Story My Career Diary - Chapter 46

[hedger_14]

Chapter 44 ~ The Big Move​

It had been a horrible time on the cricket ground over the past season and a half. I had missed out on the back half of the 2010 season following my injury for Australia A. The 2010-11 season was just as bad as recurring injuries kept me from being a regular in the NSW team, only playing in a handful of games over the season, although I did pretty well in them, while I still searched for a maiden List A hundred. It would be the end of my NSW career though as I was released due to my injury problems and it didn?t matter what I said, their mind was made up.


I worked hard in the off-season, in order to pick up a contract with another state and I felt I had an opportunity as Travis Birt declared he was moving to Western Australia. I spoke to the media regarding a possible move down south and it didn?t take long before I had a response from Tasmanian coach, Tim Coyle, as I picked up my phone to answer the call.

?Hello Brendon, this is Tim Coyle, the coach of Tasmania as you probably know. I?ve seen the reports that you are interested in a move to Tasmania to play your cricket. Is this true??

I confirmed the speculation and let him continue. ?Well we?d be pleased to offer you a contract as a long term replacement for Travis Birt. However, we?ve noticed the injury problems that you have had over the past few seasons and we need you fit to play.?

?I?m glad that you feel that way and yes, I?ve had injury problems recently but I?m determined to overcome them.?

?Determination is one thing but I feel the injuries you have suffered have been a result of your bowling. I feel it would be best if you continue to play as a batsman and focus on that rather than your bowling.?

I wasn?t overly happy to hear this but it was probably true and continuing as a batsman was probably the best option to stay fit, ?Ok, I see where you?re coming from. I?ll focus on my batting now, rather than my all-round abilities.?

He seemed slightly relieved after that, ?Great. We?d like to see you down here in a couple of weeks so if you could book accommodation, that would be great. We?ve also arranged flights for next Wednesday so you don?t need to worry about that. Then you can have a day?s rest before coming to training on Friday, provided you pass the fitness test.?


After hanging up, I was overjoyed to have secured a contract for the next season and I hoped I could stay injury-free while at Tasmania. More than anything though, I was looking forward to playing with George Bailey who I had found a lot of respect for during the Australia A tour of New Zealand.

 

[RPHKR]

Three career diaries - two Tasmanian players.

 

[ShamiLoverGlipGlops]

Posted via Mobile Device

Well we could write a common diary

Joking its good to have you in our side

Btw the pressure on me increases as now I have to attract users but your presentation is better then me

Why Tasmania?

 

[hedger_14]

Don't worry mate. You'll get the readers as well. Just because we're both being Tassie, doesn't mean you won't get readers.

And tbh, your presentation is just as good as mine, if not better. And there's not a huge amount of stories going on atm so it's not like they'll read mine and just leave the forum unless they were doing that before. So I can tell you that you will not lose readers.

I chose Tassie cause they along with NSW are my favourite domestic sides.

----------

Although it probably wasn't the best idea to choose the same name as my story

 

[Champagnepapi]

on cricket 07 i played 5times aussies domestic puracup and the others tas allways stay at the bottom wich is realy weird but my team is nsw

 

[ShamiLoverGlipGlops]

Well I was just joking there! I was actually serious on one thing, we should have a combined Career Diaries

We both playing for the same side, 2 freshers in the side and that would be lot more fun!

Anyways I have a story line in mind and the thing is I am making an animation video of my story(Me playing) I will not be updating the story much till I get completed with that

 

[hedger_14]

Chapter 45 ~ Getting Ready for the New Season​

It was going to be a big day but I was completely ready for the occasion. After a cooked breakfast in my new apartment which I rented cheaply, I headed off for the stadium. As I arrived at the stadium, Tim sent me for my fitness tests which were boring but I was declared fit to play and made my way to the rest of the team who had already begun their practice. I did some fielding practice and ran around chasing balls for a while before we went into the nets for a hit. Alex Doolan was batting and I decided that even though I was told not to bowl, a little leg spin wouldn?t do much harm. I wasn?t getting much turn, unsurprisingly and found myself being smashed around the ground. I wasn?t very impressed but I kept bowling occassionaly and even had the top spinner as a variation. I also had a bowl to Steven Cazzulino as well who did hit me a bit but I managed to have a bit of success, getting him to edge behind a couple of times.

After a bit of bowling, I padded up and showed my batting abilities. Ben Laughlin was bowling some decent pace but I found myself very comfortable, as I played most of my drives well and really showed my aggressive side by smashing him over mid wicket for what would have been a massive six. He didn?t give me much to go after, following that with mainly short pitched deliveries. Xavier Doherty bowled some left arm spin to me as well, but with the ball coming into me, I was finding it easy and heightened his frustration with a couple of reverse sweeps.

Tim Coyle praised me for my batting and said I should maybe work a bit on my leg spin to bowl a few overs now and then. I was a bit disappointed by the retirement of Brett Geeves following constant back problems as well as the departure of Travis Birt but I was still looking forward to playing with the players around the squad, in particular youngster James Faulkner. The Tasmanian squad for the upcoming season was:


George Bailey (C)
Steven Cazzulino
Ricky Ponting (CA Contract)
Alex Doolan
Ed Cowan
Mark Cosgrove
Evan Gulbis
Nick Kruger
Brendon Hedger
Ashton May
Rhett Lockyear

James Faulkner
Luke Butterworth
Matt Johnston
Jason Krejza

Tim Paine
Tom Triffitt

Adam Maher
Ben Hilfenhaus (CA Contract)
Brendan Drew
Xavier Doherty (CA Contract)
Ben Laughlin
Jeremy Smith
Matthew Day
Jackson Bird
Sam Rainbird
Sandy Rogers

 

[RPHKR]

GL on your journey as a Tasmanian.

