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McCullum raises bar
By Will 6 months ago, Comments
“McCullum’s going spastic,” one of my colleagues said over messenger while I watched one, lone, bearded spectator trudge around the Arctic Bowl in Southampton in the mizzle. I didn’t see much of Brendon McCullum’s explosive 158, but the facts and stats behind such innings illuminate it perfectly adequately.
Let’s start with the facts. He hit 10 fours and 13 sixes, one of them an outrageous paddle over his left shoulder off a disbelieving Zaheer Khan, and ended up scoring more runs than anyone has ever done in the brief history Twenty20 cricket. The previous record-holder - Cameron White, who hit 141 not out for Somerset against Worcestershire two years ago but contributed just six to the Bangalore’s pitiful total - spent most of the innings watching helplessly as one ball after another disappeared into the night sky. The pre-match fireworks had nothing on this.
McCullum’s penchant for the spectacular is not new. Only last month he creamed 170 off 108 balls to help Otago make mincemeat of Auckland in the
final of New Zealand’s State Shield, but on that occasion hardly anyone bothered to turn up to watch. Now, he did the business in front of well over 40,000 fans, most of them barracking at the start for their local side but many giving McCullum the ovation he deserved as he took the Bangalore bowlers to pieces. Fair enough: it was a knock that transcended partiality.
What cricket is this? People have termed Twenty20 the sport’s fast-food, which correctly implies it’s cheap, nasty and fills you with guilt. But that doesn’t convey just how fleeting it really is. It’s amphetamined cricket. Ravers’ cricket. Cricket for a trance nation. Dumbed down. Speeded up. Some brilliant shots, some awful slogs, much shorter boundaries. Cheerleaders. Too much colour. Where is this all heading?
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