Thank you for inviting me to deliver the Bradman Oration; the respect and
the regard that came with the invitation to speak tonight, is deeply
appreciated.
I realise a very distinguished list of gentlemen have preceded me in the
ten years that the Bradman Oration has been held. I know that this Oration
is held every year to appreciate the life and career of Sir Don Bradman, a
great Australian and a great cricketer. I understand that I am supposed to
speak about cricket and issues in the game - and I will.
Yet, but first before all else, I must say that I find myself humbled by
the venue we find ourselves in. Even though there is neither a pitch in
sight, nor stumps or bat and balls, as a cricketer, I feel I stand on very
sacred ground tonight. When I was told that I would be speaking at the
National War Memorial, I thought of how often and how meaninglessly, the
words 'war', 'battle', 'fight' are used to describe cricket matches.
Yes, we cricketers devote the better part of our adult lives to being
prepared to perform for our countries, to persist and compete as intensely
as we can - and more. This building, however, recognises the men and women
who lived out the words - war, battle, fight - for real and then gave it
all up for their country, their lives left incomplete, futures
extinguished.
The people of both our countries are often told that cricket is the one
thing that brings Indians and Australians together. That cricket is our
single common denominator.
India's first Test series as a free country was played against Australia in
November 1947, three months after our independence. Yet the histories of
our countries are linked together far more deeply than we think and further
back in time than 1947.
We share something else other than cricket. Before they played the first
Test match against each other, Indians and Australians fought wars
together, on the same side. In Gallipoli, where, along with the thousands
of Australians, over 1300 Indians also lost their lives. In World War II,
there were Indian and Australian soldiers in El Alamein, North Africa, in
the Syria-Lebanon campaign, in Burma, in the battle for Singapore.
Before we were competitors, Indians and Australians were comrades. So it is
only appropriate that we are here this evening at the Australian War
Memorial, where along with celebrating cricket and cricketers, we remember
the unknown soldiers of both nations.
It is however, incongruous, that I, an Indian, happen to be the first
cricketer from outside Australia, invited to deliver the the Bradman
Oration. I don't say that only because Sir Don once scored a hundred before
lunch at Lord's and my 100 at Lord's this year took almost an entire day.
But more seriously, Sir Don played just five Tests against India; that was
in the first India-Australia series in 1947-48, which was to be his last
season at home. He didn't even play in India, and remains the most
venerated cricketer in India not to have played there.
We know that he set foot in India though, in May 1953, when on his way to
England to report on the Ashes for an English newspaper, his plane stopped
in Calcutta airport. There were said to be close to a 1000 people waiting
to greet him; as you know, he was a very private person and so got into an
army jeep and rushed into a barricaded building, annoyed with the airline
for having 'breached confidentiality.' That was all Indians of the time saw
of Bradman who remains a mythical figure.
For one generation of fans in my country, those who grew up in the 1930s,
when India was still under British rule, Bradman represented a cricketing
excellence that belonged to somewhere outside England. To a country taking
its first steps in Test cricket, that meant something. His success against
England at that time was thought of as our personal success. He was
striking one for all of us ruled by the common enemy. Or as your country
has so poetically called them, the Poms.
There are two stories that I thought I should bring to your notice. On June
28, 1930, the day Bradman scored 254 at Lord's against England, was also
the day Jawaharlal Nehru was arrested by the police. Nehru was, at the
time, one of the most prominent leaders of the Indian independence movement
and later, independent India's first Prime Minister. The coincidence of the
two events, was noted by a young boy KN Prabhu, who was both nationalist,
cricket fan and later became independent India's foremost cricket writer.
In the 30s, as Nehru went in and out of jail, Bradman went after the
England bowling and, for KN Prabhu, became a kind of avenging angel.
There's another story I've heard about the day in 1933, when the news
reached India that Bradman's record for the highest Test score of 334 had
been broken by Wally Hammond. As much as we love our records, they say some
Indian fans at the time were not exactly happy. Now, there's a tale that a
few even wanted to wear black bands to mourn the fact that this precious
record that belonged to Australia - and by extension, us - had gone back.
