A glimpse of Pakistani supporters at Iqbal Stadium Photo © CricInfo Ltd

Before one gets down to determine which ground gets the nod as providing the maximum satisfaction, one wants to make first an admission, that no other sporting discipline, no other game than cricket, stimulates so much discourse and such immediate contact from those in close communion. No other game produces similar fecundity on printed pages or in earnest conversation, be it a local club or an office. Whether it is a test match, a 1st-class encounter, a one-day international, a village match or a street game, the result is the same; lament on a loss, appraisal of an unwarranted result or a win against the run of play. Animated discussions on the `ifs' and `buts' take place as if the heavens had fallen. It is due to such an involvement that this sport earned the sobriquet: `Cricket is not only the great leveler but the great communicator too'.

The crowd on their feet at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai Photo © CricInfo

But over the years its character has changed. An Australian writer, former cricketer and reputed commentator, penned once; "Years ago, by its very nature, it conjured up images of contentment; the sky was never cloudy, the grass never brown, and the creaking deck-chairs supporting wistful memories of waist-lines, helping to reflect the pretence that nobody cared. And it all made for comfortable inertia. But it is no more that cricket which my and corresponding generations followed". It is far removed from that form (one hates to use the word primitive) when it was played in the rustic charms of pre-partitioned India, the old England, South Africa, West Indies, Australia, New Zealand and the later test status countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), Zimbabwe, and now Bangladesh. Gone are those deck-chairs (one had them in Rawalpindi Club, Lahore Gymkhana, Karachi Gymkhana and even in Model Town, Lahore, where families clad in their Sunday bests came out to watch sons and nephews play), and now a days is played with scientific sophistication in international stadia.

Crowd at the Gaddafi Stadium enjoy some rare moments Photo © CricInfo

Unconventional characters are seen in conventional surroundings, and vice versa, and even though the followers of the game are the same enthusiasts who applaud a well-played stroke, or the ball that bowls a batsman neck and crop, there has surfaced a very subtle change in their attitudes towards `results'. The stadia are no more filled up by those `staid' followers of the game, who silently clapped a boundary scored, or a wicket taken, but a horde that gives vent to their moments of joy or despair. Now, the stadia are filled with an enormous buzz of talk, a sound of a thousand voices in conversation that make a solid chord of sound never heard before. Every now and then it quickens and rises, related to the happenings on the field, either with a swift and brief burst of clapping, or a roar of approval when a local hero nets a six, a four, or takes a wicket. And underneath each burst, there is always a sort of moo of pleasurable excitement – or that deathly silence when a home team is capitulating. Yet all that multitude everywhere, whether at Lord's, Melbourne, Calcutta, Lahore, Karachi, Johannesburg, Durban, Harare, Auckland, Colombo and other frequented stadia, have one thing in common; all of them had stepped out of the ordinary boredom and excitement of daily life. Mere presence in the stadia meant they all had stopped worrying about ordinary things, and time was only important when it affected the game. This, because the game of cricket is neither like anything else nor are the stadia where it is played.

The empty stands at National Stadium Photo © CricInfo

But much more has been said about the game of cricket, from the initial sobriquet of `by chance', it has been given a newer description and none reflects it more than one penned down by the famous Australian cricketer and commentator who so wrote, "it is a way of life, a gentle, humble, almost spiritual thing that arouses us and entertains us. The Game is not the same". Most followers agreed with McGilvray when he termed it as "a sport that was grace and splendour that inspired. Almost demanded attitudes of courtesy and camaraderie that set it apart from almost any other pursuit in life". Yes, that was the game my generation and McGilvray's played and so ardently followed. The participation and follow up brought friends and corresponding goodwill and the privilege of enjoying those friendships that now and then would take one down memory lane where a recall, a remembrance, brought back fond memories of a past long gone by. That was because of the players on the field and the crowd in attendance that played and followed the game in the spirit it was envisaged by either.

Delighted English fans Photo © AFP

But whatever may have been said and written over the years about the game, its players and the accompanying commercialism associated with the modern times, it still remains a game in which skill and subtlety will always be pre-requisite qualities. It still remains essentially an art form, and it will always encourage `artists' and bestow upon them records. But no matter what one thinks about cricket and cricketers, it has to be acknowledged that cricketers are basically `entertainers'. But like all other entertainers, these players, this `cast of eleven', need to have an audience to applaud their performances.

The principals, thus, in this very vivid spectacle, are undoubtedly the `crowds' that fill the arenas to watch the contest between the ballet of the balls and the waltz of the willows. The crowds make the game; the entertainers need people; hundreds and thousands of people that in more than one way inspire and motivate them to achieve what they set out to do. And this holds true for all these `entertainers' who are chosen to be cricketers – 1st Class players, test cricketers or ODI specialists. The bigger the crowd, the better they perform and like all professional entertainers, they enjoy a capacity house and it brings corresponding satisfaction and enthusiasm to the players when the crowd becomes involved. It rubs off on the players and the natural progression is that on-field performances improve. And the air is electric, far more often than not, when the crowd gets involved; a vivid proof of the contribution spectators make to the spirit of the game. The game of cricket may be score and result oriented yet it is a game of people; people provide its soul and its heart, its humour and its pathos. And all this provides as much joy to the players as to those watching it and reporting on it, in ground after ground and country after country.

© CricInfo