Am I a better Batsman than Chris Martin?

[GuyFromLancs]

Do you do ok against bowlers 130kms plus? Are they in your league?

Edit: I don't understand why you don't have divisions. It must be very frustrating for the good teams to play the weak teams. And embarrassing for the weak teams to play the good teams.

There are divisions yes, but the divisions are made up of each teams' 1st, 2nd and 3rd XI. The teams are interchangable to some extent with the the same players turning out for a couple of the sides a weekend if the times permit.

As for the 130KPH question, some of the younger lads bowl very quickly and are more likely to do you damage than an ex-pro who will be a bit lenient with you, especially if you are a bit of a no hoper like moi.

 

[GuyFromLancs]

I think that's the nature of a number of leagues in the UK. Was the same in Devon. There was a former county player in our league, fortunately he was a spinner so no one got killed.

I think the issue is that fewer people play cricket in England than in decades past as the sport is rarely played in state schools (although often played and played well in private schools).

Despite this there exists a reluctance to shut down local clubs and teams and therefore anyone who wants to play league cricket will get a game for someone no matter how bad he is through sheer lack of numbers. However these same teams are the gateway and shop window to the level higher ,especially for overseas players so we seem to get a number of ODI and FC players, in particular from Pakistan.

They come over, some don't play that well and stay at this level, and some play brilliantly taking their wickets at about 10 and averaging about 60 with the bat. If they sustain this they go up to the next level playing senior cricket for East Lancs, Burnley firsts etc, alongside former test players like Chris Cairns and Nathan Astle.

In the past the senior league has had players such as Shane Warne, Viv Richards, Allan Border.......you name we've had them. Less so nowadays though.

 

[GuyFromLancs]

Specialist batsmen playing at 9 & 10 seems an odd one.

In local cricket this isn't unusual. In lower-level versions of the game mere athletic ability can get you quite far and the best bowlers are often the best batsman as well and bat in the top 6-7.

 

[marc71178]

Yeah, but bearing in mind one of those specialists was Devon Malcolm it seems very odd!

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Yeah, but bearing in mind one of those specialists was Devon Malcolm it seems very odd!

He was clearly tired mentally & physically after making 98. Drained that he didn't get his hundy and thereafter refused to take to the bowling crease, I suspect.

 

[Goughy]

Phil Tufnell opened the batting for his school. This suggests that he might well have played decent-ish club cricket as a batsman. And yet he wasn't much better than Chris Martin as a Test batsman.

I often wonder how Devon Malcolm would fare in club cricket. He was one of the most hopeless Test batsmen England has ever produced and yet he could hit the ball a long way when he happened to make contact with it. I reckon he'd have done ok as a club player. And obviously with the ball he would have been everyone's worst nightmare - lightning fast and a bit wild.

I remember bowling to Malcolm many years ago when I was a kid. He struggled to lay bat on ball, and not because I was particularly good. Nice forward defensive but lacked the coords and eyesight to consistently bat ok at any level.

 

[Goughy]

The quality ranges from very high to fairly poor from team to team and also ranges as such within each team. The nature of cricket in Lancashire is that you can have high quality, often former international, players alongside dunderheads.

It's great.

What league?

 

[grecian]

I actually saw Devon Malcolm's top score in first-class cricket, it was a laff, but at Taunton, so it hardly counts.

 

[zaremba]

I remember bowling to Malcolm many years ago when I was a kid. He struggled to lay bat on ball, and not because I was particularly good. Nice forward defensive but lacked the coords and eyesight to consistently bat ok at any level.

How did you fare when he bowled against you?

 

[Goughy]

How did you fare when he bowled against you?

Haha, I never had that pleasure.

 

[zaremba]

Did he bowl in the game? If so was it at full tilt and if so how quick did he appear?

 

[Goughy]

Did he bowl in the game? If so was it at full tilt and if so how quick did he appear?

It wasnt in a game. It was in the nets for the 1991 Headingley Test. Even the young kids like me thought we were wasting our time bowling at Malcolm

 

[GuyFromLancs]

What league?

Ribblesdale.

 

[Life on Limbrick]

I think the issue is that fewer people play cricket in England than in decades past as the sport is rarely played in state schools (although often played and played well in private schools).

Despite this there exists a reluctance to shut down local clubs and teams and therefore anyone who wants to play league cricket will get a game for someone no matter how bad he is through sheer lack of numbers. However these same teams are the gateway and shop window to the level higher ,especially for overseas players so we seem to get a number of ODI and FC players, in particular from Pakistan.

They come over, some don't play that well and stay at this level, and some play brilliantly taking their wickets at about 10 and averaging about 60 with the bat. If they sustain this they go up to the next level playing senior cricket for East Lancs, Burnley firsts etc, alongside former test players like Chris Cairns and Nathan Astle.

In the past the senior league has had players such as Shane Warne, Viv Richards, Allan Border.......you name we've had them. Less so nowadays though.

Alvin Kalicharan played for Blackrod recently!

 

[GuyFromLancs]

One of the things you've gotta love about Cricket. This level of player mixing it with us plebs. He must be knocking on though, I thought he were in the Sobers era?

 

[Life on Limbrick]

One of the things you've gotta love about Cricket. This level of player mixing it with us plebs. He must be knocking on though, I thought he were in the Sobers era?

he is 61, just had a wikipedia,

looking on the playcricket site he played 8 games for them in 2008 and 1 game last year.

I have played against some decent pro's in the northern league, when i was younger, and better

 

[zaremba]

My toughest opponents were always my own lack of ability, temperament and commitment

 

[GuyFromLancs]

My toughest opponents were always my own lack of ability, temperament and commitment

I learned to bat in my Grandma's garden as a kid where the fence/wicket was next to the hedge. Therefore I had no offside to play the ball into and subsequently never really learned to drive a ball through the offside correctly. That was a tough opponent.

 

[Riggins]

I learned to bat in my Grandma's garden as a kid where the fence/wicket was next to the hedge. Therefore I had no offside to play the ball into and subsequently never really learned to drive a ball through the offside correctly. That was a tough opponent.

I love stories like this. You see/hear it all the time where guys games even at test level reflect the shape of their backyard or ridiculous backyard rules haha, epic.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Our backyard was the opposite, plenty of room to drive but the house was pretty close in on the leg-side. I've never really been able to play any useful leg-side shots to quicks, but can cut and drive pretty well as a result of the shape of our yard I think.