Hartley Neita, Contributor
IN THE beginning, cricket was a game played and enjoyed by gentlemen.
The qualification for being a gentleman then was a man of some amount of wealth who could afford the luxury of two or three days away from the business of working to play in a county match, and later for five days playing for King and country in a Test match.
The pleasures of the life of a gentleman were not forgotten in the game. It matched his way of life. There was a leisurely lunch served by properly attired waiters, with gloves and bow ties, followed by two hours on the field, then a short tea time - leaves, not bags, if you please - and a final two hours of play before stumps were drawn.
It was casually elegant.
Batsmen and fielders wore caps. They never wore hats. In fact, only the umpires wore hats.
The sound of ball on bat was louder than the expressions of the spectators. A gentleman's innings was one of singles, twos and fours. Never sixes. Polite clapping rippled around the field at the end of maiden overs, even if the opposing team bowled them.
The captain was welcomed as he strolled out of the pavilion to the pitch to bat, with clapping by the spectators as well as the team fielding. And it was not considered "cricket" to bowl him for ducks.
A batsman nicking a ball into the hands of slips never waited for the question, "How's that?" He cuddled his bat under his arm, and walked back to the pavilion while peeling off his gloves. In fact, the "third umpire" of today was that batsman then.
The spectators in the main pavilion were all gentlemen. Ladies were present to give colour to the formalities. Spectators elsewhere, sat on the ground around the field. They were not gentlemen, but they aped the manners of their betters.
"Well played, sir," or "Well bowled, sir," were the main comments made just above the level of a conversation, and were never a shout.
Character change
The change in the character of cricket came when men who were not gentlemen were permitted to participate in the game. Of course, they were called players. Naturally, the spectators sitting around the edge of the field were not gentlemen. They wanted the team which reflected their status to defeat the gentlemen, and so their comments became louder and louder.
For example when their batsmen played a straight bat to a ball bowled by a gentleman, their shouts were "NOOOO!" And the players res-ponded to the support of their friends by hitting sixes. Gradually, the measure of a batsman was one who could hoist the ball bowled by a Gentleman pace bowler over the screenboard.
It was the players, too, who introduced bodyline bowling and bouncers into the game. Accus-tomed as they were also, to country and backyard cricket, they influenced the introduction of one-day matches. And because they were not brought up in the tradition of walking if caught by the wicketkeeper, third umpires have had to be introduced into the game.
What of the future? Bowlers now glare long and with anger at umpires when their appeals are turned down. Tomorrow they may well have to wear protective clothes. Maybe, too, tea time will be replaced by drinks at the bar.
