Lax is the Man

Over the weekend, we watched the England middle and lower order spun out by Saeed Ajmal, and the Pakistani batting succumbing in turn to the wiles of Graeme Swann. It was enough for the old man to comment, "batsmen these days have no idea of how to play decent offspin bowling".

This was despite, or in the full knowledge of, the events at Colombo on Saturday. VVS Laxman played an innings for the ages, but it was his expert handling of the tall offie Suraj Randiv which really caught the eye. He used the crease wonderfully, getting back when he needed to counter the turn and bounce, using decisive forward movements, and regaling viewers with his wristwork.

Legend has it that during Sunil Gavaskar's masterful 96 in his final test innings - played on a nasty turner in Bangalore - the opposition captain Imran Khan's advice to his mates during the team meeting, was to simply observe and learn how spin bowling should be played. Laxman's innings is probaby not quite as 'great' (though it does deserve to be remembered as a modern classic), but there was much to observe and appreciate all the same.