I'm currently in one of the lounges at Sydney Airport waiting to board our fight to Perth. Yesterday we played a match against the Prime Ministers XI and, well, to put it mildly, we didn't do too well.

But before I cover that match off I'll take you back to the last round of the domestic one-day competition, we were in Invercargill, the bottom (pretty much as far south as you can go) of the South Island. We were certainly made to feel welcome, that was until we stepped out onto the pitch, that is. It was a typical home crowd that you come to expect in the South Island; they love their own players and love to hate the others, and it was going to be a fun afternoon.

We bowled first and during the middle stages we were looking down the barrel of a chasing a score of around 280, that was going to be a lot, even with it being a small ground and a good deck. A couple of very good innings from three of Otago's more experienced boys certainly set them up for an onslaught towards the end of the innings. We picked up a couple of crucial wickets at game changing times and managed to peg them back to 244.

I didn't feel like I started this game too well with the ball. It wasn't quite the start I had been having in the previous couple of matches. The thing that was very pleasing was the way I came back at the end of the innings and bowled during the batting power play and death, my areas and variations, alongside the field I had set worked really and contributed to the pegging back process.

This match finished in great style. Last ball of the innings, scores tied, Franklin, who had been in since the 16th over and was on 86 off 97 in a perfectly paced innings, cleanly hits one through the leg side field to the boundary. We win, and I'm out there with him, because we're nine down. I came in with four balls left in the innings, five runs needed, Franklin on strike.

Franky and I had a quick chat, I wanted to know what he thought the plan should be, were we going to take the single if it was there or was Franky going to take the strike and look for twos and boundaries? Franky backed me to get him back on strike so we decided that we'll take every run we could get. A single off the third ball of the over - that brought me on strike. Three balls left, four were needed and I needed to get off strike, thus somehow getting a single. I know you really shouldn't premeditate, but in this situation I thought it was maybe best. It was either going to be a yorker or a bouncer.

A yorker it was, fast and into my pads. I wasn't quite quick enough to catch up with it and maybe hit the winning runs fine of fine leg, but I did get enough pad on it to squirt it out to square leg for a single; that was once I picked myself up off the ground when the ball hit it knocked me off my feet and I didn't have a clue as to where it had gone. Franky, charging down towards me shouting yes, said it had gone somewhere safe for a single.

Two balls, 3 runs needed and Franky nudges two to get himself back on strike and tie the scores. He walks down to me at this stage and we agree that we're just running, no matter what. Winning run off the last ball and that finishes the innings and our campaign with a not-so-good four wins from 10 matches.

It was a quiet night in Invercargill, early flight out in the morning and back to Wellington for the day. I had a couple of things planed to do in the afternoon; catch up with a mate and get along to a clothing shop were sponsoring me some T-shirts. Quite a while ago, before I started playing cricket for Wellington, I worked in a photocopy shop. I started out as a production worker, then moved out to reception and worked in customer services. During this time I met some pretty talented people that needed photocopying done. Students for their assignments, architects with their building plans, writers producing books and artists getting originals copied so they could sell the prints or send them off for possible job offers. There was one guy who was amazing, Marty F Emond. His stuff was cool, as he was, and I spent quite a bit of time doing his copying. Since I knew him back then he and a mate started up a clothing company using his works as designs. I loved his work then and have a couple of signed bits stored away to get framed at some stage soon. Marty has since passed on but his work lives on through the "Illicit" clothing line. I wanted some of Marty's t-shirts. So I got in touch with Illict.co.nz, pleaded my case, and happy days. Thanks Steve.

Continue reading "My former life in a photocopy shop"

It's Friday night, I'm sitting on my bed in my new place, that I only moved into last Thursday, watching South Africa bowl to the Aussies on the telly, and I couldn't be happier.

My place is hardly huge; it's one room and an en-suite. Kitchen, lounge and bedroom all in one; it'll do for now as I don't need too much space for myself and my couple of bags that I've been living out of for the last five months, although the bar next door could do with being a little less noisy. In saying that, as soon as I make this place home I have to leave, and, again, I couldn't be happier.

