Eden finds its sporting spirit

KOLKATA: It was as gentle and effortless as it could possibly have been. A delectable nudge on the off side and the ball raced to the fence. Even before England captain Alistair Cook has managed to catch his breath after completing the third run, Eden Gardens was up on its feet, generously applauding the opener on completing 7000 runs in test cricket.Minutes later, Cook had reached another milestone. He swept fine for a boundary to reach his hundred and the Eden crowd was unstinting in its appreciation once more.
A joyous roar greeted Cook as he raised his bat in acknowledgement. India was down in the dumps and was slowly being batted out of the match by the spirited visitors, but Eden didn't seem to mind. The 30,000 plus who filled up the terraces on a sunny Thursday afternoon enjoyed every bit of the crafty batting on display. A far cry from the booing and the barracking that the home team would receive for every disappointing performance till recently. The stadium welcomed back the learned cricket fans, who would rather appreciate a good game and a fine showing by the opposition than bay for the home captain's blood and hurl objects into the ground to stop a match if it was not going India's way.
Shyamal Mukherjee, an Eden regular for 35 years, was certain that crowd behaviour at the ground has reverted to what it was till the late Eighties. "It's so reassuring to see the crowd clapping for England. Eden has always praised good performances. It had changed for a few years from the Nineties. Spectators had turned aggressive and had lost the spirit to accept defeat, even to sides that played better. This time, it seems like the good, old days when people would flock to the ground to have a good time watching the players in action," said Mukherjee.
The quiet tussle between the bat and the ball transported entrepreneur PR Bellani to the Seventies when cricket wasn't just a battle to be won. "I remember Tony Greig going down on his knees and begging the crowd to keep quiet during overs. When spectators would get too boisterous, Greig would point his bat like a gun at them," he recalled. Years later, Bellani was at the ground when rowdy spectators stopped an India-Pakistan test in 1999 by hurling bottles at players. "India would have lost the match anyway but Tendulkar's run-out sparked a riot in the stands. I was at the clubhouse as a CAB member after the police had driven out spectators for the match to be completed in front of empty stands. It was a shameful day for Eden," he said.
It was not consistent with Eden behaviour, felt SK De, a retired professional. "Somehow, the crowd had forgotten to accept reverses, which had never happened here prior to the Nineties. But look at the way the crowd has been rooting for England this afternoon. There was very little to cheer for India, but it didn't matter. Cook's cuts and pulls made their day. This is how Eden has been through history," said De.
Sociologist Prasanta Ray said the change in behaviour pattern had more to do with pent-up frustration than cricket. "The crowd had been venting its ire at none in particular. The anger was not well-defined, it was more of a pre-determined response to an unfavourable situation. That apart, the cricket crowd has generally turned more aggressive and less appreciative of visiting teams' doing well. They come to the ground to see their team win, not a good display," said Ray. It has changed in the last couple of years, he said. "One reason could be the greater vigil. Also, the IPL might have weaned away the jingoistic crowd, leaving the aficionados to enjoy test cricket in peace," he said.
Twenty-five-year-old Avishek Ghosh agreed. Applauding a Nick Compton glance from his B block seat, the youngster said 'test-lovers' were back at the ground. "While the boisterous crowd now has IPL to make merry, the more patient have been left alone to enjoy the longer version. Yes, Eden has sobered down and thank God for it," he said.
Australian tourists Michael Crew and David Yurns, who had dropped in at the Eden to watch cricket "at the great venue" were surprised by the sober crowd. "We had expected Eden to be more boisterous, a little more restless and chirpy since India is not doing well. But they seem to be enjoying the game which is lovely," said Crew.
But the Eden transformation might have got more to do with an "emotional overkill" than anything else, felt psychiatrist Siladitya Ray. "Cricket has crossed the saturation point. The interest level has dropped and emotions are not running high. Let's wait for the Indo-Pak one-dayer in January," said Ray.