10 things I love about cricket

The first in a series of cricket lists

We all have different things we love about cricket.  Some love the glitz and crash-bang-wallop of Twenty20.  Others prefer5-day test matches that examine the participants in every way possible.  Whatever they may be, they shape our love of the game.  We may not witness all of them very often, or even any of them in a single match, but when they happen it makes the wait worthwhile.

So here is a list of things that keep me coming back for more, in no particular order:

  1. A fired up fast bowler; destroying the opposition in a single spell, no batsman can stand before him.  He is the epitome of aggression, you can almost see him foaming at the mouth.
  2. The mental battle; sometimes a great technique just isn’t enough, when adversity is at hand those players who get their heads down and tough it out, no matter what.
  3. The tension; when all results are possible on the final day, and the winners identity suddenly seems meaningless, inconsequential.
  4. Attacking spin bowling; with close fielders crowding the bat, suddenly even the most free-flowing batsman can become a gibbering wreck in the face of the twirlers probing and scheming.
  5. Controversy; moan all day long, but still can’t get enough of it.  Those moments that are still talked about decades later.
  6. When the tail wags; because sometimes the batsmen need bringing down a peg or two, and the bowlers show them how it’s done.
  7. Surprises; When nothing happens for two hours, and then we see something incredible.  When the underdog becomes the master.  When that journeyman suddenly becomes a world-beater.  When the world-beater is rendered flawed and vulnerable.
  8. Statistics and records; king like in no other sport – imagine if Pele’s every touch of the ball were recorded for posterity.  The scorer is the hidden hero of this sport, without whom my enjoyment would be diminished.
  9. History; talking, reading, writing about players who retired long before I was even born.  To imagine is a wonderful thing.
  10. Contrasts; that a sport can be in turns both genteel or brutal, defensive or attacking, hare or tortoise, tragedy or comedy, waltz or salsa.

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