A dream too many

Prem Panicker

For the second time in as many days, an anecdote relating to Nawab Mansur Ali Khan of Pataudi comes to mind.

This one dates back to the days when radio commentary was the only means we had to follow Test cricket. India was playing in England -- and it was raining.

In the BBC commentary box at the time were Tony Lewis, another former captain turned commentator whose name I can't recall off hand, and Pat. And while the rain poured down, the commentators rained 'informed analysis' on the listener -- all relating to what to do when you win the toss.

One of them spoke of how you have to assess the pitch carefully, and decide not simply on the basis of life early on, but keeping in mind what it could do over the other four days. Yes, true, said the other sagely, but you also have to take so many other factors into consideration: like, is the opposition more comfortable against pace than against last-day turn? What is the weather forecast like over the duration of the Test, and is there anything in it that could influence the pitch behaviour?

And so on. And on and on and on. We might as well have been attending a lecture on quantum physics.

And then it occured to the two blokes that their fellow commentator, Pataudi, hadn't said a single word. So, one of them went, "Pat, you are one of the best captains in the history of the game, let's hear from you -- how did you assess the pitch, before deciding whether to bat or field?"

Said Pat, in that laid back drawl of his: "Ah, well, I never did have the brains to think like you guys, so on the morning of the Test I'd ask Sharmila (Tagore), my wife, what to do and if she said bat, I batted!"

That killed the discussion dead -- and left my dad and me, and presumably most other listeners, doubled over with laughter.

This morning brought something similar. Courtesy another laid back individual who, for all that, was one of the most brilliant cricketers we've seen in contemporary times. Sir Issac Vivian Alexander Richards, asked what his contemporary dream team would be, laconically said that he was quite content with the side he had led and he would, at best, have added Shane Warne to the mix to provide a modicum of variety to the pace diet.

So much for the dream teams that have, of late, proliferated like mushrooms after rains.

Was Viv Richards making a subtle point here? Was he saying that there is more to a 'team' than batting averages?

Don't get me wrong, it's all been huge fun -- the Wisden 100, the Bradman Team, the XYZ Ratings...

I sometimes get the feeling that if it weren't for these, our social life would be shot to bits. I mean, so there we are, in the bar, with glassfuls of our preferred poison in front of us and what on earth would we talk about if it weren't for one bloke going you know what, Sachin Tendulkar has just got to be the greatest ever and the other one coming back with you must be out of your head such as it is, you know what Steve Waugh's record is?

Having said that, though, I wonder if this endless debate centering on records and statistics and batting averages and such have distracted us somewhat, caused us to lose focus on the real beauties of the game?

Has the emphasis shifted from the techniques, the nuances, to statistics? When Glenn McGrath took Michael Atherton's wicket for a record breaking 19th time the other day, I was hoping that one of the top flight writers on the spot would produce some informed -- and informative -- analysis about how McGrath has been able to establish such absolute domination over one of the best technicians in the business today.

Similarly, I read of how Shane Warne got into the 400 club, how many others there are in the 400 club, how many other clubs Warne could get into if he kept taking wickets at his current rate, who the presidents of the various clubs should be, and so on and on and on. But nowhere did I read a celebration of say the Stewart dismissal, where Warne kept hitting a line outside leg, got Stewart nicely primed to defend at everything, then landed one on leg, Stewart left by rote, and found it hitting off.

Or again, I'd love to have someone take time off from putting together his list of the world's best left-handers whose names begin with F, and explain to us why, technically, the Indians have been able to handle Warne with such ease while the rest of the world struggles?

Or simply paint word pictures for us of the glories of the modern game -- the perfection of a Jason Gillespie delivery stride, say. Or of a Mark Waugh off drive and its left-handed twin as played by Sourav Ganguly plays? A Sachin Tendulkar punch on the up through extra cover, a Rahul Dravid on drive, a Shane Warne ripper? The comic genius of an Inzamam, the economy-in-motion of a Wasim Akram?

Surely, for us fans, these nuances would mean so much more, in terms of a better understanding of the game, than these never-ending lists and lists of lists?

What do you guys think? Has number-crunching become a substitute for thought, for appreciation?

Postscript: Having written all that, what do I find? Right here in Rediff, we are trying to get you guys to vote for the Indian Dream Team! Ummmm...

Yesterday's Column: Do tails wag dogs?