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Journalism of Courage
The jury may be still out on whether the invasion of Iraq was an opening act in America8217;s imperial project, but just survey the other, cultural, infiltration on the cards. Major League Baseball coaches from the US are in India on recces to promote the game. And on first sight they have found a large pool of potential baseballers among our aspiring cricketers. The basics, they told The Sunday Express, are startlingly similar in throwing, fielding and hitting. So, could a mass diversion be on the cards? Could it just be a matter of time before our boys in cream flannels ditch the ovals for baseball diamonds? Even before India8217;s dreams of global cricketing supremacy are realised, could we be heading the Caribbean way, with our tallest and strongest preferring to be pitchers instead of pinch-hitters?
Hold the worries. Much good could come from this crash course in baseballing skills. America8217;s favourite game could, in fact, provide ways and means of improving our performance in the noble game. Just ask the mighty Australians. In their quest to extend their superiority vis-a-vis the rest of the fray, one of the strategies the Baggy Greens have adopted is to hire a baseballer as fielding coach. The result is that Ricky Ponting and his men throw flat and accurate, they get the ball back to the wicketkeeper faster by adopting the fielding rhythms of baseball. They may be still struggling for a baseballer8217;s ambidexterity, but they are certainly ambitious. Not only do they want to be able to throw with both hands, they are also exploring the wisdom of having bowlers who can bowl left-arm and right-arm, and batsmen who switch sides.
