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| Sunday, 5 December 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Superstition in sports: Then and now by A. C. De Silva Superstitions, Can they be dismissed as fantasy of the brain? For, superstitions, have across the ages, come to acquire the significance of unwritten laws or conventions.
Superstitions have undergone certain changes with time. First it had a religious or patriotic cloak. It is said that the ancient Greeks knelt on the shore before embarking on a war or a contest in sport, kissing the earth both out of patriotic fervour and the religious belief of invoking blessings of the local deity for strength and triumphant return. Sports too has had a good measure of superstitions in various forms. Wrestlers and weight lifters in India have observed this custom before competition at the highest level. The game of cricket, too has had its share of superstitions. When Kadar's Pakistan team toured India in 1952, Hanif Mohammad, the Little Master, before facing a bowler touched his belly, thumped his chest and adjusted his cap as if he was going through a whole process of short silent prayer. If and when he missed doing this, his skipper missed a few heart beats and the next man was seen walking to the wicket. In the good old days, Hemu Adhikari had a habit, which would have satisfied the moderns while not letting down the superstitious folk. While walking in to bat the first - thing on which he would set his eye on is the sun which, the scientifically-minded tell us, immediately helps on in getting adjusted to the light. Others maintain that Hemu, being a worshipper of the sun, looked at it in a prayerful mood. Cricket, modern in outlook has its roots deep in the past. It has no use for reason or logic or else it would lose its glory of being a game of uncertainties. Even in the present age it retains like old wine some of its prized characteristics. The famous English cricketer Trevor Bailey once said: "Cricketers are notoriously superstitious. If you ever ask one to dinner before a big match make sure that duck is not on the menu, while if your guest has failed to score in either innings, pears for the dessert are most unwelcome.' Even the great English master batsman, Sir Leonard Hutton was not free from superstitions. He would sooner be reconciled to scoring a duck than part with a five-shilling coin given to him by his grandfather's friend with the advice never to part with it. He got this coin when he scored his first 50 for Pudsey. He has said that on the one occasion when the coin was not with him, he broke his arm in an army gymnasium. The coin was used for the toss. Then from the West Indies, comes the news that the beliefs of Everton Weekes who thought his favourite Barbados cap was more responsible for big scores than his prowess in wielding the willow. Once in England, he wore the West Indies red cap and was out to a low score and in the next innings he was seen wearing his favourite cap and scored a century! 'Bill' Edrich and Sir Jack Hobbs put on the left pad first, Insole wore a particular shirt; Warr on the 1951 Australian tour ran into the pavilion and stroked the belly of a koala bear presented to the team when in need of a wicket; Dennis Compton 'carried a silver four-leaf clover' Hugh Tayfield kissed the Springbok in his cap when he felt the need for luck to get a wicket and A. K. Kardar carried a King George VI penny which was minted in 1945, the year he entered first class cricket. Present-day, Sri Lanka and Pakistan players too have been noticed to indulge in superstitions at cricket matches. Former skipper and star batsman Sanath Jayasuriya, after taking guard from the umpire, has been spotted to hit the ground twice or thrice and then look upwards as if to appeal to the gods above to look after him at the match due to start. Our left-arm pacer Chaminda Vaas while marching back to the start of his run-up before delivering the first ball, usually pauses to cross himself (as all devout Christians do). Then there is Pakistan vice-captain Yousuf Yohana who too crosses himself before receiving his first delivery when batting. Belief in superstitions is perhaps like snoring, which most humans vehemently deny when awake but beats the band loudest when most are asleep! |
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While it is tempting to scoff at them, it is not easy to break them,
for one is afraid of the likely heart-breaks.
