That's a Catch-Missed

One of the most remarkable characteristic of the apex body which governs football across the world, FIFA, is its belief and ability in turning scrap to sensational. Be it the way FIFA motivates smaller countries, in terms of footballing history, to stage stupendous mega events or how it develops a footballing nation out of just overflowing population and poverty. One can exemplify this by stating the success story of Ghana as an international force in the highly competitive world of football. It was never all rosy for Ghana football as they lost matches after matches, trophy after trophy, but because of their relentless perseverance and FIFA’s persistence, they are now ranked 15 in world football. It is a lesson for sports authorities around the world on how to engage people and nations from all corners of the world into the sport and break all barriers, but above all, enhance the quality of the game itself.

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Shifting gears from the universe of football, the world of cricket has just witnessed what the Pundits have referred to as the most open Cricket World Cup of the 21st century, in fact since 1996. We have witnessed more close matches in the group stages alone during this World Cup than comprising the past couple of editions. Now, every time you see few retired legends of the game wearing black suits and broadcaster’s name printed ties discussing about the World Cup, for them the sole criminal for the openness are the pitch curators in the subcontinent for producing such batsman-friendly pitches. But that seems a pretty vague point of view since these days you get batsman-friendly pitches in almost all top cricketing nations, and that also includes South Africa. The more likely reason, for that matter, could be the sharply improving cricketing abilities of the ICC associate teams, more fondly known as minnows, and it is high time we do not take matches against them for granted and respect them as much as the IPL playing nations (previously test playing nations). The likes of Ireland and Netherlands added that much needed spice in the recipe. This World Cup has seen so many close encounters and high pitch dramas; I wonder what next in Cricket we would consider a thrilling match.

Ireland seemed to have carried on their glorious World Cup form from Barbados, 2007 to Bengaluru, 2011, from humiliating Pakistan to turning out victorious in a battle of prestige against their superior colonial neighbours. Truly, this has been a coming of age tournament for the green Irish. Netherlands too (even if not as good as Ireland) have displayed distinct signs of improvement, be that in terms of Ryan Ten Doeschate’s allround performance or skipper Peter Borren’s commendable and strategic field placings. The club cricketers with the odd dollar deserve a round of applause.

The Tendulkars, the Sehwags, the Dilshans, the Pontings shall always be in the limelight for such tournaments, but the names which have been etched in the minds of cricket fans worldwide by the time the tournament has ended, the screams of excitement of the fans have died down are the likes of Kevin O’ Brien, Ryan Ten Doeschate, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce or even the ageing Trent Johnston or for that matter, the 16 year old debutant Canadian, Nitish Kumar. Kevin O’ Brien’s heroics with the bat against England will always be remembered as one of the greatest one-day innings ever, and considering the fact that he’s from an associate team makes it sound even better.

Along with this list of names, one gritty character I missed in action is Dirk Nannes; his decision of transferring services to Australia after a brilliant 2007 World Cup will now be hurting him big time. With Shaun Tait and Brett Lee back in full fledged form and bowling in tandem and well supported by Mitchell Johnson, he is more likely to warm the benches. In fact, players who have transferred their services to a superior country after a point of time are many. One such contemporary star is the dashing England middle order batsman, Eoin Morgan, famous for his many good performances wearing the three lions helmet, but people will also remember those innings he played for Ireland which got him to England. Morgan is not the only Irish of this kind, his fellow compatriot on both sides of the border (at some point of time or the other); Ed Joyce has played for both sides of the LOC. Roll back more than a decade, you will find the name of Gavin Hamilton, originally from Scotland, a fine cricketer who played some 40-odd ODIs for Scotland before shifting bases and services to England for whom he also played in a test match. One of the legends of the game and this phenomenon of altering nations is Kepler Christoffel Wessels; born in South Africa, went on to play 24 tests for Australia and then returned home to captain South Africa. The colonial nature of England and Australia has been very vibrant in the World of cricket, but surprisingly, never received the due criticism and unfortunately, Ireland would be in the forefront of the list of their victims.

This issue now becomes even graver and should raise more questions as the ICC has decided to scrap the associate teams from the next two editions of the prestigious event. What these nations bring to such humongous events and Cricket, in the larger perspective, is not just occupation of spaces but they take Cricket to a wider fraternity which preaches sports. The number of Irish fans in the stadiums will serve as an eye opener in that regard. And if teams like Ireland, Netherlands and others can play potential line-ups without the colonial pressure hovering over them; it is the game that will benefit. This is a situation where the ICC has to take a leaf out of the history of sports that forever advice to include one and all. To make Cricket a more global and more equal sport, ICC has to take a note of the indigenous nature of teams and of course, include more teams.

Expressing my concern, I have shot off a mail to the ICC….

Let the trade of players remain confined to rebel and your certified leagues, and let international players sing their native national anthem, let it be an even playing surface….