Iain O'Brien's Cricket Blog

We entered the final day of this Test series, one all; we won the First Test, Pakistan the Second.  A series win would be a great way for me to finish, and it was possible; if only we could get some wickets on this ‘so damn flat’ wicket.

I had told Dan about wanting to retire before the Second Test.  He had sent me a txt later in the day saying “you now I’m going to bowl you into the ground now, don’t you?” 

“I don’t expect anything less.” was my reply.  As I wasn’t going to be a part of the rest of the NZ summer there was no point him trying to keep me fresh or injury free.

Day five started as it always does with a bit of a team talk huddle before we kick into warm ups.  Dan outlined the things he wanted us to focus towards and then started “let’s go out there, stick to our plans, hang tough, win this Test and let’s try and give OB a stress fracture!”  In that statement I knew I was going to shoulder a lot of the bowling, I knew this already, and to be honest, I really couldn’t wait. 

It quite all go that simply.  It took us the majority of the day to dismiss Pakistan and if there hadn’t of been a couple of the Pakistan’s batters self destruct; we could still be out there now trying to dismiss them.  I reckon it might just be starting to go a little up and down now.

I came out and bowled after lunch and something wasn’t quite right.  I had 10 or 12 warm up balls at the end of the break, felt fine, but after I had bowled two balls in my first over something was up.  I was wobbly, dizzy, sweating a lot and generally felt woeful.  I got through the over and went off the park for a sit down, a drink and a little something more to eat.  I really felt about as average as I have ever done, but I didn’t want anyone else taking the ball out of my hand so I got back out there for my next over; and thankfully so.  I picked up Gul through a great catch by Flynny in close.  We celebrated the wicket and I just had to take a knee.  I was cooked.  I finished this over and started to feel better.  I really wanted to bowl here now as we were really into the tail and it was the chance for a couple more wickets; not for me though.  I finished up with six for the match and I’m happy with that.  That gave me 15 for the series, an average of five per game; more than I’d averaged through my career and happy for it.

As I said the rain came and washed away any hope of a win and with that both teams shook hands and the match, the series and my career for NZ were over.  I was a little emotional, as you can imagine, and with the boys, that night, we enjoyed a good night celebrating a good series.  One poor younger member of the team tried to keep up with the big boys (it must be known that I am not one of the big boys; I can’t drink for toffee) that night; it was an early night and a tough couple of days after for him.  Bless him!

One more game for Wellington Firebirds at the Basin, I really wanted to play one more for Wellington.  It was a One Day game vs. Canterbury, the team who I made my One Day debut for Wellington against.  And this one went much the same way.  We lost.  There was to be no fairytale ending to my NZ or Wellington career; although there was a couple of positives and maybe a small piece of ‘Boys Own’ annual in this game. 

The Boy's Own

I bowled my first spell of seven over for just 17 runs and picked up a wicket in my first over; it all started so well!  My next three overs were in the batting power play.  I didn’t quite get it right here and went for 30 off my those three, but I did do something I thinks pretty cool; I got a wicket with the last ball of my 10^th over, my last ball for Wellington on my home ground, the Basin Reserve.  Personally I couldn’t have asked for a better last ball finish than that.

Last Ball for Wellington: Taken and used with permission by Carey Clements

Release: Taken and used with permission by Carey Clements

Eyes up and looking: Taken and used with permission by Carey Clements

Goooooooone!: Taken and used with permission by Carey Clements

That's it, all over. I'm done in in NZ: Taken and used with permission by Carey Clements

To be continued...... part 4 of 3 coming up soon (I’ve just go so much to say; like my old Indoor Cricket days.....)

