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Jacob Oram and the short ball: You pair are going to be great friends.
It may have been Daniel Flynn’s tooth that James Anderson removed with a bouncer, but Jacob Oram looked the more uncomfortable against short-pitched bowling.
Of course Flynn’s bloodied mélange of flesh and teeth went way beyond being uncomfortable. We just mean that Oram made repeated mistakes dealing with bouncers, whereas Flynn only really made the one, massively costly error.
Wonder when he’ll play a hook shot next. We’d be filing that away in the mental drawer marked ‘never again’ along with running with shin splints and Gujerati food (sugar is NOT a type of salt).
It seems like James Anderson feels pretty bad about it, but he also made a very sensible point when he said: “When you hit someone on the head it generally encourages bowlers to do it again.”
That’s a recognition that it’s not his job to sway out of the way of 90mph pulverisers, it’s his job to deliver them.
England v New Zealand, second Test at Old Trafford – day one
New Zealand 202-4 (Ross Taylor 67 not out)
After fracturing my cheekbone in a similar hook related incident, it has been removed from the repertoire. I felt his pain!
I wonder if Craig Cumming still plays the hook shot? Probably not, I reckon.
I was thinking of Craig Cumming just yesterday. What is it with Kiwis and getting hurt? Also, poor Daniel Flynn. He is in my fantasy cricket team. If only there were an alternative point-scoring system for horrible injuries, I’d be in the lead.