Eternal search for that sporting spirit

In only his third race in Formula One, David Purley did something quite extraordinary in sporting history.

- Rutvick Mehta

On the eighth lap of the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix, Roger Williamson’s car suffered a puncture, resulting in a fire-engulfing crash with the driver unable to pull himself out of the car. Purley, the fellow British driver and competitor, stopped in his tracks and ran across to help Williamson. Purley tried everything he could, from overturning the car himself to dousing the flames with a fire extinguisher. Nothing worked. Williamson, 25, did not survive.

Curiously enough, none of the other drivers paused and there was little help from the race marshals (reports stated they mistook it for an accident involving Purley) as the race motored along uninterrupted.

Purley was later hailed as a hero for his sporting spirit, letting his human instinct take over that moment. But could we say the other drivers were wrong, inadvertently or otherwise, in keeping their competitive instinct going and doing what they were out to do that day — win a race?

This particular incident involving the death of a young driver, a young life, was alarming and unprecedented. A bit amusing, although equally unprecedented in international cricket, was the timed-out dismissal of Angelo Mathews in Sri Lanka’s World Cup game against Bangladesh. With his helmet strap snapping, Mathews overshot the two-minute limit to face his first ball. Opposition captain Shakib Al Hasan appealed. The umpires smiled, accepted it, asked Shakib if he wished to withdraw the appeal. Shakib stood his ground. Mathews had to walk off.