Cricket in cinema: heroes and villains on the big screen

Is there a future for Test cricket? That’s the question posed by the makers of a new documentary film Death of a Gentleman, which says the sport’s very existence is threatened by the mismanagement of its administrators. Cricket journalists Sam Collins and Jarrod Kimber spent several years making the film and in it they rail against the state of the modern game. Test cricket, says Tony Greig, one of many former players and commentators featured in the film, is “a character builder”. But the five-day game is threatened by the rise of T20, which has condensed cricket into three-hour, bite-sized chunks of entertainment with big hitting and cheerleaders. India, the main driver of TV revenue, calls the shots to the detriment of the wider game outside the “big three” of India, England and Australia. The riches of the Indian Premier League mean the best West Indian players such as Chris Gayle are often unavailable to play for their country, whose Test series are reduced to a “meaningless” two or three matches. Collins and Kimber also befriend the Australian cricketer Ed Cowan as he makes his Test debut. The viewer is able to share Cowan’s elation as he scores 136 against a strong South African bowling attack and his sorrow as he is dropped after making nought and 14 in the first game of the 2013 Ashes at Trent Bridge, probably never to play Test cricket again. As well as being investigative and gatecrashing ICC meetings in Dubai (even using a fake sheikh to take pictures), Death of a Gentleman is a campaigning film, with Collins and Kimber appealing to viewers to help save cricket by signing their petition. So it is good cricket journalism brought to the cinema screen – but I wonder whether it will have the wider appeal of Fire in Babylon (2011), which charted the great West Indies side of the 1970s and 80s. Fire in Babylon was a heady combination of cricket, music, politics and race played out to a reggae soundtrack. You were able to enjoy Viv Richards’ swagger after the racist abuse the West Indian team had suffered in Australia in 1975-76. It was almost a Hollywood story, as the Windies build themselves into a crack fighting force and take revenge on their rivals. In that film a young Tony Greig was the pantomime villain, telling the press he would make the West Indies grovel and, of course, being made to regret his words. Death of a Gentleman chooses its own baddies, and they are still running the game. Not least of them is Narayanaswami Srinivasan, who was forced by the Indian supreme court to choose between being president of the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) in India or selling the IPL team, Chennai Super Kings. He is no longer president of the BCCI but, despite allegations of corruption, remains chairman of the International Cricket Council. The film is similarly critical of Giles Clarke, now president of the England and Wales Cricket Board. So, its campaigning zeal about the current set-up of the game is what sets Death of a Gentleman apart. Other cricket films, like Fire in Babylon, tell the tales of teams coming out fighting against adversity. Out of the Ashes (2010) follows the Afghanistan national cricket team. With next to no facilities or equipment, in a country ravaged by war, the side make the most of their talent to qualify for the 2010 T20 World Cup. Stirring stuff. Out of the Ashes is not to be confused with From the Ashes (2011), about England’s victory over Australia in 1981, thanks in no small part to the heroics of one Ian Botham. This is, of course, a story that has been told before, not least by the man himself. So if, like the makers of Death of a Gentleman, you want to keep it real, here’s a nice one, courtesy of the Pathé Documentary Unit, from 1950, called, quite simply, Cricket. Enjoy, because it’s one for the purists.