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« The 'card school' gets active | Just not my day »
December 13, 2008Posted by Iain O'Brien on 12/13/2008 in
Bouncer barrage
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I'm still not sure about these 'scheduled' mid-day starts. I'm just back from the ground now, and it's 8.45pm. That's far from a perfect time to get back to the hotel. Sure, there was some overtime today and we played till 8pm, but I don't know if they need to have us starting so late.
Arrived at the ground this morning to be greeted by a helicopter hovering above the outfield. Not the normal thing to be seeing and we knew Stanford wasn't in town, so it could only mean one thing, the outfield was still wet. Someone forked out some cash to quicken the drying process up. Nice job! It still couldn't do the job to get the game started on time, although that may have taken 30+ deg and a good strong breeze. The groundsmen think it speeds up the drying time by about five hours, which means, if they hadn't used it, we wouldn't have played at all today.
Start time delayed till 2.45pm after consultations and inspections all day. It's a tough situation to be in, yes we want to play cricket, yes we could have played cricket a little earlier, but ... the outfield was still damp and a little 'splashy' in parts too. This means at least two things, player safety and the state of the ball if it gets 'wet'. No one wants anyone slipping and pulling up injured and it isn't fair if the ball gets wet for the bowling team. We do everything we can to keep that thing as dry as possible so that it keeps its hardness and its ability to swing. One puddle and it takes a few overs to get those properties back.
So a 2.45pm start and 65 overs to get through in the day. My day didn't really start till after tea. It was me up to bat. Mills had just been given out using the 'referral' system, something that is quickly going down like a lead balloon in our changing room. We've now had two against us and one turned down when we were fielding.
I expected a few short ones, but not as many as I got today. Edwards was bowling from one end and Taylor from the other. First couple of balls from Edwards I dug out a couple of yorkers. And that was about that for balls in my half. The next few either hit me or whizzed past my head. The first short one, the most important one as it will dictate how they bowl from there, I duck it and it doesn't get up as much as I thought, either that or I didn't get down quick enough. It hit me hard on my left shoulder blade. A quick groan and I thought "damn it, I
ain't showing nothing" so I got straight back up and looked right back at him. Normally when you hit a tailender you check to see if they're ok; nothing of the sort out here today. That's fine with me, it's locked away.
Next ball bouncer, I get under this one pretty well, pop straight back up and look back at him. Edwards’ follow through was getting longer and longer. Getting closer and closer to me, and not to see what I was going to be doing for tea! Eventually I got a fullish one which I hit just about as well as I've ever hit a cricket ball, through wide mid on all the way to the fence. I can tell you, I've never felt better about getting off the mark before, it had been a while. And that really was the end of anything in my half. It was just bouncers now. At one point I pointed at the stumps and said, "Have a go at those." Edwards replied, "I'm having too much fun to worry about them." Ok, cool!
One short ball after another and I'm not the best with them. I eventually had one that I popped up back to Edwards trying to keep it off my nose. I had ducked and weaved most of the ones before and was very angry with myself for not getting under this one, instead I tried to fend it away. Not good enough, still got a lot of work to go there.
So we're all out and Dizzy [Mark Gillespie] has a new high score. We're out in the park with about an hour's play, if the light holds. It wasn't great while I was out there, and it certainly hadn't got any worse in the changeover. Soon it actually got better with the sun coming out for the first time in the day. I'm not saying it was warm, but it was nice to see some sun. Hopefully it will be out for a while tomorrow. In saying that we have worked out that, down here, when the sun is out the pitch plays quite flat, and with some cloud cover it does a little bit more off the deck. So, some sun and some cloud will be nice, as long as it's warmer that it was today!
Posted by: Arsh at December 13, 2008 10:55 AM
Top blog! I like the fact that you have posted it right after the day's play. I saw you bat and I thought you did OK. Your 'duel' with Edwards was an entertaining one. Make sure you give him a few when he comes into bat.
Posted by: Seve at December 13, 2008 11:06 AM
Bro u should blame your batting blues on those circa 1980s Star wars stormtropper pads.... edwards obviously didnt like them either. Oh and try looking at the pill... i think that is the general idea when batting. At least that is what Noel Zebigee my 12 yr old battign couach used to say...
