The spirit of the game is on the wane

Cricket, both at the Test and street level, owes its charm to the sense of camaraderie and respect you share with your opponent. But with the continued media focus and the commercialisation of the international game over the years, things have indeed changed and for worse.

The image of the game owes a lot to all the past players who had set the right kind of example for the youngsters to emulate. In those days, one could see more families in the stadium, most of them arriving with their lunch hampers or packets for the daylong entertainment. The ones who couldn't make it to the ground, always stayed home listening to the radio broadcast. Mind you, the contributions of the radio commentators like John Arlott, Alan McGilvray and Brian Johnston in spreading the spirit of the game cannot be underestimated.

Now, though, it seems that the spirit of the game they so zealously propagated is taking a serious beating. The fielding side and the bowlers seem to be appealing for almost everything and the batsmen refuse to walk even if they are know that they are out.

All this despite the relentless scrutiny by the ubiquitous TV camera, which, incidentally, I think is one of the reasons behind the change of the character of the game as a whole. Thanks to this all-seeing device, the pressures on the umpires has increased manifold these days and sadly quite a few umpires in the ICC elite panel seem to have fallen prey to it.

To tackle this disturbing trend, one of the steps that the ICC could take is to formulate a policy by which the Match Referee reviews all controversial moments of the day's play and then acts on it. Punishments that are handed out in this manner could serve to caution players who have been trying to put pressure on the umpire by appealing when there is clearly no need for it.

I for one feel the whole process of appealing needs conviction. For instance, in a recent game, Bangladesh skipper and wicket-keeper Khaled Mashud was seen appealing for a leg-before decision despite it being clear to everybody concerned that the ball was missing the leg stump by quite a margin. Then there are the batsmen who stay put like innocent lambs after getting a thick edge. It is ridiculous to see such instances of the players leaving all the decision-making to the umpires. Probably they have forgotten that the umpires' role lies only in helping them play the game in a fair manner.

All this has meant that umpires, despite being well-paid and taken care of, have been constantly erring while applying the simplest of the rules. An example could be that of the large number of poor lbw decisions, which seemed to be handed out even when the ball is pitching down the legside. ICC should keep a logbook on such poor umpiring decisions, and eventually show the door to the umpires, who seem to be erring repeatedly.

The golden rule accepted by all is that the benefit of doubt should go to the batsman. TV replays can always expose whether a player - either a batsman or a fielder - was trying to cheat the umpire. The match referee should be empowered to caution such players, and repeated offenders must be punished severely. I think it will be far better for the game to get rid of such spiritless blokes than entrust bulk of the decision-making to the TV umpires.

In my playing days, there was a lot of goodwill between teams and players; batsmen used to walk while the fielding side used to recall a batsman if they thought the decision was not justified. Let us try to put that spirit back into this game.

Before I end, I must congratulate the ICC for having dealt with the Darren Lehmann incident in a firm manner. It was shocking that someone as experienced as Lehmann - a cricketer who has played around the world and rubbed shoulders with so many players - actually made such outrageous racial remarks. The Australian should count himself very lucky to have got away with a light punishment. Lehmann's outburst is not only a slap on the face of humanity but also a cruel reminder that the spirit of the game is on the wane.