Thursday 19 March 2009

NZ vs India - 1st Test - Hamilton - Day Two

And that’s why I love Test cricket.  A tough day in the field and I feel fantastic; well not fantastic like on top of the world, but it’s great to be out there competing with some of the best in the world.

 

It wasn’t too long before I had the ball in hand today.  I had bowled just the one over last night and I had felt great.  I warmed up well today, the ball came out well and I was really looking forward to taking that feeling into the middle.  I ran in for the first ball, and always with the first ball, I was worried about my front foot; that confidence doesn’t always come straight away.  Front foot good but rhythm not the best; sometimes that’s the way and you know that feeling right away.  I bowled a six over spell here, it was ok, nothing flash, but not as good as I had hoped for.  In this situation sometimes you just have to ‘suck it up’, accept the fact that it’s not perfect, pull back and just concentrate on doing what you can do to help the team out.  I got through that spell without much damage to the scoreboard and was looking forward to my next one, where hopefully the rhythm would be back.

 

We did have a little piece of brilliance from Franky early in the first session.  Gambhir called Sehwag through for a second, Franky picked up and hit with just over one stump to aim at.  Sehwag, the guy who has been causing us so much grief was gone.  Genius Franky, nice work!

 

That next spell didn’t come till after lunch and now I was feeling pretty good.  First ball out was right about where I wanted it, next ball, not.  This is something I’ve identified and it’s been the way since my first Test match.  More often than not my first ball is good and my second is not.  First ball to Ricky Ponting, my first ball in Test match cricket, length ball, just outside off.  My second, leg stump half volley, luckly for me, fielded by CC at square leg.  But that’s the way it’s been, it can only be a concentration thing.  There are always things to work on!

 

Feeling good, and bowing to the plan, hanging tough, doing what I’m supposed to do, not trying things, just sticking to the plan, and it paid off.  I had bowled three overs in a row at Dravid, a couple of maidens and one that cost a couple.  Ball after ball trying to hit lengths that I wanted, and I snuck one through his defence.  Top of off and the stump out of the ground, at first I wasn’t too sure to believe it, I was waiting for a ‘no ball’ call or something; nothing, it was all good.  I enjoyed that moment, one happy boy.  There was something funny happened here too.  Just before I started the over I said to Dan, at mid off, “Something’s going to happen this over.”  I wasn’t sure if it was going to be something good or something bad, but I just thought something was going to happen.  Dan did reply, “Good or bad??”  Anyway, second ball, I got a wicket, I turn back to Dan and there was that little moment you just look for out on the park!

The rest of my day was ok.  The legs did start to get a bit heavy towards the end of the day, which is to be expected on this outfield that is a bit softer than some.  The sand based outfield drains really well, but is softer than normal and this means you have to work harder to run and get around the park.

 

Overall I was pretty happy with my bowling and instead of the crazy intensity of an ODI where good balls often go to the fence; good balls here are treated with respect.  We held one of the best batting teams in the world to three runs an over on a pitch that was pretty placid pace wise and it certainly didn’t move around as much as it did on the first day.

 

We’ll head back out there tomorrow, stay strong to our plans and keep India’s lead to an absolute minimum.  It just takes one good session to turn this game right on it’s head.

 

162,000 views since I posted yesterday... wow!!  Thank you all!!  Lets just keep the comments safe for all viewing, please!

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi,
i came to your blog looking for the catch of VVS.. you dint mention anything .. i thought it was a very ordinary effort

Anonymous said...

I really love the ball that came back in to dravid. Expecting more like that...
As you said, just short of one good session to come back into the match.
All the best to you and to the Newzealand team.

Anonymous said...

Hi

I think this blog is closest to twittering as you play

Thanks - offers a different perspective

I just want to ask - How did you manage to lose all that weight? Certainly helped you to become a sharper and more potent bowler

Well done and keep blogging

Cheers

medium-pacer

Joe Antony said...

Nice post, enjoyed reading it...
btw, you DID break the great indian wall, it was a deadly delivery. It would not be so great if it hadn't been Dravid. As whole world knows its difficult to penetrate his defence ... wow this delivery is going to rock millions of fans in youtube for sure :)

Unknown said...

Its nice to see a international player go back to his home/hotel in night and sit down and write a blog after day's test cricket. And more importantly not expecting anything more that views and hits to the blog. I wonder if Sachin would do that and if he did how many views he would get and surely there will 100s of companies would be willing sponser it. Here in India we are too crazy about cricket.

I clicked on a link on cricbuzz.com and found your blog. Haven't followed NZ series very closely but I love test cricket. By the time I got up in the morning your spell was probably over and I could not get a glimpse of your bowling. In fact I have never seen you on TV. Hopefully I can catch up with the highlights tonight.

Anyways, Good Luck for Day 3. I think you guys really kept the Indian down.. But Sachin and Yuvraj are still here. Little bit fuller than good length outside off and going down without too much bounce is what will get you Yuvraj.

Will read your blog again tomorrow.

--Observer

Ramesh Poplay said...

