Monday wonders

Sachin gave us the lap-shot (and few others), Andy Flower the reverse sweep, Viv the lofted flick. Tresco bangs his way into the hall of fame with the 'mental fatigue'. Yes, it is confirmed that the term is now part of official cricket lexicon. And Gibbs is the obedient pupil, as we hear from the latest reports.

I remember a time in cricket, when players were simply dropped (yep, I'm that old!). Then came the age when they started being *rested* instead, and then things graduated to *rotation*. Somewhere in the middle was also the all-encompassing *unfit* line of reasoning, handed out to gullible (or fuming) journos- the peak of its boom being when Navjot Sidhu once remarked about reading of his *unfit-ness* in the morning papers (maybe he was unfit for the team afterall ;-) But now is the age of mental fatigue, and we better get used to it.

Meanwhile the king-of-tired-times, Tresco himself, is back after his well stolen rest, as was evident in his 158 for Somerset yesterday. I hope he's not over-exerting himself, there is still some way to go in the new season.

Talking of fitness, you all know I consider Shane Bond the undisputed champion of...ummm....giving the word fitness, in context of cricket, a whole new meaning. He's supposedly getting fit for the second test against SA, and thing have come to a stage where his fans now pray before each match that he doesn't break down. (tip to 'Mike on Cricket' blog on NZ cricket).

Ahh..such fun to be had..cricket and Monday mornings.