CRICKET S'KILLS' ?

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CRICKET S’KILLS’?

By Parthasarathi Loganathan

Cricket in the country has gained immense popularity and it even is considered as a Religion with no bounds with cricketers being assigned Godly status. Cricket Madness has spread throughout the length and breadth of the country due to excessive publicity in the media for commercial gains. Although we have raised our performance levels to international standards in Olympics, young kids pay scant attention to other sports. No matter we have tasted Golden triumphs in other sports like Chess, Shooting, Billiards, Badminton, Hockey, Tennis, Kabbadi, Carrom, Athletics, etc we hardly even remember any such sportspersons who have made the country proud and honoured our citizens in the international arena.

This had led to a scenario that parents force the kids to take up the game of cricket irrespective of the fact the latter likes the game or not. Summer Cricket camps conducted by former cricketers attract huge attention to such parents. By paying hefty sum to some Academies and Clubs, these innocent kids are enrolled and are subjected to extensive harassment by such Coaches. Despite the fact that our Tamil Nadu has not produced any bowler of International status for more than two decades except Lakshimipathi.Balaji, it is a matter of shame that young kids are gruelled by the parents and coaches to slog for hours together in a match. Even L.Balaji who showed a lot of promise as a teenage prodigy but broke down miserably with grievous internal injury in the beginning of his successful international career. This is mainly attributed to the fact that this poor cricketer was subjected to grueling bowling long spells in league matches by slogging for hours together. He still could not recover from an inexplicable injury which is solely attributed to wear and tear. Rehabilitation camps conducted are just rituals.

It is matter of fact that Cricket Coaches when they spot a talented teenage cricketer at the school or college level, forces the kids to bowl for more than 20 Overs in a match under grueling heat and humid conditions at Chennai just for the sake of showing winning results for the team where he attached to. In other words, it is very pathetic that after few overs of seam / fast bowling, these spin kids are introduced by the captain at the behest of his Coach to bowl in tandem for even more that 40 Overs in a 50 Over match since there is no restricting in the number of overs bowled by the single bowler. It is pathetic that cricket coaches of some reputed schools even in intra-mural matches insist their spinners to open the bowling with the newball and bowl at a trot for even 20 overs each in a 50 over games even though the wicket is hard and seamer friendly, This not only discourages young and aspiring fast bowlers but also exposes young spinners by over bowling at the whims and fancies of cricket dictators. Tender shoulder muscles get damaged at a very young age and these young cricketers fade away from the scene even before they cross the teenage with irreparable physical damage. For name sake, they are sent to the Rehabilitation Camps and when the injury is not properly nursed or managed by professional cricket physiotherapists, it even puts a big full stop to the career of these young cricketers.

Cricket Madness in the name of Motivation and Encouragement by the parents does not take care the bright cricketing careers of such talented youngsters. On the other hand, since there is no proper legislation governing restriction in the number of overs to avoid injuries, Cricket administrators at the behest of corporate sponsors play havoc on the budding bright prospects who are fit and talented enough even to play for the country. In other words there is no system or sports legislation in the country to check such exploitation by the Cricket Coaches, who, for the sake of money and fame make these kids to toil for hours together in a cricket match. Every one in the cricket circle is aware of these facts but no body has represented this factor and raised this issue for the sake of children. Society propagates eradication of Child Labour as it is considered to be a Vile but who cares for the welfare of these innocent kids ?. Such harassments on children in the name of sports has already taken a heavy toll on the athletic career of a child marathon runner (Budda).

Though we have lot of passion to the game of cricket, which is rated to be the most popular sport in the country, at the same time we should really understand the fact that any sport, whether it is cricket or otherwise, excessive career aspirations to earn money and become popular should never be forced on young kids. Even high profile established international cricketers are not able to cope up with the heat and humidity of Chennai and are injected with fluids even during net practice sessions, then how come our kids could be exploited to bowl long spells in a real match situation ?

