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Tales from Down Under, January 21
Chorley-based cricket star Luis Reece is currently playing for Sunshine Coast Scorchers in Australia and is sending back weekly reports of his adventures...
Christmas had been and gone and now it was time to do what most people only dream of doing – spending New Year's Eve in Australia.
For me it was even more special as I did it in the company of three Leyland captains (Dave Makinson, Chris Dovey and Phil Reece) and their respective families.
It wasn't a complete dream by spending it in Sydney, but we weren't far away when we headed to a local town called Mooloolaba to take part in a game of bowls.
It did get slightly competitive as me and Dave faced up against the right arm combination of Chris Dovey and my dad.
Unfortunately, like the cricket for the most part, I was on the losing side.
We lost to what seemed a very lucky bowl by Reece Senior, which killed off the left arm team.
After bowling we headed up to the beach, with another 10,000 people, to witness some somewhat disappointing fireworks. However that didn't stop us having a good time.
After spending an amazing few weeks with the family, I then spent a tremendous week with the Doveys, going to Moreton Island, Gold Coast and other places that I was yet to travel to and witness these unforgettable events.
I was able to do things I haven't ever done before such as wakeboarding, quad biking, sand tobogganing and jet skiing when I probably spent more time in the water than on the jet ski, thanks to Chris Dovey's daughter Emma managing to get me off the jetski time and time again with some bad driving.
However, back to reality and it was time for the cricket preparations to begin after itching to get back playing after my first overseas hundred.
I was told I would be in the 1st XI which is where I wanted to be.
Once again I was playing in Brisbane, this time against the university.
We lost the toss and were bowling on a seriously hot day.
A good start saw us keep things tight for the first session. I made my comeback appearance, bowling eight overs and taking 1-9.
Then Australia's upcoming Twenty/20 batter Nathan Reardon, who plays for Queensland Bulls, came to the party, hitting a quickfire hundred and then getting out, to put them in a great position at tea with the score at 200 for 4.
It wasn't till the last session did I get another chance to bowl and I got a breakthrough straight after tea. Despite two dropped catches off my bowling we bowled them out for 240, which was a truly great effort.
We had 50 minutes to negotiate until the end of play but we struggled to 25-3.
We'll do it all again next Saturday when we'll need to dig in and try and take control of the game.
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Weather for Leyland
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 1 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 4 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South west
