Novack Djokovic

Hitting the 38 year’s old button signals Novak’s career to be on the decline? But is that the case? Should sport be a claimer game on father time, that’s what the stats say, but stats do not always punch out one’s reality, to state that there are two players who threaten the Djokovic claimer for added Grand Slams, Jannick Sinner and Carlos Alcatraz, so Novack’s not quite finished yet, with ones target of the all consuming 25^th Grand Slam Champion to be the GOAT of all numbers. Serena Williams faulted at number 23, two shot shy of Margaret Courts 24 slams, no queen bee offerings for Serena who did not take heed on one’s physical condition, but Djokovic knows the conditioning has to be carefully monitored even more than ever.

Novak hoping to go that extra milage with Andy Murray employed as a coach, all be it with no experience of the role, came to a three month abrupt end with too many blow outs on the Novak cords to derail the highway truck of Andy to roadblock at, “Hey, I don’t need this shit I’m pained eardrummed, but that’s Novak, nothing’s pain free.” exit Murray. It’s all about mental fortitude for Novak to enlarge the head gear to be crowned at the highest of one’s sport. A return serve to Serena Williams whose former coach Patrick Mouratoglou, but without the tights (ballet), stated that during Djokovic’s infancy years, the technical ability was not apparent, alongside the Serb withdrawing from matches during match time blamed on a gluten problem. Murmurings can abound that has it all been a performance enhanced free career, there are question marks, let’s hope when Novak does retire in those Monaco settings for those murmurings to be dispelled, not to go on the cycling roads, those narrow Monaco roads, of the former 3 time Olympic Champion and the 2012 Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins with the claiming of many pots, to be sniffed at? Wiggins rode under the suspicious drug umbrella hanging, purple rain or white powders? To seep through to digest? Wiggins did escape a ban and a removal of those pots of gold, Wiggins escaped on a technicality, left the sport as clean as a squashed berry, but the doubts remained. Later to be confirmed with Wiggins opting for a cocaine fuelled sports retirement, all washed out. A sporting mental fortitude is of the strong drug free to claim the sporting echelon of trophies, to do it clean, to cheat does not merit them. Champions, it marks them down as the lowest of the sinned, to have nightmares, to see the monsters that they have become, sporting mental fortitude is entrusted with the strong, that’s the Manero message to the sinned, no free birds for Wiggins to wash away those white powders, as for Novak, fly on those wings of the super attired man ‘superman’ Novak, has to be the case doesn’t it?

David Steele

The cricket terror days during the 1970’s came with the Australian pace duo of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thompson terrorising the English batsmen during the 1975 Ashes series with an avalanche of bouncers delivered from a great height, short pitched, timed at 160.45 km/h head height, missiles raining down, no batsmen’s head guards in those days, more dangerous than boxing? The Australian xxxx of the crazed, the Lillee and Thompson combo.

Cricket’s bouncer, a new art to the game of the 1975 origins? In some quarters, yes, bouncers like missiles never seen before, the intensity of those missiles with the blades of sweat spray gunned into the outer masses, the bowlers and ball sweat in sync to chicken frighten the English batsmen. The get out clause, to edge the ball to an array of expert slip catchers, to top slotting the ball into the earth’s sky to drop zone into a fielder’s outstretched arms, hands clasped, to being skittled on one’s wickets, the batsmen’s fallen arches sunken into the midday cracklings of the batsman’s grease. The batsmen came and exited at an alarming rate, the England selectors had to find a cricketer with the batsmen’s trench warfare skillset to slow the barrage of Lillee and Thompson out of the most unlikely of circumstances in came the Northants middle order batsman David Steele.

This David was made of steel, mental fortitude which stretched beyond the realms of reality, but reality it was with Steele trading blow to blow, he was proud to be an Englishman at the crease facing the world’s fastest bowler Jeff Thompson and the equally feared Dennis Lillee who belted the bouncers down the wicket at 136.4 km/h, equalled out at 84.72 mph, it was riveting to watch, a magnificent sporting battle.

Steele made his England debut on July 13^th 1975 at Lords nicknamed crime, time to sort out the scene at the grease, the English batsmen surrender, Steele a hardened bastard, no fear, perhaps crazed. Steele’s ability to cope with the hook shot inspired his teammates and spectators, a pioneer to a degree, he became the teacher to team England, Steele would squat the bouncers away like flies. The sultry Lords weather came with the home of cricket about to witness a proud Englishman ready to do battle. Prior to the test match captain Tony Greig who was the driving force behind the selection recognised Steele’s fighting qualities presented the debut cap to the Northants batsman, Greig remarked that he could feel tears on his hand, tears of pride to be representing his country, here was a man who would fight to the death, to stand up to hostile bowling.

All padded up, on leaving to bat Steele got lost in the pavilion and ended up in the basement toilets, on finally entering the field play, the Australians with their Pommie bashing could see a 33 year old, grey haired spectacled batsman, on reaching the grease Jeff Thompson goaded Steele, quote “Bloody hell, who have we got here, Groucho Marks?”. Thompson soon found that Steele was no Groucho Marks during the course of the series, with Steele posting 50 on debut to be followed with scores of 45, 73,92,39 and 66, a combined total of 365 runs, average of 62 runs to blunt the Aussies, old Groucho, a stubborn bugger, Steele termed as the bank clerk going to work, a brief case of runs to pay homage. England lost the series 1 to nil, without Steele the series scoreline defeat would have been more.

Steele was selected for the West Indies tour in England a year later, 1976, to face the fearsome Caribbean brigade who were to unleash their series of bouncers with leas pace bowler Andy Roberts pounding the bouncers down at 159.47 km/h with Michael Holding as the town opening bowlers raining down the bombs at 150.67 km/h to become a quartet with Vanburn Holder and Wayne Daniels. Steele amassed another 308 runs during the series. Steele was not selected for the tour of India late November 1976, with the England selectors deeming Steele to be unsuited for the spinners wickets in India. A short test career for the Northants batsman spanning 8 tests with a 106 top score v the West Indies averaging out at 42.06 per innings, Steele was voted the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1975 to mark down his impact on the country who marvelled at his courage and fortitude to succeed, to be paged into the annals of cricket. For the record, the fastest recorded delivery timed at 161.3 km/h belongs to Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar to be laid into layman’s term is 100.23 mph. Mental Fortitude in Sport Part 2 will follow in next month’s edition featuring Ian Botham and Rory Mcllroy.