Dark times and demons - Iain O'Brien at Cricinfo

My bowling in Wellington wasn’t great, although if you take out the stats to Sehwag, I wasn’t too bad. He’s just hitting the ball so well at the moment, playing with no fear and it’s coming off. In my first over he slashed at two deliveries that flew either side of Jake, at point; had one of them gone to hand, things might have been different. Unfortunately I bowled too many balls in areas that we have basically declared ‘no go zones’. After a couple of rain breaks, which were forecast, I bowled one more over, in the batting Powerplay. This wasn’t my best work but I did pick up a wicket, a small chance to celebrate, although the ball I got the wicket with wasn’t one of the better balls I had bowled. I’ll take it though and on days like that, you got to!

So, yesterdays match. As I said, wow! For the first time in a long time we were without Dan; he had a wife, and now baby, he HAD to be with. Congrats mate! That meant that Baz would be captain. And as any captain worth his salt does, he won the toss.

Sachin was special yesterday and it was only an injury that halted him in a charge for 200, individually. That’s a pretty scary thing to think about; one player scoring that many runs in an ODI. Again though, the thing we take from it is that we didn’t bowl very well to him or the others. It was not a 390 pitch or ground; it was more like a 320 pitch and ground. The boundaries are very short in places and are very difficult to defend on a good day, let alone yesterday. It was good, though, to see the sun shine and the D-L sheets stay in pockets.

After so many fireworks it just got better for the crowd. Jesse and Baz opened up the innings, and really opened up. Jesse’s hundred, on any other day, would have been a match-winning knock. This was his first ODI ton and against a very good bowling attack, in a chase that was going to need some special things to happen, he really showed how much he’s learning about his game and sticking to his strengths. Baz’s knock was another display of how much he has moved on as an opener; boundaries and then singles to get the ‘on fire’ Jesse back on strike. Unfortunately we just couldn’t keep the run-rate up without losing wickets; that was going to be the problem in a monster run chase.

With Millsy and Timmy at the crease the chase was virtually gone, although with nothing to lose, they swung and swung hard. Millsy hit his first ODI 50 in brilliant display of hitting and, with Timmy, they put on 83 in about 7 overs. At one stage there was a thought going through the ‘shed’ that this was possible if things kept working in our favour. I was sent out with a message to tell them to ‘just keep swinging’, basically take any thought of being fancy and actually ‘trying’ to win it as opposed to ‘if it happens, it happens, keep playing with no fear.’ That was all good until Munaf Patel got taken off for two deliveries above the waist and was replaced with Pathan; the change of pace meant the boys had to play slightly differently, and with that change, Millsy was dismissed. Tim was then dismissed in the next over and game over; a chase too big but one that was entertaining and where four of the lads hit new high scores.

Now, in Hamilton, a curry for tea, a good nights sleep and off to the nets tomorrow to keep working on being better …

Hey Ian,

Chin up man. I am indian, and I honestly believe you are currently the best bowler in the outfit (bar Danny Boy - or rather Dan-da-Man).
I know you get a lot of advice from coaches, commentators and other students of the game, but having watched Sehwag bat at the DDCA since his teens, I have one suggestion to you.

Bowling in the "right areas" with conventional one day fields is not going to work for you. Bowling at his pads is a sin, just like with any other Indian batsman. Thats because most of us while playing in our backyards/parks usually dont have enough pads and protection to go around - we get very adept at making sure the ball doesnt hit us. Sehwag is a gambler - takes calculated chances - make him gamble. Pack the offside, put your fastest two men on the rope at thirdman/deep backward point and another at deep extra cover/wide long off and just make him cut/drive on the up. Bowl third stump and if he wants to improvise to hit you on the legside, let him try.

