April 1, 2008
Column: How to score a winning strategy
There’s a certain type of man – middle-aged, brought up in a Commonwealth country – who, when things are going really well, will get up from his desk and (when no one is watching) dispatch an imaginary cricket ball to the cover boundary with an elegant swish.
The cover drive: perhaps human civilisation’s greatest achievement. To see David Gower, the former England captain, execute a cover drive was to experience pure bliss. I am not exaggerating.
Sport is not everybody’s cup of tea. At school, dividing lines are drawn between those who are good and bad at games. (There is also that important third category: bad at games but endlessly enthusiastic and jolly well willing to have a go.)
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Hello Stefan,
I recently hit 40 and was brought up in India. I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to read what you said about Gower. Although of course an India supporter, I was infuriated every time Gower got out (in his usual apparently careless ways), because I loved watching his cover drives. Bliss it indeed was. It’s nice to know we - middle-aged Gower cover-drive lovers - haven’t been forgotten!!
Chetan Dhruve
Posted by: Chetan Dhruve | April 1st, 2008 at 2:34 pm | Report this commentBangalore, India
“No advantage in socialising with our competitors”. I think Adam Smith would have been very sceptical about that remark.
Posted by: David Heigham | April 6th, 2008 at 4:20 pm | Report this comment