Gully Cricket
I have been down with a viral attack this week. Saturday didn't have anything interesting to offer.A routine visit to the doc, some very tasty glaxo pills to chew and tons of bread to eat were some of the things lined up. Naturally I was sulking and looked out of the balcony in hope.
Pushpavanam colony ( read as: Garden/Forest of flowers) , is the name of our neighbourhood in Chennai. BTW, I am yet to spot any of those flowers in the last 6 months :-) .The colony is a narrow by-lane with some 20 odd families living on both sides. Today morning the by lane turned into a cricket field with some interesting talent. Here is a profile of the players involved:
1. Kid1 - 12 yrs old , right hand bat and bowl,big hitter
2, Kid2: 10 yrs old - quite thin, right hand bat ,wristy stroke maker
3. Man : 35 yrs old - Left hand bat and chinaman , needless to say big hitter,dressed in banyan and nice Zari veshti/dhoti
The match was action packed. Kid2 started the proceedings when i reached the balcony;Man was bowling. The first few balls were gentle leg breaks that the kid flicked on the leg side. Kid2's shots made me think why Indian turn out to be good wristy players (Likes of Laxman, Azhar) . I think most kids start batting with heavy bats and find it hard to extend the arm and drive the ball straight. Coupled with the fact that the ball was turning, made it all the more compelling for Kid2 to just un-cock those wrists and send the ball to square leg.
All this while Man was getting support from the pavilion ( his under 10 daughter watching from the balcony above) . So guess what happens next, the last ball of his over is a zooter. A fast yorker bowled with a wrist spinners action, cleaned up Kid 2. Man was jumping in joy and his daughter came running down to congratulate her dad. Kid 2 was digusted and shook his head and muttered somethin like "Damn !! that was unfair you were supposed to be a spinner". I was reminded of my school days when my dad used the exact same trick to spoil my budding innings during gully cricket matches. The only difference was that i was twice the size of Kid2 and that dad was quite calm after he got me out. He would only bowl when your truly was at the crease and walk out of the match once I was cleaned up . Dad's are so much Fun!
Now it was the turn of Man to take guard . As mentioned earlier he was a lefty and had a loose grip on the handle. It was easy to guess that he was in a hurry to score. Kid 1 took the ball and started with a couple of loosners. Man defended the first one and the second one was driven to mid on. The next ball was fullish and faster and man unleased a powerful drive that sent the ball to the boundary. Ball four was send over the ropes quite easily. Man was super elated and was signalling to his wifey and waving the bat in joy. Ball five was also powerfully driven and Kid 1 was looking at the sky. By now, Man was giving some advice to the kids on finer aspects of seam bowling et. al. Kid 1 went back to his run up and signaled that this was the final delivery coming. Man took guard and before I relaized what happened, Kid 1 send a super fast zooter and cleaned up Man. hahhahahahahaha, i burst out laughing , what a super reply by Kid 1. Man quickly returned the bat to Kid 2 and left for the comfort of his balcony.
I came back beaming and started to blog. I am always suprised by how life gives us such pleasures (if i may use that word) during seemingly hopeless circumstances. If only we spotted such opportunities and took away the joy. Saturday looks quite promising now !!
Jerry Man
Pushpavanam colony ( read as: Garden/Forest of flowers) , is the name of our neighbourhood in Chennai. BTW, I am yet to spot any of those flowers in the last 6 months :-) .The colony is a narrow by-lane with some 20 odd families living on both sides. Today morning the by lane turned into a cricket field with some interesting talent. Here is a profile of the players involved:
1. Kid1 - 12 yrs old , right hand bat and bowl,big hitter
2, Kid2: 10 yrs old - quite thin, right hand bat ,wristy stroke maker
3. Man : 35 yrs old - Left hand bat and chinaman , needless to say big hitter,dressed in banyan and nice Zari veshti/dhoti
The match was action packed. Kid2 started the proceedings when i reached the balcony;Man was bowling. The first few balls were gentle leg breaks that the kid flicked on the leg side. Kid2's shots made me think why Indian turn out to be good wristy players (Likes of Laxman, Azhar) . I think most kids start batting with heavy bats and find it hard to extend the arm and drive the ball straight. Coupled with the fact that the ball was turning, made it all the more compelling for Kid2 to just un-cock those wrists and send the ball to square leg.
All this while Man was getting support from the pavilion ( his under 10 daughter watching from the balcony above) . So guess what happens next, the last ball of his over is a zooter. A fast yorker bowled with a wrist spinners action, cleaned up Kid 2. Man was jumping in joy and his daughter came running down to congratulate her dad. Kid 2 was digusted and shook his head and muttered somethin like "Damn !! that was unfair you were supposed to be a spinner". I was reminded of my school days when my dad used the exact same trick to spoil my budding innings during gully cricket matches. The only difference was that i was twice the size of Kid2 and that dad was quite calm after he got me out. He would only bowl when your truly was at the crease and walk out of the match once I was cleaned up . Dad's are so much Fun!
Now it was the turn of Man to take guard . As mentioned earlier he was a lefty and had a loose grip on the handle. It was easy to guess that he was in a hurry to score. Kid 1 took the ball and started with a couple of loosners. Man defended the first one and the second one was driven to mid on. The next ball was fullish and faster and man unleased a powerful drive that sent the ball to the boundary. Ball four was send over the ropes quite easily. Man was super elated and was signalling to his wifey and waving the bat in joy. Ball five was also powerfully driven and Kid 1 was looking at the sky. By now, Man was giving some advice to the kids on finer aspects of seam bowling et. al. Kid 1 went back to his run up and signaled that this was the final delivery coming. Man took guard and before I relaized what happened, Kid 1 send a super fast zooter and cleaned up Man. hahhahahahahaha, i burst out laughing , what a super reply by Kid 1. Man quickly returned the bat to Kid 2 and left for the comfort of his balcony.
I came back beaming and started to blog. I am always suprised by how life gives us such pleasures (if i may use that word) during seemingly hopeless circumstances. If only we spotted such opportunities and took away the joy. Saturday looks quite promising now !!
Jerry Man
Comments
~Wifey
Good to read a blog of a friend after long time, nowadays I think all are getting busy :)
I liked the way you sign- "Jerry Man", Did you know the famous villain of Tamil Cinema "M.N. Nambiar"'s M also stands for 'Jerry Man', I mean Manjeri.
I didn't know that! , nice to see you here
Vivek
yes we had so much fun . Esp playing on wet concrete surface with 3 slips in place. We all got pretty god at playing the cut shot.