Cricket Auras and myths Fazeer Mohammed
Such is the degree of Shane Warne’s larger-than-life aura beyond standard cricketing celebrity status that his sudden death on Friday has overshadowed everything else happening in and around the game.Even the passing of a compatriot of earlier vintage, wicketkeeper-batsman Rod Marsh, is suffering for the attention that his considerable achievements deserve as a critical component of an outstanding Australian team of the 1970s.And even before the news came through about the flamboyant former leg-spinner’s succumbing to an apparent heart attack while holidaying in Thailand, it appears recognition of the demise of two former West Indies Test players—Jamaica opening batsman Easton McMorris and the much more celebrated Trinidad and Tobago mystery spinner Sonny Ramadhin—had so quickly dissipated that it didn’t occur to anyone around the West Indies women’s team that they should have worn black arm.
If nothing else on day one, let’s hope there is some recognition of the passing of Ramadhin and McMorris, because you know a lot of the talk as play progresses will be Warne this, Warne that and Warne the other.Look, to cut a long story short: I don’t believe in eulogising because it takes praise to an unreasonable level and offers an opportunity for those perpetuating an unbalanced narrative to toss in additional perspectives which cannot stand up to scrutiny. And while you’re digesting that, how about another Berry quote:“Only Sachin Tendulkar can claim to have mastered Warne. In 2000/01 in India, Warne took only ten wickets at 50 runs each in the three-Test series... Nobody else was so skilled.”So obviously Brian Lara versus Warne and Australia in the Caribbean in 1999 never happened. And people still want to believe that the subtle and overt perpetuation of white supremacy in the 21st century is a figment of insecure brown and black people’s imagination?
After stating on “Sportsmax” on Friday evening that Warne’s stature, to take nothing away from his cricketing excellence, was aided by his being Australian and white, one of my family members asked if I needed to say that of someone who had just died.Chastened by that (surprisingly) polite admonition, I paused to consider whether my perspective was more counter-racist mean-spiritedness than fair comment. Then I realised this is exactly what an overarching narrative does in prompting your own second-guessing of an honest perspective.If holding to that view therefore means being classified as mean-spirited, so be it.
If nothing else on day one, let’s hope there is some recognition of the passing of Ramadhin and McMorris, because you know a lot of the talk as play progresses will be Warne this, Warne that and Warne the other.Look, to cut a long story short: I don’t believe in eulogising because it takes praise to an unreasonable level and offers an opportunity for those perpetuating an unbalanced narrative to toss in additional perspectives which cannot stand up to scrutiny. And while you’re digesting that, how about another Berry quote:“Only Sachin Tendulkar can claim to have mastered Warne. In 2000/01 in India, Warne took only ten wickets at 50 runs each in the three-Test series... Nobody else was so skilled.”So obviously Brian Lara versus Warne and Australia in the Caribbean in 1999 never happened. And people still want to believe that the subtle and overt perpetuation of white supremacy in the 21st century is a figment of insecure brown and black people’s imagination?
After stating on “Sportsmax” on Friday evening that Warne’s stature, to take nothing away from his cricketing excellence, was aided by his being Australian and white, one of my family members asked if I needed to say that of someone who had just died.Chastened by that (surprisingly) polite admonition, I paused to consider whether my perspective was more counter-racist mean-spiritedness than fair comment. Then I realised this is exactly what an overarching narrative does in prompting your own second-guessing of an honest perspective.If holding to that view therefore means being classified as mean-spirited, so be it.
