A Baseball Match
As an Englishman, I am used to the sound of “leather on willow”, a phrase which is often used to describe our national game … the noble game of cricket.
To be honest, I am not a great cricket fan. I remember playing in two games: one when I was still at school, and the other as member of the staff team as our school played that of another neighbouring school. In neither did I really cover myself with glory … which is not that surprising. In both games I was simply there to make up the numbers because somebody else couldn’t come. In the first I was out for a “Golden Duck” – out first ball – and in the second I managed to drop a catch. In both games, when the other side batted, I was hidden somewhere in the outfield and, (with that one notable missed catch as the notable exception), I was well “hidden” in that the ball never really came near me.
I also remember being called upon to “umpire” a school match. Once again – simply to “make up the numbers” … not because I had any specific qualifications or skills – but because you can’t have a game unless someone is prepared to officiate. On that occasion I made two decisions which amazed the assembled players:
First, I called “One Short!!!” … which means that, (at least in my judgment), the batsman had not completed a run between the wickets, grounding his bat behind the crease, but turned too early to make the return run. I suppose that, logically, it should have been “two short” – neither run covering the full 22 yards – but as nobody on the field had seemed to have heard about “one short” we let that pass.
A little more controversial was my refusing to give someone out “lbw”, (leg before wicket). Oh, there was no doubt that the ball hit the batsman leg, or that he was standing before the wicket, but the law governing this has always confused me – and I decided to give the best course of action given my uncertainty was to give the batsman the benefit of the doubt. As he was from the other side, he couldn’t believe his luck … and judging from the reactions of everyone on the field – from both teams – I suppose he really was “out” and it was a bad call.
OK – so I am not a cricketer, but that doesn’t mean to say that I am totally ignorant on the subject. I have spent many a Summer day listening to the ball-by-ball commentary of Test Match Special. Well, to be honest, when I say “listening” that’s a bit of an exaggeration. Rather than listening with rapt attention, I tended to have the radio on, and the programme providing a sort of “muzak”, background noise, whilst I got on with something else. Sometimes, however, I would have both the television and the radio on … the volume on the TV turned down and the radio commentators describing what was going on, (when they weren’t enthusing over the cake that Mrs. So-and-so from Somewhere-or-other had sent up to them in the commentary box), so I was able to learn a little about Chinamen, Googlies and Silly Third Man … and so on.
Now if all of that is meaningless gobbledygook to you … please, don’t worry. Cricket is a very strange game. What other sport can a match take five days resulting in a draw? I was once told … I don’t know if it is true but, even if it isn’t, it still sums up the game so well … that there was a match between the MCC and South Africa which was billed as the “timeless test match”. It came at the end of a tour and there was some free time before the boat left to take the touring party home to England, so it was decided to play a special match without the pressures of deadlines and time limits. The two sides settled in to play … and after twenty two days of riveting Cricket, they still hadn’t achieved a result – and as the boat was about to leave they had to call it a day and abandon the match. As I say, I don’t know if it is true but, even if it isn’t, it sums up the game so well.
As it happens, Cricket is undergoing a revolution at the moment with Super Leagues and “Twenty-Twenty” tournaments. One of the bars here that shows Sports TV is often reasonably crowded when there’s a big match. Apart from the Brits, there are also a fair gathering of Indians and Pakistanis. Apart from the business community from these two countries, there are quite a few Indians and Pakistanis studying medicine here and apparently they meet practice every day – at 4:00pm, which is not that convenient because it means that the Brits who are here on business or as consultants, can’t always get away from the office to join in the fun. As it happens, it’s an academic question, anyway, because they don’t have a ground where they can play matches – and although at least one web site says that there are cricket teams in Kyrgyzstan – I don’t know of any, (and neither, so it seems, does the International Cricket Council – the ICC). As there aren’t any teams they can play against … so it is probably just a chance to get together for a knock about and to socialize.
