Women's cricket

Yesterday I went to watch a cricket match.
It was a WNCL (Women's National Cricket League) 50 over match between the Lend Lease Breakers and the Cripps Tasmanian Roar being held at the Blacktown International Sportspark.

I did visit this venue early in the year and thought that I would not bother again as it is in the sticks and has no atmosphere, is hard to get to and the venue's website is usually full of duff information. Anyway, I thought that I would give it another go.

I arrived at 10am after a two and a quarter hour journey from my suburb in Sydney. I did need a quick pit stop, so a little while later when I emerged into the grandstand area the first over was already completed, and the first wicket was already down. It was apparent that Tasmania were batting and that NSW were in the field. Here is the stadium view.

 

I selected a seat making the new spectator total six. This low count may have been due to the fact that the venue’s website said that the match was due to start at 1pm. Ok, so there was not much atmosphere but at least it was not raining. There was some very enthusiastic support from one spectator and she was obviously encouraging the Tasmanian side. This seemed to irk the NSW Breakers management and I was amazed when they contacted the venue and a venue staff member went up to the spectator and was having some discussion. How un-sporting of the Breakers. It seemed that they wanted one of the few spectators to go away. As expected the Blacktown Sportspark staff member was about as effective as a chocolate fireguard and we all got on with watching the game accompanied by some amusing heckling (as per usual at most cricket matches).

Tasmain Roar team members waiting to bat.

 

Doing the business

 

After a slow start, Tasmania get a credible score on the board.

 

End of the innings.

 

The Tasmanian Roar finished their 50 over spell on 170 runs for 9 wickets and this looked like a competitive total. It would make for interesting game as in the past, the Breakers seem to easily demolish most opposition. This is not totally surprising as they have at least half a dozen of the Australian Women’s National team in their side. It had been a rather strange approach by the Breakers as they had used ten different bowlers during their fielding spell.

After lunch it was time for the NSW Breakers to bat. Oh, and the spectator count had doubled to 12.

One of the openers, Leah Poulton seemed to be struggling.

 

A little while later she was LBW.

 

A succession of batsmen trooped off the field. Some hide their faces, some don't.

 

It was interesting to snoop on the Breakers scoresheet.

 

The game got tense as the NSW Breakers wickets kept falling.

 

Nicola Carey was hanging in there.

 

In the end the Tasmanian Roar could not quite take that last big wicket that they needed and they lost the match, but it was close.

 

The Breakers get over the line.

 

Handshakes

 

The weather had remained cloudy and cool all day but the rain had stayed away. Having said that, the forecast was for sunshine.

At the end of the match I had my long journey home.

Luckily for me, next Wednesday there is an International Women’s ODI at the SCG. This is much more local and the crowd will be better. It is the first of a few matches between the Australian Southern Stars and the NZ White Ferns. I expect that I have already seen the form of most of the Australian team yesterday. By the way, Ellyse Perry was injured but on the bench.

Peewit

360° panoramic photos anyone ?

Hi

Since I have been in Sydney I have taken a few panoramic photos, so if your interested in seeing some automatically rotating but fully controllable panoramic photos here are a few links :-

Fishing at Bradley's Head link

The view from McMahon's Point  link

Arriving by ferry at Circular Quay link

You can also see my Sydneyview website that shows what is happening in the harbour 24/7 here

Tomorrow I am off to watch some cricket.

All the best

Peewit 

South Africa retain No 1 test match ranking

South Africa today beat Australia by 309 runs on the fourth day of the third and final cricket test match of the series against Australia. The match was at the WACA ground in Perth, WA. The series result was Aus 0 - SA 1.
This means that South Africa retain their Number 1 in the world status.


I watched the match on channel nine tv with the audio coming through a DAB radio with the ABC Grandstand coverage so that I could avoid having to listen to the often repeated adverts. I found a way of delaying the audio commentary so that it was in sync with the tv video.