To an Englishman. We will never know if this is true, if black bands were
ever worn, but as journalists sometimes tell me, why let facts get in the
way of a good story.
My own link with Bradman was much like that of most other Indians - through
history books, some old video footage and his wise words. About leaving the
game better than you found it. About playing it positively, as Bradman,
then a selector, told Richie Benaud before the 1960-61 West Indies tour of
Australia. Of sending a right message out from cricket to its public. Of
players being temporary trustees of a great game.
While there may be very little similarity in our records or our
strike-rates or our fielding - and I can say this only today in front of
all of you - I am actually pleased that I share something very important
with Sir Don.
He was, primarily, like me, a No.3 batsman. It is a tough, tough job.
We're the ones who make life easier for the kings of batting, the middle
order that follows us. Bradman did that with a bit more success and style
than I did. He dominated bowling attacks and put bums on seats, if i bat
for any length of time I am more likely to bore people to sleep. Still, it
is nice to have batted for a long time in a position, whose benchmark is,
in fact, the benchmark for batsmanship itself.
Before he retired from public life in his 80s, I do know that Bradman
watched Sunil Gavaskar's generation play a series in Australia. I remember
the excitement that went through Indian cricket when we heard the news that
Bradman had seen Sachin Tendulkar bat on TV and thought he batted like him.
It was more than mere approval, it was as if the great Don had finally,
passed on his torch. Not to an Aussie or an Englishman or a West Indian.
But to one of our own.
One of the things, Bradman said has stayed in my mind. That the finest of
athletes had, along with skill, a few more essential qualities: to conduct
their life with dignity, with integrity, with courage and modesty. All this
he believed, were totally compatible with pride, ambition, determination
and competitiveness. Maybe those words should be put up in cricket dressing
rooms all over the world.
As all of you know, Don Bradman passed away on February 25, 2001, two days
before the India v Australia series was to begin in Mumbai.
Whenever an important figure in cricket leaves us, cricket's global
community pauses in the midst of contests and debates, to remember what he
represented of us, what he stood for, and Bradman was the pinnacle. The
standard against which all Test batsmen must take guard.
The series that followed two days after Bradman's death later went on to
become what many believe was one of the greatest in cricket. It is a
series, I'd like to believe, he would have enjoyed following.
A fierce contest between bat and ball went down to the final session of the
final day of the final Test. Between an Australian team who had risen to
their most imposing powers and a young Indian team determined to rewrite
some chapters of its own history.
The 2001 series contained high-quality cricket from both sides and had a
deep impact on the careers of those who played a part in it. The
Australians were near unbeatable in the first half of the new decade, both
home and away. As others floundered against them, India became the only
team that competed with them on even terms.
India kept answering questions put to them by the Australians and asking a
few themselves. The quality demanded of those contests, sometimes
acrimonious, sometimes uplifting, made us, the Indian team, grow and rise.
As individuals, we were asked to play to the absolute outer limits of our
capabilities and we often extended them.
Now, whenever India and Australia meet, there is expectation and
anticipation - and as we get into the next two months of the
Border-Gavaskar Trophy, players on both sides will want to deliver their
best.
When we toured in 2007-08, I thought it was going to be my last tour of
Australia. The Australians thought it was going to be the last time they
would be seeing Sachin Tendulkar on their shores. He received warm standing
ovations from wonderful crowds all around the country.
Well, like a few, creaking Terminators, we're back. Older, wiser and I hope
improved.
The Australian public will want to stand up to send Sachin off all over
again this time. But I must warn you, given how he's been playing these
days, there are no guarantees about final goodbyes.
In all seriousness, though, the cricket world is going to stop and watch
Australia and India. It is Australia's first chance to defend their
supremacy at home following defeat in the 2010 Ashes and a drawn series
against New Zealand. It is India's opportunity to prove that the defeat to
England in the summer was an aberration that we will bounce back from.
If both teams look back to their last 2007-08 series in Australia, they
will know that they should have done things a little differently in the
Sydney Test. But I think both sides have moved on from there; we've played
each other twice in India already and relations between the two teams are
much better than they have been as far as I can remember.
