Test preparation 101 - the KSW way



KSW raises his bat - more please...

After a short autumn break New Zealand are due to head to the Caribbean, and Florida, to do battle with the West Indies. While a struggling Windies side tours England, their Kiwi counterparts are spread far and wide – preparing on their own before a short pre-tour training camp. They will emerge from a glut of IPL T20 cricket on the sub-continent, the gyms and the indoor nets at home and the daily grind of County Cricket.  Along with Martin Guptill, emerging talent Kane Williamson has chosen the latter – an expectant cricketing public waits with baited breath.

Kane Stuart Williamson is the most promising youngster to emerge in New Zealand cricketing circles since a Harry Potteresque Daniel Vettori made his test debut 15 years ago, as a naïve 18 year old.  The 21 year old Northern Districts batsman has the potential to be a true great of our game – a prodigy long earmarked to reach the top of the cricketing mountain.

At the wicket with Iain O’Brien - Part 1

A blessed career in the middle

Into the wind at the Basin - again...

Iain O’Brien donned the black cap of New Zealand on 36 occasions and made a career of bowling into the wind – an admirable choice when your home ground is (windy) Wellington’s Basin Reserve. His first class career spanned a decade but was eventually cut short by a spine that more closely resembled an S-bend. He was never the type of international cricketer would was going to set the world alight, but he holds a special place in the hearts of those who truly understand the New Zealand game – he was always the fan’s cricketer. Any number of his Wellington and New Zealand team mates will tell much the same story.  He retired from the international game at arguably the height of his powers and upped stumps and moved to the United Kingdom to be a ‘proper’ husband and start a family – how many other cricketers would make that choice?

At the wicket with George Dobell

In the first interview featured on Donning the whites, George Dobell was kind enough to answer a few questions from a cricketing Buddha.

Since his first article in The Cricketer, George has written for SPIN – the Cricket magazine, The Guardian, The Times, and The Birmingham Post. He is now a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo and has developed a following as one of the preeminent scribes on the County Championship.

He talks to a cricketing Buddha about his start in the business, an affinity with the Windies and gives a reasoned account of a number of the issues facing our great game. He also answers the age old question of the origin of the humble pavlova.