In praise of Diego - October 2010

Diego Lord, also known as King Pin, due to his hair which has sadly left him aged just 32. The heart and soul of the recent ICC world cricket league division four. Diego claimed his 50^th cap for Argentina. A fantastic effort for someone who’s front arm gets as high as his shoulder when bowling and presenting his none delivering hand as though he was about to blow a kiss to the batter. His method of bowling is equally amazing with him just using his index finger alone to release the ball. 

Watch out he could faint - Another ferocious appeal from Diego 

At my first training session I thought that he was practising his slower balls by bringing his index finger across the seam. After watching him bowl for a few deliveries I said that I liked his slower balls but now could you bowl some stock seamers. He replied that this was as quick as it gets! I had never seen anyone so big bowl so slowly.

The unorthodox nature of his game continued in Bologna. During a game against the USA he was desperate to take a wicket and after a few appeals were turned down he at last received a positive decision. After the appeal, which must have read one hundred and twenty five decibels, Diego suddenly dropped to the floor. We thought this was just amateur dramatics but no, he had sent himself dizzy and fainted due to the ferocity of the appeal. The physio was sent on to the field where a drink of water and a pill got him through the rest of the spell.

Diego 'King Pin' Lord

The antics continued when he was adjudged to be obstructing the field. As the ball was thrown back to the bowler, he thought he would run his bat in at head height, diverting the incoming throw to mid off. This bizarre occurrence left the whole Argentine team in fits of laughter.

When Diego finished his final bowling spell in international cricket it all became too much for the big lad, causing him to burst into tears. Lucrative sponsorship contracts from tissue firms, headache tablets and natural water manufactures would surely have been his, had he been born in a test-playing nation.