Introducing cricket to a new country and audience

[atisha_ro]

I'm from Romania. Discovered cricket during the World Cup and got hooked on it - reading the news every day, watching as much as I can (even today the first two sessions of the Manchester Test)... and as a journalist I thought of getting this wonderful sport on screen here. We have some 5 sports stations - 3 FTA and 2 PPV - and there might be space for it.
Fact is, cricket is almost unknown here (football and handball being the top sports). We have a national bat-ball sport but it failed into oblivion. What would be the steps to make?
I'm keen of commentating the first TV broadcasts of cricket, since i got some knowledge and understanding of the game, but i have to ask what the best approach would be.
The event I consider better suited to kick off the cricketing market in Romania would be the Twenty20 World Championship - short matches, show enough, a good hook point to give a taste of the game to newcomers. And maybe next year the Ashes (sweet dreams).
Of course the first commentaries will have to be done in the studio.
How do you think we can make cricket an option, given that some here spoke about too much "globalisation" of the game"?
And what makes a good commentator in a virgin cricketing country, so to say?

[Richard]

Haha, no-one's talked about too much globalisation - just that some people have an inflated idea of how much it can be done. Only way to find-out is to try - good fo yo for taking the first steps in Romania.

As far as commentary goes, all I'd say is: keep it simple, try and make sure you convey your own understanding and project it onto the listeners.

If you managed to get hooked on this WC, too, congratulations, that must've been quite an effort! See if you can find anything from the 1992 and 1999 Cups, which were both excellent and infinitely better than the last two.

[sohummisra]

It is indeed heartening to see a newcomer in cricket from a country where it is not traditionally played. If you do not mind me asking, how did you manage to catch cricket? I hope it was not from those illegal broadcasts on Youtube that the ICC is striving to get rid of for the fear that their corporate 'clients' will stop 'paying' them.

As for Twenty20, that would be an ideal way to get a nice hook into the game, although there are two lines of thinking. One line of thinking is that you should start with the longest form of the game before introducing the shortest form. The other line is start with the hook and generate the interest. I like parts of both but I think for Romania the latter works better. If you can get sufficient interest, and perhaps showcase a couple of big games (India v Pakistan first round, this time ) you may be in business. I'm not sure that sports channels would risk televising an entire tournament of a sport that is not already well-rooted.

As for commentary, ideally you would want someone who has experience spreading the game to commentate on it. This way, they would have experience dealing with the teething issues and the various rules of the game. If you have sufficient understanding of the game, I'm sure you would be great, although it would be nice to have someone alongside you who you can always fall back on given that cricket is indeed a funny game. If you manage to rope in someone who has too much experience given commentary, though, they may forget their target audience.

[atisha_ro]

i managed to watch much of the World Cup online, by streams. supported new zealand
well, semifinals and final should be a minimum, super 8's a miracle if someone is willing to take the risk.
my idea was to have an experienced broadcaster at my side, who knows something about the game but not much, and will discover its finesses on the run. it would make some good commentary and give it a "conversion" flavour.
and if i could be hooked, i know it can happen to many more.

P. S. YouTube is good for a "video history book", if anything.

[Samuel_Vimes]

Originally Posted by atisha_ro

I'm from Romania. Discovered cricket during the World Cup and got hooked on it - reading the news every day, watching as much as I can (even today the first two sessions of the Manchester Test)... and as a journalist I thought of getting this wonderful sport on screen here. We have some 5 sports stations - 3 FTA and 2 PPV - and there might be space for it.
Fact is, cricket is almost unknown here (football and handball being the top sports). We have a national bat-ball sport but it failed into oblivion. What would be the steps to make?
I'm keen of commentating the first TV broadcasts of cricket, since i got some knowledge and understanding of the game, but i have to ask what the best approach would be.
The event I consider better suited to kick off the cricketing market in Romania would be the Twenty20 World Championship - short matches, show enough, a good hook point to give a taste of the game to newcomers. And maybe next year the Ashes (sweet dreams).
Of course the first commentaries will have to be done in the studio.
How do you think we can make cricket an option, given that some here spoke about too much "globalisation" of the game"?
And what makes a good commentator in a virgin cricketing country, so to say?

