The second match of the season for me and we've won another toss; we'll bat first again. East Shirley haven't won a match yet and we want to gain an early advantage. Our openers establish a 100-run stand and we're off to a good start. Lancaster Park total 219 for nine off 50 overs (Gould 50, Tiffen 53) and then bowl East Shirley out for 69 off 26 overs. A very good day in all departments.

There are only four teams in the league - we play four rounds against each team so the next match was the second against St. Albans. First toss lost, first time that we had to field first. Our pitch is settling down nicely now, good even bounce if still a little green. Saints scored 194 for five off 50 overs after a strong start, slowing up in the later stages of their innings.

I opened the batting with Tamara Gould, a promising 15-year-old (selected for the Canterbury full squad) who travels up to Christchurch from Lake Tekapo each Saturday (a three-hour trip each way). We establish another 100 opening stand, scoring 70 off the first 15 overs whilst the fielding restrictions are in place. I scored a good 78 before being caught in the covers and, after an intelligent 51 not out from Tiffen, we secured the game in the 48th over.

After the match against Saints I travelled down to Geraldine for the two trial matches against Otago. Unfortunately the weather gods were not with us and both matches were rained out. The first after only 2.5 overs and the second after 28 overs with Otago struggling in awful conditions on 49 for nine. 14 will be selected for Canterbury training and the squad will be reduced later.

Later that week I travelled over to the West Coast to help Haidee Tiffen with some development work. In her role as Women's Development Officer for Canterbury Cricket she will visit each of the districts to promote women's and girl's cricket and set up small competitions.

The scenery on the West Coast is amazing and the drive through the Lewis Pass - beautiful! Neither Reefton or Westport will top my list of must-see towns in New Zealand but the people were friendly and there was a good response to Haidee's visit.

First impressions of club cricket in Christchurch are good. The league is smaller and more matches seem to be competitive. On average the teams are younger than in England. I'm the oldest in my club at 27 which in England would put me in the middle.

This leads I think to better fielding with most players able to field anywhere. The one outage could be in the slips - as the oldest in the team I've bagged that spot! There's also less travelling involved in getting to matches, the longest trip is probably 15 minutes (except for those travelling up from the country!) which means higher availability as matches take up less weekend time.

I've settled in well now. Canterbury training has started up and the next task is going to be combining that schedule with the England training schedule that I've been given. I'll have to ensure that I get enough rest days to let my body recover since the emphasis is now on high intensity, power & speed building work.

I've been exploring over the past couple of weeks; I have driven up the east coast very early in the morning to photograph sunrises and have been to the beaches of the west coast. I'm planning to go on a "tramp" - a Kiwi walking holiday whilst on my next training break.

We're not allowed to do anything hazardous so no bungee jumping, white-water rafting or winter sports, but there's plenty of other things that I want to do whilst I'm over here.

Last weekend's match was against Riccarton. An awful day with a freezing wind and it had been raining overnight. We got to the pitch at 10am and agreed to return later that day to see if we could get a game in.

Once the covers were off, the pitch and square dried quickly and we agreed to play a 40-over match. Riccarton scored 174 for five off their 40 and Lancaster Park took the match in the 38th over on 175 for five (Taylor 51, Tiffen 54*). Five matches into the season and Lancaster Park are unbeaten and top of the league!

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