I’m moving my blog again it is now at http://gregory3.wordpress.com/  See you there.

On Saturday I played cricket for my club. It was a warm morning and the pitch wasn’t too damp. My team won the toss and elected to field first. We were playing Cambridge which was going to be a hard game as we haven’t done well against them in the past. We started off well getting a lucky run out in the 4Th over. We soon dismissed their other opening batsman in the next over after dropping him earlier. I had to quickly leave to go to an event the school band was playing in during the 21st over when Cambridge were 4 for 67. By then I had bowled two overs for 8 runs taking no wickets. I also managed a run out before I left.

The band didn’t go as well as the cricket was going. (That’s all I’m going to say about that)

I was going to open again in this match but didn’t get back in time. Cambridge made 135 runs after all 35 overs because of our team’s extras. When I got back my team was 2 for 20 in the 8th over. I was written down to bat at number 10 but because our batsmen kept getting out it wasn’t a long time before it was my turn to pad up. I came in during the 17th over with my team only having 58 runs on the board. I got off the mark with the second ball I faced taking a quick single. I was batting with Jake who was our number 9 batsman. We put on a 33 run partnership after 8 overs before Cambridge brought back their opening bowler. I ended up getting 12 runs off 18 balls before being caught by the fielder at gully. We were all out for 93.

I’m pleased with my 12 runs getting the third highest score as well as hitting 1 of the only 3 boundaries by my team.

Bye for now, Gregory.

On Saturday I played cricket against Berkley for my club. It was another overcast day and the pitch was damp after rain that night. Berkley won the toss and elected to bat first. The ball was wet and slippery and was hard for our opening bowlers to grip and control the ball while bowling fast. The first wicket fell in the fifth over thanks to a brilliant one handed diving catch by the man at point. At drinks break my team was in trouble, with Berkley on 96 for 2. We would need some really tight bowling to have any chance of winning. In the 22nd over we got the breakthrough with the ball keeping low on the wet surface bowling one of their top batsmen. The next two batsmen had a good 41 run partnership before their number 5 batsmen holed out to the fielder at mid wicket. At this stage they were 159 for four with about another 6 overs to go. A few balls later another big wicket fell with their number 3 batsman bowled after making 53 runs. Their tail enders didn’t manage to put on a big score for Berkley but because of my team’s extras they managed to make 172 in total after all 35 overs. After 3 overs my bowling figures were 0 for 17 and I ran someone out.

I was opening again this week and once again I was very nervous. My team didn’t get off to a good start as the first over was a wicket maiden. I was still in and played out the over at the other end with three wides coming from it. One of the opening bowlers was fast and hard to play but he didn’t manage to take a wicket. When our number 3 batsman got out for just 4 runs our team was in trouble as I met the new batsmen in the middle. We both solidly played out the opening bowlers not managing to score many runs. But in the eighth over when he got out our chances of making a big total like the 173 we needed were fading away. We were needing about a run a ball to win off 25 overs. We had a solid partnership but he was soon caught by the close in fielder. Our team ended up losing this match making a total of 100 all out after 28 overs. I made 23 not out batting all through the innings and seeing everyone in my team dismissed.

I was pleased with how solidly I played and batting all the way through the innings making my new high score and making my average 24.00 this season.

Gregory

On Saturday I played cricket against St Peters for my club cricket team. I opened the batting and was really nervous. We were batting first and I faced my first ball in the last ball of the over. It was a wet day and the ball kept low. It was a full length delivery bouncing about half a metre away from me. I solidly defended it back to the bowler along the ground. The bowlers were quick and the ball was skidding a lot but I didn’t have too much trouble playing the ball. I ended up making 20 runs off about 24 balls. I hit two 4’s and got run out in the 14 over. I got the second highest score. My team ended up making 164 runs all out in the 27th over. We got St Peters all out for 126 runs in the 30th over to win the game by 42 runs. My bowling figures were 1 for 13 after 3 overs with one maiden over.

