My Cricketing Life

Time 2021-10-22 20:05:17

Web Name: My Cricketing Life

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My Cricketing Life

Day to day life of a village cricketer, watching Somerset and England

Wednesday, 30 September 2015 Kelvin Hill - A Tribute
Like most people I was very shocked and then saddened by thepassing of Kelvin on Sunday. Kelvin, an absolute gentleman.
When I think of Kelvin, I think of three things: hisenthusiasm for cricket, his passion for the community of Over Stowey and hislove for his family; all somewhat are interrelated.
On a Saturday afternoon during the summer months you wouldalways find Kelvin at the cricket ground in Over Stowey watching the game atthe club dearest to his heart.
He would watch his two grandsons, play for either the 1^stXI or the 2^nd XI, with his two daughters and two granddaughterscheering on, which no doubt, would make him one happy grandfather.
After the game, you would then find him behind the bar atthe Social Club, pouring a pint or two for the thirsty players, supporters (andan umpire!). He would always have his own thoughts about the game played thatafternoon, and players would listen and take note.
I would like to share just a few stories about Kelvin, whichalways warm my heart when I think about them.
I was once captain of the 2^nd XI, and Kelvinwould still be playing then. One rainy afternoon at Brompton Ralph it looked asif play would be abandoned for the day. Eventually the rain stopped and it wasagreed that we would have a reduced game on their artificial wicket. Kelvinrefused to play. He said: its my Daughters wedding next weekend, and thereis no way I am going out there, get wet, come down with a cold and spoil myDaughters wedding. After a while he somewhat relented, put his whites on,played, and the following week he walked his daughter down the aisle without acold.
Kelvin would always find time to talk to you, no matter what.When I was still at mothers living, I would always walk the dog first thing inthe morning. When Kelvin was on the early shift as he drove to work, hewould always stop and we would have a chat. The subject would always becricket, if it was the middle of winter we would usually compare notes aboutthe England team in some foreign field, usually in how badly they wereperforming; or in the summer months, talking about Somerset and of course OverStowey.
One last story: One of Kelvins most important roles in thecommunity was barman at Over Stowey Social Club. Saturday afternoons as thecricket would draw to a close, Kelvin, along with Wendy, would be ready intheir car (the little red Escort was the one I would look out for most) toleave the ground to go and open the social club. I, along with a few otherspectators, would be willing for the final wicket to fall or the winning run tobe hit, as by then we would normally be out of cider. As soon as Kelvin wouldleave, I was not that far behind him. Somehow Kelvin would know I would befirst in the bar as my tankard would be on the bar ready to fill up.
As the shock of Kelvins passing slowly sinks in, mythoughts, along with many, go to his family. Wendy, such a loving wife; his twodaughters: Sharon and Tina; his grandchildren: Micheal, Courtney, Stephen andAmy; and to all his extended family.
Yes we will mourn; but we will always remember the legendand absolute gentleman Kelvin. His smile of contentment driving home from Bagboroughas Stowey celebrated winning the Division Two title is one lasting memory Illnever forget.
I am privileged to have known such a wonderful man.Posted byMark Sellsat16:51No comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Wednesday, 1 July 2015 The Ashes 2015Part One - note: this was written before the England squad was announced earlier today
The biggest prize in sport will begin on Wednesday, 8^thJuly, when England will attempt to regain the Ashes as the 1^st Testbegins at Cardiff.
The build up has been quite quiet, probably because Testsare being played in England and not in Australia. The gutter press down underdo enjoy a bit of Pom bashing, using words of new more than two syllables totry and rubbish the English cricketers. Whatever keeps you happy I suppose,little things etc.
What have we learnt so far? Mark Wood is looking forward togiving Shane Watson a few bouncers, as apparently there was an incident in thepast during an Aussie net session. Me thinks be careful Mark.
The afore mentioned Watson also believes that new EnglandCoach, Aussie Trevor Bayliss, could give England the edge as he has insideknowledge.
A lot of this is just rhetoric. For me there are three keythings which will determine if England can regain the Ashes:
Jimmy Anderson needs to rediscover his swingEngland top order need to cope with Starc and JohnsonSteve Smith needs to be kept quiet; England need to dismiss him cheaply enough throughout the series.Off course whos selected to play for England is critical.Everyone has their thoughts, ideas and reasons why. There is also some Englandplayers looking over their shoulders as places could be up for grabs.
For what its worth, here is my preferred line-up:
Alastair CookAdam LythIan BellGary Ballance (just)Joe RootJos ButtlerBen StokesAdil RashidStuart Broad (just)Mark WoodJimmy AndersonThere are still a few places in jeopardy; Jack Brooks andJonny Bairstow are in the waiting if others fail.

