The Teesra

Author: Andrew Beaven

  • Bowling meditation

    • How my legs & feet are moving as I approach the wicket;
    • where back- and front-foot land, and the sensations from the floor;
    • tension between index & middle fingers, spread around the seam;
    • how the bowling arm unfurls from the gather and swings down, then up again, over-the-top or slightly round-arm;
    • the feel of the ball as it is released…

    And repeat.

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  • My summer in tickets — 6 games I saw, and one that I missed.

    My summer in tickets — 6 games I saw, and one that I missed.

    I have managed to watch quite a bit of top flight cricket this summer, including several matches that featured “firsts”.

    Although, in a season of “firsts”, I did miss a “last”.

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  • My 2019 highlight? Not what you might think.

    It has been an incredible summer of international cricket.

    England ODI World Champions; Super Over finish; heroics from Ben Stokes.

    An enthralling, fluctuating Ashes series. Steve Smith (boo…oh, but he is incredible); Stokes’ batting (again). Jofra Archer’s pace. Amazing, impossible catching.

    But what makes a “great” moment truly “great”?

    For me, as a spectator (and coach), greatness is demonstrated in the player’s commitment to perform at their absolute best, all of the time.

    It doesn’t matter the level of competition, or the venue — cricket is a game played best when it is played “properly”, whatever the context.

    It can seem like a cliche, but playing every game, every moment, as if it could be your last on the playing field.

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