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Timeri N. Murari

IN this increasingly unjust world in which man behaves so irrationally, an interesting item made the sports pages. I think it should have made the front page, as it renewed one's faith in man. Even if this was the action of one man, Adam Gilchrist.

There is no doubt he is one of the finest, attacking batsman around. In the match against Sri Lanka, he swept at a ball and it appeared to come of his pad or glove and the Sri Lankan team appealed.

The umpire did not give him out. Another man would have remained at the crease. But Gilchrist, after a moment of thought, walked. Obviously, he believed the ball had brushed his glove. In the replays, it looked as if the ball came off his pads. Yet, he made that rare gesture of sportsmanship.

Cricket, like life, can be very unfair. A snap decision made by a man at the far end — a touch of the glove or the leg possibly in line with the stumps — and you are out. Once the finger is raised, there is no return; it is as final as a bullet. Hesitate even a moment or two too long and you are marked down as a bad sportsman.

We have seen many bad decisions, as well as good ones. However, Gilchrist's decision to walk reminded us about the spirit of all sports. It reminded us that there was once a time, when the word sportsman had a different meaning to today's definition.

A sportsman was an athlete who obeyed not merely the rules of his sport but also the spirit of the game. He clapped his opponent's superiority and accepted victory or defeat graciously. In all mythologies, whether Greek, Hindu or Norse, sport played a part in instructing us how to behave in daily life. These mythological athletes strained every nerve to win and when they did win, it was done fairly. Sports in those mythological days were a substitute for war.

Kingdoms were won and lost at the throw of a dice. Of course, those old-time sportsmen and mythological heroes were not being paid to play in their sport. Their prizes were crowns of Laurel leaves that withered by the end of the day and crumpled to dust within the week. They did not have to endorse products that we could all live without. They did not make millions (tax-free in some countries). They did not bathe in the adulation of millions round the country and the world. Winning now becomes the only thing, as the American football coach, Bear Bryant, once remarked.

Athletes, whatever their sport, have had these words branded in their minds. Their careers are limited by the abilities of their bodies. They have to make the megabucks within this short time span and they will do anything to win. Sports administrators today spend more time and resources checking up for chemical enhancements. Drugs enhance the body to make it superior to others. Shane Warne, supposedly innocent, was forced out of the Australian team because of a banned substance. I remember Gilchrist remarked that Warne should have known better. Warne had no sympathy from Gilchrist for breaking the spirit of his sport.

Watching sport today takes up an enormous amount of our lives. Cricket drags on for so many hours, making all of us couch potatoes. However, even in this surfeit of sport, I do remember sportsmen for their gestures, rather than for winning or losing.

In tennis today, Andre Agassi epitomises the sporting spirit. If he believes a ball is out and has been called in, I have seen him walk to wait for the next serve. Bjorn Borg was another sportsman. He too, like Agassi, transcended his sport because of the manner in which he played the game. However, most of the other tennis stars will gladly accept a bad call if it is in their favour. They have too much to lose, there is too much money out there for them and winning only makes them richer. So they have to win at all costs.

Major sporting events, like the World Cups for football and cricket, and the Olympics, still do pit nations against one another on the sports field. It is ironic that, apart from the Olympics, the Americans do not participate in other team events. So they took part in the Football World Cup but only a minority of Americans knew there was a world cup. They may have their World Series but that is a misnomer. All their team sports — football, basketball, ice hockey, baseball — are played within their borders.

Their sports disengage them from the rest of the world. Their superstars are known only to a few around the world. Sport is also a manner of identifying yourself in world community. The Americans have a separate identity from the rest of us. As a team, do they have a sporting spirit? They may win the wars but they will not win the hearts and minds. It would be good if the world had a few more Gilchrist's among us.

Long after the World Cup has become memory and all those shots forgotten, I will remember Adam Gilchrist's gesture to the spirit of his sport.

(Contact the writer at: tnmurari@hotmail.com)

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