Cricket Very Boring??

[HOTSAUCE2323]

Cricket has long been a sport where only about 10 countries in the world take part, they always play each other and the matches last for days.

These matches or tests are in my opinion not very enduring- the only people sweatin are the bowler and the batter, the rest of the field are just langing about with sun cream or shades.

The pace of the game is ridiculously slow, I thought Baseball was bad but compared to cricket at least theres more action and pressure on the batter to perform and the games are shorter making it more competitive.

These test matches are having a laugh, espicially when you hear that the teams equvilent of a half time break is LUNCH!! FOR A GOOD HOUR!!! I don't beleive such 'athletes' are worthy of a full course meal at the half espicially after doing basically nothing (except for the bowler, batter and batsmen) for 3 hours.

Cricket isn't not even played up and down the country compared to football, rugby, tennis and basketball- I admit it is usually played at sporty day outs but it is referred to a rounders, oh wait, thats basically baseball so I guess it doesn't count! Yet cricket gets prime time viewing and latest scores on sky sports, this is all very fair and nice but not when you see the latest scores live being reported by some jobber with about 6 people in the backround crowd- and this is at most of them county cricket games! I mean, how the hell does such a league make any revenue when you see those lame crowds!!

It is a guarentee that South Africa will play Zimbabwe and Kenya who will play Australia via England thru Pakistan and India and Bangladesh who will then play New Zealand plus the West Indies and occasionaly I see the Holland cricket team name on my screen getting thrashed by Scotland. If cricket was to at least try getting more than 10 countries involved then it would be credible as a sport instead of an excuse for a beer drinking session in the sun for the barmy fans who actually show more entertainment than the actual match.

Why don't we hear of the Brazilian or Italian, French, German, Spanish Japenese, Russian, Mexican cricket side. Obviously these countries are not interested but if the sport was promoted there ,somehow, then it would justify the use of cricket on prime time tele and sky sports news which is on all the time espicially when the tv coverage starts at 10 and ends at 7pm- thats poor.

Imagine the Brazil team complety mastering cricket and trying to take the piss out of the disciplined rugged Russians in a match of styles and most importantly entertainment plus the winner plays Fidel boys from Cuba. Match should last at least 2hours.

The reason why I post such a negative post is because I want to see what actual cricket fans think of the actual perception of cricket amonsgst young inner city lads like myself, who have got zilch out of the sport.

I would like to hear your opinions on this without lambasting me with insults, lets hear the cricket last line of defense and explain to me why cricket and the 12 countries involved are good for sport in general.

 

[Pak_cricketer]

Let me ask you a question.. How many Countries Particapate in Baseball ?

 

[aditya123]

Cricket has long been a sport where only about 10 countries in the world take part, they always play each other and the matches last for days.

These matches or tests are in my opinion not very enduring- the only people sweatin are the bowler and the batter, the rest of the field are just langing about with sun cream or shades.

The pace of the game is ridiculously slow, I thought Baseball was bad but compared to cricket at least theres more action and pressure on the batter to perform and the games are shorter making it more competitive.

These test matches are having a laugh, espicially when you hear that the teams equvilent of a half time break is LUNCH!! FOR A GOOD HOUR!!! I don't beleive such 'athletes' are worthy of a full course meal at the half espicially after doing basically nothing (except for the bowler, batter and batsmen) for 3 hours.

Cricket isn't not even played up and down the country compared to football, rugby, tennis and basketball- I admit it is usually played at sporty day outs but it is referred to a rounders, oh wait, thats basically baseball so I guess it doesn't count! Yet cricket gets prime time viewing and latest scores on sky sports, this is all very fair and nice but not when you see the latest scores live being reported by some jobber with about 6 people in the backround crowd- and this is at most of them county cricket games! I mean, how the hell does such a league make any revenue when you see those lame crowds!!

