Coach's Corner: Great start to new year
Wed, 6 January 2010
It was New Year's Eve all over again at the MCG on Saturday night with thousands in enjoying a real spectacular. Big Bash cricket is capturing the imagination of Australian sports fans and it was great to see so many Melburnians use their holiday time to support the Bushrangers as we remained undefeated.... just! It was a titanic finish and we were rapt for our latest member Dwayne Bravo to again make such an important contribution on such a big stage. He's a truly magnificent player whether he'd outriding, taking his turn at the crease or coming in late in the innings and doing it so spectacularly well as he did against the New South Wales boys on Saturday night. We were due for a win against them but it was always uphill work after they began so aggressively against our new ball boys. Our starting two Dirk Nannes will be better for the work and James Pattinson better for the experience. The heat really was applied and it seemed like our chase would have been closer to 200 than 180 after the initial onslaught from David Warner. We had some good moments in the field and the chase was frenetic, especially after Matty Wade lifted the pace with two 6s in an over against Aaron Bird. His 40-odd was Warner-like and with Dave Hussey complementing his and Brad Hodge's good work and Cam White's courage in continuing on after being hit on the jaw, we were able to stay within reach. We still needed 50 with four overs to go so it was some chase. We were due to have a win against New South. They are always competitive, even with the youngsters they have in their attack who all seem fine prospects. Dwayne added the late-over fireworks and Ronnie (Andrew McDonald) the coolness we needed to stay within range. Huss' hitting against Bird was just what we needed. He and Ronnie took 19 from one of his overs with Huss going 6, 6 and 4 in three balls. Dwayne also has the ability to clear the pickets as we saw both in Brisbane and again in Melbourne on Saturday night. He got in just at the right time for us to have that last minute surge. The crowd loved it, as we did and hopefully we can double the crowd next time we play back at the ‘G, against the Tasmanians on Friday week. It was high excitement stuff and we look forward to winning again on the road in Adelaide and Perth in the week ahead. Happy New Year everyone!
Greg Shipperd, Head Coach of the DEC Bushrangers
