On a lighter note than the ball tampering
The Pakistani ball tampering scandal isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Every day that new revelations about the scandal emerge from the murky media waters. And every day, an extra chip is taken out of the good name of Cricket. A lot has been said about the spirit of the game, and how damaging this whole debacle is going to be.
So as something of a quick interlude, may I present two cricketing items that’ll remind you why you love this game. It won’t make the scandal go away, but it’ll be a quick hiatus from it all.
Number 1: One of the most staggering cricket moments of all time : Jonty Rhodes in full flight
Number 2: A fantastic story as told by Dickie Bird, legendary English umpire, in his autobiography “From the Pavilion End”
“Bomber” Wells, a spin bowler and great character, played for Glocuestershire and Nottinghamshire. He used to bat at No.11 since one couldn’t bat any lower. Of him, they used to paraphrase Compton’s famous words describing an equally inept runner; “When he shouts ‘YES’ for a run, it is merely the basis for further negotiations!” Incidentally, Compton was no better.
John Warr said, of Compton “He was the only person who would call you for a run and wish you luck at the same time.” Anyway, when Wells played for Gloucs, he had an equally horrendous runner as the No.10. During a county match, horror of horrors…….both got injured.
*Both* opted for runners when it was their turn to bat. Bomber played a ball on the off, called for a run, forgot he had a runner and ran himself. Ditto at the other end. In the melee, someone decided that a second run was on. Now we had *all four* running. Due to the confusion and constant shouts of “YES” “NO”, eventually, *all* of them ran to the same end.
Note - at this point in time, the entire ground is rolling on the floor laughing their behinds out. One of the fielders - brave lad - stops laughing for a minute, picks the ball and throws down the wicket at the other end. Umpire Alec Skelding looks very seriously at the four and calmly informs them “One of you buggers is out. I don’t know which. *You* decide and inform the bloody scorers!”.
And those, my friends, are just two reasons why we love Cricket. (Both items found at CaughtBehind)
Tags: awesome, ball-tampering, brilliant, catch, dickie-bird, jonty-rhodes, pakistan, south-africaRelated Stories
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