Bird reveals pain

Following the biggest step forward in his rehabilitation as a cricketer, reconfigured NSW speedster Aaron Bird has revealed the pain he went through after being labelled a 'chucker'.

The Blues quick claimed career-best figures of 5-26 in what was ultimately a losing cause as NSW went under to Queensland by 24 runs in Wednesday's Ford Ranger Cup clash at the SCG.

But even in defeat Bird was smiling after taking his season tally in one-dayers to 14 wickets at an average of 12.78, almost two years after he was removed from the game to work on an action that had aroused suspicion.

"It has been a long road and a tough road but I would not change it for the world. I am just so happy to be out there and now performing well is just a bonus," he said.

"If people throw enough mud I guess it tends to stick after a while and a loss of confidence was a big thing for me. I knew all along there was not any problem and we proved that in the labs."

"I guess the biggest thing was the confidence issue and people continually slagging me off, but I am so happy to be back."

Bird bowled beautifully to kick-start the Bulls' collapse, returning at the death to help end the visitors' innings in the 48th over with just 177 runs on the board.

But the task was beyond the Baby Blues, who self-combusted to be shot down well short of the target and leave their FRC campaign in ruins after three losses in four starts.

"I guess we just showed our lack of experience through the middle, a few of the younger guys," Bird said.

"We should have probably got those (runs) three down but the boys will learn from that."

Young Queensland bowler Chris Swan was the main destroyer, taking 3-28 on his first visit to the SCG.

He believes the fact the Bulls were defending such a low total actually worked in their favour.

"It's amazing what a bit of pressure does," he said.

"'Tank' (coach Trevor Barsby) gave us a pretty stirring speech after our innings and you always lift in these NSW-Queensland clashes."

"The boys got up for it and away we went."

"You've got to do your best to try and defend any total you get. Sometimes those medicore totals are harder to chase than the large ones because they don’t give you the free range."

"Those title totals around the 150-plus – between 150 and 200 - can sometimes be a bit tricky if you manage to get a little bit of momentum back, which we managed to do early."