Come on England.Posted byMark Sellsat20:52No comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Tuesday, 5 May 2015 Sellsy's Cricketing ThoughtsTuesday 5^th May
Go on holiday for a week, and come back to cricketingturmoil.
Englandlose the last Test in the Caribbean and therefore tie the series, and as for Somerset, well less saidthe better.
Before I start, I would like to see thank you to JonathanTrott for being a rock in the Englandmiddle order throughout his international career, with the highlight beingwinning the Ashes down under. Great servant Jonathan, now I expect youll scorea hatful of runs for Warwickshire.
So firstly, onto England,oh dear, something I predicted back in March; the statement from Colin Gravesabout the West Indies being mediocre has come back to bite Graveson the backside. Will he have his enquiry now before the hectic summer / winterschedule, which includes the Ashes.
Well he better hurry up, the Test matches with the Kiwiswill be here soon. Somehow appointing Andrew Strauss as the new Director ofCricket may not be the answer. The answer is getting the selection rightotherwise this summer could get embarrassing. If they (ECB) say England arerebuilding, well that wont sit with a number of critics as they said thatafter the last drubbing down under.
Now onto Somerset, well I hate to say I told you so, butthey are struggling, at the time of writing Worcestershire were going straightthrough the Somerset batting, thus making it three loses in their opening three County Championshipgames, I just hope they do enough to stay up!
Thats enough about Englandand Somersetfor now, and even for the summer. It is all about Over Stowey over the nextfour months and their adventures in the West Somerset League. But please dontforget that I told you so about the predicament of both England and Somerset, I just hope they prove me wrong. PLease prove me wrong.
Ok, birthday celebration time, a day early I know. Look outnext week for Over Stoweys Adventures in the West Somerset League.Posted byMark Sellsat15:18No comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Monday, 20 April 2015 Sellsy's Cricketing Thoughts
Monday 20^th AprilMatthew Hoggard Englands best ever bowler, well that is oneis certainly up for debate.The BBC Sport website came up with this little gem over theweekend, giving a breakdown on why Hoggy is Englands No.1, ok, I am good atmaths and I can see the BBCs reasoning behind why he is rated number one, butsurely it goes on your average surely?Hoggy, who played the same amount of Test matches as FredTrueman, 67, and took 248 Test wickets at an average of 30, whereas Fieryclaimed 307 scalps at an average of 21.57, surely these figures speak forthemselves.But if you want to just go on averages we have the likes ofGeorge Lohmann who claimed 112 wickets, averaging 10.75 in his 18 Tests. Thiswas in the late 1800s where there was only Australia and South Africa to playTest Cricket against. And then it took an entirety to travel to such places torepresent your country, but still a great return.Then there is Billy Barnes, again in the same era asLohmann, who only claimed 51 wickets at an average of 15.54 in his 21 Testmatches for England.We mustnt forget the great Sydney Barnes who played hisTest cricket in the early 1900s, right up until the outbreak of WW1. In his 27Test appearance for England he claimed an astonishing 189 wickets at an averageof only 16.43. Once he claimed 17 wickets in a match, this is only bettered bythe great Jim Laker who took 19 Aussie wickets. Most cricketers and students of the game belonging to the period inwhich Barnes played were agreed that he was the bowler of the century.Enough said aboutthis BBC Sport study, it has Stuart Broad as third for crying out loud, you canttell me Broad is better than the likes of Ian Botham, Alec Bedser, Jim Laker,Derek Underwood, Brain Statham as well as Trueman, Barnes et al. Not a verygood piece of work done there by the BBC, I would think it may have had a lotof comments, the majority of it very negative.Test cricket haschanged and developed more over the years, especially over the past two decades.I think there is no way you can pick the greatest English Test bowler; everyonewith any cricket knowledge will have their own thoughts and ideas in what thecriteria should be. For me I wish Icould of watched Sydney Barnes bowl, from what I read and understand he wasvirtually unplayable. Right, thats it for a couple of weeks, on my jolly holidays going on a cider tour of southern England, then straight in to the Over Stowey 2015 West Somerset League Division Five campaign.Posted byMark Sellsat11:51No comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Monday, 13 April 2015 Sellsy's Cricketing Thoughts
