Bowler's Name? by Tom Hicks

Author:Tom Hicks
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pitch Publishing
Published: 2021-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

Dropping Players

Whilst most of my tribulations as captain of Farnham came in the form of having to find players, occasionally we would be in the enviable position of having too many players available. Of course, for your professional captain this is described as a ‘nice problem to have’. But when you know that you will be grovelling for players only weeks later, it’s not quite so easy to give people the bad news that they are surplus to requirements for that weekend. I am well aware that there are many people who would have cursed me to anyone who would listen after they’d been dropped. After all, no one ever feels it’s they who should get the axe. And I learnt some valuable life lessons from this unpleasant aspect of cricket. I made the mistake more than once of not being up-front with people and just telling them straight, and in person if possible, or at least on the phone. And there were also times that I left this job to the coach or manager, which is a big regret of mine. Now, if I have bad news to deliver, I’ll always try to do it face-to-face and just get to the point. It’s just a matter of respect. But that’s the great thing about sport: it teaches you many things in so many ways.

Club cricket is just perfect for stories, scandal and intrigue. It’s a wonder more books aren’t written about it. About the best book I’ve read on this subject is The Grade Cricketer, coincidentally co-written by Ian Higgins, who has really made a name for himself in the Australian sporting media, and who also spent some happy seasons at Farnham. His take on Aussie grade cricket has different nuances to the English game, but the characters are the same the world over.

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