I head off to Australia for the Chappell-Hadlee Series on Tuesday and in doing that I will check out of my accommodation and then move back in when I return, into a bigger apartment though that time!

I got a very good phone call on Wednesday afternoon; it was the one that told me I was in the squad of 14 for the one-day series. I knew that the phone call was going to be that afternoon so the phone wasn't too far from me and it didn't have to ring to many times before I picked it up. It was either going to be good news or 'keep trying, you're real close.' It was the 'good news' call. Happy days!

Continue reading "Happy Days was filmed inside a studio apartment"

This last game was against Canterbury; we had been given a sound hiding by them at their place early in the competition and we needed a win, let alone revenge win, to stay a chance in the competition.

We batted first on a track that we had already used twice in the previous two matches at the Basin. It was looking a whole lot dryer and tired than it had done in the last match against Northern Districts, where it was a very good one-day track! We really needed to score huge and hope the pitch got harder and harder to score on as the match went on and, hopefully, give us a chance for a bonus point by keeping them to 80% of our score; neither of those was to happen. We scored 217 off 49 overs which was Duckworth-Lewis-ed up to 220 as we lost that over in the middle of the innings because of rain.

Continue reading "Six and out"

	Matthew Bell flicks to leg during his 23 © Getty Images

Ahh, that's better. Back on track with a very good win against a very good team. The papers call it an upset although I just happy with it being a game where a couple of us (Wellington Firebirds) played better than they did. We are a good team, we've just been playing some average cricket.

Belly won the toss. I felt it was an important one as it looked like a deck that certainly would help the bowlers. It did, we just didn't bowl to well to start with. It swung and did a little off the track and it looked like, to start with, we really tried to bowl quick and swing it big. Sometimes those things just happen without trying too hard as you get carried away with the conditions, wind up and it comes out all wrong.

I was into the attack in the seventh over; a little earlier than I have bowled when coming on as the 3rd seamer. I was quite excited about this actually. I wanted to get into it on. First over went for 6, next went for 4 with two wides in it. Ten off two, not the best start. It was pretty good from there though.

I had got out to warm ups in the morning with a bit of a sore shoulder. Had bowled at training the day before and everything had been fine, but the morning of this match there was a little twinge there, to the point where I thought I might have been doubtful for a start. I got into my bowling warm ups a little earlier than normal to test it out and give the 'all clear' to the captain. It wasn't 100%, but it certainly wasn't hurting as much as it was before warming up or feeling like I was doing more damage to it. Was pretty happy with the bowling first too as I wouldn't have to cool down and then warm up again 3½ hours later.

I bowled my 10 overs in two spells, first one of eight and then two towards the end. I finished up with 2-33 with a couple of decisions that could, on another day, gone the other way, also had Howza dropped before he scored and he went on to get 88*; good players make you pay. I was pretty happy with how it came out. I have been working on bowling a bit straighter than I have done in the past and from the stats, in this match, I am pretty close to what I think is about the right amount of balls in the right 'lines' category. It swung for me and it came out as quick as I certainly could have hoped for. It just felt really good, in saying that I did bowl my first extras of this one-day campaign. I bowled three wides yesterday after bowling none in the previous four matches. I can't even tell you why it did swing, but from where I was trying to bowl it should have been fine. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it, just as long as I don't over step and get no-balled, that's a real no-no!

Set 264 to win, CD had batted well and got more than I would have estimated at the start of the innings, but maybe less that they could have from 120-2. They did also score 55 off the 'batters' power play, 52 of them in four overs and I managed to sneak in the other over that went for three. That may sound like a bit of 'trumpet blowing' but I'm pretty proud of how things go sometimes and so why not show it.

We knocked 264 off in the 46th over with six wickets still in the shed. There was even talk of possibly going after the bonus point by getting there by the 40th over. Now that would have been cheeky and probably not a risk we needed taking after not batting so well, especially, in the previous two matches. Belly and Naps opened. A change at the top of the order with Nap's heading up there to give the start of the innings a bit of a kick start, it worked. Off to a bit of a flyer and when this happens it makes bowling a whole lot harder; the nerves and mind start going, you start thinking about what happens when you bowl a bad ball, or even good balls disappearing past and over fielders. The pressure is back on the fielding captain, his job becomes tough. Belly batted through until we needed just two runs to win; a great knock and one that obviously won it for us. It wasn't a classical innings but that don't matter when you have success and win.

