Sunday, December 28, 2014

Most people on this fine planet of ours try their darndest at all they set their mind to. No matter the level of their ability they strive and hope that one day they will arrive at their potential.

International Cricketers are no different. They will tether their minds to high performance with all their might. Not always do they get it right. That goes without saying. After all, none of us are perfect.

But each individual will go out of his way to garner desirable results for the greater good of the team and, also, his own personal goals. Batsmen, bowlers, Captains - They're all in it together.

Ah yes, the Captain, that leader of a team's industrious efforts to soar to the heights of their capacity, and with the ultimate responsibility to come up trumps tactically.

That being the case, for those of us laymen out there, could someone - Possibly Steve Smith - explain why when your team has scored five hundred and thirty runs in their first inning and has India 250 for three in reply, with two hundred and eighty runs to play with, a spinner is on, bowling deliveries of a low trajectory fast and flat at ninety-five kilometres per hour.

There are no demons in the pitch. Indian batsmen, who generally play spin well, having been brought up on dry sub-continent wickets, ease on to the back foot and push the ball into one of those many gaps on the on-side for an easy single.

The field, spread to all corners of this scenic and stately stadium, put absolutely no pressure on the batsmen.

Said batsmen are loving their freedom. Nothing of interest is occurring - Except for those run gatherers gathering easy runs, which is just the way they like it.

So why not bring the fielders in closer, get in the bowler's ear suggesting (demanding) he take ten to twenty kph off his delivery speed and entice the batsmen to take the risk of hitting over the in-field?

What is there possibly to lose? You still have ten over's to go until the new ball becomes available, copious amounts of runs to play with and you give yourselves a chance to attack in an otherwise slow period of play.

You may go for a few runs. Then again, you may grab an unlikely wicket.

Or is that a likely wicket.















Sunday, December 7, 2014

Within the depths of one's thunder
With one's sheen torn asunder.
Weighed down within a goal lost,
Rolling along the dales of cost.
Searching for that elusive heed
A mind aches to succeed
As desire raises an elite trip
On the precipice's tip.
Tumbling aloft the dreams of now,
Life's breathe lowering thou.
Futures lost in uncertainty,
For hell works tirelessly
While hope reflects upon itself
As another chance atop a stately mountain peak
emanates honour upon such humble hope.