Cos I Love What I Know

Science requires a proof to everything that exists.

Art requires you to extend your imagination as far as possible.

In my 1^st class at FY BCom, Dr. Pathre was giving his introductory lecture on Economics. As elaborate as he was he says’ “ Economics is neither science nor art.” I took a chance as said- “Its commerce”
There was giggle in the room. Dr. Pathre was at is best ignoring me.

But that gave me another definition of Commerce (rather the difference between art, science and commerce)

Commerce is what you do to prove your imagination – as vague as the might be – right. Its when Art seems scientific, or science behind being artistic.

Confused. Let me explain.

2 + 2 = 4. this is science.

2 + 2 =5. This is art

But if you can prove that 2+2=5, then that’s your commerce.

A cricket ground is approx 65 mts in radius. You have 11 players to protect it.

The wicket is at best a rectangle with area of 88 sq. yards. And the ball requires a couple of inches of its surface to bounce. You don’t even have to bounce it.

So as a bowler you have 11 players to be spread around 11000 sq.mts. 2 inches to be placed on 88 sq. yards. So can you calculate the permutations and Combinations.

The answer is infinity.

I sit and watch England bat vs Pakistan in a T20 match. They are chasing a modest target. But just to add to the variables, the wicket is unpredictable.

As Abdur Razzak bowls over the wicket to debutant Morgon. I see the field.

The fine leg is inside the circle. And there is a deep square leg, deep midwicket. There is a traditional third man. Just to allow the bowler to have the long on and a player at mid off . This when the batsmen are not taking any risk. The few mins that Morgan has spent in the middle suggest that he is not going to create any hassle until it is utterly important.

Abdul Razzak bowls in cutter to right handers. He is not known to ball those lines to left hander.

So he is either going to pitch it outside leg stump and cramp the batsman or ball on the stumps and let the ball go wide of the batsman.

For the 1^st delivery the easiest job for the batsman is flick it behind leg. Even is the ball is on the stumps, the angle will make the batsman hit it towards long off. So why do u need a man at long on.

So here it goes.

1^st ball on the leg goes to the fine leg boundary. Short fine leg is just a spectator. So the bowler compensates. He pitches the ball on the stump. It goes flying over the mid off fielder.

The bowler now tries to get the ball in the ribs of the batsman. A bit of an error from the bowler and the ball goes flying to third man boundary. The third man tries his best but cant stop the ball from crossing the boundary.

Then there are a few short deliveries those fly to the square boundary on the leg side.

In T20 cricket the batsman will play those shots cos you really got to be unlucky to hold on to those deep fielders.

So after 2 overs the ball has flown all over the place and the fielder at long on is busy yawning.

The factor to worry about is not that these guys could hit the ball for boundries. The reason to worry is that these bowlers could not make use of the fielders placed for saving runs.

Generally you have 2 fielders in catching positions. 2 to save boundaries and remaining to stop singles. These logic might vary within the tolerance of 1 fielder here and there as per the situation of the match. However, the bowler need to make use of his fielders who are waiting for the catch or saving singles. Only when the batsman tries to act smart, the boundary riders come into play.

As a bowler, you lead the others into the game. You have to decide where the ball goes. You can control the batsman. And when he tries to get over you, there is where you get his wicket.

So firstly you need to get the perfect combination where the ball will be pitched and where will it go. So that you can make the batsman play in a particular area. You need to get your geometry and physics right. Then you must get the perfect combination of fielders who are guarding the space. Again, you need to watch out and cut down the angles to reduce the gaps that the ball might find.

They say that bowling is an art. But if you observe closely, there are various factors that determine it. There needs to be a logic good enough to reason why you are balling a particular delivery or setting up a particular field.

So will a scientific calculation determine each and every ball that will be delivered in the game? Well. It’s a game, after all. There are no models that can be set to determine what will be coming next.

So here is where, commerce enters. The bowler shows his art but with some logic. And the batsman, if he is good enough to crack this logical code, will get on top of the bowler or it will be the other way round.

The deal that goes on between a batsman and a bowler is just like what goes on in a routine trade.

Each delivery, that the bowler delivers, carries some worth to it. The batsman has to receive the full value. If he doesn’t then he is wasting the delivery. If he tries for more he might land in some problem. The bowlers tend to hide the ball from the batsman. What they actually do is hide the value that every ball carries. If the batsman scores 4 on a 2+2 he is getting scientific. If he scores 5 on a 2+2, he is artistic.

It’s just a simple trade-off