Doing a Rooty

I was a little worried for Forrest before this game. He was run out by a direct hit for a duck the previous weekend and scored just one the week before, unlucky to be caught and bowled from a full-bloodied straight drive. If I was showing nerves, he certainly wasn't, hitting his fourth fifty of the season, scoring a beautifully paced 64 before losing his wicket to a carefree flick off his legs that went straight to hand. It was a lovely knock but cricket is such that there was huge disappointment at him not going on to get a really big score. Once again, he'd done all the hard work. It could be said that he did a Rooty.

I'm a bit of a purist in that I love to see the ball being hit hard along the ground. He tried to knock the leather off this one. When he departed at 171-2 we looked well set for an easy win but ended up making pretty hard work of it, Forrest himself having to bowl some tidy overs at the end as their last-wicket pair threatened to pull off a shock. 

It was a day when I can never remember so many balls being lost, or at least taking a long time to find. I guess that's indicative of big hitting, a fast outfield and thick undergrowth. It was another hot one.