Iain O'Brien

I know you’ve become used to my reasonable level of quickness to get these blogs written and posted; sometimes though it’s just not possible.

I just have not had the time to get anything down since the last game in Wellington. I will though, of course, cover it off in my next post after this third match in Christchurch. Sometimes life just gets in the way of a good story, and at the moment there are a couple of things that have to take precedent over getting the blog done. No apologies, it just hasn’t been possible.

Two - nil; who’d a thought. I can honestly say that going into this Twenty20 two-match series I didn’t think it’d be like that. I had a chat to Dan [Vettori] last night after the match, “Dan, how cool is this? Two nil, you thought we could win it two nil?” Even he thought it’d probably be a ‘one-all’ series draw. We sat back and enjoyed the great feeling around the changing room. We spoke about how often NZ teams get into winning positions in matches and series and let it slip, last night was the chance to fix that, maybe we’re not the best team on show out there, but we got it done, ugly, pretty, gutsy, whatever, we got it done.

Winning is an amazing feeling and it's not necessarily something we've done enough of in the last 12 months. Last night was amazing. Last night we won. Not going to get carried away, but it was a great feeling beating the world champion Twenty20 team.

From the previous evening when we had had a very good 'scouting' session to crossing the white line last night just before 7.00 pm I had a pretty good feeling about this match. Our 'scouting' notes were as complete as I've ever seen, it's not a complete document by any mean stretch of the imagination, but it's a very good place to start and we've added to it since last night; it's evolving. In fact the first thing I did after we came off the field was to write down some notes on a couple of their batters, I spied Dan doing the same thing, we'll discuss these before the next T20 in Wellington and rework some of the plans from there.

There is huge interest here in NZ for this series as I'm sure there is in India. There are a lot of excited Indians living here as well as the NZ public who have been looking forward to watching some of the most talented cricketers on this earth play on our soil. While walking around Christchurch there has been a lot of well wishes coming from the friendly public, it's an enjoyable thing when a stranger walks past and wishes you luck for the match and series. I really hope the crowds come out and support us at the grounds, like they did last night, and make it as fun as atmosphere as possible.

Last time I sat to type we were 2-2 in a 5 match series against the Aussies; that's a while ago now. No apologies, I've just been really busy. The series stayed level after a wash out in Brisbane, a match I think we would have won seven out of ten times from that position. The T20 a couple of days later we lost, too many dot balls marred our batting innings from a position of strength to one of desperation. We couldn't quite get over the line, a very disappointing way to finish a close series, one that we could have won and taken the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy back across the Tasman.

Now I sit here in Christchurch with the dreams of warmer climates in my head. The tour to Australia was a warm one, most days there around and above 30C. It's 14C today, not warm enough for me, and really not warm enough for our opponents. Oh well, poor them; welcome to NZ boys! I actually passed most of them in the street yesterday, rugged up, I bet they can't casually walk along the street at home. They must be loving it, apart from the weather, that is.

I am looking forward to tomorrow night’s Twenty20. Huge interest over here - this is the big tour here of the summer. The series against the Windies was weather-marred, hopefully we get full opportunity to play these games in some great weather on some great decks, although if the cold weather helps us make the visitors feel uncomfortable, I'll take every advantage we can get.

Since getting back from Australia I've missed one Twenty20 for Wellington, a rest after the tour, and been back for the two remaining matches. Had a couple of great days out at a special place called Castle Point, great beaches and just an amazing place!

So we head to Brisbane with the series drawn at 2-2. Tuesday night's loss had turned this series into a real nail bitter.

It was another typical belter at Adelaide, a ground known for its great batting decks, this one, no different. Dan won the toss and we wanted to bat first, so we did.

Before play both teams lined up for a moments silence in memory of the people that have lost their lives in the bushfires in Victoria. This has been a very surreal event to be over here and living through. The news is constant, the papers are full of pics and stories and I really just can't handle it. I'm on the outside looking in and I just can't watch or read any media. It just gets to me so much, my over active imagination starts thinking of what if it was my family over here going through this. What if it was our house that had gone, if my parents, my family had been caught up in it? I just can't imagine what these people are going through. I just play cricket for a living, it's the best job in the world, I'm so happy about where I'm at and what I'm doing and then there are these people that have just lost everything, and more! My deepest sympathies go out to all the people involved and the ones directly affected. And to the people out there fighting the fires, dealing with the misplaced families, the volunteers and the people that have given so generously to the funds, you people are amazing!

