Thursday, 24 November 2011

To all HCC faithful,
Wow! 5 months has lapsed since my last update to the Coaches Corner. Apologies all, it’s been hectic period. I hope this finds you all fit and healthy and not nursing a sore head after last nights inaugural Sportsmans Night. To Peter Burckhardt, Steve Creighton and Brendan Barry-Murphy and the rest of the HCC Committee, congratulations on a fantastic night! Great speakers, decent food and fantastic company... What more could you ask for! Congratulations again lads, definitely a night to remember at HCC.

Onto the cricket side of things...

The 1st XI, not so good, all other grades have gotten away to a decent start. Looking out over the pre-season, I had a feeling we were getting a little ahead of ourselves and thinking that things just roll on. It was as if the lesson taught at the end of March hadn’t sunk in. Sure enough, we’ve had a really poor showing on Day 2 of our Rnd 2 game, then had a marginally better performance on Day 2 of our Rnd 3 game and now find ourselves with 6pts in the kitty after 4 games of cricket. Our T20 form wasn’t a lot better.

It all sounds a bit doom and gloom from the Coach, but not so! I intentionally gave you the ugly snapshot about the start of the season, but the signs have been really encouraging over the last two weeks. The ship is gradually starting to turn. Blokes are starting to get back to reaching our club goals through our KPIs. The batsman in particular are starting to build partnerships again. The T20 game against Forest Hill just the other night saw the return of the real Heatherdale. We got back to hunting in a pack. The fielding, bowling and batting unit got back to the required standard. A few smiles returned along with Fruity’s swagger. Ask him about his catch :)

Why the turn around? I firmly believe it was due to couple of key acts of unselfishness and a couple of good social nights. After the poor showing on Day 2 of our Round 2 game, the lads knew there was some hard yards to be done. The 2nd XI also joined in the fun too. It would’ve been very easy for the older blokes to sit this one out, however, the easy option is rarely taken with our life members. Blokes like Chris Toole, Chris Box, Neale Clark and Jon Cadzow have been inspiring players on and off the field for many many years. This particular Thursday night was no different. The yards done in our cricket gear were made that much easier, seeing our club legends toeing the line. Sure, Tooley wore his youngest son’s pads, but he still did the work :)

The second act of unselfishness that I thought was worth highlighting was the scene from last Saturday. We were again greeted with a wet Saturday afternoon and this time a lot of water was covering large parts of the ground. In all my years of cricket, I have never seen a bigger effort to help get a game of cricket on. We needed to, due to the 1st XI only having 6pts in the kitty. The whole the club rallied around. We had both young and old giving us a hand. Everything from blowers, brooms, stumps and massive foam sponges were utilised to eventually get play under way around 3:30pm. While we didn’t get the points, the club gave us every opportunity to do so. Amazing effort lads!

Lastly, it was really refreshing to see the ladies and kids turn out for casual bbq after the Rnd 3 game. I know the weather played a part in it, but the atmosphere around the club was fantastic. Kids were running around with their mates from the club, the ladies prepared some fantastic salads and fruit platters and then there was Milly’s chocolate brownies! Damn it! I can’t believe Justine took the last one off the plate while I was pretending to share them around. I’ve learned my lesson. Seriously though, the sacrifices our ladies make by giving us the space to play the game we love was not lost on me. They too have played a part in the turn around and long may it continue!

These moments have certainly reaffirmed to me why I love playing under the baggy blue. The sacrifices made will keep us moving in the right direction. Stay the course.

See you out on the track.

Kind regards
Sean de Kretser