It was also Ricky Ponting's last test match. He scored 4 runs in the first innings and 8 runs in the second innings.

Peewit

Back in Sydney

Back in Sydney

Well it is great to be back in Sydney.

It proved troublesome getting here with flight problems. My Cathay Pacific flight from London on a 747 went wrong. Although they did not tell us poor passengers what the problem was, but I suspect that they could not load enough fuel to get us to Hong Kong. Apparently there was going to be no help from Heathrow’s facilities in sorting this out. So having loaded all the passengers and their luggage, they were asking for 100 volunteers to leave the flight and take £200 compensation. This was going to be a long process as anyone getting off the aircraft had to have their luggage removed from the hold. Hours later the remaining passengers including me were suffering from the excessive heat in the cabin. They had still not got their 100 passengers to leave so they now were offering £200 in cash and the guarantee of a another flight leaving at 9pm that day. Eventually we left Heathrow four and half hours behind schedule. There was the slight bonus that I now had an empty seat next to me back in economy class. The downside was that I was going to miss my connecting flight to Sydney.

On arrival in Hong Kong after an 11.5 hour flight, I found that my revised flight out to Sydney did not leave for another seven hours. I was given a hotel voucher and a new boarding pass. It is hard work getting out of the airport involving train rides, form filling, long walks and immigration checks. Eventually I was out and on the five minute walk to the hotel I saw the taxi rank.

 

I had a few hours at the hotel and was able to have a shower, a shave and a bit of a lie down. Back at the airport I went through the rigmarole of immigration, security, train rides and long walks again. I was able to get a few photos from the departure lounge.

 

 

 

 

The flight to Sydney was completely full and a 9.5 hour flight. I eventually arrived in Sydney at 7am in the morning after a trip duration of 38 hours and not getting either of the seats that I had booked online. Thankfully my daughter was there to meet me and I was able to make my 11am appointment with a real estate agent. Later I took a look at my new apartment although I was not moving in for a couple of days. The place looked good.

Views.

 

 

Having been coming to Sydney for some years I had never actually been to an event inside the Opera House. This time was different, I was going to a Russian Masters performance on Saturday night as the guest of my Sydney based daughter and her husband. We were treated to music by Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky. It was great to be able to experience the opera house ambience. I was suffering a bit of jet lag but kept awake by counting the number of musicians in the orchestra. I made it 76.

 

A bit of fresh air in the interval
 

After the performance we found that the Opera bar outside was heaving.
 

 On Sunday morning I went for a walk with my daughter and her dog in Sydney Park.
 

 

 

 

I moved into my apartment on Sunday afternoon and have been getting things setup ever since. Almost there now. The weather has been rather mixed with both dull, cloudy and wet followed by a heat wave.




 

Today I am watching on tv the third test match between Australia and South Africa. This is from the WACA at Perth with the two previous tests both drawn. Ricky Ponting is retiring after this match. To avoid the usual cr*p adverts between overs on the channel 9 live coverage, I am just watching the video and listening to the ABC radio audio coverage.

 

 

 

 

 

At lunch (in Perth) on the first day it is SA with 63 runs and 3 wickets down. So I think that you can say that Australia have done better in this first session.

Luckily I will be watching some live cricket on scene soon as the Australian womens team are playing three one day matches against the NZ women at the nearby and beautiful North Sydney Oval. Admission is free and I can sit where I like. See you there.

Peewit

Heading back to Oz

Heading back to Oz

This time next week I will be back in Sydney and hopefully enjoying warm and sunny weather. Longer daylight days and some harbour views will also be appreciated.
Maybe I will be able to go and watch a few cricket matches in just shorts and a T shirt without feeling cold. I expect a trip to some of the many beaches will be in order too. I will be using the public transport system to get around with the frequent ferries, buses and trains. My Tripview app on the iPad and iPhone will result in limited waiting for my chosen mode of transport.

Good coffee and excellent food and service at Al fresco restaurants will also be a pleasure.

