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Snow and Soap

You do not summon poets for soaps, but John Snow was no ordinary man.

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"You know nothing of Bodylines, John Snow"... Concept: Arunabha Sengupta. Artwork: Maha.
“You know nothing of Bodylines, John Snow”… Concept: Arunabha Sengupta. Artwork: Maha.

During a rather tedious Leicestershire-Sussex encounter of the late 1960s, fast bowler John Snow became innovative in a slippery way while trying to liven up the proceedings.

The previous evening, he had purchased a red cricket-ball-shaped soap from a local departmental store. Replacing the real ball with this personal hygiene product, he bowled a bouncer. Batsman Peter Marner hooked it fiercely. As a result, the soap-ball shattered into countless fragments.

 

“In the scorebook, the Sussex scorer solemnly noted, “Ball exploded.” Well, he could also have said that it was a thousand dot balls in one.”

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