10 wealthy cricketers and their philanthropic side

The great Andrew Carnegie believed that life should be made up of two phases: The first should go in accumulating wealth, and the second to use that wealth to for charitable purposes. Carnegie believed it was the charitable second phase that made his life worthwhile. The world will see far lesser misery if those blessed with abundance of wealth and power to influence the rich and powerful by using their status in society to uplift the needy. H Natarajan lists 10 cricketers who have done or doing their bit to help noble causes.

1. Ian Botham

The England all-rounder has pushed his body to the limits to support charitable causes with a total of 12 long-distance charity walks. His first in 1985 was a 900-mile trek from John o’ Groats to Land’s End — the whole length of the island of Great Britain, between two extremities from the southwest to the northeast. His charitable efforts were following a visit to hospital to treat a broken toe when he mistakenly entered into a children’s ward.

He was shaken to hear that some of the children had just days to live. Since then, he has raised more than £12 million for charity, with leukemia research among the principal beneficiaries. In 2003 he became the first-ever President of Leukemia Research, the UK’s leading blood cancer charity. His sustained charitable efforts, along with his cricketing achievements, earned him a knighthood in 2007 from Queen Elizabeth II.

2. Imran Khan

Few cricketers have done for the lesser-privileged sections of the society as Imran has, especially for his countrymen. Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust is a state-of-the-art charitable organisation in the name and memory of his mother providing free medical care for thousands since inception in 1994.

Imran established Pakistan’s first and only cancer hospital in his mother’s honour by raising donations exceeding $25 million from all over the world. The institution has spent over RS 12 billion supporting thousands of poor cancer patients.

Seven years ago, he also established a technical college in the Mianwali District called Namal College. About 90% of the students get financial support to study in this college which is affiliated to the University of Bradfordshire in United Kingdom. Imran was also United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund’s (UNICEF) Special Representative for Sports and promoted health and immunization programmes in several countries.

3. Steve Waugh

While it may not be quite right to compare one philanthropist with another, yet the thought is inescapable that Steve Waugh’s efforts to help to raise funds for the rehabilitation of leprosy patients’ children of Udayan, in Kolkata is truly remarkable because it for the cause of a section thousands of miles away from his own country, in a different continent.

For the 300-odd children, Waughis Father Teresa. In 2009, Waugh also opened the India chapter of the Steve Waugh Foundation that aims at improving the lives of children suffering from rare diseases. “India gave me this life-changing moment when I met Mother Teresa in Kolkata. Mother Teresa was a catalyst,” Waugh said at the inauguration.

Thanks to Udayan, Waugh has visited India over 60 times since his first visit in 1986 and considers India as his “second home”.

4. Glenn McGrath

It’s his wife Jane’s suffering from breast cancer at the young age of 31, which finally led to her death, that led to the birth of the McGrath Foundation. It is one of Australia’s leading breast cancer support organisations with over 33,000 Australian families supported by our 102 McGrath Breast Care Nurses nationally in the last six years.

“Glenn and I were inspired to create the McGrath Foundation in 2002 after my initial recovery from breast cancer so we could help support other Australian women touched by breast cancer. However, it was in 2003 when I was re-diagnosed that I realised the importance of having a breast care nurse, something I was fortunate enough to have access to for the first time.

Someone who could answer the questions only a nurse could answer whilst also being the support I needed to unload my frustrations and emotions,” said founder Jane in her message in the foundation’s website. Today, Glenn, his second wife, along with the help of the Australian public, Federal Government, Glenn McGrath’s corporate friends and supportive friends have taken the mission to a new level.

Cricket Australia, too, has helped get meaningful mileage during international matches in Australia.

5. Shahid Afridi

Following in the footsteps of Imran Khan, Shahid Afridi established a charitable trust with the objective to provide basic healthcare and education to the people of Pakistan. He decided to start from his own hometown, with his own money and his own family and village supporting his noble cause.

The Shahid Afridi Foundation was established in March 2014 and the core concept behind it is: Charity laced with absolute philanthropy. The hospital caters to the underprivileged people of Kohat, with little or no means to basic medical healthcare.It’s a maternity hospital in Tangi Banda, Kohat, which provides free treatment, medicines and care for patients.

