Occasionally comes a moment in sport that beggars belief. With the stakes raised, a competitor will do something that defies even the sometimes confused standards of logic and common sense that govern the behaviour of the professional athlete. He will commit an act so absurdly against expectation that it cannot be explained by the pressure of the situation, the calibre of the opposition or the difficulty of the conditions.
And so it was on Wednesday evening when a nation's cricket lovers - or at least the minority with cable TV - threw the remote into the shagpile, held their heads in their hands and uttered in terms somewhat fruitier than this: "What the heck was he thinking?"
What was going through Brett Lee's mind when he bowled that ball to Brendon McCullum in the penultimate over of a memorable one-dayer (and yes, I realise the term can be considered oxymoronic)?
Not the beamer that McCullum managed not only to avoid, but to deflect awkwardly to third man for a boundary that, with the addition of a no ball, added five of the 18 runs Lee was to concede in his calamitous, controversial and seemingly interminable 10-ball over.
With the Australian fielders applying a towel to the ball with the vigour of hyperactive Aladdins attempting to activate a faulty lamp, you must accept, as the Kiwis did, that the offending delivery slipped from Lee's hand because of the dew - just as it has slipped on the previous three known occasions Lee has bowled such balls in international matches. However, given McCullum has been the unlucky batsman to find a six-stitcher homing in on his throat at more than 150kmh, he might be forgiven for painting a target on his helmet.
No, the ball that defied comprehension was the one that followed.
In the circumstances - bowler has almost decapitated opposing batsman, team's seemingly insurmountable lead is shrinking faster than skinnydipper's nether regions during mid-winter swim - it could be reasonably assumed Lee would follow the mantra chanted in the commentary box at such times: "Get it up in the blockhole!"
At the very least, you would expect Lee to fall back on the wisdom imparted by Mark Taylor, with whom he spoke after a disappointing Ashes campaign. Forget the ego-driven bouncer-yorker combinations. Concentrate on the ball that will hit the top of off stump. This might be more appropriate for a long spell in a Test than the closing moments of a one-dayer, but the general concept would seem to apply. Keep it tight.
- RICHARD HINDS