Words Chased: Legend, Morph, Grafter, Compelling, Tear ducts, Holler, Epitaph, Stoicness, Unabashed, Cloak, Confines, Insular, Riveting
Source: Cricinfo.com “Takshzila’s Fav cricket portal ”
Steve Waugh has been around so long that one cannot think of cricket without him. He has been building his legend gradually before our eyes. Once a dasher with the bat, then altering his game, morphing into a grafter, then again, at the very end of his career, throwing his bat at anything in hitting distance. His batting was not always compelling, but his stubborn nature, his honed survival instincts, his narrow-eyed look during battle, that was riveting.
IT is a good thing he was the man he was. Eyes like flints, skin made of rawhide, cricketing heart of stone, will of a conqueror. Else his hands would have shaken like a branch in a hurricane, his focus would have drifted, his eyes may have moistened. Only one man had the strength to withstand the farewell Steve Waugh was given, to swallow the emotion but not succumb to it, to score 80 in his last inn
ings when it must have been hard to hold that bat, and it was him. If he has tear ducts we still do not know.
Cricket is a sedate game, even now. For sure there is much hollering and hooting these days after a catch is taken, but mostly it is work done without too much fuss (men tearing off their shirts in soccer-style, is still frowned upon). Traditions endure, captains walk out together for a toss mostly in blazers, umpires’ decisions if not always respected are obeyed, and players leave the game accompanied by handshakes and tributes that function as epitaphs, but as a whole fanfare is limited.
But not for him, for him an entire nation is agog, for him stadiums are filled this summer, for him old men and young boys put down their gardening hoes and cold beers and come to take a final glimpse, for him there is worship and farewell not just uncommon to cricket but Australia. The claims of selfish batsman have been muted; the charges of leading an in disciplined team have temporarily faded: through December, a rugged nation has been moved by its rugged captain.
Every shot he hits this summer is met with adulation, every walk out of the pavilion and walk in and milestone achieved is met with standing ovations that test the stadiums’ foundations. When it is all done, finally, in Sydney, it is somewhat fitting that dusk is beginning to embrace the ground and he is still standing there, for a moment all stoicness, for no man has raged as powerfully against the dying of the light. Player after player, official after official honour him, celebrate him, and yes even thank him, and this gratefulness is not unwarranted for he has been mostly good for cricket, he has been the most leathery of ornaments to his game. Then, he is lifted on the shoulders of his teammates — “it doesn’t get better than that”, he says later — and paraded around the ground, and for once he is grinning, constantly, endlessly, his smile lighting up the evening as the cameras flash in the stands like twinkling Christmas lights.
Respect he has always had, but this unabashed affection, this, dare we say it, love, where is it coming from, why has it come? Perhaps because he had been cricket’s modern man wrapped in a traditional cloak, taking the game forward yet honouring its past. The captain who had his players read poetry before matches yet numbered their caps so that they would never forget they were part of a grand Australian institution. Such men are few.
Perhaps he reflected the tough, unyielding, proud nature of their nation, a competitor of impressive resolve especially in the face of adversity (if crisis does not exist in a match, he will create such a situation in his mind, John Buchanan once said), a man you would like to have alongside you in the trenches. As Australian as you can get.
In England, in the third Test of his last Ashes series in 2001, he tears his calf (“as if someone had thrown a shot put into it”, he wrote later), his tour seemed over, yet so desperate is he to play that he undergoes a painful rehabilitation over 19 days, shows up for the fifth Test and produces 157 not out. At the 1999 World Cup, he does not just tell Herschelle Gibbs “you’ve dropped the World Cup” when a key catch is let go, but he goes on to make good on his sledge. In India, 1987, he bowls key overs in the World Cup final suggesting he has the nerve of a tightrope walker. In the West Indies, this inadequate player of short bowling forges a double century mostly unforgettable. Always his will is on display.
Perhaps they love him because he understood the duality of man, unbending on a cricket field yet compassionate off it. This was not a man, especially in his later years, who imprisoned himself in his hotel room and ate room service. Instead, he walked the streets of foreign lands, wrote books on his travels, saw life beyond the confines of a wooden bat and white flannels. He was a private man but not an insular one. In Kolkata, the most obvious of examples, he worked with the children of lepers, and this was no poser looking for cheap, vulgar publicity but a man whose good work continues, who follows through, whose heart once set is not easily shifted. You may not like him, but it was hard to keep admiration locked away.
