Eels on the outfield

Difficult to know whether our skipper was kidding when he announced two days ahead of our first league match of the season that there are eels on the outfield. Eels or not it's off, the ground too waterlogged to prepare a pitch.

Outdoor nets were a bit soggy this week and bowlers didn't get to practise because the run-ups would have got ruined for the rest of the season. Batsmen made do with throw-downs and actually seemed to prefer the experience to that of facing a line of bowlers of random dexterity and speed.

There wasn't much sense in ground fielding practice because it was so wet, but there was a lot of varying catching practice, including use of the slip cradle, which caused your correspondent to come within a gnats whisker of breaking a finger on his left hand.

Happily, 48 hrs later, it's much better and would have been fine for the weekend. What's surprising is how much giving batsmen throw-downs makes your arm ache afterwards.

Hail on the hill

Kitbag packed, ready to leave for the first match of the season; a friendly, on a hill outside Bath. Despite a fair bit of rain yesterday the forecast's not bad and it's sunny and breezy. The text message arrives: Cancelled. The hill had been hit by a torrential hailstorm and after all the rain during the week it was in no fit state for a game of cricket.

A vague attempt at arranging an alternative cricket-based activity didn't get anywhere, nor did popping to the pub on the off chance that people might be milling around, so after visiting the No.6 batsman for a coffee, it was up to the allotment for a gloriously sunny afternoon.