Game 4 - finally a WIN!!

One day game vs Boronia. Strong side, 3 changes.
I lost the toss - doh, but he sent us in to bat - woo hoo!!
No secret our batting has been fragile, but I was happy to put the challenge to the boys early.
A good opening partnership of 52 saw us on the way, run rate 4 an over.
Then 3 quick wickets. Things steadied a bit, but no-one took control of the batting, a few starts but no dominant runs. I was batting at 9 and was in with less than 5 overs to bat, score was about 100 OK but not yet enough. A couple of wild swings but no connection, then Bang - 6 over wide mid on. A few quick singles and lucky runs, one more wicket, but we finished on 8/132 from our 35 overs. Happy with that. I was 14 not out (season average 23.5, batting from 9 or 10, I'll bat at 8 next week)

With our strength in our bowling, a good start would set us up for the game. I opened the bowling as usual, and felt good from the start. My second over - wicket, excellent an early victim. By the 5th over they were 3 for 7, almost game over. By the 14th over they were 3 for 22, they never looked like going after the bowling, and our guys kept it simple. Every bowler was able to take at least one wicket, and they fell regularly enough. By the end of the day they were 9/84, a solid win. My figures 7overs, 2 maidens, 2 wickets for 5 runs - happy days.

It was good to get the first win of the season tucked away.

Pol Com - new IR laws

I am finding it more and more curious as both the government and the ACTU (opposition) go back and forth with the propoganda for the new Industrial Relations laws.
I am no expert, but have worked under both an EBA and now an AWA for over 6 years, plus did a few IR subjects in uni.

What I don't understand is that neither side seem to acknowledge that collective agreements have been in place for many years, they are not the 'new thing' that the beat ups are suggesting.

Furthermore, why is the government ignoring details like the protection mechanisms in place to ensure the validity of these agreements. Surely no government would be crazy enough to remove such protections.....would they??

Having the position of senior management currently, and with the plan to be a business owner in the future, I can see many of the intricacies of employment contributing to this debate. My personal opinion is that a mechanism for negoitiation is a good thing, but there needs to be a clearly defined and properly administered safety net.

Employers need the opportunity to match the conditions of employment to the business they operate. Employees need the opportunity to negotiate some give and take so the job can match their needs and lifestyle more closely. But it can't be a one way street for either, employers can't have the chance to abuse their strong position and employees can't be given the right to ask for more and more without some trade offs.

Personally, I would like to see both sides of this debate getting into details and forget about the 'spin' that is currently on offer. Both sides are wasting money - whoevers it is - without giving any substance to the argument. Give the tax payer some credit, lay it all out on the table, then ask people to comment / support / debate.

More information please!!

2nd good run

Friday morning in the city once again, a nice clear and mild morning.
After the 10ks on Wednesday I was hoping that the knee would hold up to another steady paced run. We took on the course that includes the Tan, since one of the guys had to get to work a little earlier, with the lighter mornings and better weather there seemed to be more people out and about.
Good steady run, without the need to stop and stretch, although when the guys had a fast finish to the Tan lap, I didn't go with them, as I would still like to feel more comfortable with the strength of the knee. Even pace is what I'm aiming for these days.
Another good run of around 53mins, things are looking good.

Later in the day, we took our 2 boys to the Zoo, which they both thoroughly enjoyed. This meant another 6 hours of walking around, so if my knee was going to play up I'm sure I would have noticed. So I am now more comfortable about getting my number of training runs up to 3 or 4 a week.

I'm back.....maybe

Last night was one of the most boring, but satisfying training runs that I have done for a while.

4 laps of the 2.5k circuit of the Lillydale Lake. As previously mentioned I normally take in loops and extenstions to the lake to make it a pleasurable place to run. But last night I decided to give myself a bit of a test. 10k at a steady pace – to see how the heart & lungs handled it, but more about testing the knee.

Lap 1, easy start then building into it all OK, just under 5min k’s.

Lap 2, picked up pace a bit, started to question 4 laps of the same, short burst of heavy rain, closer to 4.30 pace.

Lap 3, working hard now, pace just holding but a little slower than 4.30, had to concentrate.

Lap 4, decided to bring in 500m splits to keep me on track, a little up and down but just holding on at about 4.40pace.

 

Finished in 46.30ish, I didn’t accurately time each lap, so happy with that given, no warm-up, no prep, just running.

Biggest win, 10ks without pain in the knee – tight yes, need to stretch – no. This is the first long steady run that the knee has held up for.

Today, no pain so it appears no delayed stress.

 

Next run – tomorrow in the city – 7am at the front of Niketown, in case someone reading wants to join us – 2 definites, 1 TBC – for 45mins or so.

 

Loopy lap of the lake

Wednesday morning, I got to the Lillydale Lake again for my regular irregular course of about 7ks.

While I didn’t feel great, the running was not too laboured but a little effort was required to keep any rhythm going.

The legs felt OK, and the usual sore spots that turn up when I don’t run enough seemed to stay away.

It was a warm morning, so it felt good to sweat it out, a quick pace check along the lakes edge showed I was just under 5min pace so I was comfortable with that, only more running will see that come down.

About 20mins in the knee started to object a little, I think a hangover from Saturdays cricket meant it was a little stressed, so a good stretch loosened it up and it was fine for the rest of the run, and the tightness did not come back later in the day.

