JEDI July 2010: Day 3 - Mr Jinx

Today's events have confirmed to me beyond any reasonable doubt that I am indeed a jinx - at least as far as church cricket is concerned. Over the past two seasons the team has competed in a grand total of nine matches, two of which we have won, with every other game ending is disappointment. To the same effect, out of the nine contests, I have played in seven and missed just two. Any guesses which two? See? Told you I was a jinx. (Either that or I'm simply not very good at cricket, which is just as viable an explanation, if not more so.)

Having said that, the efforts of the team in this evening's match did little to help my cause, as having been handed a rare opportunity to bat first in the context of what was originally an 18-over game, we managed just 37 for 9 wickets after ten overs. I had been entrusted with the score book, and the unrelenting rate at which wickets fell pursuaded me on several occasions that I must have made a mistake. Sadly, my scoring was completely accurate and this meant that the match had to be modified to two innings of ten overs, otherwise we'd have all been home in time for tea! For my part, I had come in at nine and defended the first ball before launching one towards the boundary. Unfortunately, at this point somebody decided it was their duty to ruin my day and appeared out of nowhere to take the catch. Thanks for that.

In the field things improved slightly, though I declined the chance to bowl given my dismal recent record and the tight run chase, preferring instead to stand wherever I was told to and make vain attempts to block anything that came my way. After restricting the opposition to 50 in their first innings, the team put in a much stronger batting display to leave a run chase of 53. This was billed as a potentially close affair, though the fact I was on the field meant the outcome was all but certain in my mind. True to form, the target was achieved in the final over.

In spite of my personal apathy the game was played competitively and in good spirit, with both teams taking advantage of the pavilion bar at the conclusion of play. My mood was improved through an enjoyable chat with another one of our players about subjects ranging from golf to greenhouse gases, though it was of course left to Dad and yours truly to wash up and tidy the pavilion. This was not aided by Dad shattering a pint glass all over the floor. Nice one pops.

Other than cricket I enjoyed a fairly quiet day today, preserving energy for a hectic weekend away as a helper with one of our church youth groups starting tomorrow.

As an aside, prizes have started to be distributed in our family world cup sweepstake, and who would have thought Uruguay would make the semis? Good news for Grandma, but bad news for Ernest, Lydia and Kaye, whose potentially strong picks of France, Portugal and Italy all bombed out early. Never mind guys...there's always 2014!