http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/ en Copyright 2009 Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:16:37 +0000 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss It feels like I was just here yesterday. I’m sitting in Frankfurt Airport waiting for a connecting flight. I wasn’t here yesterday or even been here before but just seven days ago I departed the UK for South Africa, going via Munich Airport, and this airport feels exactly the same. It’s 6.30am, I got off the plane at 5.45am. I’m a bit tired. I managed to get a bit of sleep on the 9 hr flight from Johannesburg but not enough to make up for the previous night’s lack thereof. The night before last, we lost the Champions Trophy. We weren’t good enough, sure we were the underdog, but it still would have been great to have made the match closer. Australia deserved to win; they are the deserved winners of the 2009 Champions Trophy. Dan (Vettori) was ruled out of the match early although not many of us knew anything. His hammy had been bad in the semi-final vs Pakistan and probably shouldn’t have played that one; so the final, after doing a little more damage to it in his Man of the Match performance against Pakistan, was out of the question; although we all knew how much he wanted to play. I was out in the middle with some of the guys kicking a football around before warm-ups started when the coach came up to Jeetan Patel, hand on shoulder, and said “Mate, you’re playing.” It’s always a great feeling getting that ‘chat’ especially when you’ve worked so hard, consistently, to be ready to play. I knew how Jeets was feeling; overjoyed for himself and hugely disappointed for Dan and the team to lose such a player. http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/10/they_were_the_champions_my_fri.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/10/they_were_the_champions_my_fri.php ICC Champions Trophy 2009 Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:16:37 +0000

Well, I'm here in Johannesburg, at the Champions Trophy. I didn't think I'd be here. If you've read my last post then you'll know I was expecting a three-week break. I got nine days into that and I got a call from our New Zealand coach, Andy Moles, telling me that I'd be travelling the next day to come into the squad. Daryl Tuffey had broken his hand while fielding in the Sri Lanka game. He bowled after doing it which is an amazing effort, but in the morning his hand was huge. Like one of those big 'foam hands' you wear at the baseball from what I have heard. I feel really bad that Daryl couldn't finish the tournament, it's a terrible thing to be bowling really well and pick up a very unexpected injury that rules you out of such a special competition. I feel really bad for him and wish him as quick a recovery as possible!]]> http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/10/hitting_the_ground_running.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/10/hitting_the_ground_running.php ICC Champions Trophy 2009 Sat, 03 Oct 2009 09:22:50 +0000

I walked because I had dished out so much ‘chat’ to Paranavitana that it was only fair that I ‘practice what I preach’ © Getty Images

  It’s a day short of a month since I last blogged. I had written a piece to finish off the Sri Lanka tour the day after I got back to the UK and somehow lost 700 words into the ether. It frustrated me, a lot, to the point where I just couldn’t be bothered writing. It was a strange response really, especially as I have enjoyed writing the blogs even when I’ve been tired, sore and after we’ve been defeated. I’m back blogging and will aim to get a couple out a week, albeit smaller pieces as I’m not playing cricket for a while. It’s break time. It’s time for some time off bowling; no more warm ups for a while. I say ‘warm ups’ because you’ll find that warm ups are the part of the day that most cricketers dislike the most. Towards the end of the season, it is often counted down not in playing days but by warm ups remaining. I’ll let you in on another secret; we actually don’t mind the rain, and some guys are actually different people because of it. It’s been nine days since I last bowled, a Championship match, played vs Kent in Canterbury, and I’ve enjoyed every day of it. This was my last game for Leicestershire this season; there was still one more Championship match and a Pro40 left. In the original plan with Leicestershire County Cricket Club (LCCC) I wasn’t supposed to be playing after the Sri Lankan tour. Between us we sorted out a two-week extension that took in two Champo’s and two Pro40’s. I had already booked a week’s holiday with my wife, which took in the last couple of matches and thought it best if I keep those dates for our holiday rather than another week with Leicestershire. In my last match I didn’t bother the scorers much, at all. Made a duck and then wheeled through 21 overs without a wicket. I actually bowled really well and was especially happy to finish a long season with that kind of pace and consistency. I just didn’t take any wickets; there was a dropped catch, but they happen. We finished that match with a draw, a pretty good result from the position we got ourselves in. ]]> http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/09/back_at_the_keyboard.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/09/back_at_the_keyboard.php County Cricket 2009 Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:17:57 +0000

