Who does sport belong to if anyone at all? Or does sport have a life of its own. The playing fields across the world a stage on which thousands have a small part to play?
The recent Ashes Test match at Edgbaston proved that when it comes to Cricket the game is the greatest winner. Stephen Smith stripped of the Australian captaincy because he failed to control his players when they looked to cheat, showed that despite the shame, the hurt, ridicule and humiliation, he is happiest when doing what he does best, which is batting.
If ever anyone needed proof of that fact with his two scores in the 140’s to turn the game Australia’s way, he become the first player in history to register a pair of 140s in the same game. He just loves to bat. Or maybe it is he just loves to bat against England, as he has scored 1116 runs including six hundreds in his last 10 Ashes innings. The truth is so far he has managed to put every nation to the sword, or the blade of his bat. Hence the comparisons to the great Sir Donald Bradman.
Interestingly Bradman came along at a time when cricket was stagnating. The game needed something. Teams were happy to play for a draw. If you read about the game post First World War and there was very much a ‘safety first’ attitude at international and first class level.
Batsman of this era focussed on not getting out, while bowlers started to consider economy more important than taking wickets. Captains started to prefer bowlers who were slower than your out and out quick’s, but who could bowl line and length and contain a batsman. Much of this had to do with economics. Times were tough after the war, there were limited professional contracts, so a man’s average was a key component to gaining a new contract. After the Golden Age of cricket the game was in trouble at international and first class level. Of course it was still flourishing around the countries where the game was played, as it continued to be an event, a release from the drudgery and worries of the week.
Australia funnily enough at that time was a beacon. Warwick Armstrong’s Australians won eight test matches in a row. In 1921 on tour to England their batsman scored at rate of 90 runs an hour, which was unheard of.
Even in that era though the administrators felt that they had to step in and make changes which would would halt the negativity in general play. The height of the stumps was increased, and the ball made smaller. Did these changes really have an impact? Or were they change for change’s sake?
Sport has a wonderful habit of throwing up stand out individuals when the game needs them and just as Bradman came to the fore in the late 1920’s he captured the imagination of those watching the game and lifted the spirits of a nation following the Great Depression, and then the Second World War.
When Smith returned to Australia from the scandal in South Africa and faced the media with his father Peter it was clear that whatever his role in the sandpaper incident – which has still not been made clear – he had been naive, and he admitted his mistake.
“Tonight I want to make it clear as captain of the Australian cricket team, I take full responsibility.” He said. “I made a serious error of judgement and I now understand the consequences. It was a failure of leadership, on my leadership. I’ll do everything I can to make up for my mistake and the damage it’s caused.”
He went on to say “I’m deeply sorry. I love the game of cricket … I love entertaining young kids … I love kids wanting to play the great game of cricket that I love.” Those who have met him and spent time with him have all said that he truly loves the game, and that is how it appears.
Australia has over the years had a habit of making the best player Captain, not necessarily the best equipped for the role, and maybe the Steve Smith incident in Cape Town will change that thought process into the future. Maybe that is just one of the good things to come from this whole unfortunate moment in the game’s history.
The other could well be that Steve Smith released from the role of Captain can go out and do what he does best, which is bat, and bat for a very long time. One thing is clear he wants to make up for his mistake, he wants nothing more to be remembered for his cricket and not for his lack of leadership in Cape Town. So rest assured he is batting not just because he loves it but also for his lifelong reputation.
Don’t be surprised if people flock to Test match grounds to say they saw him play, just as people have over the years with players from countries far and wide who have captured the imagination; Viv Richards, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Dennis Lillee, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, the list of special players of each generation goes on.
The history of sport shows that there is no need for change, because as the old cliche says cometh the hour cometh the man, or woman. Ellyse Perry for example has helped elevate women’s cricket with her performances at a time when the game needed a player like her.
England finally winning the One Day International World Cup, albeit in controversial circumstances may be just the fillip English Cricket needs in terms of growing participation numbers. Crucial at a time when there was talk that the number of first class counties was to be cut.
The important thing to remember however is the first class game and International cricket make up a very small percentage of those playing the game.
The game has survived almost 150 years at the highest level, there is no need to change it.
As the great Cricket writer Neville Cardus wrote in the 1930’s, “In the long run the game is the sum total of the character of the men who take part in it. Negation on the field of play indicates negation of mind and soul. The style and the spirit are the Cricketers themselves.”
Which is as true today, and was at Edgbaston, as it is at any village club in England, Australia or Sri Lanka.
When all is said and done those playing the game and watching the game, the who love it for its history, its moments of glory and scandal, they are the ones to whom the game belongs. They are the ones who truly love it, for the love it unconditionally.
