In among the closing chapters of his classic The Art of Cricket, Don Bradman writes about ‘The Suitable Eleven’. For those who think that the terrific Australian was simply a run device, a creature not of this world and in some way lacking in the weaknesses that make us human, here’s proof that he was one of us. Like fans all over, he too understood the “fun trying to choose the very best XI”, as he states, and suggests XIs made of players with a particular variety of letters in their names or those whose names begin with a specific letter of the alphabet.
It is a video game most fans, from seven to 70 play. It causes arguments, exposes predispositions, and shows the video game of cricket is not restricted to the field of play. As the previous Australian Prime Minister and cricket fanatic Robert Menzies said, in summertime we play cricket and in winter we read about it. For ‘in winter season’, read ‘throughout pandemics’ and you wouldn’t be too far off the mark.
So, as a new month begins here’s a question: Of the 12 teams possible, is the July XI– made up of cricketers born in July– the strongest? It might well be. We speak here just of Indian cricket, but the principle can be broadened to include other teams