Picking Murali's doosra - Iain O'Brien at Cricinfo

The crowds at the ground have been really good, a small smattering of Kiwis here supporting, NZ flags pop up in different places, black t-shirts and jandals . The occasional “C’mon Kiwi” shouted out, it’s been good to see and hear the ex-pats in the crowd. It’s just a pity we haven’t given them more to cheer about more often.

I got to bat tonight; I had had a good hit in the last warm-up match and have been feeling pretty good with bat in hand. We were six down at tea and I had some ‘knock-ups’ outside on the ground. I found the middle of the bat in defence, hit a couple of drives and headed back up to the changing room happy.

Mowing the outfield: He was doing about 30kmph aorund the outfield © Iain O'Brien

It became my turn to bat around 5pm. The light had just started to deteriorate and SL had quite a new ball; brilliant, just brilliant!? I had been watching the pace of the quicks, both on TV and live, and was pretty sure it wasn’t going to be their pace that was going to be my undoing. In fact I wasn’t really too worried about the quicks; it was these two spinners that were causing me some head problems. Before bad light stopped play on the third day I had faced nine balls and scored three; a good start.

I faced two balls from Murali; I picked them as an offie first and then the doosra. When I got back upstairs to the changing room I re-watched the footage to see if I had got it right. In fact I got them both wrong. It was the other way around. I’ll work had on trying to pick him tomorrow, but more importantly work had with Dan and try to bat for as long as possible. I’ve got a target I’d love to get to, not a run target but a balls faced target. If I get close then I know Dan and I will have put on a partnership of note.

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Hi O'Brian, this is a very nice blog, very well written, it shows how honest you are and how simple and how easy it is to write the truth which most cricketers lack today, fine example, Ricky Ponting, not that I have anything against him, but thats how I feel about it, oh, one more thing, you will loose the Galle test bud, haha, and good luck facing Murali and Mendis, a lot of Sri Lankans loves the New Zealanders, you guys are simple, down to earhty, and and NOT arrogant..

good luck on both the tests, if you win, well done!!!!!!!!

Sam. Toronto.

'In fact I got them both wrong. It was the other way around.' Either you are brutally honest, or this blog is an attempt to deceive Murali. Your batting will tell tomorrow.

Is it truly in the best interest of the game to disclose such details while the match is in progress? The jury is still out there on this.

Always a pleasure to read your blogs. Particularly enjoyed in the last NZ-Ind series.

hey iain, nice writing as usual!
good to see u enjoying ur cricket. btw dnt be too disappointed abt the situation of the match. infact i thought u guys did pretty well. u kno, avoided the follow-on and all...
i agree with u on the umpiring: a few decisions went either way. but in the end i guess we're kinda even...so no harm done there!

do ur best with the bat 2morrow!
hopefully ('n with a bit of luck) u will achieve ur little batting target:P lol!

best of luck!!

-one of ur lankan fans

Hey thanx for the daily updates mate. Its nice to be able to get into a players head n see what they are seen after a good day of cricket. I am a srilankan fan, so I hope that you wont be able to get to that target of yours XD:. The weather has been absolutely horrid for this match. I guess cos of the covers the pitch wouldn't have deteriorated and it wont be the usual land mine that it usually is in the last couplla days. So prob wont be easy to get another 12 wickets even with weather permitting. So IMO this is heading for a draw.
On a different track altogether wouldave loved to see Bondie back in action this series. Always have been a great fan (sadly even when playing against sri lanka).
Anyhoo keep up the good work, pls throw away your wicket, and if possible for a second time too within the next 2 days.

Many years ago, Venkatesh Prasad thwarted Murli and stitched together a partnership with Dravid by just consuming balls and not worrying about runs. For Murli, if he pitches it a foot outside the off stump, then its his offie. If he pitches it on or inside the off stump, then its invariably the doosra. So u can pad up the former as the umpire will never be sure enough to give raise the finger for an lbw appeal. If its pitched within the stumps, play it like a straight ball or one slightly going out. For Mendis,play with the bat, and with soft hands at all times, and watch out for the flatter faster one. All the best!!

