Shine

As a medium pace bowler, I love to bowl with a new ball when it is still shining, especially if the weather is a bit overcast.

If one side of the cricket ball is shinier, or smoother than the other side then with the right speed, and the right pitch temperature and moisture, as well as with the right bowling action it can be made to swing, all these are perfectly explainable according the theories of aerodynamics.

The medium pacer in full action

Normally I'll use my dripping sweat and sometimes my own saliva (a bit gross right) as forms of lubricant to further polish the ball on part of the trousers. This action will sometimes making a red patch on my white trousers.

An old cricket ball will not have the shine anymore, and it will not gives you that swing action, unless you are some all time great bowlers.

What about the shine on one's face?

In our everyday encounters with people around us, if we care to observe their faces, for some of them they have abundance of shines coming from their faces. Their faces are full of radiance, notwithstanding whether they are good looking or otherwise. It could be very pleasing and soothes the heart just by gazing at them.

There are some with no shine at all.

when an introvert introjects ...

I am a person with very less of spoken words.

Most of the time, I'm more like the "socially awkward penguin" who most of the time will be lacking in its social skills. It seems that all the things that I would want to say, will not be suitable in the current context of the ongoing conversation. Thus, I'm kind of reluctant to even speak out. I rather then, keep myself quiet, with very less to say.

The other being, I stutters a little. Yes. My brain works faster than my verbal articulation. If one care to observe.

However, if suddenly I found myself speaking with ease and full of enthusiasm, even without myself realising, most probably I was very comfortable with the situation.

Allah knows best.

Dreams of a Child

There are dreams, whether sweet or not, that normally vanished once you wake up. Just like Rafeah Buang's Disebut Jangan Dikenang Jangan song:

Berlalu kisah di taman 

Bak mimpi diganggu siang 

Disebut diingat jangan 

Tak guna dikenang-kenang

And there are dreams that after more than four decades, still lingering and still keep on coming to you.

Henceforth are such dreams:

Dream Number One:

There I was, in a room. Or maybe I was outdoor and not in a room. There were no walls, not a single wall. Just translucent white laced drapes continuously waffling softly by the gentle summer breeze.

It was in the afternoon, or maybe late in the morning. It was bright and airy, and was very pleasant.

I was looking for my toys. I was barefooted and realised the flooring was made from wood. Very smooth and painted wood. I remembered that I left my toys somewhere here. There was a big bed in the middle of the room. I thought maybe, my toys will be somewhere underneath the bed. As with many other lost things that were to be found under the bed. After looking for some time, I found nothing.

I wasn't at all feeling despair as I'm about to venture to another place ...

Dream Number Two:

From the really pleasant outdoor room surrounded at all its four corners by translucent drapes suddenly I found myself climbing a really steep mountain. I felt that it was so steep that as if the mountain slope wasn't a slope at all, it's almost 90 degrees going up.

As I made it to the top with very less hassle, the first thing I felt was the smell of the freshest ever mountain air. The feeling like while you were sucking a black Hacks candy and drinking cold water at the same time. Try it to know what I meant.

These two pleasant dreams that I dreamt decades ago still fresh on my mind as if I just woke up.

Me, An Opening Batsman

Historically, I was never a proper batsman. Even though I could contribute to some serious runs whenever given the opportunity to bat. But still, I confess that I'm not a proper batsman. A good bowler maybe, but never a proper batsman. That's a fact.

Anyway, last Wednesday was a public holiday. I was playing a 40-over cricket match for Salman XI versus Jenal XI at the pristine Bayuemas Oval. My team lost the toss and was asked to field first. We managed to wrap up Jenal XI all out for 153 runs in the 25th over. I opened the bowling and bowled a miserly four overs spell but unfortunately without any wicket.

When it's time to bat, captain Salman asked me to open bat with Shahril (SPC), my STAROBA Tigers  team-mates. I was a bit nervous as never before I open the bat. For the first two of my overs, the bowling was good and the ball mostly coming straight and I just blocked the good balls.

After the 3rd overs, I changed my gears and began to have more intent in my batting. I managed to hit four 4s and one maximum 6 with a total of 30 runs within a span of 30 minutes with opening partnership of 54 runs. I was given a LBW and got out to Lehman's bowling.

That was a memorable knock.

We easily got passed the score in the 26th over and won the match.