Hello again from Sydney. A lot to report from in this update including some rained off games, games where we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and an injury.

I was looking forward to playing another second grade game, my first at the Bankstown Oval against Sutherland.  I had a good week at training, although we were forced indoors on the Thursday due to the weather.  We arrived at the ground on Saturday and with the overnight rain I expected a late start.  The captains and umpires decided to wait an hour before we started, which would allow the pitch which was a bit damp to dry out.   We entertained ourselves by playing some football against the net which was put up for throw downs, but they made perfect goals.  At 10.30 we were under way and put into bat.  With a bit of dampness around and cloud in the air it would be a tough sessions for the batters.  We lost wickets at regular intervals and before I knew it I had the pads on before lunch and due in at 9.  It wasn't until after lunch that I went in with the score on 100-7.  Even though it was still doing a bit I felt quite comfortable at the crease.  After a while in survival mode I found scoring came a bit easier as the wicket seemed to settle a bit.  After hitting a few boundaries my eye was in and my confidence up.  I hit a few more straight boundaries and a pull shot that went for six and ended up on the main road.  I had reached 41 at tea with the score at 170-8 thanks to 16 of the last 3 balls before the break by David Freedman, a Bankstown and New South Wales legend.  Unfortunately I didn’t add to my score after tea when I top edged a pull shot and was out caught.  We were eventually all out for 217 and had 18 overs to bowl before the close of play.  Our opening bowlers did a good job and got us 2 early wickets and they ended the day on 25-2.  I bowled 3 overs for 1 run but felt the best I have with the ball for a while.  I had good rhythm and was bowling at good pace with swing.  It was back home to have dinner and prepare for my first  u21 Poidevin-Gray (PG) match against a team called Gordon.
 
The weather was much better for the game and it got quite hot in the afternoon.  We batted first on what seemed a tricky wicket to bat on but managed to score 290 in our 50 overs.  I didn’t carry on from the day before and only scored 10.  In reply we looked like having the game in the bag when we had them 6 down but again cricket showed that its a funny game as they ended up chasing our total down in the last over. The number 8 scoring a quick 140 to win them the game, with some of the cleanest hitting I have ever seen....forget Afridi and Gayle!  I took one wicket but didn’t have the same rhythm as the previous day.
 
On the Monday of the next week I thought I'd do the right thing and keep fitness levels up by going for a run.  Unfortunately it was cut short... I went over my ankle 5 minutes into it as I was turning a corner.  I hobbled home and took my trainer off and my ankle had swollen up quite badly.  I rang around and got an appointment for the Wednesday.  The next day I was booked in to attend an RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol) course which is needed to work in any bar in Australia.  The course lasted 6 hours and was really boring but I got through it and passed with flying colours.  Now I could start looking for bar work as job hunting for other types of work wasn't going too well.  At physio on Wednesday I found out the damage to my ankle was sprained ligaments.  He strapped it up and told me I could be out for a couple of weeks, which meant I would miss day 2 of the game against Sutherland and possibly the following game.  I was gutted as I had just started to feel good with the bat and the ball and my performances were improving.  My flat mate Jack and old Middlesex team mate Pat Darwin were invited to Mr Freedmans house for Dinner on Thursday night.  Brian Freedman was on the board at Bankstown up until this year and does work for Cricket Australia overseas in India, developing umpires there.  He was also the Australian team manager at the u19 world cup in Bangladesh.  We had some great food and talked a lot of cricket and had a Possum join us too!

On Saturday I went along to watch the boys finish the game against Sutherland.  It took me longer than usual to get there as I was still trying to keep the weight of my ankle.  It was an interesting day as the boys were picking up wickets easily and then the tail started to wag a bit and they started getting close to our score and making us bat again.  But the boys came good and bowled them out 20 runs short of our score.  This left us with 5 wins from 5 games. It was a pretty boring week we had thunderstorms and rain everyday, which meant I could do nothing but stay indoors and rest my ankle.
 
I was in a debate during the week whether I should or shouldn’t play on the weekend and without being able to train I couldn’t test my ankle.  However, the decision was made by the weather.  All Sydney Grade Cricket had been called off for the weekend and the matches would be played as one dayers the following Saturday.  Now I needed to find something to do with my weekend.  I spoke to Youngie to see if he had any plans and we organised that I could go out and spend the weekend in Penrith.  We had a good weekend, even though the weather was rubbish.  We weren't complaining as it gave us an excuse to play x-box 360 and watch the test matches between Australia, Sri Lanka and South Africa, New Zealand.  Neither of which were great contests as Sri Lanka and New Zealand didn’t show much resistance!
 
My ankle was feeling much better and I was looking forward to getting back into training with the help of an ankle brace to give me extra support as my ankle was still pretty weak.  On Tuesday at training I got through about an hours fielding and had a good hit in the nets.  I didn’t feel I should risk bowling this early and would wait till Thursday before having a trundle.  I pulled up ok Wednesday and was looking forward to getting back into bowling at practice on Thursday.  I bowled for about half an hour, starting of a short run then gradually building up to my full run.  It was coming out well and I wasn’t in too much discomfort when I bowled; which was good as I was in the side to a one dayer against Hawkesbury.

It was a really hot day and we were to get first use of the wicket with the bat.  We started of really well and were going along at 5 runs an over for most of the game.  I was due to bat at 8 and only got to bat in the 43rd over.  I didn’t last long though, getting to 4 and then middled one to the left of cover who took a good catch, but it shouldn’t have gone in the air! We posted a good score of 270 which we thought was probably 20-30 runs short on that ground.  We would have to bowl well to defend that with small boundaries and a lightening quick outfield.  We got wickets at regular intervals, I bowled first change and picked up a wicket caught behind. When I wasn't bowling I was enjoying the left arm chinamen of David Freedman bamboozle the middle and lower order.  He picked up 4 wickets and then I came back for a second spell taking another 2 and finished the game bowling them out for 180.  I ended with 3-40 which was a little expensive, but I was happy enough as it was my first bowl back in a game and my ankle was feeling a bit sore and uncomfortable towards the end of my spell.  It was a good team performance at the end of the day, keeping up our 100% record.  After the game we attended one of the guys from the cricket clubs 21st, well I was gate crashing it!  But he didn’t mind.  It was a pretty good night and near the end a Pipe Band marched in and played Scotland The Brave as there is some Scottish connection in his family.  I felt right at home!
 
The next few days were spent watching the Aussies destroy the Sri Lankans for the 2nd time in the series and training.  At training I didn’t want to bowl to give my ankle plenty time to recover from the game at the weekend but had a really good net session and did a bit of fielding too.  My flat mate has got me a trial with Cargo bar in the city.  I went into work with him at 8 on Thursday morning and worked till 5.30 doing all sorts of things like preparing the bar for functions, setting up stages and barriers outside and taking deliveries.  It was a pretty tough and long day and they seemed quite happy with what I had done so fingers crossed I get more hours there.
 
This weekend coming we have another one day game against Campbelltown Camden away from home on the Saturday and then a PGs game against Eastern Suburbs on Sunday.  So I will leave it here for this week and update you again soon with the latest from Sydney.