The Lovers and the Shaggers

In his column for CricDude a few weeks ago, Jarrod Kimber of Cricket With Balls and Cricket Sadist fame, wrote that they were essentially two types of batsmen in T20 (read his post here). Jarrod called them the mentalists and the clever guys. As the names would suggest, the mentalists adopt a kamikaze approach that rarely comes off, whilst the clever guys take their time, play themselves in and invariably provide more of a contribution.

Having watched some (if not all; as that would make me insane) of the IPL action this season, we at the Reverse Sweep would agree with Jarrod, but would suggest a more base (some may say crude) categorisation.

Jarrod's clever guys are our Lovers. Chivalrous with their foreplay as they caress and ease themselves in, and then maintaining a steady and patient momentum with the ocassional shout out loud moment. Essentially they are aiming to provide pleasure for as long as possible; well for the bulk of the 20 overs at least. Obvious lovers are Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis (perish the thought) and Rahul Dravid.

Then you have the Shaggers. Too selfish to bother with needless foreplay and the inconvenience of playing themselves in, the shaggers start banging away at a frantic pace from ball one. For the most part it ends in crushing disappointment with an abrupt end after only a couple of pumps and a squirt, as they exit stage left with head bowed and bat between their legs. But when it comes off it can provide sheer ecstasy. It can even last all night as evidenced by M (don't call me Murali) Vijay's innings of 127 off 56 balls in the runfest between Chennai and Rajasthan. Some can do it on a more regular basis like Robin Uthappa, some prefer a quick shag like Kieron Pollard, whilst others can even earn superlatives such as being called the best shag they'd ever had. Witness Shane Warne's exaggerated appreciation of Yusuf Pathan's 37 ball 100 against Mumbai in the early stages of the competition - it must have been some shag for Warney to say it was the best he's ever had.

So if nothing else, T20 has given us the lovers and the shaggers; and for that we should be eternally grateful.

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