All the modernity of technology will be in attendance along
side the nostalgia of 134 years of Test cricket during which 1999 Test matches
have been played all round the world.
To make the event perfect, the Decision Review System (DTS)
will be in place for the first time in Tests between India and England. But it
will be sad if the match is allowed to end in a draw. How? Through voluntary
abandonment of the game in the mandatory overs in the last hour on the final
day.
One has also to go to the very genesis of this aberration in
Test cricket. It pertains to a set of regulations that allow captains to freely
decide to end Test matches abruptly despite fair weather and good light
conditions prevailing.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has itself created a
great contradiction by altering a couple of major rules. The first is amending
the rules on mandatory overs. From 20 it has been brought down to 15 overs in
the final hour of play. If that is realistic, the freedom given to rival captains
to forfeit the same by mutual consent and call off play is not. It makes a
mockery of the term “mandatory.” It is also directly in conflict with the
rationale behind penalties for slow over-rate of the fielding side. How? Let us
see.
Just take the third Test at Windsor Park in Dominica. What a
fantastic situation had emerged, as if to reward the biggest crowd seen in the
Caribbean for a Test match for almost two years. But the near-capacity crowd of
12,000 in a territory whose total population is just 60,000, did not get its
just desserts.
Test cricket otherwise is crying for spectator support, even
more so in the West Indies. Instead of attracting more people into the stadium,
they are driving out the a few thousand who are die-hard followers of Test
cricket by some ridiculous measures.
In Dominica, the match had entered the final session with
the prospects of a thrilling finish that had India’s victory march challenged.
But then, no one had visualized the anti-climax that was to follow.
The eager and joyous spectators, reveling with steel band,
calypso, et al, was having a great time. But what wrong had they done to be
denied the sight of a fitting finale of the match?
A peculiar ICC ruling prevented that from happening, as the
captains put an end to their aspirations. Were the spectators, the
cash-customers, not short-changed in the process?
As per the ICC rules, there are stringent penalties laid
down for slow over-rate, that includes hefty fines and even future match
suspension of the concerned captain. The reason: the spectators should not be
denied the full quota of overs during an uninterrupted day’s play. How then
does the ICC justify straight wiping off of 5 overs in a match that is pregnant
with possibilities?
Is that not a grand paradox in itself promoted by the
International Cricket Council?