I hope you can make it work! Something very similar happened in Norway a few years ago - the state broadcaster NRK broadcasted 6 hours of cricket with the final of the NatWest Series in England in 2004. Unfortunately, they had almost all the bad luck they could get; the game was a woeful mismatch, only made into a contest by the rain, and the hosts were out of the tournament leading to low enthusiasm among the crowds. (Also, it was a rather pointless series. )

I've uncovered the email address of the commentator for that game, in case you want some hints from someone who has been through it - he was pretty good I thought (but then again, I was already a fan by that time), tried to explain what happened as well as trying to explain why one team was struggling so badly. However, it can't have been good enough, because the experiment was never repeated (despite the fact that they have lost football coverage, so have so much time devoted to sport they sent the entire Giro d'Italia)

[sohummisra]

Originally Posted by atisha_ro

i managed to watch much of the World Cup online, by streams. supported new zealand
well, semifinals and final should be a minimum, super 8's a miracle if someone is willing to take the risk.
my idea was to have an experienced broadcaster at my side, who knows something about the game but not much, and will discover its finesses on the run. it would make some good commentary and give it a "conversion" flavour.
and if i could be hooked, i know it can happen to many more.

P. S. YouTube is good for a "video history book", if anything.

That's pretty much how I watched it this time around. Also, I'm not sure how the format for the Twenty20 World Cup is... I always assumed it was a knockout variety with quarterfinals instead of Super 8's. :|

As for YouTube, I was just taking a dig at the ICC. Looks like the French tennis and football federations joined them today, though.

[Samuel_Vimes]

Originally Posted by sohummisra

That's pretty much how I watched it this time around. Also, I'm not sure how the format for the Twenty20 World Cup is... I always assumed it was a knockout variety with quarterfinals instead of Super 8's. :|

Twenty20 WC format:

1st group stage: Four groups of three - two best through to second group stage, don't carry forward result since group partners from first stage don't face each other.
2nd group stage (could be called Super Eight I suppose): Two groups of four. Top two to semi-finals.

Then knock-out.

[sohummisra]

Originally Posted by Samuel_Vimes

Twenty20 WC format:

1st group stage: Four groups of three - two best through to second group stage, don't carry forward result since group partners from first stage don't face each other.
2nd group stage (could be called Super Eight I suppose): Two groups of four. Top two to semi-finals.

Then knock-out.

Ah, cannot discount the ICC from trying to squeeze as many games out as possible.

[steds]

Jamee Gray to reply. Loves his Romania.

Hate it being called the Manchester Test. The ground has a name.

[atisha_ro]

bad luck for the NRK.
i think one should wait for a really good event (a series between Australia, England or India, any 2 of the three) to make it a start. A world-cup competition is perfect too.
and i guess much of the commentary has to focus - in first-time broadcasts - on cricket stories, giving away some of the fascination which surrounds the game.
for example i love the story of The Don getting bowled in his final Test. and seeing him bat in the nets, in a short clip, was a thriller.
or some of the sledging classics.
one has to use imagination, i guess we Latins are good at that.
sorry about "Manchester Test" but Old Trafford has much of a football note with me. i'll be more careful.

[Perm]

Great to see that cricket is reaching out to those people in countries we don't traditionally associate with cricket. I think we've got Norway, Italy and now Romania. Awesome stuff!

[Goughy]

In the book 'Slogging the Slavs' Mr Bell (cant remember his first name) is on a cricket tour of Eastern Europe and he visits Romania. He points out that they are not Slavs and he tries to play there but to no luck. He does mention that people occasionally play at the American International School so there are a few other cricketers there.

Also he tries to watch cricket but obviouly the only place is on illegally hooked up Sky TV

[atisha_ro]

well I wonder if the ICC would have discounts on TV rights for new, first-time broadcasts in "virgin" countries. this to link with your last line.
I try to figure out what it takes to bring cricket in a new territory - in the media at least - and what would be my chances for a strong case when facing some TV directors with the issue.
It sounds like Don Quijote... but hey, i love that book.

(even had a kind of Dulcinea some years ago).

[NZTailender]

Originally Posted by atisha_ro

i managed to watch much of the World Cup online, by streams. supported new zealand

Best guy. Welcome to the forums.

[Smudge]

Always had a soft spot for Romania - mainly because of their female gymnasts when I was a wee fella - and this bloke adds to it. Just for your support, our All Blacks will go gentle on your rugby team at the World Cup this year.

Maybe.