It has just completed its first phase of development, houses around 16 beds at the moment, and has major expansion plans.

6. Yuvraj Singh

If there is one Indian cricket who has taken to focused charity in a big way, it is Yuvraj Singh. Following his battle with cancer, Yuvraj formed the “YouWeCan”, an initiative of the Yuvraj Singh Foundation, to tackle cancer early. The aim of the initiative is twofold: To create awareness and eradicate the socio- psychological stigma attached with cancer and provide mobile cancer examination stations within the reach of masses with a view to make routine check- ups a habit.

7. Ricky Ponting

The Ponting Foundation is yet another effort by a cricketer to help families beat cancer. It was in 2002 a good friend of the Children’s Cancer Institute Australia (CCIA) invited the Pontings to visit the Sydney Children’s Hospital and meet the many children and their families in the oncology ward.

The stories that they heard in the oncology ward rocked the Pontings who sat tearfully outside the hospital and made a commitment to improve the lives of young Australians with cancer and their families. The Ponting Foundation was a result of that commitment.

Says the foundation website, “Through alliances with some of Australia’s leading cancer charities and research groups, Ricky has used his profile to influence widespread community engagement to raise important incremental funds for specific charity programs, hospitals and ground-breaking research projects engaged in the fight against cancer in Australia’s children and youth.

The Foundation also funds programs that assist in the care and well-being of the wider family unit as they support their child through their illness.“

8. Mahela Jayawardene

Like Imran and McGrath whose interest in work for cancer was triggered by losing close family member, Mahela Jaywardene’s efforts to help alleviate the sufferings of people afflicted from the dreaded disease was born following the demise of his brother to cancer. Jaywardene is huge supporter of HOPE cancer project.He now plans to build Sri Lanka’s first-ever cancer hospital, a 750-bed cancer unit at Maharagama, a suburb in Colombo.

9. Muttiah Muralitharan

Seenigama is a village on the south coast of Sri Lanka, about 22 kilometres north-west of Galle. It is here that Muttiah Muralitharan established the Foundation of Goodness in the early 2000s. The foundation supports the needs of the locals, education, health care, housing, livelihood etc. Murali has been supported in his noble cause by several cricketers in Sri Lankan, Australia and England.

Murali now has his eyes set on building a one million dollar sports complex for war-displaced civilians in Mankulam, a town located 300 kilometers from north of Colombo. The project aims to build a sports center, a school, English and IT training centers and an elders’ home. Murali is also an ambassador for the United Nations’ World Food Programme.

The programme is to fight hunger among school children.When the tsunami devastated Sri Lanka on December 26, 2004, Murali ensured that aid reached the people affected by the calamity by paying for three convoys of 10 trucks each get food for the tsunami-hit people. He also signed an agreement with cement giant Lafarge to supply cement to the Foundation for Goodness in exchange for work his endorsement did.

His foundation raised $4 million in the first three years following the tsunami to help survivors.

10. Sachin Tendulkar

The cricketing legend prefers to do things quietly. But what is well established in the public domain is the fact that he is a huge supporter of Apnalaya, an NGO which is close to his mother-in-law, Annabel. She has dedicated four decades of her life to Apnalaya and is now the NGO’s president. Tendulkar sponsors about 200 under-privileged children every year through Apnalaya.

In 2011, he raised a corpus fund of 1.35 crore to help more than 300 kids in their treatment and recovery from cancer. In 2013, along with AishwaryaRai, Tendulkar helped the Coca-Cola-NDTV ‘Support My School’ campaign to raise Rs 13.6 crore towards the revitalisation of 272 schools across India. Last year, he donated Rs 10 lakh to the BaiJerbaiWadia hospital for supporting the awareness of cardiac diseases amongst children.

Tendulkar also came to the rescue of a cricketer who had played with him at under-17 level. The cricketer suffered multiple brain injuries following a road accident and needed a hip replacement to walk again. Tendulkar took care of the entire surgery expense. He has also championed the cause of the fight against polio.

(H Natarajan is a journalistic schizophrenic who oscillates between two polar opposite forms of writing —analytical and insightful on the one hand, and rib-tickling humour on the other).