Noob's corner #1

[jan]

Being encouraged in the newcomer thread I got to start this cricket inquiry one. Googled and probably understood some of the answers but still would like feedback from real fans. Please remember Im new to the game and my country is not to the game at all. Here goes volume 1 of be-nice-to-your-local-noob

General:

1. Is there somebody here whose country does not play cricket?
2. How many of you play/played cricket? Play for fun or for a club?
3. Whats the status of cricket in your county? I can guess its no.1 in IND, PAK but in other cricketing countries where theres football, rugby?
4. How do cricketers compare to other sportsmen in terms of income, workload and popularity?
5. How does a sports-talented kid become a cricketer? When do they (their parents) decide and why choose cricket when there are more/more attractive sports to choose from.

Cricket formats and competitions:

1. In terms of prestige it goes Test > ODI > T20? Tests and ODIs for international matches only and T20 for both int. and domestic, right?
2. How and why those formats developed? Was it because of television for which Tests are awfully long?
3. Which domestic league is considered the best?
4. Why is cricket not an olympic sport despite its very long existence?
5. Why the first wc took place as late as 1975?

NOTE: Talked to a few Englishmen who seem to care only about Test cricket...Im almost tempted to say it could be due to the fact they have never won a world cup. Also talked to two Australians who seemed to care only about The Ashes cricket-wise...


Watching cricket:

1. How does one watch a test match? I must be nearly impossible to attend/tv watch the whole match. I doubt there is someone so dedicated that he takes almost a month off at work to watch the whole Ashes series live from stadium. I watched only Ashes 2009 official highlights and it took me a few days.
2. How do you see whats going on? Judging from the size of various venues there mus be places in auditorium where clearly nothing going on near the wicket could be seen. Binoculars perhaps?
3. Where does one watch cricket in continental Europe? I watched the wc online via ESPN Player which was made available during the time wc took place, now no coverage again. I dont dare to ask for live cricket, Id be happy with highlights.

Thanks a lot for reading, guys. Any input is welcome
Jan

 

[sledger]

As an Englishman, I would say Cricket probably ranks about 2nd or certainly 3rd so far as popularity goes here. Football is obviously the foremost popular, but then I would say it is probably a close split between international Rugby Union and International cricket for the next two places...Just how I see things as being someone from the south anyway.

 

[vcs]

Judging by your questions, you already know a lot about the game, Jan.

 

[sledger]

Judging by your questions, you already know a lot about the game, Jan.

Believe he's seeking clarification rather than totally new information tbh.

 

[four_or_six]

[*]In terms of prestige it goes Test > ODI > T20? Tests and ODIs for international matches only and T20 for both int. and domestic, right?

Prestige-wise for domestic matches you could still say first class>limited overs... but in terms of number of people watching the games, then T20s have the most viewers domestically by a long way.

[*]How and why those formats developed? Was it because of television for which Tests are awfully long?

I believe T20 developed after a quite long consultation by the ECB who were trying to get youngsters to come and watch, and also get more domestic sponsorship.

[*]Why is cricket not an olympic sport despite its very long existence?

I think because the olympics is meant to be the pinacle of the sport, and also because it is not played in that many countries. Bizarrely it was in the olympics in 1900, and France were defeated by Great Britain.

 

[Himannv]

General:

1. Is there somebody here whose country does not play cricket?
I think there are one or two on here.

2. How many of you play/played cricket? Play for fun or for a club?
Played for fun and a bit for school. Had too many other interests to persist much with the game after school.

3. Whats the status of cricket in your county? I can guess its no.1 in IND, PAK but in other cricketing countries where theres football, rugby?
I think cricket just about edges out rugby here.

4. How do cricketers compare to other sportsmen in terms of income, workload and popularity?
Compare favourably in most cases I reckon.

5. How does a sports-talented kid become a cricketer? When do they (their parents) decide and why choose cricket when there are more/more attractive sports to choose from.
All starts from school mainly I reckon. School cricket is fairly big here. Most of the cricketers here are judged by their performances as school as a basis for what they have grown up to be.