Ian, it's great to hear from a professional such as yourself that you're sometimes haunted by the same demons that professionals in other fields are - the things that play with your head. Of course, to your mention about a couple of personal things, we hope it's nothing serious and would not - should not - affect you the same way Brett Lee's personal travails got to him late last year.
It would be interesting to hear your take on things but, at least on tely, it seems like the series is being played in very good spirits - Vettori shaking hands with his "DareDevils" captain before the first T20, no angry glares or exchanges when Sehwag got tripped over in your follow-through. Just goes to show that if both teams really want to play the gentleman's game, they can (referring to your neighbors, by the way).
Looking forward to another cracker today and wishing you good luck for selection and the game - but slightly better luck to the Indians :-)

Cheers, mate!! Keep writing..

A good entry, this is. Being a fast bowler myself, I can understand the feeling of being dropped. But as you put it it is a small little motivation for you to reflect up on the merits and demerits of your own game and take the positives out of it. As for the match, watching Sachin "flow" was treat for any and every Indian. I was just glued to the seat of my office chair, missed some of the dance party in the Ball Room, but it was worth every penny of it. I am glad to see a fast bowler raring to go. But remember these Indian Tigers have tasted blood and now there is virtually nothing that one can do to stop them except hope they fail / fall under their own weight (which we have not seen in recent times.). Good Luck for the next game! Be it a nail biter!

What a match! It was unbelievable hitting by batsmen in both the teams. The bowlers(again, of both teams) went to the cleaners. Even as the Indian innings ended at 392 I knew the match was anything but over. I expected a spirited fight from you guys no matter what the end result. McCullum's run out was unfortunte and Ross Taylor's run out was totally unavoidable. He was the one man who could taken the game away from the Indians. I don't think there's reason to feel bad about this game. It was the Indians' day. Some of their shots didn't come off the middle of the bat but still went to the boundary. Some mis hits went for 6 whereas on another day they would have ended up as catches.
You guys need to watch tapes of Glen McGrath's bowling to develop ideas about how to bowl to the Indians. He would always bowl with nagging accuracy in the corridor outside off stump. You have to stick to that kind of line and length and do it all day. Thanks for the blog and all the best for the next game!

Hi Iain,

I heard about your blog before, but never really bothered to read it until Indians started touring NZ. I find your blog honest and funny. I was a bit surprised to find you missing in NZ's bowling lineup for 3rd ODI. I guess, you were given a good reason. :)

Anyways, I thought the line and length of the delivery that got Sehwag out in the first T20 was perfect. Of course, this might not work anymore as it seemed to me that Sehwag is keen on pulling any ball which is fractionally short of length in the last couple of matches (slightly unusual for him to pull and this brought his downfall in 3rd ODI), almost as if he's expecting short of length deliveries.

Anyways, good luck with your next match. Looks like you'll play the next match.

awesome blog Ian, being a die hard Indian fan, it feels good to read this, but i wish u best f luck for hamilton, which i think you ll surely be playing coz if you had demons, what about southee?? And yeah, look out for Raina, he is going to be the no.3 tommorow, he has never been like this, seems like vivian richards soul has left him after the pitch farce in his stadium,and now Raina is no more Raina. Another thing, why doesn't NZ team contemplate batting second, India's only loss in last 12 odis has been a chase, besides they have chased only twice in all this while. I know every team prefers to play to its strength, but i guess, NZ has to come up with plan B now. Lastly, you guys are really proud of vettori's expertise with tosses, I must tell you buddy, MS was coming from a 8 match toss winning streak against Mahela Jayawardene. So, i guess we have an even contest at our hands. Its Holi tmrw in India, wish you a Happy Holi Ian playing Indians.

Hey Ian
Hope you doin well mate!

ok... i think some people thought my comments the other day were offensive, my apologies if they sounded like dat but that certainly wasnt the intention.

anyways thanks for answering couple of my queries , but i would still like to know acc. to u, how much would the score had been if dan was playing?

