I recently had the occasion and privilege to watch some real cricket. White flannels, red balls...the real thing you know. I grew up in the 70s. An era when cricket underwent tumultuous changes. The WSC and Kerry Packer era, introduction of night cricket, the onset of ODI's and finally the introduction of the helmet all began in this decade.
However, that would come later. For the most part we watched in awe as some brilliant cricketers tested each others skills purely with bat and ball. No helmets, ordinary protective equipment and some seriously personal battles. You had fearsome fast bowlers, dashing batsmen, relatively friendly fielding (yeah, just check out YouTube to yuk it up).
My most vivid memories are however reserved for a handful of these brilliant cricketers. Top of my list were of course India's defiant answer to the world, those 2 great little masters - Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Vishwanath. Just imagine how much these gentlemen would have scored against attacks today. Playing for a weak team they each boasted an impeccable record against the top sides of the time, the Windies and Australia and the unending respect of their opponents. More importantly they played with dignity and pride in the colors of their country.
Flash forward to circa 2001 and the whole unearthing of match fixing. I still don;t believe the extent of the rumors but for sure, those were dark days to be a cricket fan. All we had as Indian fans was the boy (do I need to take his name?). He's 38 now, but still a boy. As he stands on another media celebrated threshold (99 centuries are 99 more than you or I will ever make so we need to shut up eh?) one can only thank him for keeping our belief in the game alive. This is not to denigrate other very good and even great cricketers, but purely from a credibility perspective, Sachin brooks no argument.
So back to my recent sojourn to test cricket..must confess T20 is fun but well I;m from a different era. The recently concluded Aus - SA series reaffirmed my faith in test cricket. More importantly it's unearthed a seriously brilliant talent in Pat Cummins. This kid has it all and India had better watch for him. Hes going to hurt us.
Here's my random list of young talent that's going to keep test cricket alive for the next couple of decades -
However, that would come later. For the most part we watched in awe as some brilliant cricketers tested each others skills purely with bat and ball. No helmets, ordinary protective equipment and some seriously personal battles. You had fearsome fast bowlers, dashing batsmen, relatively friendly fielding (yeah, just check out YouTube to yuk it up).
My most vivid memories are however reserved for a handful of these brilliant cricketers. Top of my list were of course India's defiant answer to the world, those 2 great little masters - Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Vishwanath. Just imagine how much these gentlemen would have scored against attacks today. Playing for a weak team they each boasted an impeccable record against the top sides of the time, the Windies and Australia and the unending respect of their opponents. More importantly they played with dignity and pride in the colors of their country.
Flash forward to circa 2001 and the whole unearthing of match fixing. I still don;t believe the extent of the rumors but for sure, those were dark days to be a cricket fan. All we had as Indian fans was the boy (do I need to take his name?). He's 38 now, but still a boy. As he stands on another media celebrated threshold (99 centuries are 99 more than you or I will ever make so we need to shut up eh?) one can only thank him for keeping our belief in the game alive. This is not to denigrate other very good and even great cricketers, but purely from a credibility perspective, Sachin brooks no argument.
So back to my recent sojourn to test cricket..must confess T20 is fun but well I;m from a different era. The recently concluded Aus - SA series reaffirmed my faith in test cricket. More importantly it's unearthed a seriously brilliant talent in Pat Cummins. This kid has it all and India had better watch for him. Hes going to hurt us.
Here's my random list of young talent that's going to keep test cricket alive for the next couple of decades -
- Pat Cummins
- Darren Bravo
- Stuart Broad
- Steve Finn
- R. Ashwin
- Hashim Amla
- David Bairstow (keep an eye on this kid)
- Umesh Yadav (hope he stays fit)
Been a while since I published. The rust is telling and I think this may be my weakest post yet. Promise to do better going forward. Cheers guys...
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