What is a leg cutter ?

ప్రతి క్రీడకూ ఓ పదకోశం ఉంటుంది. ఆ మాటలు తెలిస్తేనే ఆటలోని మజా అర్థమవుతుంది. పక్కవాళ్లతో పక్కా ప్రొఫెషనల్‌లా సంభాషించవచ్చు. చర్చించవచ్చు.

ప్రతి క్రీడకూ ఓ పదకోశం ఉంటుంది. ఆ మాటలు తెలిస్తేనే ఆటలోని మజా అర్థమవుతుంది. పక్కవాళ్లతో పక్కా ప్రొఫెషనల్‌లా సంభాషించవచ్చు. చర్చించవచ్చు. వాదించవచ్చు. ఆమాటకొస్తే క్రికెట్‌ పదజాలమూ చిన్నదేం కాదు. ఈ వారం మన ముచ్చట్లన్నీ క్రికెట్‌ చుట్టూ ముడిపడినవే..

Son: Are seam bowlers slow bowlers?

Father: They are fast and medium-pace bowlers.

Son: Dad! Mom says that you were a good cricket player in your college days.
Father: Yes, I was.

Son: Were you a batsman or a bowler?
Father: I was a seam bowler.

Son: What is a seam bowling? I have poor knowledge of cricket.
Father: That’s your bad luck. You’re not at all playing any outdoor game.

Son: We have neither encouragement nor any facilities.
Father: Our college had such a large playground.

Son: Our college is run in a residential building.
Father: You can go to a public playground, can’t you?

Son: We are not encouraged to play any outdoor game.
Father: Unlike you, we were forced to play.

Son: With so many subjects to study, we are left with no time to play.
Father: We had a physical director, a cricket coach, a football coach &

Son: Well, what is seam bowling?
Father: You must have seen the thread on a cricket ball. It’s called the seam.

Son: Okay.
Father: The seam bowler deliberately bowls in such a way that the seam hits the pitch.

Son: I see.
Father: As the ball bounces, it deviates unpredictably.

Son: If there are cracks in the pitch?
Father: The ball turns fitfully, and troubles the batsman like anything.

Son: Are seam bowlers slow bowlers?
Father: They are fast and medium-pace bowlers.

Son: Do you mean fast and medium fast?
Father: Seam bowling is very technical. The seamer can bowl off-cutters and leg-cutters.

Son: What’s an off-cutter?
Father: The ball pitches on the off stump and moves towards the leg stump.

Son: From left to right?
Father: Yes, it turns clockwise into a right-handed batsman.

Son: What is a leg cutter?
Father: The ball pitches on the leg side and moves away to the offside.

Son: Has it the same speed as the off cutter?
Father: For a leg cutter, a seamer with fast-bowling action delivers a slower ball.

Son: Can the batsman anticipate it?
Father: The grip and the release are concealed from the batsman.

Son: Maybe, that confuses the batsman.
Father: The slower ball causes the batsman to lose his rhythm.

Son: Dad, I’ll master the art of fast bowling.
Father: All the best, beta!

SLICE – LICE – ICE

Rani: Here’s a puzzle for you?
Sudha: What’s it?
Rani: If you slice it, the tiny, wingless insects will turn to ice.
Sudha: I can’t solve it for ten years.
Rani: If you cut it, the lice will turn to ice.
Sudha: I can’t solve it for a hundred years. What’s it?
Rani: SLICE!

-సూర్యారావు ఎం.వి
వివేకానంద ఇన్‌స్టిట్యూట్‌ ఆఫ్‌ లాంగ్వేజెస్‌,
రామకృష్ణ మఠం.