& btw, i honestly think that kiwis missed a trick by dropping u, but anyways i hope to see you in black soon on the field.

take care & keep blogging... we love you for it;)

Whether you play or dont play. It doesnt really matter. Because India will Win and rightly so because they are way too good. Bowlers of all class around the world have taken a beating from sehwag. Just accept the fact that Sehwag is Sensational. You cant do much about it. And if anyone didnt bowl then it is Munaf Patel and Indian team in the beginning of NZ innings and at the end. Thats it. AS simple as that. Ifs and buts are always there. Had this catch been taken or had the sehwag hit little square. Well mate Sehwag has been playing that for years now. It is you who is new to International Cricket. Grow up fast and accept the facts. Indian Team is way too good and Dhoni is doing exceptionally well. You won't become small if you honestly say "Indians were really good". You won't lose anything. Personally I felt Indian bowling and fielding was bad in the start of the innings and in the ending. In the middle it was exceptional and that is why they took so many wickets and won!!!!!

I like your bowling Ian. I thought it was unfair to drop you given that how Mills bowled. In the hindsight, it did not turn out to be a great selection decision as your replacement went for 100+! Surely you wouldn't have gone for so much. I like Southee too, so it was a touch sad to see him get such a hiding from the Masters. I hope he comes back strong (not in this series though! being an Indian I'm obviously supporting India)

Anyway, good luck for Hamilton. Play well but not too well! Kinda sucks the ODI is sold out which rules out my presence in Hamilton. However, see you in Auckland.

Hi, Ian.... its great to see a cricketers is writing so lively about what is happening on the field.
Ryder Played really well last game but i dont know why you guys are careless about indian fielding.
see Indians now days right in the top because of their fielding also.
I dont know why the hell they drop you in the last game.
why these kind of unwanted experiment in curcial games ????
Ian concentrate on next match, i feel slow balls will work very well against Indians.

Take Care, Keep Blogging.
Waiting for your Next Blog.
Have to Mention Some thing to your team
" Dont Stick to any Plans, because indian already filled up their Gaps.
Think Differently...

Hi Ian ....India lead the series 2-0 with 2 matches to go..as i said u before tht India will win the odi series 4-1 ..as one of the game is washed out now it not gng to happen...there r every chances tht india will clean sweep the odi series by 4-0...coming to 3rd odi it was great to watch master piece innings from Sachin..he played every shot in the book perfectly..great to see yuvi,dhoni n raina smacked NZ bowlers to evry part of the ground....Nz have started well..gu tn display by bazz n ryder...once they were gone it became very difficult for nz batters to maintain 8 per over as wickets were tumbuling...8th wicket mills n southee gave scare forindian bowles for 7 overs ....they were gng for every ball against munaf...at the end of the day india won the match n lead the series 2-0..keep going India...

Hi Iain,

I never expected that you would come up with the blog, at a time when you were dropped from the 1st XI. But it's really glad to see your thoughts.

I really thought NZ would pull up an incredible victory with Jesse and Baz putting on 166 in 20 overs....

Anyway past is past...I know for sure that you'll be a part of the starting XI with Butler injured and Timmy left out.

All the best to you and NZ, somehow let's do the best to stay alive in the series...and I know that you can do that!!!

Hey Iain,

Been meaning to say for a while how much I enjoy this blog of yours. It's rare enough for top level sportsmen to write so engagingly, and rarer still to sound so, well, human while doing it - but this entry is a brave one as well, and you deserve a lot credit for that. I'm not sure if you mean what I think you mean when you talk about the demons, but if so I hope you can find a way to keep the ol' black dog at bay. I know it ain't easy. Whatever you have to do mate, best of luck.

Now being an Aussie, of course I can't actually say I hope you win...but I do hope the rest of the series goes well for you, and everything else besides. Keep up the good work, you'll be back in the swing of things in no time.

Lets face it. Everybody wants to see a match tipped in batsman's favor. The reason is simple. The batsman can never make a comeback while the bowler can always come back. But the small grounds in NZ are a real disgrace to cricket and the last match is a testament to it. Prepare good batting pitches but why not bigger grounds so that at least there are other skills involved (like running between the wickets). I think with the way the bats are made these days, it makes sense for the ICC to increase the mandatory size of a ground so that even if the curator prepares a belter the ground size will compensate for it.
And on a final note, a good bowler can always bowl better on good surfaces even if he is a spinner (Vettori and Muralidharan have showed it time and again. Just need to prepare appropriately for it.