Thanks to the IPL, Indians and Australians have even shared dressing rooms.
Shane Watson's involvement in Rajasthan, Mike Hussey's role with Chennai to
mention a few, are greatly appreciated back home. And even Shane Warne
likes India now. I really enjoyed playing alongside him at Rajasthan last
season and can confidently report to you that he is not eating imported
baked beans any more.
In fact, looking at him, it seems, he is not eating anything.
It is often said that cricketers are ambassadors for their country; when
there's a match to be won, sometimes we think that is an unreasonable
demand. After all, what would career diplomats do if the result of a Test
series depended on them, say, walking? But, as ties between India and
Australia have strengthened and our contests have become more frequent, we
realise that as Indian players, we stand for a vast, varied, often
unfathomable and endlessly fascinating country.
At the moment, to much of the outside world, Indian cricket represents only
two things - money and power. Yes, that aspect of Indian cricket is a part
of the whole, but it is not the complete picture. As a player, as a proud
and privileged member of the Indian cricket team, I want to say that, this
one-dimensional, often cliched image relentlessly repeated is not what
Indian cricket is really all about.
I cannot take all of you into the towns and villages our players come from,
and introduce you to their families, teachers, coaches, mentors and
team-mates who made them international cricketers. I cannot take all of you
here to India to show you the belief, struggle, effort and sacrifice from
hundreds of people that runs through our game.
As I stand here today, it is important for me to bring Indian cricket and
its own remarkable story to you. I believe it is very necessary that
cricketing nations try to find out about each other, try to understand each
other and the different role cricket plays in different countries, because
ours is, eventually, a very small world.
In India, cricket is a buzzing, humming, living entity going through a most
remarkable time, like no other in our cricketing history. In this last
decade, the Indian team represents more than ever before, the country we
come from - of people from vastly different cultures, who speak different
languages, follow different religions, belong to all classes of society. I
went around our dressing room to work out how many languages could be
spoken in there and the number I have arrived at is: 15, including Shona
and Afrikaans.
Most foreign captains, I think, would baulk at the idea. But, when I led
India, I enjoyed it, I marvelled at the range of difference and the ability
of people from so many different backgrounds to share a dressing room, to
accept, accommodate and respect that difference. In a world growing more
insular, that is a precious quality to acquire, because it stays for life
and helps you understand people better, understand the significance of the
other.
Let me tell you one of my favourite stories from my Under-19 days, when the
India Under-19 team played a match against the New Zealand junior team. We
had two bowlers in the team, one from the north Indian state of Uttar
Pradesh - he spoke only Hindi, which is usually a link language for players
from all over India, ahead even of English. It should have been all right,
except the other bowler came from Kerala, in the deep south, and he spoke
only the state's regional language, Malayalam. Now even that should have
been okay as they were both bowlers and could bowl simultaneous spells.
Yet in one game, they happened to come together at the crease. In the
dressing room, we were in splits, wondering how they were going to manage
the business of a partnership, calling for runs or sharing the strike.
Neither man could understand a word of what the other was saying and they
were batting together. This could only happen in Indian cricket. Except
that these two guys came up with a 100-run partnership. Their common
language was cricket and that worked out just fine.
The everyday richness of Indian cricket lies right there, not in the news
you hear about million-dollar deals and television rights. When I look back
over the 25 years I've spent in cricket, I realise two things. First,
rather alarmingly, that I am the oldest man in the game, older to even
Sachin by three months. More importantly, I realise that Indian cricket
actually reflects our country's own growth story during this time. Cricket
is so much a part of our national fabric that as India - its economy,
society and popular culture - transformed itself, so did our most-loved
sport.
As players we are appreciative beneficiaries of the financial strength of
Indian cricket, but we are more than just mascots of that economic power.
The caricature often made of Indian cricket and its cricketers in the rest
of the world is that we are pampered superstars. Overpaid, underworked,
treated like a cross between royalty and rock stars.
Yes, the Indian team has an enormous, emotional following and we do need
security when we get around the country as a group. It is also why we make
it a point to always try and conduct ourselves with composure and dignity.
