Inside every Modern Cricket 'Fan' lives a Showman

Falling objects fascinated Newton, electricity fascinated Edison, relativity fascinated Einstein and in 2007, one thought fascinates me to no end. Why do cricket 'fans' suddenly start looking delighted when the camera focuses on them and start cheering and waving their 4 and 6 signs, no matter what is happening on the pitch. I mean, their respective team could be in danger of losing their Test status after being 9 wickets down to Papa New Guinea, but these people who call themselves fans of the game, suddenly forget everything in the glare of the camera and pose with enthusiasm that would put nubile college girls in Girls Gone Wild videos to shame.

It's no hidden fact that the cameraman usually focuses on the game if the quality of the cricket is good, unless of course he is Henry Blofeld's partner in crime (remember the guy who always focused on the taboo ears of Sharjah women back in the days when India winning a match there against Pakistan on a Friday was as common as an Indian female fan flashing?). So, obviously when the quality of the cricket is questionable and assuming Michael Clarke is batting but the cameraman is straight, of course he will be focusing on the crowd! And the crowd oblige with expressions that can give Shakti Kapoor a complex. Big difference from the days when the 'gentleman's' game was enjoyed exclusively by starchy old men in starchy old suites over cups of tea, not tilted more than 2.5 degrees and served in the finest of china, sitting on picketed lawns as green as Saba Karim's envy at his fellow Bihari's success, no?