Iain O'Brien and Daniel Vettori's only plan on the fifth day of the third Test in Wellington was to bat for as long as they could © Getty Images

It's probably about time I sat down and did a bit of a catch up, starting with the final day of international cricket for the summer in New Zealand.

Originally, I was going to get this done sitting in the departures lounge of Auckland Airport as I waited for me flight to the UK to join up with Leicestershire, but as I am still sitting here in Wellington, over a week after my original departure date I thought it was about time got this all down.

So, Day 5 of the Test match, our only task was to save it, to fight it out for a draw. One thing we had in our favour was the rain forecast for the middle of the afternoon that would probably stick around for the rest of the day. The pitch was still flat, no real wear and tear and the windy day makes it hard to bowl; so we had a chance to do something strong, not roll over and hang in there for the day, or at least till the rain came.

Continue reading "The end of an indifferent summer"

My summer of bowling has finished and I have just had a real good feed of fried chicken, approved and signed off by both our trainer and physio. I need to put some weight back on my body and fried chicken is a good place to start. I haven't had a feed like that for a very long time and I am actually not feeling the best after it, as my body isn't used to a high-fat meal at the moment. But I'll survive and I'm sure I'll be okay in the morning.

So, we're chasing down 600-plus, well not really chasing it down but we're out there hanging tough to draw this match. Chasing that score, on any deck, has never been done, not even close and it won't be done here in Wellington. Time is the only thing against us and with us.

India batted for over an hour this morning. I opened from the Adelaide Road end into the wind. I wasn't feeling as strong or quick as I was the night before even after a good rest and massage; all the bowling has really taken its toll on my body. My first couple of overs went just fine, lines ok, lengths not bad. And then Yuvraj happened; eighteen off one over. Three fours and a six, and my lengths weren't too bad, maybe a touch short, but not so much that I deserved to be hit like I was. He can play. Though it did loosen him up and Tommy got him to go hard on the drive and nick one through to Rossco at first.

Continue reading "It's all about timing"

Well, it wasn't quite a scythe that we took to the Indian batsmen, more a small, not so sharp, butter knife; but we hung tough and were rewarded with two wickets just after lunch and then a couple late in the day.

It was always going to be a hard day, the pitch was flat, the wind was going to be tough to deal with and our bodies are sore and tired; it was going to be Test cricket, plain and simple.

We obviously wanted early wickets and they just didn't come. I started up wind, where I have made a name for myself here in Wellington. My first couple of overs were okay, but not great, I couldn't quite find my areas and I have a feeling I was trying too hard. I finished up wind and soon had a go down the breeze. Now I was really trying too hard here to bowl fast and I didn't do my job very well. I wanted to bowl quick, hit the deck hard and then see if I could get a 'wafty' drive for a nick to pick up a wicket. I was too straight and then too wide to Gautam Gambhir and didn't really get to bowl to Rahul Dravid. I really wanted to bowl to the right-hander but just couldn't manipulate the over to get Dravid on strike.

Tough first session. I got into the changing room and lay down on the floor next to my gear bag, pulled my jersey over my head and wanted to go to sleep. I was really done at this stage. Energy was gone and I just wanted lie there, not move, just go to sleep. I couldn't though, Baz [McCullum] wouldn't leave me alone. Sometimes you do need others to get you up, to keep you going; normally I have more than enough of that spirit, but right then I was done, and those couple of words from Baz were enough to get me up and to the lunch room for a meal. After a meal, I headed back to my seat in the changing room. The coach came over and checked how I was. I told him I was, well, tired. He went off to see our trainer and our nutritionist to see what could be done. I had a 'squeezy': basically a high sugar gel shot, and a strong cup of coffee, in a pill form. It would take a bit to kick in but I was hopeful that I could get through the next session feeling okay.

Continue reading "Tough day with few rewards"

Not the day I was hoping for is an understatement.

I sat down to write this a little earlier but wasn't really in a good mood and what I was typing was a little bit angry, I was having a bit of a moan about a few things, not related to today's play either. But I'll leave all that because I'm feeling better now; best not to blog angry, huh!?

Today didn't go to plan, I think it's fair to say. It started off pretty well, Tommy (Martin -> Marto > Tom Marto ... get it??) picked up Sharma, first ball of the third over of the day. We're off the park, boots off and feet up.

I spent the day switching between the changing room and the viewing area trying to change the luck of the guys out there. Don't move seats if someone is in, don't talk about how good someone is playing; these things can jinx or curse an innings. So I was up and about trying to find a place where the luck was good.

Khan bowled really well today, he seemed to have it on a string and even the bad balls ended up as good ones. I've bowled my share of short wide ones and they've ended up at the boundary, not wicket taking deliveries, it was with him today.

