Out In The Middle With Scott

Knights, BLACKCAPS and Chennai Super Kings

It’s been a good start to the One-Day competition for the Yahoo!Xtra Northern Knights.

We’re two from two and to be perfectly honest we probably deserved to win neither of them the way we played.

That’s a good sign for the team and our character fighting through when we look like we’re struggling.

Bradley Scott has been the star of the season so far, in the last match he came in and got 25 off 10 balls, he stood up when it was needed and single-handedly won us the game.

It’s great to win those tight ones.

Looking positively at the last two games it’s good that we’re running at 50 or 60 percent and still winning games.

I’d like to think that over the course of this competition we’ll get better and better and we won’t be sitting here at the end of the season thinking about what might have been.

But we need to be winning games as a team and not relying on one player to do it for us.

The turnaround from the Twenty20 competition to the One Dayers was pretty quick and we had to get over the disappointment of missing the final fast.

I think the team has learned a lot from that and over the winter the coaching staff and the players will be working hard.

The best thing I’ve seen is that everyone has been able to get back on the horse and defend the title for the third year in a row.

On Sunday we’re playing our first game at home in Whangarei against the Wellington Firebirds.

While most of the boys don’t live in Whangarei we love playing there.

It’s a fantastic ground up there and we’re looking forward to it.

If we can get a win over the Firebirds that will give us a mini-break on the rest of the field.

The BLACKCAPS have copped a fair pounding on and off the field after their loss to Pakistan in the first test at Seddon Park.

You’ve got to remember that the Pakistan side is very good, they have a lot of depth and they’re a talented side.

I saw all of them in action in the Twenty20 games and their bowling line-up is strong and whilst they are missing a few players in their team because of the match-fixing scandal these guys are a fantastic side.

They’ll be going out on Saturday in the second Test to give the BLACKCAPS a good run for their money.

The first Test was disappointing and the batting collapse was especially hard to watch but I think everyone is under no illusion that it is the batsmen who need to improve and quickly.

You can call it mental strength or simply halting the momentum of the opposition when they get a run on.

When we’ve had batting collapses in the past that’s what’s happened – the bowlers have got their tails up and we’ve been unable to combat them.

You’ll see over time that John Wright, who was renowned as a batsman for his ability to be focused, calm and relaxed, and I’d like to think he’ll be able to pass those skills on to the batting unit and we’ll see some improved batting performances over the next season or two.

The one great thing about John Wright is that he calls a spade a spade but he doesn’t go mad at the players.

He voices his disappointment and he gave us a telling off after the Twenty20 match in Christchurch where we got rolled well and truly.

He doesn’t swear and curse but he makes it known it’s unacceptable and that there’s plenty of work to do.

And hopefully that’s what the guys have done.

I’d expect, on a wicket with a bit more bounce in Wellington, we’ll see a better performance.

Last week I mentioned the IPL auction was coming up and I’m happy to say I made the cut.

I honestly didn’t know whether I was going to get a spot.

I’d been speaking to Stephen Fleming prior to the auction and he said I was simply on their radar and that they were considering me in a back-up roll.

I knew I was there or there-abouts but he made it very clear it was dependent on the auction and how the other players fell.

I was pleasantly surprised to be picked up and now I’m looking forward to getting to a new team with new players and getting to know them all.

And of course Chennai Super Kings are the defending IPL and Champions League champions so I’m looking forward to hopefully winning!
 

Cheers, ScottY