It indeed is an ironic observation that while world over World Labour Day is celebrated in one form or the other, even for the tokenism sake, in cricket, where the component of labor is still quite pronounced, contribution of the labour to the cause of the game is not given any recognition in any form. The irony becomes more so exacerbated when one finds that while the Indian Premier League (indian-premier-league.html) has given a certain amount for promoting the cause of education in South Africa, it has not turned its attention to the labor in its own backward and to award it in one form or the other for the selfless contribution to the cause of the game.Can the game of cricket survive without the contribution of the labour? The pitch on which the whole game of cricket unfolds and whose structure is dissected threadbare by the experts of the game, is prepared by a humble laborer, but he is never talked about at all. In the zeal to introduce the element of novelty the commentators lie prostrate on the ground and allow the camera to pan from the sky, but this idea does not strike their mind why not let the viewer or the fan of cricket also be privy to the labor that goes into preparation of the pitch,When it pours down from the sky, and everybody who is associated with the game of cricket sits huddled with an umbrella over the head, it is the bunch of humble laborers who with their paraphernalia of equipments try to dry out the ground. They have so much involvement with the game that they work on relentlessly to dry out the ground, even by soaking the water out by big towels if the need be. In a scenario at the other end when it starts raining, and the players and umpires run for the cover, it is the bunch of humble laborers who run against the pouring rain to protect the pitch so that the water does not seep into the pitch and have a debilitating effect on the game subsequently.Cricket would not have evolved into the manner in which it has evolved if the foot soldiers of the game would not have contributed selflessly for its cause. The time has come when this category also needs to be provided recognition and to begin with, it could be in the form of life membership to the stadiums where they spend their life working.   read more »