The third Test at Napier was a brilliant finishing Test.  It had everything apart from an outright victory.  The rain came in this one and, I feel, took a win out of our hands.  It was going to be a special run chase that we had made a great start on and even Mohammad Yousuf  was grateful for the rain.  It wasn’t a great wicket for Test cricket to be played on and in the last few years there have been very few outright results.  The pitch just gets better and better to bat on to the point where even on day five, right at the very end of the match, when you expect some strange things to happen, there was nothing in it for the bowlers; no variation of bounce, no real rough for the spinners to create some magic out of.  Any chase on day five should be tough, it should be a physical battle and more so a psychological battle knowing that the pitch is (should be) going to be tough to bat on.  It wasn’t, it was as good as a batting wicket gets.  You could have played another five days of cricket on that wicket without it doing anything indifferent.

So to come away from a Test in Napier and getting so close to a win, so bitterly close, and in my last Test, it was quite deflating. 

I started the match like I had done no other.  We were asked to bowl, we wanted to bat first, but I’ve never complained too much about bowling first here, it’s the only time the ball does anything and as Rossco keeps pointing out team that bat first are very often four or five down at lunch.  I was first change, following Chris Martin, and felt really good.  I was excited about this Test, my last one, and really wanted to do something special.  And I did, first up; a wicket in my first over, and a spell of eight overs where I picked up four wickets for 15 runs.  I felt amazing.  Everything felt great.  I had a light breeze at my back; it was about 25 degrees, a new rock in my hand and a quickish day one track.  It would be these conditions that I would love to bowl in every time I had to bowl and if I ever found one of those magic Genie lamps, I’d be asking for. 

Genie: where can I find a lamp?

I bowled 12 dot balls to Mohammad Yousuf and had him caught at gully on the 13^th ball I had bowled to him.  In recent times this is probably the best wicket I have earned.  It was 13 balls all in areas that I wanted to bowl to Mohammad Yousuf in.  I really enjoyed getting his wicket, a lot more than some I have in the past.  He’s an amazing player and to pick him up using the skills I have become better at over the last 18 months was very satisfying.  He was the guy I really wanted in the Pakistan batting line up and I hadn’t got him till this Test; and to double him up in the second innings was icing on this guys very big bit of cake.

http://www.cricinfo.com/nzvpak2009/content/image/438922.html?object=38108

Those four wickets were all I could manage in the first innings.  I just couldn’t pick up one more, it was frustrating and it is one thing I wish I had more of in my career; more 5 wicket bags.  I’ve finished with only one, against West Indies.

I scored 19 in the first innings with the bat; my batting has really got better over my last 5-8 Test that and add to that the track was now pretty placid, at no stage did I really feel too uncomfortable; until Aamer came around the wicket and bowled a few short ones.  I just didn’t pick them up to well but got through it and was really disappointed to be stumped and leave Tuffy on 80.  I had joined him when he was in the early 40’s.  My obvious first goal was to get him through to 50; make sure I didn’t get out on him.  I did that and then we went about scoring as many as we could.  We had some fun together.  Tower played a whole range of shots and we put on 62 for the 9^th wicket.  I’m really taking a lot of pride for the partnerships that I had been a part of recently; and it’s only come about from doing more and more work in the nets; overtraining the uncomfortable things in the nets that will make life in the middle more comfortable.  It was paying off for my average and more importantly our team scores.

http://www.cricinfo.com/nzvpak2009/content/image/439212.html?page=1;object=38108 

We ended up scoring a good first innings score, one that we certainly would have taken when we were 145-5.  Partnerships of 176 (Dan and Baz), 87 (Dan and Tower) and 62 (Tower and I) from that precarious position turned it around and that was based around a hundred to Dan; now his batting has improved out of sight and it should be a lesson to every tail ender in the world; hard work doing the horrible things in the nets pays off.  It’s the leaf from his book I’ve been trying to take.

To be continued.................

Right then, seriously, where to start...

I’m back in the UK, home, so to speak.  My new home; my second home; which is now, really, my first home.  It a little confusing and I’m still getting used to the thought that Great Brittan, England, Derbyshire and Matlock, to be more exact, is now my new home.

Snow Outside My Front Door

As I’ve been tweeting, it’s been a bit of an adventure since I got here.  The whole country has been covered in snow; completely covered in snow.  The flight path here took me over the length of the UK, it was white; an unbelievable sight for someone who hasn’t had a winter for seven years. 

