Mal Loye - the lost Sehwag.

I had first blogged about Mal Loye back in 2007, when Sehwag was prolific but probably not a contender for 'great' as he was averaging below 50 at that time. For some reason I expected Loye (and Uthappa to a smaller extent) to do what Sehwag did. However, both of them failed where Sehwag succeeded, and in Loye's case, more's the pity.

Loye made his first class debut way back in 1991, when Atherton was yet to become captain and England were probably at their lowest ebb ever. However, Loye was continually overlooked for a spot in the team, although he came close on more than one occasion. This was before Jayasuriya, or even Greatbatch had popularised the top order slog. So Loye was probably a victim of England's preference for the dull over the spectacular. Another example could be that of Ali Brown, an equally aggressive cricketer, who although made his debut in 1996, deserved to play more than 16 ODIs (and no tests, just like Loye).

Maybe Loye was ahead of his time, maybe England made a big mistake by not seeing his potential. Or maybe he just didn't prove himself at the highest level. In any case, looking at the recent warm u game India is playing against the Northants, it is good to see that Loye has already reached 84*, while Sehwag scored just 8. Maybe that can be of some respite to a good cricketer, who unfortunately never got the chance that he deserved.