n - nasty, brutish and short - and professional spin bowling is too quick for me to stand up to as a keeper. As for seam, I recently kept to a bowler wh

My cousin Ben was a good cricketer. A right-arm quick, he played for the combined services, often counting county 2nd XIs and Minor Counties as opponents. On reading my book, he told me this story about playing at Arundel some years before (apologies if I get it wrong).On arriving at the ground, he finds a new keeper in the pavilion, rummaging in an old bag. Said keeper triumphantly extracts a pair of gloves and prises the palms apart before turning to Ben, introducing himself as Paul and saying, This should be interesting, I havent played for three years.Cut to Bens opening spell. Two balls into his first over, the keeper runs up to him saying Ben, Ben... mind if I stand up, mate? Ben nods, a little bemused as he considered himself pretty pacy. Running in for ball No. 3, Ben sees an arm waving frantically towards square leg. Wide down leg? Sure, I can do that, thinks Ben. Wide the ball flies, at pace. Out pops a glove, snatches the ball from thin air, and whips off the bails. The keeper turns to the umpire, How was that?, and then to the bat, Ill give you a clue: on your bike, mate. All in all, he stumped three bats standing up to a bowler flinging it down at speeds well over 70mph.Weve all had games with somebody like that, those players who are simply a different class to the rest of the field, but their impact on a game is perhaps greatest when the step up is merely one or two levels. Im more interested here in those players who have not only reached something like their full potential, but who occupy a snow-capped, cloud-obscured pinnacle of performance compared to the grassy lowlands of, say, Sunday cricket.Ive been lucky enough to have played with several individuals whose natural level is far, far beyond mine, including the current England Womens captain Heather Knight (well, I had a net with her), and pros who play franchise T20 in their homelands and 2nd XI county cricket in England. As a moderate Sunday player, the difference in our respective levels is quite extreme, and for me to try to step up to their level would be mildly insane. Any innings of mine would be Hobbesian - nasty, brutish and short - and professional spin bowling is too quick for me to stand up to as a keeper. As for seam, I recently kept to a bowler who, at full steam, has been clocked at 85mph. Off four paces I could only just stay with him. And it hurt. It might be counter-intuitive, but when active pros step down to my level, and, most pertinently, down to my level of facilities, their class can count against them. It might seem odd that I should score 10 when a county 2nd XI player managed a mere seven runs more in the same innings, but there is a simple explanation, and its not merely that he wasnt fully concentrating.Heres the rub: the professional reacts; the amateur responds.One of the most enduring of defining characteristics thought to separate the human from the animal was put forward by the ancient Greeks, namely that humans respond while animals react. A response is considered; a reaction instinctive, automatic. Weve all heard of the fractions of a second it takes for a 90mph ball to reach the batsman, and how this is not long enough to allow much in the way of rational thought. This is where training comes in. We train in order to make the fundamental techniques automatic.When I trod the boards as a musician, I honed my technique through hours of hard work so that I could, when in the zone, pretty much make sound happen. There was no thinking about fingerings, chords, notes, rhythm patterns. I simply heard sound, and out it came. Its the same in cricket. When youre in the zone, everything clicks, and you simply will the ball to the boundary. Theres no thought, simply perfectly timed reactions. These reactions are honed by hours of work in the nets and in the middle. All practice is designed to reduce the need for thought. And thats where everything goes wrong.Put a pro on a Sunday wicket, all low, slow, variable bounce, and the instinctive becomes suicidal, even accounting for the headroom built into their game. The ball pitches short, the batsman goes on to the back foot to pull, the ball stays two inches above the ground. A half-volley invites the drive, but the ball plugs, the bat swings, mid-off says thank you kindly. The very thing that makes the pro so good is their downfall.And