No big party last night, alas.

Although we did take it closer than some thought and hushed the crowd towards the end of the match. Bowling first, again, after Dan won the toss on a track that looked pretty good for a one-dayer; and it was. There was a change at the top of the Australian order with Warner missing out and Haddin opening; what a week for him.

Haddin and Clarke played with more positivity than we'd seen so far in the series at the top. They played well, hit the bad balls, and turned good balls into boundary options by moving around the crease. I think they trusted this pitch a little more too, or gambled harder, hitting some good balls, through the line and over the top.

Welcome to the 'G'. What an amazing place to visit, to watch sport, let alone have the honour to play in front of sports-loving Melbourne crowd.

Well, well, well... This will probably be the toughest blog I've had to write. Don't want to get carried away, but .... wow, that's a great feeling; beating the Australians in their own back yard. We arrived here to a newspaper headline, "Even This Useless Mob Think They Can Beat Us." Well, actually, yes we did think we could win, and mate, we did.

That is as good a feeling I have ever experienced in cricket. The elation in the changing room after Dan hit the last ball of the match through the field for the winning run was pure, an amazing feeling. That's the most 'man love' I have ever seen in a changing room. It was just one match in a series of five, but after a game that roller-coasted until the last ball, our loss to the PM's XI and in the heat and conditions that we played in, we were one very happy bunch of boys!

I was nervous, and excited, heading into this match. My last ODI, my first one, didn't go so good; six overs, 1 for 59 in two three-over spells. Not good enough, hence it was my one and only match before yesterday. We lost the toss and bowled first, we probably would have batter first too had Dan [Vettori] kept up his run with the tosses. It was hot, and humid. This was going to be hard work which was part of the reason we were keen to bat first so that we could bowl in the cooler conditions. I passed Shaun Tait as we were walking heading off from warm-ups, just after the toss, he was pretty pleased he didn't have to bowl first up in the heat, and I couldn't blame him. Our 'Dirtys' and management crew did a great job around the boundaries and onto the field with the drinks. The boundary riders got drinks handed to them from the other side of the rope and the inner-circle fielders got drinks run out to them at great pace so to not slow down the play by the 'Dirtys'. These small efforts often go unnoticed but can add so much to the team's performance.

[Kyle] Millsy and Timmy [Southee] started the innings off well with the ball; both had it swinging and gave the openers very little to hit. Warner had looked dangerous since his debut in the Twenty20 v the South Africa; we were certainly weary of his abilities and Shaun Marsh had looked pretty solid. To have them both out within the first nine overs was the best start we could have asked for. Then a piece of brilliance from Neil Broom in the outfield, an amazing throw to run Ponting out was all we could have asked for. And as if lightning doesn't strike twice, Guptill, with an equally great throw, ran Michael Clarke out as he too came back for the second. That's four down, the top four, and we couldn't be happier.

I'm currently in one of the lounges at Sydney Airport waiting to board our fight to Perth. Yesterday we played a match against the Prime Ministers XI and, well, to put it mildly, we didn't do too well.

But before I cover that match off I'll take you back to the last round of the domestic one-day competition, we were in Invercargill, the bottom (pretty much as far south as you can go) of the South Island. We were certainly made to feel welcome, that was until we stepped out onto the pitch, that is. It was a typical home crowd that you come to expect in the South Island; they love their own players and love to hate the others, and it was going to be a fun afternoon.

We bowled first and during the middle stages we were looking down the barrel of a chasing a score of around 280, that was going to be a lot, even with it being a small ground and a good deck. A couple of very good innings from three of Otago's more experienced boys certainly set them up for an onslaught towards the end of the innings. We picked up a couple of crucial wickets at game changing times and managed to peg them back to 244.