At its most scintillating, cricket is a challenge of patience and nerves. The batter waits and waits, only to compress years of technique, judgement, critical thinking and agility into a fraction of a second. The ball passes and the batter spends the next minute absorbed in contemplation, replaying the ball, his stroke, pondering the movement off the pitch, re-calculating the threat posed while battling their own demons of self-doubt.