It's more than a game !

I spent the better half of my Sunday morning trying to wear Kasprowicz's boots,

If I had just let the delivery alone, if I had just run that single a little harder and converted it into two, if I had given 2 runs less while I was bowling......as I look back there are two many if's that could have swung the match in our favour. But at the end of the day , we lost the game and the Ashes is 1-1.....I am gonna have a really tough time going to bed today....

After 1176 runs, 40 wickets, 18 sixes and 143 fours and 2 runs deciding the fate of the warring teams, the record books would scream that the English won the 2nd Ashes test. But in my opinion, no team lost at Edgbaston, two rivals gave everything they could muster to make sure that at the end of 20 hours of play, Cricket was the ultimate winner. If I were English I would savour the victory and idolise my heroes KP, Harmison & Flintoff, If I were Aussie I would take heart in the heroics of Warne, Lee and Kasprowicz. But you don't necessarily have to belong to these commonwealth nations to appreciate the game. What traspired in the second test, epitomises this magnificient game of willow and leather, where matches are won by the size of heart more than that of brain and brawn.

What a wonderful English summer this has been ! When the Aussies lost to the Bangla Tigers, the media almost wrote an obituary for the men from down under, and crucified the bowling attack comprised of 35 year olds. As the ratings of the English team grew, as they have been for a while now, a climatic tie to the Natwest series left neutrals confused about who's the best. The Aussies restored normalcy with the 3 one-day series, but the fourth estate refused to write out English before the first test at Lords. A session into the first test, the Aussies had their bodies and egos battered, but the game kept churning one surprise after another and the Aussies clinched a comfortable victory at the end. Just when the british tabloid were busy trying to defrock the English team of all the accolades they had adorned them with, over the past year, Vaughan & Co amassed 408 runs on day 1 at Edgbagston. By Sunday evening 7th Aug, the press box and supporters of the game were left utterly perplexed by the vagaries of this wonderful game. As the fate of the series remains uncertain, people are still trying to come to terms with emotional roller coaster that the English summer has served them. Lap it up people, it doesn't get better than this !

Time and again, cricket dishes us out with games that reaffirm our faith in this sport. Unlike Samuel Jackson in Pulp Fiction, I dont want you to acknowledge that what we witnessed today was a miracle or divine intervention. Sports is about ordinary people, people like you and me, performing seemingly extraordinary tasks and inspiring the masses. What happened at Edgbaston was no different.

I have just realised that the result has nullified my previous post 5.0, I should probably start living by the dictum "Keep your words soft and tender, cause tomorrow you may have to eat them".