Ashraful, that's my dawg

Jamie Siddons was an idol of mine.

Not just because he was Victorian, but because he was hard, and talented.

He would destroy bowlers and then often destroy himself.

Almost every time I saw him get out I felt cheated, even though I saw him make quite a few hundreds.

He was off the chain at almost all times.

He is the best non test playing batsman I have seen.

Fuck that, he is just one of the best batsman I’ve seen.

Had he been born in a state that had New South in the title he would have been a fair chance to play quite a few tests.

He was a fiery man, who got in a few fights with team mates, and even had an extremely brief AFL career as well.

And you have to respect his decision to leave Victoria just at the time Dean Jones was dropped from the Australian side.

But his coaching of the Deshi Toygers is starting to get on my nerves.

He was given a team with only one star.

The free spirited unpredictable Ashraful.

Ashraful bats like an ice addict on the number 57 tram.

For those who travel on the number 57 tram in Melbourne, I’m talking about the tall black dude with the dreadlocks that opens and closes the window every 30 seconds.

You are never sure quite what you are going to get from ol’ tall dreadlock dude, but you can’t stop looking at him, through fear and entertainment, and he always gets off the tram earlier than you’d hope. Sometimes to your relief, sometimes to your disappointment.

Jamie, although a Victorian, was never a Melbourne boy, and therefore probably never saw the dude on the 57 tram.

Siddons is doing his best to stifle the young Mohammad’s aggression.

You can train a dog to be consistent Jamie.

Ashraful is not a dog.

He is what we like to call here, a serious batsman type batsman.

Sure he hits the ball in the air a lot, and sometimes makes 19 off 7 balls before going out.

He is too beautiful a creature to be leashed, let him run around the park mounting the others for a while yet.

While I am sure it is heartening that he made a steady 56 off 90, but how many one day games will that win for Bangladesh.

What they need is a man who can win a one day game on his own, and Ashraful is just the dawg to do that.

For tests matches Jamie can try and rein him in, but I think Jamie might find that Ashraful is not the sort of dude to be kept down by the man.

He is a batsman, not a thinker.

If anyone should understand that, it’s Jamie Siddons.www.cricketwithballs.com

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