The season is three weeks away, and that is reflected in the intensity of training. 

We have been in the marquee facility on grass at Lady Bay for about a month now, and that has been a massive bonus for us. 

Bowling wise it is a completely different feel. Inside, the floor is hard, you are bowling in trainers, and you get a lot back. 

Outside, the ground is less forgiving so you need to prepare your body to bowl 20 or 30 overs in a day. Batting wise, the ball reacts completely differently on grass, it’s slightly slower, but might move about more. 

On a personal level, I am happy with where my game is at. I’ve spoken before about wanting to be in a rhythm, and both bowling and batting feels good. 

In the last week we’ve also changed our approach at nets to reflect games. We face 56 overs as a batting unit, against six bowlers. If you get out, you have to go to the back of the tent, and wait until your turn comes around again - if it does at all. 

The first time we did this I was batting first, and I wouldn't say I was nervous, but it felt like there was something on it. You don’t want to nick off and have to sit down for half an hour or more. It’s as close to a game situation as you can get from practice.

It brings about a focus. On Wednesday, there was a lot of talk about the wicket being quite flat, so Fletch called us into a huddle and basically said, ‘look, we’ve got to steam in hard here and put a shift in, like we would be in a game’, and we ended up picking up six or seven wickets which is quite a good session. 

You feel like you get into battles as well -  Sol banged me down the ground, and probably played the shot of the day, and I was fuming. But I came back with a wobble seam across him and he nicked off. [Ant Botha] Botes told me to give him a send off but I couldn’t do that! But that’s a perfect example, you get the emotion you wouldn’t necessarily get in ordinary nets.

Pre-Season Climax

The aim of the pre-season games against Loughborough UCCE, Warwickshire and Derbyshire is to spend some time in the middle and time on your feet. You need to get used to fielding for long periods, then performing your skill, whether that be batting or bowling. 

"I want to make sure I have clarity with my approach, have occupied the crease and bowled some overs, and ultimately, I want to be ready for that first game should I be selected." Lyndon James

I’m particularly looking forward to the game against the University. One of my close mates from school is actually Loughborough’s captain so I’m looking forward to playing against him. He’ll be batting at four so hopefully I’ll get a good crack at him. 

We’ll play on the hybrid pitch which is always nice to bat on, so there is the chance for some runs. Hopefully I can get some overs in the legs and spend time on the field, so that first game isn’t such a shock. 

It is a chance to put into practice the stuff you’ve worked on for so long during the winter, finding tempo and rhythm. For me, I want to make sure I have clarity with my approach, have occupied the crease and bowled some overs, and ultimately, I want to be ready for that first game should I be selected. 

Building Off The Pitch

At the time of writing, we’re on our way to a team building night away in the Lake District. Being at this club is all about making memories, and whilst this is something slightly different, it gives us a chance to do exactly that. 

It’ll be freezing cold, but we’ll have a laugh together and enjoy each other's company. We’ve got a few lads doing initiations so it will be good to welcome them properly into the club. 

A lot has been said about the closeness of this group of players, but I definitely think it is true. You can see it in the way we are on the pitch, and it was a big part of our success in all formats last year. 

Opportunities like this all feed into that togetherness, spending time with each other away from the pitch, escaping from cricket chat for a little while.

As far as the itinerary goes, we’ve got some gorge walking in a wetsuit, which I imagine is sliding down rivers, and we’ve got a few meals together. They’ve actually kept a fair bit of what we are up to a secret, so we’ve got some mysterious activities in store, then we are back to rest up over the weekend, ready for the first ball of 2022 at Trent Bridge on Tuesday.