Binga!!!!

Scene 1 : The clock’s showing around 2.10pm in the afternoon in the Port of Spain. All the Australians look tired. Lara is well settled in 70s and seems to produce another masterclass while chasing 407. The pitch is as benign as it can be; ball hardly seems to be bouncing. Suddenly the red cherry is handed over to an enthusiastic blonde. Everything seemed to change. The blonde hustling in from round the wicket aims at Lara’s body and suddenly pitch becomes responsive to the energy of the bowler. Lara is made to jump, sway, duck to everything hurled at him for the next 20 mins. He is reduced to being a puppet owned by his master, the blonde quickie. The same thing continues till tea and even after that. Lara’s confidence takes a major blow and he finally gets out to a harmless Stuart McGill. The spell on either side of the Tea interval handed the match to Australia.
Scene 2 : India is touring Australia in December. It’s Boxing Day Test, Melbourne full house. Australia have unearthed a new fast bowler who is touted to be the next fastest to ‘Thommo’. The young blonde, looking like a Hollywood star, comes as first change. Everyone have their one eye fixed on the new kid on the block and the other one on the speedometer. He steams in and bowls the first ball. People murmur “Gosh! He is quick!”. Indians, never known for their ability against fast bowling, finds him too hot to handle. The kid finishes the innings with 5/47. A star was born.
Scene 3: It’s a hot June afternoon in Antigua. West Indies are cruising along at 310/4 with Chanderpaul looking solid as rock. The blonde is in action again. He gleefully accepts the unrewarding, dead old ball given to him by his captain and he turns it into a boomerang. The next 6 overs bowled by him is one of the finest spell of reverse swing ever bowled. He turns the match single handedly in those 6 overs by taking 5 wickets-2 LBWs, 2 Bowled and 1 Caught Behind.

These are the scenes that give me Goosebumps and because of them only cricket is my favorite game.

Yes. I am talking about Brett Lee here. The best fast bowler ( and I mean fast bowler not some guy bowling in 130s) of this decade. The guy who retired from Test Cricket and nobody cared because the whole world was going gaga over Sachin Tendulkar’s 200. Such is a luck of a fast bowler! You always give 110% of your effort, bowl in excruciating pain, bowl your hearts and lungs out on dead and docile pitches, everytime charge in to bowl so that the spectators get excitement and when the day comes that you tell the world that you can no longer keep on doing that because you have already torn off your body in doing so, you see everyone flocking towards a guy, holding a bat murdering your kind, who has already got enough adulation of a seven lifetimes!!
FAST BOWLERS are mad!!
Such has been Lee’s luck! He always bowled his heart out but in return the praises would be showered on a charismatic and talismanic Shane Warne or pin point accurate Glenn McGrath or even the black bagman Jason Gillespie and Mitchell Johnson. On being the quickest, the limelight was hogged by an errant Shoaib Akhtar and now Shaun Tait, a mere 4 to 10 over bowler!! Dale Steyn is now termed as the best fast bowler but the cricket pundits forget that he rarely goes past 148 and Bond hardly plays! On even his last day in test cricket, he limped off the field not carried on shoulders around the park. And when he decided to walk into sunset, Tendulkar was there to snatch even that moment from him.
Tough Luck Buddy!

He was a guy who would on any given day any given time bowl 150+ even if the pitch was dead, the body refusing to go along with the mind, the grounds were empty or the result was merely a formality. He drew girls to stadium by looks and guys there to feel the rush of adrenaline. He had looks to be the next Shane Warne and he plays guitar too, but he remained pure Brett Lee, a gentleman.
Not to forget his tireless and safe fielding alongwith his handy batting which almost managed to win the 2005 Ashes 2-1! Who can forget the sympathetic pat on Lee’s shoulder by the big, burly Freddie, another moment when he ended on the wrong side of fame!
The brand Brett Lee doesn’t just end on the Cricket ground. He plays guitar and probably is the best musician who has played test cricket ever. He has a band named “Six and Out”. He has even sung in tune with the legendary Asha Bhonsle and that too in Hindi! He has acted in bollywood too, though taking name of the film here would be an insult to Lee himself!! He even has his own fashion line BL!

I will always miss The Blonde in pure white test clothes steaming in towards the batsman with an adrenaline rush and hurling thunderbolts one after another. Test cricket and its spectators will always miss the sight!

But the silver lining is
He will keep playing in the limited over formats and we will see him in IPL too. Hope he bags the purple cap this time and no one else takes away the limelight this time.

P.S. I am really sorry to bring this post so late.
inspired from the article: "Hail Binga, you singing,swinging, fast bowling thing" from cricinfo. To read it, click here.