Important stage of season for ND

Exciting things are happening in the Knights environment.

We are currently in Blenheim preparing to take on the Central Stags in round two of the State Championship.

Our coach Bruce Blair has planned a well weighted day - we trained from 7am to 9am then had a well deserved rest and lunch. Following this we completed an analysis session, team meeting then had a meal together.

I believe it is essential that professional and detailed preparation is happening off the field which gives us the best chance of success on the field (which is where it matters!).

After the disappointment of being knocked out in the State Max in the first round it has been exciting and very positive to get off to a solid start in the State Championship with an outright win over Otago last week.

While personally rewarding to score a hundred when the team needed it, I think the real credit should go to our bowlers who showed the skill and patience required to take 20 wickets on a flat wicket.

Scott Styris and Graeme Aldridge particularly bowled tight lines which created pressure and laid the foundation for guys like Joey Yovich (four wickets in the first innings) and Bruce Martin (seven wickets in the match) to enjoy success.

Ian Butler made a very impressive debut for us. He bowled with exciting pace and control and I am sure will have a couple of great memories which will stay with him through his career - taking out Lee Germon's off stump for his first first-class wicket and hitting a classic cover drive for four to get off the mark.

To the bigger picture, the next eight days of cricket for us (Central Stags at Blenheim then Canterbury at Gisbourne) are hugely important to us in creating some dominance in the State Championship.

Our group is aware of this and will be very focused in achieving our potential over the pre-Christmas period.

Lastly, a couple of positives which have been fun to be a part of. First, playing and captaining the Waikato Secondary Schools' team in the Waikato men's one-day competition has been a great privilege and very rewarding over the past two months.

To play against, and beat, many of the stronger clubs (we lost the final last week) is a great illustration of the skill and, more importantly the attitude, of this group of young guys.

I'm sure that in the next three or four years we will see some of them graduate to play for the Knights.

Second, it was with a lot of admiration and respect that the team watched (and celebrated) Lou Vincent's hundred against Australia. A great achievement from a guy who competes with a lot of pride.