A golden gesture for the Golden Jubilee
Partab Ramchand - 14 December 2001

By the late 70s, the ugly face of increasing player misbehavior was becoming an unwelcome sight in cricket grounds all over the world. Sledging, openly questioning the umpire's decision, rude appeals, and bad language were ungainly aspects that the traditionalists found difficult to accept. Cricket, with its image of a gentleman's game, had always stood for fair play and good behavior. But in the post-Kerry-Packer era, leading players had turned prima donnas. Fast bowling was more intimidatory in nature, the sight of a batsman with a helmet being like blood to sharks. Money and success had gone to their heads, and some of the players became a law unto themselves.

Going across to the umpire, Viswanath confirmed that Taylor had not played the ball, said he was withdrawing the appeal, and persuaded him to revoke the decision. The umpire agreed, Taylor continued his innings, and he and Botham added 171 runs - a partnership that was a turning point in a match that England finally won by 10 wickets.

By 1979, there were such ignoble incidents as a non-striker (Andrew Hilditch) being given out handling the ball after he had retrieved a wayward return and handed the ball to the bowler (Sarfraz Nawaz) who appealed successfully. About a year later, there appeared the infamous photograph of Michael Holding viciously kicking the stumps at the bowler's end after an appeal had been turned down. Within just a few days, Colin Croft was barging into umpire Fred Goodall while delivering the ball after an appeal was rejected. A year later, following an altercation with Dennis Lillee, a furious Sunil Gavaskar walked off the field, taking a reluctant Chetan Chauhan with him, technically coming close to conceding the match. And later that same year, there occurred the ugly Lillee-Javed Miandad fracas at Perth.

And yet it was at around this time that an Indian captain made a gesture that upheld the noblest traditions of the game, proving that good behaviour and proper conduct were still possible in the days of commercial interests and loutish outbursts. This came about during the Golden Jubilee Test against England at Bombay in February 1980. England, replying to India's 242, had lost five wickets for 58. Ian Botham and Bob Taylor then initiated a recovery process and, after they had added 85 runs, umpire Hanumantha Rao upheld an appeal against Taylor for a catch by Syed Kirmani. The batsman expressed his surprise at the decision and indicated that he had not played the ball. He gestured to the Indian captain Gundappa Viswanath, who was standing at first slip.

Going across to the umpire, Viswanath confirmed that Taylor had not played the ball, said he was withdrawing the appeal, and persuaded him to revoke the decision. The umpire agreed, Taylor continued his innings, and he and Botham added 171 runs - a partnership that was a turning point in a match that England finally won by 10 wickets.

More than Botham's heroics ­ he took 13 wickets and scored 114 to become the first player to score a century and take 10 wickets in a Test ­ it was Viswanath's gesture that was the main talking point. The photograph of Viswanath generously inviting Taylor to return to the crease made a welcome sight, coming as it did just days after the picture of Holding kicking the stumps. It required a gentleman cricketer to show others the spirit in which the game should really be played.

© CricInfo

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