Forget Starlets, Let's Hear It For The Comeback Kids!

Isabelle Westbury suggests that sports fans prefer stories of stars turning their fortunes round to tales of wunderkinds

There are some sportingclichés so ungainly you can only ever imagine them being uttered by the likes of Rocky, shadow boxing atop those iconic Philadelphia steps. “It’s not about how many times you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up,” is one of them. Still, they’re romantic, alluring and look good in large print plastered across the back of a gym.

Perhaps that was what sprung to the mind of Joe Root, who staged his own mini-comeback during the ODI series versus India. Root had not scored a Test century in 19 innings, was unwanted in the IPL and had been dropped from England’s T20 side. After two back-to-back centuries however, it was only the Test skipper’s bat being dropped, as Root celebrated, a little garishly, his series-winning feat.

Root is far from the only England captain to have responded to pressure, or failure (all relative), or simply media criticism with match-winning performances. One particular three-fingered salute from Nasser Hussain stays long in the memory, while Alastair Cook has made the defiant Test ton something of a trademark. For many, these are the characteristics required for resilient, diligent leadership. In the words of Billy-Jean King, “pressure is a privilege”.

That may be the case for some. Others succumb, pushed under the surface. It can be a for a number of reasons: promoted too early, technical faults undone at the next level, expectation – both from within and from others. The headline-makers are often the wunderkinds, the ones who, destined for the top, reach it and stay there. It happens, but not often. Many more fail than reach the pinnacle. Even more scarce, however, are the comeback kids.