It is a guarentee that South Africa will play Zimbabwe and Kenya who will play Australia via England thru Pakistan and India and Bangladesh who will then play New Zealand plus the West Indies and occasionaly I see the Holland cricket team name on my screen getting thrashed by Scotland. If cricket was to at least try getting more than 10 countries involved then it would be credible as a sport instead of an excuse for a beer drinking session in the sun for the barmy fans who actually show more entertainment than the actual match.

Why don't we hear of the Brazilian or Italian, French, German, Spanish Japenese, Russian, Mexican cricket side. Obviously these countries are not interested but if the sport was promoted there ,somehow, then it would justify the use of cricket on prime time tele and sky sports news which is on all the time espicially when the tv coverage starts at 10 and ends at 7pm- thats poor.

Imagine the Brazil team complety mastering cricket and trying to take the piss out of the disciplined rugged Russians in a match of styles and most importantly entertainment plus the winner plays Fidel boys from Cuba. Match should last at least 2hours.

The reason why I post such a negative post is because I want to see what actual cricket fans think of the actual perception of cricket amonsgst young inner city lads like myself, who have got zilch out of the sport.

I would like to hear your opinions on this without lambasting me with insults, lets hear the cricket last line of defense and explain to me why cricket and the 12 countries involved are good for sport in general.

I cannot understand someone taking the pain to register on a cricket forum for the purpose of lambasting the game.
Cricket is very different to the `thrill-a-minute` sports like Basketball.
It is only those who understand the minute details of the game who will enjoy it.
A rivetting battle betwen a fast bowler and a great batsmen without necessarily too many runs scored could be as exciting or more exciting than a slogfest .
I would prefer that to a 0-0 draw in football which is becoming a commonplace now. The recent world cup was a very dull one indeed with teams playing the defensive way.

I guess you are from England and I would like to ask you whether you had seen the ashes last year ?
And about only a few pople turning up, I would like you to have a visit to India/Pakistan and see how big a thing cricket is in the daily routines.

 

[cricket_lover]

you may want to bid an early good-bye from this forum...

Its for people who understand the game, if you don't, go play your baseball.

 

[sid_19840]

We as Cricket fans can do nothing about whether its popular in Brazil or Mexico,thats not our concern.We have learnt to enjoy the game as even though it might take a long time for a test match to complete,the thrills it poses and the way the balance of the match turns every now and then,the more time actually makes it more entertaining.I would reccomend that if you want to be interested in Cricket you should probably start off by watching some T-20 games before trying ODI's or Test Matches.

As for your comments on a half hour lunch,Id like to see you battling it out for a session in there,its both mentally and physically demanding for all the players that are fighting it out there including fielders.In smaller games such as T-20,the break is for a shorter duration for around 10-15 mins.

Finally your argument on why other countries dont follow the sport,thats simply because they arent aware about it,their youth are not into it as other sports like football and so on.Also it needs more equipments hence cost comes into equation.

What I would reccomend you is to watch a few T-20 games,try to understand the passion and the excitment it brings and then move on to odi's or tests.

 

[sohum]

Cricket may not survive long-term being elitist, but I think its current situation doesn't demand wholescale changes. Don't mistake that the ICC is "developing" cricket around the world because it is trying hard to do this. I don't think we need 15-20 countries playing cricket, though, especially since it survives on 10 and test cricket has been revitalized.

You may find it boring to watch Australia vs Kenya or England vs Zimbabwe, but I don't find it a waste of my time to watch a Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe match if it happens to be shown on TV.

 

[irottev]

Not many sports are played by every country in the world.

Cricket is not boring. It comes in three flavors. Surely Twenty/20 at least much be interesting to you. Then you can move into the ODI's which require a bit more and then to tests.

I like it because it requires tactics. Also the statistical side. Very interesting.

 

[embi]

I used to think a bit naively like you, that cricket was a bit of a bore, and I couldn't understand it. However, that was year of 2 ago, and the Ashes really proved me wrong. You must have seen at least some of them?

