Die Macht » and Bowling Green last season. Its just learning w

My father often referred to Gundappa Viswanath as a gentleman cricketer. He often spoke of the time when Viswanath recalled Bob Taylor after the umpire had wrongly given Taylor out. For him it mattered how a certain individual behaved and often his rating of a cricketer was linked to the personality and on-field behaviour of that player. While I appreciated his sentiment, I often wondered whether it is important for a cricketer to be a role model. Does it really matter how a cricketer behaves on the field as long as he is great player?When Rahul Dravid retired, a lot of focus and praise was on what a gentleman cricketer he was and for the way he conducted himself. There is no doubt that he conducted himself very well, but what if he hadnt conducted himself the way he had? Would that have taken anything away from his greatness? No, he would have still been the best No.3 batsman India ever had. Unintentionally, we attributed a lot of emphasis to his behaviour and undersold him on his pure cricketing skills. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Ricky Ponting. A fine batsman, probably the best player of fast bowling ever, but he wasnt the most gentlemanly cricketer around. However, Ponting remains one of Australian greats, second only to the peerless and unsurpassable Sir Don Bradman.People judge cricketers based on their off-field activities. I have often heard statements like X loves partying... he is not concentrating on his game from people who know nothing about the player or his lifestyle. We (media and the public at large) tend to keep an eye out for such cricketers and the moment they fail on the field we pounce and blame their errant lifestyle. They are soft targets. Judging cricketers on their off-field activities is like judging regular office-goers on what they do once they go home after work. No employer keeps a tab on what an employee is doing after office hours. Similarly, judging cricketers on what they do after stumps are called is not only intrusive but also unfair.When the law of averages, coupled with some fine swing bowling from Jimmy Anderson got the better of Virat Kohli in England this year, the problem was attributed to the latters love life. This was stupid, and insulting to both Kohli and Anderson.Another topic which gets lot of attention from the pundits is the on-field behaviour of certain players. Sledging and abusing are always looked down upon by the commentators. These experts have had problems with the manner in which some players mouth expletives while celebrating their on-field success. While I do not condone foul-mouthed outbursts from players, I have always wondered if the commentators are there to report on the game, or to perform a behaviour analysis of players. Cricketers like David Warner and Anderson have played all their cricket in a certain manner and that has worked for them. If one asks them to change the way they play, I think that will restrict their style and that will ultimately affect their cricket. Yes, aggression does not mean abusing, but what if sledging or taking on an opposition works for them? Asking Warner to tone down will take away what works for him and that will only be detrimental to him and in turn, to cricket at large.An average cricketer makes his debut somewhere between the ages of 18 and 25. At that age, most of us are still figuring out what we want to do with our lives, but we expect the cricketer to not only take tremendous pressure of representing his country, play in front of large crowds but also put on a behaviour which is good for the kids watching them on telly. I feel it is all a little too much to ask. Yes, some of the behaviour is boorish and that is not acceptable but some leeway needs to be given to cricketers. If anything, proper training sessions should be organised at a young age to explain what is acceptable and what is not and also to channelize the aggression.Rahul Dravid was a legend and so was Ricky Ponting, both had different methods to achieve the kind of success they achieved. If walking away from sledging worked for Dravid, then giving it back to the bowler worked for Ponting. Theres no need to judge them for their methods. Judge them on their cricket, nothing less and nothing more. So while my father will continue to adore the Viswanaths and Dravids of the world, I, on the other hand will have no qualms in accepting Warne or Ponting as my heroes. Maybe it is just a generation thing.If you have a submission for Inbox, send it to us here, with Inbox in the subject lineAaron Barrett Nationals Jersey . 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But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human.SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuse coach Dino Babers is the first to admit that it wasnt exactly love at first sight with wideout Amba Etta-Tawo.When I was at Bowling Green last year, we played Maryland; I didnt really remember Amba in the game, said Babers, hired by Syracuse in December to replace Scott Shafer.Now its difficult not to notice the elusive Etta-Tawo, who apparently liked what he saw in Babers up-tempo style of offense during Bowling Greens 48-27 win over the Terps in 2015 and transferred to Syracuse for his final year of eligibility.Three games into the season, Etta-Tawo is thriving in the Oranges new offense. He leads the Atlantic Coast Conference and ranks third nationally in receiving yards per game (145.3), and his 9.3 receptions per game are tied for fourth in the Football Bowl Subdivision.I think Ive adjusted pretty well (to Babers system), but theres always room for improvement, said Etta-Tawo, whose parents are Nigerian. Just take it step by step, and at the end of the day everything will work out.Etta-Tawo has 28 catches for 436 yards -- an average of 15.6 yards per catch -- and three touchdowns. That receiving yardage total is the most ever for a Syracuse player in the first three games of a season. No surprise that his name was added this week to the national watch list for the Biletnikoff Award , given annually to the best receiver in the nation.Amba has been outstanding. Hes been a pleasant surprise, Babers said. Obviously, we had no idea hed be able to do the things that hes done so far, but it doesnt surprise me with the woork ethic that he put in when he started here, coming in the summer, working with (quarterback) Eric Dungey, the way he goes about his work in practice.ddddddddddddEtta-Tawos first game with the Orange is one hell likely remember forever. He caught 12 passes for 210 yards in a 33-7 victory over Football Championship Subdivision foe Colgate. Against then-No. 13 Louisville in Week 2, he had eight catches for 103 yards and two scores, one a 47-yarder, in a lopsided home loss to the rising Cardinals. He followed that with eight receptions for 123 yards in a loss against South Florida on Saturday in the Carrier Dome.Thats an impressive improvement from his time at Maryland, where Etta-Tawo had 61 catches for 938 yards and scored three times.I knew what I could do, said Etta-Tawo, who led Maryland with five catches for 49 yards in that game against Babers and Bowling Green last season. Its just learning what the coaches are preaching. Theyve done a great job teaching me new techniques and things to up my game a little bit.If youre on the same page as the quarterback, youre going to make it work.Syracuse (1-2) travels on Saturday to UConn (2-1), which could use a threat like the speedy, 6-foot-2, 202-pound Etta-Tawo. The Huskies have just 580 yards passing as a team, ranking last in the American Athletic Conference.---AP college football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org---Follow Kekis on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Greek1947 ' ' '