Sadler Blogs from SA
To liven up the start of the week we hear from Paddy Sadler who blogs from Pietermaritzburg where he is based at the HA International Cricket Academy
Everything is going well out here. Been here for four weeks now and been undergoing a pretty intensive programme of cricket and fitness work. I am also working for the HA academy as a coach which fills in the time when we are not training and also earns me a little bit of money to live off!
I am playing for Varsity CC and after two weeks in the second team I have worked my way in to the firsts where we are two wins away from winning the league, hopefully a sign of things to come in the season back home! We won last week against a team called Zingari and I had figures of 7 overs for 14. Yesterday we beat Ladysmith by 100 runs with our captain, a Zimbabwean international, scoring 183*. I bowled 10 overs 1 for 18 so was very happy with my work.
The weather has been very very hot, although yesterday was a little bit breezy which was a bit of a relief during my 8 over opening spell! The standard of cricket over here is mixed, the side I am playing for are strong with anything up to 7 Zwazulu Natal Inland players and two Zimbabwean Internationals in the side at any one time! Last week those 9 were added to by myself and a South African u19 player who is with the Dolphins academy so I was in pretty good company!
Away from the cricket field I have been trying to see as much of the country as possible, volunteering to go on the long drives for coaching in places such as Kokstad (which is half way on the garden route to Port Elizabeth) and Winterton which is two and a half hours in the other direction! Next week we are spending three days on a game reserve in northern Natal which should be a great experience and we have also had a couple of trips to Durban, going to a waterpark and also the Sharks v the Chiefs in the Super 14! I must admit being more of a football fan I was more excited by the world cup stadium beside the Absa stadium, which was huge, brand new and will host a semi final! The whole country is football mad at the moment with the world cup coming up, and it is a great place to be!
Hope everything is going well in preparation for the new season, I am very much looking forward to getting back and getting going! After a week at home and then two weeks in India with the other Scottish boys. Good luck to the team in the sixes semis and final on Friday, hopefully the club can get the first of a few bits of silverware for 2010!
Cheers for now, Paddy
