Instinctive cricket rules
Mike Haysman, who's off to commentate on the Sri Lanka-Pakistan series, is excited about the prospect of watching two teams who rely on instincts and sometimes throw the coaching manual into the sea
Kanishkaa Balachandran
25-Feb-2013
Mike Haysman, who's off to commentate on the Sri Lanka-Pakistan series, is excited about the prospect of watching two teams who rely on instincts and sometimes throw the coaching manual into the sea. Read on in Supercricket.
That is the beauty of cricket in Asia. Coaching is not restrictive. It is correctly used to sand paper some rough edges but it encourages instinct and expression. Enormously strong wrists will be in action as deliveries that would normally be driven straight as per coaching manuals are whipped away square on the leg side in a disdainful manner. Mystery spinners will hoodwink batsmen as unconventional finger and wrist action will unravel some of the best wielders of willow around.
In the Island, Aravinda de Silva shares anecdotes of his finest memories of playing against Pakistan. Rex Clementine met him.
"I remember landing a day or two before the match in Pakistan. The second ball I faced, I just tried to on-drive, probably I was overconfident and managed to flick it back to Saqlain and I was caught and bowled. It was very disappointing as the team was expecting much from me. But that made me determined to do well in the second innings and score some runs. It was tougher in the second innings. We lost early wickets and the wicket wasn’t easy to bat on. It was very satisfying to score a hundred there.
Kanishkaa Balachandran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo