Testing Patience

I've already wrote of my great love for test matches.  But sometimes they can be quite strange.

The Something About Morne XI

Sometimes I picture what it would be like to play test cricket.  Considering that I'm 19 and have never picked up a cricket bat or ball in my life, I'd say my chances are none to, well, none.

Which leads me to imagine myself as a selector. Listen, I know it's strange, but they're my dreams dammit.

So, here is the team I would pick to represent the fictional country of Something About Morne. 

Thoughts on West Indies-Pakistan

I felt like I needed to write something about the second test between the West Indies in Pakistan.

Not that anyone should particularly care about my opinion, there are plenty of better writers out there to read.

But for me, this match has only re-affirmed my love for this slightly absurd, but wonderful sport.

Gilly

I've mentioned it dozens of times already, but one of the major ways I've gotten into this wonderful world of cricket is watching old YouTube videos.

If there's one person, who I just can't get enough of, it's Adam Gilchrist.

Test Matches!

I've mentioned quite a lot (possibly once every post, I dunno, get off my back), that test matches are far and away, my favorite form of cricket.

Pakistan aims for their first ever test series win in the West Indies, starting tomorrow, in what is the first test since Pakistan battled New Zealand to a fairly even draw in mid-January.

I've talked a tad about why I prefer them, but never really expanded on this. Maybe, it's because, the first match I watched was a test. Maybe its because, it that first match I watched, I was home on Thanksgiving break, and needed it was on into the wee hours of the morning, which I stay up til anyway. Maybe, it's because it's the most traditional form of the game, and I like that.

Bond, Shane Bond

Every sport has its fair share of players who are dynamic for a few seasons, then for whatever reason are done.

In American football, amazing running back Ricky Williams retired for a few seasons to go smoke pot. He came back and was able to show flashes, but wasn't really the same.

In basketball, "Pistol" Pete Maravich drank his career away.

Very few athletes miss large amounts of time, and miss parts of their career of their own doing like Shane Bond.

Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle scored 37 runs in one over earlier.

It sounds like something that should surprise me, but seeing some of the scores he posted thus far in the IPL, it doesn't.  At all.

Everything about Gayle fits perfectly together.  Of course someone named Chris Gayle, who plays for the West Indies, is an absolute maniac with the bat.  I prefer test matches, but watching Gayle flail around with the bat in T20s, makes them worth it.

While I love it, cricket can be a bit of a drag at times.  But watching Gayle trying to split cricket balls in two is a breath of fresh air.  The sport is better off for the Gayles and Sehwags.

So, there really isn't anything that Gayle could do to suprise me.

37 in an over? Sure. 

Get out on 99 with some absurd shot that no one in there right mind would go for? You bet.

Score 150 in a T20? Absolutely.

All of these things are possible for Chris Gayle, and I don't want him to ever change.