VIDEO | Lewis Gregory summarizes 2020 by landing delivery at silly point to leave entire ground in splits

The last couple of months have been tough for Somerset’s Lewis Gregory. After being picked in England’s T20 squad to face South Africa, two intra-squad warm-up matches were all he played, spending the rest of November and the first week of December either inside his hotel room or watching his teammates play from the sidelines. That a gig in the Big Bash League awaited him post the tumultuous trip in South Africa was good news, but it meant that he had to undergo a 14-day quarantine in Australia before stepping on to the field. He did it, but to make things worse, the Brisbane Heat, in Gregory’s absence, were getting spanked by the rest of the teams, losing each of their first three games. 

He finally got to play a game of cricket on December 27 versus the Hurricanes, and the all-rounder made an instant impact, walking away with the Man of the Match award for clinching a three-wicket haul and helping Heat register their first win. So understandably, in the reverse fixture against the same opponents on Wednesday, the 28-year-old was keen to make a difference, especially now oozing with confidence.

But well, let’s say he was a bit too keen for his own liking. Gregory tried too hard and ended up conceding 0/31 off his first 2.5 overs, but it was what happened on the final ball of his third over which depicted his keenness, and, to this very moment, is unfathomable.

Bowling to a rampant Tim David who was batting on 30* off 15, Gregory had his plans and wanted to bowl outside-off. He did end up bowling outside off, but the execution, let’s say, was a bit off. Actually, more than just a ‘bit off’. Steaming in, aiming to hit the blockhole on the fifth stump, Gregory ended up bowling to the 55th stump. Yes, somehow he landed the ball outside the entire pitch, usually right where a silly point fielder stands. The delivery was so comically bad that right from the commentators to the spectators to the players to even the umpires, everyone was in hysterics.

That delivery from Gregory was the year 2020 in a nutshell.