The umpire's decision
The trouble with cricket is that people will fall into the trap of taking it all too solemnly. It is a game possessing its own dignity in an un- rivalled degree : there is no need for onlookers and commentators to add their own burdens of gravity and ponderousness. Some of the comments on the decision to drop Brian Close as the England captain, following his employ- ment of unsporting time-wasting tactics while captaining the Yorkshire team a fortnight ago, have barely stopped short of invoking either the United Nations or the Court of Human Rights—if not both. It is true that for Close personally the punishment is a -savage one, especially as his offence has been committed (usually less provocatively, it is true) by many a county captain before him. But it is not an unfair decision : merely a strict one.
There is, in fact, much to be said for strict- ness on questions of good sportsmanship and fair play in all forms of sport today, when commercial considerations are increasingly influential in deciding how garnet are to be played. One can sympathise with Brian Close without regretting that the MCC committee decided to overrule ifs own selectors and reject him as captain for the West Indies tour. It would be pleasant (if, alas, fanciful) to believe that this incident, embarrassing and - painful as it has been for those concerned, marked some sort of change of attitude gener- ally to the neglected elements of good sports- manship and good humour in professional sport. Games have to be adapted to changing conditions—which is why county cricket, in its traditional form, is visibly dying on its feet—but that does not mean that standards of courtesy and cheerfulness need be aban- doned. Yet Association football, which is nowadays more of a 'national game' than cricket, is regularly marred by sordid scenes 'of violence and brawling, usually but not always among the spectators; and dirty play is almost a matter of course. The new football season has already been disgraced in this way.
With the atm showing itself willing to take -a stern and controversial decision in the best interests of the game as it sees them, perhaps the football authorities will be spurred into faking equally difficult—but arguably, more tteceesary--action to set their house in order.
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