This is not cricket
By
Prakash Subbarao
“This is not cricket” – a tongue-in-cheek article about cricket that I
wrote in 2004 and which shouldn’t be taken too seriously!
“EMIRATES FLY PAST MCC IN THRILLER” reads the headline in today’s
Gulf News, sports page.
“Fly Emirates”, the cricket
team of Emirates Airlines, recorded a thrilling 3 wicket win over the
visiting MCC. Mention of the MCC brings back nostalgic memories of when
the MCC team *was* the England team. MCC toured India several times.
The website
www.lords.org states
“The (MCC) touring programme will begin on 4th January, when an
exceptionally strong MCC squad will leave London to play in the United
Arab Emirates and Oman. The party will include Jonathan Batty (Surrey's
new captain), two ex-England players (Dougie Brown and Jason Gallian), and
a former Pakistan international (Iqbal Sikander).
MCC earlier used to play
countries (like India). Now they play airline cricket teams. Or,
alternatively, airlines teams – specifically the Emirates team – has
become so strong that it can take on the MCC single handed and win! Which
option do you prefer?
MCC and the England
official side seem to go hand in hand. Where one is, the other is not far
behind.
Here is what the cricket side
www.cricinfo.com had
to say about the MCC’s presence and its message reaching far and wide:
“Over the years, the
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has been the body that sets the tone for the
spirit of the game. Despite being headquartered at Lord's, their message
reaches all the far corners of the globe where the game is played. It came
as little surprise, then, that the MCC was hard at work in Bangalore too.
Left stacked on a table was a neat set of flyers; one side had on it a
striking image of Sachin Tendulkar playing a square drive. Under it was a
quote from the little master: "Cricketers should always respect their
opponents." Wise words indeed, but ones that are often forgotten in the
heat of battle. On the other side of the flyer, there are little notes
about various aspects, including the Responsibility of Captains, Players'
Conduct and Fair & Unfair Play. If one is unconvinced about the role of
the MCC with regard to keeping up the high standards of sportsmanship once
followed, one need look no further than the fact that they have printed
copies in Hindi and Marathi as well, just to reach out to young children
in India.”
These days, money is all
corrupting. Tons of money, that is. Just imagine, Attapattu of Sri Lanka
wakes up one fine morning to see Sri Lankan Rupees 1.1 million staring
back at him. Here’s the official report from www.cricketfundas.com:”
“Police investigators are
looking into the discovery of a large sum of money found in hotel room of
Sri Lanka's limited-over squad captain Marvan Atapattu after the team
checked out at Kandy last week.
The Sri Lankan police
Criminal Investigation Department was informed that Rs 1.1 million was
found by the Kandy hotel's staff after the conclusion of the December
10-14 Test match between Sri Lanka and England, which ended in a draw.
"We're investigating the
recovery of a large sum of money from a room in the hotel where the Sri
Lankan cricketers stayed in Kandy," an investigator said on the condition
of anonymity.
The news about the money's
recovery was made public by the Sunday Observer newspaper, which did not
identify the player but said he was a "top order batsman, who has never
bowled".
But Atapattu stepped out of
the team's dressing room at the start of the fourth day's play in the
third and final Test match in Colombo to clarify his position to
reporters.
"I have nothing to do with
that money," Atapattu said. "I don't carry such huge amounts of money
while playing. I don't know to whom the money belongs. Other people have
stayed in that room before me and after I left the hotel," he added.”
“The man selling his own
and cricket's great shame is former South African captain Hansie Cronje.
He is seeking the highest bidders from the world of print and electronic
media, to serialize his own story of how he cheated his way right through
his career as captain of the South African team. “
These words are words that
another cricket site has to say about Hansie Cronje.
“You only live once” the
saying goes “and if you live it right, once is enough”.
Back to the clean world of
sports in the Emirates.
How could a team like Fly
Emirates beat the MCC? Was it talent alone? Was it bad luck? Was it match
fixing? Was it Dubai belly that incapacitated the MCC team? We’ll never
know.
So why not be charitable
about it?
Well done, Emirates Team!
Right next to the story
that Emirates beat the MCC is another smaller one.
“FLY EMIRATES TO PLAY IN
ENGLAND”.
The victorious lads are all set to play against Lord’s Taverners cricket
team at Windsor Castle on June 13th.
Any bets on who will win?
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