Best to leave the cricket ball alone

On the odd occasion that one was at home watching Live cricket on the box, my grandmother would be aghast each time she saw a player using saliva on the red cherry! "Haven't their parents taught them any basic hygiene!" would be her comment in utter disgust.
Seems ICC has taken those remarks from the 1980s rather seriously, having announced its intention to ban the use of natural substances like saliva and sweat to polish the cricket ball. Instead it is mulling the option of allowing artificial substances to keep the ball nice and shiny!
Hopefully, the move was only a knee-jerk reaction to the current Covid-19 crisis and not something the administrators would look to implement seriously, my late gandmom's disgust notwithstanding!
Most players have come out against the use of artificial substances like oil or grease on the cricket ball for the simple reason that it would bring a sheen to the leather alright but ruin the ball pretty quickly. Reason is fairly straightforward. A quality cricket ball is made of leather as its outer covering and, being of natural origin, it needs regular maintenance. Leather needs regular doses of salt to keep it from going soft and limp, something neither bowlers not batsmen like!
Sound of a hard leather ball hitting the willow can send aficionados into ecstasy!
A cricket ball needs to be maintained. And as several former and current players have revealed, only certain members of a team are given the responsibility of shining the ball. Mind you, shining a cricket ball is much more scientific than merely rubbing it on the trouser or shirt. It requires great attention to detail with application of the right amount bodily excretions to keep the shine on one side while also making the shiny side heavier and hence off balance!
While salt helps to keep the leather firm, its a combination of sweat (salt) and saliva that helps bring reverse swing into play! Its a genuine weapon in the armoury for medium pace bowlers ... lingering question always in any big game is how long will it take before the ball starts reversing?  Meaning how much time would the fielding side need to get the ball into the right state for it to defy the normal laws of motion as taught in high school physics!
Already the use of a different ball at each end in the 50-over one-day internationals has all but taken reverse swing out of the equation since the ball hardly gets scuffed enough. 
Now adding artificial substances and totally banning sweat and saliva would leave the red cherry even more vulnerable since leather would go limp with the amount of battering a cricket ball must take hitting ground and wood with such regularity!
Covid-19 has come and will go away as well. Don't let a passing threat ruin the game of cricket forever.

Let 2020 be a zero year!

Japan's medical fraternity feels it may not be possible to hold the Tokyo Olympics even from the rescheduled dates of July 23, 2021 if no vaccine or a surefire cure is found. And organising committee head for Tokyo 2020 Yoshiro Mori is categorical that the games will have to be cancelled rather than find new dates!
It may be a path-breaker for several sports organisations, especially UEFA which has rather ambitiously announced fresh dates from June 11, 2021 for the European football championships. The quadrennial event would mark its 60th holding but the planned rather extravagant 12-city 12-nation jamboree may simply not be possible given the trials and travails of some of the major stake holders on the continent.
La Liga (Spain), Ligue One (France), Bundesliga (Germany) and Serie A (Italy) are some of the major competitions still not able to take a firm decision despite the colossal loss of life and the huge dent to the economy. England's Premier League faces pressure from the UK government to get back to business as soon as possible, a shocking scenario to put it quite mildly. 
Only the Dutch have been sensible in calling an end to the Ere Divisie with no title awarded and neither will there be any promotion / relegation. Its a blank ... or a zero / gap year!
Looking ahead, one thing is certain. The Japanese know what they are talking about. Holding any major sporting contest without a vaccine or even a cure may not be possible given the physical nature of most competitive pursuits. Plus there is also the danger posed to the myriads of fans packing into the venues to catch a glimpse of the live action!
Yes, television can be a viable alternative but only if there is someone willing to foot the bill. There will be no dearth of eyeballs but given the current economic slump world-wide, sponsors may not be the most eager to get involved. And TV networks do not run on charity. Rights alone cost astronomical amounts of money. Added to that is the production and distribution costs. Without someone willing to pay for it all, events could be a non-starter.
Better option would be to start slow, as is likely to happen with the economy! Just as companies get into recovery mode, sports must follow the example with smaller scale individual, stand-alone events to test the waters.
Let 2020 be set aside, just as the last century saw the nearly 10 years affected by the two great wars treated as an enforced break!
The sun is bound to appear after the worst of storms! Skillful navigating through the troubled times must be the watchword!

Being away from what you love can be tough

Sports persons are only human!
Suspension of all sporting action seems to have started to take a toll on the front line performers! The global pandemic has made sure athletes have only the parking lots to keep the muscles from going limp. Or the drills that can be performed indoors help keep the mind focused on the future challenges.
Its a tough one, not knowing when sports will actually resume.
Contracts have already been shredded and binned by the hundreds. 
One thing though is certain! This is not permanent and once action does resume, players will be expected to perform at optimum levels, if not at the peak. Easier said than done after months of inactivity.
USA seems to be showing the way yet again. NFL went ahead with its annual draft via video conferencing, without the usual fanfare than accompanies such big ticket events. NBA has permitted limited work-outs where possible and franchises have, albeit reluctantly, begun weighing various options.
That's what professional sports is all about!
Performance comes first. Rest is sure to follow. But yes ... life will never be the same again!

