Sunday, February 19, 2012

If Martin Guptill’s form were a bottle of wine, then the 2012 year is turning out to be of a splendid vintage.

So nicely has it matured that he has now averaged 113 over his last six innings, courtesy of two not outs. That’s six consecutive scores of fifty or more.

What more could he possibly do?

Some will point to the obvious that five of those came against a Zimbabwean bowling attack that hardly strikes terror into the minds of batsmen. But, then, all Guptill can do is amass runs against whichever opposition is put in front of him.

And this he has done.

This just goes to show that you can’t please everybody. There’s always a few out there willing to whine and whinge no matter how much success one generates. Not that Guptill would be taking too much notice of such folk.

After all, he’s too busy scoring runs with the myriad of shots that he possesses in his batting armoury.

His latest innings of 78 not out also came against the might of South Africa in the opening game of the current series.

Sure, South Africa are not ranked as high in twenty/20 as they are in the longer versions of the game, but Mornel Morkel and his cohorts are hardly the easiest of foe to smack around the cricketing arenas of New Zealand. Or anywhere, for that matter.

Those doubters would also be delighted to bring to everyone’s attention Guptill’s seeming inability to go on to three figures. Of the two criticisms, the second does have some validity to it. Guptill would be the first to admit that, at this level, it is imperative, not to mention expected of him to go on with the job.

Still, his vein of form currently courses through him like a raging torrent of effervescent batting elan floating effortlessly and serenely above all as he confidently and elegantly paints a stunningly colourful vista of finesse filled shotmaking supremacy, putting a sword to the aspirations of an army of marauding, bloodthirsty wannabe bowling leeches who’ll stop at nothing to weasel their way into his spotlight, fending off their malicious and often dubious intentions all the while sitting firmly ensconced and residing in the upper echelons of the run scoring merriment that he has embarked on as he heads off in search of that holy grail of batting – consistency of runs.

Such is his form; nothing appears to trouble the right hander.

Most forget in time, but an unlucky few have the grave misfortune to remember everything.

Guptill has found such form, perhaps, through the ability to put out of his mind what has gone before him and concentrate on the now, unlike those who hold onto the past, no matter how recent or distant, letting it affect their ability to perform to their optimum.

The great thing with the Auckland born star is his form is not restricted to only one form of the game. He has scored centuries in both test matches and onedayers. And his current run of good form has been over all three forms of the game.

Which he will be hoping will continue for some time yet.

And teammates and fans alike will be hoping that this is not the last of the summer wine.

No comments: