Beyond the Boundary
‘ I would love it ’ said David Lloyd in reply to Mike Atherton ’ s question .
It is tea time on Thursday 22 March in Cape Town in the third Test between South Africa and Australia , and David , Mike and Ian Ward are discussing the probable return of South Africa ’ s Kagiso Rabada for the remaining Tests – and the ramifications of the disciplinary process that earned him bans in two successive seasons . This led them on to the possibilities handed to captains and teams that they could contrive to provoke incidents that would take points-earners over the limit .
And what would he ‘ love ’? To be given the ability to control – and solve – any incident there and then , on the pitch , using the penalties of virtual yellow and red cards , thus avoiding the lengthy , argumentative and costly ‘ demerit ’ ICC system now in place . They then chatted about whether behaviour is worse now than it has been previously . ‘ Yes ’ said David , ‘ more verbal aggravation and insults ... and these are much worse than the immediate physical response that a bowler or batsman would have when something unexpected happened , and the reaction is to step across that line .’
Where is this line players are not to step over ? Who judges where it is , is David Lloyd ’ s argument for the immediacy of umpires ’ disciplinary action . I know we often think that our level of recreational cricket is removed from the international pressure that stresses such behaviour , but , truly , it isn ’ t .
Yes , the star pros are in the headlines , but every weekend we encounter rougher , cruder ill-discipline . Indeed , it does not end with us – it starts with us , at our level . We all need to act to discourage dissent .
Now for a quick quiz – and if you answer ‘ no ’ to the first question , please go straight to page 5 and read the rest of the magazine !
Simply asked , question 1 is : Have you ever held a match ball that has been tampered with ?
‘ Yes ’ is the correct answer , and the only reason you may have been tempted to say ‘ no ’ is that you didn ’ t think it was ‘ bad enough ’ to query with your colleague . It is amusing , sad , frustrating – and very costly to some – that a basic Level 1 offence should now after all these years be accorded such high-status drama ! Why do I say basic Level 1 offence ? Because every team does it , every year , every match . Every action of the ball contacting the pitch , bat or anything else solid will affect it . Hands then rub , spittle washes , trousers polish , sun cream lacquers ! We all change the condition of the ball every time we pick it up . The debate on one side of the fence ( ours maybe – you tell us ?) is that there should be rules to break , we just do what we have always been asked to do , which is to inspect the ball regularly and offer change if ‘ tampering ’ is severe enough to alter the character of the ball or the state of the match .
End of . ( There are no more questions in this quiz !) Pierre Tartari
Let ’ s Get Quizzical !
The below was spotted on the TV quiz show , Only Connect . Can you guess the connection between these four famous statues ?
Augustus of Prima Porta
Laocoön and His Sons
The Rocky Statue Christ the Redeemer .
?
The answer can be found on page 28 .
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