Friday, December 7, 2007

The Guess Who - An Auld Game

marauder, master-blaster and butcher make for unlikely but perfect epithets to describe the way this shy, unassuming man plays his cricket. after the great sir isaac vivian 'neena gupta' alexander richards, our man has got, perhaps, the most famous, and most fearsome, forearms in contemporary cricket. interestingly enough, both - viv and he - played a crucial role in numerous matches with their dangerous but under-rated bowling skills. when it comes to their batting, though, none of their opponents ever made the mistake of underestimating them, and the often benign indian and english attacks - against whom they've both played knocks that will proudly stand the test of time - were among their two most favored whipping boys. considering that he has more than a few things in common with the great richards, it needs to be stated here, right off the...err, bat, that their personalities are as different from each other as are opposites. well, actually, when it comes to the public image they choose to cultivate they are opposites. that said, they both come from islands of cricketing excellence. for someone who shares so much in common with viv richards, it seems only right that he has something to do with the other richards too. and he does. in fact, he is like barry richards. in passing, we'd like to point out that in and around deep backward point was an area our man preferred to do a bulk of his scoring in; mostly in flat 6s and ferocious 4s. that aspiring opening batsmen today don't think a copy-book technique is a necessary condition to do the job has much to do with this man. what they don't realize is that his unique, club-like forearms had much to do with the way only he played. can you, dear readers of this not-at-all-esteemed cricket rag, tell us who we are trying harder than a prehistoric rock not to reveal the name of? answer in comments.

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