On tour, I must point out, we don't attack fans or do drugs or get into
drunken theatrics. And at home, despite what some of you may have heard, we
don't live in mansions with swimming pools.
The news about the money may well overpower all else, but along with it,
our cricket is full of stories the outside world does not see. Television
rights generated around Indian cricket, are much talked about. Let me tell
you what the television - around those much sought-after rights - has done
to our game.
A sport that was largely played and patronised by princes and businessmen
in traditional urban centres, cities like Bombay, Bangalore, Chennai,
Baroda, Hyderabad, Delhi - has begun to pull in cricketers from everywhere.
As the earnings from Indian cricket have grown in the past 2 decades,
mainly through television, the BCCI has spread revenues to various pockets
in the country and improved where we play. The field is now spread wider
than it ever has been, the ground covered by Indian cricket, has shifted.
Twenty seven teams compete in our national championship, the Ranji Trophy.
Last season Rajasthan, a state best known for its palaces, fortresses and
tourism won the Ranji Trophy title for the first time in its history. The
national one-day championship also had a first-time winner in the newly
formed state of Jharkand, where our captain MS Dhoni comes from.
The growth and scale of cricket on our television was the engine of this
population shift. Like Bradman was the boy from Bowral, a stream of Indian
cricketers now come from what you could call India's outback.
Zaheer Khan belongs to the Maharashtra heartland, from a town that didn't
have even one proper turf wicket. He could have been an instrumentation
engineer but was drawn to cricket through TV and modelled his bowling by
practising in front of the mirror on his cupboard at home, and first bowled
with a proper cricket ball at the age of 17.
One day out of nowhere, a boy from a village in Gujarat turned up as
India's fastest bowler. After Munaf Patel made his debut for India, the
road from the nearest railway station to his village had to be improved
because journalists and TV crews from the cities kept landing up there.
We are delighted that Umesh Yadav didn't become a policeman like he was
planning and turned to cricket instead. He is the first cricketer from the
central Indian first-class team of Vidarbha to play Test cricket.
Virender Sehwag, it shouldn't surprise you, belongs to the wild west just
outside Delhi. He had to be enrolled in a college which had a good cricket
programme and travelled 84kms every day by bus to get to practice and
matches.
Every player in this room wearing an India blazer has a story like this.
Here, ladies and gentlemen, is the heart and soul of Indian cricket.
Playing for India completely changes our lives. The game has given us a
chance to pay back our debt to all those who gave their time, energy and
resources for us to be better cricketers: we can build new homes for our
parents, get our siblings married off in style, give our families very
comfortable lives.
The Indian cricket team is in fact, India itself, in microcosm. A sport
that was played first by princes, then their subordinates, then the urban
elite, is now a sport played by all of India. Cricket, as my two under-19
team-mates proved, is India's most widely-spoken language. Even Indian
cinema has its regional favourites; a movie star in the south may not be
popular in the north. But a cricketer? Loved everywhere.
It is also a very tough environment to grow up in - criticism can be
severe, responses to victory and defeat extreme. There are invasions of
privacy and stones have been thrown at our homes after some defeats.
It takes time getting used to, extreme reactions can fill us with anger.
But every cricketer realises at some stage of his career, that the Indian
cricket fan is best understood by remembering the sentiment of the
majority, not the actions of a minority.
One of the things that has always lifted me as a player is looking out of
the team bus when we travelled somewhere in India. When people see the
Indian bus going by, see some of us sitting with our curtains drawn back,
it always amazes me how much they light up. There is an instantaneous
smile, directed not just at the player they see - but at the game we play
that, for whatever reason, means something to people's lives. Win or lose,
the man on the street will smile and give you a wave.
After India won the World Cup this year, our players were not congratulated
as much as they were thanked by people they ran into. "You have given us
everything," they were told, "all of us have won." Cricket in India now
stands not just for sport, but possibility, hope, opportunities.