Monday 13^th AprilThe County Cricket season is now up and running, and withthat in mind I am already thinking of those long summer days and evenings.Somerset are already in action, playing against Durham in afour day County Championship match at Taunton. As of yet I am yet to see a ballbeing bowled, but plans are afoot to watch some quality cricket during the weekahead.So what are Somersets chances of silverware during the 2015campaign? Well according to most experts none. No surprises there then, theseso called experts arent worth the column inches given to them. I always lookat the bookies to see what the odds are, they are generally near the mark (haveyou ever seen a poor bookie?). Guess what, Somerset odd are quite long,especially for the County Championship, the Holy Grail amongst the majority ofthe Somerset faithful.So who will win the County Championship? Yorkshire arefavourites to retain their title, a title they emphatically won last year -they didnt beat Somerset though did they. However, I am pretty sure half their1^st XI starting line-up will be on England duty throughout thesummer, therefore weakening their chances. Nottinghamshire look like the team to fear / beat. Shrewdsignings, with the likes of Will Gidman and Brendan Taylor; quality overseasbowlers, namely Vernon Philander and Ben Hilfanhaus; plus if James Taylor canavoid being selected for England, Nottinghamshire do look very strong indeed.Warwickshire will push both Yorkshire and Nottinghamshireclose, but I think it will be between those two counties. That leaves Durham,Hampshire, Middlesex, Sussex, Worcestershire and the mighty Somerset allfighting for positions and not wanting to finish 8^th or 9^th.Somerset are in a transition period which is a bit of anunderstatement, losing a hatful of players over the winter. However, MatthewMaynard has already been out and got some good replacements, the likes of TomCooper and Jim Allenby. However me thinks the batting is still lacking one qualitybatsman. Young Tom Abell looks like a ready-made top order batsman, who made ahandful of appearances towards the end of last season; I do hope he getsselected very soon. If Somerset finished 7^th I will be happy, and Iwill be even happier if they get to quarter-final (especially a home one), andwhat then? Regulars would of noticed that I havent been talking aboutmy annual Somerset bet I place. Well put it like this, I think William Hill hashad enough money of me over the past few seasons, so I will leave it for 12months.Right, time to go and watch a bit of cricket and enjoy adrop of Thatchers or two!Posted byMark Sellsat12:57No comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Monday, 30 March 2015 Sellsy's Cricketing Thoughts
Monday 30^th MarchAustralia wins the World Cup so what? Does anyone here in England care?The only thing which has really annoyed me that I owe myCricket Correspondent in Australia a pint when he is next back in the UK, justhope I am on my honeymoon when he is back. Not that I have any sour grapeswhatsoever!I would love to talk about what is good about cricket OverStowey and Somerset however the England problem does not go away, and isalways whirling in my mind. The problem is that Englands best batsman ismaking himself available to play international cricket again, but the hierarchydoes not want to select him. What the hell is going on?Over the next 12 months England are playing: West Indies,Ireland, New Zealand, Australia for The Ashes and lastly South Africa. Cananyone tell me where any type of victory is going to come from? I believeIreland will do England as well this summer, unless it decides to rain inDublin which will save English blushes.The new ECB Chairman, Colin Graves, has set down his markersaying that there will be some enquiries if England dont beat mediocreWest Indies. Wow, what a statement, what bigger incentive there is for the WestIndies to go out and give England a right hammering. Remember Tony Greig andthe grovelling incident, plus David Gower saying theyll be quaking intheir boots. What happened, well lets just say England failed to win a Testmatch.I am with Jonathan Agnew, I fear for England this year, Ican see Test series victories for the West Indies, New Zealand, Australia andSouth Africa; as for the ODIs and T20s I cant see England even gettingclose.It seems that the England selectors have a different pointof view to Colin Graves about Kevin Pietersen. Paul Downton and James Whittakersaying that KP will never play for Engalnd again; whereas Graves saying that ifKP hits runs in County Cricket he will be considered for selection. Go on KP,hit a ton of runs and give those selectors a headache.Alas, I dont think KP will get selected for England as longas Peter Moores is Head Coach remember the fall out in the West Indies allthose years back? So