Ok, my seven months in the UK has been interesting at times and even character building as the weather deteriorated, but I feel sure that six months in Australia is going to seem like a long holiday.

Maybe I will take some panoramic photos, maybe I will do some watercolour painting, maybe I will head away from Sydney by train to undertake some bush walks. I am looking forward to it.

I will also be setting up a camera overlooking Sydney harbour and the view will update every minute on my website sydneyview.com. It will probably take a few days to get the broadband connected but in the meantime the website shows the view from my last place of residence.

Peewit

Gutted

Last weekend I watched on a rather fuzzy internet tv channel, the Womens final of the World t20 cricket series from Sri Lanka. The final was between the England and Australia women's teams. It was bound to be a tough match and the players in both teams seemed very nervous. I had first starting watching Women's cricket when I was living in Sydney and the 2009 ICC Womens World Cup 50 over tournament took place there. I watched the England ladies take part in the qualifying rounds and was impressed by the high level of skill that was on show. I watched matches at the lovely North Sydney oval and the beautifully located Drummoyne ground. I found that watching the English girls winning everything was really great and you could choose to watch from almost anywhere in the grounds. England won the final and became the 50 over world champions. Later that year I also watched them win the World T20 tournament at Taunton. Since then, following a winning team has been easy and enjoyable. I have managed to get to quite a few matches since spending alternate six months of each year in Sydney and England. When the English girls are not in Oz, I do watch the Australian Southern Stars team quite a lot. Both teams have high skill levels and some exceptional talents with the bat. Anyway, the English women team members made a couple of mistakes early in their final against Australia and from then on, they were always struggling to get themselves back into the match. After a valiant batting effort by Jenny Gunn and Danielle Hazell the Southern Stars won by four runs. I was gutted after the match and I was just a tv spectator. It must have been very hard for the team members. I suspect that the loss will do them good as they have had very few knockbacks over a long run of success. In all sports it must be important to able to deal with losing, take stock, and move on while learning from mistakes made. I look forward to watching more women's cricket matches when I head back to NSW soon. Last summer (in Oz) I watched the Australia v New Zealand matches. I wonder which nations will be competing in Australia over the next few months. Peewit

Replacing the non-replaceable battery

At the WT20 matches in Sri Lanka, the England Women's cricket team are now the only unbeaten team left in the tournament. They will be playing their semi final match against New Zealand on Thursday. On the way they have already beaten the teams from Pakistan, India and Australia. Sarah Taylor and Danni Wyatt put on some great batting performances. Apparently some team members think that they can still improve their overall performance. Let's hope so.

The chargeable battery in my Braun electric toothbrush seemed to be holding a charge for a lesser and lesser time. I decided to replace it even though it is claimed to be non-replaceable. This may be because there is a bit of soldering involved. I purchased a battery from ebay and used the chosen method of rotating the unit on the charging base to get at the innards.

Removing the battery was a bit fiddly and my eyesight isn't what it used to be.

Eventually the battery was out and I set about fitting and soldering in the new one. Somewhere in this process I must have shorted something out with the soldering iron tip and there was a tell-tale puff of smoke.
A functional test showed that unit did not work anymore.

Could I find a circuit diagram on the Internet ? No.

Having gone to the bother of getting a new battery, I was blowed if I was going to scrap the toothbrush. I must admit that the timer feature that was built into the electronics was rather annoying in practice. I could see that when fitting the charging base, that the battery was charging as shown by the flashing LED. So I had only damaged the control circuit and not the charging circuit. I drilled a hole in the case and wired up an external switch. The switch gives simple manual control of the toothbrush motor. I reassembled everything and it still charges porperly when on the charging base. The external switch is not that much of a nuisance, although it does not look great as can be seen below. At least I should get another few years out of the toothbrush.

External motor switch

Not that beautiful

 

Hoping the England girls will bring home another trophy.

All the best.

Peewit