Money is the name of the game

So did Hansie Cronje, Mohammed Azharuddin and a few other men. They played one too many parts. Success to them was far more than honour. So many demons still hide behind the dark. And we all hope that the light of the truth is much more powerful than the demons, in a world that has almost lost its honour. Cricket a gentleman's game? Not anymore. Blame it on money!

Kerry Packer brought the big money to this game. He turned cricket into a circus. Gleefully we all watched the men in colourful pyjamas hitting a leather ball all over the park. They changed the rules. They made it a batsman's game. They wanted to see runs and not the game of cricket. So they banned bouncers and put an inner circle, paving way for a flow of runs. Everything had to be instant. One day cricket became more than a fashionable thing. Nobody had the time. In this material world time was money. Instant cricket became an instant success. Sponsorships flowed in. We had big-time promoters negotiating TV rights and other financial deals between TV companies and cricket boards. Players wanted a bigger share of the spoils, because they were professionals. At some point of time the same 'middlemen' teamed up with the players. They all had heavy stakes in and out of the game. After all, this was not cricket anymore, it was a profession of making money. Players became conscious of their material value (they have a promotional value too).

On television, the Indian commentator asks Sir Geoff Boycott, "Whom would you put your money on?" And Sir Geoff says," it is too close to call, so I'll keep the money in my left pocket!" Perhaps an innocent conversation about the game, but the talking of the devil has always been there. We could blame it on greed that seems to keep this world spinning. Or perhaps on the middlemen, capitalism, or colonialism or even the 'system' (which we all wish to change). The Hansies and the Azhars of this world forgot one thing. As the great American President Abraham Lincoln once said, ``You can fool some of the people some of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time"

Justice with its long hand will catch up with the players and administrators, who have brought shame to this game. No one is bigger than the game. What we really need to learn from all this is, "Money can buy it all, but never buy you integrity and honour."

There is an inscription by Akbar the great at Fatehpur Sikri, which says it all: