In sad news, the great game – cricket – has passed away. Born: 1550 (approx.) in Surrey, England. Died: 26th June, 2014 in Melbourne, Australia
On a sunny afternoon of June 26, 2014, cricket passed away after a long battle with corrupt administrators. In her last hours she was surrounded by the three men responsible for her demise: Narayanaswami Srinivasan, Giles Clarke and Wally Edwards, as well as extended family from the various governing bodies.
The families didn’t even put up a fight to save the sport that they had sworn to uphold, protect and serve.
Cricket is said to have had her beginnings in the town of Guildford, Surrey in England, as early as 1550. It was thought to have been originally conceived as a game for young children.
From these humble beginnings, it grew into a great global sport often referred to as ‘the Gentleman’s Game’. The same sport that has now been consumed by three corrupt old men who stand against all that it once represented: fair play, integrity, honour and chivalry.
In India, the current mecca of cricket, cricket held greater sway than religion and was one of the few things that united the entire country. Indians cricketers are held in higher esteem than Bollywood stars and Gods.
Cricket pitches were the only places where caste, religion, language, education and wealth never mattered. Such was once the power of cricket and that is why its demise should concern us all greatly.
Cricket’s rich and storied life includes Articles of Agreement being written as early as 1727 to guide the conduct of matches between teams. The first recorded women’s county match was played in 1811 between Surrey and Hampshire at Ball’s Pond in London, at a time when it was still otherwise completely a man’s world. Over the centuries cricket has produced legendary figures such as WG Grace, Sir Donald Bradman and Sir Garfield Sobers, who have been great ambassadors of the sport.
These men inspired generations of young impressionable minds to strive for greatness through integrity, dignity and the ethics of hard work.
Today, a few wealthy men have hijacked our great love and turned it into their personal plaything. One where a ruthless, unethical few will now be able bend the rules with complete impunity to enable their thirst for power and single-minded pursuit of money.
Cricket, who once nurtured the souls of the young, all over the world, will now feed the hunger of corrupt boards at the expense of the sport and all her adoring fans.
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