Stayley Cricket Club

THE WHINGER THEOREM

Editorial preface from dot com.

• Chris is well chuffed with how well the first XI have been playing this season.  Having 'played their all' to survive the uncertainties of the last 5 years, Stayley now have a team that is to be feared in the Saddleworth League.

• What Stayley is sending out on the field now, (First, Second, U17, U15 and U13) is the result of years of effort - by the main players, and by people who have stayed behind scenes, supported the club and kept it viable over the winter months.

• Whinger pulled off a major coup this year with the introduction of several veterans from East Levenshulme.  Many opposing clubs believe that our success has been due purely to these 'better' players.  It is deeper than that.  We now have a more rounded team that can ride the misfortunes of a 'sticky wicket'.

• The Whinger Theorem describes how this is possible; and a guide to other teams & juniors alike.  With Chris' permission, I'm putting his match-by-match thoughts onto this web-page.  They may appear jumbled; but there again, that's Cricket!

The Whinger Theorem

• Every single man is an individual.  They have their own targets, ambitions & need for motivation.  But no man (pro or otherwise) is a team.  The XI must not sit back and rely on others to produce the result.

• Every man has a bad day. But others have it within themselves to produce a good day.

• For us, the distinction between amateur & pro is becoming blurred.  If our pro is lost early, we still have enough middle order to run up a decent innings.  For other teams, once the pro is lost, the game is over.

• Win or lose - we always accept the hospitality of the home team.  Walking away from the bar is just unacceptable.

• Every batsman can rise to the challenge (3rd June). Five of our XI have reached over 50 so far this season - but the match winning displays have been by very different players.

• When a bowler has a bad batting spell, then they are even keener to do well in their bowling.  They don't want to end the weekend in a total 'downer' - so they concentrate and work harder in their bowling.

• Opposition with a high target to meet will immediately hit out.  It is a 'do or die' situation.  If on the same wicket and same conditions, Stayley made a low score; the chasing side will also score low.  In pushing out a high score, we also make problems for ourselves - by showing what is possible.

Incidents

Sun 3rd June vs Heyside.  (Pro) Bilal out for 7, (veteran) Chippy makes 117 n.o. off 45 balls. 

Bilal was out because he played the ball like a professional - but this is the Saddleworth League. It was an excellent catch and Bilal immediately appologised to me.  What he should have done was not try to play the ball down but hit it for 6.  When Chippy was slogging sixes here, there and everywhere, Bilal knew what to do in future.  I think he learned something!

Sun 3rd June vs Heyside.  Heyside on 176 partnership.  Whinger to bowl & changes the field to open up an easy boundary - but he's fishing.

We needed to break the two up, and when I opened up the gap at third leg, I knew the batsman would go for it.  I had 2 close fielders at mid-on and mid-off ready for the mis-hit.  It's a really tempting trap - all I had to do was bowl spot on. It paid off.

Sun 3rd June vs Heyside.  Heyside require 10 off 1 over to win.  Whinger puts D Chambers on to bowl.

Darren had an excellent bat on Saturday (72) but did himself no justice by getting bowled today on 5.  He had a reasonable spell in bowling - and I gave him the last over to prove himself (to himself).  He knew he had it in him to do better - and giving him the last over meant the opposition faced 3 different bowlers in 5 Overs! He took a wicket with his first ball - I can't fault him!