Beyond The Boundary
Run, rabbit run
Even as early as the third day of this World Cup, life for the minnows of this competition reflects a certain Hegelian truth; nasty, brutish and short. Sadly, for these teams it does not promise to get any better.
The ICC, in the form of Haroon Lorgat has taken on the role similar to those trying to protect them from harms way by denying them further access to this mother of all competitions in future. He may have a case.
The three matches that the minnows have played so far must have given them the rude realisation that Davids are really mythical characters long extinct, and Goliaths are no-nonsense behemoths with little sense of humour. True, all the teams on display, Kenya, Canada and Zimbabwe are actually no strangers to this competition. In fact Canada even had some fleeting greatness thrust upon it when it put paid to Bangladesh’s nascent aspirations in a previous World Cup. It was a result that resounded loudly in the cricket world, and as a shock registered very highly on the Richter scale in Bangladesh, if we all remember. In John Davison, Canada possessed a player of genuine class, who has one of the fastest hundreds in this competition, that too against one of the prima donnas of the game. But Davison is 41 now, and life in the fast lane is probably not for him or his team any longer.
Spare a thought for Kenya, fact and figuratively certainly the dark horses of this competition last time it was played in the subcontinent. Beating the mighty West Indies was one of the signature performances they had as Kenya stormed into the semifinals, no less! But the Odumbes, and the Obuyas and the studious Asif Karim with his deceptive left arm spin are a distant , albeit pleasant memory of a team that had all the credentials for rubbing shoulders with the big boys of cricket. Only Steve Tikolo remains of that elite generation, but the senior statesman is finding it difficult to be the old soldier as well. The young ones in his watch are no where near his class.
The saddest spectacle in international cricket must surely be the slow decline and demise of Zimbabwean cricket. A team that beat the Australians in 1983, and had India on the rack at 25 for 5, before Kapil Dev’s 175* bailed out the eventual champions, Zimbabwe oozed class every time they took the field. Players like Duncan Fletcher, Dave Houghton, Neil Johnson, the Flower brothers, Murray Goodwin, Paul Strang, Heath Streak, Alastair Campbell, Andy Pycroft to name a few would have walked into most sides of the world. Zimbabwe were worthy opponents for any team that crossed their path in both Test and ODI’s. It pains the cricketing soul to watch such a side now playing the sad role of just bringing up the numbers on the global stage. This was a team that delivered more than what others of their ilk only promised.
But, it is clear now that perhaps this will be last we shall see of these gallant cricketers who tried hard to fit into the greater scheme of world cricket. Sadly for them, the game has moved on quite a few notches higher than they can ever aspire to reach. Perhaps, in a way Lorgat has a point. Perhaps it is best the minnows are taken away from the shark infested waters around them, Who knows, nurtured and fed on a diet of cricket
of their own choice may enable them to stage a comeback at some stage. A prospect that should be more appealing than that of being bullied by all and sundry. They are unfortunately, as far as this competition goes, like rabbits caught in the glare of the headlights. Run, rabbit run!
