Sax's Blog - Fitness Testing, Quiz and Sponsors' Breakfast
13 September 2013
It was a weekend off for all after the 3 day win against Leicestershire last week. I managed to get out and have a quick drink with a few of the lads last Friday night, all were in good spirit after the victory especially knowing there was a week off approaching in which they could rest and recuperate. We gathered for a drink in the very fitting WG Grace on Whiteladies Road to chew the fat. The pub used to be a place called Dragons Kiss a few years ago, a Chinese buffet by day, a nightclub by night. Quite odd I know. It now however belongs to a chain by the name of J. D. Weatherspoon, which is ideal for the lads as it gives a welcome break to the wallet from the usual Public Houses in Clifton. BT Sport provided the rest of my weekend’s entertainment. Back to back games of rugby on the Saturday followed by another on the Sunday. They have 70 games of premiership rugby this winter. My girlfriend may have to find a hobby…
It was fitness testing and appraisals for the players on Monday. The physio Steve Griffin and fitness coach Chris Bodman got the chance to play with their measuring devices once again. It has been 10 weeks since the last testing took place, I wrote about the last one in week 2 of my blog. The excitement loomed in the air again as the pair erected the light gates, dusted off the protractors and calibrated the stopwatches. The same couldn’t be said about the players however, who again met the day with outstandingly low levels of enthusiasm. The data was eventually collected and analysed; this will now provide endless hours of entertainment for the fitness department as it is used to draw up the individual player programmes for the winter.
Tuesday was an office based day for myself putting together a couple of presentations for our Premier Club. They are being designed to gather and present all of the information about the benefits of becoming a Premier Club member. Major benefits that we are proud to offer include: a deluxe seat on the Premier Club balcony – the best seat in the house, a private bar, a bespoke daily menu, access to a Premier Club marquee at Cheltenham, car parking, priority booking for international matches and full access to the whole ground for all LV=, YB50 and T20 matches. The membership is designed to give the best experience for live-sport-viewing in the south-west region.
The Scotland Development XI arrived at The Bristol County Ground on Wednesday to play a 3 day fixture against our 2nd XI. This game was arranged at late notice to give the lads pushing for a place in the final two first class fixtures against Lancashire and Glamorgan a chance to play some cricket and make a claim for a spot. Dan Housego did this scoring a brilliant 157 making up nearly half of our first innings runs scored; 365-7 declared. The day was dominated by Gloucestershire; the declaration coming in just 71.3 overs with the scoring rate at 5.1 runs per over. Wednesday evening saw the Regional Fundraising Quiz held in The Jessop Room of the new Pavilion. Eight teams participated in a number of cricket and non-cricket based rounds. The commercial office, team name ‘We don’t like Krikket’ came out on top after a very tense last round, my team ‘The Optimists’ ending up in 3rd.
The 2’s continued to dominate yesterday bowling the visitors out for just 176; they trailed by 189 runs. We decided to have another bat rather than enforcing the follow on, Ian Cockbain adding to the visitor’s misery scoring a quick-fire 76 off just 89 balls. Gloucestershire declared again on 165-9 leaving the Scotland development XI 355 for victory with a day and a bit left to play. They closed day 2 on 79-2.
Players, sponsors and commercial office gathered for the sponsors’ breakfast this morning. This happens every year so that the sponsors can meet the players and have their photos taken with their advertising boards and the squad. This event normally occurs on Press Day which takes place before the season starts, but due to the ongoing developments here at Nevil Road it had to be postponed. Bacon Sandwiches and Danish pastries were the order of the day all hosted in the fantastic facility of the Premier Lounge. It was nice to see most of our sponsors in attendance and to chat about how our season has unfolded. The 2nd XI didn’t get underway until after lunch due to rain showers this morning but they have now started and are looking to bowl the visitors out. Scotland are currently 138-7 with plenty of time left in the day. If the weather stays fair I think a win is on the cards.
Sax
