The popular game of cricket has to deal with all the adverse effects of climate change like fires, droughts, heavy rains, floods, cyclones. Every year the cricketers are facing more and more adverse conditions while playing on the field. The impact on them comes from both physical and mental sides. The New York Times published an article on August 4 about the impact of extreme weather on world cricket. An abridged translation of it has been published.
Let’s make a joke. If you want a rainy day in the Caribbean this hotter-than-normal summer, you start a cricket match. The purpose of the joke is merely to make people laugh. But behind the scenes it seems to be silently supporting a 2018 climate report. According to the report, as the climate changes around the world, cricket will be hit the hardest among outdoor sports.
In terms of popularity, cricket is second only to football. There are 200 to 300 million fans of this game in the world. Cricket is most popular in countries like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and South Africa. West Indies are also in this list. These countries and regions are most at risk of natural disasters such as wildfires, heavy rains, floods, droughts, cyclones, wildfires and sea level rise due to man-made greenhouse gas emissions.
Even in developed countries like England and Australia, climate change has come down on cricket. The level of pressure that flows over the countries is increasing day by day. This situation is occurring frequently; Staying longer than before. Of the 21 warmest years, 20 occurred after 2000.
Cricket has seen the warmest spring in the Indian subcontinent this year in over 100 years. Cricketers have faced the hottest day on record this year in Britain too. Last June, the West Indies team went to Multan, Pakistan to play three matches. Temperatures in the city then reached 111 degrees Fahrenheit (about 44 degrees Celsius). Multan is one of the hottest places in the world. However, the temperature was higher than normal.
29-year-old Akil Hossain visited Multan for the West Indies team. He was seen wearing an ‘ice vest’ (icy clothing) with his teammates during breaks in the game to escape the heat. Akil said, “To tell you the truth, it looks like you are opening the mouth of Unun.”
But heat is not the only cause of headache for cricketers. Rain is also a hindrance for them. West Indies announced the abandonment of a match in Dominica last July due to rain and waterlogging of the field. In Guyana and Trinidad, overs were limited for the rest of the matches for the same reason. In 2017, two ‘Category-5’ cyclones, Irma and Maria, caused extensive damage to cricket stadiums in five Caribbean countries.
Another report on cricket and climate change in 2019 said that the amount of heat generated by a professional batsman playing all day is equivalent to running a marathon. The difference, however, is that marathon participants wear short clothing to escape the heat, while cricketers wear pads, gloves and helmets, making it difficult to get rid of sweat in hot and humid weather