My first day at school.....well, kind of.

When I received an email from Kirt asking whether or not I would be interested in joining the freeze, my first thought was to neatly sidestep it and meet everyone in the relatively comfortable environs of Lords for a net and a beer. That is what the old James Butler would have done for sure......not now, I chose freeze!

The day did not start well. After a conversation with Tooves on Friday afternoon, I was to be at Liverpool St station for 8.30 to meet with him and several of the other lads, before making our way down to the initial meeting point. By 8.50 I realised that Nick was not going to show.

Apoplectic with rage, I walked down to the tube and realised I didn't really know where I was going, so stomped back up the stairs to the taxi rank, demanding someone take me to the "big wheel thing on the other side of the river" (confession number one - I got the driver to drop me 5 minutes away because I didn't want to look "flash" on my first meeting with the group). £10 lighter, I spotted some people dressed in whites, now I am no Sherlock Holmes, but....

15 minutes later, the grinning Australian buffoon turned up "Oh sorry maaate, I had a few beers at lunch on Friday and don't even remember that conversation"...His time will come....

After 3 hours of calling Wes, Kirt and Kirt, Wes it was time for the cricket to begin....

When we got to Lords, there was a meeting and I stood up to introduce myself....I blanked completely, who am I? No idea. What am I doing here? No idea. I defaulted to a bit of self deprecation and sat down, ensuring I made no eye contact with anyone, least of all Tooves....

On my initial email introduction to the group, Kirt said I was fit and good at cricket - the next 3 hours showed him up to be the liar he is. I was pretty confident about the bleep test if I am to be honest, I hadn't done one of these for 15 years but genuinely thought I would pish it - how wrong I was. After spending 5 minutes taunting a panicking Tooves during the warm up, the test began and went ok at first - no worries - I was coasting and felt fine, but man those bleeps started to come quickly and I crashed out at a hugely disappointing level 9. Something to work on and improve there.

Then the nets began and I was pretty bad there as well. It was a little like school trials all over again as my mind filled with various contradictory thoughts, should I dig in and bat properly? It is a 20 over game after all, so maybe I should be a bit more aggressive? I did neither in the end and looked pretty average I imagine, plenty of time to prove myself however, with the nets at the Oval starting in the new year.

Since that day, the enormity of what we are doing has hit home. I realise I need to be fitter and that I need to understand more about the challenge ahead, so I have joined a few of the group on the Bath half marathon. This is a new experience for me as well and I have begun to train in earnest - my first 2 mile jog became a 3 mile jog and I am keen not to just participate, but to post a respectable time, time will tell I guess.

It also gave me the opportunity to indulge in more kit and a Nike I-Run, I love a gadget me - I am not called ATGNI (all the gear no idea) for nothing...

I also had an article written in the local paper and have attached the link http://www.harlowherald.co.uk/content/hlwherald/sport/story.aspx?brand=HLHOnline&category=SportCricket&tBrand=HertsCambsOnline&tCategory=SportHLH&itemid=WEED18%20Dec%202008%2008%3A33%3A01%3A437

Anyway, one blog down - happy new year everyone and I will see you at nets in January.