I almost got stuck out in the middle when the covers came from all corners, I had to get a bit of a sprint on to avoid being trapped in the middle in the pouring rain! © Cricinfo Ltd

  On Day Two, Dan [Vettori] joined a very, very special club. He became just the eighth player to reach 3000 runs and take 300 wickets. I know this meant a lot to Dan but you wouldn’t have known that by any of the actions Dan makes. He goes about his business, reaching his own milestones, sometimes some of them go unnoticed, and doing his job without the ego lesser players carry. He doesn’t carry on after taking wickets like some; he doesn’t run about pumping the air after scoring a ton. He is Dan, he is what you see; strongly motivated to be the best player he can be and take this, and the next NZ team to the top of our sport. And while being a great player, team-mate and captain, has made me a better bowler and it’s still a great thrill to walk out alongside him. This morning, again, didn’t go to plan. Five down overnight and we needed to bat and bat and bat. We were back in the field just before lunch 182 behind. I was pretty angry, angry at getting out how I did and also about having to be back out fielding before lunch. I took the new ball straight after lunch and went as hard as I could. I put my anger into the ball and bowled a good spell. No wickets but the intent I was trying to bring was something I hoped we could keep going with. 157/2, 339 runs in front when the rains came. I almost got stuck out in the middle when the covers came from all corners, I had to get a bit of a sprint on to avoid being trapped in the middle in the pouring rain! We could sure do with a bit more of it!? ]]> http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/08/cheers_dan.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/08/cheers_dan.php New Zealand in Sri Lanka 2009 Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:55:09 +0000

It’s been a while and I don’t really know where to start. Firstly, I guess, we lost the first Test. Old news really, but it wasn’t a strong enough performance from us. To go down as we did in the fourth innings was, well, weak. While in Galle, 12 of the 15 guys got sick. It seemed like it was just a matter of time before the whole travelling party got sick. Over the course of the match a few of the guys were so ill that they couldn’t even get themselves to the ground. It wasn’t pretty. The thing about whatever we got was that it lasted less than 24 hours but the side-effects of being sick meant that energy was hard to find for the next few days afterwards.]]> http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/08/_its_been_a_while.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/08/_its_been_a_while.php New Zealand in Sri Lanka 2009 Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:42:08 +0000

Well, there’s no excuse for me not to blog tonight. It was a day with the feet up, one to rest and recover after a couple of hot, hard days in the field. It wasn’t quite as I’d have preferred it though. I’d have rather not had to put the pads on let alone get out there and bat. I love batting, don’t get me wrong, I was just hoping that we’d bat strongly throughout the day and we could have another ‘batting’ warm up tomorrow. Not to be though, we’ve got ourselves in a little bit of trouble, and are going to have to work hard to get ourselves out of it. It might also be fair to say we haven’t quite had the ‘rub of the green’ in a couple of the decisions; you take the bad ones with the good and that’s just the way cricket is. The rain this morning was amazing. If you had of said we would have got through 70-odd overs today at 10am this morning I would have laughed at you! There was no way that was going to happen; but it did. The groundstaff have done a great job with the ground; covering and uncovering. They’ve worked as hard as we have in the middle and it’s paid off in us being able to play.]]> http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/08/picking_muralis_doosra.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/08/picking_muralis_doosra.php New Zealand in Sri Lanka 2009 Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:49:18 +0000

