Cricket as old as Julius Caesar himself
We have all heard fascinating fairy tales of a utopian world with magical creatures and objects. They have always appealed to our fascination, and even if we may never admit it, we do invariably want to be part of something supernatural, something that science cannot account for.
Cricket is one such game which is as old as Julius Caesar himself. Yes Julius Caesar of Surrey. Did Julius Caesar following his death, get reincarnated as a cricket player of Surrey who visited the United States in 1857 we would never know. But, Cricket sure has its own folklore, one that cannot be taken for granted. The laws of cricket offer more statistics than a mayor at election time. In these statistics and folklore the passionate devotee can find hours of innocent enjoyment.
For instance how many cricket fans knew of a certain CB Fry? Around the 1900’s, Fry held the World record for long jump, played football for England, played in 26 Test matches, was a seasoned golfer and a good swimmer and, is rumoured to have been offered the throne of Albania. How many tennis players can ever dare challenge his credentials?
When the cricket freak delves further into the world of cricket he finds out that a remarkable player by the name of JEBBPQC Dwyer had an exceptional record playing for Sussex. He twice took 9 wickets in an innings. His name is one example of English parents and their eccentric ways during those times, preferring to give their children more than two initials. Future cricketers followed with names such as PHB May, JWHT Douglas etc.
John Elicius Benedict Placid Quirk Carrington Dwyer, was the grandson of an Irish convict and was born in Sydney in 1876. The world of cricket is as fascinating as The Lord of the Rings itself, with the exception of having a Gandalf. But one could say that W.G grace served that role during his stint at playing the game of gentlemen scoring almost 55,000 runs in first class cricket. It seemed as if he had a few tricks up his sleeve to have scored so many runs in cricket.
Most of us cricket fanatics are also aware of the dreaded score of 111 or in cricketing terms, a Nelson, from which we know of the double Nelson at 222 and triple Nelson at 333. All of us inadvertently follow the Nelson without any idea as to why it might be considered an inauspicious number. The term is said to be invented in the belief that Lord Nelson was unlucky to have had only one eye, one hand and one leg hence the 111. In fact in reality it was nothing of the sort, since Lord Nelson had two legs, however this superstition has survived all attempts of correction.
Many players believe in Karma and lucky charms as well. With a plethora of examples of superstition amongst World class sides and batsmen. For instance the Australians find the number 87 extremely unlucky since it is 13 short of a 100 and is considered a devil’s number. Sachin Tendulkar the cricketing legend is said to wear his left pad first.
In a league game against Zimbabwe during the 1983 World Cup India was all set to face a humiliating defeat. Kapil Dev then began stroking the ball brilliantly, and the manager of the cricket team gave particular instructions to the players in the pavilion not to move from their places. K. Srikkanth an Indian cricketer had a cup of coffee in his hand, standing outside the dressing room on a cold, windy day. He did not move from his place for two hours. Kapil Dev finally came back with a 175 not out, and this particular cricketer was happy he played his part in the innings.
The same happened in the World Cup semi final of 1985. Where similar instructions were given in the dressing room and India went on to win the finals. In his last test match, Sunil Gavaskar played against Pakistan. Before he walked onto the pitch he specifically asked his fellow team mate to let him walk on his right. Gavaskar went on to score an excellent knock even though India lost.
Such incidents are common in the cricketing world with umpires like David Shepherd being highly superstitious, and it has simply contributed to generate greater interest in the game of cricket.
(to be continued.)