Something good out of it all

We've seen four days of cruelty to bowlers of all kinds. By we I mean you, because I haven't really bothered. Suraj Randiv is not exactly Murali, and there's no way in hell I'm going to watch him bowl 64 overs (a record workload for a debutant, btw).

I did, however, watch the highlights of Sachin and Raina batting. Totally worth it, and it only took 15 minutes of my time.

Sachin was never going to miss out on these easy runs, especially in this purple patch-ish stage of his career, and also after he'd avoided getting out to another debutant.

Obviously, what we all wanted to see was how Raina would fare in his first (well-deserved) chance in Test cricket.

He ended up with a fluent 120, and even though the pitch was flatter than ... something very flat, credit is due. He showed great composure in a crucial partnership (Sachin's always at the other end of these things) and then brought out his natural game (slogsweeps, etc.) when it was safe.

And then, later today, another supposed limited-overs specialist scored a fantastic hundred to dig his team out of trouble.

It wasn't Eoin Morgan's first game, but it was his maiden hundred and came against a much better attack on pitch much more bowler-friendly.

Five years from now we may not see any Dravids, but I probably won't mind too much. We may also see a bowling machine as a 12th man when things get nasty.

PS. Plugtime - My short story, Going Under, is part of the Watty Awards. Not my best - I was bored and I'd rather not attract plagiarists anyway. Please vote?

0 comments: