No it's just the crap graphics of my comp, but I have said that quite a few times.
Saturday 29th March
156/3 and I was in facing Streak. Streak is a very good bowler having played for Zimbabwe before he retired, and I would have preffered to have been facing someone different. However there is no point in wishing for things that aren't happening.
He started his run-up and released the ball, I saw it was short and wide and left it. Wasn't too bad. Could have been worse. Streak had reached his mark again. He came thundering in, another ball short, which whistled by my head This wasn't fun, he was trying to intimidate me and doing a good job. Facing my third ball now, I was pretty nervous, he released the ball. It was full and straight, I had been expecting the bouncer. I got myself tangled up, nearly fell over and heard the cheer of the fielders. I had been bowled for a duck. :crying
A Duck how embarissing. I slowly put my bat under my arm and headed back to the pavillion. I was really gutted. This hadn't been a good match for me. 161/4 and we were in trouble now.
Back in the pavillion, no one was speaking much. I went over to the corner and just sat with my head in my hands.
"A duck a bloody duck!!!"
I was really annoyed. The skip came over. "Hey, Tom. Don't beat yourself up about it. You were facing a World Class bowler and everyone has bad matches. Just perform well with the ball in the next innings."
Meanwhile things got worse for the team, as we lost David soon after I had got back in the pavillion. He had tried to go for a quick single and had been run-out on 94. He had been desperate to make his century and even a despairing dive had not been enough. We now had Niall and Andy at the crease and we really needed a big partnership from these two.
That wasn't to be however. Andy was soon trapped LBW for only 6, once again of the bowling of Heath Streak. That man is becoming the bain of all Kent batsmen. We had now slipped from 156/3 to 186/6. That was really bad. Andy soon arrived back in the changing room with a face like thunder. He was certain he had been hit out of the line, but the TV replay showed it had been out.
Niall and Jimmy had batted well together in the first innings having a massive partnership. We needed a repeat performance. It was soon to be Tea and we hoped they could survive till then. However with only a few overs to go, Niall was completely beaten for pace by Pretorius, and was bowled for just 6. Cooky and Jimmy were now batting and we now needed them to bat for time.
Cooky and Jimmy made it to tea, but the atmosphere in there was like that at a funeral. We pretty much sat there in silence. 205/7 I just could not believe how easily our middle order had collapsed. Streak and Pretorius had been unplayable.
We needed some inspiration from the skip. "Right boys, that session looked really positive to begin with, but we are now right in the crap. Cooky and Jimmy. The only think I can say to you is play for time. If you and the rest of the boys could get us to the end of the day, we can re-group then. We really need to build the lead up though."
Although we had scored 205 runs we still only led by 177 runs. Some career best scores were needed by the tail.
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