Cricket - as high drama

It is cricket today.

I can visualize the Editors of "Montage", raising a quizzical eyebrow.

Cricket of all things?

Yes, cricket is replete with aesthetic, lyrical, artistic, humane and dramatic nuances. It is a game that elicits poetic outbursts. Cricket is morality play, driving home values of justice and fair-play. Anything contrary to those human assets, is dubbed "not cricket".

Many writers have been inspired by the aura of romance associated with cricket. Cricket's theatricality appealed to a wide range of creative persons, especially in England, where they claimed it a "British" game. "Cricket is so much the domain of the aesthete, it cannot be left to sports people alone.

Poet Lord Byron, reminisced about his childhood cricket at Harrow:

"Our sport, our studies, and our souls were one.

Together we impell'd the flying ball.

Together waited in our tutor's hall.

Together joined in cricket's manly toil,"

When the willow-propelled red cherry soars high into the air, describing a curved rainbow arch, what heart will not overflow with shear joy?

By now, my stand is quite clear to you. I am a fervent and ardent cricket aficionado. To me, cricket is the most absorbing spectator - sport there is. As high drama, its impact overshadows that of most other forms of theatrical presentations.

I must confess, that, I have no intimate links with the members of the elitist cricketing fraternity. If I greeted them, they may not even nod back in response.

But, as many a child in Sri Lanka, I too was fascinated by 'folk' cricket, from early on, though I have not played any formal cricket. Children take instinctively to the dramatic elements in cricket, proving cricket's perennial appeal as High Drama.

I remember vividly, earnest 'folk' cricket being played under spreading bread-fruit trees, in fallow fields, in open spaces and even on the roads.

Urchins get together, ready with improvised bats, sticks to serve as the 'stumps' of the wicket and the game is on. To them, a discarded tennis ball is a luxury.

Once, a stern urchin - umpire, in a towering rage at a batting offence, yelled out a harsh order - comment: "Vikett Kover yakko". This still rings in my memory as a dramatic line from folk cricket. In modern sophisticated cricket, the crucial items of theatre are so emphatically present, that one would even wonder whether the origins of cricket could be traced to the tradition of Greek drama.

But, cricket started in fairly recent times (about 1302) and according to cricket-lore, the game came into being under highly intriguing romantic circumstances.

In the fend - ridden Scotland of old, when a lass of one clan was abducted by a lad of a rival community, the Bride's people would pelt the eloping couple with stones. The daring young fellow would use a stick to fend off the missiles from the Bride's side. In archaic English, the world "krick" and its alternatives, were used to describe a 'stick'. This would have determined the emergence of the word 'cricket' to characterize this game.

In the contemporary world of cricket, high drama is present at each and every turn. Take, for instance, the ground. State-of-the-art techniques have seen to its manicured trim.

Each inch of the bowling pitch receives sustained care. The 'stage' is meticulously set. The wickets at the two-ends of the bowling pitch are electronically alive.

The drama is about to begin.

The two umpires walk in solemnly.

There are the equivalents of Sutra Dharas.

(Regulators - manipulators - thread-holders) of classical Sanskrit drama. They resort 'abhinaya' and 'mudra' (stylized gestures) to control the progress of the play. The eccentric movements of an occasional umpire, enhance the joy of Cricket - Drama.

Enter the two batsmen. The drama is in full swing. They are in most instances, elaborately costumed to stand out in contrast to the colourful garbs of the fielders. For some, the generous application of sun-cream, serves as make-up.

Then the chorus, makes its presence felt. The commentators, interpreters and game-tracers swell the ranks of the chorus. Just as the chorus in Greek drama, the modern cricket chorus guides the emotions of the spectators. At times, they are so carried away by a performance, that they too resort to spectacular verbal sixes. Of the globally renowned cricket commentators, Sri Lankan enthusiasts are familiar with many. In this category Tony Greg ranks high, for sure. In solemn and subdued accounts Ravi Shastri communicates his enthusiasm with a subdued verve. When he waxes eloquent about his favourites, he is surprisingly effusive.

In this field, we have home grown talents, that have risen to global stature. Here, Ranjit Fernando and Ranil Abeynaike are a note-worthy duo. As Swabasha commentators, Palitha Perera and Premasara Epasinghe, have kept the indigenous fan-following wide awake.

The fulfilment of drama, depends largely on the spectator. Electronic Media, TV to be specific have given live global audiences to cricket. The spectators add hugely to the dramatic aspects of cricket. They paint their faces, mostly to echo the national flags. Some have masks on. Groups equipped with their own orchestras, are run of the mill. They hold up placards with numbers, texts or drawings on them.

And, the recently introduced Cheer Leaders, add extra allure to cricket drama.

The impact of cricket on the masses, cannot be rivalled by any form of formal theatrical presentations. The spectators focus avidly, on each minute turn of the cricket drama.

When the national team plays a crucial game, routines of offices and homes are in abeyance. It is recorded that at a wedding, when the central ceremony of the nuptial stage had to be performed, all these at the wedding ceremony were glued to the TV. The auspicious moment came and went, but, they could not wrench away from the game on TV.

It is sometimes said, that when the people are engrossed with the fortunes of our cricket team, price-hikes of commodities are surreptitiously introduced. The cricket grip, takes hold of almost the totality of the nation. Even relatively uneducated village women are keenly alert to what happens to our children in the team.

No drama is complete without the players. Cricket has elevated players to global star level. Those greats like Sachin Tendulkar and our own Sanath Jayasuriya are the Shahruk Khans and Amitabh Bachchans of the Green stage.

They achieve legendary heights. A cartoon once depicted a father and his little son, out walking. The son points to the moon and asks father," Daddy what is that round object near the moon?" "Oh, that my son, that is a sixer lofted by Sanath Jayasuriya. The ball has not come down yet." The Sri Lankan players, have added, some significant dimensions to global cricket. Captain Cool, Arjuna Ranatunga, transformed running between wickets into "walking" between them.

Sanath and Kalu initiated the tradition of high scoring in the first 15 overs of Limited Over Cricket.

Muralidharan charmed cricket with his Dusra. Fairly recently Dilshan, hooking back the ball meters above the head of the keeper, gave cricket `Dilscoop'. Cricket, no doubt, is high drama. It has wrung out songs, poetry, literature more than any other mass sport.

Besides, its drama keeps on growing with the changes that transform the game. Lord Byron's cricket's manly toil," has yielded a place to women players. As I see it, in a few decades, cricket will have mixed teams.

The prolonged tests, made room for limited over games. Now, the latest is `designed' cricket a 20-Twenty. Amidst all those transformations and innovations, cricket will grip global masses, in its High Drama.

A little poem to sum it up.

Cricket will thrive in dramatic leaps, Nourished by Man's Creative forces, Let us Pray that our players be protected From the edges of their toes to the tips of their noses.