Cricketers starting to feel the pinch

It had to come about some time. With so many skeletons falling out as a result of the match fixing scandal, even die hard cricket supporters are thinking twice about maintaining their love affair with the game. Total disinterest in the game will not take place overnight for cricket mania in this country is like a deep rooted disease with no cure. But there is little doubt that the sordid events since the match fixing scam broke open in April is beginning to have an adverse impact on cricket. People may still follow the game either by reading newspaper reports or browsing through the internet or by watching live telecasts. They may still ask for the latest score or discuss the game and the players. But there is no denying the fact that interest overall has lessened and people are adopting a more cynical attitude towards the game and the cricketers as a result of the events of the past couple of months.

The revelations made by players testifying before the King Commission have been particularly damaging. PT Barnum might have put it succinctly about there being ``a sucker being born every minute.'' The fact remains that no one likes being taken for a ride. A cricket fan would like to think that he is watching a keen contest between bat and ball complete with all the intracacies and the game's aesthetic qualities. The moment he comes to know that what he has seen is a mockery of the game - which indeed has been confirmed by the revelations of Gibbs, Strydom and Williams - there will be a feeling of revulsion among those who saw the matches or followed the live telecast.

As if the confessions of the players is not bad enough, the conduct of some cricketers and officials, particularly in India, has done much to damage the image of the game. The unsubstantiated charges, the clash of egos, the fact that they have used the match fixing scandal to settle personal scores have all combined to make the genuine lover of the game shake his head in disgust. And the repercussions are already being felt. The first salvo has been fired on the marketing front. Disturbed by the developments in the controversy, a leading pen manufacturer in India has decided to remove cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli and Ajit Agarkar from their advertisements and bring in Bollywood hearthrob Hrithik Roshan. The chairman and managing director of the company, a Mumbai based Rs 62 crore group, is quoted to have said that ``the ongoing controversy over match fixing has badly affected public sentiments all over the country and it will affect our sales volume if we continue to advertise cricketers on our various brands in future.''

Indeed, immediately after the match fixing scandal broke in April, advertisements featuring Hansie Cronje were withdrawn by the company. And it is alleged that soft drink ads featuring Tendulkar and other Indian players have also been withdrawn. The cricketers have certainly started feeling the pinch and if matters do not improve on the match fixing front, things could get worse - not only on the players' economic front but also from a personal angle. They will really be aware of the fall in the popularity stakes when they are not besieged by autograph hunters or when their photographs are removed from the walls of teenagers' rooms. And no amount of money can replace little things like that, as they will realize.