Posted by: Landsie at December 13, 2008 11:20 AM
Keep working on your batting mate. You never know, you might become the next Chris Cairns! Best Of Luck for the rest of the test. Maybe you can get Fidel and Jerome back tommorow!
Posted by: Bharathram Pattabiraman at December 13, 2008 11:33 AM
Hey, Iain! That was nice time that you spent out in the middle, with the bat. I always pray the Martin could've stayed as long as this, but he dissappointed me many a times. You know, its very sad for me now, because I miss the matches played at New Zealand A LOT! I'm in India, a very cricket crazy nation, you'll get to know that more when India tours New Zealand soon. But, the biggest problem now is, no television channel is broadcasting the match played in Dunedin!!! Every morning, I get up at wee hours and sit in front of the telly, browsing through some 100 channels to dissappointedly find out that I can't see the classical fast paced Kiwi pitches, swing, two good sides battle out in the middle and absolute picturesque environment around the ground. I miss them all!!!
Visit my blog too, sir...
www.bagratredcherry.blogspot.com
Hope to see the NZ cricket on my TV soon :)
Posted by: Herman at December 13, 2008 11:52 AM
awesome blog, love to hear what the players think....try explaining those pads? ahaha
Posted by: Nabeel at December 13, 2008 12:15 PM
Pretty short and to-the-point blog with modesty and enthralling zing to it! Keep it up bruv! All the very best for the remainder of the Test Match. And yeah, let Edwards taste his medicine sooner or later!
Posted by: Venu at December 13, 2008 1:10 PM
Iain,
I have read many cricketing blogs but this is easily one of the best out there. Please continue to keep this blog and to NZ selectors: Please continue to employ Iain so we can read more about the life of a cricketer on the pitch :) Cheers and hope you get a Pfeiffer tommorrow.
Posted by: Veeraraghavan at December 13, 2008 1:10 PM
Mate,my intuition says u gonna end up with a five-for!!!
Watch Out!
Posted by: richard davies at December 13, 2008 1:39 PM
at least you and Fidel both seem to have a sense of humour tucked away
Posted by: Jay at December 13, 2008 2:08 PM
Go for it, Iain !! Great to see cricketers blogging instead of sledging a la Hayden,Johnson,Watson,Ponting,oh Symonds of-course !!
Posted by: Raghav at December 13, 2008 4:24 PM
Ian, I like your bowwling very much and you know what, you are the captain for all my fantasy cricket games I play online.
It's really nice reading your blogs online. Unfortunately, we don't have live coverage in India even though we have so many sports channels...
Posted by: mark baker at December 13, 2008 5:14 PM
loved it! most entertaining duel of a ho hum day. top blog too mate.
Posted by: T at December 13, 2008 5:36 PM
Great blog, keep it up! Oh yeah.. explain the pads. And the jumpers. (The new shirts are cool though).
Posted by: Kiv at December 13, 2008 5:52 PM
Nice to get cricketers' perspective at the end of the day. Great duel with Fidel. I'm West Indian but loved your determination. Keep it going! Battle on WI!!
Posted by: Woody at December 13, 2008 6:07 PM
Good to see you got some good old west Indian and Barbadian bouncers with a sense of humour to go with it. and i am pretty sure you will get lots more in the series.
Posted by: Robert Samaroo at December 13, 2008 6:10 PM
Great sportsmanship Iain!!! I'm a West Indian n it was really entertaining to see good aggressive cricket from both sides. It would have been easy for you to react negatively. Continue to keep the spirit of the game alive. Although I'm from West Indies , I wouldn't mind seeing the roles reversed later in the match.
Posted by: typos at December 13, 2008 8:03 PM
Great contest Ian. Nice to see 'friendly' chatter between players instead of expletives that the Aussies throw around and then cry boo hoo when they cop some...just read Steve Waugh's autobiography and you'll see. Great blog Ian, love your insights.
