Captain's Log: Time For A Break!
From the BNZ series website, 23/1/1999
Hi everyone, Dion here again.

Well, even though the Bank of New Zealand Series against India is all wrapped up now, the team has had some really good news in the last couple of days.

Flem has come through his adductor tendon release really well and was walking without crutches the day after the operation. That's great to hear because surgery around that area of the body can be pretty awkward and uncomfortable.

Flem's surgeon, Paul Armour, says it should take Flem just six weeks to be back playing high level cricket again, which is amazing when you think about it. That means we could have him back for the first Bank of New Zealand Test against South Africa on February 27 and I'm sure he'll be rearing to go.

Also, Nathan Astle had the cast removed from his broken hand last week and should be back playing in about 10 days, while Geoff Allott is already back in training after getting on top of his hamstring tear. With a couple of weeks before the South African Series begins, it's all working out very nicely.

Speaking of time out, it's been absolutely fantastic to have a good break after the Indian Series! Bodies get very tired after a month and a half of travelling and playing. There have been a lot of long, hot days in the field out there and it was just the tonic I needed to be able to escape up North for a few days and lie on a beach! Bowlers especially simply need time to rest and let the body repair itself. You feel so rejuvenated afterwards, so Doully, Cairnsie and I are all very grateful to New Zealand Cricket for allowing us to miss three rounds of the Shell Cup. We'll all be back for the semis and final. Of course we all love playing for our provincial sides, but it's a long season, with the World Cup to think of as well, and sometimes you have to put common sense ahead of passion!

On a personal note I'm always going to have very good memories of the Bank of New Zealand Series against India.

I've found the captaincy experience very enjoyable and I have to say the attitude of the guys in the team is one of the big reasons for that. You do have to put a bit more thought in when you're captain, your hours are slightly longer, but the support I've had has made it seem a breeze. And I was stoked to get a win in Christchurch!

The last two games of the Series were huge games for us mentally and physically.

I was very disappointed to lose the toss in Auckland, because it was very difficult for batsmen early on. India's bowlers made the most of it, as they tended to do whenever they bowled early on in the Series.

We went out with the intention of going about our game as we always do, focusing on being positive and ignoring the psychological pressure. But when we lost too many wickets too quickly it made it very challenging to get back into the game and create a total we could bowl to. In the end I think we were 30, maybe 40 runs short.

Naturally we were all a bit quiet in the vans back to the hotel after that one, because we knew the loss meant we couldn't win the Series. So the challenge for us was to bounce back quickly and make sure we at least squared it. We didn't panic. We knew we were still in pretty good stead for the final game form-wise and didn't need to radically alter our game plan. We just had to pick ourselves up emotionally so we could go hard in Christchurch.

The highlight for us all in that last game was Cairnsie's enormous hundred. You can wait a long time in cricket before you see an innings like that and for him to deliver it for his home crowd was sensational. Some of those hits were just out of this world! Out of the park, that's for sure. He's a fine player and it was just great to see him blossoming like that in his hundredth game.

I thought Simon Doull and Gavin Larsen did a great job for us with the ball in that game too, as well as the early batters who laid the platform for Cairnsie. In fact it was a good team effort, and that was the nicest way to finish the first leg of the summer.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the Indians for a very good Series and the spirit in which they played. Lots of people have talked about their batting stars, but I thought some of their bowlers were world class as well. They fought all the way through and brought out the best of us in return.

And on behalf of the team I've just got to say a big thank you to the crowds all through the Series. It's truly great to have the support of the New Zealand public.

We're looking forward to playing well in front of you all again against South Africa. Personally, I can't wait!

Bye for now,

Dion.

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