 

[Jarquis]

General :
1. I can't say I know for sure but I doubt it, I don't think there are any members based in a country not on this list : List of International Cricket Council members - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2. From what I can tell quite a few of the forum, probably the vast majority, have played at some point in their lives. Some have had a fair bit of success while doing so and played against some very good players. I just play in my local league and love it
3. Pretty much as Sledger said, in the UK I'd have cricket 3rd behind Football and Rugby Union though I do live in a particularly terrible part of the country for cricket.
4. Cricketers don't compare at all favourably with footballers in terms of income, wouldn't like to pass comment on Rugby Union but I'd assume that Union players earn more too. As for workload they're very different so difficult to compare, cricketers get basically half the year off but during the season they're playing around 4 days a week I guess, and when they're not playing they're still training. Football is obviously only for 90 minutes + training etc. God knows, if you're talking International players than I guess their workload far exceeds any footballer with the demands of touring and all that comes with it.
5. I wouldn't say their parents decide, just introduce them to the sport and if they like it then great but if they don't enjoy it then don't force them to continue with it.

Cricket Formats :
1. There is no set order for prestige, some people appreciate Tests others prefer T20 but it's generally accepted that Test cricket is the pinnacle of the sport with ODIs second in terms of International cricket. While Tests and ODIs are International only, with T20Is being the Twenty 20 equivalent, the corresponding domestic formats are First Class, List A and T20 cricket.
2. The origins of ODI cricket are before my time but T20 cricket was very much introduced with an eye on grabbing the attention of the public and the commercial side of things.
3. English County Cricket and the Australian Sheffield Shield are generally considered to be the top two First Class domestic competitions though both countries have recently abandoned the traditional 50 over List A format. In terms of domestic T20 it'd have to be the IPL.
4. Not a clue, there was some discussion about it at some point but it's not really something I've ever thought about.
5. The first World Cup didn't take place until 1975 due to the fact One Day International cricket only came into existence in 1971.

Watching cricket :
1. Highlights are your best bet, there are some very good websites out there which upload the highlights programme of each days play of a Test.
2. Some stadiums do have some sections with slightly restricted view but as far as I know there's not usually a problem in the vast majority of seats in the vast majority of stadiums.
3. Cricket Highlights World Cup 2011 | Cricket Online TV or other similar websites

 

[Magrat Garlick]

3. English County Cricket and the Australian Sheffield Shield are generally considered to be the top two First Class domestic competitions though both countries have recently abandoned the traditional 50 over List A format. In terms of domestic T20 it'd have to be the IPL.

[pedant]

the 50-over format wasn't really that traditional in England, was it? The Cup was 60 overs until 1998 and League cricket between 40 and 45...

[/pedant]

 

[Jarquis]

[pedant]

the 50-over format wasn't really that traditional in England, was it? The Cup was 60 overs until 1998 and League cricket between 40 and 45...

[/pedant]

"The origins of OD cricket are before my time"

 

[Neil Pickup]

I'll be thorough and answer everything because it's the Easter holidays.

General:

1. Is there somebody here whose country does not play cricket?
   Depends what you count as "doesn't play cricket" - you could say the Czech Republic does play cricket because it has a handful of sides and ICC affiliate membership, but given what I expect you mean, member Samuel_Vimes is Norwegian. Point of interest - we had a Czech boy keep wicket for our 3rd XI last summer.
   
   
2. How many of you play/played cricket? Play for fun or for a club?
   I've attempted to play the game much of my life - the highest level of club cricket I've attained is County Division 5 as a stand-in keeper on a couple of occasions. I'm now mainly playing social cricket and concentrating on coaching seriously at County junior level.
   
   
3. Whats the status of cricket in your county? I can guess its no.1 in IND, PAK but in other cricketing countries where theres football, rugby?
   Football stands above and beyond all here, as I'm sure you imagine, but cricket is still technically the national summer sport (although you'd be forgiven for thinking it was following football transfers). It's probably of equal precedence to rugby union, and similarly is more of a private schools game than a state schools game.
   
