Out of Retirement!

Well, I didn't embarrass myself. With the ball at least, I acquitted myself rather well, bowling four very tidy overs before losing concentration a bit in the fifth and last of my spell. The arm might have been getting a bit tired at that point. It's the first time I've turned it over in two whole summers. Unfortunately, we didn't post enough runs to be competitive. We rather badly slumped from 37-0 to 51-8 on a drying pitch that was taking a lot of turn. I was last man in and hung around for five overs or so before being left not out for a single, helping us to limp to a rather sorry total of 71. The runs were knocked off for the loss of just one wicket.

Despite the heavy defeat it was fun to be out in the middle under my youngest's leadership. I was very impressed with his efforts off the field to get a team out in the first place, and on the field as captain. He does a very good team talk. He seems to be a natural leader, something about which I feel very proud. Forrest came to watch, which I really appreciated, and he took this shot of myself and Roam just before I went out to bat. This had to be posted for the journal today. Roam wasn't in the best of moods at this point, having just got out cheaply himself, and annoyed about his decision to bat first. He remains very hard on himself, as he always has been, but that hopefully can be a driver for success in life - as long as he keeps it in perspective. Are you reading me son?

Before and after the game the focus has had to be back on work. There's some stuff that really needs to be done for tomorrow. It was lovely - and probably essential - to take the day off yesterday but I'm kind of paying the price right now. And energy levels, despite lots of sleep and a gentler exercise regime, are still very low. I guess I need to be patient on that one.