Hello again from Sydney, thought it was time to update you all on the goings on from down under where I have more rain and my first two weeks of work to report on.  So I will get started.

Our next match was to be a one dayer against Campbelltown Camden which during the week wasn't looking likely to go ahead as it had been a week of rain and thunderstorms and when we arrived at the ground on the saturday morning it was drizzling and grey. Much like the story of every Saturday in scotland during the summer. Anyway we warmed up and during our warm up were told that we would be delayed an hour before starting. The rain stopped and we won the toss and bowled. When we started we noticed that the 30yard circle was only about 15yards on one side and 45on the other, the groundsman had marked it on the wrong pitch. We restricted Campbelltown to 7 for 196 which we thought was very getable. But we were wrong we ended up falling 30 runs short with a few overs to spare. I made 15 at the end but got out playing a soft shot and was caught at short third man trying to cut a rank ball from a spinner. It was our first loss of the season.

During the week i got a phone call from an Aberdonian offering me a part time job at the airport doing routine maintainence work. Brian Freedman from the cricket club spoke to one of friends who organised this for me. I went to meet them and work out when i could work and would start the following week. Training went well during the week although we were forced indoors again one of the training days. We were looking forward to getting back on the winning trail on Saturday against St George in a 2 day game.

We batted first in the game and batted quite well on a wicket that did quite a bit early in the innings and if we fought through the first session it would become much easier later in the day. We batted the whole day and about 10 overs the second day, declaring on 8-278. I didnt get a bat being next in. We came out to bowl all guns blazing picking up early wickets and continued to wickets at regular intervals. One of bowlers Byron Hackshall taking 5 off them for 39 runs in 17 overs. We bowled St George out for 178. I bowled quite well and was unlucky not to take more than one wicket but ended with figures of 13 overs 1 for 36. After the game there was a Trivia night held at the club and we had entered our team of 8 guys from the 2nd grade. It was safe to say by the end of it that any rumours that cricketers aren't the cleverist of sportsmen came true. we finished dead last! But it was a good laugh for all.

During that week i started working at the airport, the contract that the company has in mainly to ensure all the lights in the airport terminal are working. So my first week i spent most of time changing lightbulbs, its not the most exciting of jobs but it pays the rent. I saw a few famous faces in my first week at work as well. On my first day i saw Shane Warne's replacement spinner Stuart Magill who doesnt look as chubby as he gets all the stick for. On the 3rd day at work i Saw Marcia Hinds the singer and Australian Idol judge followed by the whole South Australian cricket team who had flewn into Sydney to play the SpeedBlitz Blues. My second week at work was much the same as the first, changing lights bulbs and hanging the occasional white board. Although we had a few hoursof clearing outall the light defusers of moths that had swarmed Sydney in the last couple of weeks. I encountered a Huntsmen spider aswell as the moths when i opened one of the light covers. The didnt mention that in the work method safety report. We only managed to train once this week as there was a twenty20 match to be played on the tuesday against Campbelltown. It was a mixture of 1st and 2nd Grade players and i was asked to play. We bowled forston a rather flat Bankstown wicket and restricted them to 140 which was great as the were 1-90 after 10. I got one wicket and bowl really well. Unfortunately we lost and were bowled out 30 runs short. We only managed to train indoors as the weather was more like a Scottish summer again. We got what we could out of it but were keen to get outside on saturday and play our last game before the festive break against Northern Districts.

We lost the toss on a great batting wicket and Northern Districts batted. We knew we would have to bowl well to prevent a mammoth score being posted. And that we did. I opened the bowling and bowled another fast spell, probably my quickest in a long time as everything seemed to click. I bowled 8 overs for 18 runs but didnt get any rewards for beating the bat on numerous occasions. Our spinner bowled exceptionally and he endedwith figures of 6 for 30 odd in 21 overs as we bowled them out for 160. A great effort on the flattest wicket we have played on this season so far. There was 23 overs left in the day for us to bat, which gave us an oppertunity to make a dent in the score before the close. We ended the day without losing any wickets on 58, meaning we only needed another 100 runs for victory next week.

In the week, i had a good 3 days at work which past reletivly quickly and saw another celebrity. This time it was Mark Nicholas the cricket commentator who was on route to tasmania to commentate on the final ODI between Australia and New Zealand, which needles to say Australia won easily. We managed to get two outdoor training sessions this week as the weather held off for us. Both sessions went well and had 2 really good hits the nets. with the ball i also bowled very well with my rythmn and timing both feeling very good. i was looking forward to the game on Saturday even though it would be likely that i wouldn't be required with the bat. On Friday, i had organised with Youngie that we would play the second of our Scotland v Australia golf matches. Unfortunatley the result was the same as last time with us Scots losing by a much bigger margin than the previous game. If it had been a cricket match Youngie and i would have been looking good. Both of us notching up centuries. Youngie carding 123 and myself an even 100.

Saturday saw another overcast day in Sydney and t was forecast for more showers throughout the day. When i got to the ground the covers were on and it was starting to spit. We warmed up anyway with an epic game of football, the old guys against the young guns. After the football we had some throwdowns before taking the covers off for the start of the game, which was going to be delayed 15 minutes. We lost 2 wickets before lunch but were in a good position still only requiring around 50 more runs to win. After lunch a good partnership formed and we passed the Northern Districts total just after drinks in the afternoon session. We lost 2 more wickets after we getting to the total and i was due in next as we declared and ended the game early happy with our first innings win. We had made it to the halfway point in the season with only one loss and looking forward to a break over the festive period.

I will be spending christmas out at Penrith with Youngie so i will leave this diary here for now and hope you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.