Watch what you eat

From Andy Bull’s Guardian cricket newsletter, The Spin:

The best stories are often the hardest to swallow: just take Ewen Thompson’s exploits last weekend. Unless you pay particular attention to cricket in New Zealand, you probably haven’t heard of Thompson. He is a 30-year-old left-arm seamer who plays for Central Districts. He has accrued all of two caps for his country – one Twenty20, one ODI.

Last Saturday Thompson bowled 10 straight overs in Central District’s one-day semi-final win against Canterbury. They cost 36 runs, and he did not take a wicket and could not manage a maiden, but boy did he suffer some.

After the match Thompson was rushed to the nearest hospital, put on a drip and taken in for emergency surgery. He had played the game even though he had a chunk of undigested doner kebab meat stuck in his oesophagus.

Thompson ate the kebab in question on the Friday before the match. “He is kicking himself a bit because he is supposed to watch what he eats,” pointed out Central Districts manager Lance Hamilton, “He was in a rush to eat before training and he scoffed down a kebab and obviously some meat got stuck.

“He pretty much didn’t complain too much throughout the day,” Hamilton related. “It wasn’t till later on that night when he looked awful that we took him to hospital and he ended up a drip all night because he was so dehydrated.”

“The kebab wasn’t blocking his airway, but we couldn’t get any food or water into him,” explained Hamilton. “We’ll see how he scrubs up between now and Wednesday’s match but he seems to think he will be right.”

The Spin can’t help but feel there is a moral in this story somewhere.

Source: Guardian, 16 February 2010

No first flush of youth

Daniel Vettori tells the Herald that his two new ODI players, Peter Ingram and Andy McKay, may not be fresh young striplings but he’s looking forward to half a decade’s work from them:

Opener Ingram banged a rapid 69, left armer McKay took a couple of wickets. Neither is in the first flush of youth, aged 31 and 29 respectively. But that’s not a negative in terms of time running out before they’ve barely begun in the international game, says Vettori.

“Hopefully we can see another four or five years of them. They’ve got potential to have pretty sound international careers with a bit of longevity. Once you get to that age where you really understand your game it makes it easier taking the step up.”

Source: NZ Herald, 8 February 2010

Cricket can set you up for life

Adrian Seconi of the Otago Daily Times talks to the Otago coach Mike Hesson about the rise and rise of Twenty20 cricket and the financial impact it’s having on players and the game.  Hesson, initially suspicious of the shortest form of the game, now sees it as an important tool in retaining young talent:

“If you are a promising youngster who is a good athlete and good at a number of sports, cricket is now a real option.  It can set you up for life, and without Twenty20 that was not really an option. We lost a lot of talented athletes to other sports.  In the past, if you were involved in cricket in New Zealand, you could make a living. But you couldn’t set yourself up for life after sport, whereas now, if you are an elite player and you do well, you certainly get extremely well remunerated”

Source: Otago Daily Times, 21 January 2010

Cleaning up New Zealand

Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons discusses his team’s chances in their current short tour of New Zealand (one T20, three ODIs and one test), the injury forcing bowler Mashrafe Mortaza out of the tour, and his plan to target Daniel Vettori, who he sees as his opponents’ main strategic advantage:

The last series involving both teams was played in Bangladesh, where New Zealand came out trumps again in the three ODIs (2-1) and clinched the two-Test series 1-0. Referring to that encounter, Siddons said his side’s top priority would be reducing the potential damage by Vettori and Ross Taylor. “Daniel has picked up wickets at the wrong times for us in Tests and one-dayers. He was the only thing stopping us from cleaning up New Zealand over there in Bangladesh the last time. If we can get on top of him and minimise his damage then I think we will go all right.

Source: Cricinfo, 1 February 2010