Ian O'Briens Blog

A link to Ian O'Briens blog has been added to the side bar. Great insight for young (or old) cricketers in to life with the Black Caps.

Diary Dates

Just a few dates for your diary:

• 7th December 2008: 2 Teams v. Manukau (HPCC and Papatoetoe @ Lloyd Elsmore Park) - CONFIRMED
  
• 14th December 2008: Mixed game with NHY7 v. NHU15 Girls @ TGS (Grass Wicket) - CONFIRMED
  
• 21 December 2008: 1 Team v. Cornwall Park (@ Stanley Bay) - CONFIRMED
  
• 15 February 2009: 2 Teams v. Parnell (@ Parnell) - CONFIRMED
  
• 1 March 2009: 2 Teams v. Western Districts (@ Wainoni Park) - CONFIRMED
  

Oh and don't forget Christmas and New Year!

NHY6 Counties Game (23 November 2008) Slideshow

Thanks once again to Chris Newey.

If you want to download any of these photos click here and the link should take you to the online album where you can select the photo you want.

Counties Game (23 November)

"Got him!"

Keep an eye out for Chris Newey's latest photographical installment. The photo's I have seen so far are fantastic; I will put a slideshow up in the next day or so. Chris does this as a hobby but, they are some of the best cricket photos I have seen. So thank you Chris!

Counties Result (23 November)

Don's XI v. Counties 1
Counties 70/20 overs (Angus Nicoll 3/17, Bjorn Wojt 3/11, Faisal Ganchi 2/5)
Dons XI 90/20 overs (Reid Hastie 20 Not Out, Cole Briggs 21 Not Out)

Don's XI win

Colin's XI v. Counties 2
Counties 87/20 overs (Steven Newey 2/17, Harry Bartlett 2/12)
Colin's XI 82/All Out (Eru Hudson 27)

Colin's XI lost

Don's XI v. Counties 2
Don's XI 99/20 overs (Bjorn 43 Not Out, Jake Skellern 23 Not Out)
Counties 50/All Out (Asher Robb 3/9, Kit Freeman 2/10, Chris Woodard 2/1)

Don's XI win

Colin's XI v. Counties 1
Colin's XI 110/20 overs (Steven Newey 47 Not Out, Evan Cronje 24 Not Out)
Counties 30/All Out (Max Lewis 2/4)

Colin's XI win

So we win 3 out of 4 games and I think, if we are honest, we should have won all 4 games. Colin's XI slumped after losing 4 wickets in 4 balls and were kicking themselves.

Don's XI under the guidance of Reid Hastie showed excellent tactical fielding, making good use of slips and a line of sight short mid-off. There was some fantastic slip catching with four really top class catches taken off sharp bowling from Angus Nicoll, Asher Robb and Bjorn Wojt (Reid Hastie and Chris Woodard with cat like reflexes). This backed up by some good batting; Cole Briggs, Reid Hastie, Bjorn Wojt and Jake Skellern showing a good range of skills - moving the game on when it needed and batting sensibly at the start of the innings.

Colin's XI, as mentioned above, will be disappointed with their first game (only Eru Hudson will be able to sleep without batting nightmares from the first game) however, made up for this in the second game. A good sensible start, from Max Lewis and Steven Newey, gave a solid base for the team to build on. Steven and Evan Cronje did this very well and really set a good strong target. Poor Luke Dewar was treated to a "Yes, No, Sorry" call and run out for a diamond duck but, he took it well and will be back to fight another day. Then the bowlers went to work and ripped apart the opposition - the fielding was aggressive and they deserved their win.

All in all a very impressive display from both teams, with everyone contributing in some form or another. The bowlers that had to work in to the wind, worked out that a shorter run up and concentrating on line and length was the best way forward. However, it took the batsmen a little longer to realise that the ball held up and did not go as far when hitting in to the wind. We also need to work on turning dot balls in to 1's and 1's in 2's by putting pressure on the field and running the first run hard. The fielding/bowling was very good although, we did find that it got a bit ragged about half way through the innings as we started to lose concentration - we must work on focus throughout the game and driving home an advantage. Similarly, whilst batting, the rest of the team should work on keeping up to date with the position of the game and keeping ther batsmen well informed of what is required.

Well done to everyone and thanks to Colin, Don, scorers and parents that turned up and helped out.

Poll News

Tim McIntosh won the vote for the most runs this year ... he started off with a flurry. I think that Reece Young might be leading run scorer at the moment though.

Have a go at the "Mystery Ground" ... had some interesting responses.

Games v. Counties (23 November 2008)

Both games are now confirmed as away (Clive Howe Domain, Patumahoe) and will start at 10:30am - we will need to be there by 10am latest. I have just spoken to their coach and we are going to play two 20-20 games against their teams. It will be a long day and we should expect to finish both games at about 6pm.

