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[edge]

I don't set personal targets, cricket is a team game and personal goals distract people from that fundamental fact. I see so many people lose their simple enjoyment of playing the game because they're too busy obsessing over their personal targets.

You're running around in a field with your mates for a few hours. None off us are pros, the runs and wickets don't actually count for anything in the long run. Once the game  is finished, they're totally irrelevant forever.

More appropriate targets would be to play your part in making the club, the league and the wider game an inclusive welcoming environment in which everyone feels welcome regardless of age, background or ability level.

Ah you killjoy. Never congratulated a teammate for their excellent batting in a game your team lost? All for perspective and enjoying it as a team, but no harm in people wanting to do well.

[stevat]

Fair enough, and I want to do well and keep an eye on my average and runs etc, but in SLA's defence - I know a few people who could do with worrying less about their average and just enjoy the game for what it is.

[SLA]

Ah you killjoy. Never congratulated a teammate for their excellent batting in a game your team lost? All for perspective and enjoying it as a team, but no harm in people wanting to do well.

Congratulating people on a good performance is fine, as is taking pleasure in good performance of your own, as long as you don't become hubristic. But an interest in personal statistics can easily develop into an unhealthy obsession, and either ruin people's simply enjoyment of playing cricket, or develop into unhealthy competition between teammates that sours the club atmosphere. It is to be discouraged - I've seen it ruin several clubs.

In the club I run, we automatically retire batsmen at 25, we deliberately spread the bowling around so 5-fers are a rarity, and we refuse to publish individual statistics during the season (and discourage batsmen from keeping track). We award a champagne moment but not a player of the year or anything like that. We explicitly encourage and celebrate examples of selfless, team play, such as batsmen willing to risk their wicket and their average by trying to score quickly, and bowlers willing to bowl to a field, rather than search for glory. We find that this enormously increases people's enjoyment of playing.

I would seriously recommend any teams out there who struggle to hold onto their players consider adopting this approach.

[dt-second-hand-cricket]

great that you can do that, i know a few midweek sides that do that in my area ('pub' sides in a t20 league) and they seem to have a great time - unfortunately Saturday cricket will never take that on with promotion/relegation and sunday cricket seems on its backside near me!!

[JK Lewis]

We got promoted by accident, finished very happily in 5th place in our division but adjustments to the league structure have seen us bumped up to Div 3. Not really what we want as our focus is to develop our youngsters. But, can't complain too much considering the struggles of sunday cricket leagues elsewhere.

So, I'll probably open again, hope to make 350 runs at 35ish. Still rubbish at bowling and likely to be slower in the field again so a couple of wickets and 5 catches will be fine.

Very much hoping to try out the test bats that @Northern monkey has on his list to complete... If that is possible then I'd like to set up a rota for other interested Forumites to have a go with them too.

Good luck to you all!

[moggy]

Not annoy oppos?
Crikey I go out my way to annoy oppos

 

We're a friendly/nomadic club, if you upset the oppo they just decline the fixture and you have to find a new game!

[LateBloomer]

1. Score more runs than last season
2. Win more matches than last season
3. Drink less beer than last season

[strang]

number 3 probably affects numbers 1 and 2.

[rickjames]

I'm giving Saturday cricket a punt this year, probably in the 4s. Not bowling leg side wides would be lovely

[Big Mac]

Last year was my third year since coming back to cricket after a decade off and my spinning finger seems to be totally (No Swearing Please) so I had to concentrate a lot on improving my batting:

2016: 9 innings, 74 runs @ 9.25 with a top score of 22
2017: 14 innings, 142 runs @ 10.92 with a top score of 32
2018: 12 innings, 264 runs @ 24.00 with a top score of 54 (My first ever fifty)

I didn't achieve my preseason aim of two half centuries (Second highest score was 41) but it turns out that batting is actually not that difficult and batsmen are all a bunch of frauds. I'm onto you, you prima donnas!

Next season I need to work on being more selfish and not worrying so much about run rates and targets and just focus on converting 20 and 30s into 50s, 60s , 70s etc. I'm such a cricket geek I always end up doing calculations in my head about what kind of target we can set and I forget that we always get bowled out with 15 overs to spare every Saturday.

I doubt I'll bowl at all this season so I hope to average 30+ with at least a couple of fifties as a bare minimum. If I can get bumped up the order a little bit then I want to get that highest score into at least 70-80 territory, maybe I get lucky and get my first hundred.

EDIT: Biggest thing that will help will have to be getting rid of this huge belly so I'm not totally knackered by the time I've faced half a dozen deliveries.

[LateBloomer]

number 3 probably affects numbers 1 and 2.

I never drink on a Friday so probably not. The post match celebrations were the problem!

[strang]

Not bowling leg side wides would be lovely

I second that aim/shame

[nudgemaster]

Missing 3 matches and a team pulled out so 17 Saturday game's max for me!
I would loveto average 30.

[AJ2014]

1st outdoor net, nothing serious, think I was holding the very tight while trying to spin the ball, had a good bowling session though.
guess staying fit is the name of the game here, 2019

[frooper11]

To play more than the one game I played last season due to family commitments. Sadly it's not looking likely.