On our way to the Indian team, we know of so many of our team-mates, some
of whom may have been equally or more talented than those sitting here, who
missed out. When I started out, for a young Indian, cricket was the
ultimate gamble - all or nothing, no safety nets. No second chances for
those without an education or a college degree or second careers. Indian
cricket's wealth now means a wider pool of well paid cricketers even at
first-class level.
For those of us who make it to the Indian team, cricket is not merely our
livelihood, it is a gift we have been given. Without the game, we would
just be average people leading average lives. As Indian cricketers, our
sport has given us the chance do something worthwhile with our lives. How
many people could say that?
This is the time Indian cricket should be flowering; we are the world
champions in the short game, and over the space of the next 12 months
should be involved in a tight contest with Australia, South Africa and
England to determine which one of us is the world's strongest Test team.
Yet I believe this is also a time for introspection within our game, not
only in india, but all over the world. We have been given some alerts and
responding to them quickly is the smart thing to do.
I was surprised a few months ago to see the lack of crowds in an ODI series
featuring India. By that I don't mean the lack of full houses, I think it
was the sight of empty stands I found somewhat alarming.
India played its first one-day international at home in November 1981, when
I was nine. Between then and now India have played 227 ODIs at home; the
October five-match series against England was the first time that the
grounds have not been full for an ODI featuring the Indian team.
In the summer of 1998, I played in a one-dayer against Kenya in Kolkata and
the Eden Gardens was full. Our next game was held in the 48-degree heat of
Gwalior and the stands were heaving.
The October series against England was the first one at home after India's
World Cup win. It was called the 'revenge' series meant to wipe away the
memory of a forgettable tour of England. India kept winning every game, and
yet the stands did not fill up. Five days after a 5-0 victory 95,000 turned
up to watch the India's first Formula One race.
A few weeks later I played in a Test match against West Indies in Calcutta,
in front of what was the lowest turn out in Eden Gardens' history. Yes we
still wanted to win and our intensity did not dip. But at the end of the
day, we are performers, entertainers and we love an audience. The audience
amplifies everything you are doing, the bigger the crowd the bigger the
occasion, its magnitude, its emotion. When I think about the Eden Gardens
crowds this year, I wonder what the famous Calcutta Test of 2001 would have
felt like with 50,000 people less watching us.
Australia and South Africa played an exciting and thrilling Test series
recently and two great Test matches produced some fantastic performances
from players of both teams, but were sadly played in front of sparse
crowds.
It is not the numbers that Test players need, it is the atmosphere of a
Test that every player wants to revel in and draw energy from. My first
reaction to the lack of crowds for cricket was that there had been a lot of
cricket and so perhaps, a certain amount of spectator-fatigue. That is too
simplistic a view; it's the easy thing to say but might not be the only
thing.
The India v England ODI series had no context, because the two countries
had played each other in four Tests and five ODIs just a few weeks before.
When India and West Indies played ODIs a month after that the grounds were
full, but this time the matches were played in smaller venues that didn't
host too much international cricket. Maybe our clues are all there and we
must remain vigilant.
Unlike Australia or England, Indian cricket has never had to compete with
other sports for a share of revenues, mind space or crowd attendance at
international matches. The lack of crowds may not directly impact on
revenues or how important the sport is to Indians, but we do need to accept
that there has definitely been a change in temperature over, I think, the
last two years.
Whatever the reasons are - maybe it is too much cricket or too little by
way of comfort for spectators - the fan has sent us a message and we must
listen. This is not mere sentimentality. Empty stands do not make for good
television. Bad television can lead to a fall in ratings, the fall in
ratings will be felt by media planners and advertisers looking elsewhere.
If that happens, it is hard to see television rights around cricket being
as sought after as they have always been in the last 15 years. And where
does that leave everyone? I'm not trying to be an economist or doomsday
prophet - this is just how I see it.
Let us not be so satisfied with the present, with deals and finances in
hand that we get blindsided. Everything that has given cricket its power
and influence in the world of sports has started from that fan in the
stadium. They deserve our respect and let us not take them for granted.
Disrespecting fans is disrespecting the game. The fans have stood by our
game through everything. When we play, we need to think of them. As
players, the balance between competitiveness and fairness can be tough but
it must be found.
