Tuesday, May 16, 2006

I refuse to believe it. Sri Lanka - aided by bad light and rain - actually saved the Test. I wasn't daring hope that this might happen, and in all fairness it didn't look likely. 537/9 in the third innings in overcast conditions, with a tail wagging for all it's worth...wish I'd been there. Confirms all my belief in the superiority of Test cricket. And say what you will about the torpor of dull five-day matches without results, there's nothing that quite beats a really exciting drawn Test. Results like today do not only bear drama and nail-biting finishes, but also embody justice. A draw's one of the very few ways in which genuine justice can enter the world of sport. And this was a just result. The thought of Chaminda Vaas hanging on there for four and a half hours, the thought of Murali keeping fifteen balls out of his wicket and barely staving Hoggard off, the thought of poor Flintoff bowling with all the heart he has, for 51 overs, and not being able to beat the tail...and of course, the thought that with Jayasuriya back for the next Test, we might actually have a real series on our hands...these are exciting thoughts. Test cricket, I love you.

4 comments:

BeeDee said...

on the other hand am not that thrilled by jayasuriya's return. it sends out the wrong message. on day 1 and 2 SL screw up, they call up a guy past his prime who's retired. i guess they'll drop mubarak to make place for him. i'm not such a fan of the decision.

however, i am, for obvious reasons, utterly delighted by the result of the match and i hate u for going to see a day's play. gah.

scribbles said...

hutumthomo: absolutely.
rob: welcome back. didn't know we had cricket in common as well as steedman and the Left!!! the slips were bad, yes, but did you also notice the way the ball kept following poor monty around? that had something to do with the way the game turned out too...
looking forward to meeting you offline too sometime, btw...ihr sometime? let me know...
buchu: first of all, idiot, be online sometime soon! buzzed you several times today, but you were AWOL. if you don't come online sometime soon i promise you i'll sneak into lords again, wear an invisibility cloak if need be, and torture you with detailed reports! and pakistan come here soon...heeheehee...
and i think you're right, actually...still, don't you think the series is more open than it was now? england will still probably win, but what an advertisement for test cricket!
btw, committed to sri lanka though you and i are, isn't it wonderful to finally have an england side it's actually possible to like? no more gooches, no more gattings...also, i saw gatting near one of the stalls at lords on saturday....reminded me, as ever, that there have been few cricketers i've ever disliked as much. from gatting to flintoff is not only a cricketing but a civilizational leap!

Bidi-K said...

no more posts? do put up something :)

scribbles said...

bidi-k: thanks for the prod. Have been planning to get back to blogging for a while now, but just haven't got down to it.