as for bowling, the pros stock ball is almost always too short, too wide, and too quick. Hardly any Sunday player can get near them. The pro is, therefore, forced to think, the very thing they train to avoid. Me? Im constantly adjusting, thinking, changing my mind, quite often during my shot. At my level, its feasible, and on the wickets I frequent, one might say its even imperative.Its only at the very highest level that you find the very best, the ones capable of adding improvisation to instinct, to move, like those rare truly great musicians, beyond technique and well-rehearsed patterns into the realms of pure expression. These players will change any game.Oh yes, the keeper. Sorry, I got distracted. At the end of the game, Ben took a peek at the scorebook and clocked who he was: Paul Farbrace. Mark Gastineau Womens Jersey . He was followed closely by David Clarkson, donning red, seconds later. 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LaDainian Tomlinson Womens Jersey . -- Aaron Murray threw for 408 yards and three touchdowns, ran for another score, and led No.Danny Brough returns to the injury-hit Giants squad as they travel to Headingley to take on the Rhinos on Friday night, live on Sky Sports 2 HD from 7.30pm. In a match filled with sub-plots, head coach Paul Anderson will be relieved to have the experience of Brough to rely on as the Giants aim for their first win of the campaign to kick-start their season.Huddersfield announced this week that Jamie Ellis has added to Andersons injury woes. Jamie Ellis is not good, he is seeing a shoulder surgeon and is going to be around 8-10 weeks, said Anderson. He dislocated his AC joint at the weekend so we need to assess if he needs surgery or not.With injuries and retirements we have about nine or ten players missing so it is a fair chunk of our squad, but we have got to find a way to get through it. Huddersfields Danny Brough is back in action on Friday night We have got what we have got and our squad is light. Hopefully Kyle Wood, Joe Wardle and Eorl are going to be back in a week or two but as time goes by we get closer to having people back. Craig Huby is going to be closer to Easter time.They face a Leeds side who are also without a win this year in Super League, with the hosts rooted at the bottom of the standings.The Rhinos have made one change to the side that lost to Catalans Dragons last week, with Jamie Jones-Buchanan coming in for youngster Sam Hallas. Three key battles Tom Mordey looks at three crucial head-to-heads Mitch Garbutt is still out of contention while he serves his two-match suspension for a punch in the Club Challenge match, Brian McDermotts men are also without Tom Briscoe, Danny McGuire, Carl Ablett, Stevie Ward and Ashton Golding.Included in the Leeds side is Brett Ferres, coming up against his former club for the first time since leaving under controversial circumstances, but its not something the Giants are choosing to focus on. Leeds Rhinos and Englannd forward Brett Ferres is relishing the chance to play against his former club Anderson said: Im not interested in Brett Ferres or the reception hell get - I couldnt care less about it.dddddddddddd Weve all moved on. There are two teams desperate for a win.Ferres on the other hand is relishing the chance to play against his former club.Im looking forward to it, Im not going to lie, said the 29-year-old. I left there in different circumstances and Im looking forward to getting back out there and righting some wrongs.Ill go out and enjoy myself, try to express myself, and theres no better way of doing that than in a local derby in front of the TV cameras. Jordan Lilley wants to remembered as his own player, not as the man to fill Kevin Sinfields boots Leeds Rhinos: Mitch Achurch, Jordan Baldwinson, Rob Burrow (c), Adam Cuthbertson, Brett Delaney, Brett Ferres, Keith Galloway, Ryan Hall, Ash Handley, Zak Hardaker, Jamie Jones-Buchanan, Jimmy Keinhorst, Jordan Lilley, Joel Moon, Anthony Mullally, Brad Singleton, Liam Sutcliffe, Josh Walters, Kallum Watkins.Huddersfield Giants: Danny Brough, Jake Connor, Leroy Cudjoe, Tyler Dickinson, Jamie Foster, Ryan Hinchcliffe, Josh Johnson, Michael Lawrence, Kruise Leeming, Nathan Mason, Jermaine McGillvary, Aaron Murphy, Larne Patrick, Sam Rapira, Oliver Roberts, Daniel Smith, Ukuma Taai, Mikey Wood, Sam Wood.Watch Leeds Rhinos v Huddersfield Giants live on Sky Sports 2 from 7.30pm on Friday. Or watch for £6.99 without a contract, on NOW TV. ' ' '