da betcris： About 35 minutes after lunch on the third day of the Zimbabweans’ match against Worcestershire, Travis Friend got a ball to rear from a length, and the county opener Anurag Singh, unable to get himself or his bat out of the way in time, edged a catch
da cassino online： John Ward12-May-2003About 35 minutes after lunch on the third day of the Zimbabweans’ match against Worcestershire, Travis Friend got a ball to rear from a length, and the county opener Anurag Singh, unable to get himself or his bat out of the way in time, edged a catch to the ‘keeper.This brought to an end a troublesome opening stand of 63, which had threatened to erase Zimbabwe’s lead of 72 on first innings. Almost immediately, the bells in Worcester Cathedral just across the river began to peal.Possibly there was no connection, but it could well have been a signal that Zimbabwe’s 22-year-old allrounder was finally beginning to put his bowling back together again, after weeks of horrendous form when, however hard he tried, he seemed unable to land the ball in the batsman’s half of the pitch, and often barely on the pitch at all.”I would probably say it [poor bowling form] has lasted since the beginning of the World Cup,” says Travis, who lost his place in the national side as a result of it.”It’s been a tough road for the past three months or so, and it’s just been a matter of struggling with rhythm, a feeling of losing everything and not being able to find it. You start trying different things and forget about sticking to the basics.”You’re trying as hard as you can, and the harder you try the harder it gets. You get frustrated with yourself, which is the worst thing to do, and you lose confidence. Lack of match practice also – being on the sidelines – doesn’t help either. Practice in the nets is not as good as playing in the middle.”It’s a lot of little things – but it’s mainly confidence, I’d say. There have been a few problems in my action in terms of balance at the crease and the way it’s all going in the right direction. Obvious at the moment I’m in the process of changing it, with a bit of help from some of the outside coaches as we travel around. The quicker it comes right, the better!”Travis has played one season in England before, for Helmsley in North Yorkshire in 2000, but entirely as a batsman, since he was suffering from a stress fracture at the time and couldn’t bowl. But now, despite his problems, he had no difficulty acclimatizing to English conditions and feels it is actually easier to bowl there.”Compared to home, it’s cooler, which isn’t too bad – obvious if it doesn’t get too cold! – and with the lower altitude it’s a lot easier to breathe here and you have more endurance.”Travis has naturally had a lot of help from Zimbabwe team coach Geoff Marsh, but he says, “It’s basically helping myself, just trying to get down to basics. And here in Worcestershire Tom Moody is the coach and he has helped over the last few days, just pinpointing a few things that will help me, changing the action a bit by getting everything going forward – the arm going over the head and using the left arm. One or two of the top bowlers in the team, like Heath Streak, have helped me out. But obvious I’ve got to work it out for myself.”Travis has had plenty of bowling to do on this tour and he feels that in itself has helped.”I’m not going to look down and worry about it, because I have a feeling it’s just going to come right,” he says. “If you keep trying it will come right eventually.”There were strong signs of it on this particular day. Although he did prove expensive and his short balls were severely dealt with – amid the occasional hurried ducking from the batsman – Travis appeared to bowl with more pace and venom than for some while, and he took two crucial wickets.The day began with the tourists’ last pair together, given that Heath Streak was not going to bat. Stuart Carlisle and Douglas Hondo did a fine job, adding 56 with great determination and gaining their team a lead of 72, invaluable on a deteriorating pitch when they would have to bat last.When Worcestershire batted a second time, Travis says, “Our game plan was very simple, to keep it very basic and bowl basic lines. This wicket has been doing quite a bit if you put it in the right area, and then you’ll get a nick-off, which we did very well today, especially the spinners. It’s very tight on that off stump; even outside it’s doing a bit; it’s jagging in and jagging out, and it’s probably been the liveliest pitch we’ve seen for a while.”It took Travis three overs to take that crucial first wicket, running into a gusty breeze. “I was struggling to find my length, erring on the short side,” he confesses, “but every now and then, when I feel I get my action right, I run through my action and get over myself; I put the ball in the right area and that I would say was the perfect ball. It happened three balls before, one that took off from a length, and then that one, the perfect ball, and fortunately it got a wicket.”Travis also seemed to be bowling with a lot more pace than he had shown for some time. “I think it’s just with a bit more confidence back into my game,” he says. “Maybe also with a bit more fitness, because I feel a lot fitter than I have been.”Travis also dismissed Vikram Solanki in the same spell, superbly caught by Grant Flower diving forward at midwicket. “In the first innings I got a wicket off a no-ball, unfortunately. Again, about three balls before, it was a no-ball, a short ball, and the guy got caught on the boundary. It obviously wasn’t a happy sight, but three balls later, it probably wasn’t short enough to pull but fortunately found the fielder.”It was nice to take wickets, but I know I still have a lot to do with that short ball and finding that rhythm,” he confesses. “I’m just working on my right arm; in my delivery stride it’s going right over my head, and that left arm is not being used, so I’m trying to keep that right arm very close to my body instead of bringing it right back, so it hopefully goes in one direction, and just using my left arm by lifting it a lot higher. When I get it right I can feel it, and it gets a nice away-swinger going.”The Worcestershire second innings was a rather strange affair, with their batsmen on many a occasion hitting the Zimbabwean bowling all over the field, and at others becoming almost stagnated.”One of the Worcestershire players mentioned that with this pitch you’re actually never in,” Travis says. “Look at Stu Carlisle on 140, still edging the ball. I think it was a matter of building pressure; obviously one or two short balls turned into four-balls, and when the spinners came on Ray Price held up one end, bowling a brilliant spell. Then suddenly wickets started falling as they tried to build a total and play for a bit of time.”Travis also took a superb catch to dismiss Gareth Batty, making it look easy as he turned, ran back and held it as it came down over his shoulder. “The batsmen was just trying to go for a big heave-ho over long on and didn’t time it,” he says. “Thank goodness my weight was going in the right direction so I picked it up early.”Travis comments that, despite the fearsome lack of experience in the team, it is a happy, enthusiastic side. “I’m just happy with it being such a new side and a new pool of players; the guys are really enthusiastic about playing and that’s what it feels like in the middle. When we go out with that attitude, we haven’t anything to lose, and we’re having so much fun in the middle it’s been really good.”
