Review: Death of a Gentleman
“Does cricket make money in order to exist or does cricket exist in order to make money,” asks Australian journalist Gideon Haigh in a revealing, gripping documentary dedicated to analysing the decline of Test cricket. ‘Death of a Gentleman’ shows the journey of two cricket lovers and journalists, Sam Collins and Jarrod Kimber, who in their pursuit of finding out whether the oldest form of cricket is in decline, stumble across, possibly, the biggest scandal in cricket, if not all sports.
Watch the trailer of the movie below:
The articulately shot documentary has the who’s who of the cricketing world sharing their thoughts on if Test cricket is losing its charm. From players like Rahul Dravid, Michael Holding, Kevin Pietersen, Chris Gayle, Arun Lal, Ian Chappell to the men who live and breathe cricket like Boria Majumdar, Gideon Haigh, Jonathan Agnew, Giles Clarke and Tony Cozier, all share their valuable thoughts about the biggest issue plaguing cricket.
With changing times, cricket has seen a plethora of changes with the biggest of them being the advent of T20 cricket and the introduction of the cash-rich Indian Premier League. The IPL has definitely increased the audience for the sport, but the large windfall at the turnstiles has come at a cost - the credibility of the gentleman’s game.
Collins’ and Kimber’s journey to discover whether Test cricket is actually on the decline takes them to India, Australia and England while the story of an Australian cricketer, Ed Cowan, runs in parallel. In Cowan, the duo find a welcome distraction from their arduous task, as the 29-year-old finally fulfills his dream of playing Test cricket for Australia after a path which forced him to shift base to Tasmania in order to get in the reckoning for a spot in the national team.
The documentary charts Cowan’s short Test career - the highs and the lows - while Collins and Kimber continue their search for the truth. However, in a shock turn of events, the duo find that cricket is plagued by something much more serious - politics taking precedence over cricket and the big 3 of cricket (India, England and Australia) ensuring they get the larger piece of the revenue pie while the others are left fighting for the crumbs.
Despite knocking on several doors, their pleas fall to deaf ears until former CSA President Haroon Lorgat and former legal head of the ICC, David Becker, agree to giving revealing interviews. However, the claims by the duo could never be proved despite the best efforts of Collins and Kimber. On the other hand, ICC & BCCI President N. Srinivasan and ECB President Giles Clarke maintain their stand that the decisions taken by the governing body of the game were for the benefit of cricket.
This 94-minute feature by Dartmouth Films tries to expose the political nexus in cricket administration and shows the side of cricket hidden from many. The critically-acclaimed documentary, which receives a delayed release in India, is a must see for everyone who cares about the gentleman’s game and wants an insight into the governance of the sport loved by billions across the globe.
You can watch Death of a Gentleman for Rs. 99/- exclusively on TVFPlay here: http://bit.ly/DOAGOnTVFPlay (This movie is available only in India)