The spirit of the game is on the wane
Cricket, both at the Test and street level, owes its charm to the sense of camaraderie and respect you share with your opponent
Erapalli Prasanna
21-Jan-2003
Cricket, both at the Test and street level, owes its charm to the
sense of camaraderie and respect you share with your opponent.
But with the continued media focus and the commercialisation of
the international game over the years, things have indeed changed
and for worse.
The image of the game owes a lot to all the past players who had
set the right kind of example for the youngsters to emulate. In
those days, one could see more families in the stadium, most of
them arriving with their lunch hampers or packets for the daylong entertainment. The ones who couldn't make it to the ground,
always stayed home listening to the radio broadcast. Mind you,
the contributions of the radio commentators like John Arlott,
Alan McGilvray and Brian Johnston in spreading the spirit of the
game cannot be underestimated.
Now, though, it seems that the spirit of the game they so
zealously propagated is taking a serious beating. The fielding
side and the bowlers seem to be appealing for almost everything
and the batsmen refuse to walk even if they are know that they
are out.
![]() © Reuters |
All this despite the relentless scrutiny by the ubiquitous TV
camera, which, incidentally, I think is one of the reasons
behind the change of the character of the game as a whole. Thanks
to this all-seeing device, the pressures on the umpires has
increased manifold these days and sadly quite a few umpires in
the ICC elite panel seem to have fallen prey to it.
To tackle this disturbing trend, one of the steps that the ICC
could take is to formulate a policy by which the Match Referee
reviews all controversial moments of the day's play and then acts
on it. Punishments that are handed out in this manner could serve
to caution players who have been trying to put pressure on the
umpire by appealing when there is clearly no need for it.
I for one feel the whole process of appealing needs conviction.
For instance, in a recent game, Bangladesh skipper and
wicket-keeper Khaled Mashud was seen appealing for a leg-before
decision despite it being clear to everybody concerned that the
ball was missing the leg stump by quite a margin. Then there are
the batsmen who stay put like innocent lambs after getting a
thick edge. It is ridiculous to see such instances of the players
leaving all the decision-making to the umpires. Probably they
have forgotten that the umpires' role lies only in helping them
play the game in a fair manner.
All this has meant that umpires, despite being well-paid and
taken care of, have been constantly erring while applying the
simplest of the rules. An example could be that of the large
number of poor lbw decisions, which seemed to be handed out even
when the ball is pitching down the legside. ICC should keep a
logbook on such poor umpiring decisions, and eventually show the
door to the umpires, who seem to be erring repeatedly.
The golden rule accepted by all is that the benefit of doubt
should go to the batsman. TV replays can always expose whether a
player - either a batsman or a fielder - was trying to cheat the
umpire. The match referee should be empowered to caution such
players, and repeated offenders must be punished severely. I
think it will be far better for the game to get rid of such
spiritless blokes than entrust bulk of the decision-making to the
TV umpires.
![]() © CricInfo |
In my playing days, there was a lot of goodwill between teams and
players; batsmen used to walk while the fielding side used to
recall a batsman if they thought the decision was not justified.
Let us try to put that spirit back into this game.
Before I end, I must congratulate the ICC for having dealt with
the Darren Lehmann incident in a firm manner. It was shocking
that someone as experienced as Lehmann - a cricketer who has
played around the world and rubbed shoulders with so many players
- actually made such outrageous racial remarks. The Australian
should count himself very lucky to have got away with a light
punishment. Lehmann's outburst is not only a slap on the face of
humanity but also a cruel reminder that the spirit of the game is
on the wane.