The move to the big city is nearly complete. I still need to get boxes stored at my friend Ali's house. Of course the boxes need to be opened but that will take time and energy that I don't yet possess. I wrapped my brother printer in a comforter and boy did the toner leak all over the comforter. Today is about doing the laundry (or something else- like blogging).
I sent a few of my friends the following link.
http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/ci/content/current/story/134960.html
It describes how the West Indian team coalesced around a captain and a burning desire to avenge a perceived racist slight. That team and the remnants of it went on to dominate world cricket for the next twenty years (although it must be said that they moved from the top team to one among many after 1992)
Cricket is deeply political and filled with identity politics. The governing body of Cricket was called the Imperial Cricket Conference until 1981 when it was remained the International Cricket Conference. You can see the political nature of cricket from the controversies around the cricket isolation of Apartheid South Africa and calls for Zimbabwe to be similarly banned. Cricket is also unqiue among the major sports of the world (yes it is probably the second or third most watched sport in the world) in that it is almost exclusively internationally played between national teams. The English county cricket was the only national league that had lots of high calibre international players (I think the number of foreigners playing in English county cricket has reduced over the years).
My best sporting memory is of India winning the Prudential Cricket World Cup in 1983. Against the odds, with a some great players and some bits and pieces players, we beat the West Indies twice in the tournament. Before that we were treated with derision by the more established countries like England and Australia. They didn't deign to play us often and their best players would refuse to tour India (it is ironic that Greg Chappell, a man who never deigned to tour India was until recently the India coach). That beautiful era started in 1981 when we drew the series in Australia and went on to 1985 when we won the World Championship of Cricket in Australia beating Pakistan in the finals. On the whole, India has underperformed greatly even as cricket has grown increasingly popular. Presently the bastards promise much and deliver little.
2 comments:
A plug here for a fantastic book about the bodyline incident (1932-33) called 'Cricket and Empire.' Read this and you can start to understand the entrenched identity issues that arise when two nations play each other over a five series test. For those of you from non-cricketing backgrounds, roughly 1 month on the pitch. . .
Owzat?!?
I often bring up Bodyline in conversations with people as an example of the intertwining of identity politics and international diplomacy in cricket.
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