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; Farhat 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 yesterday’s 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 outfield, 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 it was splashing a lot underfoot just walking on it when we went to train the day before. 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 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 be quite scary - hitting the crease at a decent running speed and 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 the game and sometimes you have 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. 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 and it’s also not the common wind direction. This meant 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. Not having a decent bowl leading up to this match hasn’t helped me in finding my rhythm quickly, as well.

Dan turned me around to bowl with the wind for my second spell. I had been bowling at around 125-129 kmh in my first spell and in this spell I reached 144 kmh a few times and hung around in the 140’s quite a bit. I felt great with 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 the ball very well on a tough surface and played the right lines but Butt's wicket opened the gates up. I bowled a really good over to Umar next up and made it really uncomfortable for the youngster in just his second Test.

Dan then picked up two wickets in one over, Farhat and Yousuf, and we were well on top. I kept making Umar’s life difficult and was really feeling great at this time: quick and aggressive and I really wanted a couple more wickets. Dan congratulated me on my spell at the end of an over, which meant I wouldn’t bowl the next one when I really wanted to keep bowling. I made an unhappy grunt in protest when he reminded me there were only two minutes until tea. Arh, 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 on 161 for 6 and we are in a good position to knock them over tomorrow and have a decent bat. We would love to set up a big score and help out poor Wyvern Hunt (91 years old, not 93 as I had written), who presented us with our caps last night, and make this Test 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 50th Test match held at the Basin Reserve. The 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 buildup. 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 been 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 go full throttle 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.