Walter Ego
Striker
How big are ya? I’ve got some kit I need to shift.
-
The forums will be unavailable for a few hours on Saturday 6th June, when they do return they will initially be in a degraded state with some features missing, but normal posting/reading will be possible. The main website will not be affected by these updates.
New user registrations are currently disabled.
Some other features of the forum are also currently disabled.
Getting in to playing at an older age
- Thread starter PeteFTM
- Start date
Two have mate. The Hoff/ Ceverton and Beefy73. Both top lads.
wednesday1957
Midfield
Mate...Do it now if yer gonna do it
I played for years in various Sheffield midweek leagues and Sundays...I'm 66 now....2 years ago we had a reunion thingy and played several charity matches
Now bearing in mind I was hardly Ian Botham then....Imagine what I was like in those games..Its bloody hard, we all batted for 4 overs I got 15..then we bowled 4 overs...0 for 26....but it was the fielding....you know when you used to sorta swoop one handed in the gully..nah...its gone...you just sorta lie down in front of it , then hopefully find the ball nestled in yer beergut as they take 2...
Its a great game at any age, so many periods when you can just sorta sit and fart in the outfield, but come that time when yer at cow corner, and the batsman skies it towards you, you've got iffy knees, yer eyesights not what it used to be, and EVERYONE is watching...you look up, theres that little red dot, takes so long to go up ..then fuck me..its coming down like a missile...yer beergut can't help you cos your'e stood upright...(Unless its really prodigious)....and you stagger to where you think it was gonna land, mouth open, hands outstretched and it hits the turf about 10 yds away...forget it lol
Indeed . Rip both
I’m taking this as my first cricket lesson
1. When fielding - sit down and fart in the grass
wednesday1957
Midfield
Oy!!..cheeky chuff...theres an absolute art in "Looking like yer actually doing summat on a cricket field, without actually doing summat
albeit its harder to do when you are bowling, batting or keeping wicket .
You know when you have the old bloke like me in the slips....and an outside edge goes flying....you see me do a forlorn dive?..as some young bugger shouts..."Good effort" and chases it to the boundary?
I "Dived" cos I didn;t want to chase it to the boundary..I KNEW I wasn't gonna get anywhere near it.
The "Forward defensive"..play it to ANY ball..honestly...you still look good..If it even goes 3ft down leg side...all you do..is finish in your correct forward defensive stance and then... do that thingy wiv yer arm when you are sort of indicating to your mate at the other end that it swung alarmingly down leg.. no bugger will remember, the bowler will say nowt cos it looks like he can swing a ball when he can hardly bowl anyway, should you be LBW..you simply look down legside and raise an eyebrow at the umpire, who's only umpiring cos he can't play the f***ing game, should you be bowled middle stump..you do the similar arm thingy , but with less exaggeration indicating it swung in.
BUT..you FINISH in the classic forward defensive stance.
F.ook me...you've stillgot a lot to learn up there in Durham....
True story.....
Our keeper went sick, last minute phone call on a Sunday morning, so we drafted our Sunday league goalkeeper in, cos he was the only fucker who could "dive" without pulling a muscle....he knew NOWT of cricket....I ended up batting with him halfway through the innings...he just sorta stood there waitng for the ball, holding his bat like baseball player..swung at it , missed it, so did their keeper, so i shouted "one"...It went to the boundary and into some bushes so I stopped and he shouted
"Keep running andy"...They can't find it"
I bloody collapsed laughing....
Last edited:
Oy!!..cheeky chuff...theres an absolute art in "Looking like yer actually doing summat on a cricket field, without actually doing summat
albeit its harder to do when you are bowling, batting or keeping wicket .
You know when you have the old bloke like me in the slips....and an outside edge goes flying....you see me do a forlorn dive?..as some young bugger shouts..."Good effort" and chases it to the boundary?
I "Dived" cos I didn;t want to chase it to the boundary..I KNEW I wasn't gonna get anywhere near it.
The "Forward defensive"..play it to ANY ball..honestly...you still look good..If it even goes 3ft down leg side...all you do..is finish in your correct forward defensive stance and then... do that thingy wiv yer arm when you are sort of indicating to your mate at the other end that it swung alarmingly down leg.. no bugger will remember, the bowler will say nowt cos it looks like he can swing a ball when he can hardly bowl anyway, should you be LBW..you simply look down legside and raise an eyebrow at the umpire, who's only umpiring cos he can't play the f***ing game, should you be bowled middle stump..you do the similar arm thingy , but with less exaggeration indicating it swung in.
BUT..you FINISH in the classic forward defensive stance.
F.ook me...you've stillgot a lot to learn up there in Durham....
Classic village cricket
First game I played back from my prolonged absence I was fielding at point and got a exocet leathered towards me. I tried to catch it one handed, nearly broke my hand and had the seam imprint embedded into my skin for about a month.
