Let's get back on the field

The eyes of millions of cricket lovers will be focused on Chennai in India on Thursday when normal transmission resumes in the series between that country and England.

The awful events of Mumbai, however, make this two-Test series far from normal as the players from both sides return to action after a couple of weeks of agonising whether the tour should go ahead.

I read with interest the views of two former England cricketers, Geoff Boycott and Nasser Hussain. While Boycott wrote a stinging article (typical of a man who never minces his words) saying that England should not return and that the Mumbai killings were far too horrendous to risk England continuing their tour, Hussain took another view.

He argued, like many people, that cricket and sportsmen in general had to show world terrorist organisations that normal people were not going to be held ransom to their murderous deeds and urged England to go back, providing the necessary security measures were in place.

It was a view I ascribed to as well. Though it is easy for one to sit thousands of kilometres away and pass judgment on this sorry matter, the point is that by going back, England have shown a defiance and courage they now need to translate onto the field of play, after their 5-0 drubbing in the one-day series.

South Africans of an older generation know all about mixing sport and politics and for decades sport was played internationally under an apartheid regime before things turned against us in the late 1960s.

To get around the boycott, the people then running sports like cricket and rugby came up with a plan - simply offer the right amount of cash to world class players and they would travel to South Africa.

That is why we had the rebel tours, starting when Graham Gooch brought out his team, who were immediately ostracised by the authorities. White South Africans, deprived of watching any international cricket since 1970 and the famous 4-0 whipping we gave Bill Lawry's Australians, pitched up in their thousands.

People of colour though, still suffering under apartheid, did not approve which led to more in-fighting and more sporting boycotts and action.

Money also played its role in rugby when the New Zealand Cavaliers toured South Africa in the mid 1980s.

Which brings me back to the Indian tour. With so much at stake and cricket bodies and players much depended on the cash received from television rights, what kind of financial carrot was dangled in front of Kevin Pietersen's England players?

It seems well known that about five of the senior players in the England camp were unhappy about having to return to India and it is obvious there were deep divisions, no matter how it has all panned out for the cricket-crazy Indian fans who can now watch their heroes.

One thing is for certain. England will not be in the right frame of mind for such a series, especially after licking their wounds after the ODI debacle.

With India now a world class and balanced team, thanks in part to the organised and sensible attitude coach Gary Kirsten brings to the team, they will be licking their lips at having to play England at this juncture.

It's a hard one to call and it is easy to find arguments for both sides. As I said, I am happy for the game we all love that it will go on, barring a cyclone which is apparently headed for Chennai.

Let's hope the clouds dissipate and we all watch some entertaining cricket.