Sniffing from the Rough

It was such a wonderful day for cricket. It couldn’t have been better than this to start off this blog dedicated to cricket.

Rameez Raza
Headlines: Rameez Raza does it again for what he is famous for- “Calling ball-tampering unlawful and an offence is regrettable!” Great!! Isn’t it?
Then we might as well make betting in the domestic game legal too because it will attract crowd. Plus it will make the work of ICC to globalize cricket a lot easier by giving a huge boost to its popularity in non-cricketing nations like Mexico and Italy.
And since we are on the topic, we should make the retro-70s-hairstyle as the dress code for all the cricketers. Players will be named what Rameez Raza chooses to call them during commentary.
And it still amazes me what’s so intriguing about the smell of a cricket ball that Shahid Afridi likes. May be he should consult Md Asif for better things to sniff.

Paul Harris
I got my first hand experience to see the great Paul Harris perform in India. Seeing him in action, revived all the memories of ‘Dunston Checks In’. Harris was just like another ape when he scratched his head after throwing a ball in the rough so far outside the leg stump that even Amit Mishra had the time to completely turn around towatds its leg side and glance it for single. Amit Mishra after getting the closest shot to a paddle sweep (closest that he will ever get in his entire lifetime) was so overtaken with joy that he thanked Paul Harris personally at the end of the days play.
He said – “I always dreamt of playing that shot but you see, every bowler in his quest to dismiss the tailender forces the batsman to play at the ball. But my dear friend, in spite of the close in field you took the path less travelled, just like in the movie when Dunston takes the less travelled laundry rope, and bowled it so far outside the leg stump that even AB lost any hope he had to keep it.“
It is also been reported that Boucher was furious with Harris as his on-to-the-rough balls were so far outside the leg stump that keeping to those balls caused his back sprain.

Zaheer Khan
In India, people in the rural heart lands play without adequate cricketing gears. So, they develop their own cricketing technique when they have to play with a leather ball. Batting without pads, the batsmen is used to take a stance outside the leg stump. Actually, almost a foot outside the leg stump. Not only that, each time the batsman gears up to face the bowler, he makes sure that his legs were nowhere near the line of the ball. All this was to ensure that he returned home without limping.
And I am proud that Zaheer Khan has upheld that tradition inspite of thigh guards, shin pads and batting pads. Guess, he just wanted to prove a fellow fast bowler, Dale Steyn, right who said – “A 150 or 145km yorker is absolutely no different whether you bowl it here in Nagpur, or Chennai, Johannesburg, Perth.”

Note: Please be generous with your comments and suggestion. In case if you have any ideas or post or any grudge against anyone, feel free to drop in them in the comments section with your name and mail id. Or you can mail us at: cricketwithoutballs@gmail.com