Out In The Middle With Scott

Thoughts With Christchurch

It’s hard to blog about the Cricket World Cup with everything that is going on in Christchurch.

And I have to say my thoughts and those of all of the members of the Black Caps squad go out to the people of Canterbury.

What happened on Tuesday has left us shell-shocked and extremely saddened.

For those of you who have friends and family who have been injured or worse we know you will be hurting right now and for that we are sorry.

As you will all know there are a lot of us who have family and friends in Christchurch and it is always hard to be so far away from New Zealand at a time like this.

After being in Christchurch for the One Dayer against Pakistan it was fair to say we all thought the worst of things was behind the area.

Dan Vettori said this morning on the NZ Cricket site the best thing we can do right now is focus on beating Australia in the second game of our World Cup campaign.

And that’s what is on our minds.

Our game against Kenya wasn’t very long and we didn’t spend a lot of time on the field either way.

But in all reality it was a great way to kick off our campaign.

A solid win is good for the confidence but we’re not reading anything into it.

And neither did John Wright and the coaching staff who rewarded us for our win over Kenya with a hard out fitness session in the nets in Chennai.

Did I mention we did it in the heat of the day?

It’s fair to say the team was feeling pretty much exhausted afterwards.

But that’s the kind of workout we need in the lead up to our clash with Australia.

We know the game against Ricky Ponting and his boys will be anything but a walk in the park.

They may have been taken to school by the English in the Ashes Test series but they put on their own show in the One Dayers.

They are being talked up as the dark horse of the competition but in all fairness they have to be considered as one of the favourites.

But we’re not going to let the occasion get the best of us.

If anything we love playing Australia and personally it’s these type of games that really get me fired up.

There’s nothing better than having a chance to pit yourself against some of the best in the game.

And we now have an added incentive.

Whilst we’re a long way from home and feel rather helpless when it comes to being able to offer assistance on the ground we will do our best to get a win over the Aussies.

If that helps to lift the mood in New Zealand then that’s what we’re going to try to do.

Again our thoughts are with everyone in Christchurch and all Kiwis touched by this horrific event.
 

Cheers, ScottY