(Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
After a batsman had had his stumps flattened, Phil Tufnell turned to Christopher Martin-Jenkins and said, “He’s been feng shui’d.”
CM-J didn’t understand: “Feng shui’d? What do you mean?”
To which a delighted Tuffers replied, “He’s had his furniture rearranged.”
Controversies, in today’s game, can potentially Feng Shui the laws of cricket. The term refers to an ancient Chinese system of aesthetics that uses the laws of Heaven and Earth to help one improve life by receiving positive energy flow.
Controversies, though negative by nature, can induce positivity by bringing out the imperfectness within today’s game, and help us fans understand and appreciate the nuances of cricket.
We don’t love something because it’s perfect; it is because we accept its imperfectness. We are all ardent fans of the Gentleman’s game, even though we know it is high time the world chooses an alternative a.k.a for cricket.
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) framed 42 laws (bound to increase as the sport globalizes) outlining all aspects of the game, and retains copyright in the laws – meaning that only MCC may change the laws after discussing with the game’s global governing body – the BCCI. Sorry, the ICC.
Right from the days of Nobleman and Gentleman, cricket’s earliest known code of rules, the sport has witnessed controversies that have, in most cases, proven beneficial to its future. The Monster Bat incident in 1771 refers to a game between Chertsey and Hambledon in which Chertsey’s Thomas White attempted using a bat as wide as the wicket.
A formal protest was lodged, and three years later, the laws stated that maximum width of the bat cannot exceed four and one quarter inches. Dennis Lillee, the Australian pacer, after carrying an Aluminum bat to the wicket, helped append the rule by specifying the material out of which the bat should be made—wood.
The Underarm bowling incident in 1981, which infamously put Greg and Trevor Chappell in the limelight, banned underarm bowling from International Cricket until, on a lighter note, Glen McGrath was red-carded by Billy Bowden in the first ever T-20 international between Australia and New Zealand.
Daryl Harper, an umpire from down under, sparked controversy after no-balling Muttiah Muralitharan for what we know today as chucking or throwing. Biomechanics were called into the sport for analyzing the bowler’s arm and seeing whether it exceeds 14.123456789 degrees, or whatever the number is. Further bowling laws were introduced.
Both on and off the field, the sport has witnessed enough incidents that have left many fans fuming, bemused and often, clueless. We’ve seen rebel tours, match-fixing, bookies making the headlines one day and on another day, we come across random elements named Mikeium and Dennessium, which possess atoms that react vigorously when exposed to excessive noise, stealing the thunder.
The consequences of most, if not all, of these events have been detrimental to the nature of the game.
12 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete