Do we really need to play dead rubbers?

[Insomniac]

I understand why we play dead rubber games - the TV rights have been sold and tickets and etc.

However, many other sports (NBA Basketball for one) do not play dead rubbers.

The only series / tournament in which dead rubbers weren't played were the VB / CB Series in Australia where it was best of 3 finals.

I believe that if we can take out playing dead rubbers, cricket series will become more interesting because the "boring" test match which is not as competitive as the other 2 is taken out.

Regarding ticket sales, what is done in the US can easily be done for cricket, where the tickets go on sale after it is confirmed that the game will be played.

For example, in a 5 match one day series, the first 3 matches will obviously go on sale as they normally do for that host country. Once the series is 1-1, there will obviously be a 4th game, so then ticket sales for the 4th game can begin.

I think the games (especially ODIs, test dead rubbers are still very competitive) within the series will become more competitive because players will have to fight to win. Players who are out of form or struggling under pressure during the actual series will be exposed, and I think we will be able to see the true value of players and teams through this system.

Comments? Keep in mind, we need a viable solution, so financial issues need to be taken into account (how much boards will lose if dead rubbers aren't played, etc).

 

[pcfan123]

Dead Rubbers are good opportunities to get people match fit and even try out debutantes. They are really boring though and allow people to pad their stats by playing without pressure. It would help when teams get spanked though, like us in the ODI series in India last time .

 

[barmyarmy]

There would be no Oval test otherwise with England 3-0 up...
The point surely is that if they can sell out the ground and sell the TV rights people can choose not to watch it but the rest of us can if we want.

 

[Insomniac]

Dead Rubbers are good opportunities to get people match fit and even try out debutantes. They are really boring though and allow people to pad their stats by playing without pressure. It would help when teams get spanked though, like us in the ODI series in India last time .

This is the point I was trying to drive home.

What is the NBA's reasoning behind not playing dead rubbers?

 

[pcfan123]

This is the point I was trying to drive home.

What is the NBA's reasoning behind not playing dead rubbers?

Americans have terribly short attention spans. If there is nothing on the line , they wont watch. Thats why soccer is not big here, Americans just do not like the concept of a draw. They want a winner and a loser.

 

[barmyarmy]

The sister-kisser.
I agree a bit about padding averages etc but frankly losing the Ashes 4-1 with a consolation win in the final dead rubber was a hell of lot better than losing them 5-0.
Also they're not completely dead in cricket as series outcome affects rankings.

 

[smssia0112]

It's one thing to cancel a useless ODI, but you couldn't possibly cancel an entire test match at such short notice. Especially considering they are played in different cities - if this happened, Sydney would never get to host test matches, and that's Australia's biggest city. Same with the Oval, and probably another city in England (Birmingham?)

How does that make sense?

 

[sohum]

It is not just the NBA, all American sports have no dead rubbers. In fact, I recall a situation during my freshman year in college when some prof brought up the term dead rubber and no one had any idea what it meant. The reason they don't have dead rubbers is because the only reason people watch sport in the US is for the final result. Hell, most people are content seeing the box score than the actual game. And the reason for that is that they play so many games. The NBA regular season comprises of 82 games a team. Teams play about 3 games a week.

The playoffs feature dead rubbers at the end because you're going to be playing your most intense basketball/football/baseball in a shortened period and hence there's going to be a heightened chance of injury. No dead rubbers in American professional sports is as much about preserving the star players from injury to set up superstar clashes as it is about people not being interested in them in the first place.

Dead rubbers in cricket wouldn't come into question if ODI series didn't go up to 7 ODIs. I can watch a series go 5-0 or 4-1, but watching it go 5-2, 6-1 or 7-0 would get a little boring. Test match dead rubbers will obviously be played because people don't watch Test cricket for the end result--they watch it for the cricket.

 

[aussie1st]

Which American sports plays series after series? The ones I know of are playoff based so there is no point playing a dead rubber if the series is decided. If we were in a similar situation then it would make sense but none of our series are playoff based since the CBS tournament was ditched. Also a number of the dead rubber matches are the only games a city will get for the year.

 

[jazz]

Two problems come to mind.

If you have a big series and series result is known with 3 out of 5 ODI's then that means some stadiums will miss out on holding matches

Second reason would be rankings. Teams wouldn’t have the chance to win a series by a big margin so they wouldn’t get enough points to move up higher in the table

Although it sounds like a good idea

 

[SciD]

The board have to keep all counties, states happy.

 

[nightprowler10]

American sports have plenty of dead rubbers in regular season. Some teams play as many as 10-15 games after being eliminated.

 

[pcfan123]

American sports have plenty of dead rubbers in regular season. Some teams play as many as 10-15 games after being eliminated.

That is the regular season. They have no dead rubbers in the playoffs. The regular seasons have to be played through because of season tickets. I have season tickets to the Houston Texans. They have never come close to making it to the playoffs but the teams that they play towards the end of the season are still in contention so the games are important for them .

 

[jordox]

I have season tickets to the Houston Texans.

:whip

Idiot!


... on topic though, I don't see the point in making a change to stop playing them. 3-2 in a 5 match series tells a different story than 3-0. No cricket match is ever truly a dead rubber.

 

[pcfan123]

:whip

Idiot!


... on topic though, I don't see the point in making a change to stop playing them. 3-2 in a 5 match series tells a different story than 3-0. No cricket match is ever truly a dead rubber.

haha it is a sad state of affairs for the Texans. However this brings up another good point. After 6 games into the season the Texans are usually out of contention for the playoffs but I still get to go and see other great teams like the Colts come and play.

and you are spot on about the 3-0 3-2 thing, Dead rubbers are here to stay I think.