A District Cricket Body with Great Expectations

It had been a considerably fruitful meeting with, to be precise, the authority that takes care of the cricket related affairs in Alappuzha, a district in the state of Kerala. Although the state is a haven for holidaying cricketers (national as well as international), it definitely is not so in terms of its supply of players to the national sides. I had here the opportunity to share views with the secretary of the district cricket association, a nominee to the Kerala Cricket Association from the district and a coach that has been engaged with the secondary state teams.

o start with, I was surprised by the maverick thinking of the KCA nominee Navaz P.J. that, to overcome the present turmoil that India cricket team finds itself amid, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni should turn up, this time to bowl his significantly quick incutters that was not quiet familiar to many, while employing Dinesh Karthik at the keeper’s post at the expense of Virendra Sehwag. Did sound a bit harsh to my conservative ears, but later I felt there was some essence in it as it very much seemed in line to the Australian thinking of the late. Well no one should feel complacent. Or was it not the same harsh thing that happened with Zaheer Khan when a couple of years back he had gained some weight – may be to prop up his looks – to lose his rhythm?

Meanwhile, Praveen, the coach of a second string state side opined that Sri Lanka could have been given the same treatment that it received here when it toured India last time round – a bit more fast and bouncy wickets. For the Lankan forte is its bowling line up comprising of spinners predominantly. And if you did the sin of leaving their relatively inexperienced batsmen unplugged, well cannot the act be considered any lesser than suicide. Praveen may be right, taking into account that India enjoys the great history of serving a touring South African side, a juicy hard green top wicket at the Eden Gardens, obviously to avenge the dethroning of Saurav Ganguly, and the subsequent retaliation by the rest by laying a similar wicket in Nagpur – this time advantage Australia - to irk the same great man. All thanks to regionalism and in both the instances India paid to it with series losses. However, Ganguly evaded the bouncer by feigning injury, says history.

Praveen said that Kerala’s plight was much linked with its geographical conditions, that it lacked good grounds simply for the reason that the cricketing land here was caught between irregular terrains of the east and loose water soaked earth of the west. He lamented that most of the aspiring youngsters here still battled it out on coir mats where balls seldom swung or spun. The excess of short-term tennis ball cricket at the grass root levels is also a problem. This has largely resulted in ruining the batting techniques of upcoming youngsters in the area. That says you have terrific big hitters in the rural Kerala, that but hardly know to swing the bat to any direction other than the region between square leg and mid on. The psychology of the people of the state also matters. The secretary, Sreejith Pillai, an advocate by profession complained that the Communists in the state including a few ministers considered it a credit to disparage cricket at any given opportunity, as for them a few half naked gymnasts performing in Russia or China were more disposed to civilization than thirteen nuts toiling under the sun for five days – albeit that they have earned accolades for the country more than anyone else.

Now, Navaz’s finding that the ones that get out of the ruck too tend to succumb to the immense pressure experienced at those levels, seemed interesting. According to him a boy next door in Kerala, if finds a way out to the glittering world of the Metro civilization, is highly prone to hit the blues, as the famous Malayalam idiom- ‘rooster in the moonlight’ goes. I do not know if he was hinting at the travails of S. Sreesanth; nonetheless it suited that explicitly. Praveen, whatsoever does not consider that a bigger issue to be tackled, than the dearth of quality batsmen in the state. Praveen questioned , “Take the history of Kerala cricket, we have had some reasonably talented batsmen such as Sunil Oasis, Jayaram and Ranganathan, but can we successfully compare the achievements of any of these with that of some of the run machines of the neighbourhood such as M. Azharudeen, R. Dravid, S.Sharath, W.V.Raman, Robin Singh, V.V.S. Laxman, et al?”

“It simply cannot be put to reason why it does not happen here, although it happens regularly around us?” Think Praveen’s problem can be resolved only if the authorities in Kerala start constructing more competent grounds, harder wickets free from coir mats and above all, if and only if the people over here start bearing the drag of longer versions of the game, such as two day and three day matches. That is also why I thought their taking up of the playground of the institution, SD College of Alappuzha, officially carried some real promise. Therefore, now it is all the best wishes for the district cricket association of Alappuzha, as well as the cricketers and budding youngsters of the region for harnessing their freshly acquired asset optimally, with a view to take the standard of the game pertaining to this region to the next levels.