Posted by: anand at December 13, 2008 8:18 PM
Excellent Piece of blogging Ian,without any jargon,just straight to the point and bottom from the heart ,Keep it up Ian
IAN, would love to read your book if you publish one ,
and all the best tommorow
although iam a WI Fan ,after reading your blog ,I have switched my allegiance and would not mind Windies Losing if the man of the match is IAN :)
Posted by: Jono at December 13, 2008 9:59 PM
Hiya Iain.
I dont think you would remember me because you were always away on wellington duties and I only ever played for the reserves side at PRCC and possibly I was only involved with the club for a year. I think its great that you have finally got a decent run at the top level after being such a good performer for Wellington. Great blog. You are a great guy and It was always good talkingto you and getting you advice at trainings
Keep it up
Jono
Posted by: Tim at December 13, 2008 11:37 PM
Mr O'Brien, you are a great cricketer for New Zealand and it is great to see someone in that team who works as hard as you do. You truly deserve to be in that team. Keep up the good work mate!
Posted by: Reg Corres at December 14, 2008 12:06 AM
IOB, nice blog mate. As somebody with a bit of lip problem I also get bounced reguarly. My tip is to use your feet to Fidel, get down the pitch early and turn those half trackers into half volleys. Then proceed with you textbook flick off your famous pads.
Also just watched you bounce out Gayle, loved the celebration considering it was a wide half tracker. Keep up the good work!
Posted by: Geebs at December 14, 2008 4:05 AM
Hahaha, nice exchange with fidel there. good to see the harmless ones being said.
Posted by: jack at December 14, 2008 4:39 AM
good job obrien
Posted by: Anders at December 14, 2008 7:22 AM
That was classic pace bowler v pace bowler haha. Gee... imagine if Fidel was 6 ft 4 or 6ft 5... ouch !!!
Posted by: Azweer at December 14, 2008 9:33 AM
Hey.. thats great.. crickerters getting interaction with public thru blogs.. this keeps u closer to public, not only from ur place,also from other countries.. Anyway I'm Azweer from South India, tamilnadu,chennai.. i think today u must have sweat alot to keep things under control aganist WIndies and J Taylor,who cracked unexpected sparkling Ton.. All the Best for rest of ur match..
Posted by: michael siva at December 14, 2008 9:50 AM
Wonderful stuff! Great banter with Edwards too....
Does anyone remember a similar duel Fidel had with Brett Lee in the Caribbean earlier this year? 'Castro' doesn't back down....
Posted by: Fidel at December 14, 2008 12:07 PM
Hey Iain, you need to harden up. and you need to stop lying, I asked you if you were alright after the hit. Don't paint me as a bad guy here!
Posted by: Sumits at December 14, 2008 12:23 PM
Gud mate loved it!
Posted by: Naval Patel at December 14, 2008 12:37 PM
To my knowledge, Law 42.6(a)(i) which states that "The bowling of fast short pitched balls is dangerous and unfair if the umpire at the bowler's end considers that by their repetition and taking into account their length, height and direction they are likely to inflict physical injury on the striker, irrespective of the protective equipment he may be wearing. The relative skill of the striker shall be taken into consideration" is still active. So why did the Umpires not invoke it during the incident described by O'Brien?
Posted by: Dale at December 14, 2008 12:50 PM
I enjoyed it.
Fiddy was all fired-up and the look on O'Brien's face was hilarious, he looked like he was silently pleading for Fiddy to bowl at the stumps.Dont worry mate, Martin will be back soon to relive you.
2 quick wickets and almost a third Windies bowling last night. I want to see the bowlers really go after the Kiwis tomorrow and instill the "fear of God" in them, that will set up things nicely for the 2'nd test.
Posted by: Sunny at December 18, 2008 8:02 PM
"At one point I pointed at the stumps and said, "Have a go at those." Edwards replied, "I'm having too much fun to worry about them." Ok, cool!"
Two days since I read this and still laughing my rear-end off. Great blog. Keep up the good work. Batting is an acquired taste, so it will take some time. Nice pair of pads though.
- Iain O'Brien must type as fast as he bowls. After stumps most days he adds to his popular personal blog, covering his take on the play, dressing room snippets and personal insights (he really doesn’t like bouncers). A fast-medium bowler, O’Brien has become a regular member of the New Zealand Test side over the past year and is enjoying his time at the top.