I was up until pretty late last night liaising with our new team selector regarding his team selection for the upcoming weekend. He was getting a truck load of grief including a few direct insults regarding a couple of his choices.
A bit of background about our club. We play friendly cricket at a picturesque ground near Watford, with friendly matches scheduled for both Saturday's and Sunday's every weekend until the end of September. Almost all of us have played League cricket at some point in our careers but have found ourselves playing at this club for a variety of reasons, sick of league cricket, lifestyle restrictions, love of the game etc.
5 maybe 6 years ago, we had plenty of players so you'd have to get lucky if you fancied 'doing a double' i.e. playing in both Saturday and Sunday games, though in recent years falling numbers have meant more often than not many would be required to do a double just so we can get out two teams over the weekend. There are of course some of us that want to play every game regardless, some that will play doubles if we are desperate and some that as long as they get their one game in on the weekend don't care whether we can get a team together for the other fixture or not.
As we play friendly games, despite that we obviously play to win, there are no real consequences for losing, so the onus is on the team selector to try and put out a balanced side but above all try and make sure everyone who wants to play gets a game, with the unwritten rule being that if we have 22 people available for a game over the weekend, then obviously no one will get to play both games.
Which brings me to this weekend. This weekend due to a visit from an old player who moved away a few years ago and wants to play both games, we have many players who are all of a sudden available for a double this weekend as it promises to be a couple of days of great fun and drinking. This is all well and good but suddenly we have 15 people who want to play on Saturday and 11 to play on Sunday including about 5 people who want to play a double. The team selector, being relatively new to the job (he has done it in the past when the club had an over subscription of players) has picked a team and obviously some who wanted one were left out of a double.
The issue is, our team selector has left out our Sunday Captain for Saturday's game. The issue he has and which I agree with, is that he also contributes a hell of a lot to the club off the field. He is 22 years old and he comes down the club to do a lot of work on the ground in his free time, so much so that we would struggle to get a game on otherwise. He also does a lot of the admin with collecting match fees etc and up until I created the website used to keep track of all the averages at home. He turns up to just about every net session and is also firmly in the 'play every game' camp I alluded to earlier, which again helps us ensure we get the game on every weekend. On top of this, he has also been our leading wicket taker for about the last 5 odd years, so it's not like he does these jobs to try and justify his place in the side.
There are two people in particular that he has taken a real issue with being given a double ahead of him. One was last years Saturday Skipper who was effectively stood down from the job due to losing interest in it leaving the club in a little bit of difficulty, but nothing too major. He sparsely attended winter nets mainly for reasons that he couldn't be bothered as opposed to any other commitments and rarely turns up in his spare time to do a session with the roller or some work on the ground. He used to be in the double every weekend camp but hasn't been for the last year and so far for this season. The other one turned up to most nets, never turns up in his own time to help with the ground and is firmly entrenched in the 'as long as my game isn't getting called off for lack of players I don't care' camp, though this is since becoming married. I am assured that whilst single he would play every game, though now he is very much under the thumb.
My opinion is one that there should be a hierarchy of who should be allowed to play in these games. Obviously playing friendlies, ability isn't the biggest question. I would suggest those who contribute the most to the club off the field deserve to play when the want, so long as no one is missing out on a game over the weekend so they can play two.
I have heard different opinions where people grumble that they don't get a double when they want but those who play a double every week get one ahead of them. I have suggested that the reason the club manages to get two teams out most week is because these guys will do a double come rain or shine so why should they miss out on a game of cricket because some bloke decided he fancies play two games once in a blue moon. Is this agreeable?
Another opinion I have heard from one of the doubler's is that occasional players who only play the odd game here and there should be sacked off entirely in the case that he want's a double. I disagree but does he have a point?
What are everyones views on this subject? I realise its a lot to get through but I'd appreciate seeing how other clubs approach team selection if they are in the same boat.
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Topic: Player Selection, advice needed (Read 8014 times)