The big picture

Hi all,
I been away for a long time now , and i have my reasons too. I was away with the state senior team preparing to a pre season tournament.
The camp was in Cochin, enchanting place of Chinese fishing nets, lagoons , mysterious streets that lead you up to unexpected vistas opening in to myriad hues of green blue and splash of reds
,Well any other time, may be!
But now it was raining cats, dogs and a couple of rhinos, so the mysterious streets were now muddy to say the least, the sky a dirty slate Grey and you can ask any fellow traveler the roads are all fine , be it dusty or muddy but it is the washing that gets to you

So what do the guys do when you are forced to be cooped up in the room bursting with energy and practically nothing to do, you can be assured that sooner or later one of them will become a martyr. In our case the martyr was Sanuth, who in his innocennce proclaimed his date of birth which was the next day, and lo! the team organised an imprompto party . There was singing ,dancing and alot fun , but can you ever find out where the icing on the cake went?

If you cant, then take alook at the picture, Sanuth is not painted for war, but the entire team was of the opinion that, the icing made him presentable!

Love for Cricket

Hi all,
A well wisher of mine , pointed out to me, quite rightly too, that my grammar is horrible. I agree ,and to boot my spellings are even worse. Let me defend myself saying that grammar lies in the analytical brain, while I write from my heart!

As I came to the ground today morning my eyes fell on the score board standing forlorn in the corner of the ground, and i saw the total score, it read" I L U" or I Love You. a true cricketing lover with an artistic bent and lateral thinking capability must have visited the ground before me.

That set me thinking; why this love for cricket? this passion,urge, why?
I see every day people from different levels of society , struggling to make it big, to make their name, and cricket is a great leveler.

I see the guy who comes in the fancy car helping the cobblers son in his functional drills, I see the Kerala captain Sony correcting a 15 year old guy who has not still earned his cricketing spurs, and it warms my heart!

Is it not the perfect Utopia which Christianity envisages. Is it not the perfect world , where all are equal, which was propounded by Marx and Engels , sans the class struggles.
The only struggle is between bat and ball, between driving mind and tiring muscles, between the brain of the spinner, with his flights and deception, and the twinkling feet of the batsman. In spite of all these grim struggles there are smiles all around, the appreciative pat on the shoulder, the glance that says it all.Its all there in CRICKET
No wonder they spelled it out " I L U"

I too love you,Cricket, this wonderful game, that touches us all and enriches all of us in so may different ways

Science or Art

Hello all,
Glad to be back to writing after a few days,
Let me start off with an apology and a warning;

1.The apology; I was not able to write for a few days, kindly forgive the break

2;The warning;I am a start-stop-start writer

Today was another rainy day, and when I say rainy, its a bit of an understatement, as the two photos show, they were taken in space of 3o minutes and while I was hunkered down in the confines of the room adjacent to the ground,mind you all, it was not a cozy room , the roof was leaking all the time and the spray was drifting in along with a chilly wind.

This was the ideal scenario for the philosopher in me to take over and I started ruminating,
Is cricket a Science or is it an Art?

What do u feel?
To an earlier post, a reader, knowledgeable and by all, I feel a good cricketer, had posted a comment which was illuminating to say the least. I salute your knowledge and feel for the game Mr Abhi.I hope that this post will be of interest to you.

I feel that the Science is in the execution of the skill and the Art is in the eye of the appreciative beholder.
I will explain,

The eye sights the ball. the brain takes over, computes the trajectory and pace of the ball, suggesting an area of impact, the brain in conjunction with previous experiences derived from memory decides on the best possible response, here lets say cover drive. proper footwork makes sure that there is a marriage of stability and mobility, ensuring that the body levers are aligned and the summation of force is in the proper direction, and the ball is hit with required force.

What all sciences where at work here?
Let me count. Bio Mechanics,Exercise Physiology, Psychology, and what else?. OK
Kin Anthropometry ,excuse me have i got a spelling wrong?I have an excuse,
I am a poor speller. hahaha

Now where is the Art?

The art is in the glorious arc of the flashing willow, The art is in the innate timing,The art is in the sweet sound of the ball hitting the bat, The art is in the speed of the ball across the lush green, finally the Art and the enjoyment is in the heart of the beholder(In all our hearts a little David lives, thirsting to vanquish the giant Goliath), who roots for the under dog, relishing the way the diminutive batsman dismisses the flaming red missile hurled by the menacing fast bowler to the pickets with a wave of a flimsy piece of wood. Is that not magic?

Oops, is Magic an Art or is it a science?

YOU DECIDE

Imitation

hello all.,
they say imitation is the greatest form of flattery, yes , i believe that, but to imitate a cricketer! For a budding player, well that can be a tough ask, and foolish to say the least.

