Danny Briggs Big Bash Blog – Part 2

Hello to all the Bears fans and I hope you are all keeping safe and well. Over here in Hobart, the excitement is building towards the start of the Big Bash at the weekend...and I am so happy to be out of quarantine and part of it!

My two weeks spent quarantined in a hotel room in Perth came to an end last Saturday and how wonderful it was to be out in the fresh air again. A period of confinement like that really makes you realise how much you take for granted. We went out for a meal on Saturday evening and then I had a day in Perth before flying out, so I got in a lot of walking and time in the fresh air. Simple stuff but what a joy!

I have been looked after really well by everyone over here in Australia, and I am very grateful for that, but two weeks in the same room certainly has its challenges. I spent hours on end on the computer online talking to Phil Salt, who was going through exactly the same thing in the same hotel, and that filled up some time…but there was so much time!

It is the sort of experience that I think I will look back on and think ‘did that really happen?’, though that’s probably how we will all look back upon this strange year. It has been, and remains, such a tough time for so many people and I am certainly not complaining…I have just had to spend a couple of weeks in quarantine to allow me to take up a fantastic opportunity in cricket. I am so grateful for that.

Danny Briggs

Now all thoughts are turning towards that opportunity. We had our first practice today and it was good to have a bowl and find out that the skills are still there! The Strikers have a couple of practice games this week but those of us who have been in quarantine are not quite ready for those, so for me it’s just practice and doing everything I can to earn selection for the first game on Sunday. Rashid Khan is obviously our number one spinner but, if we play two spinners, hopefully I’ll get the nod.

Hopefully there will be some spectators too. We miss them so much at games and in T20 most of all. It is great to play in that buzzing atmosphere and feel the fans behind you and, to be honest, sometimes the pressure of fans against you can be a pretty good motivator as well.

There’s nothing like a big-match atmosphere and hopefully we are on the way back to getting that back into cricket grounds all over the world. I can’t wait! And, in the immediate term, I can’t wait for Sunday and to be part of the Strikers group when the Bash gets underway.