Thursday 21 June 2012

Reflections

There have been a few newsworthy events of the last few days, and I feel like adding my ha'pennys worth to some of them.  Read on, dear reader.

TOM MAYNARD


The English cricket scene was rocked by the untimely death of Tom Maynard on Monday morning.  Maynard, 23, was the son of other England batsman and coach Matt Maynard, one of a large list of great county players who never cracked international cricket.  After impressing since joining Surrey, hopes were high that Tom would not have the same troubles as his old man at the highest level.

The details surrounding Tom's death are very hazy, with only a few actual facts clear.  For myself, I do not wish to know anything more.  It is sufficient for me to know that this talented, popular and highly promising player has been lost to the world at a devastatingly early age, and that Surrey CCC, English cricket and of course the Maynard family will be all the poorer for the loss.

Though a Surrey player when he died, Tom started his career at Glamorgan.  During a recent off season, some underhand backroom intrigue saw captain Jamie Dalrymple and coach Matt Maynard ousted from their roles.  Rather than stand by and accept what had happened, Tom showed family loyalty of the highest order by asking to leave the county he had been with all his life.  I would hope all of us would be able to stand by our principles, and our own flesh and blood, in such times.

Rest easy Tom Maynard.  You will be missed, but most importantly of all you will be remembered.

LADAINIAN TOMLINSON


Monday also saw the retirement from the NFL of running back Ladainian Tomlinson, after he signed a one day contract to retire as a San Diego Charger (a curiously American thing to do).  Though his last two years were spent with the New York Jets, LT (a nickname both simple and historically significant with greatness in the NFL) will always be remembered as a Charger, who he spent the first 9 seasons of his career with.

LT ends his time in the NFL 5th all time in terms of rushing yards, his career tally of 13,684 putting him behind only legends of the game like Curtis Martin, Barry Sanders (both of whom, like Tomlinson, never won a Super Bowl) Walter Payton and Emmitt Smith.  But as with all numbers, they only tell some of the tale.  LT was perhaps one of the most dynamic players of all time, a consistent threat on the ground from anywhere on the field, an accomplished pass catcher out of the backfield (in 2003, his 1645 rushing yards were joined with 100 catches for a further 725 yards) and also as a gimmick passer, finishing his career with 7 touchdown PASSES from 12 attempts.

As I've already mentioned, he ends his career without ever appearing in, let alone winning, a Super Bowl.  This is a cruel oversight, but by no means a unique one.  The absence of a Super Bowl ring is for many players a barrier to greatness, and perhaps a key block to their entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  I have little doubt that this will not be the case with LT.  I fear that my generation of NFL fans will not be able to truly appreciate how good Tomlinson was, as his deeds are too close.  In time, thanks to posterity and our memories, maybe we'll see how good he actually was.

REST, RECUPERATION, ROTATION...DROPPED?


Following on from James Anderson (and ultimately Stuart Broad) missing the 3rd Test for England against the West Indies for reasons of "rotation", England have again announced that Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad will not play in the final ODI against the same opponents at Headingley on Friday.  This has led to uproar from some quarters, players media and punter alike.  Many of the old guard angrily bemoaning how the greats like Fred Trueman used to play every game for club and country, and would deem such rotation as insulting and consider it a dropping.  Fans are angry that they have to pay such high prices to watch a game in which a second string XI will be playing.

For myself, I can see reasons for and against the argument.  With the greatest respect to the Windies though (who certainly in the Test series put up a much better fight than many expected), they are not the attraction of the 2012 summer.  They have been a starter, a warm up act, a prologue.  Sure, enjoyable in parts, but what we really want is the main course, the headline band, the story itself.  That, in this instance, is the clash with South Africa.  I think I speak for all when I say we would prefer to have the best bowling attack in the world (a tag England richly deserve) fully fit and fresh for this series.

Understandably, fans who have paid good money are angry, and will feel short changed.  My answer would be to not be angry with the England team, coach or selectors.  Focus instead your anger at the blinkered short sighted administrators, with their still wonderfully well thought out and planned 5 match ODI series against Australia.  Take those five matches away, and England would be playing their full strength team throughout the Windies series.  This series is the biggest insult to the fans, and tellingly, the West Indies.

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