Thursday, 10 July 2014

My Initiation Into A Silly Game


With the Asia cup, cricket fever has caught on once again in my house.  My folks were perched in front of the TV. I  make an entrance in with a broom – to do the sweeping, but they will not have it.  “Come off it mom- let sleeping dust lie” said my daughter  knowing that no way will I be able to get them out of the room.  I slumped down on a chair.  If you can’t beat  them ,join them.

“Ah, what a lovely sixer”, that’s my son, jumping up to hit the ceiling .  “And uh..that’s a four.” “What’s a sixer, What’s a four’? I ask. “six runs for a sixer, and four for a boundary.  The batsman gets that extra runs’.”Funny reasoning I say truculently’’ ‘why he never even took one step”.

There is something being said about a square leg.  What sort of leg is that? No ball? Can’t he see the ball in the bowler’s hands?  And pray what is a dot ball?  Have they put dots on the ball?  First slip, second slip?  I didn’t see anyone slipping either “Oh gosh, he is out for a duck”! “Out for a duck? “ I shake my head “Who is going out to get a duck when the game is not over yet”?”  “He has bowled a maiden over”.  That gets my goat.

“Has he come to play the Romeo or to play cricket? Anyway where’s the maiden?  “I say looking at the screen.  Sure enough there are maidens there with warpaint over their faces, acting anything but ladylike.

“Who has bowled , which maiden over?”  I ask again.  They collapse in laughter.  “A wide”  I dare not ask what a wide is, nor an L.B.W. Discretion is the better part of valour.

Only when a silly point is mentioned do I get up and say “Ah,  it’s a real silly game.  And when you kids keep laughing  at me, that is not cricket......

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