If we stand up for the game's basic decencies, it will be far easier to
tackle its bigger dangers - whether it is finding short cuts to easy money
or being lured by the scourge of spot-fixing and contemplating any
involvement with the betting industry.
Cricket's financial success means it will face threats from outside the
game and keep facing them. The last two decades have proved this over and
over again. The internet and modern technology may just end up being a step
ahead of every anti-corruption regulation in place in the game. As players,
the one way we can stay ahead for the game, is if we are willing to be
monitored and regulated closely.
Even if it means giving up a little bit of freedom of movement and privacy.
If it means undergoing dope tests, let us never say no. If it means
undergoing lie-detector tests, let us understand the technology, what
purpose it serves and accept it. Now lie-detectors are by no means perfect
but they could actually help the innocent clear their names. Similarly, we
should not object to having our finances scrutinised if that is what is
required.
When the first anti-corruption measures were put into place, we did moan a
little bit about being accredited and depositing our cell phones with the
manager. But now we must treat it like we do airport security because we
know it is for our own good and our own security.
Players should be ready to give up a little personal space and personal
comfort for this game, which has given us so much. If you have nothing to
hide, you have nothing to fear.
Other sports have borrowed from cricket's anti-corruption measures to set
up their own ethical governance programmes and we must take pride in
belonging to a sport that is professional and progressive.
One of the biggest challenges that the game must respond to today, I
believe, is charting out a clear road map for the three formats. We now
realise that the sport's three formats cannot be played in equal numbers -
that will only throw scheduling and the true development of players
completely off gear.
There is a place for all three formats, though, we are the only sport I can
think of which has three versions. Cricket must treasure this originality.
These three versions require different skills, skills that have evolved,
grown, changed over the last four decades, one impacting on the other.
Test cricket is the gold standard, it is the form the players want to play.
The 50-over game is the one that has kept cricket's revenues alive for more
than three decades now. Twenty20 has come upon us and it is the format
people, the fans want to see.
Cricket must find a middle path, it must scale down this mad merry-go-round
that teams and players find themselves in: heading off for two-Test tours
and seven-match ODI series with a few Twenty20s thrown in.
Test cricket deserves to be protected, it is what the world's best know
they will be judged by. Where I come from, nation versus nation is what got
people interested in cricket in the first place. When I hear the news that
a country is playing without some of its best players, I always wonder,
what do their fans think?
People may not be able to turn up to watch Test cricket but everyone
follows the scores. We may not fill 65,000 capacity stadiums for Test
matches, but we must actively fight to get as many as we can in, to create
a Test match environment that the players and the fans feed off. Anything
but the sight of Tests played on empty grounds. For that, we have got to
play Test cricket that people can watch.
I don't think day-night Tests or a Test championship should be dismissed.
In March of last year I played a day-night first-class game in Abu Dhabi
for the MCC and my experience from that was that day-night Tests is an idea
seriously worth exploring. There may be some challenges in places where
there is dew but the visibility and durability of the pink cricket ball was
not an issue.
Similarly, a Test championship, with every team and player driving
themselves to be winners of a sought after title, seems like it would have
a context to every game.
Keeping Tests alive may mean different innovations in different countries -
maybe taking it to smaller cities, playing it in grounds with smaller
capacities like New Zealand has thought of doing, maybe reviving some old
venues in the West Indies, like the old Recreation Ground in Antigua.
When I was around seven years old, I remember my father taking a Friday off
so that we could watch three days of Test cricket together. On occasions he
couldn't, I would accompany one of his friends, just to soak in a day of
Test cricket and watch the drama slowly unfold.
What we have to do is find a way to ensure that Test matches fit into 21st
century life, through timing, environments and the venues they are held in.
I am still convinced it can be done, even in our fast-moving world with a
short attention span. We will often get told that Test matches don't make
financial sense, but no one ever fell in love with Test cricket because
they wanted to be a businessman. Not everything of value comes at a price.
