COLUMN: International cricket needs players to turn up heat in the kitchen

Sharp Turn column, by Zaahier Adams

The fearsome West Indies pace quartet during the 1970s and 1980s hardly said a word out in the middle.

Michael Holding, who was known as ‘Whispering Death’ and the leader of the Windies attack, has always been highly critical of sledging out in the middle – and even proposed that the ICC introduce red cards when players overstepped the mark.

Holding did not buy the cheap talk that whatever gets said out in the middle stays on the field, and everything is forgiven after the game over a cold beverage.

“When I played, I cannot remember any sledging. Obviously one or two people would pass a remark or two, but what I see now, whenever people are walking off the cricket field, people are in their face, saying whatever they’re saying,” Holding said.

“If that happened to me ... I was a little bit hot-blooded when I was a young man bowling fast, and if that happened on the cricket field, then it wouldn’t have ended there.

“This idea once you get off the cricket field, everything is fine ... No, you don’t get personal with me, and then get off the field and we’ll be friends. No, no, no, no.”

But that did not mean Holding and his teammates were not intimidating to face. Besides the ability to send down 150km/h rockets that could potentially decapitate batters, they often followed it up with an ice-cold stare that would send shivers down the spine of the opposition.

“Intimidation is part of the game; whether players want to believe it or not, fast bowlers and intimidation is a part of the game. It has been since the game was invented, and it continues to be,” Holding said.

“If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen: it’s as simple as that. That’s what cricket and fast bowling is all about.”

And that’s why I hope Shaheen Shah Afridi is not cautioned by the ICC for his actions in the Karachi ODI against the Proteas on Wednesday.

Afridi, who is known as ‘The Eagle’, is the Pakistani fast-bowling spearhead, and was called upon by his captain Mohammad Rizwan to generate a much-needed breakthrough on a placid National Stadium pitch.

It was at this stage that Afridi not only charged in, but was fired up and got involved in a heated exchange with SA batter Matthew Breetzke.

While Breetzke has been known to be a bit chirpy on the domestic circuit, this was an entirely different set of circumstances.

Playing in only his second ODI, he was now being confronted by a national hero on his home turf.

To Breetzke’s credit, he did not back down to the challenge, which only intensified the battle out in the middle.

While Afridi did not go on to dismiss Breetzke, Pakistan managed to orchestrate a run out in the very next over when Breetzke and Bavuma were involved in a horrible mix-up.

There’s no doubt the previous over’s theatrics had broken Breetzke’s concentration, which played its part in Bavuma’s dismissal.

The growth of T20 franchise leagues, where players from all over the world share the same dressing room, has taken a bit of the edge out of international cricket.

But it was good to see players still caring for the badge and giving their all for their national teams.

International cricket doesn’t need hooligans. But it does not emotion and characters to stay relevant in the fast-changing environment.

* Zaahier Adams is a cricket writer for Independent Media for nearly two decades.