Cricket in the good old 70’s and 80’s

I as a kid growing up in the 90”s used to wake up early in the morning to watch the test matches down under in Australlia. I still don’t miss any India match irrespective of my busy schedule. But whenever I watch some of the old videos of the test matches being played in the 70”s and 80”s, i get very fascinated by some of the riveting contests between the bat and the ball on some of the liveliest pitches in England and Australlia. These days when I go to the stadium to see the matches, I always wonder and imagine the site of the 70’s and 80’s where  the world’s fastest bowlers used to have  a real go at the top batsmen of that era. I have to admit that I rue the fact that I was not able to witness cricket matches from that era either on television or otherwise. One of the striking aspects about cricket matches in those days was an equal contest between bat and ball. Each of the top teams had at least 2 very good genuine fast bowlers in their bowling attack. The pitches in those days especially the likes of Perth,Jamaica,Barbados and some of the pitches in England used to assist the fast bowlers and the test matches invariably were fiercely contested. Compare  this situation to the present day where the batsmen have all become flat track bullies and when they come across one odd tricky wicket they invariably struggle to adjust and are found wanting at test level. Look at the recent Indian team debacle where they  encountered some bowling friendly pitches in England and Australlia and the batsmen including all the great players were exposed  and fell like  nine pins.

The administrators seriously need to look at producing wickets skewed in favour of fast bowlers right from the domestic level so that the first class players do not come a cropper at the highest level.Also one of the main reasons for the bat dominating the ball is the lack of genuine fast bowlers who can blow apart the opposition just as the West Indian fast bowling attack of the 70”s and 80”s or the deadly duo of Lillee and Thomson from Australlia. These great fast bowlers used to terrorize  even the top batsmen with genuine pace. We certainly miss the epic encounters between Sunil Gavaskar and Michael Holding or Graham Gooch and Malcolm Marshal. Even the spell of Allan Donald at Johannesburg to Michael Atherton was worth travelling miles to watch. Due to the crazy schedule of the cricket matches now a days the fast bowling as an art is becoming virtually extinct as the fast bowlers are prone to serious career threatening injuries which does not allow them to bowl at full throttle but rather  bowl  well within themselves. One of the other things which was non existent few decades back was the overpowering presence of the match referees where in the on field umpire had the  responsibility to control the proceedings out in the middle. Due to the fear of being called up by these referees, we hardly see any harmless banter or chirping among on field players. Friendly banter was one of the enjoyable things to look forward to in the 70”s and the 80”s. it seems as if the players have become well behaved robots and there seems to be no room for on field histrionics. Who can forget the scuffle between Javed Miandad and Deniss Lillee or the one between Steve Waugh and Curtly Ambrose. The cricket administrators must always remember the fact that the players are out there to win and an expression of some emotions is not necessarily a bad thing in sport , in fact it only adds to the beauty of the fierce contest out in the middle.

In the 70”s and 80”s after the end of the days play the players used to hang out  not only with their teammates but also  used to share a drink or two with the rival players. The stories of Ian Bothom  sharing a drink with the Aussie players in the dressing room  is part of the ashes folklore. Now a days there is virtually no off the field camaraderie between the opposing teams, with the players  forgetting the fact that cricket is after  all just a game where one team has to lose on the field. There used to be mutual demonstration of  admiration among the players where a bowler used to appreciate the batsmen for a well played shot, Bishen Singh Bedi the legendary Indian left arm spinner used to clap for a batsmen stroking a well timed shot of his bowling. Now a days all a batsmen gets for his effort is a angry glare or a swear word from the bowlers. The game has certainly evolved in some aspects but there should be a right balance between the bat and the ball  and also the players must learn to loosen up and enjoy the game with the opposing teams after a hard day out in the middle.