Sprinter Blake can’t wait to return as new-ball bowler

Their efforts ended up in vain more often than not,close friend and childhood confidant Garth Garvey recalls,as Blake would escape to some park or field to indulge in his favourite passion regardless. And right now,Blake is anxious about how many matches he’ll get to play once he’s back,says Garvey.

“Yohan doesn’t speak a word about the Olympics or London. He’s desperate to play all the 50-over matches that begin in September,” says Garvey,who along with Blake,attended St Jago High School,whose alumni include seven Olympic medalists. And Blake apparently can’t wait to put on his whites and join his buddies at Kitson Town,which plays in the St Catherine Community League.

“London has been all about pressure. The Olympics is a high-intensity event. I want to go back to pure,stress-free sport and I’m going to get out of here as soon as this is over and rejoin Kitson Town. There are people waiting there for me,” Blake told The Indian Expressin London.

Like for a majority of his fellow West Indians,cricket has played a big role in the latest Jamaican heartthrob’s life. But Blake is no ordinary cricket fan,he’s a fanatic. And he’s been addicted to the sport from his primary school days.

With Blake away,Kitson Town – for whom he picked up 14 scalps before leaving for the Olympics – have been without their wicket-taking new-ball bowler,one who can swing the ball into a right-hander consistently at speeds of 80-85 mph from a short run-up. Elsewhere,left-handers in the league have been breathing much easier with their scourge away in London.

“He plays in all three formats for Kitson Town. In the 90-over matches,he often bowls 14 overs on the trot,and rarely seems to break a sweat. He doesn’t like bowling bouncers,but loves the challenge of dismissing a technically correct batsman,” adds Garvey,while revealing his buddy’s dream of bowling to Sachin Tendulkar,his idol.

The Beast is also prolific when it comes to clearing fences and is an adherent of the Gayle-Pollard style of batting. And he won a couple of matches for Kitson this season with the bat too. “I would call him a bowling all-rounder,to be honest. And he has been responsible for a lot of balls being lost,” says Garvey.

Blake’s cricketing talents and unrivaled passion even won him a place in the Kingston Cricket Club line-up for the senior league earlier this year. And as teammate Chadwick Walton,who played two Tests for the West Indies in 2009 recalls,he was the best speedster on show in the T20 contest with figures of 4/10?which Blake calls his greatest sporting achievement.

However,and not for the first time,he ran himself out for a duck. Being the second fastest man on the planet doesn’t apparently guarantee safe passage between wickets. “Somehow he runs himself out always. I have to tell him no sharp single please before every game. He’s just so hyper and quick between the wickets,” quips Garvey.

Not surprisingly,both Kitson Town and Kingston CC would love Blake manning the outfield for them. But the man who runs 100 m in less than 10 seconds prefers being still and focused in the slips. “He hates being in the outfield and you can never get him to field in the deep. He has a safe pair of hands in the slips or he’ll be diving around at the cover region,” says Walton.

When Blake’s not playing cricket?or breaking new time barriers on the track?he’s talking about it or is in the Jamaica dressing-room or watching it on television. There has hardly been a test match at Sabina Park that Blake and Garvey haven’t attended together in the last few years. “And he just loves the IPL. He’ll wake up early morning to catch it live or get it taped and watch the recordings later in the day,” says Garvey.

In less than two weeks,Kitson Town’s bowling attack will be bolstered again with the Beast returning to new-ball duty. But Blake is also looking forward to add to his solitary T20 performance for Kingston CC?and bolster his IPL hopes. “We didn’t allow him to play in any more games because we didn’t want him to get injured before the Olympics. He was upset about it. I don’t think we can keep him out once he returns though,” jokes Walton.

As for the man himself,he’s hoping that the Olympics will not keep him away from his beloved cricket,come Rio de Janerio 2016. “T20 should be a part of the Olympics. And then I will participate in both the cricket and the sprint events,” says Blake. That sounds like only more headaches for coach Glen Mills. – with Shivani Naik in London.