Hey Iain, i've been reading your blog since the start of this series...good work i must say.

To be very frank, i was ultra pissed about the 02-03 series when we got screwed over in NZ. So I thought of this tour as sort of a revenge tour. But honestly, there've just been 3 full length matches till now. Such matches dont really show how well a side is playing.

I agree you swept us away in the T20s with a lil bit of luck, but in the ODIs, the Indian team is on a roll...and had the 2nd ODI not gotten washed out, we would've pocketed the series the other day at the AMI. But anyways, diplomatically speaking, may the best team win.

Heres keeping hope that there'll be full contests in the last 2 one dayers and no rain interruptions in the tests as well.

CHEERS!

-Regards,
Pranay

Hey Ian

I would like you to answer my question in your next post. The question is:

Why do you think that some fast bowlers prefer to sacrifice pace to hit the right areas. And almost always when "hitting the right areas" doesn't work how come they don't/can't revert to bowling fast again? A great example of this is Munaf Patel. He was once hailed as the fastest bowler in India. Now he can't bowl over 140 even if his life depended on it, Irfan Pathan is another example of this.

Ian, the reason I am asking this isn't to put Munaf or Irfan down, but my coaches have asked me to cut down on pace to bowl straight, but I really don't think its a good idea. Lets say I do cut my pace as an experiment, how hard is it to starting bowling fast again?

Pointers to get Sehwag early.
1. Have your best bowlers bowl to him. Vettori must bowl to him atleast five or six to him. Whats the point in getting a 4 economy rate when other bowlers get hammered for 9. Vettori has the best chance to get Sehwag out. You guys need to give yourselves more chances.
2. Like some one said in one of the above postings, he is a risk taker and let him take few. The small boundaries make it hard for bowlers in NZ, but traditionally captains have allowed Veeru a leeway and trapped him on the boundary or with a mishit. If you get hit for few boundaries, well, he is going to hit anyway..take it in your stride and lay the next trap. Specially when he is playing like this, thats the only chance you guys got.
3. I think an astute captain with tight, strategic field placements and disciplined bowling can suffocate Sehwag. You guys just have to work that harder to get him early. Just think about this , do you think McGrath would get hit like this by Sehwag. I don’t think so. There is something Mcgrath does really well and that’s bowl with lot of discipline ball after ball after ball. And if you add to that, a brilliant field set up by captain…. That’s a tough nut to crack. No one said international cricket is easy 

Hello Iain,
BY seeing these fighting Kiwi’s. I am inspired by this young fight team against Aussie and Indians….
I am the fans of ur team so this is very little contribution for my team.i can’t
Newzealanders has not made proper strategy to contain the long Indian batting lineup….First of all this Indian team(Dhoni’s boys) are love to bat first, so u guys have to shatter their plans from the begin…so try to bat first if u guys win the toss, there is nothing in pitch so bowler can’t expect from pitch they should use the mind and batsman weakness In T20 U guys did very well bowled upto batsmen weakness like
Indians are used to these kind of Flat Pitches.I am not good enough to say these techniques.But at times it may work with these strategy Indians can’t post above330.So u guys can chase these total
My contribution follows before

Coming to..,
MSD is very strong in Yorker (he can swing is bat to mid on or mid off for boundary)U guys not bowled a single Yorker to him..He can’t play the length ball likes others easily..he try get the singles in the length delivery.
Viru is a special player he can hit all the good delivery to boundary…but u have make him play the shot as like he plays so he will threw away his precious wicket easily by playing a loose shot to mid-on, or mid-off, or square the wicket in the boundary…don’t use wide or out swinger to viru he can play well these ball… make sure fuller when MID- ON AND MID –OFF is placed ..and length ball with some in swinger ..he lags the foot moment he cuts or drive the ball which near to body… so there is chance of caught of behind…or inside edge which can shatter the stumps…use rare short delivery with fine placed…the ball should the helmet… u have done it in T20 the delivery which sharply nippin inside..