   
4. How do cricketers compare to other sportsmen in terms of income, workload and popularity?
   See previous answer. Centrally contracted players are on a very decent wage, but County pros are no more than soundly rewarded and certainly need to start a second career on retirement. The workload can be crazy in the summer, criss-crossing the country due to some inane scheduling, and I doubt most County pros would be recognised in the street.
   
   
5. How does a sports-talented kid become a cricketer? When do they (their parents) decide and why choose cricket when there are more/more attractive sports to choose from.
   Representative County Cricket starts at U10 level across the country (thanks to the hard work of an army of under-appreciated volunteers) but most of the boys in and around these squads are playing other sports to a decent level as well (I actively encourage this: football, hockey, rugby - it's all about athletic skills at this age). By U13 and the first of the ECB Championships, you are starting to see the players who stand astride their peers, and you can start to get an idea of who the likely pros are as the England U15 side is selected. I would imagine this would be the age where they need to start choosing, when they'll have a clearer idea how good they are relative to the other sports.

Cricket formats and competitions:

1. In terms of prestige it goes Test > ODI > T20? Tests and ODIs for international matches only and T20 for both int. and domestic, right?
   Yes, in terms of when they were introduced, and arguably yes in terms of prestige (although you will get some crazies who'll argue T20 is actual cricket). Domestic cricket functions along similar rules to Tests and ODIs in the First-Class and List A formats: FC games are generally three or four days of 105 overs, whilst List A can vary from 40 to 65 overs per side (though I can't remember the last game longer than 50 overs).
   
   
2. How and why those formats developed? Was it because of television for which Tests are awfully long?
   List A (one-day) cricket was developed in England in the 1960s because of lower attendances at FC games, and the emptiness of Sunday on the calendar as attitudes towards the weekend became more liberal. This then came to the International fold when a Melbourne (?) Test was entirely rained out, and a one-dayer was played in its stead. The story with T20 was similar: a domestic inception in England (I went to the first finals day in 2002), motivated by attendances and time frames, which then went International.
   
   
3. Which domestic league is considered the best?
   The English County Championship is the longest-established and enjoyed its glory years in the 1970s and 1980s as high-profile overseas stars played full summers in the UK. It is now a shadow of that (the biggest name this summer is possibly Usman Khawaja) but is still the longest season. The Aussie Sheffield Shield enjoyed a good reputation throughout the last decade, but has drifted away with the national side (and I enjoyed writing that). Very few other national competitions attract foreign players, and I certainly couldn't tell you much about them.
   
   
4. Why is cricket not an olympic sport despite its very long existence?
   It was, once (or possibly twice?) in the early 20th Century. France won a medal, I believe. However, the gist is that it really does take too long - althought T20 may well earn a place in years to come.
   
   
5. Why the first wc took place as late as 1975?
   As mentioned, the first ODI wasn't until around 1970, so it was pretty quick off the mark by comparison!

Watching cricket:

1. How does one watch a test match? I must be nearly impossible to attend/tv watch the whole match. I doubt there is someone so dedicated that he takes almost a month off at work to watch the whole Ashes series live from stadium. I watched only Ashes 2009 official highlights and it took me a few days.
   Are you suggesting I wasted my Christmas and New Year? It does have to be something of a pilgrimage, granted, but there's not much I'd have swapped for seeing all but every ball in Melbourne and Sydney... or having stayed up for the majority of Brisbane and Adelaide (I skipped Perth - yes - I'm a part-timer). Unfortunately work gets in the way so summer will be Cricinfo/CW/Sky Player during breaks. It becomes something you chat about generally with colleagues and kids, particularly amidst our own season where you look for coaching points to share, and it's basically constant background noise.
   
   
2. How do you see whats going on? Judging from the size of various venues there mus be places in auditorium where clearly nothing going on near the wicket could be seen. Binoculars perhaps?
   Sitting behind the bowler's arm, or at least as straight as you can - definitely not at square leg because you can't see the quicker bowlers whatsoever. Some people do use binoculars but I've never bothered - although a radio is an essential companion so you can listen to Test Match Special / ABC Grandstand and keep up with the subtleties that you might not notice. With experienc, if you know what to expect to see, you'll see it. Giant replay screens also help.
   
