Ashes Poetry

no cavalier disposition
no frills nor fripperies

he bats round-shouldered
legs apart, more ready to shovel coal
than play straight in the classical manner

more relaxed and refined at the other end
weight on bat, one leg straight, other bent
at the knee, one toe to the ground, a yeoman farmer
lent on a gate turned a general of men,
he carries his duty from dawn till dusk
despite all who fall about him
or clamour his dismissal from post.

Lord High Protector of England
and the Common Wealth
He bends his knee to none
but himself

2nd Test, Lord’s Day One, England 353/6 A J Strauss 161*