Life in South AfricaThe Beauty of CricketI can understand why Americans think of cricket as an odd "English" game. Everytime I see cricket on sports news on CNN or wherever, they show a batsman wearing a helmet and padding facing up to some very gentle spin bowling. It makes cricket look like a slightly more dangerous version of croquet! And another thing -- what's the point of playing a game for 5 days only to have a draw (tie) at the end? What makes cricket so interesting is the multitude of factors which go into each game. First there is the time. Lots of it. Five days, so you can easily spend a half an hour planning your strategy. Then you have the pitch (the rectangular strip in the middle). Cricket must be the only sport where things wear out intentionally. The pitch becomes ragged and worn out by bowlers running up and down on it, which influences the bounce of the ball later on in the game. The ball itself wears down as it is bowled and hit. This influences the way it flies through the air, and the way it bounces on the pitch (unlike baseball, the ball is allowed to bounce before the batsman hits it). The players also get worn down as the game progresses, testing their stamina and concentration. Cricket must be the only game where it is perfectly acceptable to bowl ("pitch") the ball at your opponent's head! So what makes watching a game for 5 days worthwhile? Grit. Not all games deliver the same enjoyment, but there is something remarkable about a batsman who stands at the crease for 11 hours, doggedly warding off ball after ball, or the bowler who has to run up and deliver ball after ball (there would be 5 or 6 bowlers to share the load, thankfully) or the specialist bowler who defends his wicket (avoids going out) for hours on the last day, saving his side from certain defeat. This does not mean to say that there is no excitement. On the contrary. While this epic battle unfurls, there are moments of jubilation, of panic, of resignation. A few wickets tumble (batsmen go out), and what seemed like an easy victory can become a nasty defeat. While we're on this subject, I would like to flog the racism horse once more ... at the time of writing, the West Indian cricket team is touring South Africa for the first time since we re-joined the world community (yes, it's nice to be back!). The United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA) has stated that this tour is vital to the development of cricket in underprivileged (i.e., black) areas, because the township kids, so the argument goes, will identify with the (black) West Indian cricketers, start playing cricket and in time change the racial composition of the national cricket team. The problem is that while it might make sense to the UCBSA to have black role models, young children do not place that much (if any) emphasis on their skin colour. They see a cricketer and decide that they would like to be like that player. It is only when some adult comes along and tells them that they can't admire X player because he's white and they're black that childern start to become aware that they're meant to think a certain way, and are socialised into a race-based way of seeing the world. And another thing: nobody goes to white children and tells them that they can't admire Brian Lara (a West Indian cricketer) because he's black, so why do it to black children? Finally and in conclusion, it is worthwhile looking at the experience of basketball in South Africa. A few years ago, basketball hit South Africa with a vengeance: millions were spent promoting basketball as the hottest thing since ... well, the hottest thing. A professional league was established, hoops were put everywhere, thousands of kids were taught the latest moves ... and then, nothing happened. Once the marketing burst had been exhausted, kids went back to playing cricket, and basketball remains in the doldrums. Why did this happen? Simple. Children have been playing cricket in South Africa for over a hundred years! Cricket and rugby are simply part of the culture. And trying to make black kids play cricket overnight will fail for the same reason -- it takes time for something to become part of their culture. So Mr UCBSA, stop trying to be a social engineer, stop messing with kids' minds, just accept that the national team is not going to reflect the demographics for some time yet. That's not a train smash -- it's just reality! The latest in the sorry saga of affirmative action in sport is that the ANC has threatened legislation to force selectors to pick black players (Eastern Province Herald, 11 December 1998). What this will eventually lead to is a team which is representative, but can't win. Crowds will stay away in disgust, and promising players will be forced to emigrate in order to earn a living. Not that the ANC will care -- they are always right, and will probably blame the whole sorry saga on racism ... Mailto: |