GLORIOUS CERTAINITIES - CRICKET !!!


 Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainites, they say, as also the  ‘Gentleman’s Game’ or ‘Gentleperson’s Game’, in this age of being gender neutral. But, for the first time in international cricket, a player has been declared out (timed out) for not being able to take to the crease in time. Ergo, the gentleman, ergo the game. I mean, one did not allow the player to participate in the ‘game’, isn’t it? What the ‘phew’…

Another rule that I find very funny in cricket is the requirement that if you hit the wickets and bails are off at the first hit, then to run out the player you have to pull out or dislodge the stumps. I mean with DRS and so many other technologies in place it can easily be determined whether the ball hit the stumps for the player to be declared run out. Where is the need to try and uproot the stumps!

When we were young and used to discuss fast bowlers, one would claim that ‘Bro! So and so fast bowler starts his run up almost from the boundary’. I mean, if you have a longer run up, does it really translate into a faster delivery. If that were so where is the sweet stop in between. Would a bowler who comes to deliver with a 20 yard run up be faster than a bowler with 10 yard run up? If so, then how about a 30 yards or say 40 yards…What do you say?  

On the same lines, what about the speed of the run-up i.e. does a player who sprints to bowl the ball has to be necessarily faster than a player who does a leisurely jog to the stumps to deliver the ball, other things being equal. In the era bygone, the idea to deliver the ball would be to put the ball into ‘play’. In that sense, even underhand delivery of the ball was a legit delivery. Now-a-days, you do not see the same being used very often…probably, its time will also come.  

Another subject that is statistician’s delight would be the ‘Duckworth Lewis’ rule with its glorious modifications and adaptations? Based on data that is not in the public domain, it makes cricket a number crunching game. A team that understands numbers better than the other team wins the game (Read more about it on Wikipedia). This is not ‘Cricket’!!!

Gone is the leisurely game played on a Sunday in the country side with all and sundry in attendance and enjoying a relaxing day. With increasing stakes and professional leagues in almost all the games and sports, what you have today is a cut-throat competition where the winner takes it all. There is not place for complacency or enjoyment. However, in the world where even spirituality and meditation is being commercialized, sports is an obvious externality. One wonders where this race for commercialism is going to lead us, what other ‘things’ will be commercialised? Emotions, relationships, followers, friends, viewpoints, money for asking questions, money for answering questions, money for not asking questions, money for not answering questions…Multiple possibilities and great opportunity for commercialism.

Looking forward to your comments and insights !!!

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