Crickomance

Decades ago after a controversial Test Series in Australia, a furious Indian Captain Sunil Gavaskar remarked that India was playing against a 13 member Australian team, hinting at the support that the opponents received from the two deviant Umpires whose decisions found the Indians at the receiving end, during the test series that was held down under.

It was this voice that eventually initiated the process of Neutral umpires in Cricket and the Third Umpires and the Referral system that we see these days.

Australian media, surprisingly has now taken over the role of their yesteryear umpires. Their Headlines turn into India Bashing much ahead of the series, virtually providing an aggressive cover fire to their National team, usually poking fun or highlighting the shortfalls of the Indian cricketers. But the net result such Pre-match noises create on a cricket field is quite the reverse. Shane Warne, one of the greatest Australians to have played the game, had confessed that he had nightmares of a certain Sachin Tendulkar hitting him for sixes, over his head again and again. Glen MGrath was another Aussie who was sent to the cleaners, when the broad blade from the Little Master answered both his bowling and loudmouth, in such thunderous fashion.

As an Indian I am liking what the Australian media are up to. Primarily because the more they support their cricketers, who stoop down to these mind games off the field and a cheap demeanor on it, the more charged up they get the Indian cricketers. India often need such bashing to nerve up their game and come firing all cylinders. The latest beneficiary is Mr. Pujara who cracked his biggest score ever after being sledged so badly by the visitors.

What they forget it that this current Indian team is a different ballgame. They are a lot who can catch the bull by its horn. So, when the Australians get a taste of their own medicine, suddenly they, ably supported by their media, transforms almost overnight into a set of cry babies. A Virat Kohli becomes the antihero overnight and their cricketers hapless sheep at the hands of the murderous predator. The young aggressive Indian Captain finds himself on the Australia headlines as a symbol of National tragedy for them.

My heart goes towards them Australians. And it bleeds! As a cricketer who played Club and University cricket, my heart but bleeds for the game of cricket, once called a Gentleman sport. I am not racist by birth or passion or vocation but still a cricketer who love the game for the sheer romance it made me experience.

I think it is time that the Australians realized their folly. Instead of uttering escapist sounds like “Brain fade”, I think their Cricketers including their young Captain Smith, should focus on their own craft, analyse their own shortfalls and up their game, while their media sit back and evaluate the confrontation on merit. The game is not just a sport, but a celebrated experience!

My nationalism does not come in the way I love, enjoy and celebrate the game of cricket which gave me my first address as a growing up child with no visible talents. My own journey in life could be easily attributed to those successful cuts and flicks I could play and those occassional flourishes that sent the ball across the boundary or soaring up across it. But more than a personal success, it was the sheer romance of playing it the way the gentlemen who invented it played, made people like me enjoy the game. Like a Sunil Gavaskar or Adam Gilchrist, I also took pride in walking before the umpire’s finger went up, when I was sure I had nicked. More than the runs on the score sheet, I was happy that I could hold fort on one end or play my late cuts that sent the ball to the Third man or the glances that sped before the bowler could finish his follow through or the ones that found the cover boundary with limited effort.

Cricket was never a sport of power, but a game of great passion and an experience that brought folklore out of even countryside games. A generation of Cricket lovers like me still watch the game, not to see a fast bowler mouthing obscenities to a batsman or a Captain playing dirty tricks to stay put. We would love to see a loose ball being sent to the covers by a Rahul Dravid on his front knees or a David Gower caressing the ball, sending it into the stands as if he has waved a fly away from his face. Even the power hitting of a Vivian Richards or a Kapil Dev hitting a certain Eddie Hammond for consecutive 4 sixes to avoid a follow on, remains etched in the memory of people like me for their sheer bravado, and the righteous way that accompanied talent.

While I know how difficult it is to play before a crowd of a few hundred people, I can’t even imagine the pressure of a modern International cricketer who can’t even pick his nose or scratch his ass with thousands of lens pointed at covering every move he makes on a cricket field. I asked the legendary Wasim Akram a few years ago, about how he handled such a pressure on the field and he smiled at me. “We know there are these millions out there watching us, but we let them be there in their seats as we withdraw into the green patch where we focus ourselves on what we do”, was his answer.

I am sure, every Cricketer of our times spoke about the romance that came out of every match. More than the sixes one hit or the cruel bouncers that literally knocked the batsmen out of their stance, it was the romance of an underdog going out and outperforming others, or the spectacular running catch taken by an opponent that turned the match around or the sheer grit shown by a tailender who stood his ground till he saved the match, that made to the table after every match. Such was the camaraderie even with the opponents with whom, having a beer was the best thing to do than celebrating the win. It was not about winning, it was more about being able to contribute to the romance of the game that made the sport.

When G R Vishwanath, the Indian Skipper recalled Jeff Taylor, the English Wicket Keeper who was declared out by the umpire, he did it because of the true spirit that embodied the game. Taylor, who got the life of his life, went onto score a century and won the match for England. India may have lost the match, but that incident still would stand taller than a World Cup win for many who love the game for its sheer gentleman spirit. When Sunil Gavaskar beat Sir Don Bradman’s world record for most number of centuries, he looked back and handed over his bat to Jeff Dujon, the West Indies Wicket Keeper. Dujon had got a promise from Gavaskar that he would gift the bat with which he beats the record if he was behind the wicket.

Sadly it is no longer what it used to be. At least when Australia plays India or when a certain Mr. Chris Broad is the Match Referee.

Cricket represents the color of the clothes test cricket is played with. The whites; that symbolize the gentleman personality of the game. I still remember as a youngster taking part in an Under 15 District Cricket Coaching Camp, my coach yelled at me to change the colored pair of socks I was wearing, after I had begun walking into the middle to bat! I was recalled and made to wear white socks before allowing me to pad up again.

Once during a Test match between England and India (If I remember it correctly), one of the batsman was batting with his score at 99. The English Captain asked his fiery fast bowler to bowl bouncers at him, to unsettle him and get him out as every batsman would be nervous in the 90s. The fast bowler simply told his captain that he will not! He didn’t want to deny him his deserved century. He may have been insubordinate in his task as a bowler, but as a cricketer, he represents the very romance I have constantly mentioned on this page. Cricket is a game of such stories and can easily put the best of parables to shame with its virtuousness. Truth is the essence of this game. Name, fame and money were incidental.

I can see a Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble; exemplary characters who would continue to live not just as a successful Cricketers, but as thorough gentlemen who are role model to not just cricketers, but to generations. I just wish our young ones roll those videos back, read their climbs to success and their ardent worship for the game.

Australians, be it a common man, media or cricketer - My request to you is please do not just play the game to win, play it to celebrate it and to become part of tomorrow’s folklore. And such folklore will not be made on the runs you made or wickets you took, but how you did it.

Long live the game.

By Sujil Chandra Bose