I played a match last Sunday, or rather, didn't play... Ever since I started playing for the staff team at MIT, I've never sat out in any match that I was picked for. This time, for the first time ever, I graced the seat next to the scorer and marveled at the ease with which the little boy who was the scorer for the day systematically did this painstaking job. My knee is not hurting much, but I was scared of worsening the injury.
We lost, mainly due to some unimaginative batting and 41 runs being plundered off one of our bowlers' quota of 4 overs. But the keeper who has replaced me behind the stumps - Santosh Amin, had an excellent time in both the matches he played. Very few byes and he held on to the only chance that was on offer. He is young (only 30), has a good technique, and probably what's more important - the right temperament. And he is a very good batsman to boot. A really good investment for the future for our staff team.
So, is this the way it all ends..? After the indignity of losing out on the keeper's slot last year to a nitwit, I was looking forward to playing this year, when the osteochondritis stopped me from keeping. But looking at the situation now, I think it is safe to assume that I have played my last match as keeper for the MIT staff team. It would be highly egoistic and inconsiderate of me to insist on playing as first choice keeper when somebody who is a great keeper and younger too is around.
This is not the way I wanted it to end. I'd always thought of it as ending in a climax of one terrific tournament, one perfect diving catch, one flawless stumping and maybe a fighting score batting... Before the creaking of one's bones and the fatigued trembling in one's legs would send an urgent signal about the R-word...
Maybe I can still play as leg-spinner. I trouble the guys regularly at nets when I float some of them old leg breaks in. However, something about keeping has kept me hooked. Whenever my mind gets troubled, I always used to think of a green field, crouching down behind the stumps, heart hammering in anticipation as the fast bowler gears up and the umpire calls "play..."
I need to find something else now...
We lost, mainly due to some unimaginative batting and 41 runs being plundered off one of our bowlers' quota of 4 overs. But the keeper who has replaced me behind the stumps - Santosh Amin, had an excellent time in both the matches he played. Very few byes and he held on to the only chance that was on offer. He is young (only 30), has a good technique, and probably what's more important - the right temperament. And he is a very good batsman to boot. A really good investment for the future for our staff team.
So, is this the way it all ends..? After the indignity of losing out on the keeper's slot last year to a nitwit, I was looking forward to playing this year, when the osteochondritis stopped me from keeping. But looking at the situation now, I think it is safe to assume that I have played my last match as keeper for the MIT staff team. It would be highly egoistic and inconsiderate of me to insist on playing as first choice keeper when somebody who is a great keeper and younger too is around.
This is not the way I wanted it to end. I'd always thought of it as ending in a climax of one terrific tournament, one perfect diving catch, one flawless stumping and maybe a fighting score batting... Before the creaking of one's bones and the fatigued trembling in one's legs would send an urgent signal about the R-word...
Maybe I can still play as leg-spinner. I trouble the guys regularly at nets when I float some of them old leg breaks in. However, something about keeping has kept me hooked. Whenever my mind gets troubled, I always used to think of a green field, crouching down behind the stumps, heart hammering in anticipation as the fast bowler gears up and the umpire calls "play..."
I need to find something else now...
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