2020 places sports calendar in a blender

What promised to be an exciting Olympic year, 2020 has turned out to be anything but that.
Every sporting competition has been put on hold, thanks to the global pandemic. Tokyo Olympics have already been pushed back by a whole year to 23rd of July 2021, but other sports have yet to give up on the current year! It takes a brave heart to still hope for sports in such troubling times, especially when the mere thought of packed stands leads to nightmare scenarios.
Following the IOC, tennis was the first to reschedule even as Wimbledon chose to cancel 2020 altogether. Golf hopes for a June resumption of the pro tour! So does Formula One as well as several football leagues around the world.
Why?
Its all about sponsor commitments which appears to put money before safety of both players and spectators! But is any sponsor in a position to cough up good money in these trying times when economy has tanked with little signs of recovery?
Brave decisions need to be taken and quickly at that to remove the uncertainty! Preparations for Tokyo Olympics have already been rescheduled but will the quadrennial games go on even as per the revised time-table? And there is already argument over who will foot the bill for the delay! 
It may just be the right move to cancel the Tokyo Games altogether, much like the gap years due to the two wars. And move all hosts back by four years each so that none is denied!

Track & Field is Mother of ALL sports including Indian

It's almost heart breaking when a young Indian runner says her country started following track and field events only after her medal winning prowess at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games!
Paris (1900) Olympics was the first time that the Indian Olympic Association sent an official entry to the quadrennial games! That Norman Pritchard's 2 silver medals (men's 200m & 200m hurdles) were added to the United Kingdom tally is another matter since India was still under British rule and the tri-colour was yet to be born. 
Then came the two great wars followed by Independence and Partition! Milkha Singh made 1960 Rome his own, missing out on an Olympic medal by a whisker, followed by the exploits of legends like Gurbachan Randhawa and Kamaljeet Sandhu. Middle and long distance running of Sriram Singh (1976 Montreal Olympics), Shivnath Singh and Hari Chand were not too far behind till the women stars led by PT Usha and Shiny Wilson set the tracks alight. If Usha missing an Olympic medal in Los Angeles (1984) did not fire the Indian imagination nothing ever could.
And finally, the box office success of biopic 'Bhag Milkha Bhag' is evidence that track and field still rules even though it may have been overtaken by cricket in the past three decade or so. But remember ... come Olympics, it's track and field events that hold the spotlight for Indians too! Medals have been elusive is another matter altogether, but remembering the legacy doesn't really hurt!

Force majeure by clubs could hurt Indian football

These are tough times indeed ... and there appears to be no easy way out of the global mess!
Ditto Indian football.
The Indian season, like the rest of the world, had to be curtailed with several rounds of games remaining. Not that there was a choice but in larger public interest it was the correct thing to do. Europe is pretty much in the same boat, even though the continent may have been hit much harder by the pandemic.
Cancelling players' contracts, however, citing 'force majeure' is hardly the way to go. Some Indian clubs have taken the easy route. That not only shows lack of respect and concern for the men that represent them but also lack of empathy overall. Every one across the board needs to tighten the proverbial belt and it can't be left to merely one section to bear the brunt.
Players are left mulling legal options but offering pay cuts may have been the way to go. That would not only reduce the players' salary bill, the biggest expense for any football club, but also project the organisation as caring and sensitive.
Just as institutional teams of the 1960s and 70s made way for the clubs in the 1990s and the turn of the century, franchises seem to have taken root replacing the clubs and maidans! But it's still the game of football and it needs players! And their interest must be protected ... 

NSFs proactive in helping players

It has been heartening to see national sports federations take proactive action to help both current and former players in times of unique distress.
An air ambulance was deployed to move former Asian Games boxing gold medalist Dingko Singh from Imphal to New Delhi for liver cancer treatment. The joint operation by Boxing Federation of India and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is laudable indeed.
Similarly, Archery Association of India came to the rescue of former champion Limba Ram, who is suffering from a neurological condition that requires highest quality medical attention. 
And Kho-kho federation was equally quick to jump to the aid of national women's team captain Nasreen, who faced a financial problem as she was unable to attend to her contract job with Airports Authority of India. 
Indian Cricketers Association has been quick to suggest a fund to help struggling players in these troubled times. Players who are able to contribute through their pension amounts from Board of Control for Cricket in India have chosen to take the lead in the initiative by ICA president Ashok Malhotra.
Tough times indeed for all but such steps repose faith in humanity!

Players not taking pay cuts could hurt EPL clubs

Manchester United legend Roy Keane has suggested players turn down pay cuts for the 2019-20 season. The move could hurt English football for all time to come since many clubs face the prospect of going belly-up with no money coming in without matches. Even playing without spectators (presumably for a world-wide TV audience) may not be enough to keep clubs afloat as each game involves more than players themselves. Support staff are needed in fairly large numbers to merely open stadium doors and arrange for various requirements for players and officials for each game and they need to be paid. TV companies may not be eager to pay the amounts earlier contracted despite expected high viewership since commercials /  sponsors would be reluctant to pump in money for football while they themselves struggle for existence! It's an existential problem which envelops the globe and football can't be an exception. Arsenal have provided the lead with first team squad and staff agreeing to a 30 per cent cut in salaries. Hope better sense prevails elsewhere too!