We thought cricket was a gentleman’s game
View(s):I was ashamed to read what Graham Gooch had said in defence of sledging that it is a compliment to be sledged. It is certainly not a part of the game to disturb a batsman to get him out — it is a low, mean and dirty practice.
Equally shocking was a report that stated that the Aussie Coach Lehmann wants more aggression from his team — I don’t quite know the man’s background but he could well be from a slum for they do not know the spirit of the game or the values we attach to the game of cricket. “Win by hook or by crook yes win by any means” must be his Motto
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At a Colombo club when this was discussed many said that it was surprising for a Brit to say this as sledging was a dirty practice introduced by the Aussies. This is not gamesmanship, there was nothing surprising for it is in the genes of the Aussies to indulge in such low acts was the view of some, for the ancestors of the Aussies were deported from Britain because they were convicts and Britain did not want them so they dispatched them by boat (quite a few are said to have been thrown overboard for what they did on board) to far off Australia. So we should not be surprised at the behavior of their progeny, they said.
England, from where the game came over two hundred years ago accepted the fact that there were those who played the game of cricket for the love of the game and there were those who were paid to play and for them it was their profession — so they then had matches between Gentlemen and Players but with every aspect of life becoming commercial in the US, that horrible disease spread to England and that made playing cricket a profession. India with its millions seeking entertainment has taken the game into its lowest depths with money taking over. It is today a lucrative business, with millionaires owning clubs and players and gamblers fixing matches. Cricket has become a professional form of entertainment and sledging is the smallest form of cheating, it may not be long before some may even resort to witchcraft to get batsmen out or to win a game where big money is involved. It is time that the ICC steps in to ban sledging and any other low, menial, dirty acts – and lays down a code of conduct for players, Umpires and also for Commentators to save the game and the values that have been associated with it.
KG