 

Next run Friday morning

Game 3 - day 1

The first day or our first 2 week game, in this format each side has 70 overs to bat over 2 weeks. It gives both batsmen and bowlers a chance to get more involved in the game.

We lost the toss and were asked to bowl, just before the start of the game I found out we had a team change, now I had one more bowler to try and find some overs for, again I had 7 guys who could bowl….

Starting well, they were 2 for 22 after 20 overs, myself and a young swing bowler were able to keep it tight. Then the wheels fell off – the batting side – by tea they were 6-63. A late fight back by a couple of hitters had them all out for 122, a satisfying result. Everyone bowled pretty well and the wickets were shared around.

With them only batting for 57 overs, it left 13 overs for us to bat, the goal was to bat without losing a wicket. But again our batting was found out, by the end of the day we were 3 for 24, but with some good batmen still to come we should get the runs. The game is in the balance.

M

Edit: I forgot to post the results of Day 2. It got worse, batsmen failed, only 2 guys stuck at it. All out for 92. Me, out for 11.

Tuesday....a run before training

With and RDO and cricket training in the arvo, I took advantage of the ability to get in a run.
I decided to try running on the Mullum Mullum Creek trail near Croydon, it was pretty good a fair bit of gravel and a few ups and downs, well shaded, very nice.

I figured I had 30 mins so took it a bit harder than my last run, approx 15min out and the same back. Funny how when you are not regularly running time seems to go slow.... I was well and truly huffing and puffing, but happy to be out again. At the turnaround - just before the Ringwood bypass, I stretched and again the knee felt fine!! On the return it was hard work, but I managed to come home in about the same time.

30 odd mins and 6ks+ (not measured yet) so happy enough with that.

As for running before training - well it worked out OK, but once daylight savings comes in and training is 2hrs+ I'm not sure it will be a good idea.

I'll try to get up for a run Thurs am.

M

Pol Com ?? (I've lost count...)

An interesting article about the compulsory voting in Australia.
While I have little or no respect for the writer, the topic raised some questions.

What if voting was not compulsory? We are the only western nation (according to the article) that has compulsory voting.

Personally, I have often submitted and invalid vote due to not agreeing with any of the candidates and rather than eventually vote for a major party through preferences (another topic), I voted not for anyone. But what if the choice was there, has the political climate in our country put such a distance between MP's and Joe Aussie that many would not bother.

Perhaps it would force our elected members to actually work harder to earn a vote.
I have not pondered this theory for long enough to have a firm opinion, but do know that there needs to be some changes made before I feel that our elected leaders at all levels are truly accountable to the tax payer and not just themselves.

In the current climate, if I had the choice, I would not vote.

Game 2

After the first round batting disaster, I felt more confident going into this game with some new recruits of a higher standard. Commonsense should have told me that they had not trained much and so could not guarantee a good result....

Anyway, a positive start, I won the toss. We batted. A good start, then it went bad again. Too many wickets and not enough runs. I batted myself at 10 hoping the job would be done before I got there, if I had to bat. At 8 for 60 odd it was not good. Personally, a little luck to start with an edge through slips, then it got easy. A cracking 6 flat to square leg and I was away, but with no partners I was stranded on 22 not out. I was disappointed to top score from number 10. All out 88. My top score for the club - I'll bat myself higher next game - Captains privilege.

Then the rain came, a long tea break. Play started, the rain re-started, saved by a washout....

1 loss, 1 draw.

2 day game next round, different all over.

Friday run

Had a nice run in the city with my regular running buddy. He was in the final preparation stages for the half marathon run on Sunday. Strangely I did not feel the sense of disappointment that I thought I would at this time.

Good news is that I ran for close to an hour and the knee did not cause any pain, and in the after run few hours there was no tightening or pain. Perhaps the problem is finally disappearing. I know it is not 100% right since it feels a little tight during the day sometimes, but not as much.

Must be time to get back to my plan, which through lack of updates, is clearly off track....

Next run Tuesday am.

Game 1

The beginning of the cricket season is here again, a new year of suburban park cricket.

This is my first time as captain of a cricket team….what were they thinking???

 

I am captain of our club’s 3^rd side, playing in the Ringwood District A grade comp, in this case A grade is not the top grade and in fact is a long way from the top, but it would take too long to explain.

 

Game 1, a one dayer, 35 overs each against Warranwood who got to the Grand Final of the B grade comp last year.

Going in I knew we would be OK for bowlers but the batting was a lottery, and so it proved that way.

Adding to the mix, was that I had not seen several of our players either play or train, so I relied heavily on my deputy’s opinions.

 

The guys bowled well, they picked their field and then bowled to it, we held most catches and the fielding was good.

Wickets fell regularly and the run rate was under control, they finished on 9/124, so I was happy with that.

 

The batting line-up was tough since I only had 2 specialist batsmen, so a few would be batting higher than normal.

Unfortunately wickets fell too quickly and regularly, other than a couple of starts there was not much to write about, I didn’t do anything good, going out 2^nd ball….

all out for 68.

 

Did I enjoy my first day as captain? I didn’t like the result, but I did enjoy the day and felt the players did put in a solid effort, by adding in some stronger batsmen, as more players become available we should have a reasonable side for most of the year.

 

M