I was speaking to a few mates on Saturday night reminiscing on a few of the memories we had created over the last decade of the club. We only had two hours together as a trio, but it could have been another 10. I got asked how I feel on Sunday's now in comparison to 5 - 10 years ago, I said "there are more niggles every year I play". As the season draws closer to the end, most pace bowlers have a niggle or 3 that they are nursing to finish off the season in style. It's not for the faint hearted. #toughenup
A wise man once said "batting is better than bowling and winning is better than losing", to which a part of me agrees with. On the other side of the equation, if I'm having a lean year with the bat, at least I can still practice the odd bouncer at training, and "sniff" the nervous teenager on the weekend and get considerable enjoyment from it. If you're not a pace bowler, a bad season is scoring no runs with the bat whilst spending your weekends fielding or, fetching balls 80 metres away every second rock at training if you're a spinner or, worst of all a keeper, where you are judged on how many mistakes you make. #newrock
Fast bowlers are not so kind on the field, we get our most enjoyment from someone else's demise and we love to intimidate and make batsmen look silly. These personality traits have meant that we have seen a lot of character's at Sydney Uni over the past decade. Nick Dunford only brought $50 notes to fines meetings, a tender he knew most weeks couldn't be broken. Chris Withers has had 10 years in grade of which he has been fully fit for 3 of those matches. Tim Croft only came to training 30 minutes before sunset, always with a dark well polished 'prune'. James Kazaglis, Michael Culkoff, Troy Stanley and Brendan Smith took great pleasure in knocking over the best batsmen in the club with 'cherries' that looked like 'Saturn' off 18 yards. Ian Moran had to dominate in the sheds, often having the team in a fit of laughter, before he could dominate on the field. You haven't met Josh Toyer if you think you are the most competitive person in the world. Marty Paskal had his own sense of humour, and like a fine wine, only got better with age. #rareunits
Most cricketers like studying the 'deck' before play, pace bowlers are a little more simple. When we drive into the ground, if we can see which one is the pitch our mood is stable, but if the pitch is the same colour as the outfield and it's hard to make out, our arousal levels are through the roof. These are the days we play cricket for. We are able to play with our food before we eat it and the faster we bowl the better it looks. On the contrary, low and slow pitches are like long fingernails on a chalkboard and the faster we bowl, the easier it will become for the batsman. #leavethegrasson
The main reason I switched to bowling pace is that I wanted to play the highest grade I could, and batting was more miss than hit in my formative years of grade. But sending the ball whistling through to the keeper is something I'd never want to change. #fastbowlersclub
