Shame of Eden Gardens leaves its Test future far from rosy (22 February 1999)

22 February 1999

Shame of Eden Gardens leaves its Test future far from rosy

Peter Deeley

Peter Deeley sees disgraceful scenes in Calcutta as police batter spectators with boots and clubs

THE FUTURE of Eden Gardens as a venue for Test cricket is in doubt after the shameful scenes which surrounded Pakistan's victory over India in the Asian Championship.

Young and old, men, women and children were all herded from the ground after it was decided to remove the 50,000 spectators following crowd disruption which delayed the Test for more than three hours. The actions of the police and military were utterly inexcusable.

In the members' section, and in front of the watching press, spectators were bundled out. If they protested, a boot or a stick helped them on their way and some were forcibly dragged from their seats. Others were half-choked by police wielding sticks.

Earlier, a member of the groundstaff clearing debris from the field was struck by another missile and carried off on a stretcher.

Indian cricket - and particularly in Calcutta - has been damned in the eyes of all present and the millions watching.

Jaghoman Dalmiya, the controversial president of the ICC, had no qualms about giving the police and military the authority to remove the huge crowd in order to achieve a result. Pakistan won the first game of the triangular tournament by 46 runs but the final hours did no credit at all to the game.

After a barrage of missiles had driven the players off when Pakistan were on the verge of winning, needing only one more wicket, two attempts to restart the match were thwarted by further salvoes of water bottles, fruit, sticks and rocks.

At that moment Cammie Smith, the match referee, should have stopped the match and made India forfeit the game, as happened three years ago in the World Cup semi-final when match referee Clive Lloyd took the brave decision to award the game to Sri Lanka. I understand that Smith felt he did not have the authority - but there was a precedent and it was the only sensible course to pursue.

Dalmiya was determined the game should go on, apparently fearing that abandonment would reflect badly on the local Bengal Cricket Association, of whom he is also president.

When the police came to him with a plan to remove all spectators to prevent further missile-throwing, Dalmiya gave his blessing. "The law and order people took the final decision but I could not oppose the proposal," he said."I am disappointed. It remains to be seen whether Calcutta will host internationals in future."

The future of the Calcutta ground was also questioned by the media. "Eden Gardens has earned the right to not watch cricket," said the Calcutta-based Telegraph. Another newspaper, the Statesman, predicted a two-year ban.

In many ways that would be a tragic loss to the game. Those who paid on Saturday, before they were thrown out, had swollen the five-day attendance to a world record for a cricket match of about 400,000. Yet, incredibly, the entire match-takings were in the region of only £100,000. The atmosphere when the crowd is well-behaved is without parallel in the game and it makes the MCG in Melbourne look like a vicarage tea-party.

Dalmiya later claimed in his defence that a Pakistani fielder had made a gesture to the crowd, sparking the trouble. "That may have been offensive in itself but the misbehaviour of the spectators was still totally unjustified," he said.

"It was a kind of emotional sentiment overtaking the crowd. The people feel some injustice was done to their players but it is inexcusable. However, the game was finished. That is the good thing. The umpires and the referee should be congratulated.

"The game was finished and cricket was the winner."

Whether that is the view of thousands of decent people forced to flee the ground because of the actions of the few is a moot point. This was certainly the first day's Test play to be completed behind closed doors, with only a handful of VIPs allowed to stay for the final rites.

India had begun needing another 65 runs with four wickets standing. But inroads by Wasim Akram - two wickets in five balls - ended home hopes. Shahid Afridi took a breathtaking diving catch at cover to dismiss Anil Kumble, and the trouble began.

Three hours and 20 minutes later the players finally returned. It needed 10 balls for Shoaib Akhtar to produce another yorker, uprooting the off-stump of tail-ender Venkatesh Prasad and the game was over. But as for cricket being the winner, as Dalmiya claimed, I think not.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk)

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