Nice to hear comments rights from the centre of action. You have mostly concentrated on your bowling. A bit about the rest of the action would be great, especially how you felt about Tendulkar's batting.

Anonymous said...

Nice to read your blog again Iain.....
Couple of request
1) I know it will not be good on your part as opposition to show any great appreciation for Indians on the blog. You dont want to miss on any psychlogical edge in an ongoing match. But will definitely appreciate a bit more detail on Indian team.
2) I dont think its fair to remove the comment section. A bit of moderation will serve the purpose?

enjoi the test match, may the better team win... thats ofcourse India :)

Anonymous said...

Dear,i'm from kerala,u can take the wicket of yuvraj but u r not able to take a wicket of sachin,hard work to reach the target

Anonymous said...

can you elaborate a bit more on the front foot? is it simply a feel thing or have you suffered any injuries to it?

Anonymous said...

Iain you are a very lousy fielder!!!
Improve your fielding ASAP.

Californian desi said...

I thought you bowled well yesterday but could have been better. I just feel that you guys are being slightly on a shorter side and expecting some amazing bounce or something. Well, guess what, the balls bowled to Gambhir, Dravid and Laxman were piched up and that's what got them undone...


anyway, good luck for day 3.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for info Iain. Nice to read your blog and good to see some good Test cricket.

To the tools that come on here and bag Iain out about using blogger, fielding etc. just go away.

morons...

Anonymous said...

Keep it up Iain!
Nice effort.

Anonymous said...

what r plans for tomorrow?

Anonymous said...

HAI O BRIEN R U BRAIN LESS TO PLAY WID INDIA??

Anonymous said...

Best of luck Brien. You set up Dravid pretty beautifully today. Would suggest you to bowl Sachin on the same line. Sachin has a history of going out on balls which hit the good lenght and just come in.

Anonymous said...

I have made a habit of going through ur blog everyday. It amazing that u actually spend some time blogging after ur tiring day schedule.

Keep it up(the blog & the ball).

- A Fan

Anonymous said...

just bowl on the corridor of uncertainity in the line of middle and off stump.....variety of pace will confuse the batsman for sure.......just concentrate on the areas you bowl....gudluck.........cheers

Anarchangel said...

Good luck for today!

Anonymous said...

Mate, I will tonk you all over the park later today :-)

Anonymous said...

oyyeee do u dare to bowl at me?

Anonymous said...

can u compare urself to me??? i am far better than u ..k, don't xaggerate things as much as u do

Unknown said...

That was a splendid delivery to take the WALL out. Keep the good work

Unknown said...

Hey Iain.

Might be best to close the comment section.

Love ya blog mate and read it everyday even though you are a wellintonian ;) (yeah im a one eyed cantabrian :P).

But having this idiots from India come on here and ruin it for ya annoys me, would much rather be able to come here and read your thoughts and not have to put up with this stuff, but yeah your choice.

Keep up the great work with the blog and cricket :)

Polo said...

Some incredibly stupid comments on here.

Why would Iain discuss the Indian team in detail? This is a blog about Iain to give the public an inside perspective about him and the New Zealand team.

Looks a pretty flat deck at the moment. No idea why you only got 6 overs in the morning session today, I thought you and Martin were easily the best bowlers yet you both didn't get a bowl after your initial spells. Strange.

Hope we can bowl India out and get back in the game in these last two sessions! Our top order is really going to have to step up now.

Good luck mate!

Unknown said...

Man, that ball to Dravid was a ripper. Makes me feel that why cant this bowler hit the same line and length consistently.
This New Zealand side is exciting with youngsters like Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor. Keep up the good work.

Ben Carswell said...

Congrats mate on taking Sachin's wicket! Well deserved after the spell you'd had & good to see a Wellington boy doing well.

Since the Indians are swamping your blog with comments (you can't really criticise their enthusiasm!), you may find it helpful to switch off comments during this series & then add it again for future series.

All the best for tomorrow!

gane said...

wat u think y sach lost the ball completly. to decive some one who has spend so many hrs in the crease was a grt effort. nxt ovr u did a similar thing to zak to.

Joe Antony said...

While waiting for your next post, couldn't resist congratulating you on the wicket of sachin... You made him to be in a awkward position while making a edge.. this delivery was as good as the one dispatched Dravid... your short deliveries were effective as their lines were outstanding, great work man, waiting for your post on thirday.. good luck

Sujeet Sairam said...

Hi Iain,

I haven't seen you bowl but your praises of deliveries to Dravid and Sachin have made me really enthusiastic to watch you in action. Will go and find your bowling video on youtube to catch a glimpse of you. I appreciate your modesty and the inside action that you have brought in your blogs.

Keep up the good work and hope new Zealand puts up a good fight back in their second innings.

CBS said...

Why do u think 'Polo' its a stupid request to demand a bit more from the blog??

If Iain is happy that some 162,000 views on his blogs, he may as well like to share his views abt the team followed by may be 160,000 of those clicks???

And well if you want a comment free blog then why bother?? ask him to write a newspaper article instead.....