Memory can be a blessing or a curse for those who read a lot (newspapers, magazines, books) though most of it could be rubbish. I vaguely remember reading details about England’s cricket tour of Australia immediately after World War II. The Dak edition of ‘The Hindu’ was delivered around 9 am and I was the first one to get it. The local coverage of sports was excellent but my focus was on Jack Fingleton’s coverage of the English tour which was in-depth, extensive and anecdote-laden; will the Don retire after the end of the tour and not lead the team to England the next summer? The answers were ‘no’ to both.
Fingleton, a former Australian opener was acknowledged to be a super cricket writer and was not afraid to express his opinions freely. He had played under the Don but was not afraid to express his views freely on Don’s batting or captaincy. It made for some enthralling reading. Some of the other Indian dailies did carry other foreign correspondents like Ray Robinson, players-turned-cricket-writers like Jack Hobbs and so on. But in that small Kerala village I did not have access to them. For me, ‘The Hindu’ was the beginning and end of cricket coverage. Don Bradman century write-ups were not the only highlights. If he had been given out, caught in the slips by Jack Ikin off fast bowler Bill Voce, of the ‘Bodyline’ fame, the outcome (4-1) of the series would have changed, argued the doyens of the British cricket media and the controversy went on till the series ended, with the Australians claiming it 4-1.
In faraway Palghat, I said a prayer for Fingleton and The Hindu which covered cricket extensively. In lively, objective prose ‘Fingo’ created visions of matches at Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. England was at the receiving end most of the time. In the thunderstorm which lashed Gabba (the Brisbane cricket ground), I closed my eyes and listened to hailstones as big as tennis balls fall on the pitch and halted the game. On the resultant spiteful pitch, England was skittled out in both the innings. Thanks to such coverage, I felt I was reading not just cricket coverage but some supreme prose embellished with anecdotes, crisp sense of humour and rare objectivity. As the game was halted for drinks or lunch/tea breaks, I learned the finer points of the game from genuine experts who spoke English as it should be spoken.
The experience repeated itself the next morning with the two page sports coverage and of course, the action photographs which caught succinct moments of the game. The write-ups described cricket as it should be played; there was no sledging, no stares at the officials and only generous applause from spectators for achievers from both the sides. School called, I read the coverage quickly and reserved a further detailed reading for the evening and then clipped the cricket pictures to be pasted for my personal album. For additional coverage and pictures, there was the Hindu’s ‘Sport & Pastime’ which offered more of Fingleton. The happy days went on for years, with the 1948 Australian tour of England providing many memorable moments which were covered by more wonderful writers covering angles on the imaginary or real controversies among the Don, Miller and Sidney Barnes. Did Miller, clearly overbowled by the Don, once throw back the new ball to his captain complaining he was tired? During the Old Trafford test, did the spectators boo Miller and Lindwall for overdoing the bouncer as retaliation for the infamous bodyline strategy of 1932-33?
Of course many former cricket players contributed to these write ups. But unlike today’s semi-literate generation, men like Miller, Benaud and Ian Chappell had read deeply into the game and possessed a flair for writing. Indian writers and commentators lacked these qualities. After moaning endlessly, Berry Sarbadhikary still could not decide whether India in England in 1952 suffered from technical collapses or temperamental collapses! Quite justifiably Indian cricketers were dubbed dull dogs and so were the cricket writers. A.F.S.Talyarkhan, Sports Editor, was in-charge of the FPJ sports coverage while doing AIR’S cricket commentary. I was told he insisted on doing ‘solo’ commentary but it did not work out. An ‘Italian’ gentleman, N J Leontizni was the sports editor of TOI, though I wondered how he managed to do this job without adequate knowledge of cricket and soccer. Then came the long stint of K N Prabhu, as TOI cricket correspondent, who tried to be a desi Neville Cardus, combining English poetry with cricket. His contemporaries demurred. ‘Do we need to read Plum Wodehouse to write about Indian cricket which often lacked life?’, demurred some of his critics. But Prabhu did have a following.
Yes, cricket is better understood by those who read books, understand language and style. Even Mr Jingle in ‘Pickwick Papers’ quotes about cricket in the Caribbean where he recounts ball and bat catching fire due to heat. The late C.P Snow’s Cambridge novels often mentioned cricket where narrator Lewis Eliot and his best friend Roy Calvert seriously practiced at the nets. Post-war poets loved cricket so did Wodehouse. Did Bertie Wooster ever win a match for his school, college or university facing deadly bowlers from the Opposition like Dr Roderick Glossop? Cricket, though a game, is better understood with knowledge of English language.
Despite live TV, cricket lore and literature still held a particular charm which, however, has diminished with time. Too much of cricket is out there, most of it being dull like the one-day variety, the 20-over tamasha and so on. But standards of the game and its coverage are falling rapidly. The TOI has stopped publishing scores of even important games including international fixtures and tests. In my school days, English county cricket scores were published in full and I lapped up details of clashes between ‘giant’, Yorkshire vs Lancashire, Middlesex vs Surrey, thousand runs in May, Players V Gentlemen and so on. Fanatics like me also read details of South African local cricket, Plunket Shield from New Zealand.
Fortunately, some papers still understand the importance of printed word in cricket coverage. Indian Express sends out knowledgeable and inquisitive cricket reporters, who on their tours abroad, look around, locate places and people associated with the game, leading players from the past. There is a special joy in reading about them. May their tribe increase!
