On the field in Sydney, Matthew Waite put in the performance of the weekend for his grade side Bankstown, scoring a century in their victory over Western Suburbs on Saturday.
Yes Waitey! 100 up for
mat_waite</a>! <a href="https://twitter.com/YorkshireCCC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">YorkshireCCCGaleyLad</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TeamICP?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TeamICP</a> <a href="https://t.co/fn1yDntd0m">pic.twitter.com/fn1yDntd0m</a></p>— Int Cricket Prog (IntCricketProg) November 24, 2018
Off it, it was great to be able to pick the brains of a former Yorkshire overseas player in Michael Bevan, who came and spoke to myself, Waitey and Harry Brook and the rest of the International Cricket Programme lads.
He came and chatted to us all on Tuesday. He didn’t do any coaching, just spoke mainly about his career as an Australia one-day player.
He went through his key beliefs in all cricket, but specifically for him one-day cricket. His four key beliefs were motivation, confidence, strategy and skill. He branched off on them and explained how he used them and worked on each individual one.
Towards the end, the lads had a chance to ask questions about his game and his career. To hear from somebody different is always good.
He touched on stages where he did really well and also struggled.
He said he played against Pakistan when they had Wasim and Waqar and averaged 50 and played against the West Indies when they had Walsh and Ambrose and averaged 50.
Also, he came to England and struggled both times. He said that was when he realised that he didn’t fully know his game.
I never actually saw him play.
I looked up his career the other day, and he played for Yorkshire in 1995 and 1996. I was born in ’96.
Waitey scored 106 batting at five for Bankstown on Saturday. They were chasing 170 odd and were three down quite quickly, so his runs were needed.
He’s very happy. I’ve touched on his bowling a couple of times recently and how he hasn’t bowled as much as he’d like. So these runs are ideal to keep him going.
He bided his time, and I don’t think he hit too many boundaries.
Waitey is capable of doing both – he can go berserk or build an innings, which he has done many times at home with Yorkshire.
Brooky got late teens opening the batting for University of NSW in a draw against Sydney Uni, and my first grade debut unfortunately ended in defeat for Mosman at North Sydney.
It was a long tough day at North Sydney Oval. I’m sure it’s one of the flatter pitches in the whole competition.
It was a different pitch than the week before.
They resumed their innings needing 80 or 90 to win on Saturday, so they took all the grass off it.
We got there and it was rock hard. You could tell from ball one that it was going to be tough. Balls weren’t carrying like they did the previous week.
It was a matter of being patient all day. I bowled an eight-over spell up front and went for 15 ish, finishing with three for 100.
It was good to get some overs in my belt.
I bowled 19 overs in the day and was happy that the body felt good in the days afterwards. We’ve been doing quite a bit of fitness work out here, and it’s paid off. Hopefully I’ll get a few more spells like that in.
Justin Avendano scored 140 for North Sydney. He has just been signed up by the Sydney Sixers for the Big Bash and hit six sixes in an over in a development game recently.
He hardly gave a chance. The ball wasn’t moving, which was ideal for him as he’s a big driver of the ball with not much footwork. Anything full or wide, he just flashes his hands through it.
On Sunday, Brooky got a quick 46 in a T20 win against Eastern Suburbs, who have Sam and Angus Robson as well as Stuart Meaker.
Mosman are playing them on Saturday.
Then, on Sunday, we have a T20 double header, with Brett Lee playing for us. Hopefully I get the nod to play alongside him.
Off the field, us three Yorkshire lads met up with Cheteshwar Pujara for some food on Tuesday night.
Puj has just arrived to join the India Test team ahead of their series, which starts next week in Adelaide.
Caught up with a few
YorkshireCCC</a> mates after practice. It's always a pleasure meeting you guys! <a href="https://twitter.com/harry_brook88?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">harry_brook88Tommo455</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/mat_waite?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">mat_waite pic.twitter.com/5PoKCmQnqk— cheteshwar pujara (@cheteshwar1) November 27, 2018
The two sides were quite well matched in the T20s, but the Indians look a lot stronger than the Aussies at the moment in the Tests.
I don’t think the Aussies know their best squad with all that’s going on. They’ve picked Marcus Harris and dropped Marnus Labuschagne, who did alright against Pakistan recently.
I’d expect India to win it quite comfortably. Australia’s bowling needs to fire.
They’re number one for a reason, and Puj is certainly confident.
On Monday, we started the week with the ICP lads with a volleyball tournament at Maroubra Beach, which was good fun.
What wasn’t so much fun was learning that last week they pulled a four or five metre Great White Shark out of the sea having been stuck in a net!
There’s been quite a few shark sightings in Sydney recently at the beaches.
Howard Grice, the lead ICP coach, has decided to book us a surfing lesson at Bondi in the next few weeks, so we’ll be keeping our whits about us for sure.
The news that York will host the Championship match against Warwickshire next summer is great to hear.
Having played a lot of second-team cricket there, it’s a very good ground.
You are very close to the action, and the atmosphere should be excellent.
The pitch has been quite flat in recent years. Last season was a bit hit and miss, but I wonder whether that was due to the lack of rain we had. There were quite a few second-team pitches around Yorkshire which crumbled and became a bit uneven. I’d expect plenty of runs there. The boundaries aren’t massive.
It’s a great place to go. Hopefully I’ll be in the mix to play.
