Decisions, decisions

To local cricket and Mt Lofty C grade picked up its first win on Sat against an under strength Bridgewater. B grade has its bye (2 weeks) and so I've picked up the C grade captaincy since the usual captain has broken a finger (he's a keeper) and will be out for the rest of the season.

I would love some advice here - the details as to why I'll get to - but first a quick run-down of the day.

We won the toss and decided to bat first. C grade plays 40 over one-dayers so my motto is 'get runs on the board'. I opened up and lost my partner at around 11 overs. Number 3 hung around and made a beautiful 63 - we made 120 odd together, number 4 came and went quickly then number 5 and I finished it off. We made 3 for 214 off our 40 and I felt quite confident we could defend it. I made 82 not out.

Our bowling ripped through them - they were all out for 98. I threw the ball around after the two opening bowlers got through their 8 over allocation each. I use 9 bowlers and all but one got at least one wicket. I was very pleased with how we went about it.

So, to the dilemma. My role in the caretaker captaincy is to find the right bloke to take over for me to go back up to B grade. After making a decent score; although very scratchy early, I'm confident of translating it to opening in B grade. However, there really isn't anyone who would either want to captain or be too suitable for the job. Without blowing my trumpet too much I think I'm good at leading a side and all the players remarked how much fun the day was; easy to say when you've picked up your first win for the season! I know the fellas would love to have me captain for the rest of the season but I have no idea what the right thing to do is. In some ways I think it's a compromise between what's best for my own cricket and the club. On this level I feel it's wise to finish the season in C grade and lead from the front - aiming to carry the bat every week. However, the A grade captain pointed out the youth of our B grade and that I'm needed there to 'show the young fellas how to play the game'. A very beautiful compliment.

Ah, what to do!