Organisation

There were 3 elements to my day. Coaching, Training and Drinking. Each believe it or not required a huge amount of organisation with only one of them working out positively for me.

The coaching session that we ran today went like a dream. We had 18 players turn up this week which shows that it was worth persevering back in the weeks where we were only getting 6. There is nothing better than seeing the kids improving week on week. We are getting such a great group of players and I can honestly say that it is a privilege to be able to work with them. It's a credit to their parents and schools that these children are keen to make friends with every newcomer and are just as quick to offer some advice of their own when their peers are struggling or when the younger ones don't understand. The group already have a team spirit about them and are clearly enjoying the game. I cannot wait for the season to start and to see them out on the pitch in their first few matches.

Training on the other hand was a palaver. I was bowling pretty well for me but when it came to be my turn to bat all hell broke loose. One player in particular was arguing the case that he wanted to bat in the net which admittedly would have suited his ability better. The issue though was never there to start with. He had expressed his wish to bat in the net to another player who had stated quite clearly that he was not in a position to make a decision, no one person was in charge. Each week any player who wants to bat in either net need just say that they are padding up to bat in whichever net they choose. Normally this works itself out based loosely on a mix of who turns up first and ability. Granted this can often leave one net sparse on potential batsmen and the other denying players more time but this is a sacrifice that I think most batsmen are prepared to take on the basis that a short period of time facing good bowling is better than only being able to play 1 in 3 balls. This time though the argument raged on until I lost my temper and said that I would bat in the weaker net just to shut people up and make sure that the aggrieved party didn't leave the nets as he was threatening. This just caused more mayhem when someone started complaining that I was taking too long to pad up for a net session that was as good as a waste of my time anyway! I wish I could have bitten my tongue but I didn't. I let him have it with both barrels and surprisingly it had the right effect. Everyone I think was a little surprised at my outburst as I am not normally the sort of person to air my feeling so openly, but they all seemed to end the disputes and get back on with training without too much trouble. My thanks to brother's PL and AL for moving nets for a while to offer me a more challenging session, something that I wouldn't have expected from them.

My day was topped off by a well planned evening falling into ruin before we even got there. The plan had been to get some of the old school gang out for a few quiet beers and a good catch up. Some of the guys couldn't make the initial start time and with the Israel vs England game being televised so early we decided it best to move the meet to 20:30. The next one was my fault, timings went out the window as I was trying to get the coaching kit tidied away and a quick call to Kryten saw the meet at the pub moved to 21:00. Sinbad, who couldn't make it originally, called me and asked to poach a lift. This set things back somewhat as directing him and then giving up and heading out to find him turned into a nightmare. We eventually caught up and made it to the pub by about 21:45. I got a round in and then tried to settle down for a quiet drink and a good chat with friends but Sinbad's mood was odd and he seemed to get louder and louder in what was clearly a quiet pub. I got more uneasy as the time passed, having that feeling that people kept looking over to find out what the upset was. I eventually gave up and made arrangements to get him home. He was clearly upset by something and the only way he could cope with it was to act up in this way. This was really out of character for him, I just hope that he is OK and will get in touch with him tomorrow to make sure.