I’m pleased with how my team played in this game and I’m also pleased with my 20 runs I scored.

Bye for now, Gregory.

About a week ago my Saturday cricket team played in our first game of the season. We were up against one of the hardest teams, Southwell school. Southwell batted first and made 134 runs after the 35 overs. I bowled seven overs and took 2 wickets for 22 runs, (the best bowling figures for my team) with both my wickets in my sixth over. I was batting number six and had to pad up quickly because both of the opening batsmen got bowled out by the opening bowlers without scoring. I came in during the 5th over making a solid 5 runs before top edging a full toss down leg side straight up. We ended up only just winning. Our number 11 batsman was in with another batsman who had already made a half century. Our number 11 batsman was facing the opening bowler with four balls to come in the over. We needed 2 runs to win but if one of our batsmen got out we would have lost by one run. Luckily the opening bowler failed to get any balls on the wickets with our batsman swinging and missing at all four balls in the over. It was the first ball in the 32 over and the batsman on 63 was facing. It was a high full toss that our batsman ducked. The keeper missed it and the batsmen run. We had won the game.

I was pleased with my team’s win and how I contributed. 

Bye for now, Gregory.

On the weekend me and my family went to a place near Katikati called Sapphire Springs for a family Christmas. It’s a sort of camping ground but we stayed in cabins. We arrived at 8:00pm on Friday. On Saturday my cousin Kendall, my sister Sophie and I had a game of mini golf and went to the hot pools in the morning before Kendall and I played cricket with a tennis ball on the grass. It was great weather to be outside. In the evening the family got together for a barbecue and a swim. We had great fun diving and bombing in the pool as well as playing a game of water polo. We went back to the cabins and collected our stuff for the $2 present game and the fun talent quest. In the talent quest I played two songs on the trumpet, one was the Jingle Bell Rock. In the two dollar present game I ended up with a king sized chocolate bar that I shared with my cousin. I got some presents from my family who live in Auckland before everyone left. On Sunday I woke up at half past eight to have a swim before having to leave. It was nice and refreshing. I had a great time at Sapphire Springs and I would like to go back again soon.

Bye for now, Gregory.

On the weekend a friend I know from cricket came to my house for the day. He brought his cricket gear and we went down to the nets at about 11 o’clock to get some practice in before our next game. We came back and played cricket in the backyard with a tennis ball before getting too hot and having a short water fight to cool off. We had a little break in front of the TV watching the Blackcaps game and playing PS2 before walking up to the dairy and coming back to play more cricket. At about six o’clock Troy’s dad came to get him after a long day of fun.

On Saturday I played cricket for my club team. It was a home game against a team from Hamilton. I won the toss and chose to field first. I didn’t take any catches but I bowled well. My bowling figures were 1 for 1 wicket. The team we played made 141 runs after batting out all their overs. It was a hard total to chase but at drinks break we were 0/72 and were batting well. Unfortunately we couldn’t keep the run rate up and after batting out all our overs we had made 100 runs. I opened making 30 runs not out and hit five fours. I was pleased with how my team played.

Bye for now, Gregory.

Here is a link if this doesn’t work http://goanimate.com/go/movie/0Nlsz0j1tTs4/1

On Saturday I played cricket for my club. We played Knighton Kings from Hamilton. It was an away game for my team but the pitch was pretty similar. Knighton won the toss and put my team into bat first. I opened the batting and played it safe for the first six overs against their opening pace bowlers. After six overs my team only had seven runs and one out. When they brought on their slower bowlers I decided to hit the bad balls rather than leave them. The boundaries were bigger than normal but I still managed to hit eight fours and retired on 38. The rest of my team batted steadily and made a total of 96 runs at the end of all our overs. Knighton chased the runs down relatively quickly. I ended up with bowling figures of 2/14 after three overs and took two catches in the field. In the end my team played well and I had a lot of fun despite the fact we lost. I’m looking forward to next week’s game.

Bye for now, Gregory.