Perhaps there is affection because he has been around so long that one cannot think of cricket without him, building his legend gradually before our eyes. Once a dasher with the bat, then altering his game, morphing into a grafter, then again, at the very end of his career, throwing his bat at anything in hitting distance. His batting was not always compelling, but his stubborn nature, his honed survival instincts, his narrow-eyed look during battle, that was riveting.
Perhaps because he led with such fury, a draw for him something to keep socks in nothing more, he was here to win and if he lost then so be it. Under him, Australia would challenge Clive Lloyd’s West Indies for the “greatest team ever” title, it would win a record 16 matches in succession, it would score faster in Test cricket than ever before, it was aggression (often too unbridled and he is guilty of often not drawing the line on behaviour) that changed the way the game was played. This was cricket as science. Perhaps this fondness existed because people, at the end of his career, felt strangely drawn to his war with selectors, themselves a breed strangely not admired in most parts. They saw him as a warrior fighting grimly for survival, and when, with his Test spot on the line, he somehow, digging deep into a pool of resolve that seemed to have been exhausted, produced that century last year against England, the howls of approval could be heard around the planet.
That he would do it, in Sydney where he belongs, with a boundary off the last ball of the day, suggested a higher power was writing this script. Newspapers said it was time for him to go, that he should have quit last year, but the farewell this summer suggests the public did not quite agree. Perhaps they love him for all this, maybe the reasons are small but they are many. Perhaps it will be the same for other players from now, but somehow you doubt it. After all, a unique goodbye was fitting for a man who is one of a kind.
ROHIT BRIJNATH.
Words Discussed:
1. Legend: (Noun)(Dictionary meaning): An unverified story handed down from earlier times, especially one popularly believed to be historical; A notable person whose deeds or exploits are much talked about in his or her own time; An explanatory table or list of the symbols appearing on a map or chart.
Origin: Legend comes from the Latin adjective legenda, “for reading, to be read,” which referred only to written stories, not to traditional stories transmitted orally from generation to generation. This restriction also applied to the English word legend when it was first used in the late 14th century in reference to written accounts of saints’ lives, but ever since the 15th century legend has been used to refer to traditional stories as well. Today a legend can also be a person or achievement worthy of inspiring such a story anyone or anything whose fame promises to be enduring, even if the renown is created more by the media than by oral tradition. Thus we speak of the legendary accomplishments of a major-league baseball star or the legendary voice of a famous opera singer.
Synonyms of Legend: Myth, Story, Fiction, Saga, Fable, Folk tale, Celebrity, Wonder, Prodigy.
The story has always had its place in legend associated with the city.
2. Morph: (Verb)(Dictionary meaning): to transform or to change into something else.
This word is also used as a noun which means “One of various distinct forms of an organism or species.”
The computer programmer morphed the image to suit the demands of customer.
In the movie, the protagonist morphed into a werewolf.
In the context, the word morph is used for transformation of Steve Waugh. In his initial days, Steve was an aggressive batsman, but he did not get much success with it, so he went back to old method of grafting. He altered his game to cement his place in the team.
3. Grafter: is used in the context for the batsmen who are very defensive in their approach. They will look for ones and twos initially, get settled and then the fluency in shot-selection comes. For e.g., If we talk of Sehwag, he is just the opposite of grafter. He is a flamboyant batsman. Shivnarine Chanderpaul is a grafter in true sense.
4. Compelling: (Adjective)(Dictionary meaning): Arousing or denoting strong interest, esp. admiring interest; (of an argument, evidence, etc.) convincing; Urgently requiring attention.
Synonyms of Compelling: Conclusive, Forceful, Urgent, Binding, Fascinating, Attractive, Captivating.
He put forward a compelling argument against the laws favouring euthanasia.
All of these factors add up to present a compelling argument for a more holistic approach.
In the context also, the word compelling is used for Steve Waugh’s batting. He was not one of the most gifted batsmen, he was primarily a grafter. His brother was very elegant and classical batsman. So, if you have to pay to watch someone play, you would definitely choose Mark Waugh, but if you wanted to bat for your life and save the match, Steve Waugh would be the best candidate. He compensated for the lack of flair with guts, courage and tenacity.
5. Tear ducts: This word has been used in the context to emphasize the stoic quality of Steve Waugh. Any other person would certainly become sentimental if given such a grand farewell, but Steve did not. Even if he did, he did not show it.
6. Holler: (Verb)(Dictionary meaning): To yell or shout; To complain.
The Police officer hollered out to surrender our weapons.
7. Epitaph: (Noun)(Dictionary meaning): An inscription on a tombstone in memory of the one buried there; a speech or written passage composed in commemoration of a dead person; a final judgment on a person or thing.
