ENFIELD professional Martin Van Jaarsveld looks back at a prolific weekend and a big hundred at Rawtenstall followed by a possible run record at Dill Hall Lane and forward to the prospect of being allowed to bowl when he returns to South Africa this winter!
"I'M very happy with the way I'm playing. Rawtenstall is probably one of the best batting wickets in the league and when you get on wickets like that you've got to try and cash in. I was lucky but sometimes things go your way.
When you start the season you set yourself goals. I would love to break the club record -- it's 1,437 and I have 933 at the moment. I don't want to put pressure on myself as anything can happen but hopefully I can do it.
It's straight back into pre-season back home at the end of the summer and we have to be back on September 10. That could cause a little bit of a problem as I would miss the last game here. But if I was close to the record I would probably have to stay. The deadline is September 10 but I'm sure the coach would understand.
I've had a few wickets as well (43) and things seem to have gone my way this summer. Back home my coach told me I wasn't allowed to bowl in the nets and that I should just concentrate on my batting. So I haven't really bowled a lot at home, apart from when I've played club cricket.
When you come across here you know you'll probably have to do a lot of bowling so in the early part of the season you have to think about a lot of things, get your field placings right and a lot of things have gone my way.
My coach has said that if I finish top of the averages he might give me a bowl again when I get home!
I was delighted to agree the new contract at Enfield because the way they look after me at the club has been brilliant. Money is not everything and I am very happy.
If you look at the make-up of the side it's a very young side. We have six or seven players who are 20 or just under and I think we have done very well this year.
Keith Barker is a great prospect for 14. He has got no fear of failure, that comes with age. Batting with him is a pleasure. He takes so much pressure off you and if there is a bad ball he will put it away.
But don't forget Adam Bracewell. He hits the ball straight and at 17 I'm predicting that he might have a good future.
We need one experienced batter and maybe another strike bowler, although the way Mark Greenhalgh has been bowling in the last few games has been superb, awesome. It's like having another pro in the side.
We want to finish as high as we can, which would be a great lift for the club. And like I said earlier, if we could get another batsman and a bowler we could make a charge for the top.
I've also been doing some school coaching this summer. One of the committee members at the club is a teacher at Stonyhurst and it came about through him. I've had a superb time and the coaching staff there are superb.
I've really enjoyed my time and probably next year I'll go back up there. It's always in the back of your mind that you worry about the future when your playing career is over.
I'm lucky that I've got a university degree in financial management so I've got a few options when I get to that hurdle.
But I've put that to the back of my mind because if you worry about things like that your cricket suffers. I'm only focussing on that.
It's straight back into it when I go home in September. I think everybody wants to play for South Africa, otherwise what's the use of playing? You've got to try and represent your country one day and you never know.
But your timing has got to be impeccable. You've got to get runs at the right time so I've got to try and get runs consistently and might get that chance."
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