A few overs later one was heading for the boundary, the club chairman was waddling after it and I was also in pursuit. I sped past him only to pull my hamstring which made me pull up sharpish.
We were batting second so I went out to bat with a throbbing hand and on one leg. The same chairman was batting at the other end and called a very dubious single. I would have struggled to get there fully fit so had no chance.
The ball was thrown back, went straight through the keeper’s gloves and bounced off his pads before trundling onto the stumps and dislodging a bail.
Run out for a duck and my ‘career’ didn’t improve much thereafter.
This is brilliant, exactly why I want to get into local cricketOy!!..cheeky chuff...theres an absolute art in "Looking like yer actually doing summat on a cricket field, without actually doing summat
albeit its harder to do when you are bowling, batting or keeping wicket .
You know when you have the old bloke like me in the slips....and an outside edge goes flying....you see me do a forlorn dive?..as some young bugger shouts..."Good effort" and chases it to the boundary?
I "Dived" cos I didn;t want to chase it to the boundary..I KNEW I wasn't gonna get anywhere near it.
The "Forward defensive"..play it to ANY ball..honestly...you still look good..If it even goes 3ft down leg side...all you do..is finish in your correct forward defensive stance and then... do that thingy wiv yer arm when you are sort of indicating to your mate at the other end that it swung alarmingly down leg.. no bugger will remember, the bowler will say nowt cos it looks like he can swing a ball when he can hardly bowl anyway, should you be LBW..you simply look down legside and raise an eyebrow at the umpire, who's only umpiring cos he can't play the f***ing game, should you be bowled middle stump..you do the similar arm thingy , but with less exaggeration indicating it swung in.
BUT..you FINISH in the classic forward defensive stance.
F.ook me...you've stillgot a lot to learn up there in Durham....
True story.....
Our keeper went sick, last minute phone call on a Sunday morning, so we drafted our Sunday league goalkeeper in, cos he was the only fucker who could "dive" without pulling a muscle....he knew NOWT of cricket....I ended up batting with him halfway through the innings...he just sorta stood there waitng for the ball, holding his bat like baseball player..swung at it , missed it, so did their keeper, so i shouted "one"...It went to the boundary and into some bushes so I stopped and he shouted
"Keep running andy"...They can't find it"
I bloody collapsed laughing....
Will be practicing my forward defence with an air-bat in the house, the arm waving thing makes so much sense now, see the pro’s doing it all the time when they miss the ball
Raker
Striker
Oy!!..cheeky chuff...theres an absolute art in "Looking like yer actually doing summat on a cricket field, without actually doing summat
albeit its harder to do when you are bowling, batting or keeping wicket .
You know when you have the old bloke like me in the slips....and an outside edge goes flying....you see me do a forlorn dive?..as some young bugger shouts..."Good effort" and chases it to the boundary?
I "Dived" cos I didn;t want to chase it to the boundary..I KNEW I wasn't gonna get anywhere near it.
The "Forward defensive"..play it to ANY ball..honestly...you still look good..If it even goes 3ft down leg side...all you do..is finish in your correct forward defensive stance and then... do that thingy wiv yer arm when you are sort of indicating to your mate at the other end that it swung alarmingly down leg.. no bugger will remember, the bowler will say nowt cos it looks like he can swing a ball when he can hardly bowl anyway, should you be LBW..you simply look down legside and raise an eyebrow at the umpire, who's only umpiring cos he can't play the f***ing game, should you be bowled middle stump..you do the similar arm thingy , but with less exaggeration indicating it swung in.
BUT..you FINISH in the classic forward defensive stance.
F.ook me...you've stillgot a lot to learn up there in Durham....
True story.....
Our keeper went sick, last minute phone call on a Sunday morning, so we drafted our Sunday league goalkeeper in, cos he was the only fucker who could "dive" without pulling a muscle....he knew NOWT of cricket....I ended up batting with him halfway through the innings...he just sorta stood there waitng for the ball, holding his bat like baseball player..swung at it , missed it, so did their keeper, so i shouted "one"...It went to the boundary and into some bushes so I stopped and he shouted
"Keep running andy"...They can't find it"
I bloody collapsed laughing....
wednesday1957
Midfield
Funny thing is mate...as you get older, you think you'll get better you don;t..even if you start off from my low standards.Classic village cricket
First game I played back from my prolonged absence I was fielding at point and got a exocet leathered towards me. I tried to catch it one handed, nearly broke my hand and had the seam imprint embedded into my skin for about a month.
A few overs later one was heading for the boundary, the club chairman was waddling after it and I was also in pursuit. I sped past him only to pull my hamstring which made me pull up sharpish.