There is a proposal doing the rounds about scrapping the 50-over game
completely. I am not sure I agree with that - I certainly know that the
50-over game helped us innovate strokes in our batting which we were then
able to take into Test matches. We all know that the 50-over game has been
responsible for improving fielding standards all over the world.
The future may well lie in playing one-day internationals centered around
ICC events, like the Champions Trophy and the World Cups. This would ensure
that all 50-over matches would build up for those tournaments.
That will cut back the number of one-day internationals played every year
but at least those matches will have context. Since about I think 1985,
people have been saying that there is too much meaningless one-day cricket.
Maybe it's finally time to do something about it.
The Twenty20 game as we know has as many critics as it has supporters in
the public. Given that an acceptable strike rate in T20 these days is about
120, I should probably complain about it the most. The crowd and revenue
numbers, though, tell us that if we don't handle Twenty20 correctly, we may
well have more and more private players stepping in to offer not just
slices of pie, but maybe even bigger pies themselves.
So I'll re-iterate what I've just said very quickly because balancing three
formats is important:
We have Test cricket like we have always had, nation versus nation, but
carefully scheduled to attract crowds and planned fairly so that every Test
playing country gets its fair share of Tests. And playing for a
championship or a cup, not just a ranking.
The 50-overs format focused around fewer, significant multi-nation ICC
events like the Champions Trophy and the World Cup. In the four-year cycle
between World Cups, plan the ODI calendar and devise rankings around these
few important events. Anything makes more sense than seven-match ODI
series.
The best role for Twenty20 is as a domestic competition through official
leagues, which will make it financially attractive for cricketers. That
could also keep cricket viable in countries where it fights for space and
attention.
Because the game is bigger than us all, we must think way ahead of how it
stands today. Where do we want it to be in the year 2020? Or say in 2027,
when it will be 150 years since the first Test match was played. If you
think about it, cricket has been with us longer than the modern motor car,
it existed before modern air travel took off.
As much as cricket's revenues are important to its growth, its traditions
and its vibrancy are a necessary part of its progress in the future. We
shouldn't let either go because we played too much of one format and too
little of the other.
Professionalism has given cricketers of my generation privileged lives and
we know it, even though you may often hear us whining about burn-out,
travel and the lack of recovery time.
Whenever we begin to get into that mindset, it's good to remember a piece
of Sachin's conversation with Bradman. Sachin told us that he had asked Sir
Don how he had mentally prepared for big games, what his routines were. Sir
Don said, that well, before a game he would go to work and after the game
go back to work. Whenever a cricketer feels a whinge coming on, that would
be good to remember.
Before I conclude, I also want to talk briefly about an experience I have
often had over the course of my career. It is not to do with individuals or
incidents, but one I believe is important to share. I have sometimes found
myself in the middle of a big game, standing at slip or even at the
non-strikers end and suddenly realised that everything else has vanished.
At that moment, all that exists is the contest and the very real sense of
the joy that comes from playing the game.
It is an almost meditative experience, where you reconnect with the game
just like you did years ago, when you first began, when you hit your first
boundary, took the first catch, scored your first century, or were involved
in a big victory. It lasts for a very fleeting passage of time, but it is a
very precious instant and every cricketer should hang on to it.
I know it is utterly fanciful to expect professional cricketers to play the
game like amateurs; but the trick, I believe, is taking the spirit of the
amateur - of discovery, of learning, of pure joy, of playing by the rules -
into our profession. Taking it to practice or play, even when there's an
epidemic of white-line fever breaking out all over the field.
In every cricketer there lies a competitor who hates losing, and yes,
winning matters. But it is not the only thing that matters when you play
cricket. How it is played is as important for every member of every team
because every game we play leaves a footprint in cricket's history. We must
never forget that.
What we do as professionals is easily carried over into the amateur game,
in every way - batting, bowling, fielding, appealing, celebration, dissent,
argument. In the players of 2027, we will see a reflection of this time and
of ourselves and it had better not annoy or anguish us 50-year-olds.
As the game's custodians, it is important we are not tempted by the
short-term gains of the backward step. We can be remembered for being the
generation that could take the giant stride.
Thank you for the invitation to address all of you tonight, and your
attention.
