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Lessons from cricket's homeland
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Cricket administrators in Kerala have a lot to learn from the way the game is managed abroad, as Flashback Kerala Cricketers discovered during their recent European tour.. K. PRADEEP, who toured with the team, reports...
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A VILLAGE cricket match presents one of the loveliest scenes in England. Ardent cricket fans prefer watching such events to the much-hyped international matches.
The village match has a character of its own, being a delectable cocktail of ambition, hard work and pragmatism. And, above all, it is a tacit nod for all the revered customs of the grand old game.
A few years ago, before the `international' bug bit our administrators and organisers, cricket was played in some of our own lovely, village fields. The buttercups and turf wickets may have been missing, but the matches had a charm of their own with their makeshift pavilions, warm hospitality, and huge crowds.
The Palace Oval (at Thripunithura) with its typically English pavilion, the Parade Ground (Fort Kochi), with its splendid backdrop, the Veterinary College Ground (Thrissur) and the Agricultural College ground (Vellayani, Thiruvananthapuram), were some of those venues where cricket was played regularly and watched enthusiastically.
Come summer in England, and the groundsman places the stumps on the freshly rolled out wicket. Every small cricket ground is ready for the start of the new cricket season.
In Kerala, most of the grounds tell a sorry tale. Overgrown with weeds and wild grass, some of the grounds are not used for cricket anymore.
"The difference is that in England, even a casual game has the serious involvement of the people. The young and the old gather and even the casual passer-by stops to take a look over the fence. Everyone is involved in the game, from the scorers to the lady in charge of the clubhouse kitchen. The grounds and wickets are beautifully maintained. Of course, they are used solely for cricket, and this makes a lot of difference. But then, what counts is the maintenance of the ground, wicket and the clubhouse," said the former Kerala all-rounder Thomas Mathew, during his tour of England, Denmark and Vienna, with the Flashback Kerala Cricketers.
More than pumping in funds for infrastructure, what is needed is a professional set-up for the maintenance of the existing assets. Most of the clubs and the grounds in England and Denmark are professionally maintained.
"They hire professionals for managing the clubhouse and maintaining the ground. At Epsom, in England, the club had engaged a professional company for the maintenance of the ground since they were still looking for a permanent groundsman. This assures efficiency. I feel there should be a similiar professional approach in the maintenance of our grounds," said
V. Narayanankutty, former cricketer.
It was this meticulous functioning that impressed P. Pradeep, a cricketer who has seen the best of world cricket, "At Vienna, no sooner our match was over than the man in charge of the ground made sure the organisers of the game cleared the ground of all rubbish strewn around. Then, at Copenhagen, we saw the ground staff clearing the stadium and premises after a football game that night."
The facilities at Denmark and Vienna, both late entrants to cricket, might not be up to the mark. Most of the matches here are still played either on astroturf or coir matting wickets and there are just a handful of clubs.
"At Copenhagen, we were put up at a sports hostel very close to a football stadium. There were facilities for badminton and various other sports at the sports complex close to the hostel. Cricket is sure to make rapid strides here," observed Thomas Mathew.
To pursue their training sessions right through the year, most of the clubs have access to indoor practice facilities. "If there is one project that the authorities here should implement in right earnest, it is the indoor practice facility. This would enable our youngsters to train even through the rough monsoon, keeping them in top shape for the new season. Some of the indoor nets we saw in London were top class," said Narayanankutty.
Everything then boils down to attitude towards the game. National panel umpire S. Dandapani, who officiated some games during the tour, said, "Every club has an official umpire who officiates the matches involving his own club, and this is accepted. Most of the umpires I met were seniors, who were retired, but ready to go out to the middle simply for the love of the game. I also noted that a lot of cricketers were quite active in the circuit long after they had bid adieu to representative cricket. They, like former Australian Test cricketer Ross Edwards and Christopher Bazalgette, were well past their prime, but were still in good nick."
"What impressed me more than anything in England was the commitment of everyone involved in the game to maintaining cricket heritage," affirms former cricketer K. P. Satish.
"I have always felt that this game teaches a lot more than what is imparted in schoolrooms. Playing cricket in England is the dream of every young cricketer. It is also an education on life," summed up J. K. Mahendra, former State cricketer and skipper of the touring side.
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
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Thiruvananthapuram
Visakhapatnam
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