The teams will be:

Colin's Team
Luke Dewar
Harry Bartlett
Sam Hinds
Matt Strain (Captain)
Bronson Marshall
Eru Hudson
Oliver Petersen (1st Game)
Jake Meenhorst
Steven Newey
Max Lewis
Jack Stevenson


Don's Team
Reid Hastie (Captain)
Rory Douglas
Donald Coleman
Evan Cronje
Kit Freeman
Cole Briggs
Jake Skellern
Chris Woodard
Bjorn Wojt
Angus Nicoll
Faisal Ganchi
Asher Robb

We will need scorers and umpires, so it will be good to have a few keen parents. It will also be a good idea if we car pool - I have room for a couple of boys (preferably from the Devonport/Takapuna area). Please use the comments section below to offer or ask for lifts.

Cricket Bat Willow

JS Wright and Sons supply the English willow for 90% of the world's cricket bats. I have attached a link to their website which gives some information on wood quality and what it means to a cricket bat. Very interesting if you are currently searching for a new bat.

Slideshow Photos Inter-Squad (9 November 2008)

Big thanks to Chris Newey for the photos.

NHY6 Squad Photo (9 November 2008)

Inter-Squad Game

Excellent game of cricket today - well done to all the boys ... and parents for braving the freezing cold. The end scene very much reminded me of photos of Amundsen's trip to the south pole. Here is a photo of one of the parents watching the game today (Photo). The wind was, indeed, bitter and blew straight down the ground making bowling in to it extremely difficult (and I put this down as the excuse for quite a few wides!) - everyone had a go but, those that drew the short straw and had to bowl two overs in to it, will sleep well tonight.

Batting first, Colin's XII scored 104/8 in 35 overs. Sam Hinds (34 not out) and Matt Strain (19 not out) sharing a 50 plus partnership. The bowling was fast and fiery with Evan Cronje taking 2 for 1 in his 3 overs and Angus Nicoll, Chris Woodard, Bjorn Wojt and Oliver Petersen all chipping in with wickets.

In reply Don's XII knocked off the runs with an over to spare. Donald Coleman (19), Oliver Petersen (14 not out), Jake Skellern (12 not out), Evan Cronje (12 not out) and Bjorn Wojt (11 not out) all chipped in to make the runs. Max Lewis, Matt Strain, Asher Robb, Harry Bartlett and Luke Dewar all managed to get wickets.

Thanks to Colin and Don for umpiring/coaching and to Tim and Peter for scoring. Once again well done to all the boys and parents and I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Games v. Counties (23 November 2008)

We will have two games against Counties on Sunday 23rd November 2008. They will both be played at Belmont Intermediate School (map) and will start at 10:30am.

Inter-Squad Game (9 November 2008)

Sunday 9th November: Inter-Squad Game (at Kumeu CC, Huapai Domain map)

Colin Marshall XII

1. Luke Dewar
2. Harry Bartlett
3. Sam Hinds
4. Bronson Marshall
5. Matt Strain
6. Jake Meenhorst
7. Steven Newey
8. Max Lewis
9. Jack Stevenson
10. Asher Robb
11. Ben Reidy
12. Faisal Ganchi

Don Hastie XII

1. Reid Hastie
2. Rory Douglas
3. Donald Coleman
4. Cole Briggs
5. Kit Freeman
6. Oliver Petersen
7. Jake Skellern
8. Evan Cronje
9. Bjorn Wojt
10. Eru Hudson
11. Christopher Woodard
12. Angus Nicoll

Please come prepared for summer (even if it isn't): Hats, sun cream and water. Please check out the Sunsmart website for further details on sun safety (here).

We are looking to get started at 9:00am, so please be there by 8:30am. This will be a 35 over game (as per NHY6 Saturday rules) and we will look to get finished by about 1pm.

Cricket Resources

Anyone looking for a great site for cricket resources, check out: here

Also, you may want to have a look at Science of Sport - Cricket ... if you go to the following link (here) you will get the first in a series of six programmes on the science of cricket. Well worth a look.

Happy crickternetting!

NHY6 Pre-Season Coaching Sessions

Congratulations to all the boys that were nominated and attended the pre-season coaching sessions. We attempted a different format this year and tried to alleviate the pain and heartache that goes with a one off trial. We also wanted to make sure that everyone learnt something from these sessions and that it gave them a great start to the season.

Once again, well done to the boys that attended; we asked for enthusiasm and good attitude and were richly rewarded with both by the bucket load. The clubs can be proud of their nominations and we sincerely hope that everyone enjoyed themselves and learnt something.

It should be noted that this year is an introduction to NH cricket and we are looking to concentrate on developing a strong base for the future. With this in mind, from the 41 boys that were nominated we will be asking 24 boys to continue a programme of extra coaching and fixtures through the rest of the season. However, this should not be considered as a last chance saloon for those that do not make this squad - we hope to give these boys some feedback and areas to work on for the season, to enable them to come back stronger next year.

Thanks, in particular, to my support coaches; Don Hastie and Colin Marshall. Also, a big thanks to all the parents who respected what we were trying to accomplish and supported us throughout the process - we look forward to your continued support throughout the season.

Blog you soon - keep in touch with this forum and I will try and update regularly.

Rupert