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The Game of Cricket

Mr. P

International Vice-Captain
Over the past couple of years cricket in Australia has been brilliant. Probably the best period we've ever had. (Exceeds the Invincibles because although they had an equal team, we've held this for longer time...) Thats why everyone is getting bored with cricket, it's too good.

Wanted to say though, why is the media and almost everyone so naive? Twenty20 is not the answer. All this tripe about Twenty20 drawing people towards the real cricket (Tests, obviously) is in my opinion, crap. I can only see the opposite happening...

And also, at least once a week now I see in the papers someone going on about how cricket is boring etc with the Aussies so good...I have a very good feeling from about 2 years from now cricket will be at its best. The Aussies will lose people to retirement, we will not be as strong, England will be the England of yesteryear and India, South Africa and possibly Pakistan will be very competitive...

Had to get that off my chest...

Read some idiotic thing in the paper this morn saying CA board may approve a 33 player round robin thing...I was simply appalled. This is cricket! This is no mindless game, this is the arty sport, this is years and years of tradition...

Anywho just felt like saying that
 

Scaly piscine

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Since when is everyone getting bored with cricket? And Twenty20 is not the answer to what exactly, global warming? Third World debt? I presume you think 4 day games getting 3 figure attendances (most of the attendees being near to 3 figures in age as well) will draw people towards 'real' cricket?
 

Langeveldt

Soutie
Yeah, cricket has been dumbed down, a bit like every other fine thing on this planet, to cater of course for the masses... I hope test cricket continues to bring crowds and excitement.. That is of course proper cricket, as is 50 over stuff.. Otherwise I will always see it as a bit of fun and not a game of cricket
 

SJS

Hall of Fame Member
Mr. P said:
Over the past couple of years cricket in Australia has been brilliant. Probably the best period we've ever had. (Exceeds the Invincibles because although they had an equal team, we've held this for longer time...) Thats why everyone is getting bored with cricket, it's too good.

Wanted to say though, why is the media and almost everyone so naive? Twenty20 is not the answer. All this tripe about Twenty20 drawing people towards the real cricket (Tests, obviously) is in my opinion, crap. I can only see the opposite happening...

And also, at least once a week now I see in the papers someone going on about how cricket is boring etc with the Aussies so good...I have a very good feeling from about 2 years from now cricket will be at its best. The Aussies will lose people to retirement, we will not be as strong, England will be the England of yesteryear and India, South Africa and possibly Pakistan will be very competitive...

Had to get that off my chest...

Read some idiotic thing in the paper this morn saying CA board may approve a 33 player round robin thing...I was simply appalled. This is cricket! This is no mindless game, this is the arty sport, this is years and years of tradition...

Anywho just felt like saying that
My sentiments exactly !!

It is the result of a cricket administration that has no clue as to what its real objectives are and how to go about it. It is a disaster in the making.
 

SJS

Hall of Fame Member
biased indian said:
if you u watched the last series Eng vs SA will u call it boring ????
I did watch it and I did not find it boring.

But what I did find and thats true for quite sometime now is the decline in bowling. It is remarkable how much bowling has declined. And how easier it is for the batsmen. With the result that not only are we seeing so many inflated bating averages in the world, but how, a slightly better bowling performance, a little bit of additional movement, a slighlty helpful track and our 'Modern day Bradmen" are all at sea.

The ICC really needs to look at this.

Bowling standards will decide batting standards. This is how it has been throughout the history of the game. Great bowling will ensure great batting to counter it.

Mediocre bowling will allow the lowered batting standards to go un noticed.

Limited over game has already put atacking bowling at a discount. this has affected the test bowling standards and the entire game. Twenty-twenty will further devalue bowling and bating will decline accordingly.

What needs to be done in all forms of the game is to innovate to reward better, wicket-taking, bowling skills. Batting will follow suit.

It has to be a game of skill that pits batsmen against bowlers, on varying conditions and wickets, not one set of batsmen against another set of batsmen with bowlers reduced to bowling machines or worse !!
 

cricket player

International Debutant
Test matches were played back in the 1880s in usa Unforunately people find it really boring in here and they changed the format to some thing special baseball.Test matches are boring but if you have a good understanding of the game you wont find it boring.

I personally loved the test match between pakistan and india in 1999 which was played in india.I believe that test match would be boring for people who support australia every one would know the out come of the game and ofcourse that is australia wining but if two level headed teams go head to head you wont probably find that boring.
 

Mr. P

International Vice-Captain
I should correct something...when I say 'everyone' is bored of cricket, I mean a lot of people...for the most part im not bored...

SJS I agree almost 100% with what you say although I must say that although batsmen are helped along by bad bowling, the current batsmen have ensured that this is one of battings best periods, a lot of superb players. (I admit however some of todays players are helped heaps by bad bowling)
 

Black Thunder

School Boy/Girl Captain
Something really has to be done. I don't know what the answer is.

How can a test series like the England-South Africa series, which was a fanstastic series, be played in front of such poor crowds.

The rules have to be bended back in favour of the bowlers. At the moment they are tilted in favour of the batsmen, meaning more people interested in cricket want to be bastmen. Therefore the standard of bowling goes down, but the batting standard doesn't increase. Because the bowling standard goes down, the bastmen do not have to bat as well.

