Writer and historian David Frith has published two books on the high rate of depression that many cricketers suffer

Writer and historian David Frith has published two books on the high rate of depression that many cricketers suffer

The cases of Trescothick and Trott sir come to highlight the mental difficulties that being a hitter can entail. The role requires high levels of concentration - to reach the desired total of one hundred runs (races or points) you have to play several hours without being eliminated - and a comprehensively worked technique is required. Moreover, the batsman has to endure the jokes and insults of the launching team, as we will see below. Once eliminated, he leaves the game and faces a long wait to re-enter: for a hitter in the middle of the pothole, so much downtime for reflection and introspection can be deadly to the mood.

Examples such as those of Yardy, Trescothick and Trott have led writer and historian David Frith to publish two books on the apparently high rate of depression in the world of cricket. He claims that British players are 75% more likely to commit suicide than the rest of the country's population. According to Frith's calculations, this suicide rate is even higher in New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. Interestingly, among the suicide cases of cricketers is former player Peter Roebuck, who had written a prologue to Frith's first book, "By His Own Hand" ("With His Own Hand").

While the truthfulness of the statistics presented by Frith is quarantined in the sports press, there is no doubt that the cricketer needs no little mental fortitude, as Gale pointed out more than a century ago.

In his imaginary conversation between Johnson and Boswell, Gale added: "The rules of the game are as fair and reasonable as those of nobility." Before an example of improper or unfair behavior, the Spaniards say: "Hey, that is not done"; in English, we say: "That’s not cricket." Gámez Mara summarizes the cricket image that prevails throughout the world today: "Cricket is born from the gentleman's attitude and mentality."

But is it really such a noble thing?

Live a close relationship with the betting world that goes back a long way in the past. Already in the seventeenth century, people enthusiastically played large amounts on the results of the matches and, according to cricket journalist Malcolm Knox, the game was "an apology for law on betting in England, with the aim of limiting the amounts They could bet on such matches.

The players themselves have also been involved in this dark side of cricket. In recent years, a series of love scandals has shaken the sport. In 2000, the former South African captain and national hero, Hansie Cronje, was suspended for life for accepting bribes in the amount of over one hundred thousand dollars from a betting union, in exchange for rigging matches and giving betting information. He would die in a plane crash in 2002. The Indian Mohammad Azharuddin received the same sanction. Then, in 2010, three players from the Pakistani national team, Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were suspended and imprisoned for being involved in a plot of rigged parties, agreeing that they would make illegal launches at previously agreed game times. .

There are many more examples of a practice that is not new in the world of cricket. Already in 1873 there was the first sanction against a player, Ted Pooley, for "selling a game", by betting against his own team in a match in which he played. Moreover, according to cricket journalist Aranubha Sengupta, the manipulation of results by betting had already risen to rampant levels a hundred years before the punishment of Pooley occurred.

The playing styles used on the pitch have also come to damage the chivalrous image of cricket. For example, the ‘The Ashes’ edition between December 1932 and February 1933 produced one of the most infamous episodes in cricket history. In 1930, the Australian team had won the trophy in England, led by a magnificent Don Bradman, the famous hitter who appears, along with legendary names like W.G. Grace, Shane Warne, Sachin Tendulkar, Garry Sobers and Viv Richards, in the best eleven in history chosen by the respected almanac Wisden. Two years later, and to combat the skill of Bradman and company, the then English captain Douglas Jardine devised the plan to make strong and short throws that would impact the torso of Australian batters at speeds around 150 km / h.