Five Reasons Why Cricket is Not a Gentlemen's Game

Cricket is always termed as ‘Gentlemen’s Game’. However, the spirit of the game is always questioned by some controversial instances. These incidents have played their part in snatching the Gentlemen tag from the game itself.

It is impossible to hold the spirit of the game everytime a player turns out to play.

However, the players have played their part in playing the game in a wrong way. They have veered off the track and thus the game has taken the severe beating.

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Thus, we take at the five reasons why cricket should not be considered as a gentlemen’s game.

Five reasons why cricket is not a gentlemen’s game:

Match Fixing:

We have seen many players getting themselves involved in a match-fixing menace. They not only went on to ruin their own career but also gave a bad image to the beautiful game in particular.

Meanwhile, a player faces a minimum ban of five years if he is caught in the match-fixing scandal.

South Africa’s late Hansie Cronje, Herschelle Gibbs, India’s Mohammad Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, S Sreesanth, Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir got themselves into the troubled waters via match-fixing in the recent past.

Thus, it is always sad to note when a player goes off the track and chooses to gamble while tarnishing his and country’s image. It is difficult to understand that why players choose money when they are already paid a hefty amount by their respective boards owing to a lucrative contract.

Arguing with Umpires:

Umpires should get the utmost respect in the game whereas we have seen instances when a player is involved in a heated argument with the umpire.

It is imperative to respect the umpire’s decision as he is also a human being. Thus, we should expect a human error on some occasions during the game.

However, some players take out their frustration at the umpires if a particular decision doesn’t go their way.

We have seen bowlers or batsmen react in an irritated way when they fall prey to umpiring howlers. Furthermore, the captain of the side has also argued with the on-field umpires.

Not Walking Off:

Batsmen expect the umpires to be spot on with their decision match. However, they don’t play true to themselves.

Moreover, we notice only a faction of players walking off the field irrespective of the umpiring decision. Australia’s Adam Gilchrist was one of the greatest exceptions.

Players have stayed at the crease knowing they have nicked the ball and they don’t deserve to be batting out there in the middle. Thus, those batters has no right to question the decision of the umpire when they get a bad decision.

Sledging:

They say ‘Sledging is part and parcel of the game’. However, former Australian skipper, Ian Chappell called it ‘rubbish’. It is alright to have a little bit of banter out in the middle, however, crossing the limits is not acceptable.

We have seen many instances when things have got out of hand. Thus, players have got personal with each other which has added fuel to the fire.

Sledging has always put a stain on the game. In fact, there is no harsh punishment from the ICC to threaten players in this regard. Thus, the players have continued to take a dig at their counterparts. However, ICC has promised to come up with strict actions in the future.

Ball Tampering:

Players have taken help of illegal routes such as ball tampering to reverse swing the ball. Recently, Australian cricket was affected by the ball-tampering saga.

The players are not afraid to take the wrong route to victory as the maximum punishment from the ICC for ball tampering is a solitary Test match.

However, the governing body based out in Dubai has given hopes of tightening the screws.

Thus, veering off the track to win at any cost is a sign of desperation on the part of the players.