Expert Blog

Lessons from cricket

Harsha Bhogle gives us his view on two contrasting games of cricket and how the game is never over till the last ball is bowled.

A one-day international in poor conditions and a Test match in an outstanding atmosphere gave us valuable lessons on the game and indeed, about life itself.

This is not the best time of the year to be playing day/night cricket since in our part of the world, cricket is a winter sport and there is always the prospect of a lot of dew. In Dhaka, it is emerging as the biggest factor in the game and when external conditions seem to overcome playing skills, it is never very good. But Sri Lanka have stumbled onto a fundamental truth amidst those conditions.

With injuries the flavour of the season for them, Sri Lanka were almost forced to play Thilan Samaraweera. Sometimes we make the right decision, sometimes we stumble onto it. It had baffled me all along that Sri Lanka chose to play little bits and pieces batsmen over genuine class. Inevitably then, the top four had to carry the batting. But in a 50 over game, there is always time for class to stamp itself and that is what we saw with Samaraweera. I won’t be surprised if he plays the kind of role Rahul Dravid did for India. He will also fill a troublesome spot for them at no 5.

And away in Sydney, Australia showed that in Test cricket, as in life, there is always a second chance if you hang in there. Most teams would have believed the game lost after a first innings score of 126. But Australia hung in there, fought for every run and eventually made 176 look a much bigger target than it actually was. In doing so, they also showed that no game is lost till the last ball is bowled. I also believe Australia’s approach shows why process driven teams will always beat those that have little going for them other than instinct.