Out In The Middle With Scott

Still in the hunt

Well, what a wet and wild Christmas break that was…

While you guys were enjoying the holiday festivities, the Knights had four games at Mount Maunganui and, unfortunately, all bar one of those was affected by rain.

I have to say it was nice being in one spot for a while and being close to the beach, but it was also disappointing we didn’t get to enjoy the weather you usually get when you head down to that region in what is supposed to be summer!

As for the cricket, it has been a little bit of a ‘what if’ campaign for the Northern Knights so far.

We’ve either played really well and totally dominated games or we’ve got our basics wrong.

This was no truer than when we played the Auckland Aces on Boxing Day where we bowled 22 wides.

The same can be said when we played Wellington at the beginning of January (where we bowled 14 wides).

Realistically we can’t expect to win games with that many extras, but it’s not all doom and gloom because we’ve have also had some brilliant results.

We hammered a really good Central Districts team at the Mount and we also did some real damage to the Firebirds in Wellington earlier this week.

We know if we do the basics well, we are more than a match for any team on the day, but if we make silly mistakes, like we did against Auckland, then we become our own worst enemies.

Our next two games against Central Districts and the Otago Volts are crucial.

We’re currently third on the table, four points behind Canterbury, but there is no doubt we have a chance of making the finals. While we need a couple of things to go our way, our fielding is top-notch and helps us heap pressure on the opposition.

But all we can really do is focus and take each game as it comes and if Canterbury keeps losing then we’ll be in second place and heading into the final.

Auckland have already booked their place for the third consecutive year so we know we will be up against a classy and tough side if/when we make it, but in T20 cricket anyone can win on the day.

Auckland are a great team but we know we can beat them, and it’s actually a mystery why we haven’t managed to do it yet!

In other T20 news, I don’t know about you guys but I’ve really been enjoying the Big Bash League and watching our boys do us proud over there.

I also know quite a lot of people who aren’t necessarily huge T20 fans who’ve tuned in to watch the games.

Daniel Vettori put in a great performance to help the Heat beat the Renegades the other night, and Nathan McCullum did the same for Sydney.

It’s actually a great competition and, more importantly, it’s great to see more and more Kiwis playing in it. And to be honest I actually think it helps Kiwi cricket get respect.

Everyone seems to think Australia are the bees-knees at the moment, but if our guys do well, then it shows them standing up under pressure and can only be a good thing.

And just between you and me, I think we may see a few more Kiwi faces heading over there before the competition ends.

Anyway, that’s all from me this week.

Make sure you come and get involved and support the Knights against Central Districts this weekend in what is sure to be a fiery game.

Have a good one!

Cheers, SCOTTY