Sport is to have fun
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Getty Images
Winning is great, but losing can be an awfully big adventure, Richard Brook suggests in the Sunday Star Times. He takes the example of Sir James Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan, who was also an enthusiastic cricketer.
He was once asked to describe his bowling and replied that, after delivering the ball he would go and sit on the turf at mid-off and wait for it to reach the other end which, he said, "it sometimes did". Sir James loved the game so much he formed his own side and named it the Allahakbarries, in the mistaken belief the Arabic term "Allah akbar" meant "God Help Us".
...
He installed himself captain of the Allahakbarries, of course, and had specific instructions for team-mates, especially when Bernard Partridge, an illustrator from Punch magazine and the unfortunate sufferer of a lazy eye, was bowling. "Partridge, when bowling, keep your eye on square leg," advised Barrie. "Square-leg, when Partridge is bowling, keep your eye on him." Another of his tips was to never practice on the opponent's ground before the match, because, he said: "this can only give them confidence".
Others in Barrie's side included Arthur Conan Doyle, AA Milne, PG Wodehouse, EW Hornung and Rudyard Kipling. To think, in one team, the creators of Sherlock Holmes, Dr Watson, Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, Winnie the Pooh, Eyeore, Raffles, Jeeves, Wooster, Mowgli and Baloo. It must have made for some wonderful after-match repartee.
Mathew Varghese is sub-editor (stats) at Cricinfo