Like Sid said, the purpose of Test cricket is not to smack runs as fast as you can, its to try and endure the attack of the bowler, its a long going battle between two teams. Almost like a siege. I admit that in some hours of play it can get a little tedious, but nothing is more exciting than watching the drama of a last day chase as happened at Edgbaston.

ODIs however, were designed to make the game a bit more interesting, and they do this a bit. However, they still take a whole day to complete, so they devised a new even more exciting format of the game, Twenty20.

The reason for the hour lunch break (and hour long tea break at 3:00) is to give them a bit of a break, I'm assuming you've never played in Test match (but who has here ), so wouldn't know the level of exertion required. If you even play cricket for 3 hours you'll probably get tired.
Also, cricket, having been around for a good 300 years, has a lot of traditions. I know football (soccer) has been around for quite a long time but (1) they only play for half an hour at a time and (2) its played in the Premiership by a load of chavs, who have no respect for traditions.

Speaking of playing cricket, like in most sports, its even more exciting to play than to watch. Many of us have watched on TV as the scorecard comes up, and you see that that guy who got a century took 6 hours to do it. You may wonder how you can bat for 6 hours like that, but you don't know the thrill of building up your score little-by-little, and making a century. You don't make centuries in 20 minutes in Test matches, you don't make them by spraying the ball anywhere. You have to be patient.

And on other countries playing it, its always been a pretty English sport, whereas football in the 1920s was being played all over the world, cricket was limited to mainly places in the British Empire. As the empire ended, the passion for playing cricket in those places continued, and in India it is pretty much the national sport.

I'd just like to thank you on your post, it was a good post (and a pretty memorable first post, even though it differed to my views), and it asked a valid question, which many of us were happy to answer.

 

[James219]

Not a bad first post at all, actually, even though, as embi stated above, it differs from most of our views. Fair enough, I'm sure it can seem boring through how it is portrayed on television, but trust me, facing balls rising at your head, swinging this and that way, at 120 kmh (fast for my age) is NOT my idea of a slow-paced game.....the judgement, selection, thought put into it and the execution are all demanded in a split second. With fielding, it's much more of an art than some may think; staying alert, on your toes and mentally prepared every delivery isn't a piece of cake (not to mention they years of skill development needed), even if it looks that way on tv. Certain drills you do in rep. cricket are extremely intense and complicated, so don't let first impressions fool you.
Logic in the way some view it doesn't really work in cricket, either (aka people thinking, oh, that's simple, just "bowl" it at the "wicket" and he'll "miss" it; any sport can be painted as very, very ridiculous if you twist main objectives into something really, really dumb, too)
Baseball, to me anyway, seems to be a sport built within a very limited framework, although I do respect the amount of skill demanded of its players. (It's played competitively in way more areas of the world than cricket, though, isn't it Pak_Cricketer?)
As embi said, the main cricketing nations are of the Commonwealth, and hence the countries you named don't really recognize it.

 

[andrew_nixon]

Although you are clearly trolling, the following two statements are completely and utterly false:

Cricket has long been a sport where only about 10 countries in the world take part, they always play each other and the matches last for days.

There are more than 100 cricket playing countries, and matches can last as short as 3 hours.

Why don't we hear of the Brazilian or Italian, French, German, Spanish Japenese, Russian, Mexican cricket side.

A brief look at this website will find mention of recent games played this month by the Italian, French and German cricket teams. Brazil, Spain, Japan and Mexico are all ICC members, and all but Spain have played in World Cup qualifying this year. Russia are an aspiring ICC member, and are already an ECC member.

Anyway, I'll just point that out for the benefit of the proper members of this forum, and not the idiots who come here just to troll, like the original poster in this thread. Lets not feed the troll shall we people?

 

[Davew78]

You are comparing cricket to Baseball?
Where do we start for that one. Shall we start with the fielders? They aren't 'lazing around' in the field not doing anything. In order to be a successful cricketer you must be concentrating. Every delivery. The fielders are focussed every ball, expecting the ball to come to them, otherwise a misfield might result. Or a dropped catch. Its not like they have big mitts on their hand to help catch the ball.