Flying over London: if you look closely, you can see a snow covered Oval.

2002 in NZ was my last winter and since then I have been back and forth following the sun between NZ and the UK, as well as few other countries with the Blackcaps.  It’s been a great ride that I am going to look back with huge fondness and pride.

Steeping into big waterproof boots, scarf on, big jacket on and a woollen hat all has to be put on before stepping out the front door.  I live on a bit of a steep hill and the walk down into the town is fraught with danger.  The snow and ice on the footpaths makes life very interesting, hence it’s been an adventure.  I even had a chance to go sledging; not the trash talking type, but the sitting on a plastic ‘sledge’ and sliding down a snow covered hill type.  Something I’ve never done.  I had done a bit of skiing as a teenager but not been on or near snow since.  It was fun, the wife and I, two 30+ kids sitting on a lump of plastic sliding down a hill with a solid stone wall at the bottom. Something that I would not have been allowed to have done, well have anyone find out about, while on a NZ Cricket contract.  This retirement lark has its benefits.  Although I am currently unemployed and that is a strange feeling!

Sledging: Not me, but you get the idea!

It’s been a while since I’ve done a full on blog.  Since the day I announced my retirement I haven’t put any more than 50 words or 10 minutes into some pretty pizzle updates.  I really wanted to just focus on finishing the Basin Test and then move onto my last Test in Napier without having the thought of coming home after a day’s play and pouring out my thoughts and head spaces into my blog.  I wanted to just really enjoy the time with my team mates and friends after we walked of the park and got all the end of day stuff done.  It all went very quick from Saturday 5^th December till the last day of the 3^rd Test. 

The rest of the Basin Test match didn’t go to good for us.  It was a pretty heavy defeat.  The only shining point in that Test, after I made my announcement was a new Test high score which I am hugely proud of.  There was a bit of rain about and the only real way we could save a defeat was to pray for rain to finish the 4^th day early and then rain all day on the 5^th.  As it was the rain didn’t come on the 4^th and it was a lovely sunny day on the 5^th.  The match didn’t reach the 5^th anyway!  Dan and I batted together and put on 40, not without drama though.  I was dropped first ball, which would have made a pair for me in the Test.  Dan was dropped as well.  The Pakistani’s really had bad hands on this tour and it’s sad to see them doing the same again across the Tasman in Australia; and if I’m not wrong, they’ve been even worse over there.  It’s a disease dropping catches.  And it can be the only thing you can catch, the ‘dropsees’ disease..

I got a few shots away through third man for four, an area that I tend to score in a bit at this level.  I was really pumped knowing this was my last bat for NZ at the Basin.  I really wanted to walk off the park with the rain coming down, knowing I’d done all I could to save this Test.  Dan and I managed it the previous summer against India, at the same venue, but not this time.  Interestingly, that was my previous high score, 18*, successfully trying to save a Test match.  This time, we couldn’t save it and I got out at 31.  I knew I was walking off the Basin Reserve, for New Zealand, for the last time.  Mum and Dad were there, I caught their eye in the crowd and thanked them, and then walked off head down, proud of my batting but disappointed with the match result.

To be continued...... 

tomorrow...

I'm going to sit down today and tomorrow and get the 'mother' of all updates done.

Just quickly, I'm back in the UK, sitting on my couch, it's raining outside, which makes a change from it snowing; which it has been basically since I arrived on the 7th of Jan.

The snow has been fun to be honest.  It's been a big change from 7years of no winters; my last one was in NZ in 2002.  I'm enjoying it and also enjoying the break.

Sunrise over Matlock: Riber Castle

So.... today and tomorrow I'll be head down buried in my computer with the biggest blog update of my time.  Thanks for your patience!

OB

Hi all

Been a while, huh!??

It 's been rather busy time this last month.  And that 's the reason you've not heard from me.

