Elated SLRFU Wants to Contract Players
Tuesday 2nd November, 2010 15 BY MAHINDA WIJESINGHE dusty, turning wickets in the sub-conti- nent, he was to India what Godfrey ith the current trend of select- Evans was to England a couple of ing World XIs based on various decades earlier. No wonder he was the Whuman qualities such as ‘gentle- first choice wicket-keeper for the Rest of manliness’, ‘elegance’, ‘flamboyance’, the World XI in the 1970’s, and was an ‘stodginess’, and so forth, what about a attacking batsman of high quality as team of ‘professionals’? well. For instance, as an opener, his blis- Or, to put it more succinctly, here’s a A contractor to an ironmonger tering century (109) against the West team whose names denoted a profession. Indies attack comprising Hall, Griffith, Of course, one has to delve into history, Sobers and Gibbs at Chepauk in 1967 and by attempting to ‘balance’ the team, will be also remembered for having it may not be the strongest to meet the unfortunately missed reaching the cen- other so-called World XIs. However, tury by a mere six runs before lunch on since these matches are in one’s imagi- the first day of the Test which would nation only, who cares? with a packer in support have enabled him get membership of Let us begin at the beginning. the exclusive company of Trumper, The left-handed Indian opener Nari Macartney, Bradman and Majid Khan. Contractor, who played 31 Tests, takes West Indians were well-known for first strike. Just as the Australian left- producing a string of high quality fast handed opener Arthur Morris who bowlers, especially during the decades began his first-class career with twin of the 1970’s and 1980’s.
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