   
3. Where does one watch cricket in continental Europe? I watched the wc online via ESPN Player which was made available during the time wc took place, now no coverage again. I dont dare to ask for live cricket, Id be happy with highlights.
   No idea, but robelinda's Youtube videos should be compulsory introductory viewing.

 

[turnstyle]

Hi Jan, Welcome to the forums.

You haven't come across Bruce Campbell in your country by any chance?

 

[jan]

Thanks for your answers. Digesting the information now

Hi Jan, Welcome to the forums.

You haven't come across Bruce Campbell in your country by any chance?

Cheers turnstyle.
Sadly I havent met him. But I saw BubbaHo-Tep last year

 

[Daemon]

Being encouraged in the newcomer thread I got to start this cricket inquiry one. Googled and probably understood some of the answers but still would like feedback from real fans. Please remember Im new to the game and my country is not to the game at all. Here goes volume 1 of be-nice-to-your-local-noob

General:

1. Is there somebody here whose country does not play cricket?
2. How many of you play/played cricket? Play for fun or for a club?
3. Whats the status of cricket in your county? I can guess its no.1 in IND, PAK but in other cricketing countries where theres football, rugby?
4. How do cricketers compare to other sportsmen in terms of income, workload and popularity?
5. How does a sports-talented kid become a cricketer? When do they (their parents) decide and why choose cricket when there are more/more attractive sports to choose from.

1) Singapore is stuck in World Cricket League Div 5 so I guess that we qualify as a country that plays cricket. We did beat Afghanistan when they were in our division .

2) Started when I was 13 years old. Still playing and am on the fringes of U19 selection, but will probably not make it thanks to IB

3) Pretty darn low. Mostly popularised by Indian or other expats. If it was left to the others, probably no one would know a WC just took place.

4) In my school its one of the most looked down on sports, because my team is full of unfit fat ****s which gives the bad impression. Outside generally people don't respect it much because they think cricket is just about some guys throwing and hitting the ball, and not running at all. Not possible to make an income by playing cricket alone. Only if you coach or have a position in the SCC will you be able to make any sort of money. All of the national players have jobs outside, or with the SCC.

5) It's very rare that you come across a non-expat cricketer out here. Very few schools offer cricket as a sport so there isn't much opportunity for a student who may be good at cricket to actually realise his talent.

I'm actually Indian ftr, been here in Singapore for 17 years now.

 

[jan]

I have just watched my first live game of cricket ever which should upgrad my status from an e-fan to a standard fan

It was 20 overs match between two expat teams though I think I heard a few words in czech as well. Regular municipal grass field, a few flags at the boundary and a carpet-like plastic wicket on a sunny saturday. Luckily the boundary wasnt too fram from the wicket so I could see well.
I was honestly suprised how fast they bowled and how hard they batted! I imagined some slowpoke game but it was pretty fast and entertaining, especially that fat bold dude bowling and the indian-accent guys batting. Saw some nice hits, a stumping, clean bowled batsmen and a duck. Im glad I went to see the match and hopefully next weekend I will manage as well

 

[bagapath]

Welcome Jan. Hope you have a good time here.
It is Saturday night in India. Will answer your questions to the best of my ability before my wife gets ready to go out for dinner.
Disclaimer: I am already a few beers down.

General:

1. Is there somebody here whose country does not play cricket?
   
   A lot of australians participate in this forum. During the 2007-08 series in Australia, the Indian captain Anil Kumble quoted a famous line from the 32-33 Bodyline series and accused that "only one team out there was playing cricket". Since it can be safely assumed that he was not taking a dig at his own team, Australia doesnt play cricket. That means "Yes" is the answer to your question.
   
2. How many of you play/played cricket? Play for fun or for a club?
   
   I have played cricket seriously. Others have always found it funny.
   
3. Whats the status of cricket in your county? I can guess its no.1 in IND, PAK but in other cricketing countries where theres football, rugby?
   
