The act of creation!

"The act of creation is not an issue that can be satisfactorily solved by the tools and techniques which present-day (1964!) psychologists commonly employ - mental testing, experimental research, planned observations on men and animals. What is really needed is a systematic study carried out by one of those rare individuals who himself happens to possess this peculiar gift of creativity."

I intended to write this desertion on "the act of creation" and commence it with a powerful assertion by the creator of this very caption - Arthur Koestler and in-spite of his last sentence... but with a disclaimer at the outset to clarify that 'I am not that haughty & preposterous to assume one that he described...!'

...but...

...and because I happen to love, to read, to listen, to watch and to attempt all that is classified under the broad heading "aesthetic"...

...and because I happen to see often some of the 'modern day technique' which has mauled this very thing that is classified under aesthetic, with a deep sense of poignance.  I do not limit this to Cricket alone.

Gosh, these days men appreciate and men are appreciated for "acts of destruction" - by which term I propose to mean the killing of the "act of creation" or depraving of that very word "aesthetic" under the garb of "productivity".

Cricket was never this noisy, clumsy, bragging.  Runs at any cost, wickets at any cost, money at any cost...

The speed and the rate at which the runs are being scored has increased manifold, yes. But is that all... can this be classified under the act of creation?  The shrunk tree under the bonsai technique would fit in your drawing room table, but will that satisfying the intended purpose of a tree, which is to yield shade, rain, oxygen, consume and clean us of dirt & carbon dioxide - for the moment we shall forget about the fruit that it yields!

Be it the ugly reverse scoop which Shikar Dhawan played for a boundary behind the wickets yesterday and the repeated unyielding ugly reverse sweeps of those Englishmen: both these acts failed to satisfy the mind which is craving for beauty. Like the bonsai tree they may adore the statisticians pages but not the minds which are steeped in aesthetics.  Alas, men of class, the likes of that legend called the Viswanath, the Azhars, & the Laxmans are disappearing fast.

Men of class created classics be it bowling, batting, fielding, umpiring or commentating.  Who can forget that Johnty Rhodes who redefined fielding and showcased it as one of the most exquisite art!?

There were times when the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, G.R.Viswanath, David Gower, Mohinder Amarnath, Zaheer Abbas, Majith Khan, the Chappels, Geoffrey Boycott, Graham Pollock, Dulip Mendis, Roy Dias, Javed Miandad, Muddassar Nazar, and the likes, stayed on the crease for hours, sessions, even days to dodge and defy the bowlers relentlessly and put a very heavy price on their wickets, whilst facing the fiercest of bowling attacks!  Then, even their deft defence looked beautiful, forget about their innumerable beautiful range of shots! And that too without the safety of modern day protection gadgets like helmets, arm guard, chin guard, thigh guard...god knows which part is left uncovered in the modern days! 

The quicks of yesteryears must certainly have clocked 100 miles plus.  Those were the times when the fast bowlers created music with an instrument called "cricket ball"!

The big fellas Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Colin Croft, Andy Roberts, Malcom Marshal (diminutive in physical height though!), Bob Willis, Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thompson, Imran Khan, Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh were all fiercely graceful!  They at times even applauded genuinely if best of their deliveries were played exquisitely but, ensured that their next ball did all the talking and not indulge in sledging like the modern day bowlers.

Not that there were no verbal exchanges during those times - cricket is termed as 'gentleman's game, by mistake(!) - but, there was more action and less talking. They talked, but little, after acting upon and made their talking too sound exquisite!

Take this one for an example; Viv Richards playing in county faced Greg Thomas and missed several balls in a row. Greg Thomas came near Richards and said: "It's red, round and weighs about five ounces, in case you were wondering." Richards not uttering any word hammered the next delivery out of the cricket grounds and into a nearby river and said "Greg, you know what it looks like, now go and find it"!

Actions speak more powerfully and remain etched in the batsmen's  mind! 

   

With all the gadgets which ensured safety of every part of the body and with the so called modernised techniques, the present day batsmen fail to stay even for a session...to ward of the impending and imposing defeat and the ignominy (god knows if it is felt or not!), because, they fail to realise that these are mind games!  "It is not that mountain over there that you surmount, but your own mind" said Edmund Hilary after conquering the last hurdle along with Tenzing Norgay, which defied human minds till then.

Man can never device a technology to conquer human minds, forget fathoming it!  And the best of human minds can never be satisfied by the technology, aesthetically.