Surrey will no doubt benefit from having KP all summer.But what will happen to Moores when England get a right thumping against allsides this year?I want England to succeed and win every time they go ontothe field. But I feel so negative about things at the moment, and somewhatjealous looking at Australia, I cant see how things are going to get better aslong as we have crap selectors who pick mediocre players, an awful coachingteam with a rudderless Head Coach and an ECB Chairman who likes the sound ofhis own voice. I have no answers, and it is easy to be negative aboutthings when things are going wrong. But surely KP should be back wearing anEngland shirt this summer, surely?Posted byMark Sellsat12:28No comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Monday, 23 March 2015 Sellsy's Cricketing Thoughts - Fred Ham Tribute
Monday 23^rd MarchOn hearing the sad news of the sudden passing away of FredHam, my thoughts, as many others, were for his family at such a tragic time.My thoughts then tuned to his exploits on the cricketingfield, and someone who inspired me to get heavily involved in the game I nowlove. As a youngster I would cycle up to Over Stowey to watch cricket, do thescoreboard and get some cake at the tea interval.Fred, naturally, would be playing. Opening the bowling intandem with Roger Shepherd, the most formidable pair of opening bowlers in theWest Somerset League and then batting at his favourite / usual spot at number11. One Saturday the side was short, I being an enthusiastic young 14 year old,played that day, and almost immediately upset Fred. Fred was moved up the orderto bat at number 10 to accommodate myself at 11; I can still hear the surpriseand disbelief in his voice today as he questioned the decision with the then Stoweycaptain. Freds bowling style was always one for debate, not theaction when he bowled, no one really questioned that, but it was his run-up.Standing up straight at the top of his run-up, the a small crouch as he began,a few hops and skips as he would start to run in a bit sideways, as heapproached his delivery stride his run up would then sought of stutter toalmost stopping, then in to his delivery stride sending the ball down at somepace to the awaiting batsman. Colleagues and opposing players would passcomment, saying he doesnt need that run-up, but hey it worked, Fred was usedto it, so why change it.As for appealing for a wicket, especiallyfor LBW's, Fredsappeal could be heard all around Stowey, both Over and Nether Stowey. Fred wasfrom a breed of fast bowlers that if it struck the pad it was out, as he wouldalways bowl straight at the wickets. I think his appeal got him a lot morewickets as the umpire would nervously raise a finger to give the batsman outfrom the strength of the appeal.Fred would always remind me the day he took all ten wicketsin an innings. He would say five became six, then seven, then the eight, Roger hadn't taken any andbefore he knew it he had taken nine wickets. He took that ninth wicket on thelast delivery of the over, and with his formidable opening partner, Roger,bowling the next over, Fred had six agonising balls to wait before he couldbegin his next over, and hopefully claim his 10^th scalp, a wait thatfelt like an eternity.Rogers over was unsuccessful, thankfully for Fred. So therehe was, at the top of his mark, six balls to claim a wonderful achievement. Hefound the edge during that over, and it was Roger who snapped up the catch, andFred, as he often told me, thought Roger was more excited than he was. Afantastic achievement, and not done at Over Stowey since.After Fred hung up his boots, I often bumped into him in TheGeorge Hotel, where sometimes he would reminisce about his playing days amongstother things, like telling the odd joke or two.Tonight, at skittles, I will raise a glass to you Fred R.I.P.Posted byMark Sellsat13:10No comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest Older PostsHomeSubscribe to:Posts (Atom)Blog Archive 2015(18) September(1)Kelvin Hill - A Tribute July(1) May(1) April(2) March(5) February(4) January(4) 2014(28) December(2) November(5) October(4) September(3) April(2) March(5) February(4) January(3) 2013(42) December(4) November(4) October(3) September(4) August(3) July(4) June(3) May(3) April(3) March(4) February(3) January(4) 2012(41) December(2) November(4) October(3) September(4) August(2) July(3) June(4) May(4) April(4) March(4) February(3) January(4) 2011(71) December(3) November(4) October(5) September(4) August(4) July(5) June(4) May(5) April(6) March(31)About MeMark SellsTaunton, Somerset, United KingdomStalwart of Over Stowey Cricket Club, massive follower of Somerset and been a long term sufferer of English CricketView my complete profile

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