We walked off after day one at 293 for 3, as I said, not the best day in the field; that’s obvious. Day two was better though. We picked up the remaining seven wickets for 159 with Dan (Vettori) and Tommy (Chris Martin) both thoroughly earning their four wickets each. Dan bowled tightly throughout the innings and it was just a matter of time before he’d pick up wickets. Dan and I normally, in the past, have bowled well together, we’ve both been able to control the runs and then put scoreboard pressure on the batters to score. The ends we like to bowl from normally works that it suits us both too. I couldn’t hold up my end in the way I’ve been able to do enough in this first innings. So it took a change of ends for Dan so that he and Tommy could bowl together. And it worked, perfectly; the last four wickets for just eight runs, all of them off Muralitharan's bat. We love the way he bats, we all wish we could be that free. It’s raining right now, it’s almost 9am and we’d normally be at the ground by now. An amazing storm came through around 5am this morning, thunder banging about and lightning as bright as I’ve ever seen; with it, torrential rain. The rain has eased but is still steady and doesn’t look like stopping anytime soon. We’ve watched the covers go on and come off, an amazing mission by the lads at the ground. The whole ground gets covered; I don’t know if there are that many covers in New Zealand, I’ve never seen anything like it. As we’ve watched them being taken off we know that it’s about a 90-minute even so there is no point going to the ground until the rain stops completely. There’s nothing we can do about it so it was a longer breakfast than normal and most of the boys will be in their room resting up some more. ]]> http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/08/confined_to_the_hotel.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/08/confined_to_the_hotel.php New Zealand in Sri Lanka 2009 Thu, 20 Aug 2009 04:25:28 +0000

This will be a quick one as I’m pretty tired after a tough day on the park. We arrived at the ground with rain in the air and the covers still on. And I mean covers still on; the whole outfield was covered. They were battening down the hatches yesterday afternoon while our training session was wrapping up and there must have been almost a hundred ground helpers out there putting the sheeting down on the wicket, the block, the surrounds and the whole outfield. Start was delayed till 11.30 and we got first opportunity to bowl first on it after Dan won another toss. It had been mentioned that he wanted to lose the toss as we really weren’t sure what to do first. The pitch felt a little tacky after being under the covers, but how long would that last; we weren’t sure but Dan decided to have first use of it. And it paid off straight away. Tommy (Martin) with his third ball picked up Tharanga Paranavitana and then in his second Kumar Sangakkara flicked one to Flynn at square leg for two wickets inside three overs. That, alas, was where the wickets ended for that session. Tillakaratne Dilshan was outstanding. I felt like I was bowling very close to our plan for him although, unfortunately for us, it was to be his session. I bowled four overs in my first spell and it really was like a highlights package. I went for 40 in those four overs; not good enough but also there was some very good batting. ]]> http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/08/sehwag_redux.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/08/sehwag_redux.php New Zealand in Sri Lanka 2009 Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:45:23 +0000

The second warm-up match, played at NCC finished in a tame draw. Three days is really not enough time to secure an outright win unless one team has at least one very poor innings with the bat. That said, the SL XI took a first-innings lead into the second half of the match. We’ve now travelled to Galle, further south and smack bang on a currently rampant coastline. We were supposed to train this morning but that has been put off due to the ground-flooding rain that hit here at about 6am. So it’s going to be a long day stuck in our hotel without the weather we were expecting. A day like today isn’t the worst thing for us though. It gives us a good chance to get another gym session in and most importantly a very good opportunity to watch more footage and study our plans for this upcoming Test series. I finished the match back at NCC with feeling pretty good about my form. I got through 16 overs (2 for 60) and scored 18 (off 52). Not the worst game, not the greatest game but pretty good in the conditions. I could have, maybe, had another couple of wickets had things gone my way, but overall I am happy with where I am at.]]> http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/08/on_to_stormy_galle.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/08/on_to_stormy_galle.php New Zealand in Sri Lanka 2009 Sun, 16 Aug 2009 10:04:18 +0000