Currently getting filmed for a piece on TV3, it's a bit cheesy but they want me blogging as they tape..  And I said yes I would; that makes me cheeseer??

I'll get an update done, probably just before I get on the plane back to the UK.  Which, hopefully, isn't to far away.

I'll catch you soon; have a good Holiday/Christmas and take care.

OB

No blog tonight, I've had a few other things to sort out....  It's been a bit busy.

Check back in tomorrow and I'll give you the full run down.

Thanks for your support!

OB

Not good enough, simple as that. 

I can say though, tonight I was ‘balls out’ going for it, and I felt great.  I’ll be going ‘balls out’ tomorrow too.  I want this one; I really want to pull us back into the game.  I love this ground, I love playing here, I want to do something special and I don’t want this one to get away from us. 

I had got Butt in the first innings with a bouncer, which was going to be the base of the plan in the second innings.  It worked.  I got one just about perfect and Butt’s gloved it to Ross for the catch.  I also picked up the other opener.  It was last ball of the over; Fahat was on strike, Yousuf, the new batter, at the non strikers end.  Quite often, in this situation, you’ll bowl a bouncer to keep the new batter down the non strikers end so that the next over is started at them.  I went to Dan, who was bowling at the other end, and asked him if he wanted Yousuf, meaning do you want me to make sure it’s a ‘dot’ ball with a bouncer.  He replied “I want you to give yourself the best opportunity to get him out; nick him out.”  So I did.  I nicked him out.  I was happy making sure Dan could bowl to the new batter, I was even happier to have a wicket and Dan would still be bowling to the new batter. 

If we can keep Pakistan to around 250, again, and leave us a chase of about 400 we’ll at least have the best batting conditions of the match.  That’s the positive and we have to believe in every positive we can find.

The Pakistan bowlers bowled really well, and we nicked and missed the balls we should have missed and nicked.  I couldn’t believe how many times we, as a bowling group, went past the Pakistani’s edge without nicks in the first innings.  It got pretty unbelievable at one stage.  But we hung tough and caught some great catches; I was a little surprised that the one I took stuck.  I was very happy that I got to it, and even happier that it fell nicely into my hands.

We obviously need quick wickets, and yesterdays hopes, in my blog, couldn’t have been further from what happened.  Here’s hoping for a great day in Wellington and a better day of cricket for New Zealanders.

Delayed start, soggy out field, very quick lunch and we’re into it; Day One of the second Test is underway.  And a pretty engrossing day it was too!

We knew the outfield was going to be very wet as when we went to train the day before it was splashing a lot under foot just walking on it.  It was a lot better when we arrived this morning but still very wet and a bit splashy in places; hence the delayed start.  The problem with the wet outfield, apart from being a bit slippery, was that it was quite wet through part of the run up from the Northern end.  Running through the soggy bits isn’t the issue; it’s the water that gets transferred from the bottom of your boots to where you are landing on the pitch that causes the problems.  Eventually the pitch gets wet and becomes slippery.  This can become quite scary; hitting the crease at a decent running speed, trying to keep a stable front foot while delivering the ball can become difficult.  This did cause a couple of problems today, but it’s just part of getting the game played and sometimes you just got to get on with it!

Dan won the toss; I’ve written that a lot if you’ve followed these blogs.  Tuffey, playing in his first Test in five years opened the bowling with Tommy.  It is great to see Tower (Tuffey) back playing.  He’s been working so hard and finally gets his chance back in the Fern. 

The wind was blowing from the south, that’s the cold wind here at the Basin; it’s also not the common wind direction.  This meant that I would bowl from a slightly unfamiliar RA Vance Stand end and it’s fair to say it took me three overs to settle.  The next three were a lot better and cost just three runs.  I feel that also not having a decent bowl leading up to this match hasn’t helped me in regards to finding my rhythm quickly. 