Synonyms of Epitaph: Commemoration, Elegy, Inscription, Engraving, Obituary.
His words are carved as his epitaph on the headstone of his grave.
Sam Cole wrote his own epitaph in the last year of his life.
In the context, the word epitaph is used for the rituals that take place at the end of the match. The cricket match is played on the field with war-like aggression, but off the field all the players are like friends. So, at the end of the match the customary shake of the hands and hugging between the opposition players is quite common. It is like at the end of match, the match is being commemorated by shaking of hands.
8. Stoicness: This word comes from the word STOIC which means “One who is seemingly indifferent to or unaffected by joy, grief, pleasure, or pain”.
STOIC: A member of an originally Greek school of philosophy, founded by Zeno about 308 b.c., believing that God determined everything for the best and that virtue is sufficient for happiness. Its later Roman form advocated the calm acceptance of all occurrences as the unavoidable result of divine will or of the natural order.
Synonyms of Stoic: Impassive
Steve Waugh’s stoic qualities have been highlighted in the passage. In spite of getting so much adulation and criticism, he remains unaffected.
9. Unabashed: (Adjective)(Dictionary meaning): Not ashamed, embarrassed, or ill at ease; Not concealed or disguised; obvious:
Synonyms of Unabashed: Unembarrassed, Brazen, Blatant, Bold.
Antonyms of Unabashed: Mortified, Embarrassed, Sheepish, Shame-faced, Abashed.
Despite recent defeats, Bangladeshi players seem unabashed by their recent string of defeats.
In conversation during the day, comrade Ravi was quite unabashed about his disgraceful behaviour.
The word unabashed has been used for the affection given to Steve Waugh. The love and adulation which he has received from his fans has been obvious. It means that everyone can see. In whichever stadium he plays, banners related to him are being waved, when he fields a ball, he is being cheered on by the crowd. His every action is being appreciated. Its so visible.
10. Cloak: (Noun)(Dictionary meaning): A loose outer garment, such as a cape; Something that covers or conceals.
Cloak also used as a verb which means “To cover or conceal with or as if with a cloak”.
Synonyms of Cloak: Hide, Conceal, Disguise, Mask, Facade, Shroud, Wrap, Cover, Envelop, Blanket, Camouflage.
Usage of Cloak: He deliberately uses jargon to cloak his inefficiency.
Pulling her tattered cloak around her shoulders she proceeded up the steps
11. Confines: (Noun)(Dictionary meaning): The limits of a space or area; the borders; Restraining elements; scope.
Confine is the verb form of confines which means “To keep within bounds” or To restrict in movement or To shut or keep in, especially to imprison.
Synonyms of Confine: Periphery, Bound, Limits, Range, Immure, Imprison, Ambit.
During the civil war, the school was used to confine the prisoners.
Luckily, the damage due to accident was confined mainly to front bumper.
Due to illness, the child was confined to bed.
The word confines has been used in the context to emphasize the charity work done by Steve Waugh. The cricket players apart from earning a lot of money are also in the position to help the needy and be responsible towards the society since they are an icon. But very few of them venture out of their comfort zone to make a difference to the society. Steve Waugh did that and is still doing it even after being retired from cricket and limelight. That’s the great example he is setting for other sportspersons to follow.
12. Insular: (Adjective)(Dictionary meaning): Living or located on an island; Circumscribed and detached in outlook and experience; narrow or provincial; remote, detached, or aloof; isolated or separated.
Synonyms of Insular: Narrow-minded, Prejudiced, Parochial, Petty, Provincial, Blinkered.
Antonyms of Insular: Broad-minded, Liberal, Tolerant.
The old image of insular China is slowly starting to change.
In this globalized world, it is not possible for any country to remain insular.
The report talks about the global information economy but is actually somewhat insular in its view.
The word insular has been used in the context to explain that Steve was a private man in life outside cricket but not detached or aloof from the world. His charity work was proof of it.
13. Riveting: (Adjective)(Dictionary meaning): Wholly absorbing or engrossing one’s attention.
Synonyms of Riveting: Fascinating, Gripping, Engrossing, Enthralling, Hypnotic, Spell-binding, Captivating, Arresting.
The last chapter of the novel was so riveting that i could not resist from finishing it.
Laxman’s batting display was simply riveting.
Words Chased: Legend, Morph, Grafter, Compelling, Tear ducts, Holler, Epitaph, Stoicness, Unabashed, Cloak, Confines, Insular, Riveting