Spirit of Cricket: What's That?
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Thursday 14th July, 2011 15 Bill Woodfull evades a ball in the infamous 1932-33 Bodyline series between England and Australia. History of sports is filled with moments of controversies, like the Bodyline series, where spirit of the sport went under enormous threat. (Files) REX CLEMENTINE The Oval) averaging 54:66. larly in the last ODI, where he failed to reporting from Edinburgh Then at Old Trafford, he walked in take a wicket and was wayward when with the side in trouble at 29 for three he returned for the second spell. and helped Sri Lanka recover with a 94 Off-spinner Suraj Ranidv was the t the start of Sri Lanka’s tour of run stand for the fourth wicket with joint leading wicket taker in the series England, to imagine that the Kumar Sangakkara, making a half-cen- with James Anderson with both Atourists would triumph in the tury. bowlers claiming nine wickets each. He Spirit of Cricket: Test series was too much to ask for, Mathews’ steady rise also claimed the only five wicket haul in against a side that had just won The In 2009, when Angelo Mathews the series from either side, when he fin- Ashes. walked into the side at the age of 21, ished with 5 for 42 at Old Trafford. But it was felt that Sri Lanka would with him being tried as an all-rounder, It was only the fourth instance that emerge victorious in the ODIs, but at people weren’t too sure how he would a Sri Lankan had taken a five wicket the end of the tour, they had lost both What’s that? go. Sri Lanka, before him, had tried sev- haul in England. the Tests and the ODIs. eral bits and pieces cricketers as ‘fast Another off-spinner, Muttiah England had their moments in the bowling all-rounders’. They failed mis- Muralitharan was the last to do that. just concluded World Cup, but more erably. It took Mathews less than a year Ashantha de Mel did it on two occasions often than not their deficiencies in the The definition to establish his place in the side in all in the 1983 World Cup against New shorter version of the game were three formats of the game, the hallmark Zealand and Pakistan. exposed. Injuries to key players didn’t of a good player. Today, with injury pre- help their cause either. * ‘I do love cricket - it’s so very venting him from bowling, he has Jayawardene breaks Jayasuriya’s The difference in the new England English.’ become good enough to make the side as record under Andy Flower seems to be that - Sarah Bernhardt, French a specialist batsman and that goes onto Mahela Jayawardene possesses an there is a sense of purpose by them to show the immense strides he has made, excellent record while opening the bat- The now famous July 4 MCC lec- drama and film actress of the late excel in one-day cricket. The old in less than two years. ting for Sri Lanka and he further ture by Kumar Sangakkara at Lord’s 19th century England, while considering Test cricket During the run chase at Old enhanced that reputation during the was mainly on Spirit of Cricket. The * ‘The actual though unstated as pristine, regarded limited overs Trafford, he showed the maturity of a famous and controversial speech grap- cricket as just the warm up ahead of sense or significance of some- player who had been around for a the sterner tests of the longer version of pled mainly on the spirit of Sri thing’ as in the spirit of the law. decade until he fell to the slower ball of the game. Lanka’s cricket in particular. - www.thefreedictionary.com Jade Dernbach. Since the 2007 World Overall, in the ODI series, England A meaning of the ‘spirit’ here is * “MCC remains responsible for Cup, Sri Lanka possessed a middle bowled and fielded better than the Sri order that looked as fragile as the roughly the sportsmanlike manner in the Laws of Cricket. However, it Lankans and that proved to be a huge Egyptian government, but the likes of which the game of cricket should be has long believed that the game difference in deciding the series. “We Mathews have helped sort issues out. played. Importantly, this particular should be played in accordance lost the Test series in one hour and Another feature in Mathews’ cricket again in this one-day series, we lost manner is not covered by the Laws of with its traditional ‘spirit’, as well is that he plays the game with passion three matches in about the first six the sport, but is still expected to be as within its Laws… In the late in the mould of overs of our batting. I think we can be a maintained or protected by all its par- 1990s, two distinguished MCC