The Hindu Business Line : <I>Cricket R.I.P. </I>

Last week, the game of cricket went down one further notch, if not more, in one's estimation. When one first read the brief report on the sudden death of the Pakistan coach, an Indian-born British citizen who became the toast of South African cricket as a coach, one's first response was consternation. Here was an embodiment of the truly international character of the game, well-liked by all, soft-spoken and clearly in love with the game. Naturally, one put the sudden end down to a heart attack — the familiar result of unrelenting travel, competition, worry and tension, all taking their toll of an ageing and rather burly frame. Instead, as it turned out, Woolmer's end was brutal and violent. Though little is known yet about the culprits or the motives, there is no doubt that Woolmer died as a direct result of having coached the Pakistan team at cricket, a game rich and overflowing in traditions of civilised behaviour. And that makes the sadness all the more poignant.

Disproportionate responses

It is equally disquieting that some Indians will be only too willing and ready to suspect the motives of anyone from across our borders. Intrigue, violence and disproportionate responses to a win or a loss are not peculiar to any one country. It is endemic in the sub-continent. We forget all too easily that the day after our team lost to a fledgling Bangladesh, an angry mob in Bihar demolished a young cricketer's new home just being built. Some of us are even capable of calling this an understandable reaction of "disappointed" fans.

On a broader canvas, our response to organised lawlessness in society has been one of "oh, crowds will be crowds". This is trotted out even by responsible people and political leaders, who ought know better. We see wanton destruction of public property, disruption of traffic, burning of buses and general vandalism at the death of every matinee idol or political star. And as members of the public we take it lying down when the judiciary takes a lenient view of randomly violence by a rampaging student population treating them as inevitable and part of `ground realities'. Clearly the explosive expression of widespread anger is now considered acceptable behaviour. Never mind if it is uncivil and many innocents suffer as a result.

Too much money

It is this same distorted sense of values that allows large-scale betting on cricket matches to go on unchecked, with the well-known results of allegations of match-fixing — some of which are already proven. The causes for this state of affairs are not far to seek. There is too much money in the game. Far too much. And it is being made by a few people: a handful of players, administrators and the businesses responsible for sponsorships and advertisements and telecasts.

Above everything else, the unconcerned acceptance of it is most galling. We live in a highly materialistic and commercial world (so runs the argument) and everyone is on the make, so why not cricketers and everyone associated with it? To this school of thought, in a world that has given itself over to the unhindered interplay of market forces, a gentleman's game is an anachronism. And so, the line between the dons and bookies of underworld on the one side and business tycoons, movie stars, politicians of every hue, and power-brokers on the other, has grown vanishingly thin.

Conditioned by our daily dose of crime and violence, which is amplified by intrusive and strident media, our minds have grown calloused; in fact, so inured that the tragic end of Bob Woolmer, now looming like a black cloud over the World Cup, will soon fade from our collective memory except as just another favourite quiz trivia. So, cricket too has joined the mega business arena — with tragic and fatal results.

sr.chander@gmail.com