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What is the spirit of cricket?

silentstriker

The Wheel is Forever
Does it exist? Should it? Who gets to decide what's in the spirit of the game the rules? Why is it that our stupid sport is the only one that still has this nonsense?
 

trundler

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I've never been able to make sense of what the Holy Spirit is. He seems.. superfluous.
 

Aidan11

International Vice-Captain
Gamesmanship has been going back as far as WG Grace and beyond. Very little spirit of cricket around.
 

loterry1994

International Debutant
The whole spirit of cricket just controversial. You got heaps of things within the laws of cricket but when someone does it then it becomes controversial. You don’t get it as much in other sports
 

Coronis

Cricketer Of The Year
Does it exist? Should it? Who gets to decide what's in the spirit of the game the rules? Why is it that our stupid sport is the only one that still has this nonsense?
Its just a crutch for people to whine about things they think are unfair but are perfectly legal parts of the game.
 

SillyCowCorner1

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In baseball, I believe they call it the unspoken rule...things are at the edge of the line that you don't trample upon.
 

Kenneth Viljoen

International Debutant
Does it exist? Should it? Who gets to decide what's in the spirit of the game the rules? Why is it that our stupid sport is the only one that still has this nonsense?
It's basically a call for compassion for your fellow cricketer , it does have its merits but it does have its flaws especially against those willing to think outside the box ..
For example
I don't believe Vinoo Mankad should have got the abuse he received when he started the Mankad trend just because he knew the rules of the game .
 

OverratedSanity

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It exists in basically every major sport, it's not just a cricket thing. "Unwritten rules" are a thing basically everywhere.

And the "spirit of cricket" can be valuable. Cricket rules are made by a bunch of numpties who often times don't think things out properly and write laws that make no sense or are open to abuse. Sticking religiously to the prescribed set of rules without wiggle room is dumb. Just because people mis-use the term when they're salty doesn't mean it's a made up concept that shouldn't exist.
 
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Kenneth Viljoen

International Debutant
If you were explaining to an American , basically Spirit of Cricket is giving Michael Douglas the breakfast at 11:35 in the movie Falling Down , rather than telling him breakfast had stopped being served at 11:30 due to rules of the restaurant which proceeded to him pulling out the machine gun and making a scene.
 

Uppercut

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It’s so good for drama. Even if you think it’s total BS, you still kinda have to love it for the self-righteous meltdowns it provokes.
 

Ali TT

International Debutant
It exists in basically every major sport, it's not just a cricket thing. "Unwritten rules" are a thing basically everywhere.

And the "spirit of cricket" can be valuable. Cricket rules are made by a bunch of numpties who often times don't think things out properly and write laws that make no sense or are open to abuse. Sticking religiously to the prescribed set of rules without wiggle room is dumb. Just because people mis-use the term when they're salty doesn't mean it's a made up concept that shouldn't exist.
I think the laws of the game stand pretty well, but would be interested to understand those you think make no sense. What would you do to make things better?

Some of the playing conditions added on top for certain circumstances are less sensible and can make the game look farcical to both fans and outside observers.
 

GIMH

Norwood's on Fire
As others have said, plenty of sports have similar things.

Tbf, Football has legislated some away over the yearsby giving refs the power to have drop balls non contested but you still have the scenario where a team kicks the ball out so an injured player can receive treatment. In this scenario the other team is expected to return the ball from their throw in. Kicking the ball out has actually been discouraged, but still happens. There was an infamous incident in the late 90s where an Arsenal player (Kanu) ran onto such a throw and scored, resulting in utter carnage. In the end Arsenal agreed to replay the game such was the fallout. There was another incident a few years later where in an early round League Cup game, one team accidentally scored when returning the ball in that scenario. The other team stood aside and let them walk through to score from the kick off. Think someone like a Yeovil or Plymouth was involved.

I think cricket has more of these idiosyncrasies than other sports because of the nature of it. It’s a game where rules have been modified over the years so you can’t break it (bodyline, bowling styles etc) but there will always be some things that stick.
 

CartyDurham

International Vice-Captain
As others have said, plenty of sports have similar things.

Tbf, Football has legislated some away over the yearsby giving refs the power to have drop balls non contested but you still have the scenario where a team kicks the ball out so an injured player can receive treatment. In this scenario the other team is expected to return the ball from their throw in. Kicking the ball out has actually been discouraged, but still happens. There was an infamous incident in the late 90s where an Arsenal player (Kanu) ran onto such a throw and scored, resulting in utter carnage. In the end Arsenal agreed to replay the game such was the fallout. There was another incident a few years later where in an early round League Cup game, one team accidentally scored when returning the ball in that scenario. The other team stood aside and let them walk through to score from the kick off. Think someone like a Yeovil or Plymouth was involved.

I think cricket has more of these idiosyncrasies than other sports because of the nature of it. It’s a game where rules have been modified over the years so you can’t break it (bodyline, bowling styles etc) but there will always be some things that stick.
Happened last season when Rangers allowed an opponent to score uncontested

that arsenal one was Overmars involved?
 

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