Nicola Browne - Diary 2
Members of the White Ferns will give provide diary entries during the Rose Bowl in Australia and 2011 Quad series in England.
A total of 38 hours and 46mins - the time it has taken to arrive at our hotel in Chelmsford, England from our hotel in Brisbane. Our week in Australia went very quickly, the results, as you are probably well aware, did not go our way but it was still great that we could complete the Rose Bowl. We still had a bit of spare time up our sleeves and I shall fill you in below on what we got up to:
Accommodation – We stayed in apartments in the middle of Brisbane city this year which was great for those who wanted to check out the shops. Living in apartments was very convenient, especially when it came to food. When you are on tour it is very hard to eat the food you normally would at home, so it was nice that we could make our meals each day (cheaper to).
Navigation- Getting to Allan Border Field was not difficult, however returning to our city apartments did prove a difficult challenge. Our first attempt took us 45mins extra. Interesting fact for you, all the streets running north to south are named after kings, all streets running east to west are named after queens, which did make it easier. On the bright side we did get to see more of Brisbane than usual.
Birthday Boy – Nathan had his birthday on the day we arrived, and the White Fern tradition is you must wear a birthday dress out in public, boys included. So Nath, being the good sport he is, proudly wore his birthday dress down the main street of Brisbane. The rest of the boys ended up heading off to another bar and by the sounds of things Nath pulled off the dress very well.
School Kids- Nat D and Broady had to endure exams whilst away on tour. Broady had three to do and did particularly well Wednesday where she sat 2, 1 either side of training. Shot girl!
Extra Training - Jase managed to make use of the 46 flights of stairs in our apartments and encouraged others to take up the challenge of running up them on the last day. I am unsure who partook in the event. We were also trained at the GABBA and the ground staff was kind enough to let us have a walk out in the middle.
Centurion – The highlight of the week was Aimee Watkins bringing up her 100th game. Just the sixth White Fern to do so. Aimee lead from the front, bowling very well and her batting was looking great to. Unfortunately getting out 1 shy of her 50, never the less, Aimee has had a very successful career.
Well that is about all we got up to off the field in our short stay in Brisbane.
Check back soon for Part 1 of our England tour.
Nicky Browne
