Saturday 23 November 2013

Cricket's Back!

It has been a while since I have posted on here, probably a reflection of what life is like once cricket season comes around again.  It's a Saturday night and I am writing match reports after having the Tigers match on live stream today whilst the TV had Day 3 of the Ashes- sums it up really! I am really feeling it too after not having an 'off-season' after working in England in the Aussie winter.

#Cricket #Ashes #UniteAus is EVERYWHERE and it is great to see as Australia hosts the return Ashes series.  After just three days of cricket we are set for an amazing 5 Test series.  I keep telling my non-cricket friends to tune in because they will see why Test Cricket isn't boring, so far it is living up to the hype which is good!  It is always good however to see my cricket loving 'Bowling Maidens Over' contributors tweeting away & even streaming whilst at the hair salon (hi-5 Sharn!).

Although we (Cricket Tasmania) are not hosting an Ashes Test, we did have the Ashes Tour match between Australia A and England a couple of weeks ago so this was a busy time. It was great to see some faces who I had met in England, I just wish the weather in Hobart wasn't so 'Tassie-like', 28 degrees one day and snow on Mount Wellington a couple of days later, making the English feel right at home!

Lots of media interest as the England Team arrived in Hobart

We have hosted just the one Bupa Sheffield Shield match at Blundstone Arena so far but being in digital it doesn't matter where we play I'm always following, tweeting, facebooking and writing match reports. Once you get into the routine of giving fans the content, they have expectations and I also have them on myself to push the information onto them and reflect the organisation positively.  Being reigning Shield champions too means there is obviously a great interest in the team!

We are also in full swing preparations for the KFC T20 Big Bash League (BBL|03).  A couple of weeks ago all the Digital Content Managers from all BBL teams met in Melbourne at Cricket Australia offices to discuss the season. It was great to catch up with everyone, a couple of us have been there since the first Big Bash so were the 'veterans' of the group!  It is always good to hear what the expectations are and discuss ideas on how we as digital content producers can add to the fans experience and bolster the T20 competition in our own right.  BBL is full on but I love it, we get good crowds in Hobart and they have really embraced the Hurricanes so looking forward to the third instalment and getting the purple out of my wardrobe again!

Away from cricket (a rare occasion as mentioned!) I last week ran a half marathon in Hobart- the world's toughest half marathon- the Point to Pinnacle. It was 21km of very hard work!! It started from Wrest Point Casino in Sandy Bay and went all the way up to the iconic Mount Wellington. Safe to say legs were sore on Monday but it was worth it.  We had a 'Hurricanes' team with a few guys from work joining me.

This week-end I also did some interview work with the Tasmanian Institute of Sport at their Coaches Forum.  We had a panel of Tassie athletes, 3 of them friends which made my life easier!  Eddie Ockenden (Kookaburras hockey team), Aiden Blizzard (Tasmanian Tigers/Hobart Hurricanes), Mark Divin (former Tasmanian Tiger) and Belinda Goss (World Champ cyclist) and it was great to hear their insights.

So that's it for now.  As a few of the contributors on here work in summer sports there will no doubt be some busy times but also lots of stories to share as we get into the Aussie summer!

Asking the Questions at the TIS Coaching Forum

Away from cricket- World's Toughest Half Marathon done!