someone like Sanath much better side than that,” Sri Lanka ticipants. members (and ex-England cap- Jayasuriya. However, captain Tillakaratne Dilshan said, sum- his fielding, surpris- It is believed that the beauty of tains), Ted Dexter and Lord (Colin) ming up the series. ingly, lacked spark sports remains in good stead as long Cowdrey, sought to enshrine the At The Oval and at Trent Bridge, Sri during the series. as sports are contested in the fiercest ‘Spirit of Cricket’ in the game’s Lanka lost heavily, by 110 runs and 10 Why the selectors wickets respectively and on both occa- possible manner, yet within the stipu- Laws…This would remind players failed to name him sions, the early damage was done by lated laws of such sports. of their responsibility for ensuring the vice-captain of James Anderson, who took four for 18 But histories of various sports are that cricket is always played in a the side remains a and three for 24 on both occasions. filled with moments of controversies truly sportsmanlike manner… mystery, especially It didn’t help Sri Lanka’s cause that given the player where spirit of sport was at great When the current Code of Laws Dilshan lost four of the five tosses in whom they appoint- risk. In cricket, the 1932-33 Bodyline was introduced, in 2000, it includ- the series. His form too was worrying. ed as vice-captain series in Australia, the five-Test series ed, for the first time, a Preamble on Dilshan is such a vital player for the Thilina Kandamby side and his brilliant form during the between West Indies and Australia in the Spirit of Cricket. As it says: was dropped from the final ODI at Old series when he stroked a brilliant 144 at Test series deserted him during the 1960-61, and the Muralitharan chuck- “Cricket is a game that owes much Trafford. Headingley. His knock is the third high- ODIs, as he managed just 17 runs in five ing controversy in Sri Lanka’s 1995-96 of its unique appeal to the fact that The general thinking for players to est individual score in ODIs against innings with a top score of nine. tour of Australia are three great be appointed for the leadership role is England in England, following Viv it should be played not only within During the series, Sri Lanka’s that they need to have a guaranteed Richards’ 189 and Sanath Jayasuriya’s examples. its Laws but also within the Spirit moments of brilliance came at place in the side, but the Sri Lankan 152. On all three occasions, the victims of the Game. Any action which is Headingley and Lord’s, where they won selectors seem to think otherwise. He broke the Sri Lankan record for rose against unjust later on, to seen to abuse this Spirit causes convincingly. He maybe a slow mover in the field most runs against England in ODIs rewrite the history books and making injury to the game itself.” and a hopeless runner between the when he went past Jayasuriya’s 1195. A star in the making the sport even more popular and - Marylebone Cricket Club wickets, but Kandamby has a decent Only Richards, Ricky Pointing, Sachin The find of the tour for the Sri becoming closer to the hearts of its (MCC) on Spirit of Cricket: record with the ‘A’ team and with Sri Tendulkar and Allan Border have Lankans is Dinesh Chandimal, who lit fans. The Murali chucking controver- Lanka looking to rebuild aiming for the scored more runs against England, than * ‘Have fun. Respect captains. up Lord’s with a thrilling century, in the next World Cup, he will feel that this is Jayawardene’s 1200. sy and the Lankans’ subsequent retal- Respect umpires. Respect oppo- second ODI. Now those who have seen a fine opportunity to get into the side. The series loss meant that Sri Lanka iation against the Aussies in the form nents. Play hard, play fair.’ Chandimal know what a good player he But by appointing him as the vice-cap- lost their number three slot in the ICC of winning the next World Cup was a – From an MCC Spirit of Cricket is, but this was his biggest test in for- tain, the selectors have started a need- Official ODI Rankings. Sri Lanka has eign conditions against a good attack clear case in point. video less debate and that must be working on now slipped to number four. Several Sri and he proved that he belongs in the big his mind too. Lankan bowlers too lost their impres- league. Fast bowler Suranga Lakmal was sive rankings, slipping several places, The Lord’s run chase was criticised another player who did well, but while Graeme Swann emerged as the as Angelo Mathews blocked 21 deliver- towards the end of the series, he began number one bowler in ODI cricket.