We were batting second so I went out to bat with a throbbing hand and on one leg. The same chairman was batting at the other end and called a very dubious single. I would have struggled to get there fully fit so had no chance.
The ball was thrown back, went straight through the keeper’s gloves and bounced off his pads before trundling onto the stumps and dislodging a bail.
Run out for a duck and my ‘career’ didn’t improve much thereafter.
remember when the reverse sweep was a novelty?
We were playing in a midweek game at a park near Hillsborough...16..... 8 ball overs..I was batting...we needed about 50 offa the last over lol...Bloke who was bowling at me sat behind me on the Kop at hillsborough, he sidled up and said....
"Play a reverse sweep at the next one...if you hit it I buy you a pint..If not you buy me one"
So..bearing in mind I thought getting the 50 offa 8 balls was beyond even me...i nodded
So up he trundles, i had already turned the sodding bat around....hit me dead centre of the forehead...seam mark and everything for a f***ing week!
I read somewhere
"Epitaph for a poor cricketer"
"Here lies our player billy sage
Hit by a lorry...2 ton
could field , he could bowl,
but sadly, poor soul,
to the end..a bad judge of a run
Last edited:
Inside Forward
Winger
I’ve just joined a local club. Going down to meet all the players in a few weeks. Told them I’ve never played before but am keen to get stuck in and learn and they welcomed me with open arms.
Nervous but also excited.
Nervous but also excited.
Class, keep us updatedI’ve just joined a local club. Going down to meet all the players in a few weeks. Told them I’ve never played before but am keen to get stuck in and learn and they welcomed me with open arms.
Nervous but also excited.
zebediah
Striker
I used to really enjoy fielding
But not enough time in the week to play golf and cricket.
Maybe when I retire (if I don't peg it before hand).
Lumley End
Full Back
The key tip when fielding is to get yourself in the slip cordon (can work elsewhere on the field) then when the ball inevitably whizzes past you dive knowing you aren’t getting it. You then stay grounded and punch the floor a couple of times to make it look like you really tried and were close to it, alls whilst your mate has chased after it to clean up.
Best tip I can give you regarding bats is don't buy one that's too heavy. You'll basically miss everything because you can't get the bat up and back down in time. It will also force you to slog as you'll use your bottom hand more to compensate for the weight.
It's fine margins, whatever level you play at, as you'll be playing against, and with, players of similar ability to yourself.
I always used a bat that weighed no more than 2 pounds, eight ounces and I'm a fairly big unit. My youngest lad used the same weight bat for a couple of years (mine, actually) and he's built like me (poor bugger). Last season, he bought a bat weighing two pounds, ten ounces and he's struggled with his timing ever since. He's persevering with the bat and looking at ways to make it pick up lighter (extra rubber grips on the handle - that sort of thing) but it may well end up with him buying another, lighter bat.
Have a look on-line at some of the independent bat-makers - they're normally a fair bit cheaper than the manufacturers whose bats you see getting used by the pros on the telly.
SAFC2403
Striker
Lots of good advice here - in regards to making the pickup lighter - Get an old grip and cut it at 1 inch intervals and wrap them around the very top of the bat - once you get about 3 or 4 on the top you will feel the bat pickup change. Its a good tip but in all honesty if its feeling heavy the best bet is to get him to a bat shop or a bat maker and let him pick up the bats before buying.
Weight of the bat is not always the issue - for years I used a 2lb 8 bat but I got a custom made bat that ended up being 2lb 12 and it picks up lighter that any bat ive ever had - the key difference is it had a much thicker handle which really helps with the bat pickup and perceived weight of it.
When I say 'my youngest', he's not a bairn - he's twenty-three years old! He bought the latest bat against my advice (it was cheap - already made, rather than made to order) but I'll pass on the tip about counter-balancing the top of the handle in the way you suggest.
SAFC2403
Striker
ah fair enough!!When I say 'my youngest', he's not a bairn - he's twenty-three years old! He bought the latest bat against my advice (it was cheap - already made, rather than made to order) but I'll pass on the tip about counter-balancing the top of the handle in the way you suggest.
The counter balance helped me when i knacked my wrist last season - just made the bat feel a bit lighter.
for me custom made is always the best way to go - some cracking deals out there from smaller bat makers - brilliant value in lower grades that can still play so, so well. I'm a massive fan of the butterfly grades - reasonably priced and can play better than some of the "better" grades.
Sillypoint
Central Defender
just to get your eye in have a try of the batting cages at lane 7 in durham, interactive bowling machine really good fun, i took the bairn, now ive not played competitively for about 20 years now, but was canny junior cricketer and 2nd XI bat, My arrogant self thought id smash it, once it got past the middle speed i couldnt see it, the bairn wiped the floor with me she had it on "pro" and was scoring runs for fun
