Story A rookie's long road to fame **Match day vs WA, Disappointing end to the innings**

[surendar]

A very good foundation(base) for this to be a great career story is already been laid by the writer is what i can sense now.. Keep it up.. Looking forward to it

 

[gutterman]

an update should be round the corner.

 

[gutterman]

Match Day - Sheffield Shield Vs Western Australia.

I awoke from a restlessness night's sleep. Probably from the fact that I was worried I'd fail again, just like I did against South Australia. I'd even got into Perth late last night because of issues with family. At about 7:30, I got a knock on the door from the coach to say the bus was leaving in 45 mins. It was good because it gave me at least some time to get ready and wake up a bit.

I got up, had a quick shower then got my gear together. At 8 i went downstairs to meet everyone in the front hall. The coach looked quite chirpy and cheerful. We still didn't know who was playing in the match but the coach probably wanted us to sweat as a result of our loss. I was growing more and more nervous by the minute. I wanted to play against the likes of Hussey and Gilchrist, two of my heroes of late.

When we finally reached the ground. I had so many thoughts on if maybe i was rushed into the team. I decided to keep these thoughts to myself until I figured out how well i was going. I tell you it's a tough gig, never listen to anyone who says its easy.

In the dressing room Matty put up the team sheet. We still had our main guys like Brad Brett, Phil, Pup etc. But we were missing Stuart Clark. He was out injured with an elbow problem that worried him in the lasat match. I was at number 3.

Before we went out for our pre game warm up, Matty pulled me aside and gave me his reasons for putting me in at 3.

"Brendan the reason why you're going in at 3 is to give you as much chance of getting in as much batting as you can. You are a capable batsman and with enough batting time you can be going places. As for the bowling, I've made a suggestion to Michael that he gives you a go if need be."

So in other words the coach was giving me batting practice. Which is fair enough because it seemed as if i needed it anyway.

We went out for our pre game warm up and one of the umpires came up and said we were starting the game a bit earlier so the toss needed to be done there and then. Pup went out, won the toss and came back saying we're batting. At that moment it felt like my heart lept from my mouth and started dancing on the floor. Phil and Simon headed out while I headed for the viewers box with my helmet and gloves close at hand if i had to go in early.....

 

[Jaztheman]

Great update, Brendan. The writing is seriously top notch. You got a lie in it seemse(:P) to start with but you've definitely woken up now considering you may be needed very early on. Without Stuart Clark it will be hard but yourself and the batsmen need to make a good score. Congrats on being number 3 as well.

Keep this going, Brendan.

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

Interesting story here, lets hope your watching the ball this time

Just read the first post of this and I must say I'm interested. I think it would be cool if you make an edit to the first post showing your stats since you've been playing for NSW.

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Nice to see you batting at number 3 ...hope you have some success...Good story so far...

 

[gutterman]

Nice to see you batting at number 3 ...hope you have some success...Good story so far...

Interesting story here, lets hope your watching the ball this time

Just read the first post of this and I must say I'm interested. I think it would be cool if you make an edit to the first post showing your stats since you've been playing for NSW.

thanks will do that

Great update, Brendan. The writing is seriously top notch. You got a lie in it seemse(:P) to start with but you've definitely woken up now considering you may be needed very early on. Without Stuart Clark it will be hard but yourself and the batsmen need to make a good score. Congrats on being number 3 as well.

Keep this going, Brendan.

thanks for the comments

 

[Left_Hander]

Interesting to note that Henriques is a bowler in this game when in real life he is an all-rounder. He also has the first over which is a bit strange.

Good luck batting at three. Hopefully you can make the most of the practice

 

[saladguy]

Best of luck in this match mate, batting at number three could bring a fifty!

 

[gutterman]

Blues off to an ok start

After finally finding out whether i made the team or not and making my way to the viewers box, Simon And Phil had made their way out to the middle where they would be facing a very aggressive bowling attack. Phil was on strike and had played and missed the first ball. At that very moment i was thinking you idiot but i couldn't blame him for his choice of shot. A nice full and wide-ish delivery was to be smacked through the covers, but Inness got so much swing it only just missed the outside edge. I was ready there and then to head out.

Both guys negotiated the first over or two. And it seemed that the pitch wasn't doing much except the bowlers getting a bit of swing here and there. It was a good 15 or 20 minutes before we got our first boundaries, 3 of them in consecutive overs. If that didn't get our run rate up, I'd most likely end up hitting out trying to up the run rate. That's what used to happen back in my club cricket days. I'd usually get out for less than 20 in doing so.

Phil proved to be the more dominant batsman, as he was seeing the ball like a hawk sees its prey. Simon on the other hand, despite hitting a beautiful leg glance for four, was struggling and showed when he was caught blocking the ball. It took a miraculous diving catch by Martyn to dismiss him. All of the Western Australia fans were riding the catch and as the ball landed in his hands the crowd roared.

As I went out I could feel the butterflies in my stomach, along with the boos, the crowd was giving me. Once I got to the center, Phil gave me some words of encouragement:

Don't worry about the crowd. Just play your natural game.

And So that's what I did. I set about getting myself in before going for the more risky shots and it paid off. I hit two boundaries from four deliveries faced. I was as confident as ever. I didn't want to get ahead of myself just yet though as the next few overs I just played them out and took singles where I could.

Phil was looking very good until he got bogged down. He was having a period where he couldn't get off strike. Every time he looked like getting a single there would be a fielder there to save the single. I thought that being a top class player he would be able to get out of it. Boy was i wrong after about 20 dot balls in a row he was bowled by Edmonson, probably lack of concentration. I didn't blame him, if I was bogged down without scoring a run for that long I would've gotten out due to a concentration lapse.

Pup was the next guy in. He looked quite confident, as this form he is in his element. He took a little while to get himself set and bang we were setting about building our innings. He hit 3 different shots for four and they were just marvellous. I was in awe as he played a magical sweep shot. i contributed to the partnership with an average on drive that somehow crawled to the boundary.

We weren't far from the lunch break and we were looking settled. 2 down for something, I tried not to look at the scoreboard as it made me anxious.

 

[Left_Hander]

A decent start so far by the Blues. I hope if you get through to lunch you can keep it down and won't be so anxious

 

[mattfb]

Really nice read here mate. Good to see you at 3 and getting some time in the middle. kiu!

 

[gutterman]

updated first post for career stats with nsw. ill update it after every match to keep it up to date. so check it out

 

[gutterman]

an update may becoming in the next two days

 

[bladescape]

waiting for it!