June 28, 2002

The cricketing merry-go-round continues

- Jonathan Dyson

As I sit here in the comfort of my own home in North Yorkshire, looking out at the impressive front garden, with the lush, freshly-cut grass, and with Test Match Special on the radio, it seems like light years since I spent three wonderful months traversing the Indian land, enjoying a mixture of cultural exploration, sight-seeing, and of course cricket of all kinds.

Every now and again, thoughts drift back to my first few steps through the streets of Delhi, the frenetic atmosphere at the one-day international in Madras, and the serene beauty of the Churchgate maidans and Shivaji Park in Mumbai.

India is a place that remains part of the concsciousness months after leaving. As I journeyed through Australia, New Zealand and North America, I couldn’t help but hark back at regular intervals to a country where there is never a dull moment, where the people display a touching and obvious love a life, despite everything, and where cricket is a matter as serious as politics and religion.

This isn’t to say that I didn’t enjoy exploring these other countries -- in fact, after recovering from the unfortunate mugging incident on my first day in Australia, it didn’t take me long to realise why so many British people choose to emmigrate down under. It is almost impossible not to be impressed by the infectious and unfailingly positive outlook on life diaplayed by Aussies, and the largely egalitarian society that spawns such outgoing characters.

New Zealand is similarly refreshing, with a beautiful and astonsishingly clean environment. This provided a wonderful backdrop for England’s tour there, which proved a remarkably different experience to the Tests in India -- for a quite simple reason: English fans outnumbered the Kiwis around four to one at each of the Tests.

New Zealanders just don’t enjoy Test cricket, and missed out on a dramatic series, most notable for Nathan Astle’s breathtaking 222 from at Christchurch. It was the most sensational innings almost all of those watching had seen.

Even in Los Angeles and Canada I found some cricketing conections. In LA, I was delightfully hosted by an Indian fan who, having played for Caluctta schools in the time of Ganguly’s youth, left India ten years ago, and has since lived a frustratingly cricket-free life in the US. Hearing his stories were just as fascinating as the explorations of Hollywood, Venice beach and the fantastically diverse LA nightlife.

In Canada I stayed with a cricketing friend from home who is working in Vancouver, and on a day trip to Victoria on Vancouver Island, we were thrilled to come across a pub called the Sticky Wicket. Inside is an impressive array of old bats, pictures and scorecards.

Almost inevitably, these six months on the road have inspired me to travel again this winter. And yes, you’ve guessed it, I’ll be heading amongst other places to Australia for the Ashes series and the World Cup in South Africa. In between, I will be assessing Australian domestic and grassroots cricket, to try and discover just why the Test team is so dominant at present.

But for now, it’s time to focus on England, and in particular the Indian touring team. In this new column, I will be attempting to paint an alternative picture of the Indians in England. I will be attending at least one of the Tests, and as ever will be following the series through the English media, as well as discussing events with fellow England fans.

I will in particular be focusing on the atmosphere in the stands at each of the games, providing accounts of Indian fans at the Tests and any interaction with English fans. I will also be illustrating how the Indian team are received, their profile in the media, and so on.

Alongside this I will be exploring the numerous links between Indian and English cricket. Attention will be paid to Indian players in county and club cricket, including the separate Asian leagues that exist here, the mystifying lack of Asian players in the Yorkshire side (despite the presence of thousands of youngsters of Asian extraction who play the game here), problems of racism in England and how these are being tackled, and how Indian cricket is perceived in England.

I will also be casting a critical glance at the game here in England, just as I did in India. These are difficult times for English cricket, with county attendances continuing to fall and the game in a worrying decline at grassroots and club level. While reflecting on the most celebrated parts of English cricket, such as Lord’s, the County Championship and village cricket, I will also be discussing some of the key issues from a fan’s angle, attempting to answer questions like what we, the fans, really want to see changed, what we feel about the state of grounds round the country, and whether local clubs are running out of money.

For players, administrators and fans alike, the cricketing merry-go-round continues at Lord’s on Saturday for the second Natwest Series game, and the first between India and England since that epic encounter at the Wankhede Stadium in February. Anything similar would do nicely for starters.

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Illustration: Bijoy Venugopal