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Sax's Blog - captain fantastic

16 August 2013

Last Friday night’s curry was successful but I have to confess my sportsman’s diet did go out of the window once again. I do have the tendency to over order when visiting the local Indian and after a couple of poppadums, 2 onion bhaji’s, a lamb saag, pilau rice and a naan bread (just to make sure) I was stuffed fuller than a thanksgiving turkey. I’m sorry to say I couldn’t even finish my drink. Saturday saw a very productive day working off the curry calories. To top it off I walked over to Ashton Court with my girlfriend to watch night glow at the Bristol balloon fiesta, along with the 250,000 other people who had all had the same idea... It was a fantastic event and the atmosphere was brilliant but it was absolute mayhem. We eventually found a spot from where we could see the balloons perform and I can honestly say it was impressive. Unfortunately it did start to rain as we were walking home and by the time we made it back to the car I was wetter than an otter’s pocket. Mostly because I was the complete gentleman and let my lady have the blanket we took to keep her hair dry.

Last Sunday was game day, the lads travelled down to Taunton to face local rivals Somerset. Super Michael Klinger led from the front scoring 131 not out as we posted a competitive 263 for 8.  Somerset made extremely light work of chasing though, Craig Keiswetter the star of the show bludgeoning 126 not out off just 97 balls with 10 fours and 6 sixes.

The lads were back in training on Monday in preparation for the game against Leicestershire, games come round thick and fast throughout the cricketing summer!! The lads trained hard in the nets as they looked to put the Somerset defeat behind them. All looked sharp. We were also given the keys to the new Bristol Pavilion on Monday, and to mark the occasion everyone gathered for a quick slurp of champagne in the new Grace Room before being let free to roam the spectacular facility. Excitement is building for the big opening day on the 26^th August.

Tuesday saw Leicestershire arrive, the first team to play against us in front of the completed development. The Gloucester’s were on fire, bowling the visitors out for just 163, James Fuller the pick with impressive figures of 7 overs 2 for 18. Super Michael Klinger led from the front (again) scoring 89 not out as the target was chased comfortably in 30 overs. I was updating @Gloscricket twitter during the game so I openly apologise if you were on the verge of unfollowing…

I was out of the office on Wednesday, working from home. I did however manage to escape my tasks for a while enjoying a quick spot of lunch with ex-Gloucestershire professionals Steve Snell and Will Rudge. Both are now working for a recruitment company in the centre of Bristol and seem to be coping well with life after cricket. Steve also has his fingers in a few media pies; writing for The Bristol Post and The Cricket Paper, he can also be heard across the airways commentating on most of Somerset’s and Gloucestershire’s one day fixtures.

Yesterday we were away at the home of cricket, Lords. Opponents Middlesex. The home team won the toss and decided to bat first posting a modest total of 206 for 5 in a rain affected innings reduced to 38 overs. Dawid Malan top scored, scoring over half the Middlesex runs with an impressive 113 not out. Unfortunately we were unable to chase down the target falling 20 runs short. A few of the batsmen got starts, Michael Klinger top scored again with 46, but it proved not to be enough as the fat lady started to sing.

Today I have been helping out with the Damian Forder Cricket Academy doing a spot of coaching. The young lads present have been honing their batting skills, concentrating on the cut and pull shots. They all took to the various drills extremely well; let’s hope we see a couple of them rise to stardom and represent Gloucestershire in the future. On a final note, it’s Glamorgan on Sunday. Let’s hope that the captain continues in his fine run of form, already scoring 266 runs this week. He has notched up 1869 runs across the 3 competitions already this season; let’s remember this is not just from opening the batting but captaining the side also. I can see no reason why he can’t make it to 2000 by the time the weekend is over!

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