The new cricket season, domestic and international, is about to get underway and a thought sprang to mind – will vuvezelas be allowed at cricket grounds?
South Africa's favourite toy, the vuvezela has been practically banned from all other sports codes around the world by sports administrators including next year's Rugby World Cup, Wimbledon (hardly a surprise), the 2012 London Olympics and even the running of the bulls in Pamplona having declared themselves vuvuzela-free zones. Why should it be any different in cricket?
Sometime last week the Golden Lions Rugby Union declared that vuvuzelas would be banned from the Tri-Nations Test at the 94700-seater Soccer City stadium between the Springboks and New Zealand next month. Does this mean the vuvezela has served its purpose and is restricted to football games from now on ?
I think so. It is all about culture!
Football (soccer) call it what you like, is unique in the sense that the more noise the spectators make the better. It is intense action with trumpets, drums, whistles and now the vuvezela. That is football culture.
Rugby is and was always about sing-along’s. Think about the Irish, Scotts, Wallabies, English (and even us until a few years back) accompanied by mad screaming fans whenever their team is attacking or the referee dared to blow against them. That is rugby culture.
Wimbledon has an old age tradition of absolute silence during play. Then a short cheer and clapping of hands while eating strawberries and cream in between. That is culture.
Cricket has seen many transformations over a short period of time. There is Tests, ODI`s, T20`s and the IPL, but I am sure that none of them is ready to welcome the vuvezela with open arms. It is already extremely difficult for umpires to judge a knick. I am sure that players, umpires and spectators alike won’t want to see a controversial decision because of an instrument! That is not cricket culture.
It would be a tragic day when unique sport cultures have to make way for a few vuvezelas being blown out of tune.
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