As a child growing up in Pakistan during the 80s and 90s, few memories persist beyond Miandad’s famous six at Sharjah. One thing that I do remember is that cricketing whites were much tighter, the collars more open and perhaps the resulting copiousness and overhang of chest hair was a statement of cricketing intent. Gross exaggerations and gory imagery aside, I guess fashion faux pas of the past deserve their own entry.

Another lingering memory is the art of leaving the ball. Picture this: Patrick Patterson has the ball in his hand and starts his run up with the small pitter-patter steps that soon turned into thundering strides and gave the man an unstoppable momentum. At the other end stands a small, diminutive Shoaib Mohammad, locked in stance, ready to do battle. The bowler thunders in. The batsman hunkers in. It is a scene right out of a bull fighting arena. The bowler leaps, the ball is delivered and the batsman… leaves the ball!

In modern times, this rare occurrence is now known as a dot ball. In the 80s and 90s a test batsman’s best weapon was leaving the ball. What can be worse for a bowler if the batsman simply leaves a ball not heading on to hit the stumps. Add 35C of dry, dusty, summer weather to a recurring theme of leaving the ball (which Shoaib was an expert at) and you have a very potent combination.

Leaving the ball with a flourish and exaggerated bravado only added insult to injury. Ijaz Ahmad even had the audacity to present the better part of his backside to the bowler, due more to his extreme stance than to malicious intent. Nonetheless, cricket at its glorious best.

Enter the 90s and you meet leaving-the-ball’s worst enemy. Reverse Swing! Those who did try to elegantly and deliberately leave the ball were dismissed in most embarrassing ways. If you were lucky, only your off stump was uprooted. If you weren’t so lucky, even your middle and leg stumps could be affected. Bullfighting too would die if thundering bulls learnt to home in like heat seeking missiles. Also, as one day cricket gained momentum, leaving the ball acquired a negative vibe.

If we dig deeper, leaving the ball does have many advantages. It tires the bowler out, it frustrates him to no end, it keeps your own bowlers in the pavilion on a well deserved break and also helps in aiding the wear and tear of the pitch. Most importantly it wears the bowler down mentally.

These days, it is a brave man who leaves the ball. He’d rather have a slash, swipe or poke at it (even if it means getting out) than leave it. Waving a red flag in the face of a charging bull and stepping aside at the last moment is an art – so is leaving ball.

Tell us what you think, and do share your own vivid cricket scenes in the comments section

Picture Sources: National Geographic, BBC