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It was a casual conversation between yours truly and one of the leading and most respected umpires in Sri Lanka. The occasion was a cricket tournament and surprisingly the conversation was based on values of modern cricket. What I happened to hear from that respected gentleman not only startled me but also made me alive to a very serious problem involving cricketers in the country! The issue was to do with respect and upholding the values of life and the game of cricket!
I was definitely surprised to hear that in an U 15 match involving an International school where the Gentleman in question officiated, there was a young bowler who approached him and whilst getting ready to bowl had referred to him as “ Umpire” contrary to the age old tradition of calling him “ Sir”. The Umpire concerned who shared the story with me had then responded to him saying “Ok you don’t call me Sir, then I will call you Sir” which obviously embarrassed the young kid. The incident ended there as far as that game was concerned, but don’t we now clearly understand the real fact for worse situations which happens on the cricket fields across the board today? Haven’t we heard and read that the gentlemen’s game is not played by gentlemen anymore?
 This takes me to the famous saying and confirms my thoughts that “big things have small beginnings”. Whilst I am sure the original meaning of this great saying wouldn’t have been meant in a negative sense though unfortunately it now seems to fit perfectly in to the real life situation where minor incidents appear to blow up alarmingly on later days of a players life.
Before I touch on the current situation let me take a look at the past where great coaches then were not just good cricket coaches but great disciplinarians and equally good managers too. Talking of great coaches some of the names that I remember readily are the late Fairlie Dalpadado, James Perera of Josephian fame and of course the other greats such as Gerry Goonaratne, Berty Wijesinghe and from the current crop the Mendis brothers Lionel and Nelson!
Whilst I am sure that there were many more great names that could be added on to the list, my mentioning has been limited to ignorance of such gentleman and nothing else. I must stress here that these gentlemen of yesteryear were highly respected and were never contested at all and in fact their word was final come what may. What was their specialty? And what do some of the current crop of coaches’ lack? Firstly these yesteryear Gentlemen being discussed were always straight and forthright and never had favourites with hidden agendas and their only objective was cricket and cricket alone.
As a schoolboy I had never ever witnessed the then coaches mingle with parents or being benefited by the generosity of parents to get their children playing unfortunately a habit that is very common amongst all. In fact parents were non entities at that time as far as the coach was concerned and they were not a factor which determined the final eleven. Isn’t that a far cry from today’s happening? I am sure our readers who have an insight o such matters would recall how influential parents of some boys throw their weight around coaches and also throw lavish parties for the sake of their sons? And don’t coaches and the masters in charge fall a pray to these tactics? And doesn’t it cause these gentlemen to be under obligation to the so called players then, throwing the entire system of discipline governing the game and its conduct at a school out of the window?
I have heard and have credible evidence where coaches have been assaulted and being spoken back and even ridiculed by players and I mean schoolboys and not grown up men.
This begs a question and that is how this is possible and where is the discipline in schools and in the great game? Haven’t we heard players at international level fighting and even slapping fellow players and extending them to physical contact? I believe all of this and even more has been due to the poor upbringing at school level where the authorities including the Principals, Teachers and the coaches are fully responsible and should be held responsible!
Add to that, the amount of cheating which takes place in certain schools is simply unbelievable. And why is this? Because it is win at any cost today. Altering of birth certificates to accommodate a player who could be over age by a few days is a common occurrence whilst permitting ineligible players to play in a team for the sake of winning is another very common practice. And why is this if I may ask? The simple reason is besides a win at any cost for the very survival of the coach! By trying to do this for petty gains such as a win aren’t we permitting the destruction of a child and his entire future? Shouldn’t that very child be guided on the correct lines to uphold ethics and laws thus helping him to be a good citizen of the country? Sadly that is not the message conveyed to the children.
Instead what a child understands is that getting what he wants in whatever means is the order of the day even if he has to change his birth certificate, look after the coach or the abuse the umpire! Definitely a very unfortunate trend!
With such practices we are not just encouraging indiscipline but also cheating as these are done by some persons with the full knowledge of certain Principal and the rest of the management team and of course the child himself!
My friends this is the standard cricket and sport has reached in this country. These practices are not just common to cricket but to all sports and the root cause of this is the lack of proper teaching and upholding of values and traditions and even discipline in the respective schools.
Getting back to the so called good old days I could recall coaches insisting that one shouldn’t only be a cricketer but also look one and be every inch or ounce one and a gentleman with it. I wonder whether the modern coaches know these leave alone inculcate it in the children.
It is obvious to all that the system needs to be overhauled. I mean not the game of cricket but the way it’s approached as the root of all evil is there! Let’s attempt to develop a culture of love and brotherhood and also have respect added to it. Lets us go back to the era where a Child lived and thought like one irrespective of his age or the cricket he played. We need to develop such thinking more and bring back the habits of standing to elders when they spoke and were willing listeners rather than oppose of it. Also what about that cap or hat we have? We used to take it off when an elder or a senior addressed us, why don’t we do that as well? A new culture needs to be developed if the country has to go in the right path and what better vehicle than sports can we think of? It is played and followed and loved by all!
Roshan Abeysinghe is a leading cricket promoter and an international cricket commentator |
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