The First Class cricket season in India has come to a close.It has been a very long season with the first match being the Test Match between India and New Zealand in August 2012.Fittingly the last was the Test at Kotla. In between there has been a series loss to England followed by a first time 4-0 win which hopefully augur a new phase of cricket for India.
Cheteshwar Pujara scored over a thousand runs this season and Rahane looks to follow Amol Mazumdar as very heavy First class scorer who could not play tests. Rahane of course played a test toward the end of the season.He however has not given any indication that he will have a long first class career. Pujara is on course to become the first batsman to have the best list A average before playing his first ODI.
As IPL takes over the off season in India, we have a few Regional 4days matches from the Carribean and the soon to commence English cricket. The English season will probably begin amidst sleet and snow but there is the series against NewZealand too look forward to.By the time IPL draws to a close at least some of the Indian eye balls will shift to the test series in England. So while IPl tries to dissuade us from agreeing with Eliot that April is the crullest month what with zillions of exams all over the country cricket will accompany cricket in Chaucer's land with its "shoures soote".
that brings me to the General prologue of The Canterbury tales and even while wading through Chaucer, often with Neville Coghills wonderful Penguin Classics translation in verse, I would be transported to england in april where cricketers from all over the world from Richards to Border and Barry Richards to Imran Khan would come to England as if on a pilgrimage in April at the start of the English season, something as regenerative than the pilgrimage Chaucer talks about.The beginning of the Prologue to bring all the non Eng Lit types up to date.
| Whan that Aprill with his shoures sote° The droghte° of Marche hath perced to the rote,° And bathed every veyne° in swich licour,° Of which vertu° engendred is the flour; Whan Zephirus° eek with his swete breeth Inspired° hath in every holt° and heeth° The tendre croppes,° and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his halfe cours y-ronne; And smale fowles° maken melodye, That slepen al the night with open yë°— So priketh hem Nature in hir corages— Than longen° folk to goon° on pilgrimages, And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes, To ferne halwes,° couthe° in sondry londes; And specially, from every shires ende Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende, The holy blisful martir for to seke,° That hem hath holpen,° whan that they were seke.°
So, while everybody who is anybody in cricket have come to India this April, let us rejoice with a Zimbabwean by the name of Craig Ervine who will come half way around the world to england to play club cricket at about 200 US Dollars a week.The pilgrimage still continues.
| sweet showers dryness / root vein / such moisture By power of which the west wind Breathed into / wood / heath sprouts . birds eye(s) . Then long / go  . far-off shires /known . |
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