echarcha
May 15th, 2001, 12:16 PM
Cricket and drugs. Hardly has the smoke of the Fardeen Khan cocaine episode died down, comes the news that a group of South African cricketers including Hershelle Gibbs and Paul Adams were caught red-handed smoking pot.
Faced with similar pressures of performance, instant adulation followed by rejection by cricket crazy populations around the world, cricketers in many ways lead lives similar to film stars, with the same likelihood of walking the stairway to hell.
While Bollywood stalwarts with a history of drug or alcohol abuse --- Sanjay Dutt, Salman Khan, Aditya Pancholi, Mahesh Bhatt, K L Saigal, Meena Kumari, Madhubala -- are being talked about, cricket too has seen heroes such as Ian Botham and to a lesser extent Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Phil Tufnell, Aquib Javed, Waqar Younis, Stephen Fleming, Adam Parore, Matthew Hart carry the same stigma.
``There has been no drug related incident involving Indian players and I did not observe any such happening when I toured with the Indian team,'' says former Indian spinner Maninder Singh, ``Most Indian cricketers come from humble and conservative backgrounds.''
Until, of course, match-fixing happened and changed the very definition of cricket.
Ian Botham admitted to taking drugs. Even though it was not meant to enhance his onfield performances, Botham was severely punished by the custodians of the game in England. He had taken marijuana.
Botham was suspended from cricket in 1986 and Tufnell in 1997. Tufnell's girlfriend revealed that he had snorted cocained during one of the happier moments, on a tour to New Zealand.
Warwicksire wicketkeeper Kieth Piper and allrounder Paul Smith were also suspended in 1997 for testing positive. Traces of cannabis were detected in Piper's urine sample. As for Smith, he was done in for revealing that he had taken drugs on the circuit.
``Most such incidents happen when a team is on tour, away from family and friends which can get to be stressful for cricketers,'' says another former Indian cricketer Kirti Azad, ``With most international cricketers on tour for most of the year, the levels of stress is very high,'' he adds.
Azad's assertion could be right. A bunch of Pakistani players in the Caribbean were caught red-handed smoking pot. The same fate befell a few Kiwis, who tried to soar a bit too high, on their tour to South Africa in 1995. Dion Nash, Adam Parore, Shane Thomson and Matthew Hart were the culprits.
A controversy happened when the Indian team was to participate in the Commonwealth games, a couple of years back. The BCCI objected to Indian players being subjected to drug tests, as is the norm during such sports meets.
The English and the Australian cricket boards have been conducting random tests on cricketers. The English cricket authorities have come down heavily on the drug offenders in 1997 and thereafter because of the controversial case of former Sussex and England `A' fast bowler Ed Giddins.
ICC has yet to fix certain guidelines to handle the issue, although drug-use is hardly a problem when compared to issues of match-fixing. Or for that matter, the frequent romps that cricketers seem to have with women --- Shane Warne's phone sex episode, Botham in bed with a Barbados model on tour, Mike Gatting's encounter with a bar maid, or the accusations of rape against a South African cricketer.
In the recent Hershelle Gibbs episode reports from South Africa suggest that the board is of the opinion that players should not be penalised for indulging in recreational drugs such as marijuana or dope.
Although there is no doubt that smoking cannabis or snorting cocaine does not enhance their performance on the sports field as steroids and stimulants do, the English and Australian cricket boards are of the view that it has more to do with the breach of social mores moral code and cricketers being role models of millions of children.
Cricket, afterall is supposed to be a gentleman's game.
http://www.timesofindia.com/today/15spou3.htm
Faced with similar pressures of performance, instant adulation followed by rejection by cricket crazy populations around the world, cricketers in many ways lead lives similar to film stars, with the same likelihood of walking the stairway to hell.
While Bollywood stalwarts with a history of drug or alcohol abuse --- Sanjay Dutt, Salman Khan, Aditya Pancholi, Mahesh Bhatt, K L Saigal, Meena Kumari, Madhubala -- are being talked about, cricket too has seen heroes such as Ian Botham and to a lesser extent Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Phil Tufnell, Aquib Javed, Waqar Younis, Stephen Fleming, Adam Parore, Matthew Hart carry the same stigma.
``There has been no drug related incident involving Indian players and I did not observe any such happening when I toured with the Indian team,'' says former Indian spinner Maninder Singh, ``Most Indian cricketers come from humble and conservative backgrounds.''
Until, of course, match-fixing happened and changed the very definition of cricket.
Ian Botham admitted to taking drugs. Even though it was not meant to enhance his onfield performances, Botham was severely punished by the custodians of the game in England. He had taken marijuana.
Botham was suspended from cricket in 1986 and Tufnell in 1997. Tufnell's girlfriend revealed that he had snorted cocained during one of the happier moments, on a tour to New Zealand.
Warwicksire wicketkeeper Kieth Piper and allrounder Paul Smith were also suspended in 1997 for testing positive. Traces of cannabis were detected in Piper's urine sample. As for Smith, he was done in for revealing that he had taken drugs on the circuit.
``Most such incidents happen when a team is on tour, away from family and friends which can get to be stressful for cricketers,'' says another former Indian cricketer Kirti Azad, ``With most international cricketers on tour for most of the year, the levels of stress is very high,'' he adds.
Azad's assertion could be right. A bunch of Pakistani players in the Caribbean were caught red-handed smoking pot. The same fate befell a few Kiwis, who tried to soar a bit too high, on their tour to South Africa in 1995. Dion Nash, Adam Parore, Shane Thomson and Matthew Hart were the culprits.
A controversy happened when the Indian team was to participate in the Commonwealth games, a couple of years back. The BCCI objected to Indian players being subjected to drug tests, as is the norm during such sports meets.
The English and the Australian cricket boards have been conducting random tests on cricketers. The English cricket authorities have come down heavily on the drug offenders in 1997 and thereafter because of the controversial case of former Sussex and England `A' fast bowler Ed Giddins.
ICC has yet to fix certain guidelines to handle the issue, although drug-use is hardly a problem when compared to issues of match-fixing. Or for that matter, the frequent romps that cricketers seem to have with women --- Shane Warne's phone sex episode, Botham in bed with a Barbados model on tour, Mike Gatting's encounter with a bar maid, or the accusations of rape against a South African cricketer.
In the recent Hershelle Gibbs episode reports from South Africa suggest that the board is of the opinion that players should not be penalised for indulging in recreational drugs such as marijuana or dope.
Although there is no doubt that smoking cannabis or snorting cocaine does not enhance their performance on the sports field as steroids and stimulants do, the English and Australian cricket boards are of the view that it has more to do with the breach of social mores moral code and cricketers being role models of millions of children.
Cricket, afterall is supposed to be a gentleman's game.
http://www.timesofindia.com/today/15spou3.htm