Do warmup/tour matches have a place in cricket in the professional era?

[hendrix]

While historically warm-up matches were fun and perhaps necessary for amateur players who'd just spent 6 weeks on a boat, they are becoming near unique to cricket in the modern sporting world.

With cricket boards across the globe in financial strife, it's hard to understand the massive demand for 3-4 day matches that must be expensive in terms of pitch preparation, umpiring and ground fees yet bring in no direct revenue, solely under the name of warming up for test matches.

Is it too much to ask for professional sports people to come on tour prepared?

 

[Riggins]

They're hardly unique, every sports comp/team in the world play pre-season matches. Match practice is critical for preparation.

 

[hendrix]

They're hardly unique, every sports comp/team in the world play pre-season matches. Match practice is critical for preparation.

pre-season matches are very different from warmup games for teams on tour, though.

 

[Riggins]

I don't think they are.

 

[benchmark00]

I'm not sure I know a team sport that doesn't have warm up matches? It actually is the opposite of unique.

 

[Black_Warrior]

I think its important.. They might not make money but then you hope that the series itself would of such high quaulity that it would make enough money to cover the losses.
And you can have a series of that quality when both teams are well prepared.
I think if you ask the players 90% of them would vote in favour of them becuase its just so important to have that opportunity to play a real match without the pressures of a real match situation before you embark on a full series.
Cricket boards around the world are in financial strife for other reasons, mainly due to their own complacence and dumbness and have nothing to do with warm up games.

 

[Furball]

pre-season matches are very different from warmup games for teams on tour, though.

They're exactly the same.

Every team involved in next year's World Cup will play 2 or 3 friendlies immediately before the tournament.

 

[GIMH]

Lions always have a stack of them on their tours too

 

[Hurricane]

I guess the uniqueness of cricket that Hendrix is referring to is that you have 3 - 5 "pre seasons" a year (warm ups in different countries you tour) while the NHL, for example, just has one pre-season.

 

[Langeveldt]

I'm not sure you can replicate being "in form" any other way to be honest..

They will undoubtedly come under pressure more and more with the tighter calendar. I can see a day when there are no warm up games at all, if we haven't reached that already..

 

[Furball]

I guess the uniqueness of cricket that Hendrix is referring to is that you have 3 - 5 "pre seasons" a year (warm ups in different countries you tour) while the NHL, for example, just has one pre-season.

The uniqueness of cricket is how much of an effect conditions have.

 

[BoyBrumby]

I'd actually say cricket's genuine USP is that it allows the ball to age during the course of play.

Conditions, be they weather or the field of play, certainly have marked effects on association football and the rugbys too.

 

[uvelocity]

I guess the uniqueness of cricket that Hendrix is referring to is that you have 3 - 5 "pre seasons" a year (warm ups in different countries you tour) while the NHL, for example, just has one pre-season.

nah, seasonal league sports generally dont stop for long, so there is only one warm up 'season'

every touring sport i can think of has warmups, olympic sports have warm up tourneys, tennis, football world cup & national tours have warm ups, motorsports have testing days and days of warm ups prior to a race