fingers, an old man and a teen

Posted by: jrod
on Nov 28, 2009
in categories kiwis, pakistanis

There was a “teenager” and his older brother.

A comeback kid.

A former captain.

A current captain.

A blogger with a fucked up finger.

And 32 runs.

While the world was watching the big three in action (Australia, India and England), the working class side and the team without a home fought out a proper piece of test cricket.

I saw highlights, and not many.

Sky showed the big three, but this test, and its excitement were not on show.

I don’t know how much pain was in IOB’s eyes. I don’t know how many nails Vettori bit. I can’t tell you whether Umar Akmal had a tear as he walked off. And I can’t tell you how close it felt to the fans who were watching it.

But I am sure it was good for cricket.

A test match coming down to the witching hour.

Two evenly matched teams clawing at each other’s throats.

Collapses, comebacks and teen dreams.

I wish I had seen the fucker.

Now let us all hope that IOB’s finger comes good so he can give us all the details of his heroism.

Oh, and I may have forgotten to say this earlier, but that guy with the sore finger wrote a chapter in my book.

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There are 22 Comments

22 Comments

  1. Sir Paddles  •  Nov 28, 2009 @14:08

    Poor Iain O’Brien. He didn’t want to look at the Physio popping his finger back into place.

    Dislocated fingers hurt like a B*tch.

  2. Hewy  •  Nov 28, 2009 @15:40

    The two sides I love to watch playing test cricket are NZ and Pakistan. You just know something is going to happen – someone is going to take a 5 for, someone unexpected is going to score a ton, there are collapses there are great stories. It’s all good.

    When they are playing each other – it’s like cricket taken to the next level. Like cricket they’d play in Valhalla.

    Unfortunately due to only having so many hours in the day to devote to cricket, I did not see a ball of this game. I am not happy.

  3. miriam  •  Nov 28, 2009 @16:06

    It wasn’t even on Sky here. I am golng to have to get Zee because I’ve missed at least two or three series that I’ve really wanted to see this year.
    miriam´s last blog ..fingers, an old man and a teen

  4. miriam  •  Nov 28, 2009 @16:11

    Except I’ve just realised Zee is really quite expensive.
    miriam´s last blog ..fingers, an old man and a teen

  5. getwithit  •  Nov 28, 2009 @16:37

    am surprised that you of all people hasn’t found an “unofficial” way to watch cricket. ive been doing this since the ashes at cricket-online.tv. the highlights are better than the ones on satellite and every darn match is there

  6. jrod  •  Nov 28, 2009 @16:42

    getwithit, I do on occasion watch online. Usually for only short periods of time, like the last one day that pakistan and New Zealand played, I watched the end of it. The bad quality, especially of the sound, gets to me. And late night is the worst. If there is another match on TV, it always wins out.

  7. miriam  •  Nov 28, 2009 @16:43

    I did watch some of it “unofficially” but it’s just not as convenient; eg you can’t do anything else on your computer whilst watching.
    miriam´s last blog ..fingers, an old man and a teen

  8. ashwin  •  Nov 28, 2009 @16:52

    Can I buy ur new book from Hulu? Can’t buy from amazon since I’m from india u c…

  9. dasw  •  Nov 28, 2009 @17:07

    I went bonkers when I saw the result in the morning, didn’t think they would still make it.
    And the delightfully gritty Saffas shredded England. Good times.

  10. jrod  •  Nov 28, 2009 @17:52

    Ashwin, What is Hulu, have you got a link for me? It will be on other sites, not sure which yet, will make sure at least one sends to India.

  11. alex  •  Nov 28, 2009 @18:43

    Obrien gave away too many runs. He always does. May be he exposes his ideas in his blog and stop thinking when he bowls.

    He needs to bowl at only off stump line ball after ball and cramp the batsman. No experimentation and no freebie fours pls. Fight..

    That said i was thinking Newzland going to lose. Well done bond and vettori.

  12. Samir Chopra  •  Nov 28, 2009 @19:00

    A wonderful test with a great finish; and it was in the right time zone too: started at 6 PM, went till 1 AM. Perfect.
    Samir Chopra´s last blog ..The century of wins

  13. PJ  •  Nov 28, 2009 @20:53

    Hey jrod, if you want to see highlights there are plenty of websites online which host highlights of all matches played. If you need a link email me

  14. alex  •  Nov 28, 2009 @21:30

    Here is a Highlight website one. Enjoy. :)

    http://cricket-online.tv/

  15. karachikhatmal  •  Nov 28, 2009 @22:17

    thanks for pointing this match out – it was absoliutely incredible watching the last day. every hour you felt it was all over, and then it would turn on its head. full marks to bond though, his effort really brought a tear to your eyes.

    of course, legal proceedings by the international court of justice for crimes against humainity need to be initiated against imran-fucker-farhat, who made no runs and dropped two of the three top scorers.

    also, jrod, you have to see the third innings where asif and aamer ripped through the kiwis. cricket-online.tv is the best place, they have great highlights.
    karachikhatmal´s last blog ..Enter the Facebook

  16. poopsie  •  Nov 29, 2009 @02:18

    Bond’s spell was old school fast bowling romance. Worth buying the series DVD just to be reminded of what fast bowling and test cricket is supposed to be about.

    And can anyone tell me if there is another ground that hosts test cricket that does not have a fence around the playing arena? How good would it have been sitting sitting just beyond the boundary rope the last 5 days?

  17. Ankit Dubey  •  Nov 29, 2009 @05:42

    awesome match…great for test cricket(which is supposedly dying, as per media and some money hungry boards and cricketers, though every match since the Ashes has been worth a watch for one or other reason, as far as I am concerned)…

    I am not against 20-20 cricket, but if it has to happen at the cost of Tests, I think its not worth it..Also, since I watched the entire 2nd inning of both teams, hats off to the bowlers, and Aamer, Asif, OBrien and Bond in particular for creating magic..(I wish India had a fast bowler of similar talent and sheer grit)..

    Looking forward to watch the last Ind-SL test…I believe its gonna be a close one..Btw, here are the links to watch live cricket online(with good audio, just like TV), and since I have the luxury of having 2 laptops(1 personal+1 work related), I never miss out:
    http://extracover.net
    http://live-cricket-view.blogspot.com/2009/10/vexcast-link.html

  18. poopsie  •  Nov 29, 2009 @06:24

    And what about Peter Fulton? Doesn’t he want to play test cricket? You are out of form, edge the ball onto your pads, be given out, and then not appeal the decision? Very very weird

  19. ashwin  •  Nov 29, 2009 @12:26

    Sorry, it;’s lulu… Got the name wrong….

  20. ashwin  •  Nov 29, 2009 @12:30

    This is what I was talking about…
    https://www.lulu.com/commerce/index.php?fBuyContent=6899686

  21. jrod  •  Nov 29, 2009 @16:31

    Ashwin, gotcha. Lulu were the publisher I used last time, they aren’t actually an online book store, but a self publishing website. I can’t use them, but am hoping for flipkart where my last book was as well.

  22. Leg Break  •  Nov 29, 2009 @23:54

    Serious question for the historians amongst you.

    Has there ever been a test where the team going into Day 5 Session 3 in the dominant position has ended up losing?