Day 1
Today was a long day - the journey from Heathrow to Doha felt like 3 days. As I got to my seat I looked around at my fellow passengers only to see every seat around being filled with children under the age of 10 peering over their seats at me like little meerkats. There were some advantages to this, one lovely child sat behind me was kicking my chair so hard and often that it loosened up my stiff back quite effectively. I also was able to gain some transferable skills that I can also take to the batting crease: patience.
I arrived into Qatar to be greeted by the most relaxed security procedures I have seen. The man at immigration was using Snapchat in-between asking me if I had a visa which seemed odd. Nevertheless, I was ready to meet the representative from the Qatari Olympic Committee who was meant to greet me with a fun little card with my name written on it. Unfortunately he never showed up so... Uber to the rescue.
Throughout the build-up to this tour I have had a variety of questions running through my head ranging from negative: what if I get injured on day 1; what if I get out first ball; what if no-one likes me; to more positive thoughts about me dominating and being successful at this level. I feel there is an underlying pressure which I have never felt before. When I have been playing in England or around the world for Oxford MCC University, Northamptonshire 2nd XI or the Combined MCCU (British Universities) sides, I have always known that I need to perform for both the team and myself. However now, representing a country is a whole new level. Now it's time to insert every sporting cliché I have in my armoury as all I can do is go out there and enjoy the game. I will be clear headed, focused and let my hours of training take over. I am only going to worry about controlling the controllable. But.. anyone who has played sport knows it's not that simple, is it?
On a personal note, I am a little sad that the guys I spent the most time with in Uganda weren't able to come on this tour, but this will give me an opportunity to get to know my other teammates better. I'm currently sitting in the lobby of the hotel, it's 1am, and I'm waiting for the team to arrive so I can find out the schedule for tomorrow. We are due to play the Qatari national team in their stadium in a night time floodlit 20/20 match which should be good fun and a great opportunity to see where I fit in with the team. I'm going to log off now as I should do some work before the team come.