Why?
First of all what do u copy?
U tend to copy the exaggerated mannerisms that make up a players persona,
Fine with me, turn up ur collar , swagger to the pitch with chewing gum in your mouth, some times your mouth is so dry that you hardly find any spit, . the white sun screen , the zinc that makes up the warrior face, take a look at the guy above


OK, now for some serious brain jamming; what can u imitate, what cant you?

Never imitate a style of playing a shot , or delivering a type of ball,
WHY?
U have to differentiate between Style and Technique, so
What is Technique?
It is the most efficient way of performing a task, lets say a drive.
and it becomes a particular players STYLE when that player executes that technique taking in to consideration, his own physiological characteristics and bio-mechanical limitations.

so many players fall in to the trap of trying to copy the style of a player without understanding , the solid technique, the physiological and bio-mechanical factors that lead to the technique being displayed by that player in that manner, and end up as poor copy cats or even worse

eg: try being an other Murali and get called for chucking
try being a Pitersen and get out LBW

MORALE

Copy Technique, Not Style

MOST OF ALL TRY TO RETRACE THE STEPS THAT MADE THE STAR WHO HE IS TODAY, AND YOU WILL SEE BLOOD, LOTS OF SWEAT, TEARS WIPED AWAY. AND STEPS CLIMBED, WHEN ALL THE OTHERS ROOTED FOR FAILURE, AND MOST OF ALL THE BURNING DESIRE TO SUCCEED AND THE BELIEF THAT HE COULD AND HE WILL

coaches and cooks, do u see the resemblance?

hi all,
its been a few days and the fault is entirely mine, apologizes are due , and hereby tendered.
as the headline says ,there are a lot of similarities,
well good cooks and good coaches don't spoil the dishes and players.
lets find out, what all goes in to a great player
1. raw talent
2.good technique
3.proper application
4.temperament
5.fitness
6.dash of luck
they say cricket is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration.

now what goes into a great chicken roast,
1. a good fresh chicken, properly dressed.
(raw talent)
2.proper pot and pan
(good technique)
3.spices to taste
(proper application)
4.salt to requirement
(temperament.
5.correct cooking time
(fitness)
6 garnish and dress
(dash of luck).
can you see the similarity now?
there are more , any thing out of proportion will spoil. too much spices will spoil the chicken and too much emphasis on technique can mar the performance.
so what is the morale ?
a coach and a cook should, know what to add, how much time to marinate( off season training).
and
MOST OF ALL KNOW WHEN TO LET THE PLAYER AND THE CHICKEN BE, GIVE THEM TIME AND SPACE TO BRING OUT THE FLAVORS, AND TIME TO MATURE.

SO A TIME TO BE HANDS ON AND A TIME TO BE HANDS FREE , AND ENJOY THE RIDE

HAPPY COOKING(COACHING)

the scream in my soul

every day at least 40 trainees of different age groups come to me for training, some are talented, some are not. some are driven some have to be driven. some have a passion, in some the fire burn low,their embers have to be stoked, fanned until the fire burns bright. some are mentally agile,others quick of feet and eye.
BUT WHAT MAKES A PERFECT CRICKETER? IS HE BORN OR MADE?
i don't know

but i am afraid, that i cant live up to their expectations. i am scared that i cant equip them for the battles that lie surely ahead of them.

the more i read and learn, the more i am convinced that i know but little.
the more i plan and formulate , more and more variables creep up
the more i think, the more confused i am

i wish that for those who come to me for training, i can be alil of all they want me to be when they need me.

trust worthy, so that they can confide their fears
reassuring, so that i can soothe them
knowledgeable, so that i can teach them
honest, that i wont fail them
that i be their COACH
help me be all that, dear GOD

pain, gain

there is an often quoted saying# no pain no gain# but the pain must be for a purpose, in the limit of tolerance.
why this topic/ u might ask, well today, at the fag end of the workout, one of the trainees, mr chatergee said he was in pain and i the philosopher replied, pain at birth, pain at death and the victorious smile in between.
its good to b philosophical when some one is playing the game. u r just an analytical observer.
A work out or a program should have an aim, a logical beginning and end building to a crescendo at the midst and tapering to a low intensity drill. and the player should have an understanding to why he is doing this.
My friend nothing comes easy, all the hard work u do in the off season pays off when u run that winning run at the end of day when ur legs are leaden, ur lungs burning and ur heart says quit! but your warrior soul says no! i can and i will!!.
So my friends, any pain with a purpose pays off, like what the great cricketer said`what comes out in the flood light in the circle, is what u did when no one was looking at u, the rounds u ran in the rain. the weights lifted, the balls knocked in senseless ( u felt so at that time) batting drills, catches took when ur palm stung.

IN THE END MY FRIEND, THE WILLING ALWAYS WINS!