Much gloom but some hope !!!...

This would pretty much sum up the week, and most of the last month, for most international bowlers. The past month or so has seen the odds so much stacked against them that you could forgive them for refusing to show up for warm-ups on the morning of the match. The recent Pakistan-Sri Lanka series (tragically aborted) provided as much activity as one can see in a glass of soda left open since yesterday. Over in the Carribbean, the last three games have been played on wickets which were so devoid of any life that had timeless tests been played in this day and age, this series would have continued almost till the start of the English summer !!. Teams have regularly got 600+ in their first innings only to see their opposition trump them to that score. Such matches used to be dime-a-dozen in the Ranji Trophy till some time back (when matches used to be decided on 1st innings lead if drawn: this led to one memorable match between Delhi and Karnataka in 1981 or so when one team scored 700 in the 1st innings but the other team got to that score late on the 5th day and hence won !!!). But to see such matches at test match level is sorely dissapointing. Surely the curators can do better than that. And if the pitch is OK, short boundaries make matters equally worse. Yesterday, at Christchurch, 726 runs were scored in an otherwise thrilling match. But the area of the playing field had as much a role to play in the run-fest as did pathetic bowling (I hardly saw a slower ball bowled throughout the day).

But amongst all the dark clouds was the proverbial silver lining in the form of Mitchell Johnson's opening spell at Durban. Now Durban is one of the few grounds remaining that still holds some hope for the bowlers. And while I did not see the spell, to have two of world's premier batsmen injured is quite a feat !!. This spell further establishes Johnson's credentials as an exciting talent. Add to that his near-hundred in Johannesburg, and he seems to have the 'x-factor' in him !!. No wonder Ponting and his men are on top in that series...

Cheers
Amit