The Man That Cut Bradman To Size

Not much of a Biography bloke but Harold Larwood is not just another Fast Bowler. That I'm particularly passionate about the great art of Fast Bowling & its decorated & feted practitioners is something my pals are aware of and Larwood was easily, one of the earliest & the greatest of 'em all. That he was well before my time only adds to the romance & mystique surrounding his legend.

By all accounts, he was the most menacingly lethal Fast Bowler of all time bar none. Short (His lack of height actually helped him generate blinding quickness off the deck), spare & lean; Larwood was born gifted with the kind of pace that burned grass. Even with whatever li'l footage of his bowling videos that are available now, his action is typically classical & silken smooth.

"Bodyline" will never go away. Not ever. So the Cricket fans can stop kiddin' themselves. But this amazing Biography is much more than a detailed account of that momentous Series. Here, we see a proud and unapologetic Man who had the bloody courage to live life on his own terms amidst excruciating mental pressure. A man who valued integrity & self pride over money & personal ambition. We see a Man who almost broke his back hauling coal in remote Nuncargate and actually spilled blood bowling for England with a busted foot. We also learn of Douglas Jardine, the mythical figure who is praised & reviled in equal measure. Jardine must have been a real study - Aquiline nose, sculpted face, his Harlequin Cap prompting jeers & swears from the Aussie crowds bayin' for blood, his bloody minded ruthlessness & an almost fanatical obsession to win back the Ashes come what may, his contempt & distaste for all things Australian and then some. But Jardine was also a honourable Man Larwood trusted with his life. Till his death, Jardine was fiercely loyal & got the same loyalty from all his "wards" including his beloved Larwood.

"Lol" went back to the country that wanted to kill him & was eventually accepted as a model Citizen of the Country. As opposed to making money, he made a lot of worthy friends and when he said that that was what counted, you believed him. A lot of great Fast bowlers came on to the scene later & embellished Cricket but Harold Larwood was the template. Frank Tyson, Ray Lindwall, Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, Malcolm Marshall, Curtly Ambrose, Waqar Younis et all had arguably more impressive figures (They tell only half the story) but there will be only one Larwood.

This book won the WISDEN Award in 2009 & rightly so. I've read only the Stephen Waugh biography (which I thought was a splendid & illuminating Cricketing biography) but this one transcends the genre itself.

Read. Enjoy. Then sigh back in content & imagine a scrawny Nottinghamshire lad with bright eyes glinting in the Sun,launch into a beautifully co-ordinated run-up before hurling another thunderbolt.

A RIVETING JOURNEY

April 2, 2011. Close to midnight. Fingers all damp, creating geometrical patterns in the air. Tension, like a coiled spring. Everyone waiting. Waiting for the orgasmic release.

And then, it happened.

Ball met bat, pinged off its face and soared high into the steamy night. Bat twirls. Pandemonium.

"Captain Cool" (The one with steel Cojones) conjured an Innings typical of the man. It had the Dhoni stamp all over it. Deft nudges, running like an escaped killer, rasping cuts and a gradual,ruthless dismantling of a formidable bowling unit.

While everybody is heaping praises on the guy who has patented the "Helicopter shot" (And very deservedly so!), there was one li'l man who made it possible. A man who largely kept away from the immediate wild,emotion charged post match celebrations. An intense introvert, he was probably reflecting on the magnitude of his achievement before coming out to give the inevitable interview.

Jayarwardene's silken stings lacerated India. But Gambhir mended the wound and knifed Lanka in the gut before Dhoni cut off the life support.

India is a star heavy line up with some supremely gifted willow wielders. To go with the glittering array of talent, they also have a Man whose bloody mindedness is rivaled only by a certain Rahul Dravid. Dravid evolved into a more attacking batsman but Gambhir is a natural that way. Desperately hungry for success, no one relishes a scrap more than this hugely impressive lad from Delhi. I picked him out as the bloke who was most likely to play the most decisive knock of this World Cup and he didn't disappoint.

As a guy who had followed Indian Cricket actively from the mid 90's till the present time, the most overwhelming feeling when it all ended was relief. The Indian Fan knows and intuitively understands the trauma caused by shattering defeats, uninspiring sphere slingers and exhibitions of "yellow livered play." Calls were attended to before, during and after the game. It showcased the whole gamut of emotions. Anticipation, anxiety, despair, desperation, hope, jubilation and tension were all evident. Yours truly wasn't completely spared either. But at the end of it all, all I felt was relief and complete contentment rather than naked,unbridled joy. I slept well, anticipating the sheer pleasure of reading the papers and Cricinfo articles the next day.

Like every Indian Fan, I cannot contemplate watching Cricket without Sachin Tendulkar playing it. The piece on him and what he means to me and a whole generation of Indians will have to wait for a few more years hopefully but to see the "Bombay Bomber" hold the Cup that counts amidst swirling emotions symbolized the culmination of possibly, the largest collective dream in history.

The Old Blighty, the Caribbean and Down Under tours beckon later this year. But for now, WE ARE THE WORLD CHAMPIONS. Ruminate on those words and voice 'em out loud whenever you want. The deed has been done.