   It is unfortunately No.1 to 10 in my country at the moment. Which means there is no real enjoyment in watching the game anymore. Cricket has simply become a television show. I switched on the morning news today and found every channel going on and on about the IPL. It is sickening, mate. More quantity on TV has resulted in less quality. Too many idiots are talking about the game and it is treated not as a sport but as a celebrity show. It is worse than the soccer craze in UK.
   
4. How do cricketers compare to other sportsmen in terms of income, workload and popularity?
   
   Workload is really heavy, because the game is played all around the year these days. Money is not as good as golf or tennis or soccer because all cricketers are paid in Indian rupees and the conversion rates don't work in their favor when they go back to richer countries. but it is still very very good of late.
   
   Cricketers are immensely popular in the sub continent. Quite popular in South Africa and Australia. Virtually unknown in Argentina and England.
   
5. How does a sports-talented kid become a cricketer?
   
   the same way as in other sports. hard work, coaching, match practice, and a bit of luck.
   
   When do they (their parents) decide?
   
   Around 8 or 9 is usually good enough. Some guys have started as late as 13 and still ended up in the national team within six years. but for a well defined game, 10 years of gradual evolution is advisable.
   
   Why choose cricket when there are more/more attractive sports to choose from.
   
   I am sorry. This is a stupid question. Cricket is the greatest, most attractive, most noble, most entertaining, most evolved sport in the world.
   

Cricket formats and competitions:

1. In terms of prestige it goes Test > ODI > T20?
   Absolutely.
   
   Tests and ODIs for international matches only and T20 for both int. and domestic, right?
   
   There are first class games that have two innings for each team like test cricket. And there are List A matches that are limited over games at the same length as ODIs without international status.
   
2. How and why those formats developed?
   
   Test cricket developed because Newton discovered gravity and Mozart wrote Symphony No.40. It had to develop as part of human evolution. It is why we Eat. Sleep. Procreate. Live. and Die.
   
   ODIs developed because in England during wet summers they had to find a way to play cricket within a good day and not always have half finished matches in between rains over a week.
   
   T20 has come about to please the less knowledgeable majority who would prefer instant gratification to a true sporting competition. It is made for people who like to watch XXX flicks instead of "Roman Holiday" or "Annie Hall".
   
   Was it because of television for which Tests are awfully long?
   
   Tests are long because human life is about 60 years long on average. We have the time to do great things that take time to finish.
   
3. Which domestic league is considered the best?
   
   At various times England and Australia. It could still be Australia. We have to see how many new players come to their national team and succeed before we could be sure of that.
   
4. Why is cricket not an olympic sport despite its very long existence?
   
   Because Olympics has to finish in about 14 days and you cant even have three tests back to back in that time.
   
5. Why the first wc took place as late as 1975?
   
   
   ODIs became official only in 1971. Also, there weren't enough cricket playing nations for a long long time for a tournament to take place. All British colonies had to gain independence before their cricket teams could develop fully even though they had started to play test cricket under British rule.
   

NOTE: Talked to a few Englishmen who seem to care only about Test cricket...Im almost tempted to say it could be due to the fact they have never won a world cup. Also talked to two Australians who seemed to care only about The Ashes cricket-wise...

You are lucky to have to met really smart guys. Hang out with them more often than T20 fans, unless the T20 fans are hot looking chicks. In that case, screw the test cricket fans and take the girls out.

Watching cricket:

1. How does one watch a test match?
   
   Initially watch whole games on TV if you can. The commentary will help you in learning the nuances. Then you will learn to keep track of test match scores even on busy days without missing out on work/classes. It just take a while to get the knack of paying attention and switching off depending on the flow of the game. And of course, dont miss the highlights at the end of the day.
   
2. How do you see whats going on? Judging from the size of various venues there mus be places in auditorium where clearly nothing going on near the wicket could be seen. Binoculars perhaps?
   
   Sit right behind and above the bowler's hand at either end of the wicket. If you are at the ground with those hot chicks it doesn't matter where you sit. What matters is that they sit on your lap, like sir Allen Stanford made them do in Antigua few years ago.

 

[vcs]

Haha, epic post.

 

[jan]

Cheers, bagapath.
Thanks for insightful and entertaining reply :-)