And here is the first update from Sri Lanka ... Oh, and for the record, it’s hot. Honest! Sweating is probably the easiest thing to do here. We all arrived here a week ago yesterday. So eight days here to acclimatise, train and play some warm-up games. We had three days before the first warm-up match to try, as much as possible, to get used to the heat and humidity. We all struggled to a certain extent with overheating, some more than others. Guppy [Martin Guptill], at the first training, was the first one to feel the effects, his fair skin and ginger hair not helping, I’m sure. It wasn’t anything serious but he did have to stop training and get the ice bags on to cool down. It was my turn yesterday to have a few issues during training. The combination of the heat and humidity is so hard to combat. Getting enough water on board is hard. It often feels like you are sweating as quick, if not quicker, than you can drink the water. It is so important to keep a water bottle nearby. Our first warm-up match, at the Colombo Colts ground, pretty much went to plan. I wasn’t to play; I had this game off, mainly because my bowling loads have been good while at Leicestershire. We lost the toss and were asked to bowl first; not the worst thing as the pitch felt a little tacky. We bowled well and knocked them over for 159. Tuffey, in his first match back in the NZ shirt, picked up three and it was good to see him bowling quick picking up wickets. Our boys in reply racked up 493 with some real good looking innings in hard conditions, Dan’s [Vettori] century being the highlight. Dan came in when the score was 258 for 6, the innings in the balance, and put together a couple of strong partnerships with Baz [McCullum] and then Jeets [Patel]. In the overs left in this three-day match we couldn’t quite knock them over for the full win. A good outing first up especially as we don’t have a great record in warm-up matches. ]]> http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/08/sweating_it_out_in_sri_lanka.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/08/sweating_it_out_in_sri_lanka.php New Zealand in Sri Lanka 2009 Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:25:44 +0000 Time for another catch up.. I didn’t quite get out the post I wanted to last week during the Essex match for which I do apologise for. I said I would and I didn’t get them done; I’m starting to wonder how I have managed to get my blogs done after a day’s play during the nine Tests that I have blogged through. Somehow I have got each day's play round up and thoughts down and got it posted before the next day’s play has started. I have to admit it’s getting harder to keep it fresh and keep it interesting, although I’m sure you’ll let me know if what I’m blogging isn’t up to scratch. I’ve got a couple of things I want to start doing during this two Test tour to Sri Lanka, and with Suneer’s (a guest blogger) thoughts on other things happening in world cricket, I’m pretty sure I be able to keep it fresh, interesting and most importantly a good entertaining insight into this world and my head. We (Leicestershire) had a Pro40 match at Northants last Sunday, which I quickly previewed in my last blog. I had been looking forward to this match for a bit as the pitch there is one that I knew would suit me. The pitch has been, over the last couple of summers, a belter, a good deck with a bit of pace and bounce. Unfortunately, I only got to bowl one over on it and I was maybe lucky to have even managed to get that one in. Rain was forecast and the rain came. We lost the toss and we were put in and got off to a great start; Allenby (who has been in brilliant form throughout the summer) and Cobb (a current England U19 player) both scored 43 in two completely different manners. Allenby has been the ‘bully’ in the past, this time it was Cobb who took the sword. We sat in the changing room, on the edge of our seats watching a young confident player play some audacious shots, one in particular, a straight bat through wide mid on from a length that probably should have been worked to square leg for a single; seriously one of the best shots I have ever seen, that’s no hyperbole either! http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/07/first_visit_to_the_umpires_roo.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/07/first_visit_to_the_umpires_roo.php County Cricket 2009 Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:56:54 +0000 Right then, where to start... I had a really good couple of days in Prague with my parents who have come over to visit my sister and me. We walked miles and saw virtually everything there was to see there. A great city for sightseeing and enjoying a cheap beer. There was a small break in our schedule that allowed the quick trip away and it was nice to spend some time with Mum and Dad and also away from the game for a couple of days; after getting back there was time for a good training session and then into another Championship match against Middlesex. Last time we played Middlesex we held on for a very good draw after being in some trouble. A really good maiden hundred from James Taylor made sure we didn’t lose. The team we faced then, at Southgate, was, in the batting department anyway, stronger. Strauss (England) and Hughes (Australia) opened up and put on around 180 for the first wicket; they batted brilliantly and I bowled poorly in this game, no rhythm and no direction. Both these two are facing off in the Ashes and that was a good thing for us. http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/07/back_to_the_basics_against_owa.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/07/back_to_the_basics_against_owa.php County Cricket 2009 Sat, 18 Jul 2009 09:30:35 +0000 Right then, currently in Prague in the Czech Republic. I'm just having a quick couple of nights here with my parents who came over to England to visit myself and my sister. I thought a good taste of European sightseeing was in order, so Prague it is. It's been a great couple of days and even the weather has played ball; today was supposed to be heavy showers, only a couple of light ones turned up later in the evening. Brilliant! And as it's only a quickie I just thought I'd have my two cents worth on the upcoming Ashes series: If England can keep their bowling attack on the park, I think they go into the series as favourites. Two very good spinners who have both won matches for England plus some very much in-form quicks who swing it, especially Jimmy Anderson who has won matches for England. So there, my pick is England and if I had to pick a score line: 2-1 with two draws, one rain effected. And like that, I’m out of here. I’d be interested in your views for the series. Oh, and yeah, of course I’m disappointed in missing out on the ODI team for the Sri Lanka tour, very disappointed. But that’s for the next blog! And don't forget to add me on 'Twitter' – iainobrien. http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/07/21_to_england.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/07/21_to_england.php County Cricket 2009 Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:31:51 +0000 Since I was last here I’ve played three T20’s and currently in a four-day Championship match for Leicestershire. We had a day off after the Lancashire T20 and played Nottingham at Trent Bridge, a ground that I’ve played well at in the past, well the one time I played there I went ok. We got a pasting from Notts, we only scored 120 odd and that’s never enough to defend. It was not a great effort from us; that meant that we would have to win our last two matches to reach the quarter finals. Home game vs Yorkshire, in what turned out to be Michael Vaughan’s last match, a game that we probably should have lost. We scored 160 batting first and Yorkshire got to roughly 100 without loss; 60 off 10 with 10 wickets in hand. They should have cruised it, and didn’t. We ended up scrapping it out and wining by 11 runs in the end. A really amazing result and that just shows that this is one very silly game at times. The crowd at Grace Road was brilliant, an almost full house, vocal and energetic and they were rewarded with a great win from the jaws of defeat. http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/07/fine_up_wind_not_so_downwind.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/07/fine_up_wind_not_so_downwind.php County Cricket 2009 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:14:52 +0000

