My return home to see Eagles loose at the 'G'

Well as my heading on the post says, I witnessed the Eagles at their worst went they went down to the Melbourne Demons by twenty odd points at the MCG yesterday.

But in saying this I have really enjoyed my almost week back in Melbourne, a chance for me to go car looking, house hunting and a chance to see friends and a little bit more of what Melbourne has to offer.

I have been a 'Melbournian' for 10 weeks but have only actually been in town for 5 weeks of that time, so this weekend was a quiet weekend to see more of the city and car yards.

My trip through Asia was an experience and also very tiring, I understand how people imagine my job to be great but reality is it can also be very tiring and not a great deal of time to yourself.

As stated in my last blog I visited Tokyo (Japan), Seoul (South Korea) and the two major cities of Indonesia (Bali & Jakarta). The opportunity to visit these ICC member countries was a great experience and all three countries are very different in their stages of development.

All three countries are heavily populated and are all working hard with their development of the game.

Seoul was an amazing city and a country with a fair amount of cultural ethics that Daniel (Cricket Victoria) and myself had a little brief before our first meal. It is important in my role to acknowledge the cultures and to try and fit in with the local custom as best I can, this builds a stronger relationship.

For example in Korea it is rude to pour your own drink, haha something I think we should have in Australia. When pouring someones drink you must cross your no pouring arm across your body, also important to hold your glass with two hands when accepting a drink.

The Korean people were very accomodating and gratefully appreciative for our visit. We ran a level course, introduction course and held a training session with the national squad. The visit was a success as the Korean Cricket Association has not had a level 1 course before in the country, now they have twenty accredited coaches in cricket.

Our three evenings were spent with members of the KCA and this included the local foods (Korean BBQ), Korean food, well it is a little different to other Asian foods and probably similar to what we are used to here in Australia. BBQ meats and rice, very tasty and not too hot for our delicate Western mouths.

I departed for Denpasar (Bali) on a 8pm flight on Korean air, my arrival was 3.20am in Bali, just hours before holding a level 1 course on the Monday morning. I was extremely exhausted during the day but it is always a lifting experience when you see how appreciative the people are on our visits.

Indonesia also meant a reunion with my good mate and ex work mate from the WACA, Simon Barras. This was a help as Simon did majority of the presenting on day 1 of the coaching course, he was able to have a few more hours sleep as he came direct from Perth.

It was great to be back in Indonesia, this is the first time back since been the countries national cricket coach. The people are still there that are involved in the game, but there is also some very exciting programs involving which will take Indonesian cricket to the next level.

Cricket Indonesia have developed a more structured and coordinated u/15s cricket program, Cricket will also now be recognised officially by the Government as they will have cricket played at a junior level in 16 different provinces throughout the country.

After the level 1 course and a day with the development staff it was then onto Jakarta. Jakarta is a very busy city and can also be very unpredictable at times, the traffic is frustrating as you can sometimes be in a car for over two hours when only travelling 70 - 80 kms.

When checking into the hotel in Jakarta (Manhattan), I was disgusted with how the room smelt. I complained and was lucky enough to be upgraded to a bigger and better room on the executive floor over looking the city lights, big bath and massive bed. This was a relief after spending time in some very small rooms in Korea, Japan and also Bali.

The course was a great success in both Bali and Jakarta, they now have another 50 coaches of level 1 accreditation.

It is great to be back in Melbourne, a place that certainly feels like home. Hope you enjoy some of the pictures attached from Indonesia and Korea.