Official tour brochures and pre-event publications, which the media and public used before and during cricket World Cups, are a thing of the past. Digital times notwithstanding, they will be missed
Publications released before the 1975 (left), 1987 (centre), 1992 (right) and 1999 cricket World Cups
I was surprised to learn that journalists covering the ICC World Cup have not been given their customary ‘kit’.
Over the years, a World Cup bag contained a host of goodies: a T-shirt, notepads and in 1996, even a large towel courtesy a cola giant. Journalists at the 2019 World Cup even got a power bank. However, the Media Guide was always treated as an essential. It worked as a great ally for journalists who could look up the World Cup schedule, touring squads with individual statistics, details of all venues and telephone numbers of important people to contact etc.
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Carrying your event bag was also a matter of pride; providing one an identity and opening doors. For example, an overseas journalist friend, who arrived at Chennai airport for the India v Australia game last week, told me that an airport employee, “distinctly observed my [Champions Trophy 2017] backpack, sparking off a brief conversation even amidst the bustling atmosphere of an airport.” Another departure from the past is the publication of official or non-official brochures for the public.
The explanation that will be put forward is that there won’t be many takers among cricket enthusiasts who are better off getting their information from the internet. Sure, they can, but is that a substitute for a concise, reasonably-priced publication for cricket fans?
I’m fortunate to possess the souvenir published by Walt Disney Productions for the first World Cup in 1975, sponsored by Prudential Assurance.
A 20-page booklet covered all squads with their Test match stats, along with a ground-wise schedule of matches. It included tentative teams that even had the likes of MAK Pataudi and Salim Durrani, who of course were not part of the inaugural World Cup for India. The portraits section had write-ups of only three players per team. The page on India featured Sunil Gavaskar (“chunkily-built and with the affinity for hooking and cutting”), Bishan Singh Bedi (“splendid rhythm and control are derived from a perfect bowling action”) and Brijesh Patel (“can be an extremely dangerous opponent in limited overs cricket”).
I have a special affinity for pre-World Cup publications. The Illustrated Weekly of India special cricket issue (edited by its then Assistant Editor, the late Raju Bharatan), published before the second World Cup in 1979, played a big role in getting me hooked on cricket. Though titled World Cup Special, the issue had very little about the then forthcoming tournament, instead featuring an array of stories either penned by Bharatan or India cricket greats. A Bollywood element was injected with the late actor Vinod Khanna talking about cricket being his first love. Khanna provided every indication that he knew his cricket, indulging in a bit of punditry as well to opine, “no cricketer who fails to organise his defence can hope to survive for long in Test cricket which tests you all the way.”
The one World Cup which probably excited most cricket enthusiasts of my generation would be the 1987 one, held in India and Pakistan. The official book was published by Reliance Industries, the tournament sponsors. Like all good souvenirs, it included player profiles (which had Sanjay Manjrekar, who would debut for India after the World Cup) and articles by famous writers like India’s KN Prabhu, England’s John Woodcock, Christopher Martin-Jenkins and Matthew Engel, and Pakistan’s Qamar Ahmed.
The cricketer columnists were Clive Lloyd, Abbas Ali Baig and Ian Chappell, while the publishers used an excerpt from Kapil Dev’s book Cricket My Style, which the then India captain wrote in collaboration with journalist R Mohan. Kapil is not known to blow his own horn, but it was imperative to mention while referring to India’s first-ever win over the West Indies at Berbice, Guyana, on March 29, 1983: “[Gordon] Greenidge jumped out and slammed the ball back towards me. It came so fast I imagined the ball was red hot when it first hit the webbing on my right hand and climbed up through my wrist, forearm and my hand and lodged between my ribs and my right hand. That ball left a trail of seven different bruises between the thumb and the ribcage. There was no feeling in my thumb as I ran out to get some treatment.”
Apart from the official book titled The World of One-Day Cricket, Reliance published a book on one-day cricket records, compiled by Mohandas Menon, who was then employed by the industrial house. Menon would go on to become a highly accomplished stats man.
The big news before the 1992 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand was the reintroduction of South Africa as a Test nation, which meant they would join the other Test-playing nations at the World Cup.
The all-colour official souvenir called Official Players’ Handbook was all set to be printed when South Africa’s participation was confirmed. The publishers managed to include eight black-and-white pages on South Africa’s squad. At that point in time there was no indication of a certain Jonty Rhodes being part of the team. He eventually was, and what a fielding revelation he turned out to be in that tournament! And yes, the West Indies profiles included Viv Richards, who made no comeback as such.
The West Indies are not even part of the participating teams this time, which means the media kit is not the only item missing in this World Cup. Nevertheless, may the best-equipped team win.
mid-day’s group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance. He tweets @ClaytonMurzello
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The views expressed in this column are the individual’s and don’t represent those of the paper
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