Batsmen also need to be concentrating every ball. They get one chance per innings to make their runs so mistakes are somewhat more critical. There have been times when i was batting that i would have preferred 3 strikes and youre out but you dont have that luxury.

Bowlers have the most margin for error probably, but if they're not focussed then they're going to go for lots of runs, and fail in their job as well.

In short, cricket is finesse, subtlety, concentration, and out-thinking your opponent. It is variation, skill and tactics.

It is not about simply trying to hit the ball as hard as you can, keep pace with A.D.D. attention spans and please the lowest common denominator of society. We leave that to baseball.

Im not telling you how to enjoy cricket. I dont think anyone can do that for any sport really, you watch it for whatever reason and you either enjoy it or not, noones forcing you to watch.

If you dont understand cricket, thats fine, but coming into a forum like this and asking that sort of question and then asking people not to tell you off?

Thats like visiting a Black Power meeting in a KKK outfit

Besides which........ Why exactly should we have to defend cricket to you?
I suggest if you want to find out about it, try playing it, rather than deriding others for enjoying it.

 

[Hamish]

Cricket boring? I would call it heresy now, but just over 2 years ago, i would have supported the idea. Being and Australian-Indian, it was naturally in my blood to play cricket, but I found it boring because I didn't fully understand the game.

But when I went to India (on my usual once every 2 year trips), i watched the India-Pak 2004 series and I played the game with friends as well, and suddenly everything changed (maybe due to the cricketing atmosphere).

Now I play cricket competitively for my school and club, and there is no other sport i would rather play.

I think the main reason cricket is boring to people is because they do not have a full understanding of the game (Including its many wonders).

And with the issue of the number of countries playing cricket, there are is an immense number of teams. Of course, it is going to take alot of time to get anywhere near the heights of football, but the ICC took the right steps with Sri Lanka, ZImbabwe and Bangladesh, and hopefully they can keep on expanding the game.

 

[embi]

Although you are clearly trolling, the following two statements are completely and utterly false:
There are more than 100 cricket playing countries, and matches can last as short as 3 hours.

A brief look at this website will find mention of recent games played this month by the Italian, French and German cricket teams. Brazil, Spain, Japan and Mexico are all ICC members, and all but Spain have played in World Cup qualifying this year. Russia are an aspiring ICC member, and are already an ECC member.

Anyway, I'll just point that out for the benefit of the proper members of this forum, and not the idiots who come here just to troll, like the original poster in this thread. Lets not feed the troll shall we people?

I don't think hes a troll, no troll would post a post as long as that. And as for the false statements he made, how many people reading this thread knew all of that? I will certainly concede that I didn't know all those countries had cricket teams. I knew that Spain had one, but I didn't know about any others.
We are not all cricket encyclopedias like you Andrew, ready to prove a noncricketing fan who is misinformed and doesn't know that much about the sport wrong. I think he was asking a genuine question of cricket fans, and noone has had a go at him, have they?

 

[andrew_nixon]

I don't think hes a troll, no troll would post a post as long as that. And as for the false statements he made, how many people reading this thread knew all of that? I will certainly concede that I didn't know all those countries had cricket teams. I knew that Spain had one, but I didn't know about any others.
We are not all cricket encyclopedias like you Andrew, ready to prove a noncricketing fan who is misinformed and doesn't know that much about the sport wrong. I think he was asking a genuine question of cricket fans, and noone has had a go at him, have they?

oh come on..... someone goes through the trouble of registering with a cricket forum to post a lengthy criticism of cricket and you think he isn't a troll!

 

[rickyp]

anyone who posts like that obviously has **** all knowledge of the game. Congrats mate! so lets ask you a few questions

How often do you play?
Have you ever watched a match?
Can you name any players?
Do you know anyone that plays?

Im gonna guess, never, no, no and guess what.... no

you obviously have some kind of lack of social life if the best thing you can be doing right now is registering on a cricket forum and bagging the sport