Politicians and cricketers - a study in contrasts
AN after dinner speech in the UK, by former Sri Lankan Foreign
Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar at which Sri Lankan cricketers were
present.
SOME historians say, I think uncharitably, that cricket is really a
diabolical political strategy, disguised as a game, in fact a substitute
for war, invented by the ingenious British to confuse the natives by
encouraging them to fight each other instead of their imperial rulers.
File photo of President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and
Kadirgamar with members of the Sri Lankan cricket team. |
The world is divided into two camps - those who revel in the
intricacies of cricket and those who are totally baffled by it, who
cannot figure out why a group of energetic young men should spend days,
often in the hot sun or bitter cold, chasing a round object across and
open field, hitting it from time to time with a stick - all to the
rapturous applause of thousands, now millions, of ecstatic spectators
across the world.
The game has developed a mystical language of its own that further
bewilders those who are already befuddled by its complexities.
In the course of my travels I have a hard time explaining to the
non-cricketing world - in America, China, Europe and Russia - that a
googly is not an Indian sweetmeat; that a square cut is not a choice
selection of prime beef; that a cover drive is not a secluded part of
the garden; that a bouncer is not a muscular janitor at a night club,
that a yorker is not some exotic cocktail mixed in Yorkshire; that a
leg-break is not a sinister manoeuvre designed to cripple your
opponent's limbs below the waist.
Let me see whether politics and cricket have anything in common. Both
are games. Politicians and cricketers are superficially similar, and yet
very different. Both groups are wooed by the cruel public who embrace
them today and reject them tomorrow. Cricketers work hard; politicians
only pretend to do so.
Cricketers are disciplined; discipline is a word unknown to most
politicians in any language. Cricketers risk their own limbs in the heat
of honourable play, politicians encourage others to risk their limbs in
pursuit of fruitless causes while they remain secure in the safety of
their pavilions.
Cricketers deserve the rewards they get; the people get the
politicians they deserve. Cricketers retire young; politicians go on for
ever. Cricketers unite the country; politicians divide it.
Cricketers accept the umpire's verdict even if they disagree with it;
politicians who disagree with an umpire usually get him transferred.
Cricketers stick to their team through victory and defeat, politicians
in a losing team cross over and join the winning team. Clearly,
cricketers are the better breed.
It is said that the task of a Foreign Minister is to lie effusively
for his country abroad. That may be true, but it is certainly true that
he has to fight for his country and defend it at all times.
Our cricketers may recall that in the run-up to the 1999 World Cup
Australia refused to play a match in Colombo citing security reasons.
Shane Warne said he wouldn't come to Colombo because he couldn't do any
shopping there. The press asked me for a comment. I said "shopping is
for sissies."
There was a storm of protest in Australia. A TV interviewer asked me
whether I had ever played cricket. I said I had played before he was
born - without helmets and thigh guards, on matting wickets that were
full of holes and stones, and I had my share of broken bones to show for
it. My friend the Australian Foreign Minster was drawn into the fray.
He phoned me. We decided to cool things down. A combined
India/Pakistan team came to Colombo at very short notice to play an
exhibition match in place of the Australian match. It was a magnificent
gesture of South Asian solidarity.
Against strong secruty advice I went on to the field to greet and
thank our friends from India and Pakistan. When the whole episode was
over I sent a bouquet of flowers to my Australian counterpart. Flowers
are also for sissies.
I remember vividly the incident that occurred in Australia when
Murali was called for throwing and Arjuna led his team to the boundary,
in protest, but cleverly refrained from crossing it. I was watching TV
in Colombo. As a past captain I asked myself what I would have done in
Arjuna's place.
In my mind I had no hesitation in supporting his decision. A few
minutes later, the phone rang. The President of the Board called to ask
for advice. I said Arjuna was right because a captain must, on the
field, stand up for his men and protect them, but the consequences must
not be allowed to go too far, good lawyers must be engaged and a
reasonable compromise must be reached. That was done.
During that tour I paid an official visit to Australia. My friend,
the Australian Foreign Minister in the course of a dinner speech invited
me to go with him the next day to Adelaide, his home town, to watch the
final day's play. I knew what the result was going to be.
In my reply, I said that at the end of the match I did not want to be
the one to tell him that Australia had "won by a Hair." Accordingly, I
went back home, as planned, to maintain the good relations that we have
with Australia.
Foreign Minister sometimes find themselves in very difficult
situations. Take pity on the Foreign Minister of Uganda.
President Idi Amin had told him that he wanted to change the name of
Uganda to Idi. The Minister was told to canvass world opinion and return
in two weeks. He did not do so. He was summoned to come. He was now in
danger. He was asked to explain.
He said: "Mr. President, I have been informed that there is a country
called Cyprus. Its citizens are called Cypriots, If we change the name
of our country to Idi our citizens would be called... Idiots." Reason
prevailed.
A shark was asked why diplomats were his preferred food. He replied
because their brains being small are tasty morsel, their spines being
supple I can chew on them at leisure - and they come delightfully
marinated in alcohol.
As I approach the close of this brief address I wish to speak
directly to our Sri Lankan team. Today we lost a match. But you lost to
the rain and M/s Duckworth and Lewis. You did not lose to England.
Only a few weeks ago you had a resounding victory against South
Africa. You will win again tomorrow. What is important is to keep up
your confidence and spirits.
All of us, your fellow countrymen, and countrywomen, have been
enormously impressed in recent times by the commitment, discipline,
athleticism and determination that you have displayed in the field.
The people are with you. We all know that you work hard. All of you,
each and everyone of you, are constantly busy honing your skills. We can
see that you are maintaining a high standard of physical fitness.
When the people see this it gives them not only immense pleasure but
the moral uplift that Sri Lankans are capable of rising to the challenge
of sustained performance.
Every team loses. It takes two to play a game. One has lose. It is
the manner in which you play the game which gives the promise of success
to come.
It is a great pleasure to see how youngsters are being drafted into
the national team. Our team is united; it reflects all the races and
religions of our country.
Cricket, like all international sport today, is highly competitive;
and so it must be, and so it must remain. It must always be regarded as
a very high honour to represent one's country at any sport.
All of you are role models for our youth. They will be looking to see
how you take defeat. To exult in victory is easy, to remain well
balanced in defeat is a mark of maturity.
Do not allow yourselves to be disturbed by the armchair critics who
will no doubt engage in a display of theoretical learning on how the
game was played. Many of these critics have never put bat to ball. It
makes them feel good to indulge in the past time of amateur criticism.
They do not know what it is to face fast bowling in fading light; to
engage in a run race again against daunting odds; to find the stamina
and sheer physical endurance to spend concentrated hours in the field of
play. They know nothing of the psychological pressure that modern
sportsmen are subject to.
Therefore, my advice to you is - ignore them. Go your way with
customary discipline and methodical preparation for the next game, the
next series in different parts of the world under different conditions.
For me it has been a great pleasure and an honour to be here with you
tonight. When I was invited to be the Chief Gust at this occasion on my
way to New York for the General Assembly of the United Nations, I
accepted with eager anticipation of meeting our cricketers and relaxing
for a moment.
Nobody told me that I had to make a speech, until last night. It came
home to me then that there is no such thing as a free dinner. |