Dear Editor,
I read recently that West Indies cricketers prefer to play for the more lucrative forms and leagues of the game than for country. This confirmation has been long in coming, but painfully obvious from the attitudes and applications brought to the game by the core regional stars for an extended period now. There are rare encouraging spurts; then the dismal, pathetic, and unforgiving record of chronic underachievers for the most part. Using cricket as backdrop, I venture further and deeper into the recesses of that scorned laughable abstraction called patriotism.
There are those peculiar museum curiosities, who still prize and prioritize love of country above all else. Love of country is still indelibly imprinted in the DNA of some of us, despite all of its disfigurements, sicknesses, and attendant evils. It is excruciatingly demanding, at times, to hold to that line; but there is always that returning comforting surge. It is a mystery that I leave alone. For some of us, American Revolutionary patriot, Nathan Hale said it best, “I regret that I have but one life to give for my country”. And that was in war. This is cricket.
But this is what soldiers do; in spite of severe deficiencies in remunerations, associations, conditions. They give without counting. Our cricketers should learn and embrace. The mark of the man, real ones. There is a pantheon of them, who bring a glow, who stir. John McEnroe, a supremely gifted but mercurial craftsman on a tennis court comes to mind. A white star, who refused to play in apartheid South Africa, when it was not fashionable or sensible to take such a step. He could care less about the ostracism; and damn less about the dollops of dollars waved to lure him, for the cachet of his presence. Representing and captaining his country in the Davis Cup was his Holy Grail; he made it. NBA superstars, a brattish pampered bunch sometimes, have gone on record to share that their greatest joy, the very pinnacle of their career and achievements was playing for country at the Olympics. Yet, arguably, the greatest example of patriotism has to be that of the self-sacrificing, Mohamed Ali. Take your championships and crowns and cash and stuff them. He believed in that freedom; he pauperized himself by his stance, and the demonization, too. I submit that he was a patriot of the first water, who showed us all what that really means, what it instils at the core to honour the motherland.
But there is no need to go so far out there into the sports galaxy, for there were many homegrown ones, who toiled for country while labouring for a living. Roy Fredericks, Rohan Kanhai, Archie Britton of cycling fame, Lennox Beckles, and a quiet host of others from a bygone era. Indeed, the competition for time and interest was less, but they were always there to answer the call of country. They played for the sheer love of the game, for that special privilege of carrying the colours. I must confess that it is my thinking that the IPL has boosted Indian cricket immeasurably, while degrading current bottom-of-the barrel denizens, such as the West Indies. I fear that emphasis and involvement in this format will continue to hurt West Indies cricket. The game has been transformed into this vastly successful commercial enterprise that is alien to regional cricketing culture, but alluring to its disciples. I can appreciate the limited overs (50) game; but have no interest in T20. That is not the majestic art of the game, but the combined comedies of slapstick (that can be taken literally) extravagances and professional wrestling. The reductionism of what was long disparaged as “cow lash” on endless display. But cow lash pays handsomely, unbelievably. The Mighty Sparrow had it right: no money, no love. Or no money means no cricket, no interest, no performance.
Now I want to move from the world of sports and entertainment, and take this into dangerous territory. I looked at the reported LGE turnout of the disciplined services and have this to offer. The dirty corrupt money overflowed during the PPP era; it enriched a lot of servants, including those who now abstain from voting. Some years ago, I hinted that that this voter malaise (rebellion) would occur. Stopping the money on the road translates to abstaining from voting at the booth. A clear message is sent: Beware: the next time around, it might be coming out and dealing for the other side. In short: no money, no love. Damn political loyalty. It is the law of the highest bidder that wins out. The wider world of public servants is not immune; I see a not so traditional pattern emerging when that much money is in the mix.
I believe that this is a non-sport example of the power of money. Like the cricketers, it is a signal that transforming this country is viewed as neither priority nor responsibility. Patriotism is a dead letter, other than for an aging disappearing breed. It is mere geography. And what kind of purchasing power does that afford? What does it buy? What personal progress and development can be possible?
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall