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Swantons not sold out on the big dream
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The Swantons Cricket Club has been pushed out of its `home' with the Durbar Hall Ground given a facelift by the District Tourism Promotion Council. While the District Collector promises a bigger dream for cricket, the club authorities are faced withstark realities. STAN RAYAN examines the controversy.
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JUST A year ago, the Durbar Hall Ground appeared like a huge litter bowl. Leftover lunch leaves in one corner, used condoms in another and flying plastic all over. All telltale signs of the frequent fairs and night life.
Well, the grand old dame has had a facial now. And she's blushing bright and green. She's decked up too, in all her finery. And sports a fresh, vibrant look.
The `blushing bride' will soon be Kochi's pride. But wait a minute... Not all are happy with the sparkling developments at the Durbar Hall Ground. The Swantons Cricket Club's coach Mr. N.S. Krishnan is one of them.
As he reclines on an antique easy chair in the evening of his life, you'd be inclined to think that this is a man at peace with the world. The calm quietness, the old photos packed with history and the century-old swing give his home, `Javanthi', just the right ambience for a retired life.
But you are mistaken. And you would find the reason for the jarring note in Mr. Krishnan's life just outside his oddly quiet home on the noisy Chittoor Road: A rusting pile of long steel poles and the remains of an old cricket net. And it tells a story of a bustling club which is without a home now.
For a person who has donated a major part of his sixty-two years to cricket, Mr. Krishnan is a very unhappy man these days. He is sad that his Swantons Club boys and their `practice nets' have been packed off from the Durbar Hall Ground.
``We've been playing cricket at the Durbar Ground for nearly 40 years. Some of Kerala's star players like K Jayaram, Feroz Rasheed, Ajay Kudua and Robert Fernandes have had their early beginnings there. Even Tinu Yohannan, the State's first international cricketer, learnt his ropes in this club,'' says Mr. Krishnan.
True, the Durbar Ground has been a great ad for cricket in the city for long. Every year, hundreds of kids, with dreams in their eyes, took their infant steps in the game at its hallowed lawns. The sight of these tiny tots trying out big hits drew more young kids to the ground and to the game.
``Even I was lured to cricket that way, watching little children play at the Durbar Ground,'' remembered Feroz V.Rasheed, the most successful Kerala Ranji captain. Well, all those lovely little pictures will be a memory now. For the Durbar Ground has now bid goodbye to cricket.
``When we were asked to shift from the Durbar Ground when the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) came up with a plan to beautify the place, the District Collector Mr. Gyanesh Kumar (also the DTPC Chairman) assured us that he'd give the northern side of the ground for our nets. Later, the Collector said he'd give us an alternative site, but nothing has materialised till now,'' said Mr. Krishnan.
Ironically, Mr. Krishnan was a part of the DTPC's Durbar Ground beautification project, but despite attending three meetings, he found that his protests did not gain much currency. "Frankly, I couldn't do much about it. There are too many people involved in the project. It's quite tough to assert yourself there,'' he explained.
``We're not stubborn on the Durbar Ground, but please give us a place somewhere close by where our boys can practice before it's too late. The season is just a few days away. I had even written to the Maharaja's College authorities for a small place at the Maharaja's Stadium and the GCDA for using the Ambedkar Stadium but nothing has come of it. And we're still waiting for news from the Collector for the alternative site he had assured us,'' said Mr. Krishnan.
``Yes, I told them I'd help the club find an alternative site, but why look at a small thing, let's look at a bigger picture,'' says the Collector. ``I'm willing to given them a cricket academy. We should have a cricket academy in Ernakulam, a sort of centre of excellence and I've planned it as a joint venture with the Ernakulam District Sports Council,'' said Mr Gyanesh Kumar.
``In fact, I had invited Mr. Krishnan for the recent executive committee meeting of the District Sports Council (EDSC) and we discussed the matter there. I'd asked him to prepare a project report for the academy,'' said the Collector, who is also the president of the District Sports Council.
``We'll find a real good place, nothing less than the Durbar Hall Ground. Let's turn this Swantons' problem into a big opportunity for cricket,'' he said, almost offering the District a big dream.
But what about the funds ?
``The District Collector will find ways for that,'' assured Mr. Gyanesh Kumar.
``Yes, the big picture looks attractive and yes, the Collector has asked me to prepare a project report for the proposed academy. Sure, I'll be submitting the report shortly, but will not the academy take time to come up? Say, at least three years. And what will be the solution to our immediate problem,'' asks Mr Krishnan.
The last few years have been Swantons' best phase. The team has even slain some of Kerala's giants like KRL and SBT during this golden period. In fact, Swantons is the best club side in the State if one considers the fact that the KRL and SBT are institutional teams.
Meanwhile, some of Kochi's prime grounds have fallen on bad days. Saturday evenings used to be very active times at the Maharaja's and Ambedkar stadia a few years ago. But they are mostly quiet these days. The uneven, pockmarked turf at both these grounds match some of the big `craters' that lead us to the Ambedkar Stadium and the KSRTC Bus Station.
And at the Regional Sports Centre, while things are very active indoors, the outdoor nets offer a cosy wicket for players of the canine kind.
Oh, the irony of life!
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