Yuvraj is very strong with pacer..but he can’t play spinners so use vettori… place the field like stop the singles.. in off sides… make sure he plays the ball across the pads to on sides..or sweep shot so LBW is possible…use length delivery or slightly short near to body around the leg make sure it hits the leg stump top ….or above

Raine is strong hook and pull of ball and the Ground dimension is small in either side... so make sure he hits the ball in straight..And spinner can have a chance to get him.

I hope this would be helpful...,

Cheers up Kiwis,
Wildfyr,

yo, great write. I'm loving your character. Tell u the truth, I usually wake up at 10am, but now gotta wake up at 6am(India) to catch up with cricket.
Man its fun playing with u guyz. I love Nezlnd(but obv not more than ind). Again tom gotta wake up early for the 4th ODI which I hope to be a nail bitter again.
Anyway best of luck for you and your team. Wanna meat a professional cricketer like u someday (probably will meet you when i come to newzlnd after a few years when i set up my own MNC).
My personal opinion, you are a great bowler with bright prospects, just keep working hard and belive in the theme "PRACTICE MAKES MAN PERFECT". I'm sure when you will be 40 and I 38, you will be resting in your couch watching a local match and recalling facts about your 120th Test and 400th ODI(am too imaginativ).
All the best again dude. C ya.

Don't worry newzealand fans i hope ur team will win this time. Because of injury sachin and also for ishant still remains when he is going to play.

And poor performance of munaf patel in this series, and nobody is there to replace him.

So, this time odd will favour to nz more rather than india.

I think if nz can't win this match then they can't avoid clean sweep. So for nz this is the most favorable moment to grab the opportunities because indian team now looks vulnerable in some areas.

Hi Iain,

Always a joy to read your blog. I was and Chch game and enjoyed every bit of it - although, I missed watching you in action.
India is at the top of its game and we are watching them play very special cricket. Fortunate to see Sachin display his talents to an appreciative NZ audience. Whilst this being said, NZ has given a good response in Chch and this alone should bolster the confidence going into Hamilton. There is something I must say...The Indians should feel honoured to play in this country where their talents are appreciated and respected both by the audience and the players. Every talk-back I hear to, every comment I read in the papers has been extremely fair. It was extremely nice to see the players and audiience applauding both Sachin and Jesse for their masterful performances in Chch. This is the spirit of Cricket and not sledging which has now alsmot become part and parcel of the game. Look forward to some great cricket and to your blog.
Ramesh

Great Blog Ian! It's always been a fascination of mine to hear what goes in an international cricketer's mind. Btw, tough luck against Sehwag. He is my favorite batsman and I have analyzed his batting ever since his debut. On his day, he is absolutely devastating against any bowler on any pitch. However, he tends to get carried away sometimes with his stroke play. A slower delivery, preferably a yorker, might do wonders (preceded by 140+ kph deliveries).

Best of luck for the last ODI

Cheers,
Adi

P.S. You gotta give some credit to the Indian batsman..especially Sehwag..afterall, not everybody has 2 triple and 3 double centuries. The man has definitely got SKILL. Arguably, he has a genius which no other batsman in the Indian line up possess'. No, maybe not even Tendulkar himself..

Man Sehwag is a demon. I think getting him early is the key as you did int he Hamilton game. Left to run riot I think he not only scores quickly but his attitude rubs off on the other batsmen and things become devastating very quickly. I have to say I really feel for Grant Elliot because I think he is actually a player who is underestimated both in his bowling and batting. He keeps getting dropped down the order because they dont think he can score at a fast rate but he ends up scoring faster than anyone else. Its just his style is different. He rotates the strike and hits fours rather than going for the big hits. I think he is a valuable player. HIs bowling figures are good too. He should be given the ball more often. He seems to get a wicket every time he bowls. I know this is a big debate but I still think McCullum is better down the order. Its not a criticism of him, but I just think he's better at the end of innings when the pressure is on to hit big strokes. My two cents anyway.