A soldier’s appreciation
Photo - BCB
|| CF Correspondent ||
Whenever Sheldon Cottrell plays any game, a salute is guaranteed after he gets a wicket or takes a catch.
A left-arm fast bowler Cottrell is known to march and salute to the pavilion followed by a straight-arm dab after every wicket as he is a Jamaican Defence Force soldier, and was among the army workforce manning the pitch during the fifth ODI against India at Sabina Park in 2011.
He made his debut against India in 2013 during the penultimate Test of Sachin Tendulkar but didn’t get the opportunity to give salute because of going wicket-less in that Test.
The opportunity came however during his debut T20 match against England in Bridgetown in 2014 as he claimed two wickets for 37 runs. After then, it remains his trademark celebration.
On Monday, he however was busy with saluting because of taking wickets at regular intervals. He finished with his career best 4-28, which forced him to break his salute-celebration four times.
Celebration with salute was not uncommon in world cricket. Indeed Bangladesh spectators had got the first-hand experience when Shakib Al Hasan gave a salute to Ben Stokes after dismissing him during England’s Test series in Bangladesh in 2016.
Stokes also got a salute from West Indies’ Marlon Samuels. But the history of those salute celebration was the bitter rivalry between the players. while Samuels and Stokes was engaged in heated conversation for quite some times during the England-West Indies series, Stokes angered Bangladesh players by engaging in a brawl with Tamim Iqbal.
However no bitter rivalry is in Cottrell’s case. He said it’s just the appreciation towards his colleagues.
“The salute came from... I am a soldier in the Jamaican defence force, so it’s a way of showing my appreciation to my co-workers. I know am on international duty, so it’s a way of showing appreciation,” he said.
