A park cricketer has rediscovered his love of the game through an unexpected skill change.
Peter has been bowling left-arm off-spin for the Belconnen Bulls sixth grade side for six seasons. While he’s been a handy spinner, a huge form slump forced him to re-evaluate his game. And he’s been a specialist number 11 batter – known for having a decent defense, but a high score of only 14.
“I returned after the Christmas break this year and completely lost my bowling form,” said Peter. “I didn’t train much over the break as I was bowling well up to Christmas, so I have no idea what happened. I lost my length and started bowling too flat and short. And when I tried to overcompensate with more flight, it got even worse!”
While Peter worked hard in the nets, tinkering with his run up, grip, and action, eventually he’d had enough.
“It was the second last game of the season and I took none for a zillion in the first innings. I hated cricket and knew I was going to be dropped,” said Peter. “We were behind by a lot when I came to bat at 11. I felt like s**t, so I had a swing because who cares? I middled a few and made 15 not out. I was amazed. I’ve always had an ok defense, but I usually don’t score many runs.”
With the Bulls following on, Peter opened the batting. While he only made five (in a huge innings defeat), he wasn’t disappointed.
“It was tough against the new ball, but I survived a few overs and copped a few on the body. I enjoyed the challenge. I got a couple of the boys to bowl to me in the nets after I got out and, when I got home, I spent some time shadow batting while watching YouTube batting videos. It was nice to take my batting seriously for once.”
While Peter wasn’t picked for the last game of the season, he went to the ground and batted in the nets for two hours before chatting to his teammates. Rather than take a break during the off-season, Peter has joined a local indoor cricket team to further work on his batting.
“I always avoided indoor cricket as I assumed my batting wouldn’t be good enough. But it’s been great so far: I’ve made four positive scores in a row and have only been out a few times. I’m finally starting to enjoy batting now I’m taking it seriously.”
Peter has also changed his bowling.
“We have three spinners in our team already, so I decided to bowl some left-arm seamers to change it up. They’re not coming out too badly. I might stick with them.”
While Bulls pre-season training for 2024/25 isn’t for a few months, Peter is looking to cement a role as a specialist batter.
“If I can bat six or seven, I’ll be pretty happy.”
The Gurgler presents stories of the Park Cricketer, where we explore the lower reaches of the great game of cricket from the suburban ovals and rural grounds across Australia.
