Ali
The Life of Ali Bacher
Rodney Hartman
Penguin
2004
Biography, Sports
Pages: 320
Price: Rs 495
ISBN: 0670047961
Paperback
Pick up this book only if you have the time and patience. At 495 pages, and despite a preface by Nelson Mandela, it can be trying at times. It is largely a politically correct account of South African cricket’s doyen Ali Bacher, his contribution to the unification of the game in that nation. While it portrays him as a good cricket administrator and diplomat, it falls short in showing him as a great man.
The title is misleading. The large print of ‘Ali’ would be more appropriate to the God of boxing. There is way too much text, and little, and unexciting, pictorial relief. Given today’s attention span, not a book you can read at one go. Neither is it gripping enough for you to remember where you left off.
Also, Ali is just a nickname for the man born Aron Bacher.
For Indian cricket buffs, there are a few chapters that will be of interest. ‘Making History in India’ deals with the return of South Africa to international cricket in 1991, with their first post-apartheid tour to India, its logistics, the fascinating welcome they got in Calcutta and the noise they made about ball-tampering.
While ‘goodwill’ was the mantra then also, the South Africans were rather taken aback by the phenomenon of reverse swing, something they had no clue about. They began asking questions about the fairness of it all, leaving manager Bacher and the rest of the cricketing committee from South Africa in a bit of a fix, especially when the Indian media got a whiff of it.
{{/usCountry}}While ‘goodwill’ was the mantra then also, the South Africans were rather taken aback by the phenomenon of reverse swing, something they had no clue about. They began asking questions about the fairness of it all, leaving manager Bacher and the rest of the cricketing committee from South Africa in a bit of a fix, especially when the Indian media got a whiff of it.
{{/usCountry}}Then there is the story of the return trip by India in 1992-93, where TV replays were introduced. Hartman recounts how Sachin Tendulkar was the first victim of electronic accuracy, while Jonty Rhodes got the benefit of human doubt, courtesy umpire Steve Bucknor.
Then there is the era of Hansie Cronje, on how South Africa’s favourite son was hauled down from Cloud Nine by Delhi Police, something that South Africans still find hard to swallow.
Jagmohan Dalmiya too figures in the goings-on. ‘Inside the ICC’ deals with how South Africa and Zimbabwe abstained from voting to elect the next International Cricket Council in 1996, ultimately leading to Dalmiya getting the post, and leaving Australia and their candidate Malcolm Gray fuming mad.
These are episodes people can identify with. Hartman’s efforts in the early chapters to trace Bacher’s family history will not evoke much interest in India, and we daresay even in South Africa, simply because we are not talking about Mahatma Gandhi or Nelson Mandela. Tracing Bacher’s family tree, and that of Dalmiya, are pretty much the same exercise — not really required.