"Sportsman don't need crowd to be spurred on" - Ian Chappell on cricket behind closed doors 

The Sydney ODI of the now-suspended Australia-New Zealand series was played behind closed doors.

Former Australia captain Ian Chappell acknowledged the "strange silence" amid which the first ODI of the now-postponed Chappell-Hadlee Trophy was played in Sydney last Friday (March 13). Fans were barred from turning up for the game in wake of the threat posed by coronavirus spread. The threat, which later resulted in the suspension of the entire three-match series, with New Zealand government calling the national side back. 

The India-South Africa ODI series was also about to be played behind closed doors before BCCI and CSA took serious consideration of the pandemic and decided to postpone the rubber indefinitely. 

Read Also: BCCI suspends all domestic cricket until further notice due to the Coronavirus threat

"I’m one who believes you don’t necessarily need a crowd to be spurred on as a sportsman; it’s the thrill of a close contest that gets the juices flowing," Chappell wrote for ESPNcricinfo. "Nevertheless it was a strange silence that accompanied scintillating boundaries and landmark scores at the SCG."

"The upside was the absence of mindless chatter over the PA system; it was good to enjoy a game of cricket where you could hear yourself think." 

Responsibly standing-up in the fight against COVID-19, cricket fraternity worldwide has taken precautionary measures, ensuring fixtures - international and domestic - have been either cancelled or rescheduled for delayed start. For Chappell, this is a reminder of the dark days of the two world wars. 

“The cancelling of major cricket matches is a rare occurrence and casts the sport back to the dark days of the two world wars," he wrote.  "Test matches were suspended in early 1914 and didn’t resume until late 1920 because of the First World War. The gap in competition was slightly longer during the Second World War, stretching from August 1939 until March 1946."

As the game ended at the SCG with Australia winning by 71 runs, the players maintained a safe distance and decided not to shake hands, a ritual that has long been a great feature of our sport. 

“The finish provided another unusual sight: the opponents didn’t shake hands or hug but acknowledged each other in a variety of different ways from the recommended safe distance of a couple of metres," Chappell wrote. 

“These are indeed strange and difficult times but the main priority is to stay healthy -- a worthwhile objective."

Chappell also shared an anecdote from a game recorded during the peak days of the second world war. 

"Jack Robertson, a successful opening batsman for Middlesex and England, was batting at Lord’s in 1944 when the air-raid sirens erupted," he wrote. 

"The players and umpires all lay flat on the ground as they had been trained to do until the danger passed."

“On resumption, Robertson casually lifted the first delivery over the boundary for six."

(Inputs from PTI)