It is a matter of pride and encouragement to youngsters that our Great Kapil Dev is fit enough to being commissioned in our Territorial Army in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel after holding an unique injury-free record throughout his cricket playing days at the highest level. Other the other hand, we are finding enough dearth in the ranks of Kapil Devs or Rahul Dravids amongst the younger generation. This is surely attributed to the fact that our enthusiastic kids are subjected to slow poisoning due to lack of clear cut Rules governing cricket in the country when it comes to restriction in terms of number of overs to be bowled on a trot in testing batting friendly conditions. Such practices are even silent killers.

Time has come to enforce a strict governance through proper legislation to restrict the number of overs to 7 for all Junior and Sub Junior cricket competitions. Such restrictions have generated successful results even in countries like Sri Lanka having similar playing conditions like Chennai and has seen emergence of world class spinners like Ajanta Mendis. This would not only encourage budding cricketers to aspire for an injury free career but optimize emergence of genuine cricketing talents of youngsters to don the national colours in the long run.

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Join Me to Spread this Awareness

HELL WITH CRACKERS

We have just celebrated Deepavali with a lot of pomp and gaiety irrespective of economic status. With less than 45 days to go for Copenhagen climate change conference, it is heartening to learn that our children are doing their bit by forfeiting their annual firecracker celebrations. But obviously the message is lost on politicians! As an environmentalist, I have taken up a small campaign (hope to realize in a big way) to spread the awareness about the hazardous effects of fire crackers. I would sincerely pray that, as a first step whether we practice for total eradication of fire crackers or, we shall gain awareness about the evil effects which are gripping our society for several decades. Here are some of the factors where we are directly responsible in the destruction of Mankind in the name of celebrating festivals:

(a) Children directly or indirectly form 70% of labour involved in the manufacture of crackers as lakhs of children are employed in the fireworks industries. This violates the rights of the children – they should be in school, not exposing themselves to severe health hazards while making crackers. Accidents in such industries have become a regular phenomena.

(b) 85% of cracker selling outlets are unauthorized and function without licences and fire safety equipments under the patronage of bosses in Politics and Police.

(c) Sound pollution in the atmosphere is multiplied 250 times which is equivalent to destruction caused in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Fire crackers are a major source of noise and air pollution. Sudden as well as continuous loud noise can have adverse effect on expectant mothers as well as the unborn child. Loud noise can disrupt sleep and lead to sleeplessness. Young children generally get scared by the high decibel noise. This can trigger of permanent feeling of fear and insecurity in them. The blasting sounds caused by fire crackers which send the decibel levels soaring instantaneously could cause permanent or temporary impairment to the ear drums. Moreover, the noise and dazzling light could cause optical as well as ENT - related problems.
These crackers are loaded with chemicals and heavy metallic
compounds, which if inhaled can lead to asthmatic conditions, allergic rhinitis, bronchitis and other respiratory health problems.

(d) Toxic gases and chemical pollution in air caused by bursting of crackers takes 150 years to get the atmosphere replenished.

(e) Papers used for manufacture of crackers when avoided could have served the humanity its 20 years consumption.

(f) Garbage accumulated on account of burning crackers is ten times than that of normal wastage generated by mankind in normal course.

(g) Waste and Debris of crackers that are ignorantly burnt to clear the garbage contains 45% of plastic wrappers which again pollute the atmosphere depleting the ozone layer and spread the deadly dioxine gas responsible for cancer.

(h) Economic status of citizens drop to a minimum 20% level on account of lavishness and expenses incurred for Deepavali.

(i) Healthy purchasing power in the society gets transformed to falling into debt trap for most of the middle class and lower middle class communities on account of needless purchases through shopping activities.

(j) Ecological balances and vicious circle get broken down on account of excessive atmospheric pollution.

(k) Bursting crackers and zooming rockets in the sky may be a wonderful sight but hazardous to nature, animals and human beings. The loud noise of the crackers and a heavy shower of metals and chemicals from the explosions are worth keeping in mind. The sound levels rise above 125 decibels during Diwali and the surroundings have considerably high levels of nitrous oxide and sulphur oxide. Chemicals like magnesium, aluminium, copper sodium chloride, strontium, boric acid are essential ingredients of crackers, which provide a dazzling colour to the firework display.

