I woke this morning, again, at 6.15am. I peeked out the window looking for puddles on the roof next door. Light at this hour isn't to good, so it's quite hard to tell what the weather is doing. So light reflecting of puddles that are either like mirrors (it's not raining) or scrambled (it's raining) determined the day. I could see no clear reflection, so I went back to bed. It was still raining. I went down to breakfast at 7, just in case we were going to leave at the scheduled 7.15am. We didn't.
Back upstairs to the comfort of the bed to watch Game 4 and read the news paper. 'The Daily Star' and a story about the 'BNP,' have I been teleported back to the UK?? Nope, 'Bangladesh National Party' is the answer, not some Northern 'haters!!' Watching the gameI took a lot from the Phillies pitcher hitting a homer. It can be done! Maybe I could hit one over the ropes too.. maybe not!
Back down to the cafe to do 'coffee.' I think I sat there for 2 hours this morning. Two coffees and at least 6 of the lads came and went. Just nothing to do.
The rain eased off around 11. Oh, some chance of playing. A txt comes through to us all, "covers are off, if the sun now comes out, chance of play later on today." Kinda one of those txts you just don't want to get. You want a definite, not a possibility. So, lunch at the hotel, and then an afternoon of waiting for the next txt. It comes through at lunch. "Days play off, gym and swim in the afternoon."
Off to the gym for 20 mins of hard cardio on the treadmill and then cross trainer. Core session (thats 'abs' if you didn't know) next, then off to the pool for a bit of a goof around and a stretch. All this is just in aid of keeping the body working, keeping things ticking over so that if we play tomorrow, we're as ready as we can be.
Back to the room, and I decided it's time for a bath. I love a good bath, and I haven't had one for a while. So, new book, care of Jeetan, and a 30 min soak. Sat on the bed and started to feel a little sleepy. These 6am starts are a little tough when there is nothing to do during the day. We have a meeting at 4pm. I set my alarm for 10 to, just in case. I think I slept for 10 mins, not needing the alarm.
The meeting is a 'Leading Teams' one. This is a session where a couple of guys are, basically, judged against a set of group decided team values. I can't go into it much more as it is all to be held within the team. It's a very personal and private process. A couple of guys that have retired from NZ cricket in this last year have slammed the process in their books, I like it. You get feedback from your peers towards where they think you are personally and professionally and are given the opportunity to work with one of the group to 'improve' some of those behaviors, if needed. I've never been 'Peer Reviewed,' as it's called, but would be interested to start working on some of the behaviors that need a look at. Eg, as pointed out the other day by Baz, my emotions while on the park.
A small poker school started up after that, I joined in and fluked my way to 2nd place when 4 guys went 'all in' on a hand I wasn't playing in. Happy days! A little more 'Taka' in my pocket. Taka is the local currency; about 70 Taka for the US Dollar and 40 to the NZD. I'm still a rookie and make a few mistakes with some of the hands, the dealing and the distribution of chips. I'm learning, hopefully, fast...
It's now 7pm, and it hasn't rained outside for 5 hours. There's a real good chance of play tomorrow. If we start on time, we would have 2, 100 over days on our hands. Maybe a chance to get a win, but certainly a chance to enhance the stats. As a couple of boys say, "you don't get famous in the changing room."
That's all for now boys and girls.
OB
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