Exercise 1
Read the following passage carefully and then answer the question at the end of it.
The stereotypes image of an international sportsman is one of a few luxurious lifestyle enjoyed only by the privileged few. ‘Oh, what a wonderful life you cricketers must lead’, is the comment which we have all heard over and over. Everyone seems to surmise that we jet around the globe, staying at the best hotels, eating the finest food and generally being treated royally.
There are a few cricketers who would dispute that we do live well and, when one thinks of the millions of others in this world not half as well off, it would be churlish to complain. Yet it is not all strawberries and cream.
The physical demands of the game, which takes longer than most others to complete, can be enormous, particularly in recent times when so much cricket is being played all over the world. The strain of maintaining peak performance and the tension of appearing in front of vast crowds and television audiences can be exhausting, both mentally and physically.
Nevertheless, it is withstanding such pressure that separates the sporting sheep from the goats. It is part of the job of being a professional and there are not many international sportsmen that I know who have made it to the top without coming under this stress.
Perhaps the most telling of all the hardships of international cricket, as distinct from any other sport, is the constant travelling and the lengthy periods spent on tour away from home and family.
The traumas of living out of a suitcase have been well documented by travelling salesmen and they are probably more exaggerated for cricketers. In this respect, the seasons of World Series Cricket in Australia and the West Indies and the most recent three-way series in Australia, with a preponderance of one-day cricket in different cities and islands, were the most exhausting I have experienced–and it was not only because age was catching up on me!
I must admit, however, that the older you get, the harder it is to be away from wife and family. Personally, I have spent nine Christmases away from home since I first toured with the West Indies thirteen years ago. I have eaten Christmas pudding from hospital beds in Melbourne in 1968 and Adelaide in 1971, have been popped crackers in Poona and Calcutta in India, and have toasted the occasion with fellow players in Sydney. Only once, during the first season of World Series Cricket in Melbourne, was I together with my wife and two daughters. Otherwise it was usually frantic–and many times–unsuccessful attempt to get through to home on the telephone. Christmas is a time of the year which means a lot to most West Indians and being thousands of miles away can be a cause for melancholic home-sickness.
In such circumstances, the wife of an international cricketer needs to be of a most understanding nature. Fortunately, the girl whom I married has been that and more, and I think our marriage has gathered strength from her ready acceptance of the sacrifice which we have both had to make to accommodate my career.
In less than 85 words, summarise what the writer thinks are the hardships which international cricketers experience.
King, P.H., Writing Summaries and Statistical Reports.1988.