Took the risk and it paid off © Getty Images

What a great feeling it is to be back playing after so many net sessions. During the World Twenty20 I think I netted every day bar two; one because my back was tight and the other was a day off. Netting is fine when you get to go out and put it into play. Netting is very hard work when you want to play, but can’t get selected. It felt like that after my six balls against Scotland. I got to play yesterday for Leicestershire over in Liverpool against Lancashire. I had one net with the Leicester lads on Friday; I got in and bowled hard for around 40 minutes. I felt good and knew I didn’t need much more before playing yesterday. I also wanted to spend some time away from cricket, so I cleared it with our coach, Tim Boon, so that I could miss Saturday’s net session and have the weekend off. Ended up being a very good weekend away with the wife and got to see some amazing animals at the West Midland Safari Park, well worth a visit (loved the Cheetahs!). I made sure I got to the ground early so that I could do a bit of extra bowling before we started warm-ups proper. Just on the side of the block I got into some work, testing out the body, working on part of my load up and getting into the grove. I warmed up really well here and got to full pace pretty quickly, thanks also to a lovely day in Liverpool. It had been rumoured last week that it was going to be a sell-out – it was for real. At a really lovely ground, Aigburth, Liverpool, with loads of temporary seating set up it wasn’t long till I couldn’t see a spare seat. Well, that’s a bit of a fib as the queues to the beer tent were massive. It was going to be a fun afternoon with an excited and expectant crowd. ]]> http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/06/a_thriller_in_liverpool.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/iainobrien/archives/2009/06/a_thriller_in_liverpool.php County Cricket 2009 Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:06:56 +0000