The Second Half!

Firstly deepest apologies for the lack of action on the blog, I’ve been so busy. Its been all work and no play unfortunately but I got enough grief from people that now I’m back online!! So here it is, the latest installment - The Second Half of the Season!

Summer had begun with the arrival of the Twenty20 league. And it was welcomed with open arms!! Not that I am complaining but it got very warm!!!! It was pushing up to 30 degrees and very humid, totally different to home. But it was such a relief to not be running on and off with covers constantly!  Twenty20 finished in disappointment for our team; too many inconsistent performances meant no progress past the group stages. It was fantastic to see the ground full and buzzing to the shortest version of the game, music pumping out from the speakers every time a wicket fell or a 4 or 6 was hit. I can see the appeal it has for the spectators - in and out in 3 and a half hours, a few beers and plenty of entertainment. With the rewards for Twenty20 being heightened since the introduction of the Champions League, IPL, ICL and Stanford Twenty20, this version of the game is here to stay. The ECB have already announced an extra Twenty20 competition for next season.  A couple of days after Twenty20 finished I went over to Malvern College for a second team game. The second team only play 1 game at New Road throughout the whole season; they play all their home games around the local clubs. Malvern College will be known to some people back in Dublin as it hosted Leinster under 19s for festival cricket in the recent past. It is a beautiful school with very well kept grounds. It was Malvern Colleges’ first time to host such a game so myself and Tim, our Head Groundsman went over on the morning to make sure everything was going ok. We had no hand in the preparation at all, there was no need as New Roads ex-Head Groundsman was now a consultant to Malvern College. We only went over to give a dig-out if needed and to be seen at the ground as it was their first such fixture. All went very well and it was good to spend a day at another ground, a welcome change of scenery! So with the end of the Twenty20 the 4 day Championship returned.

We also had a couple of ‘Tour’ games coming up with South Africa playing Bangladesh ‘A’ in a 3 day game and England Under 19s playing their New Zealand counterparts in a 4 day ‘Test’ match and England vs. Australia in a Deaf ‘Ashes’ 1 day game. The end of Twenty20 also signalled the beginning of the Pro40 league of which we are defending champions. It also meant that I would get an opportunity to see New Road under floodlights. The Club host one floodlit game a year. As New Road have no permanent floodlights, temporary floodlights have to be brought in.  As you can imagine putting lights in is an expensive business. 4 temporary lights are brought in on huge trailers and placed outside the stands in the car parks on the 4 corners of the ground. The night before the game the lights are elevated and set up so as they shine correctly onto the pitch. As defending champions we had the honour of being the first game in the league so it was televised live on Sky Sports. Unfortunately we were well beaten by a very good Notts side, who finished 2^nd in this league last season. The ECB would like every club to erect permanent floodlights, and will help them financially, but it’s very unlikely this will happen at New Road. The local council are very reluctant to grant planning permission for this as the lights would block the view of Worcester Cathedral for local residents and visitors to New Road. In fact when the new stand was being built the plans had to be adjusted so as it would not block the Cathedral. 

Northampton also came to play us, which meant the arrival of Niall O’Brien. It was good to see him, and it took away a bit of slagging away from this Irishman, especially when he came out to warm up in his ‘pink’ gloves!!!!! They suited him! Rain ruined the game which ended in a draw, but the rain enabled us to go out for a few drinks and catch up, it was a quiet night!!!