The grace and greatness of poetry in motion! Ray Lindwall did not run up to the wicket; he flowed like a sonnet set in motion. He approached like a graceful yet vigorous wave. At the end erupted a sudden burst of speed and the pistoning of the arm, and as his legs spread in the long stretch of the final stride, the ball was propelled at an incredible speed
Ray Lindwall was sheer poetry in motion as he ran in to bowl, yet was one of the most dreaded fast bowlers ever to play cricket. We pay homage to the first genuine paceman to take 200 Test wickets on the occasion of his 91st birthday.
He did not run up to the wicket – he flowed like a sonnet set in motion. He approached like a graceful yet vigorous wave. At the end erupted a sudden burst of speed and the pistoning of the arm, and as his legs spread in the long stretch of the final stride, the ball was propelled at an incredible speed and the arm came through at 45 degrees. Not all the adherents of classical fast bowling were enamoured of his arm coming down too low. Yet, that ensured a skidding effect, and made his bouncers – or bumpers as they were called in his day – all the more threatening.Remembering Ray Lindwall in the whirlwind age of Twenty 20 mania is akin to getting a fleeting glance of an impressionist masterpiece amidst garish spray-painted wall graffiti through the window of a fast-moving train.
Lindwall was cricketing beauty captured in its aesthetic essence and purity – a virtue which is almost obsolete in the era of the instant game.
Jim Laker thought of heaven as a cricket pitch from one end of which ran in Lindwall, and from the other Bishan Singh Bedi.
Plum Warner once loudly exclaimed “Poetry!” when Lindwall ran in to bowl. The fast bowler himself was surprised when he saw him on film, noting that somehow his effort and pain was hidden by his action, not visible through the moving music that resulted for the eyes.
Yet, for all the rhythm that his motion conjured up, he was one of the fastest in the world – ever. Celebrated opening pairs like Len Hutton and Cyril Washbrook weaved and ducked when he bounced – he did it sparingly but always with immense effect. They also hurriedly brought their bats down when he pitched up. Not always did they manage to meet the ball. In fact, almost two-fifth of the 228 wickets he captured were bowled
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