Dan turned me around to bowl with it for my second spell.  I had been bowling at around 125-129kmph in my first spell, this next spell I reached 144kmph a few times and hung around in the 140’s quite a bit.  I felt great, the wind behind me and bowling from the end that I have made mine for Wellington and New Zealand.   I picked up the first wicket after getting Butt to hit one straight up to Tower at mid on.  The openers had done a great job; they left very well on a tough surface and played the right lines.  This wicket opened the gates up.  I bowled a really good over to Umar next up and really made it uncomfortable to the youngster in just his second Test.  Dan then, picked up two wickets in one over, Farhat and Yousuf, and we’re then well on top.  I kept making Umar’s life difficult and was really feeling great at this time.  I was feeling quick and aggressive and really wanted a couple more wickets.  Dan congratulated me on my spell at the end of an over, this means I won't be bowling the next one, and I really wanted to keep bowling; I was feeling great.  I made a unhappy grunt at him in protest, I really wanted to bowl, he then reminded me that there was only two minutes until tea.  Arrrh, that'll be why I'm done then; sorry Dan, I got that wrong.  Smiles all around.

Those wickets didn’t come for me, but we finished the day with Pakistan 161/6 and we’re in a good position to knock them over tomorrow and have a decent bat.  We’d love to set up a big score and help out poor Wyvern Hunt (91 not 93 as I had written), who presented us with our caps last night, and make this Test match a little less close.

Time for a bath, catch you tomorrow night...

It’s just a quick one tonight before we head into tomorrow’s second Test match.  As I’ve said in previous blogs this Test is a special one for a few reasons.  It will be the 50^th Test match held at the Basin Reserve.  This ground holds a very special place in my heart as it’s my home ground, where I’ve learnt how to play cricket, not just take part.

Tonight our caps were presented to us by a proud 93 year old; he’s been to every Test match at the Basin.  This kind of love for the game means a lot to us players.  We love the game, but we also love to play in front of a crowd.  No point more proven than last week in Dunedin where the crowd pulled us along and possibly shaped an amazing final day.

It’s been a tough build up for this Test.  We’ve not been able to get outside even once to train since we arrived in Wellington.  This is not perfect, but it is also not the worst.  It was a tired team that walked off the park last Saturday the enforced lower key training sessions may well play a part in helping us stay stronger for longer.  We’ve still be training, but you cannot train at the same intensity indoors as you can out.

I’ve just been out for a curry with a very good mate and feel really good; properly excited in anticipation of another Test at the Basin.  Test wins at the Basin are special, they are celebrated differently to other Test matches; why?  I don’t really know, but it is such a great ground to play at and that may have something to do with it.  I’m not getting ahead of myself here, we’ve got some bloody hard work in front of us to achieve a win here, but we will be ‘balls out’ going for it from ball one.

Wellington, if you’re reading this, get along, help us out, make some positive noise like there was in Dunedin last week.  Make it a special five days, make it a Test to remember for you and for us.

Black Cap #229

Wellington, on a great day, is amazing. Today is a great day, and not just because it’s a great day in Wellington.

The first Test of the summer was a beauty. Whichever way it was going to go on the final day it was going to be an entertaining day of Test cricket and well worth the admission charge. And they turned out to watch. It was a great atmosphere right from the start of the day. It only got better and in that last session, when we needed four wickets and Pakistan needed 40 runs, the Dunedin crowd was the twelfth man out there with us on the park, fighting hard with us. It was amazing and I have never played in front of a crowd like that. With the intimacy of the ground and the closeness of the crowd, the 2,200 people that were there, made it sound and fell like 60,000; great job Dunedin and to those who travelled to be there for the last day (you boys who drove up from Queenstown, great job!!).

We won; but you already know that. It was amazing; but you already know that too. I can’t really explain the feelings that are still running through me now, but what I can tell you, if I could bottle this, save it up somehow and tap in to it when times are tough, life would be so much better. I just feel amazing. I feel like I’ve always wanted to feel from playing this game. I’ve been a part of a winning Test team before, but to have played a big part in a win when things were really against us is just absolutely amazing. Just remember Pakistan needed 55 with five wickets left. The odds were really stacked against us at that stage.