Spirit of cricket goes for a toss
Randiv adds another chapter to the story
The spirit of cricket has forever been a controversial, contentious topic, interpreted differently by different sides at different times largely because it is an intangible that asks of teams to act on the basis of their definition of integrity and fair play.
Cricketing history is replete with heat-of-the-moment incidences that might not have contravened the laws of the game, but have clearly been against the basic tenets of fair play.
The Suraj Randiv no-ball which left Virender Sehwag stranded on 99 and that has since passed beyond reasonable doubt into the ‘deliberate’ category is the latest in a list of events that has besmirched the fair name of the gentleman’s game.
Harold Larwood’s bodyline tactics to restrict Don Bradman from amassing runs at the behest of skipper Douglas Jardine during the 1932-33 series, Trevor Chappell’s underarm to Brian McKechnie at brother and skipper Greg Chappell’s insistence and Australia’s go-slow tactics in the 1999 World Cup against the West Indies in an abortive bid to carry the Caribbeans, and the points earned against them, through to the Super Six stage are but distant memories, though they are primary examples of cashing in on the loopholes rules inevitably provide.
The Chappell underarm forced authorities to ban such bowling from international cricket. Steve Waugh, Australia’s captain at the ’99 World Cup, summarily dismissed the evoking of the ‘spirit of cricket’, countering, “Millions of Australians want us to win the World Cup. I don’t know anything about the spirit of cricket.”
Blasé, perhaps, Waugh obliquely trying to make a virtue out of what he was doing. No wonder, Australia haven’t been consistent winners of Spirit of Cricket award instituted by the International Cricket Council.
Sri Lanka, though, are another matter. Under Arjuna Ranatunga, they were rough and tumble, their abrasive skipper standing up to establishment and not taking a backward step on the field, though they seldom contravened the tangible laws and the more subjective spirit of the game.
As Mahela Jayawardene and then Kumar Sangakkara assumed captaincy roles, they established themselves as the upholders of fair play, and were rewarded with two ICC Spirit of Cricket awards, testimony to their belief in the oft-used cliché – play hard but play fair.
Which is precisely why Randiv’s ill-advised no-ball – the young man surely doesn’t have the courage or the awareness of the rules to think of something as far-reaching as this on his own?! – has come as a severe blow to Sri Lankan pride.
Sangakkara is no saint on the field, going up in appeal for everything with his good friend Jayawardene for close company.
The current skipper is a master sledger too, his verbals a wonderful mix of sarcasm and humour, but neither he nor his predecessor have ever strayed beyond the boundaries of fair play. They have accepted the most horrible umpiring decisions with grace and a wry smile, Jayawardene throwing the occasional tantrum but no more than that.
It is impossible to imagine either intelligent, well-read man having anything to do with the Randiv no-ball. Indeed, Sangakkara’s indignation at the turn of events was obvious for all to see, and the lashing he gave his team-mates not too long after the match showed just how shaken he was.
Several fingers are pointing in one direction – towards a brash, maverick not-so-young man whose approach to life, many have accused, isn’t too dissimilar from his devil-may-care approach to the game itself. An enquiry committee will go into the heart of the matter and dismantle one of the most famous no-balls in the history of the game, Sri Lanka Cricket determined to purge unwarranted acts of unsportsmanlike behaviour lest they should become a trend.
The Lankans were at the receiving end when Muttiah Muralitharan was bizarrely run out by Brendon McCullum in New Zealand in December 2006 when he rushed out of his crease to celebrate Sangakkara’s century in a Test match. Having hoarsely defended their action, it was the Kiwis’ turn to cry foul when Grant Elliott, sprawled on the ground after a collision with Ryan Sidebottom, was run out by England in a one-dayer at The Oval in June 2008.
New Zealand turned good Samaritans when Daniel Vettori recalled Paul Collingwood – also the skipper at The Oval – after the latter strayed out of his crease and was run out during a Champions Trophy game last September in a celebrated and magnanimous gesture.
There was nothing magnanimous, or worth celebrating, about what happened at the Rangiri Dambulla International stadium on Monday night. Subsequent damage-control measures, however, have made sure that the relations between the two teams, and Boards, don’t sour. Thank goodness for sane heads in difficult times.
