If you have the habit of perusing the morning daily, you do not need to be a cricket fan to know that a crisis is brewing in the Carribean. The Pakistani cricket coach Bob Woolmer was found dead in his hotel room at Kingston, Jamaica last Monday. Investigations are pending and foul play is suspected.
Cricket has existed more or less in its current form since the 1700s when the forerunner of the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) drew up the rules of the game. No other sport preaches moral virture and elegance like cricket, with the possible exception of golf. The imperative of gentlemanliness suffuses its age-old laws (in cricket, we do not have rules but laws). So it comes as a shock to the cricketing fraternity throughout the world, when it was revealed by the Deputy Commissioner of Jamaica, Mark Speed, that Bob Woolmer has expired from manual strangulation.
Did it come as a surprise? When I first heard the news, a sudden silence descended on me. I thought the poor bloke had died from disappointment. Bob Woolmer passed away less than 24 hours after Pakistan fell on the banana slip that is called Ireland on St Patrick's Day. Pakistan were henceforth no longer in the running for the world cup title. The old man simply could not handle the stress and suffered a heart attack - or so I thought.
But reports have since emerged that match fixing was probably the cause of his death. Rumours are spreading that Bob Wooler had uncovered match fixing plots and was about to reveal them before being strangled. An improbable theory has emerged that Pakistan deliberately threw away their opening game against the West Indies, reasoning that they can still qualify for the Super Eight by beating Ireland and Zimbabwe in their group. The fragility of this formula was exposed when Pakistan collapsed in the face of disciplined Irish bowling.
I don't know what to say. I feel extremely sorry for the family of the late Bob Woolmer. I also feel sorry for the bewildered hosts of the World Cup - a bitter experience that has since sullied the festive atmosphere of the world cup. Hosting the world cup is expensive and it was a gilted opportunity to lift the West Indies countries from the economic and sporting doldrums they are currently languishing in. I also feel sorry for cricket-mad Pakistan where they literally breathe and eat cricket. Lastly, I also feel extremely sorry for myself. I do not know Bob Woolmer personally but when I first started playing cricket many years back, one of the first coachs I knew was Bob Woolmer. It is as if a distant relative has died.
The World Cup is unfolding in the backyard of America, but it would not surprise me if americans remain blissfully unaware of this blotch that is threatening to tarnish the 2007 World Cup. Calls have been made by certain quarters for the tournament to be scrapped, but we must remember that worst events have happened before. Andre Escobar was assassinated in broad daylight after scoring an own goal in USA 1994 but the show carried on. The Palestinian terrorists stole the spotlight from the Olympic highlights at Munich but the Games continued.
And so the remaining rounds must be played. Bangladesh play Bermuda this evening. I'd be rooting for Bermuda, rank amateurs in the tournament. 1 billion souls in India are also hoping that Bermuda pull off the impossible by beating Bangladesh.
Uriel
Quote:
The World Cup is unfolding in the backyard of America, but it would not surprise me if americans remain blissfully unaware of this blotch that is threatening to tarnish the 2007 World Cup.
You are entirely correct. Vaguely heard of it, but only because I read the BBC News and it was a headline. But I never read the stories themselves, and have no idea where the World Cup is being played, who's involved, or anything else about cricket, I'm afraid. And I've certainly never heard of the gentleman before.
Loic
The current world cup has claimed quite a few lives. The newspaper today reported about the death of two Indians: one committed suicide while the other died of a heart attack.
The World Cup is supposedly the biggest tournament in the world after the football world cup. But viewership is only concentrated in a few geographic areas -viz the Indian subcontinent with over 1 billion people.
Speaking of rabid fan support, some Indian fans unfurled a banner on the match against Sri Lanka on Friday, saying: 1 Billion Fans Behind You - Or Else
I thought it was bloody hilarious. With supporters like them, who need enemies?
Yelina
Wow, criquet seems to be a rather dangerous sport!!
It's not famous among French people. And that's an euphemism, I'd better say "no French people plays it!"
They prefer to play football instead which is less dangerous for the players (but nor for the supporters).
Are criquet supporters as violent as some football ones?
Loic
Salut et bienvenue à toi! En fait, je connais très bien l’équipe de foot de France. Tu as regardé le match entre la Lituanie et Les Bleus le samedi dernier? Pas très passionnant, non?
Cricket supporters are mostly well-behaved. It only seems to bring out the worst in mankind in India and Pakistan. I don't know which country is more cricket-crazy, but I am inclined to say say India. It is not uncommon for photos of top state cricketers to be placed in the family prayer room in India, alongside their deities. More often than not, the most fervent prayers go not to the house god, but the cricketer.
A mate of mine plays tennis for university and participated in an inter-varsity tennis competition in India. When he was in Mumbai, there was a bit of a jam as all vehicles came to a standstill. He asked the taxi driver what happened and the driver replied with an air of nonchalance that 'some boys are playing cricket up front'.
In other words, people playing cricket can create a traffic jam in Mumbai and it is all usual course of business.
The other entity equally capable of creating jams are cows. You can say that both cricket and cows are sacred cows in India, pardon the bad pun.
Actually, it is erroneous to say that no Frenchman plays cricket. In fact, the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) was due to tour France on a cricket tour in 1789 in the months leading up to July. But as we all know what happened on the 14th of July, the French Revolution broke out and the tour was cancelled. Who knows what might have happened if the MCC had reached Paris and exhibited the game to rapturous crowds? King Louis XIV might have bestowed royal patronage on the sport, just as cricket used to and continues to enjoy royal patronage in England. The future of cricket might have been vastly different.
The founder of the modern Olympics movement Baron Pierre de Courbetin was quite a cricket fan. I bet not many are aware of the Baron's interest in cricket. When he visited England in the late 19th century, he went to the public schools and was impressed with the healthy emphasis on the importance of sport in moulding the character of those privileged public schoolboys. He believed that cricket taught the English values which made them capable of governing a vast expanse of the globe. I must say, the late Baron never spoke a truer word.
Yelina
Thank you!
No, I didn't watch the match. I'm not too keen on football. I can watch some matches, but I'm not a fervent supporter.
By the way, there's a match tonight (France -Austria) and I'm not going to watch it.
I know cows are sacred in India and often create jams, but I didn't know that cricket is as sacred as them to let it block the road.
It'd be interesting to have a come-back in 1789 and see which importance may have got cricket in France. It's possible that our Dear Louis XIV would have found it so interesting that he would have declared it as the court sport!
Indeed, I didn't know Baron Pierre de Coubertin was a cricket fan. That's strange he didn't introduce this sport in the young people education as he did with others.
André in Zuid-Afrika
The murder is still big news here, something new on the front pages every day.
