Story County Success

[spaga1994]

3rd Day Middlesex vs Glamorgan

Journal Entry 6

Day 3 and i knew this might be the day that i will bat for the 2nd time in the match. I was preparing myself for a mentally strong challenge because Glamorgan have a very good bowling attack. I had to replace my bat as i cracked the toe off it in a training session earlier that morning. We still had to take 10 Glamorgan wickets but i was fairly confident that we could do that Glamorgan started of well wich made me think i would have to wait till day 4 to bat Mark Cosgrove a fellow Australian had to be retired hurt because of a lethal bouncer Silverwood bowled. I was brought into the attack just before lunch and i did something i totally unexpected to do i got two wickets in 3 balls and ended up with figures of 12 overs 2/34. We knocked them over with 2 overs to bat before tea i was nervous but luckilly for me Andrew Strauss faced all the balls. I only had to bat for around one hour because of a rain interuption i faced 42 balls for my 18 runs not out i hit one four and was in batting for 58 minutes. For me it was a very successful day picking up 2 wickets and ending up with 18 not out. Tommorow is going to be a big day for me and Middlesex.

 

[Burnsy1]

Like how this is going keep it up. On a side note not sure whether it would work for 09 but with the ICC Editor released for 08 you could alter players nationality allowing them to be kolpak or a full OS available for selection. Probably won't work but it's worth a try.

 

[spaga1994]

4th Day Middlesex vs Glamorgan

Journal Entry 7

The final day of my first match. So far up to this point i have put in a solid effort 2 wickets, 13 runs in the first innings and 18 not out so far i have gotten of to a good start this innings and im looking to make some more runs today. I just got back from the nets this morning and to be honest i hardly hit a ball in the middle of the bat. Walking out to bat with my teammate Neil Dexter i was slightly confident that if i saw of the first 5 overs i could post a good score and we could win this match. Second over of the day i had an inside edge that could of been caught but it would of taken a great catch but from there i batted quite well bringing up my first 50 in 106 balls and ending up with a score of 51 from 112 balls with 4 fours and i was in the middle for 143 minutes. I was fairly satisfied but i was also angry at myself i lost concentration and thats how i got bowled to a pretty ordinary ball from Harrison. In the end we won by 7 wickets with Neil Dexter getting the highest score of 54 from 136 balls at the end of the game my captain Andrew Strauss said that he thinks i have a very good future.



Summary

Glamorgan 245
Middlesex 355
Glamorgan 287
Middlesex 3/181

 

[OffCutters]

Great knock for your debut. 2 solid wickets and a half-century is a very good start. well done mate.

 

[spaga1994]

Post Match Recovery

Journal Entry 8

After our win over Glamorgan it was time to go and have our recovery session. This went for about an hour and a half first we had to go into a warm pool and do some laps and then two at a time we had to go into this freezing cold ice tub. I went in by myself because numbers in our team aren't even. I went in for about 6 minutes and in the 2nd minute my feet were completely numb finally after that we were able to go home. in four days time we get to see who has been selected for the Challenge Trophy match against Scotland CC

Jarryd Spagnolo

 

[spaga1994]

Team For OD match against Scotland CC

Journal Entry 9

Getting out of the taxi and walking into the club rooms i was hopping i put in a good enough performance to get me a spot in the Challenge trophy match against Scotland CC. Unfortunatly i was 5 minutes late due to me not being able to find a taxi as i havent baught a car yet. When i got there the team sheet had just been put on this desk that was right in the middle of the club rooms. I went and had a look and there i was batting at number two with Strauss there had been no changes from the First Class match against Glamorgan. We were able to go home after that and relax for the game tommorow.

Middlesex

A.Strauss(Captain)
J.Spagnolo
N.Dexter
N.Compton
E.Morgan
A.Bowen
B.Scott(keeper)
C.Silverwood
S.Finn
A.Richardson
D.Evans

 

[spaga1994]

OD match vs Scotland CC

Journal Entry 10
The Morning of the OD match just like the First Class match earlier i couldnt sleep i knew i was lucky to hold onto my spot for this match as we have some very good openers waiting for me to slip up so they can take my place at the top of the order. I got to the game 2 hours before it was schedualed to start. I went straight down to the nets on a bright and sunny day i was timming the ball pretty well i practised the balls comming straight because in the First Class match i got out LBW and then bowled i needed some practice. When i got back to our pavillion i got our team physio to give me a back massage she was pretty hot and she gave good massages. I got up when i saw Andrew Strauss go for the toss and saw on the big screen that we had lost it and they put us into bat i put my pads on and was ready to walk out onto the middle my nerves seemed to go away my captain stopped me half way and said try not to drive to much on this wicket it looks slow and the ball might hold up. Me and Strauss put on a 52 run partnership before he got out for 23. We were scoring pretty slowly but we knew a score of 230 would be good the next partnership i was in went for 45 runs until Neil Dexter fell for 27 i was going along nicely a bit slow but i knew i could make it up unfortunately i fell 6 runs short of my fifty i made 44 of 59 balls with 6 fours and 1 six. I got four of my boundries from cover drives. It was lucky for us that Nick Compton made 49 of 41 balls to get our run rate up There were alot of starts but that was going to happen because of this pitch. We ended up being all out for 230 with 3 balls left in our innings. I was pretty happy with my work today so far.



