Cricket and character

LIKE ALL other scams that bedevil our public life, the cricket scam too will soon pass from front pages and public attention. Soon something else will emerge. But the allegations of match- fixing, shadowy contacts and dubious dealings in cricket raise issues that go far beyond the confines of the game and lifestyles of cricketers. It should be of serious concern not only to the lovers of the game but also to those who may not much care.

Cricket in India is no longer a sport or pastime; it is a hypnotic obsession, a moral mirror and a major development impediment. It occupies disproportionate public space, discourages and dwarfs all other sports and, more perniciously, distracts and diverts young minds. Parents talk of their children staying up till 3 in the morning watching a game, say between Zimbabwe and the West Indies during examination time. All available roads and empty spaces are being converted into playing grounds. The television is covering, spread over several channels, any international game anywhere in the world.

No other sport, be it hockey or soccer, is accorded commensurate attention. People watch cricket without even rudimentary knowledge of the game, sometimes even when they do not want to watch it. The man-hours lost and the fall in productivity is clearly colossal. Developing societies like India could ill afford this haemorrhage, this constant draining of youthful energies and diversion from more worthwhile pursuits. The economic implications of cricket fixation have never received any consideration. Maybe the economists and policy-makers are also in the same boat.

Cricketers are no longer sportsmen. And cricket is no longer a gentleman's game that exemplifies patience, courage, teamwork and dogged determination. It is now a big business. The game in the middle, a win or a loss, is secondary to a larger ``game'' of enriching everyone involved. The fortunes of the team are of no consequence to the players; what counts to them is individual performance.

Fringe benefits

The mindset of selectors in choosing national teams is a mystery wrapped in a riddle, inscrutable and defying any semblance of logic or fair play. There are allegations of selectors demanding money for selection from players. Worse, there is now a short cut to ``success'': in an Orwellian twist, losing, not winning, pays, just walk in, play your part and saunter back. If not fixed, it is a war. Cricketers are dressed like warriors with armour and every single thing they wear on their bodies including labels is a source of profit. The fringe benefits are more than the paycheck! The actual game is less lucrative than what they wear and show. Competitive moneymaking, by hook or crook, is the name of the game. Some wonder why people making so much money risk so much to make more. At that point of time, moneymaking becomes an addiction, a compulsive habit. And no one, least of all, famous cricketers dream of getting caught.

Shockingly, players even write newspaper columns on an ongoing game in which they are participating and gratuitously comment on their own game and on other colleagues. They are littered with platitudes like ``we played below our potential; we batted or bowled poorly, the other team played better''. And they actually get paid for it. The game is ``corporatised'' in every sense of the word. If media reports are true - there is no reason to disbelieve them - and even if one discounts by half of what they supposedly earn, that becomes a metaphor for obscene opulence and ill-gotten wealth.

Icing on the cake

Cricketers now are celebrities and role models. Virtually every young man aspires to be one of them, if not be like them. It is this that should be the cause of greatest concern. And it is because of this that the sordid stories of fixing, betting and bribery are so worrisome. We are already living in a land of mediocrity and moral malaise. Corrupt cricket could be the icing on the cake, the proverbial last straw.

All this attention, pampering and hero worship does not even produce a world class team. Barring three or four, the rest are clearly mediocre. With so much game played by millions in the country, there ought to have been a reservoir of talent and a problem of plenty. On the other hand, virtually every other playing nation - barring perhaps Bangladesh and an odd game - is able to outperform.Of course, one has to ask an honest question. Are we being unfair to them? How can we expect them to be any different from the rest of us? How can they be anything other than mediocre? The problem is not lack of excellence in our cricket. It is the way we treat them and the effect of that on the young and vulnerable - and on our economy and national character.

To bring the right balance into the perspective, we need to put cricket in its proper place in public life. More specifically, do the following: 1) treat them like sportsmen, not supermen; no more, no less. 2) Stop using them as icons for advertisements like film stars; give equal recognition to other games 3) Give equal space, encouragement and coverage to other games and physical activities. 4) Stop this insane and incessant television coverage of cricket; maybe semifinals and finals of major tournaments but not this constant benumbing barrage. 5) Spare the public from repetitive and demoralising defeats that depress already low national morale. Do not internationally participate until we build a truly competitive team.

An escape route

All these cannot emanate from the administrators of cricket. Either they too are incapable or for their own reasons unwilling to take any corrective action. They too benefit from the status quo. Referring to the CBI - now a national escape route and solution to all problems - is not the answer. It is unlikely to see the light of day; it is difficult to assemble evidence to prove a crime in a court of law. If it does, it will be so long that some other ``scam'' will capture the headlines. In the meantime, the rot will worsen as no one can be sure who among them can be trusted. It is the public who are the victims and have to suffer the consequences of failure, perfidy and chicanery.

C. B. RAU

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