My name is Siva. I live in Chennai, India. And I work in movies. I am embarrassed to say I am 35 years old but I still love cricket as much as anyone two decades younger to me.
Grew up in a small village down south where I was the best off spinner in the vicinity. Once took 7 for 1 including a hat-trick. It was on this beautiful little ground next to an old CSI church. Like Lords', the pitch in the middle had a slope and I was bowling downhill. Well, everyone bowled downhill because we had only four stumps so we never changed ends.
The first batsman swept me and got caught at square leg. Had he hit me towards midwicket it was a certain four. We never placed fielders in midwicket because that was where four cows belonging to the church used to graze, crap and sleep - even during the matches.
The second guy got stumped. He wanted to hit me straight over my head. The straight boundary was much shorter and ended at the father's garden. but the batter missed the ball by six inches; flight does that you
. My good friend, the wk, finished the job.
The third one fell to a beauty. I remember the ball pitching well outside the off stump. It spun viciously between Martin's (the opposition's star batter and the guy who was close enough to the church authorities to get us permission to play there) bat and left-pad (we managed with the one pair of pads one of us had, the right leg was always naked and all batted right handed) and took middle and leg. it is still the greatest moment of my life. what martin doesnt know till today, he is the gardener in the church these days, is that the ball that got him actually slipped out of my hand.
the street i grew up in became the name of our cricket team. and it eventually became my nick on CW.