(l) "The fireworks situation has gone out of hand nowadays with fireworks becoming a health hazard. Birds, Pet / Domestic animals, Senior citizens, children, infants and asthmatics are the vulnerable group. Medical expenses skyrocket following Diwali, people flood the ENT clinics with impaired hearing,unsteadiness and ringing or buzzing sounds in their ears, a consequence of damaged "human amplifiers" – perforated ear drums, fractured delicate bones of the ear and damaged nerves of hearing. There is chemical and metal fallout of sparkling crackers which envelops the city during Diwali.

(m)Central Pollution Control Board recorded 10 times increase in suspended particles settling in four to 10 days post Diwali. The curtain of suspended particles causes nasal irritation, sneezing and dripping nose. Sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide are strongly suspected to be the cause of choking spells, which were noted commonly in those with previous complaints of asthma. Throat irritation is mostly due to the copper constituent of the crackers. Inhaled Zinc causes nausea and vomiting.

(n) People resort to buying them some noiseless, light-based firecrackers, thinking to reducing noise pollution, but they cannot help control the Air pollution at all. While there has been a concerted effort over the past few years to reduce noise pollution by opting for light-based fireworks, the authorities have not paid attention to the poisonous contents,particularly lead and aluminium, of both noisy or noiseless crackers. Atmosphere is dumped with huge amounts of metal content with large quantities of Respiratory Particulate Matter (RPM) of aluminium, sodium, copper, zinc, lead and potassium in the air. RPM can stay in the air for weeks. This metal content in the atmosphere is due to the combined effect of both the light-based and sound-based firecrackers.

(o) Medical practitioners say there is little awareness about the health hazards of crackers. "There is a 25% increase in asthma patients at OPDs after Diwali. Air pollution rises 6-10 times and the after-effects last for weeks. In fact The Asthma and Bronchitis Association of India has requested the public not to burn large anars, chakras or other crackers on staircases and balconies and in small lanes. Activists said noiseless crackers like sparklers emanate a white glow because of large amounts of aluminium, while the green colour in an anar is due to heavy copper content. "Each colour that a light-based cracker emanates is due to the metal that forms one of its basic ingredients — sutli bombs, Laxmi bombs, phatakra strings and rockets — also pollute the air to a great extent.

While the authorities have cracked down on noise levels by specifying decibel levels for fireworks and setting a 10 pm noise deadline, a similar crackdown on poisons in fireworks is yet to materialise. The government has yet to come out with guidelines for the permissible limits of metals in crackers.

(p) Most disturbing is the increase of heavy metals like lead in the
atmosphere. Studies show that the heavy metals remain in the
atmosphere for long and then get oxidised before entering the food chain through vegetables and fish. When an RTI activist questioned the Central government's explosives department for details about the permissible limits of metals in crackers. "The department gave an evasive reply, saying giving the information would violate proprietary rules,". Such rules protect the commercial interests of private proprietors, like fireworks manufacturers.

WE are to be blamed for these factors responsible for massive destruction of Natural Resources.

Let us pledge that we will all try and contribute towards a healthier
and cleaner Diwali in future. Diwali is a festival of lights. Let’s
all celebrate it by lighting more and more lamps and candles and
lesser crackers to prevent converting it into tragedy for someone even by mistake.

Let us Awake and Spread these Awareness amongst next generation. If this mail is transmitted at least to few of your close friends and relatives, by the time next Deepavali comes, all of us would have changed our Principles and Policies towards burning and bursting of fireworks.

PLEASE SPREAD THIS AWARENESS AT A LARGE SCALE TO BENEFIT THE HUMANITY AND FORWARD THIS MAIL TO ALL YOU KNOW ON EARTH.

Thanks and Regards

Parthasarathi Loganathan

“Save Environment Save Humanity.
Help our Mother Nature to protect our Mankind”