 

[hedger_14]

Chapter 46 ~ SS 1st Match - A Strong Start​

It was a trip to Perth to start our season, and I was looking forward to spending some time out in the middle. The lineup had been announced earlier in the week before we left for Perth and I was pleased to be batting at 5. A long term injury for Tim Paine forced him out with Tom Triffitt replacing him while we decided to play only 3 bowlers with Faulkner as our fourth bowler and Cosgrove to bowl a few overs. George won the toss and elected to bat first on a nice hard pitch. Former Tasmanian batsman, Travis Birt was batting at 3 for Western Australia as their middle order looked brilliant with North, Voges and rising star, Mitchell Marsh while Shaun Marsh missed out altogether, surprisingly.

Tasmania:

1. Ed Cowan
2. Steven Cazzulino
3. Alex Doolan
4. George Bailey (C)
5. Brendon Hedger
6. Mark Cosgrove
7. James Faulkner
8. Tom Triffitt (WK)
9. Ben Hilfenhaus
10. Xavier Doherty
11. Adam Maher

Western Australia:

1. Liam Davis
2. Marcus Harris
3. Travis Birt
4. Marcus North (C)
5. Adam Voges
6. Mitchell Marsh
7. Michael Johnson (WK)
8. Nathan Coulter-Nile
9. Michael Beer
10. Michael Hogan
11. Matt Dixon

It was a disastrous start though as Ed Cowan went hard at a wide ball in the first over but only managed to get a thick outside edge off Nathan Coulter-Nile and Travis Birt made a brilliant catch in the gully. He wasn?t paying any favours for today?s match. Doolan and Cazzulino kept the innings together though with a good partnership, as we were 41/1 at drinks, with the batsman starting to get a move on, Doolan with a nice boundary down the ground while Cazzulino had also managed two boundaries straight, one back past the bowler and one over mid on for four to move on to 26*, Doolan on 15*. After a very solid partnership, Doolan was finally dismissed by the part time bowling of Marcus North as he got a bottom edge trying to defend and it hit the base of the off stump and Doolan was out for 28, bringing the skipper to the crease. Steven Cazzulino was on top of his game though with some beautiful straight drives before smashing Marcus North over mid wicket for six to go to 49. After a couple of dot balls, Cazzulino ran a quick single to bring up a deserved fifty. George Bailey finished a solid session with a boundary through the covers to take the total to 92/2 at lunch.

I was a bit surprised when Doherty noted that Michael Beer was off the field, with a sub fielder on instead. That would hurt Western Australia, playing with only 3 pure bowlers now. The batsman?s hard work was undone early in the second session unfortunately as George Bailey got a thick outside edge off Marcus North and Coulter-Nile took a simple catch at backward point, the skipper out for 15 and I was now at the crease. I started off pretty well with a nice shot out to deep point for a single and a few singles worked around the corner before edging Hogan just wide of gully for my first boundary. I looked a lot better with my next boundary, with a nice punch shot off the back foot past Marcus North for 4 and I had now moved onto 14.

Steven?s hard work was undone when he came dancing down the wicket to Marcus North and missed the ball completely, Ronchi completing the stumping and Cazzulino was on his way for 75, Marcus North taking his 3rd wicket. The runs started to flow with a few boundaries and scoring regularly as I looked on track for a fifty to start my career. After a slow start, Cosgrove finally got himself started with a beautiful on drive off part time bowler, Mitchell Marsh, for his first boundary. Hogan gave me a beautiful ball to get under and I swung at it with full force, clearing the square leg boundary by a long way. We were happy to go into tea at 184/4, after a solid partnership between myself and Mark. I was unbeaten on 41, while Mark was on 22.

My innings didn?t last much longer though, only adding two to my score at the break, Coulter-Nile getting one to stay a little lower and I managed to get a thin inside edge onto the stumps, and I was annoyed at myself. Still, 43 wasn?t a bad score in my first innings with my new club. We were still in a decent position though as Faulkner showed his abilities with a beautiful cover drive off Marcus North, picking the gap to perfection and it raced away, as we moved well past 200. James was really on a roll as he kept the runs flowing with a guided edge through gully along the ground for 4 before coming down the wicket and slapping Marcus North over his head for 4. North nearly had his man though as he caught Faukner out, playing the slog sweep and couldn?t believe it when the umpire gave it not out.

Cozzie was getting closer to his fifty and got within 2 with a nice backfoot drive back past the bowler. He brought up his fifty with a nice flick to the legside and the batsman ran a quick single, surprisingly, Faulkner putting in the dive even though he didn?t need to, but Mark Cosgrove had his half century. I don?t think I had ever seen Cosgrove run between the wickets that quickly. With another partnership looking very threatening, WA looked to Adam Voges for a needed breakthrough and he bowled a very tight first over before giving Faulkner a full toss which was dispatched over mid wicket for 6.

We had a solid end to the session as we just played off the final few overs with a couple of boundaries. Voges bowled the final over of the day but didn?t really trouble Cozzie or James and we went into stumps at 280/5, Cosgrove 72* while Faulkner was really going well on 41*. We would be looking to score about 400 at least from here, but we would need at least one of these guys to bat out the rest of the innings. It was going to be a good nights? sleep though after making a strong impact in my first match for Tasmania.

 

[RPHKR]

How long will you disappoint us?

 

[hedger_14]

How long will you disappoint us?

What do you mean?

 

[Aditya]

He's saying it's about time you smash a double century and get into the Australian side. Come on man, it's been ages since you even made a century. Make a century in the next match, as simple as that.

 

[RPHKR]

^Yeah, I meant the same.

 

[RPHKR]

Don't write the diary all the day, try building up your skills.

 

[hedger_14]

Come on. It's not like one good game no matter what format can get you into the Australian test team.... Oh wait...