Hi Ian,

A lot of responsibility is riding on your shoulders buddy. How long you bat out there and provide support for Vettori maybe the difference between being 0-1 and 0-0 in this test. Your whole country not to mention a lot of Indians are pinning their hopes on you Ian. The NZ prime minister himself is likely counting on you to uphold the pride of the country. I'm sure you won't buckle under the pressure Ian. I'm sure you can bat a session or two facing Murali at one end and Mendis at the other under hot sticky conditions with lots of chirping around you. I'm sure you won't let down your team and country Ian. :)) (My Sangakkara imitation)

Best,

Manjula

Ian I think NZ is in a mess now I can't see how will you avoid defeat, only bad weather can help you. Batsman didn't play responsibly, plus playing two world class spinners in Sri lanka is a huge task where tracks take sharp turn. I would suggest just to enjoy your game and try not to think too much about dosra's, just go and enjoy the batting, if it's there to hit than go for it. I watched you bowling in NZ, you have the pace and determination and you hit the deck hard that might work in your favour, you just got to avoid bowling too short or too full. Best of luck.

goodday Mate, playing murali and Mendis is always been a challenge to the cricket world, even players from sub-continent find them hard to face, NZers are budding well under Dan's leadership so things are improving for ur team, Its always u guys carry a reputation of doing Miracles which sounds pleasing but not all the time, combined effort and consitency is somethings which u guys need to concentrate on. On a given day Taylor, Guptill and Jesse can put some good show by bat and Chris Dan and U can demolish any side batting side no doubt at all,
Everyone is international cricket have taken time to improve and steady thier ship, just take things positively.
Cheers
Ram

Hello Ian,
I'm a SL fan and living USA. I missed all the excitements in cricket and I read Cricinfo every morning. I found your blog few days ago and reading it to get the REAL excitement. Like to hear what the players experience in the middle. Not only that, like to see how you guys doing in SL.... I missed SL.
Good luck for the Galle test (although I'm am SL supporter). If I create a list of cricket teams who are honest and down to earth NZ and SL are at the top.

Cheers!

Lasantha
Texas, USA

Hey Ian, tough luck with your batting mate. It was always on the cards that you would be dismissed by one of the spinners. I liked the way you bowled today first up, hitting the right areas and picking up Paranavithana. Well, Dilshan as usual stole away the limelight and as a sri lankan supporter, he gives me memories of when Sanath was explosive as an opener. I am happy to see Dilshan making good steady progress with this new role and actually establishing himself as a dinamite opener. You know Dinamites come in small packages, just like Murali, Shewag, Littke Kalu, upcoming Umar akmal and his brother Kamran, Shiv Chandrepaul. A sri lankan win is on the cards,weather permitting, and if you blokes can bat out the rest of the day tomorrow, and draw this test match, then i would say you guys have done a tremendous job. That for me would count as a Kiwi win rather than a draw, and knowing what the galle pitch can do on a final day, it is going to be a tough ask though.

Hey Ian, forgot to mention earlier but hope you guys will get well soon. It is rather unusual for a team to get sick but I am sure it is something that u guys ate or drank or simply you guys are not immune to the different kinds of food. By the way, when i was a kid and even now, when i do get stomach ahes my mom uses to give me a medicine. This is an ayurvedic sinhalese medicine, better than the expensive stuff tht u get at the pharmacy. The name of this is "Seetharama", it is like a small clay ball which is made out of ayurvedic herbs and stuff. You take two of these balls, it is black or dark brown in colour, place it on a table spoon, squeeze some fresh lime on to the spoon, let the balls dissolve in the lime (use ur fingers to crush it up) and then just think about something sweet or something that you have achieved or a happy moment, coz' trust me mate, this stuff is sour as hell but it works like magic too, and drink the lime solution in one gulp. Try this out mate and it works.

Hey Iain,

A lankan fan here. Thanks for the updates over the last few days. I've really enjoyed reading 'em all and love your no nonsense approach! And judging by the comments, it seems that I'm not the only SL fan who thinks NZ are a fantastic team who are a credit to the game as they play in the right spirit. Personally, you guys have always been my top team to cheer for other than SL. Good luck for the final day. I'm cheering for SL of course but hope you guys put up a hell of a fight. And hope your mates get well and bug free for the next Test! Cheers, Upul D.