Alistair Cook
Hitting the mark
Alistair Cook
Former international netballer and Steel assistant coach Jo Morrison has been appointed as an aspiring director on the Otago Cricket Association board.
Morrison represented both New Zealand and her native England in netball.
She was part of the Silver Ferns side that won the the silver medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. She is stepping into the role made vacant by Nicki Paterson, who has been co-opted on to the board.
Morrison will assist the board's performance and talent subcommittee, which provides advocacy and guidance.
She also brings a wealth of high performance experience.
Crease bound
Anyone else think the way the English batted on day four was thoroughly unprofessional?
It looked like they were more interested in playing golf the next day than trying to do a Mark Greatbatch and bat for two days to save a test.
You all remember Paddy, the swashbuckling opener who starred for New Zealand during the 1992 World Cup.
He went after the bowling and he went after it hard.
It was long before Bazball, too. But Greatbatch, unlike the English, was prepared to shift gear when he needed to.
He grafted his way to 146 not out from 485 balls against Australia in Perth in 1989.
He batted for 11 hours and did not play a single ramp shot, unlike Ollie Pope, who must have elected to play that way after he had his tee time confirmed for Hukanui Golf Club.
Clubbing it
The Otago A women slipped to a four-wicket loss to Canterbury A at the University Oval on Wednesday.
They won Tuesday's fixture but the Cantabs batted nicely on Wednesday to overhaul Otago's tally of 251.
Otago's Saffron Wilson belted 99 off 96 balls to remind everyone of her ability.
She lost her spot in the Sparks' top order to the returning Suzie Bates.
Bates is one of the best in the world, but maybe the Sparks can find a spot for Wilson elsewhere in the order?
The declaration
This is the last Notes From Slip for the year.
Merry Christmas to you all and happy birthday to Marcus Trescothick and Alistair Cook, who share their birthdays with Christmas.
Clarrie Grimmett and Hedley Howarth also got combined birthday and Christmas presents.
