Paul Jarvis, cricketing legend and Sherston Magna head coach updates you on all things cricket, and because he’s from Yorkshire, sheep

Well, Spring is sprung… the grass should be riz… but unfortunately it’s been too blooming cold to grow. I took a little pitch inspection back at the beginning of the April and the ground was a bit like me -­‐ rock hard, and unpredictable. The sheep and the rain had taken their toll and apart from the piles of dung, the ground was very unforgiving and bumpy.

The good news is that ground force day was a huge success, with a healthy gathering of both young and not so young supporters helping restore the ground ready for play. The ground over the past few weeks has definitely begun to see signs of spring and is improving steadily.

Talking of sheep – spring has definitely arrived down on my farm. At the time of printing we were up to 7 little lambs all skipping around. It never fails to amaze me how resilient they are and that at only a week old they are happy as Larry lambs staying outside in the freezing weather without the need for extra jumpers, central heating and hot water bottles (unlike the wife who has gone back into hibernation).

It is was with regret that I had to cancel the Easter coaching course as the state of the ground and the freezing weather meant that any practice would not have been much fun (even with extra jumpers) and not reall beneficial to the kids – the ball would’ve been hopping about randomly all over the place (a bit like the lambs really). Lets hope that the weather we experienced in April is a good omen and that better things are to come, unlike last year when we had temperatures of 20 degrees in March but then the wettest summer on record!

We’ve now had a number of very successful training sessions and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, having some fun whilst we’re all at it. It has also been very encouraging to see so many juniors on a Monday evening. So to all of you looking forward to playing cricket this season, from your Coach, I wish you all good luck. But remember that luck will only be good if you practice hard and often, I believe one of the greatest golfers ever, Gary Player, once said “the harder I practice, the luckier I get!” So let’s continue to have some high attendances at practice.