Every recent rule change/decision in cricket has been designed to help batsmen:
- front foot no ball
- intimadatory bowling
- 2 bouncers per over
- bad light
- boundary ropes (which have been creeping in every season)
- covers
- new ball after 80 overs (480 balls) - around WWII it used to be 50 8-ball overs for a new pill.
- no lbw when hit outside off stump (not sure how recent this was)
- no bouncers (One day cricket) later reverted to 1 per over
- redicolously tight wide (one dayers)
- free hit (domestic one dayers)

combine this with the how flat and grassless pitches (especially at international level) have become, along with lightning fast outfields and modern day drainage systems (must say the latter is a good thing though) and the game has become very much in favour of the batsmen.

Also the introduction of one day cricket and the emphasis it places on bid hitting and fast scoring has meant young kids get attracted to the game through batting rather than bowling.

Something has to be given back to the bowlers, otherwise in 10 years time no one will want to bowl and we'll just have bowling machines at either end of the pitch and the batsmen trying to hit the thing for six every ball.
 

Mr. P

International Vice-Captain
As I see the two main reasons why cricket following has been on a slump are:

1/ Schedule 5000 times too heavy

2/ Domination and predictability since Aussies are in charge

Another one to factor in is the inclusion of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, because to be frank, not many people care, because they know the result of their matches...
 

Tom Halsey

International Coach
cricket player said:
Test matches were played back in the 1880s in usa Unforunately people find it really boring in here and they changed the format to some thing special baseball.
First I've heard of it.
 

SJS

Hall of Fame Member
Mr. P said:
I should correct something...when I say 'everyone' is bored of cricket, I mean a lot of people...for the most part im not bored...

SJS I agree almost 100% with what you say although I must say that although batsmen are helped along by bad bowling, the current batsmen have ensured that this is one of battings best periods, a lot of superb players. (I admit however some of todays players are helped heaps by bad bowling)
I think the best thing that has happened in the post 70's period to batting has, ironically, been thanks to the limited overs game. Batsmen have started playing more strokes. The defensive mindset of the sixties and the late fifties was what seemed to be killing the game (not the fact that the game lasted five days or three days), and the resultant no-result game it had become..

The limited overgame was introduced to bring the crowds and,thereby, money into the game. What they needed to do was bring in innovaion that would brighten the game, put a premium on attacking cricket and ensure results.

I think this attacking mind set is here to stay, what the administrators need to do is to make changes in the test format so that attacking skills of bowlers are at a premium too. It can be done and many suggestions keep surfacing time and again which need looking into.

Not covering the wicket once the game has started (except the bowlers run up and the area where the batsman stands), some changes in the leg before rule are the most common ones.
 

Langeveldt

Soutie
Tom Halsey said:
First I've heard of it.
Nah, he has a point.. It saddens me to see more Saffers watching Pro-20, than the test match against England.. Its a similar story right across the world.. Seems that guys would rather watch a "serve em up and slog em" style of baseball for want of a better word...
 

one_dayer

Cricket Spectator
Twenty20 excites people that normally would never watch a Test Match or even a One Dayer.. whenever I talk Cricket with my work mates they just spout rubbish about how boring it is, I then have to change the subject... Cricket has to compete with other sports and to do that it needs to be more appealing to the average Joe. I like all forms of Cricket but to say Twenty20 doesn't have a place is just plain ridiculous. Its going to get bigger and more popular whether you like it or not.

Why should it concern you anyhow? Its not like Test Matches are going to be replaced by it. Just dont watch it my friend.

If you go to the Twenty20 Cup site (http://www.thetwenty20cup.co.uk/) and check out the stats you will see that bowlers do infact walk away with decent figures, its all about variation and understanding the format.. In my opinion the format could be dominated by bowlers in the future. Imagine trying to hit the Aussie attack at 10 an over.. not gonna happen! :D
 
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a massive zebra

International Captain
There really is no need to be so pretentious about it. International matches between America and Canada go way back to 1844.
 

marc71178

Eyes not spreadsheets
Yes, but they're not Test Matches, and neither are the Tests he's told us he's played in.

As for the baseball thing...
 

Black Thunder

School Boy/Girl Captain
Twenty20 has it's place to attract people to the game i agree, but i don't want to see it become a mainstream part of cricket. I think the 50-over form needs to be revamped - further field restrictions, loosen the wide rules a bit, allow bowlers to bowl more overs.

I have mentioned to quite a few people my idea of allowing bowlers to bowl 12 overs and it seems quite a positive move as it would mean less all rounders in the Chris Harris style, which IMO is good for cricket - I respect Harris as a cricketer, but when his bowling stacks up with a lot of top line test bowlers it denegrates the one day game.

Just off the top of my head you could expand that idea by giving bowlers a maximum of 10 overs, but for every wicket taken they get 1 extra over.....

Where 20/20 can work for cricket is in a carnival type atmosphere at First Class level. In terms of Australia, maybe two weekends a season play a round robin 20/20 final with a final on the Sunday night in prime time on the tv.

As far as i would like it to go in terms of internationals is to be played in tour matches in non major cricketing parts of the world. So when Australia tours the West Indies, maybe play a match in Argentina and/or the USA and/or Brazil against composite Windies teams. when they go to South Africa or Zimbabwe go to Northern Africa for a couple of games, when they go to England head into Europe (Netherlands, Spain, Germany etc,.) for a few games.

I don't think i'd be too keen on seeing 20/20 cricket given official status as a form of the game though.
 

cricket player

International Debutant
Langeveldt said:
This fool doesn't even know what a test match is Marc...
First you said cricket player has a point but then you posted that i dont know what are test matches.DO you even know what you are talking about. 8-)
 

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