Jack Taylor blog: Movember, 3 course meals and the dreaded Filton track sessions...
28 November 2014
October was a much needed break from cricket for me.
I've had a pretty full on couple of years with remodelling my action and getting back playing competitively. So to have some time off from playing and even thinking about cricket was exactly what I needed to freshen up ahead of the winter programme.
I've been lucky enough to get out of the country a couple of times during it. I went on a family holiday to Menorca for a week which was nice to get away, chill out in the sun and spend some good quality time with them.
I was also fortunate enough to be involved in the annual PCA (Professional Cricketers’ Association) Golf Summit in Vilamoura, Portugal, which is an added bonus of being the new Glos PCA rep - taking over from Sax. That meant a few days away playing some golf, sinking a few pints, the odd rum and coke and with catching up with the players and reps from the other counties. Attending a meeting at 8.30am on the second morning was a struggle to say the least!
November 3 came around quick enough, and we were back into winter training.
So far that's involved three weeks of cricket based training, including conditioning sessions, strength work, skill specific practices and the 'dreaded Fliton College track' sessions which I can safely say on behalf of all the lads are as unpleasant as ever!
We have just had week off cricket based training, so that we keep fresh for winter months.
Instead, our task this week has been to prepare, cook, and serve a three course meal (soup, roast turkey and Eton mess) to the rest of the staff. It was really good fun but a massive eye opener – the 6.30am start was not expected!
We had two people in the kitchen and two people serving so it was good for communication and teamwork although people were trying to sabotage each other’s soup. One group got left with no fresh tomatoes for their tomato soup and had to use red peppers instead!
Liam Norwell thinks he’s a bit of a chef – he thinks putting a few herbs in makes him better than he is. I fancy myself as being pretty decent but Chris Dent is definitely the worst – he can barely cook beans on toast!
It was really hard work but what came together in the end was worth it.
I have also been taking part in 'Movember' so I now have a horrible tash (see pic below), which has been getting thicker and thicker over the last few weeks. There's only a few days left, so still some time to donate! The link is http://mobro.co/10769289 which you can also find on my Twitter - @jacktaylor141
I look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.
Jack
