Sir Geoffrey is having a whale of a time

Namaste England

“You’ve missed Sir Geoffrey by minutes,” says Lord Ken Woolmer when we meet him and his wife Janice for dinner at the Italian restaurant Brio’s, just off the city centre in Leeds. “He looked in good shape and was having a whale of a time,” he adds when I inquire about Sir Geoffrey’s health.

Sir Geoffrey, for the uninitiated, is the very same Geoff Boycott, one of England’s greatest openers, and a much loved-or-disliked commentator in India. “This is the 30th anniversary of his having made 100 first class centuries, there are many parties being thrown in his honour, and I suspect he is attending every one of them,’’ says Ken jocularly.

Ken is an academic and a good friend of DNA’s columnist from London, Ashis Ray. An economist who has also served as dean of Leeds University, he retired from the job, got nominated to the House of Lords, but has not tired of his vocation — or his passion for sport.

“We go to China on Tuesday for a month, couldn’t miss Sunday’s match at Headingley,’’ says Ken, who is an avid supporter of Leeds United, and a committed but fairly neutral follower of cricket.

Having travelled to India several times “for cricket and professional reasons”, the Woolmers are fascinated by the pageantry of the country and the crazed passion for the game. “It would be wonderful if the series is decided in the final game at Lord’s,” says Woolmer. Janice is not quite sure about this. “England must play to win, that’s what sport is all about,” she argues.

The conversation shifts to Shane Warne’s list of 50 cricketers published that morning, and the talking point among cricket followers all over England. “Some debate possible there,’’ says Woolmer, “but fair enough, these are Shane’s views.”

“Why isn’t that West Indian, what’s his name, Sobers, in the list?” asks Janice. “He was such a wonderful cricketer when we saw him years ago.” This is Warne’s list of those he has played with or against, Sobers has long retired, somebody volunteers information. “That may be, but wasn’t he the greatest ever? So he should be there,” she says.

Janice’s fallible logic is based on cricket’s greatest truism.

Captaincy not a burden

Rahul Dravid’s interview to former England captain Michael Atherton for a Sunday newspaper reveals a fascinating mix of sentiments and moods that the Indian skipper is perhaps experiencing these days.

Dravid is ‘open’ enough to take a dig at himself. When asked whether captaincy was a burden, he tells Atherton candidly, “Burden is too strong a word and people say that because of how I look. I’m not a naturally cheery-looking soul on the field.”

Yet the Indian captain comes across as hyper-sensitive to criticism, especially from the India media. “I actually enjoy reading the papers over here, because I’ll get criticised for how I actually captain the team…rather than, for example, how many times I clap my hands,” he says acerbically.

Considering that the English media is considered especially notorious in such matters, this appears incredibly naive. As Atherton observes in an aside, “This (Dravid’s praise for English papers) will make a few England players choke on their muesli!”

Yet, Dravid’s earnestness to do well by his side, and his vision for Indian cricket are admirably clear. “Our cricketing culture has to change to some extent,” he says. “It is an athletic game now and we have to instill these processes into our young cricketers. Our Academy has to be more professionally run and we have to manage our own contracted players much better.”

The captain may appear disappointed — a trifle disgruntled too — with the way in which the tour is coming to an end. But these are wise words from one of the country’s best, most experienced cricketers, which the Board of Control for Cricket in India would do well to heed.

Pawar boost for Indians?

Sharad Pawar, Union agriculture minister and BCCI chief, flew in to Leeds especially for Sunday’s match at Headingly. He flies back to India on Monday evening. Sources within the Indian camp vouched that Pawar had no other agenda than to watch a good game of cricket.

At the time of writing this, he must have liked what he saw. After days of struggle, the batting clicked, with more than 300 runs being scored, and when Dravid’s team took the field, they had England in trouble with four quick wickets.

Has Pawar been the talisman that the Indian team was missing to finish the tour on a happy note?

Sunday’s performances gave enough reason, one dare say, for the BCCI chief to spend a few more days in England, and ‘inspire’ his side to a win this series. But given the crisis for the UPA government back home, and the ICL issue still raging, Pawar may just have to forsake such spectatorship.

No news of Beckham

Having scoured three Sunday newspapers, believe it or not, have not found a single word on David Beckham, the first time in a fortnight.

Should I read something into this silence, or has somebody read my lips I wonder.