You need to be possessed with that sense of aestheticism, that craving for beauty to excel; then a mere stance would exude beauty, you don't even require a cricket bat!!

(David Gower in forward defence with a scotch bottle!)

Incidentally, Gower's put the first ball he faced in his career delectably to the fence thus

(Gower's pull of the first ball that he faced in his career)

Look at the elegance of that pull, that economy of movement and the balance on his left leg (being a southpaw that he was).  Generally, whatever the lefties play were beautiful (Alan Border being the lone exception) and Gower made it more beautiful!

I love artists! Gower and Vishwanath are two of my most favourite cricketers of all times. Azhar, Sachin,  Aravinda & Laxman come after and not to demean other greats who adored this game!

I used to have a big photograph of GRV's 'leg glance' - one of the many shots that he made his own - which you can keep glancing for hours and years and still be never tired off!

These artist on the 22 yards are a rare breed of cricketers who arrive and depart unannounced; but in the while they adored the 22 yards for whatever duration in a given innings and for whatever duration in their career, they would have enriched you aesthetically and made you craving madly for such delights...

...unless of-course...!

Unfortunately, we did not have very many visual clippings of those foregone era. Unfortunately, during late 1970's and early 1980's when I devoured cricket as a school boy, the matches were not telecast. 

But, we did get treated by the verbal commentators of BBC's "test match special" & ABC -  by the likes of Brian Johnston, Tony Cozier, Richie Benaud, Ian Chappel, Tony Greg, Ray Illingworth, Bill Lawry, Tony Lewis, Christopher Markin Jenkins, Fred Trueman...the list is long and the memory is short!  Who can forget that 'ear-rings craver' Henry Blofeld!

These great connoisseurs of the game verbalised each and every moment of cricket as it unfurled in front of their aesthetic and discerning eyes and transformed it into an aural treat for our ears which was glued and pressed on to that now fast disappearing device called "Radio", sitting in some remote corner of the world!  The description was so vivid that the match, the pitch, the players, the scene around could be visualised by us actually in our minds eye - an experience which will render even the modern day HD TV clips poorer! 

Each and every muscle a cricketer moved did not escape the rowing eyes of these great creators called commentators!  

The waning and the waxing nature of the "short wave" broadcast added to the delight of the description of these commentators and made us ecstatic!  As the bowler runs down to bowl, the commentators description would be sound enough for us to see the bowler run and as he nears the stumps and bowls, the shortwave sound will wane at times and spring aloud with the description of what happened next! 

Bill Lawry made his words "going, going, going, and gone" just travel along with the ball which left the batsman's bat on its trajectory towards the stands!

Not sure if BBC would be having the recordings of those great commentaries and if yes, if they release them it would be an instant hit!

Some of the great comments that I enjoyed reading in the pages of internet was that of the legendary Brian Johnston's of "BBC":

"Ray Illingworth has just relieved himself at the Pavilion End."

Brian handing over to another commentator:  "It's close of play here but they go on until seven o'clock at Edgbaston.  So over now for some balls from Rex Alston."

"And Dickie Bird's standing there with his neck between his shoulders."

and the best of all:

During England v New Zealand in 1969 Glenn Turner was hit in the groin on the fifth ball of the over and the match and commentary was interrupted till Glenn was treated.  When the play resumed, Johnston commenced commentary: "It looks as if he's going to try and continue, although he still looks very shaken and pale.  Very plucky of him.  Yes, he's definitely going to have a try - One ball left"!!

Now in 2014, I can carry the TV even to a desert or toilet - in an app on my smartphone...am I happy!? 

There is cricket every second and get to see it played in the remotest corners of this globe...am I happy!?

Well, I keep getting this deja-vu, a scene a version of which I read during my school days and which I actually experience many times: travelling by a train and as the train goes past a cricket ground where a bowler is running down to bowl...and the train takes a turn and with it our sight off the cricket ground...leaving us wonder what happened to that "un-bowled ball", un-bowled in our mind's eye!

I feel a similar poignance now at the fast disappearing endangered species of this art...when I see less and less of those true artistic creation and instead fed with more and more of garbage called "runs" and "wickets" which do not only make and mean cricket.

But, these are times when even the drinking water is bottled and sold and we pay and get...yet we may not be drinking it pure...

Times are changing and with it some part of us is dying everyday... every passing moment and so does the great art...!

Please wait for my next title: "Corridors of uncertainty"!

Till then....