Since I last blogged, I have had the launch lunch for my Benefit Year. It all went really well and I’ve had some fantastic responses from people as to how much they enjoyed the day.
That to me is the primary task of any Benefit event – making sure people have a good time.
A big thanks to everyone that did come and it’s made it a fantastic start to the year. The amount of support from everyone has been brilliant.
There was a heck of a lot of preparation going into the event as we had to design the brochure, the ties needed designing along with things like the logo. With the website and the actual events to plan as well it was quite hectic, but I’m glad we are underway now and we can look forward to the year ahead.
I’ve had a great response for some of the events coming up with a quiz night to be held at my neighbour’s fish and chip restaurant in Broadstairs being sold out. I love my golf and we’ve got a golf day at The Grove coming up. Tickets are selling well for that and it should be a great day as it’s a great course.
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve managed to find some time to watch a little bit of England playing Pakistan. I must say it looks like we have struggled to cope with the conditions and spin in general.
It hasn’t done a huge amount, but then it doesn’t need to. Now DRS is involved every batsman has to be on his game and playing down the right line.
In the Second Test, I really thought we’d chase down that 144 and for me, to get bowled out for just 72 was a big shock. I know there has been criticism in the press about not being positive enough, but having been there, when you have got international spin bowlers firing it in at you, they bowl a lot quicker than people think.
Their accuracy is so good, so to think that you can just run down the wicket and smack them back over their heads is just not an easy thing to do. It’s always easy for commentators to say you can just do it, but believe me, chasing those low scores can be a real problem!
Talking international cricket, I am sure most people will know by now that I have decided to represent Papua New Guinea. I must say I am really excited about the prospect and it’s something that I’ve been looking into for quite a while.
To finally come off is brilliant and all the reports I’ve had are that the lads are really positive. Brad Hogg said recently that the big reason for him getting back into playing cricket was having coached Papua New Guinea. Their enthusiasm rubbed off on him and now he is back playing for Australia at something like 42 years old.
The T20 qualifiers will be a tough ask, but it would be great if PNG could get through to that World Cup.
I also had my name down for the Bangladesh Premier League and I’m a little disappointed not to have been picked up for that, but right from the off I knew it was going to be a long shot. I didn’t build up any hopes of going and in the back of my mind I knew that I had the chance of playing for PNG.
It would have meant being away for a month and that would have been tough on Jen, especially as we are getting close to lambing time.
Being away with PNG will mean I miss Kent’s trip to Antigua, but Jimmy (Adams) and I spoke about it and we felt that because I’d be playing international cricket against teams like Holland and Ireland that it would be good for me leading into the new season.
As I said, it is almost lambing time on the farm and I’ve been busy getting all the electric fencing sorted so we don’t lose any onto the golf course! It’s always a busy time and I’m keen to make sure all the preparation is done as I will be heading off to PNG on the 22nd and could be away for some of the crucial time.
I do get to come back for a few days after we have our training camp in Canberra before flying off to Dubai on the tenth of March. I’ll miss the family whilst I’m away, but with modern technology as it is, we can skype every day.
As for my pre-season preparations, I am feeling really good at the moment. I was chatting with Sam Northeast the other day and I have to say that I feel as good as I have ever done. The ball is coming off the bat really nicely and I’m hoping to carry that into the new season.
We’ve been doing a few different things this pre-season to make training more entertaining and as they say, variety is the spice of life.
Going to Club Alpine, doing a bit of boxing and some of Pete Kelly’s alternative training methods are a lot better than just trudging into the gym every day. We are all working hard and Pete is doing a great job at making sure we are all focused for the season ahead.
I hear Jimmy arrives on Tuesday of next week. It’s well timed his arrival and the guys are now looking for that fresh injection of ideas. It’ll be nice to see how he wants us to play cricket and what he expects from us, so seeing him arrive at Canterbury is going to be a big boost.
Till then next blog.
Geraint
PS. I must thank Sarah Ansell for taking some wonderful pictures at my launch lunch. Some of which you can see here – cheers Sarah!