[Reader-list] Empire and Cricket...anyone? (the non-Lagan variety!)

[Avishek Ganguly]

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1030215/asp/opinion/story_1672076.asp

NOT WITH A STRAIGHT BAT 

The International Cricket Council is playing empire,
it is not playing cricket. The time has come to move
the headquarters of cricket away from Lord’s 

White domination of the world, ever since it began in
the 17th century, has been marked by double standards.
Ideas like freedom, justice, equality were good for
“home” consumption, but never to be put into practice
in the colonies. The tradition continues. The
International Cricket Council remains largely a
white-dominated body. And its double standards are
enough to take one’s breath away. It gave the English
team management time to decide whe- ther it would play
in Zimbabwe. The match scheduled to be played in
Harare was not played. It is not clear yet if England
has forfeited the match and lost four points. The
English team is reluctant to play in Zimbabwe because
of security reasons. This argument, on the face of it,
is a spurious one. There is no denying that Mr Robert
Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe, is a tyrant and
that democratic rights are non-existent for both the
blacks and the whites of the country. This cannot be a
good enough reason for not playing in Zimbabwe. If it
is, then England should not be playing in Pakistan.
England or Britain should object to the Olympic games
being held in countries where democracy does not
exist. If law and order are at the root of the
reluctance, then England should show the same
hesitation about playing in any third world country.
The fact of the matter is that the nature of the
political regime has little or nothing to do with
sports. The boycott of South Africa was based on
reasons that transcended the political; moreover, it
was unanimous.

England’s reluctance is grounded elsewhere. There is a
widespread feeling among the white settlers that Mr
Mugabe’s regime is treating them unfairly and is
expropriating them from their land. The controversy is
rooted in history. It is entirely possible to argue
that the white settlers are an imposition and that the
land they now claim to own is based on nothing more
than the right of conquest. That right no longer
exists. Mr Mugabe is trying to give the land back to
their rightful owners, the natives of the country. He
is, in fact, expropriating the expropriators. The
white settlers are showing their lack of integration
with Zimbabwean society by falling back on London. The
indecision of the English cricket team about playing
in Harare is a product of this controversy.

The ICC has embarrassed itself by not penalizing
England in the first instance. On a previous occasion,
during the World Cup of 1996, when Australia and West
Indies refused to play in Sri Lanka for security
reasons, they forfeited their matches. This makes the
special treatment being given to England in 2003 all
the more glaring. It raises the suspicion that the ICC
is run by a small cabal from within the Long Room at
Lord’s. Cricket spread with the British Empire, but it
has now acquired an independent and autonomous status.
It can no longer be run by the prejudices that
prevailed when Britannia ruled the waves. The ICC is
playing empire, it is not playing cricket. The time
has come perhaps to physically move the headquarters
of cricket away from Lord’s. Maybe the second city of
the British empire is cricket’s best home.
 


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