Sport exhibits examples of power, grace, elegance, cunning and even the occasional brutality. Cricket can capture and embrace all of these characteristics within a few minutes of the same game - maybe the fast bowler's wicked bouncer, the cunning slower ball, the leg spinner's googly, the number eleven's wallop to cow corner to be compared with to the stubborn Yorkshire opener's solid block to the straight delivery.
My abiding memory of the power versus grace mix was when I was in my late teenage years, the early 1970s. I drove my newly acquired Ford Anglia for a day out to Dean Park cricket ground in Bournemouth to watch Hampshire play a county game. I do not remember who they were playing but I do know that Hampshire won the toss and to my unforgotten pleasure they would bat first - Barry Richards and Gordon Greenidge to open!
That morning some 50 years ago I believe I witnessed two vastly contrasting batting styles that crafted a master partnership which provided entertainment of the highest value - the beauty of old school cricket from one and an insight into the power of future white ball versions from the other. Richards with his effortless cover drive that was so easy on the eye; Greenidge striking the ball to the boundary on all areas of the ground with a power I had not seen before. Both players had confidence, both had style and both were top international batsmen. Their respective success demonstrates exactly why cricket is such a wonderful sport - it allows different skills to be highly successful within the same game and that is why the balance of any match can change course in every session.
Richards and Greenidge may be the best opening partnership I have seen.
Memory added on July 4, 2021
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