We do know, however, that cricket is to be found in the region:
- Apparently this most quintessentially English game, which is popular in many of Britain’s former colonies, is popular in Afghanistan. There it is nurtured by neighbouring Pakistan and even though Afghanistan is not a member of the ICC, the two countries often play a “friendly” international match.
- Cricket matches have been played in Uzbekistan where the Mayor of Tashkent, (who studied in Lahore), wants to promote the sport.
- According to other sources, there is a “cricketing” presence in Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan
- In Russia there are several clubs and matches
It seems that the game was introduced into Tsarist Russia where it ”It was stylish to play this game during Russian empire time, before 1917. Many Russian army officers used to play in their gardens and manors.” If that was so, however, the game seems to have lost its popular appeal as, in the Russian world of today, many people confuse cricket with croquet, and I can’t help wondering what the locals make of it all when they see a group of Indian and Pakistani medical students jumping in the air and shouting “Owzat!!!”.
There is local children’s game, called Lapta, which has been around since about the 14th century and some people claim is like Cricket … but I am not convinced. Teams of between five and ten players each take to the field. The batter (batsman?), armed with a “lapta stick” (bat?) takes guard against a “gate” (wicket?) and a member of the opposite team (bowler? called a “server” in Lapta) throws the ball at him. He tries to hit the ball and then runs to the opposite side of the field and back while the opposing team field the ball and throw it at him. Scoring involves a system of points: points for “runs”, and catches.
Actually, Lapta is a more like Rounders, or Softball, or Baseball. In fact some people think that Baseball may have originated as a variation of Lapta … and the origins of Baseball seem to be as crowded in mystery as those of Rugby. It’s nice to think William Webb Ellis being so unsporting as to pick up the ball in a game of soccer and running with it – but in all likelihood, this never really happened, and there seem to be as much doubt about Abner Doubleday inventing the game in Cooperstown, New York, 1839 – even if the high powered Mills Commission of 1905-8 supported this version of the game’s origins.
Now Baseball seems to have taken on here in Bishkek. For three years or so the Little League have helped sponsor a programme here where a group of American volunteers coach about a hundred and twenty kids during the week, and at weekends they stage a series of games between eight different teams.
Three kids that I know, (Maxim, Andrei and Sveta), saw an article about the programme in a newspaper and decided to give it a go. They turned up, signed on, and this is now their third season. They look forward to their two months of baseball all through the Winter – and never seem to stop talking about it. So I decided to go and have a look.
Last Saturday we met and got into a taxi which us took a small arena in the southern outskirts of the city. There a group of about twenty young Americans were coaching, umpiring, encouraging and supporting two teams as they battled away for an and a half.
Everyone seemed to think that I was “Dad” – and were more than a little confused when they heard my accent.
One game was already underway and as it drew to a close, anticipatory excitement amongst the Beavers and the Bears grew. Maxim, Andrei and Sveta play for the Beavers. It seemed to me that their opponents, the Bears, were a much bigger team, and were all boys – but that didn’t seem to worry anyone.
Maxim plays catcher, Andrei mans the Second Base while Sveta plays outfield and, of course, they all take their turn to bat. They each managed to score a run – but no there were no home runs.
They managed a game of three innings in the hour and a half … but unfortunately the Bears ran out winners by a score of 13-9 … and as they left the field another two teams took their place.
I was quite impressed, as the heat didn’t seem to phase them at all. It worried me. The sun shone brightly and their didn’t seem to be any breeze. The temperature rose in the thirties and the bottles of mineral water that we brought with us were quickly consumed. I had forgotten to take a hat so afterwards my head had turned a bright crimson. I made sure to put cream on it once I got home, but took a certain amount of ribbing from my friends along the lines: “Remember, it’s better to use the cream before you go into the sun instead of afterwards”
Incidentally, apparently there is a roaring trade in fake postage stamps purporting to have been issued by the Kyrgyz Postal Service with themes as varied as Superman, Shrek, Harry Potter, Green Lantern, Penguins, Mother Theresa, the Beatles, Elvis, Princess Diana Dogs, Penguins, Concorde … and … “Legends of Baseball“.
Bishkek