Man of the Match

I've spent most of the day watching my two lads playing cricket, for the seconds, in the lovely setting of Follyfoot near Harrogate. It's the first time this season I've been able to watch them play together on a day with no threat of rain interruption. There were two other occasions this summer when conditions were ideal for batting and Forrest scored a century on each of those. And each time I was competing myself, on the bike, and missed them. The batting track at Follyfoot is a very good one so there was a strong hope that I might get a chance to finally see my eldest get a hundred.

All looked good as he cruised to 50 in quick time, looking quite imperious at the crease, but his innings stalled a bit with a lack of strike and some difficult bowling. He still looked pretty untroubled but I got a sense that he was tiring and losing patience, and he finally paid the price for that with a loose shot to be caught at point for 84. It was disappointing not to see him go on, but it was still a good knock and set the stage for the team to pick up a total of 260 off their allotted 50 overs.

Roam bowled a tight opening spell, but without a wicket, and at the halfway stage Follyfoot were well on track to knock off the runs. Forrest then came on to bowl his newly developed fast off-cutters. I'd not seen him bowl these before. I'm sure now I'll see a lot more of them. He was the only bowler from either side to really dominate the batsman. The flow of runs was stemmed and he started to pick up a few wickets. The balance shifted in our favour. Roam was brought back on and picked up a couple of wickets himself. It was great to be able to watch my two boys bowl together in tandem. In the end we were unable to bowl the opposition out to claim full points, Follyfoot finishing on 218-7, but it was still a good result. Forrest had figures of 3-38 from 14 overs, and Roam 2-42 off 10. It had been a good day for the Hamilton boys! And I think Forrest can lay claim to man of the match today.

Forrest's last 4 innings for the seconds have brought him scores of 136, 62, 151 and now 84. There is a strange counterpoint to that great run of scores, though, for in the same period he's had 4 innings for the first team in the league, yielding scores of 0, 0, 2 and 4. There is obviously a difference in standard, but it's not that much of a gulf. Cricket, like so many sports, is a game of the mind. It's about belief. When he opens the batting for the seconds he is full of self-belief. When he bats down the order for the firsts, not ever having had much success at that level, he is riddled with self-doubt. He's the same batsmen but he carries to the crease a different state of mind. It's as fascinating as it is frustrating! But he'll get there. He just needs a bit more opportunity - and a slice or two of luck.

Cycling back from Follyfoot, I missed Mo Farah win the 5000m. Here is a guy who doesn't know the meaning of self-doubt. It was his belief in his ability that carried him along to win from the front. There is no harder way to run a race. That kind of win just doesn't happen at this level. But he did it. It was truly awesome. I don't think I've seen that kind of self-confidence since the days of Seb Coe and Steve Ovett. Those were the days. I thought I would never see the like again, but perhaps I will if the new generation of young athletes are inspired as they should be by the performances in these Olympics.