Entering the final furlong
Thursday, 31 January, 2002

South African batsman and BBC Sport Online columnist Neil McKenzie arrives in Perth for the
close of the thrilling VB Series.

Well, here we are, entering the last part of this crucial Australia tour, one that has held mixed
fortunes for us.

Besides taking the experience and lessons learned from the test matches, it's obvious to say
they didn't go near to expectations, which was very disappointing to say the least.

We now enter a phase where we can either go home victorious if we play to our capabilities
and end off by winning the VB one-day series.

Perth is the venue for the last two one dayers.

It should be two belter games on the quick and bouncy wickets of the WACA that makes for
high scoring totals, boundaries aplenty and in the overall, great spectator value.

We start by playing the Kiwis on Friday.

They have played some really good cricket throughout the series and are a bit unlucky not
to have qualified for the final already.

They were held up by a great century fightback on Tuesday night at the MCG by
Michael Bevan.

Winning trend

They are a side playing with great confidence, they appear on top of their game and their key
players also are coming to the fore.

We will have to be on top of our own game come Friday afternoon and judging from our
good form and past record against them over the last few years, we hope to continue with
this winning trend.

We arrived in Perth on Monday morning and 12 of us headed straight for Joondalup golf course
just outside of Perth.

It's one of the better courses and made for a great day with kangaroos, armadillos and bird
life abounding on the fairways and greens.

All this would have meant nothing if I had not managed to take Gibbs and Boucher's money,
turning a good day into a great day at the end of the round.

It's a pity that we could not get here earlier and spend some time watching Ernie Els
and Retief Goosen in the Johnny Walker Classic, Retief ending up the winner.

Yesterday, we had our major practice that took up the whole morning and then the beach was
the order of the afternoon.

A few Bacardi Breezers were had while enjoying the social company around us and the
warm, late afternoon sun as it dipped into the ocean.

Today began with cricket as usual, a short and intense practice session.

This will be followed this afternoon with a fishing trip where Lance Klusener, Boeta Dippenaar
and I will be casting our eyes and our rods over the Swan River.

Amateur fisherman

I don't normally have many excuses, but I will invoke this one by saying that I am not your
regular run-of-the-mill fisherman.

I'll be relying on the other two boys to show me the ropes.

When it comes to fishing I'm definitely a case of being well equipped but not knowing much
about what to do with it!

To finish off on a personal note, the tour has been great for me and the rest of the fellas in
the squad.

To play hard cricket on the field and have a really good time off it is the way to go and will
produce some super memories for the years ahead.

Until the next time, this is Neil McKenzie for BBC Sport Online.