Once upon a time, there was a game called cricket. Men in whites hurled a ball at other men in whites who tried to hit the ball with a bit of wood. OK, that's a simplification but cricket used to be a relatively simple affair, apart from the ever-evolving LBW laws!
Now, of course, there are a myriad of formats, and a myriad of colours. Different formats suit different players, which was really brought home to me with the recent retirement announcements of three significant stars of the cricketing stage during the World Cup. I'm not talking about Ricky Ponting or Graeme Smith. They are just quitting the captaincy of their respective nations. They've had immense success and just want to carry on playing the game at the top level while their ability and enthusiasm remain.
No, I'm talking about Shaun Tait, Muttiah Muralitharan and Daniel Vettori. Tait seems to possess a bit of an aura about him. Yes, he can bowl very fast and, unfortunately, he can get injured very easily. Yet I can't help thinking that he has a higher opinion of himself than others do. He has played a massive three Tests, taking five wickets at 60 apiece. Hmm, sounds like hard work. Better to focus on ODIs. Ah, that's better. Played 35 of those, yielding 62 wickets at 24. Still a tough gig. I know, let's focus on Twenty20; send down four overs every so often and make a mint in the IPL. OK, Shaun. How long will it be before you decide that four overs is too onerous? You're only 28! By 2012, you'll probably set up your own One1 cricket format and just bowl to Kevin Pietersen on a beach somewhere or in his Chelsea garden!
Murali? Now there's a true superstar. A veteran of 133 Tests and 349 ODIs, he has taken more international wickets than anyone else in history. Yet, at almost 39 years of age, he still displays the exuberance of youth and, despite hobbling in pain, is determined to play on and take his country to the World Cup final and hopefully win the competition. That's a real role model.
That also brings me to the outgoing New Zealand captain, Daniel Vettori. He seems to have been around forever but is actually still only 32. It's just that he began his international career at 18 and has been taking wickets and scoring late-order runs in his own quiet manner ever since. Stephen Fleming was a hard act to follow, but Vettori has also taken his side to a World Cup semi-final after a terrible run of defeats in 2010. He says he's had enough of being skipper but what makes his retirement stand out from the others is that he has given up Twenty20, and maybe 50-over cricket to concentrate on Tests! He said: "Tests are a big part of why I play the game, for team and myself, because there is no better feeling than winning a Test." OK, so that probably doesn't happen very often for the Black Caps, so success is always extra special but it heartens me that in this day of increasing focus on short-form cricket that a big name like Vettori values the traditional format above all others. It's not like he isn't any good in T20. Quite the reverse. His bowling average, economy rate and batting strike rate put most of the world's best to shame including, er, Shaun Tait!
Don't get me wrong, the Aussie is a very good exponent of T20 pace bowling. He may also feel he needs to cut down on cricket to prolong his cricketing career and if the IPL and domestic contacts can continue to pay well, then why not focus only on T20? However, if youngsters want to look at what real dedicated sportsmen are about, they should look no further than Messrs Muralitharan and Vettori.