I was padding up just before tea, I was hoping to be tucking into a big feed as a part of a recovery day. Soon after tea I was in, Khan still bowling well and Singh drifting it and spinning it a little from the other. It was Baz [McCullum] and I again, hopeful of another partnership with him that would bring a little respectability to our score. We were going pretty well together, the pitch was playing pretty flat and I was feeling ok. I got a couple of very good bouncers early, the first one didn't miss by much, just pulling my head out of the way right at the last second. After those couple I was feeling better about picking up the ball and getting under the short ones. If I can get under a couple of bouncers early I start to feel a lot better about batting, it means I'm watching the ball and am picking it up early. When I fend and swing at early bouncers it means I am having issues seeing the ball and I may not last to long.

I hit my new top score today, 19. Nothing special, but still it's a personal best and I'm pretty happy about it. I should have and could have scored more too. I nicked one that I had been hitting well in defence trying to look for a single. I was disappointed to get out in that way on that track and it now meant that we had to go back out and bowl, that I was more disappointed about.

It hadn't been a warm day and it certainly wasn't warm heading back out to bowl now. The shadows were long, the wind was cold and most of us were pretty tired but we went out there to give it everything.

I got to do my usual role of bowling into the wind, it was quite a good breeze but tomorrow is set to be stronger again. I got through four overs pretty good and then got a crack down wind. I had been looking forward to this and was going to go real hard and crank as much out of my body as I could. I hit some pretty good speeds and I am looking forward to a good run down it tomorrow, although, my main role will be from the up wind end, where I'll have to work hard getting to the crease and concentrate harder as the wind can blow you off course at the top of the jump. It's more about muscling it there rather than using rhythm to get the ball down the other end.

Let’s hope for a good day tomorrow and that we can scythe through the most prolific run-scoring team there is.

	"I can tell you I was a very happy boy when he (Sehwag) nicked one, off me, through to Baz" © AFP

Just another day in the park, huh! The body is pretty tired, even my arms started to feel lethargic this afternoon; I could really do with a couple of days with my feet up watching our boys bat. We have a pretty damn good chance of that happening too, we need one more wicket tomorrow morning and then the boots come off, recovery continues, I'll eat plenty, drink lots, wear my compression tights and stretch lots. But that won’t happen until we get that last wicket.

Tough start today, we would have loved to have batted first on that pitch; it looks and has played like a good one-day wicket. Seeing as we need to win this Test to draw the series we had to take a chance, play the extra seamer and bowl first. It wasn't quite the start we'd hoped for though. Sehwag, again, took the attack to the new ball. He really has no regard for how openers 'should' play, it's exciting that's for sure and I can tell you I was a very happy boy when he nicked one, off me, through to Baz [McCullum]. It wasn't quite the length I was trying to bowl to him, it was the line though and when Dan [Vettori] got to the huddle to celebrate with us, and I got a big hug from him. We know how much getting Sehwag as early as possible changes the course of the first session and day.

Franky [Franklin], in the next over, removed Gambhir with a cross seamer that held its line and smashed into his pads. The game just changed and as it did in the first Test, it was around a drinks break. Franky and I, at home at the Basin, put a ten overs set together, two wickets and just 19 runs. Bowling in partnerships is such a huge thing in any cricket and when both guys get it right, or close to it, pressure from both ends, things often happen, the pressure has to be released somehow and it's those moments that can define a Test. It was in the last Test where the Indian batters absorbed everything we could throw at them in those pressure situations.

Continue reading "Oh yeah that's right, 50 wickets"

I know this is a day late, for that you must forgive me, or not.

Yesterday, when I would normally wrap up Day 5 and the Test match in this blog, was not a day for me to be doing too much; except that I was flat out trying to sort out recovery from the Test, travel plans, visa applications, get a hair cut, attending and speak at the Wellington Cricket Age Grade Prize Giving and then eating, which I had almost neglected all day. Not the day that I needed after three days (273 overs) in the field. The day I would have prescribed, in a perfect world, would have been a sleep in till 9 or 10, up for some breakfast, off to the pool for a swim and a spa and then the rest of the day doing nothing but eating and drinking water. That didn't happen, I was busy all day!

So, Day 5. We needed early wickets, two wickets, as I said, would hopefully open up the tail. We had to get two early to have a chance of getting the next couple with a harder newer ball and then the tail to come. Tommy (Chris Martin) opened up and he had Sachin caught by Baz (Brendon McCullum) at a time that kept us in the game. We then went as hard as we could, doing everything we could think of to dislodge VVS (Laxman) and Gambhir. I took over from Jeets (Jeetan Patel) and hit the crease hard, got through my first two overs with out really troubling either of these two. So the plan had to change. Dan (Daniel Vettori) and I decided I would just go as hard as possible at them, bounce them, bowl full, slower balls, just go through every variation looking for either something out of the deck or a mistake from the batters. Round and over the wicket to both, a lot of bouncers with a field set for hook shots and fended shots. I came as hard as I could for as long as I could, three times I asked Dan for “one more over” and he gave it to me, and then called me off after and eight over spell. It was good honest competition on a track that offered no variable bounce and very little spin doing everything we could to force a mistake.

Continue reading "The worst feeling there is"