Deeply drippy
Cricket has a noble tradition of players leaving bodily fluids on the pitch
S Aga
25-Mar-2011
Superman Yuvraj Singh retched and heaved by the side of the wicket during his hundred against West Indies earlier this week. Which brought to mind other instances where players deposited liquids on the playing area
Blood
After he was rudely felled by a Shoaib Akhtar special in Lahore in 2003, Gary Kirsten collapsed to the ground and proceeded to bleed profusely. Whereupon Shoaib ran up, concerned, and cradled the fallen batsman in his arms, considerately letting Kirsten drip onto him. Runner-up: Mike Gatting, who left a fair amount of the red stuff all over the place (and a significant portion of his nose on the ball) after a Malcolm Marshall bouncer crashed into his face in 1986.
After he was rudely felled by a Shoaib Akhtar special in Lahore in 2003, Gary Kirsten collapsed to the ground and proceeded to bleed profusely. Whereupon Shoaib ran up, concerned, and cradled the fallen batsman in his arms, considerately letting Kirsten drip onto him. Runner-up: Mike Gatting, who left a fair amount of the red stuff all over the place (and a significant portion of his nose on the ball) after a Malcolm Marshall bouncer crashed into his face in 1986.
Sweat
There are players who glow and players who sweat. And then there's Rahul Dravid, off whom it drips in rivers, pooling on the pitch, creating a sticky wicket. All the better for him to display his teeth-gritted defensive skills on.
There are players who glow and players who sweat. And then there's Rahul Dravid, off whom it drips in rivers, pooling on the pitch, creating a sticky wicket. All the better for him to display his teeth-gritted defensive skills on.
Tears
No, not Kim Hughes at the press conference from hell, this one belongs to, but of course, Sreesanth, that tempestuous, all-snarling, all-dancing thing, who had a good, soul-refreshing bawl following a King's XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians game in the 2008 IPL, where in the course of the post-match pleasantries he was slapped by Harbhajan Singh.
No, not Kim Hughes at the press conference from hell, this one belongs to, but of course, Sreesanth, that tempestuous, all-snarling, all-dancing thing, who had a good, soul-refreshing bawl following a King's XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians game in the 2008 IPL, where in the course of the post-match pleasantries he was slapped by Harbhajan Singh.
Spit
Only one contender here. A lot of saliva goes onto Ricky Ponting's palms on any given game day, but there's gallons more to spare, evidently, which goes into moisturising the turf.
Only one contender here. A lot of saliva goes onto Ricky Ponting's palms on any given game day, but there's gallons more to spare, evidently, which goes into moisturising the turf.
Urine
Back in the really good old days, when people knew how to let their hair down properly, Bobby Peel, in one of cricket's more deliciously apocryphal stories, turned up to a game against Lancashire so drunk that he was compelled to relieve himself on the pitch during proceedings. Whereupon that ghastly old spoilsport Lord Hawke banned him from ever playing for Yorkshire again. "Lord Hawke put his arm round me and helped me off the ground - and out of first-class cricket," Peel narrated. "What a gentleman!"
Back in the really good old days, when people knew how to let their hair down properly, Bobby Peel, in one of cricket's more deliciously apocryphal stories, turned up to a game against Lancashire so drunk that he was compelled to relieve himself on the pitch during proceedings. Whereupon that ghastly old spoilsport Lord Hawke banned him from ever playing for Yorkshire again. "Lord Hawke put his arm round me and helped me off the ground - and out of first-class cricket," Peel narrated. "What a gentleman!"
Vomit
In Durban eight years ago, gawky colossus Ashish Nehra produced the bowling spell of his life, swinging it hither and yon and taking six English wickets. He then proceeded to scarf a banana on the sidelines for nourishment… before throwing it up, perhaps overcome by the excitement of it all.
In Durban eight years ago, gawky colossus Ashish Nehra produced the bowling spell of his life, swinging it hither and yon and taking six English wickets. He then proceeded to scarf a banana on the sidelines for nourishment… before throwing it up, perhaps overcome by the excitement of it all.
Everything
In 1986 in Madras the heat was getting to everyone. Out in the middle, Dean Jones was sick to his stomach, about at the end of his tether, when the captain, Allan Border, barked that maybe it was time to get a tough Queenslander out there instead. That did it and Jones stayed. He sweated, threw up, and at one point urinated in his pants, but stuck in, to produce perhaps the most odorous 200 in the history of the game.
In 1986 in Madras the heat was getting to everyone. Out in the middle, Dean Jones was sick to his stomach, about at the end of his tether, when the captain, Allan Border, barked that maybe it was time to get a tough Queenslander out there instead. That did it and Jones stayed. He sweated, threw up, and at one point urinated in his pants, but stuck in, to produce perhaps the most odorous 200 in the history of the game.