Cricket, a Gentlemen's Game?

Why has cricket been called a gentlemen’s game? Cricket was a game played by educated men and the real popularity of cricket came when the English aristocrats played it. The basic reason for this gentleman name was that players used it to respect each other. Sledging, cheating, bodyline bowling, temper tantrums or excessive appealing were completely not allowed. Even if the Umpire fails to call out, players used to leave the ground by themselves. Even now these are the rules of cricket that sustain the gentleman image of cricket.

Unfortunately the numbers of incidents that spoil cricket are regular and part of the game now.In fact, it is the increased popularity and star value of the players that made cricket slip away from its gentleman nature.

There was a time when players admired not just the game but the opponent players as well. In 1979-80, during a test match at Mumbai, India’s skipper G R Viswanath caught R W Taylor of England in the slips on the second day of the test match. He was called out by Umpire S K Hanumantha Rao .Taylor said openly to the Indian skipper that he had not played the ball and the Indian skipper talked to the umpire and made him cancel his decision. Taylor added 171 runs after this chance was given to him and won the match for England. The sportsman spirit showed by our Indians in this game is remarkable.

Viewers of today are ready to tolerate whatever happens in the ground if the game brings fun and players perform well. Not all star cricketers are spoiling the gentlemen nature of cricket. For many cricketers, cricket is still a gentlemen’s game but in the present scenario it is really doubtful whether we can maintain this image for long.

New formats of cricket demand aggressiveness from each player. It has become a reason for promoting many who least care about the real spirit of this gentlemen game.  Sledging has now become a manner to identify the aggressiveness of the bowlers and batsman.