Another book on the shelf. Another name maligned along the way. Yet again another Australian cricketer gets away doing what they do best – sledging a.k.a. bad mouthing a member of the opposition.
Adam Gilchrist’s “True Colours” is becoming something of a paradoxical name. Gilchrist, as a cricketer, attracted more merit in his day than he has since announcing the release of his autobiography.
Sachin flayed and raised
Is saying sorry good enough? Has not the damage already been done? Isn’t the book already on the shelf? Does it not already say what has been dissected over the past week? A mere phone call saying what?... “Sorry, Sachin, it had to be done. That was the only way to ensure my book would sell after I have retired.” Perhaps by saying that his words were taken out of context, Gilchrist ensures the readers will read his book to understand the context. But there is little to explain no matter what the circumstances that such words should have been necessitated in the first place.
This is not just because Sachin Tendulkar happens to be the world’s leading Test run scorer. It is a slight, just like the very same reason that the Bradman family has fought hard against anyone using the late Sir Don Bradman’s legacy for their own vested interests. Should then an Australian be allowed to do this to another hero equally deserving of his dignity? It is akin to robbery in broad daylight and if the cheap thrills actually sell “True Colours” on that basis alone, Gilchrist will have played another master stroke, this one though cannot be called Gilchrist’s own, perhaps more like what would have expected of Australia.
Slater episode This made emails become chain mails. That Michael Slater was the father of Gilchrist’s child was the cruelest joke ever played out. It made rumours run a-gasp and it made for uncomfortable team mates in the dressing room. Rumour had it further funneled as Slater was subsequently dropped out of the Australian squad while Gilchrist was establishing himself with the reason being cited as rift between the team mates. Apparently the rumour has touched a raw nerve for Gilchrist as well because he made it a point to mention it in his book.
Warne – nothing is normal with him
Gilchrist has also touched upon his first unpleasant brush with none other than Shane Warne. Warne, sharp with tongue and ball in his spinning hand, had apparently made it known to Gilchrist that he preferred his own state mate to his making it on the lone wicket keeper’s post in succession to Ian Healy. Why is it not surprising that Warne would foul mouth even his fellow Australian with something as despicable as” a…licker”?
Perhaps it is an indication that that things must be controlled within domestically before it flairs into international incidents. It also brings to mind the Harbhajan Singh- Sreesanth spat and if only Harbhajan had been told that when he first wore the Indian cap that it also went with the responsibility to keep his mouth shut at all times and Sreesanth had been taught a lesson in reverence, perhaps India could have avoided an international embarrassment that was brought about in the course of the IPL.
That the Australians are blatantly encouraged to use sledging as a deliberate ploy going against the spirit of the game is not a secret. That they are doing it against their own could one day flare up into a civil war within one’s own dressing room is also not something then that they should rule out as the game becomes more about one’s survival, a career itself with big bucks to gain.
