Last week’s loss has triggered some reflection (this game requires so much reflection). Sure, we got ripped apart by a bloke who might arguably have found a home a couple of leagues higher, but what were the lessons learnt? As Captain it seems your destiny is to routinely question small tactical decisions that may (or may not) have acted as tipping points in the game. How long is too long to leave in a bowler with the yips? Do you let weaker fielders try to build confidence by holding pivotal positions during the innings or do what you can to hide them in the interests of the team? How much influence do you give bowlers when setting the field (if they can’t tell you where they get hit to, not much I suspect)? How can you keep up the spirits of the team when things are going south quickly? The list goes on.
Not sure there are standard answers to any of these questions- at least I’ve never found them when discussing such matters with other experienced skippers. I fear most of the insights one can glean from these scenarios only appear in retrospect.
Selection this week is much easier in many ways as there is a mob of half decent players who have emerged above and thus some talented people available to us. The attack looks much more orthodox this coming Saturday and thank God for that. A slight sense of pressure develops as this time there are no structural barriers to us performing well and indeed winning. The whatsapp chat with the other Captains leads to some thoughts about the pitfalls of dropping a good player or two, only to have to run after them cap in hand begging them to return when you suddenly lose others. This can make you look like an idiot who “doesn’t know his best side” but, like in the rest of life, the truth is much more complicated than that; the winds of change can blow hard against the walls of your provisional squad selection. Furthermore, at the lower end of the league structure there is always tension related to role balance and the need to induct younger/newer players which means you can’t realistically just establish a ‘unit’ and run with them all season.
When, for a brief time during the week, it seems we will have one too many talented players to choose from I toy with the idea of dropping myself to accommodate another. I am dissuaded from this by the Vice Captain who suggests that my inclusion is the very least I might expect for the admin efforts I have put in. Certainly that is one school of thought but can’t help feeling like the character in a heist movie who does all the IT and technical stuff in the van when the others are doing the business.
Funny thing is, I don’t actually mind adopting the umpiring role and tend to do this frequently. They say that walking in nature helps to lower cortisol and regulate blood sugar levels and so I suppose that standing (every other over) at square leg might be as close as one can get to that on a cricket day. At any rate, half the nitwits who play this game have very little idea about how to judge LBW or allow themselves to get badgered into decisions. Me being out there is largely about preventing people who think they know what they’re doing getting involved in officiating- in other words, damage limitation. In the end, our temporary fantasy about hosting several higher-level players disappears as quickly as it was conjured up. Never count your potential centurions before they’ve matched.

Post-match: The headline will always read…another loss for the 5s, this time by 5 wickets (improvement?). But for periods in the game we were in it and even looked comfortable. Arriving at the ground in South London a little late I rushed out for the toss. Having won it I had to make gut call (without any chance of consultation) and chose to bat. This initially looked like a great decision as our opening pair put on a 50 partnership inside 10 overs. But a few instances of bad luck (couple of lads chopping on, skying glance attempts and even one player getting ‘stumped’ at the non-striker’s end failing to return quickly enough after a dot ball) we soon leveled at 141 all out. This was probably about 30-40 short of a defendable total, but who knew what foibles the oppo might have to contend with? As it turned out not that many. Couple of dropped catches (both at full stretch) by us were not really the reason. In the end we simply didn’t have enough challenging bowling to keep the pressure on their batsmen. As skipper this usually means the end of any enjoyment in the game as you (sometimes with the help of your trusted advisors) continually scroll through your options trying to find a combination or variable that you can employ to change your fortune. The risk is micromanaging it all and sadly I feel I lapsed into this demeanour a couple times.
No hiding from it- the team have dropped three on the bounce and I think I’m the only one who has played in them all.
Come to think of it, didn’t I say I would do this job as a caretaker for the first month or so only? Think it’s about time to get the Chairman on the blower and get myself sacked. If the Vice skipper can win one or more of the two games I’ll be away on holiday for, it will be a sign. In the meantime- off to Greece to put it all out of my mind.