Superstitious Bunch
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Cricketers are a funny bunch and the dressing room is filled with superstitious individuals. The sport in general is known for it's unlucky numbers such as Nelson which is when the score is on 111 and The Australian unlucky number of 87 and guessing that is because it is 13 away from 100.
Nelson is a strange one as it depicts 111,222.333 etc, but 111 is basically depicting three stumps with no bails on top. If the bails aren't on then it is predicting a wicket to fall. Funny enough many wickets do fall on this number highlighting the superstition even more. The legendary umpire David Shepherd used to stand on one leg to keep the bad luck away when the score was on Nelson.
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Steve Waugh used to carry a red rag in his pocket after he scored 157 against the West Indies in 1993 and for the next 11 years it became a must have in his kit. Shane Warne often commented that it was his security blanket.
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Neil suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder or OCD and it effects everything in his life. Really easy target for team mates to prank him. I know I would have fun.
Neil McKenzie must be the nuttiest cricketer that ever played the game. First on his lists were checking that all the toilet seats were down in the changing room and the lights were turned off before he went out to bat. This was done repeatedly not once or twice but constantly. He also strapped the bat to the dressing room ceiling with tape. When arriving at the wicket his feet were not allowed to touch the crease lines.
Another one is when a set of batsmen are doing well the rest of the team is not allowed to move. You have to sit still and stay where you are until they are out. this happened in a test match where Allan Border was padded up as the next batsmen to come in. He was watching the action from a TV in the dressing room and was not allowed out to watch the game live. He spent the entire day inside and Australia won the game.
There are a few other quirky things to look out for including Nathen Lyon spinning the bails before he owls the first ball of every spell. I suppose it is everyone to their own when it comes to what makes them feel comfortable.
Does this kind of superstitions exist in other type of sports. In a scientific and technology rich world it is surprising to see the players getting superstitious at times. May be it is out of their own life experiences which might result in OCD. But for me it is really funny to see these kind of stuff.
I thought only Indians are highly superstitious, but what I can learn here is that there are many legendary players across the world who are highly superstitious too. I think it is pure psychology and the way you think and allow something to have an impact at the psychological level is certainly going to materialize in the field.
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Baseball is the same way. They have some really crazy superstitions. You would think they would know better after years of playing, but there are still a lot of little things that the players stick to. Kind of like when a pitcher is throwing a no-hitter the announcers know better than to mention it.