Pace Bowling Practice in Argentina

In the absence of a bowling machine in the north of Buenos Aires I try to recreate the intensity of facing fast bowling by throwing the ball as hard as I can from 16 yards. However, with the amount of throwing I was doing my arm was close to falling off. I was also developing a back of two half’s. One half, the throwing side, resembled the muscles of a Shark and the other side, the non-throwing side, had the definition of a Walrus. Combine this with a hunchback from years of keeping wicket my new nickname is ‘Quasi’

During a trip to the UK last summer I came across a gadget sent from the cricket coaching gods. It is a plastic stick with a handle at one end and a cup that holds a ball at the other end, it is also used by dog owners for a game of fetch.  I can now achieve maximum speed with minimum effort.

Britsh Argentine Ben Precious gets prepared to face the music................

Due to the extra pace the gadget generates holes have appeared in the net. This has caused a new problem altogether! Stray balls are now flying through the net into car park.  The first few times the porter passed the balls back but when a brand new ball narrowly missed a Mercedes Benz he reacted more aggressively. He said, waving lots of arms and mannerisms that you may see after a car crash, ‘you can only have the ball back when the nets are mended!!’ I have obviously mentioned the situation to the ground staff and it has been added to the list of things to be fixed.

The show must go on, batters need to learn to play pace better in South America! But, after the tenth decent ball went through the net I needed a plan to keep costs down. The string I tied had not held the net and the rugby players soon took back their tackling bags which I used to protect the holes.

Thinking outside the box I came across some baseballs in a shop in the US. Twelve balls for $20USD, bargain I thought. And I took as many as I could back to Argentina. We only use baseballs for throw downs now and we still lose the same amount of balls (because the nets have yet to be fixed) but it doesn’t cost as much. But what if one of these balls goes though the net?? Baseballs only weigh 5ozs so I have achieved damage limitation! 

Three day cricket in Argentina???!!!!

Yes you did read the title correctly; three day cricket is alive and kicking in Argentina and has been for over a hundred years.  The first annual three day North V South fixture was played in 1891 and has been played every year, apart from the war years. I have been reliably told it is one of the oldest fixtures in the world.

Forget T20 cricket, the three-day North South annual superclasico is the biggest cricket fixture in the continent. The North-South line has gradually moved further down the country over the years to maintain a competitive fixture. This is because cricket clubs have disappeared in Rosario and Cordoba in the north of the country due to the British leaving Argentina after The Second World War.

Belgrano Pavilion 

In such a small cricketing community, where every player will have already played together at national level, you would think that it would be a calm affair. Think again. The North South is the highlight of the cricketing calendar. Players are desperate to get selected and to represent their side at all costs; friendships are put on hold for at least a week before the game.  One player came back from his new residence in Columbia especially for the game. It is that important.

Nino (north) bowled by Ryan (south)

Practice sessions and team building asados start ten days before the game to get each team prepared. Both teams have a selection committee and manager, so politics, eligibility issues and favouritism are avoided and the best eleven can be selected fairly. I also take a step back and remain neutral. This allows me to watch from a safe distance while the Latino tempers run riot on the pitch and competitive juices explode.

Winning South Team

The South has dominated this fixture for the last decade. There were no changes in fortunes this year in the 112^th fixture, when the South won a hard fought contest which went down to the last ten overs. The 2011 fixture was played at Belgrano Athletic Club where players old and new turned out to watch the drama unfold. Daily scores were published in the Buenos Aires Herald and last year there was even a live score board on the internet to keep followers updated immediately if they could not make it to the match.

Who said three day cricket was dead????