I wrote all that about 3 days ago, just prior to the match we have just played against Auckland and haven't had a chance to post it because of travelling and playing and also moving. I've now got a place to live! More frequent updates shouldn't be a problem now

As it stands I won't be a part of the one-day series against the West Indies. I got the phone call a couple of nights ago and was told that they were staying with the same bowling unit. How can I argue? They're going great, doing their jobs and staying fit; everything they should be doing! And on the other side of it I'm doing everything I can to show that I'm up to international one-day cricket. I'm bowling in the positions that the selectors have asked me to; I'm hitting the areas, pretty much, that I should be but I probably haven't got the wickets that they'd want from me.

Our most recent game against Canterbury was another one of those poor performances that don't do anyone any good. You can come out of some bad matches with a couple of people doing well. This one though, no one really shone out. We put in a pretty good bowling performance and a score of about 270 was probably what Canterbury should have got to; we held them to 242 by picking up wickets towards the end of the innings.

I bowled my 10 overs by the 40th and took myself off the park. My back, which has been tightening up in the last match, was getting pretty sore. It didn't affect my bowling but it wasn't great to be standing around with in the outfield. I got some treatment as soon as I was off the park and it loosened up quite quickly, but as there was no point me heading back out there I took the time to keep resting it and doing the back arches that would help it settle down.

So, 242 to chase - not a huge target but one that was going to take some getting if Canterbury's attack got it right, and they did. Shane Bond came out, bowled quick and swung big and they were tight and consistent from the other end. After nine overs we were 35 for 1, not too bad, but from there it all went downhill. 45 for 5 off 15. 95 for 8. 164 all out. And in that 164 Luke Woodcock and I put on 42 for the 10th wicket, he getting past 50 and I reaching another personal best of 19*. In that 19 I hit my third six of my domestic and international career. That added Andrew Ellis to a small group of three that I've put over the fence. Todd Astle in a four-day match and some other guy called Ntini or something in a Test match at the Wanderers. I'm not trying to brag or skite, they just don't come around that often so sometimes you just got to tell the world. Sorry Ellie, Todd and Makhaya!

Continue reading "Laughing at the Aussies while trying to rent a flat"

Days like yesterday hurt. It doesn't matter that I had a reasonable game, as it's the end result that really matters.

We got destroyed by a team that has, over the last couple of years, played some impressive one-day cricket. Otago have never, generally, been considered favourites in cricket for a long time. We (Wellington Firebirds) went into the match as one of the two stronger teams in the country (us and CD) aware of what kind of cricket Otago can play. If they get their tails up then they are as strong as opposition as there is around. And yesterday they had more than just their tails up.

We had just come off a good close win against a strong Auckland team a couple of days earlier; that was the first win I had been a part of since the first Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong, it had been a long time! From there and into the gym the day after and training at 10am on New Year's Day.

Continue reading "Outdone by Otago "

	At the moment with the bowling I've had behind me and the training I'm doing I really feel good about being able to execute deliveries and my plans © Getty Images

It's New Year’s day and I'm on the couch resting up for tomorrow’s one-day match against Otago.

A quiet night last night, went out and had a couple of beers with some of the Wellington boys, home by 12.30 very sober and very much looking forward to sleep. I'm not one for the late nights too often, especially when I know I have to get up and train the next day. I just can't operate tired, let alone, with a hangover, at all!

Training today at 10am, but before we start training we debriefed the Auckland match from two days ago.

The first half of this game went according to plan, the second half, not so. We bowled Auckland out for 197 in the 50th over. We'd bowled really well and really denied Auckland scoring opportunities through the innings. Nap's (Graham Napier), again, was brilliant. Another four wickets to his name while Woody (Luke Woodcock) picked up three, including a double-wicket maiden to start his first spell. Genius!

Continue reading "Getting into the one-day groove"