Games they play, off the field

captain nasser hussain's english team has flown in and would be here in kolkata all of nine days, practising at the cc&fc, taking on the bengal team and, finally, playing the one day international against the indians at the eden gardens. but what do they do when they are not playing cricket? security concerns are, obviously, no longer an inhibiting factor. that then, would mean, among other things, plenty of partying and letting their hair down. a phase when some very spirited cricketers have, in the past, been known to have talked and abused and then, with the hangover gone and the senses retrieved, denied the next day whatever they had uttered the night before. under hussain the english are, of course, relatively restrained. but no one can never be too sure. after all, there was that hushed up instance a few years ago at the cc&fc when tony lewis team was down and when even the security control department of the kolkata police could not find a batsman (who later turned a celebrated coach) around midnight. as it later transpired, the enterprising gentleman had ventured into the dark recesses of the ground with a most obliging local lady of some repute. there have been so many other instances when the off-field behaviour of several foreign cricketers left a terrible taste in the mouth. among the worst that i can recall, was that of the pakistani team led by asif iqbal in 1978. at a party at the erstwhile prince's at the oberoi, while an immaculately dressed imran khan considered kapil dev most average and asif iqbal was busy admiring a lady's sari wondering where he might be able to purchase it along with that sleeveless top, majid khan was criticism personified when he spoke to me in the presence of several witnesses. absolutely nothing was right with either the indians or india itself. if india was leading, it was because of outright cheating and the hospitality was awful wherever they had travelled. intriguingly enough, he gave his criticisms a communal touch and then went on to declare that i was free to report whatever he had said because indian readers had a right to know the truth . one eventually came out with a restrained report on why he thought india were not deserving winners. both he and the pakistani manager promptly issued denials. but, when the then doordarshan director meera mazumdar confirmed that the report was absolutely correct and, in fact, underplayed, the then bcci president blasted the culprits and demanded an apology from his pakistani counterpart. interestingly, the other majid khan of the dawn sent my report home and commented how brave cricketer majid was to have stated the truth on indian soil. there have also been countless instances when cricketers have proved to be perfect gentlemen and conversationalists. like former australian captain kim hughes, when he brought his team at a time when his more celebrated compatriots were busy playing the packer series. but his pace bowler rodney hogg shamed him when he kicked a member's daughter when she had asked for his autograph at the cc&fc. he was a nuisance at the bar, and, had it not been for the timely and firm intervention of rugby legend dada osman, it was anyone's guess what might have happened that night. all these incidents, hopefully, would remain exceptions and even in an age of mercenaries, the game still ought to bring the gentleman out of the cricketer, on or off the field.