Date-stamped : 03 Nov93 - 06:11 England hope for higher marks from charm school By Christopher Martin-Jenkins The series of one-day internationals between India and Eng- land which got going, to general relief, with a rousing match typical of the genre at Jaipur last week, is being played for the Charms Cup. I shall find out soon enough when I arrive in India today exactly what product it is that Charms is hoping to sell through cricket. What I hope above all, however, for the Test series which starts in Calcutta on Friday is that the cricketers themselves will sell the charm of their unique game. We have seen too much of the scowl on cricket's face of late: let us now see the smile; not the smile of sly calculation but the one which wells up from genuine pleasure and joy. The standing of Test cricket in India is at stake in the three- match series, due to continue at Madras (Feb 11-15) and Bombay (Feb 19-23), and it is less important who wins than that the integrity and superiority of the five-day game should be maintained - or revived. There is a general impression being conveyed that Test cricket is already doomed in India. In fact, though it seems to have lost almost all public support in Pakistan, the game in the main part of the sub-continent is rather like a threatened ornithological species: healthy when last spotted but rarely seen by anyone of late. Anxious eyes are now watching, as if to see whether a breed- ing pair can establish itself again and en- courage a general revival. Sometimes conditions can defeat even the best intentions and players and spectators alike will depend to some extent on the groundsmen to make invigorat- ing cricket possible. No doubt Keith Fletcher and Sunil Gavaskar, captains in possibly the most turgid Test series played, in 1981-2, would argue that the pitches were as big a reason for the five draws out of six as the disposition of the captains. This time, the bowling of both sides looks too ordinary to gain a lasting as- cendancy on lifeless pitches, especially if attitudes are as negative as India's in their recent series in South Africa. On the other hand, if Mohammad Azharuddin is to save his cricketing skin and his team's reputation, he ought surely to conclude that his best form of defence is to attack. He knows that England possess no fast bowler of the sus- tained menace and quality of Allan Donald, the man who broke the deadlock in Port Elizabeth, and if he can find an effective opening pair he has plenty of batsmen who like to assert themselves when the mood is right. By positive, as opposed to reckless, cricket, India are capable of giving an England team, who have started in- differently, a highly watchable run for their money. The alter- native scenarios are a dull stalemate, with neither side prepared to risk enough to win, or success in Calcutta for England. That would surely lead to a new Indian captain - more likely to be Kapil Dev again than Tendulkar - and to possible mayhem within Indian ranks from which England could only pro- fit, assuming civil unrest does not worsen to the point that the tour has to be abandoned. Happily, when India last played a proper Test series at home, more than four years ago, groundsmen gave bowlers a chance. Crowds were both large and enthusiastic in matches at Ban- galore, Bombay and Hyderabad, India beating New Zealand 2-1 on pitches which helped their then spin bowling pair of Naren- dra Hirwani and Arshad Ayub. Conditions were even livelier when India last played a home match, a hastily arranged game against Sri Lanka at Chandigarh, the 14th Indian city and the 17th In- dian ground to stage a Test, in November 1990. It was Azharuddin's seventh match as captain and remains, 10 games overseas later, his only success. This oddity apart, the Indi- an public have been starved of Test cricket and the decision to have only three matches this time, rather than five in 1984-85 when England came from behind to win the rubber 2-1, hardly sug- gests confidence on the part of the Indian board that they can put the clock back to, for example, Jan 6, 1977. On that morning I witnessed 80,000 people bustling into Eden Gardens at 9.45 even though the home side were going into the final day facing the possi- bility of defeat within the space of three balls. Thank goodness there was a bit more cricket than that. Such blithely unsophisti- cated days have gone. People everywhere want value for their money and specta- tors have been bewitched by the harlot charm of the one-day game. More- over, since cricketers have become so accessible through television, touring teams no longer hold the allure which came from players being household names yet distant, unknown figures. Nonetheless, matches have been shrewdly spread across the vast land this time, so there should be enough no- velty to attract people. The Indian board have not had an easy life over these last few years. They were forced by the Indian Supreme Court to rescind the fines and bans imposed on senior players after they had made a disapproved tour to Canada and the United States, and they had to preside over the desperate anarchy with which the 1990-91 Duleep Trophy ended. Rashid Patel, of West Zone, having bowled a beamer at Raman Lam- ba, of North Zone, from several yards up the pitch, lost all control and chased him with a stump: this in the final of the country's most important competition. The predictable conse- quence (apart from bans of 13 and 10 months for the two players) was a riot and the premature end to the match. In the present volatile social climate tempers need to be kept under tight con- trol. Pride in themselves and their game, the responsibility of the two captains and the presence of Cammie Smith as referee should ensure that matches are played with dignity. England have a favourite's chance. Their recent record is better and they have a big advantage in having a tested opening pair in Graham Gooch and Michael Atherton. These two had opening stands of 204 (Lord's), 225 (Manchester) and 176 (Oval) against Kapil Dev, Manoj Prabhakar and the rest in 1990. Whereas Java- gal Srinath, a fast bowler to respect, is the only significant addition to India's attack since, England, at least at this stage of the tour, have considerable bowling options which have been widened by the decision to retain Ian Salisbury. Neil Fairbrother and Dermot Reeve have already franked their value as one-day cricketers and Richard Blakey may yet do so, but had David Gower and Jack Russell been chosen instead, Eng- land might be taking the field on Friday with their best team. That is now a sterile debate, if not a forgotten one. Much of England's cricket so far has been unconvincing, but that is not unusual early in any tour. The matches which matter are soon to begin. Let us hope they will be remembered for the right reasons. Thanks: The Daily Telegraph article originally posted by Vicky on rsc Contributed by Cric8wala (sidiyus@*acns.nwu.edu)