Heart says Canterbury but my mind says Auckland

While players have been battling it out for the finals of the State Insurance Cup I have been enjoying a short break in Melbourne.

As we drove into the city on Monday we went past a certain cricket ground which immediately sparked a few memories. It was here only 12 months ago that we were on the receiving end of the Australian side losing the Shell Rosebowl series 3-0 - how things can change.

While there are clearly many things one can be doing in a great city like Melbourne it is hard to ignore cricket at this time of the year because it is so high profile.

On Friday we are heading off to the MCG to watch Australia play the West Indies in the Carlton series finals. I am looking forward to seeing the Aussie side play especially since they are in such commanding form.

The news has just come on and Brett Lee's elbow injury is one of the leading sports stories - so no cricket for him for a while and I suspect no guitar playing either. Another lead story is Colin Miller's preparation for the upcoming tour of India.

He is leaving no stone unturned by going through a diet, fitness and acclimatisation course through Victoria University. Having played in India myself in '97, I would have to agree that any advantage you can give yourself is beneficial. I suffered a little in the heat and lost several kilos through diet and dehydration and it really affected my energy levels and my ability to recover after games.

I haven't yet come across any women's cricket. I was in a sport shop today and asked the salesperson but he didn't know anything about it - although he asked me if I played for Australia. OK - so I did mention at this point that I was from New Zealand and that we had just won the World Cup but I was equally as quick to mention that Australia has for so long led the way in women's cricket internationally - he had no idea at all - which is a bit disappointing really considering the success the team has had.

So, it looks as though Canterbury will take on Auckland in the final of the State Insurance Cup this weekend.

If I was to be completely patriotic I would have to say that I would really like to see Canterbury win - only because I think they have performed well throughout the tournament with a fairly new look to the side. Auckland on the other hand would be the form team on paper and players like Em (Drumm) and Cam (Ramel) are in such good nick.

Whatever the outcome I am sure it will be a close encounter and it will no doubt come down to who performs well on the day and who copes better in the challenging situations consistent with finals (speaking from experience only!!)

One thing the girls won't have to contend with is 40 degrees heat -so while I duck for cover I'll be glued to the CricInfo web site over the weekend to catch the final result.