The Charge of the Light Brigade (English Cricket Edition)
Dickens would have called England’s cricket a Bleak House in Hard Times. England’s World Cup captain Eoin Morgan would agree. He today might just have an idea how the poor Earl of Cardigan felt that day in 1854 when he led his famed light brigade into a valley full of Russian guns during the Crimean War. And the shock waves rattling the English cricket establishment are comparable to those that rattled its military one as the English cricket team, in spite of a much-hyped preparation, came an embarrassing cropper against opposition it was supposed to overwhelm in the 2015 World Cup.
Half a yard, half a yard
Bowl half a yard faster
Into the tourney Down Under
Went the six and ten
Forward the English team
“Go for the runs,” they said
Into the tourney Down Under
Went the six and ten
Forward the English team
Were there some players dismayed?
By not picking Pietersen
Some selectors had blundered
Theirs not to make reply
Theirs not to reason why
Morgan’s but to lose and cry
Into the tourney Down Under
Rode the six and ten
Fielders to the right of them
Fielders to the left of them
Bowlers in front of them
Chattered, swung and thundered.
Stormed at with shots and spells
Boldly Root played and well
Into the tourney Down Under
Rode the six and ten
Flashed all their willows bare
All their fielders clutched at air
Charging their rivals while
Their spin and seam were plundered
Plunged into the World Cup smoke
Defeat after defeat their spirits broke
Aussie, Kiwi and Bangladeshi
Shattered stumps and mercilessly stroked
Leaving them shattered and sundered
Then they went out
What was left of six and ten
Fielders to the right of them
Fielders to the left of them
Batsmen in front of them
Chattered, smashed and plundered.
Stormed at with slogs and spells
All their one day heroes fell
They who had promised to do so well
Came apart at the death
Saw their games go to hell
And all that was left of them
Was but six and ten
Will they have any glory to fade?
Oh the wild hopes they laid!
All the cricketing world wondered
Hammered by the press brigade
Hammered by balls and blade
Oh the poor six and ten
Source:: Indian Express
