so that we could safeguard the future of the club), however he decided that we had questioned his 'honour' and 'commitment', he left the club under a very dark cloud and joined one of our nearest rivals.

It is a shame that not all players have Alba's honesty and understanding of their own game, plus the respect for the club to understand what they are trying to achieve.

[smilley792]

I've retired twice this year! I just can't stay away though.


Due to injury over winter I didn't winter net once, I thought to get fit for game 1 but after 46 overs at slip my body gave up so had to turn down a bat.

Missed the next two games but couldn't bare not playing.

Back in the side, but still slip to slip, I was being carried, barely got out of double figures. So dropped myself and said I'd had enough.



Still it hurt not playing sats, but I used the sats off to get fit.
And then returned because we was wells short(and being vice I was needed to lead)

Still not fully fit, but can field, and bowl 2 overs a game! Lol. But since that return, with the bat I have gone 40, 37, 49*, 17 and 50.

Not setting the world on fire, but so glad to be back, and part of the club I love.

[GarrettJ]

been there a few times.

retired in 2003
retired in 2006
retired in 2013

still playing though!!

[Northern monkey]

To be honest, sounds like you've more than had enough
I've spent the previous two seasons at a club I joined after moving down sarf
It just didn't work out, various issues,life is way too short to not enjoy playing.
Look around for different club options, and certainly don't feel guilty about it