THE GLOVES ARE OFF! Kimberley Institute’s Chris Glover on the world of cricket

We are still battling on three fronts and we are very much looking forward to our Royal London Club Championship National quarter-final in two weeks’ time up in Liverpool against Northern CC.

However, before we get that far, we have two huge days this weekend.

On Saturday we take on Plumtree who currently sit top of the Nottinghamshire Premier League. Plumtree, like ourselves, have a side built around a number of talented young players, and it promises to be a key battle in shaping the direction of the league title.

On Sunday, we then face old rivals Wollaton in the semi-finals of the Nottinghamshire T20, where a win would see us progress to face either Farnsfield or West Indian Cavaliers later in the day.

Last weekend I was at a wedding so I was unable to see the spectacular innings of Sam Johnson that brought us the victory at Ordsall Bridon. You only need to take a look at the innings statistics to see how special a knock it must have been. We will need Sam to continue that fine form over the next few weeks if we are to maintain our run of recent results.

It would be remiss of me this week to not pass comment on the recent Test match at Lord’s.

After arriving to England following the successful ODI series against New Zealand and then winning comfortably at Cardiff, Trevor Bayliss, the new England coach, must have thought it was all a breeze.

However, the team came crashing down to reality at Lord’s, and the Aussie now has his work cut out to repair the damage done to the confidence of that crushing defeat at the home of cricket.

It is amazing in cricket how important the toss can be. I don’t think in any other sport it carries as much significance. Think back to day one of the Lord’s Test with England riding high in confidence, the pitch flat, not a cloud in the sky. It would have been quite likely had England won the toss they would have gone on to set a solid score.

Yes, there are clearly problems in the top order, and I am glad that the selectors have opted to make a change; I am always amazed at how long some batsmen get when they are out of form).

However, if the toss had gone the other way, I expect England would have been going into the next Test at Edgbaston with their 1-0 lead intact.

England now need to clear their minds and bat with the confidence and positivity that saw them play so well against the Kiwis and down in Cardiff.

In sport, we always get a pummelling every so often. Any team is defined by how they respond. So it’s over to you Trevor and Alistair to keep the new found optimism in English cricket alive.