Past halfway now in the 2013 SHCL League campaign and things are going pretty well for us at Reed. In Division 1 our 1st Xl are comfortably consolidating their position in the top Division, sitting 5th of 10 with the top 5 having established a 36 point “cushion” between themselves and the bottom 5. 4 Weeks without a win (but with good points from each match) has been a little disappointing and it was particularly frustrating on Saturday when we could not manage to take that last Luton Town wicket, despite being clearly the better side for 95% of the match. Our 2nd Xl meanwhile sweep away all before them, including a good win on Saturday against previously unbeaten league leaders Abbots Langley, despite the fact that we had our skipper and several other key players unavailable. Marcus’s men have recovered from the “Selectiongate” – 14 Point Fine” setback and now sit 15 points clear at the top of their Div 7 table and 33 points clear of the 5th team – so “touch wood” promotion is looking a “shoe in”! Masseeh’s men in Division 9 also suffered a frustrating day on Saturday having their opponents 9 down but unable to snatch the win. They are in 4th position with a 23 point gap to the 5th placed side. 4 go up so again it’s looking promising. In Division 13 Rob Willoughby’s 4th Xl suffered a setback this week but a late run for a promotion place is still not out of the question.

Meanwhile, on the international scene, slow starting England managed to scrape a win in the first Ashes Test Match – the win owing a huge debt to the magnificent Jimmy Anderson. Jimmy has made swing bowling an “art form” and it just goes to prove that particularly on good batting tracks, and where pace and bounce alone cannot force a win, quicker bowlers do need something else in their armoury to remove good batsmen.

I must make a point sometime soon of asking the Clubs wicket-keepers how many of our quicker/seam bowlers actually (deliberately!) vary their deliveries? How many (bar PT) do actually swing/seam the ball? Has anyone actually produced “Jimmy Anderson” Reverse Swing?

It has been a “hobby horse” of mine for some time that I do not believe that enough non-spin bowlers in recreational Cricket are “thinking bowlers”. How many bowlers truly understand the real nuances of the bowling art?, The different ball grips, seam positions and body positions required to develop/produce inswing and outswing, or of bowling a “cutter”, let alone effecting “Reverse Swing”!! In bringing our young bowlers through at Reed we have been very successful at getting them through the basics and producing reasonably well drilled bowlers who can command a respectable line and length, and some command good pace too. However, how many have the true knowledge to adapt and extend their range of deliveries to achieve variations that will threaten really good batsmen on good batting pitches? I would suggest that too many just run in doing virtually the same thing each ball and hoping the batsman will make a mistake!

At Reed we do actually have a very knowledgeable bowling theorist, proven in delivery of the art over many years. However, he is not focussed on coaching and is seemingly rarely if ever asked for advice. Now that he is approaching his retirement from work might we be able to persuade him to get off his Roller or Mower and develop a serious master-class in bowling theory? Hopefully – we can, and he will!

(This Weekly column is written by John Heslam Club Chairman of Reed Cricket Club. The views expressed in the article are his own and do not necessarily comprise those of the Clubs General Committee)