We had a 20 minutes break before we could go out and field. In our team we have 4 frontline seamers but no fith bowler so i was expecting to do some bowling. We knew if we could take their top 4 batsmens wickets early we could win this game. We started off well getting both their openers out early but they batted really well from their. I was given a bowl after our 4 seamers had bowled 5 overs each in my first over i picked up a wicket i got R.Watson LBW and then in my last over i got R.Haq LBW. Two of our seamers didnt pick up any wickets and were both expensive wich in the end was one of the reasons we lost. Our best bowler was one of my best mates in the team Silverwood who picked up 3/45 from his 10. I myself ended up with pretty expensive figures of 2/56 from 10 but this wicket didnt help leg spin bowling so i was pleased with my game today.



Middlesex 230
Scotland CC 6/231

 

[spaga1994]

Journal Entry 11:Training

Journal Entry 11
As i arrived at trainning i was fairly confident with my two games i would be chosen for our next match. Unfortunately it was raining today so we had to go to the indoor centre and face the bowling machines. I faced two sets of 20 balls and felt i was batting very nicely even though i got bowled when i set the bowling machine to off spin. The team was then announced for the next game against leicestershire in a county championship match the only change for the team was Bowen has been dropped for Malan

 

[spaga1994]

Day 1 vs Leicestershire

Journal Entry 12
The 1st day of my second County Championship match i was still pretty nervous i was hoping we would get to bat today so my nerves would go away quickly. After getting to the ground and talking to Andrew Strauss about what we should do. We decided if we won the toss we would bat. Unfortunately for us we lost the toss and they sent us in to field. All i could hope for is for me to be given the ball for atleast 5 overs and do a reasonable job maybe even pick up the one wicket. I was fielding at point today i saved atleast 2 boundries. We were in trouble they were building partnerships then i came in and with my second ball i bowled their opener for 67 and then four overs later i got their number 3 batsmen out J.Cobb. They still managed to get partnerships going i thought we were going to be fielding all day they were 4/291 but then they lost 6/58 and finished on all out for 349. I picked up one more wicket the wicket of number eleven batsmen Obrien. I ended with the best figures of our team 3/41 from 12.1 overs me and Strauss had to go and bat for one over a bit pointless in my opinion and Strauss faced all 6 balls.

 

[hedger_14]

nice bowling there. how do you do it so that the double posts don't merge cause whenever i do that, they do.

 

[spaga1994]

nice bowling there. how do you do it so that the double posts don't merge cause whenever i do that, they do.

i just press "post reply" and it happens like it if your "quick repliying" thats why it might be doing it

 

[hedger_14]

well its not being that way for me.

 

[spaga1994]

Day 2 vs Leicestershire

Journal Entry 13

I woke up knowing i needed to get a good score today to get my team of to a good start. I arrived at the ground at a reasonable time i put my pads on and sat down. I decided not to go into the nets as i had a bit of a sore hamstring i still was going to bat today though. Walking out to the middle was great a really good crowd had shown up today. I had to face the first ball i guided it easily to third man and from there i batted nicely. I survived to lunch i was on 45 and just after lunch i brought up my second 50. Wickets were falling around me i was on 64 when i got out lbw i had scored seven fours and i faced 138 balls. I was angry with myself i got a start but didnt go on lucky for us Malan and Scott both put on a very good partnership but Scott fell on 56. We ended the day 29 runs behind Leicestershirewith two wickets in hand the game was fairly even with 2days left.

 

[spaga1994]

Day 3 vs Leicestershire

Journal Entry 14

Day three and i was exited i was looking forward to having a bit of a bowl as i have had succes in all the games i have played this season for middlesex. With my 64 yesterday i was feeling good that i am slowly cementing my spot. We were trailling my 29 runs with two wickets in hand. Arriving at the ground i was hoping that we could bat for an hour atleast. It didnt go as planned we were bowled out in the first 15 minutes and we were in the field all day with only taking four wickets. They scored 367 runs. The only bowler to get more than one wicket was me i picked up 2/71 from 16 overs i was expensive but so were the four other bowlers that were bowled. Tommorow will be a big day as i expect we will be playing for the draw their top four batsmen all made scores over 50. The pitch is getting worse as the game is going on. It is a good pitch for spinners and uneven bounce for pace bowlers.

 

[spaga1994]

Day 4 vs Leicestershire

Journal Entry 15

Last day of the match we were told late last night that we were going to play for the draw and if in the last session we have to only chase around 150 runs and have enough wickets in hand then we would go for the win. All of our batters had a go in the nets early in the morning as we knew today was going to be a big day. I knew if i made a century today i would be cemented in the team for most of this season. We started off well picking up a couple wickets quite early. They declared leading by 407 runs. We knew that it would be almost impossible to win. Things didnt start of well with Strauss falling on 18 and then i fell soon after on 9 i hit just the one boundary. It was a collapse we ended up loosing by 281 runs beeing all out for 126 runs. Our highest scorer was Niel Dexter with 23. Leicestershires stand out bowler was their Slow Left Arm bowler Henderson who ended up with figures of 7/34 from 15 overs


My Bowling Form

Summary

Leicestershire 349
Middlesex 339
Leicestershire 6/397 dec
Middlesex 126