CaliAtenza From United States of America, joined Dec 2006, 1126 posts, RR: 0 Posted (4 years 3 days 7 hours ago) and read 4468 times:
Lately ive become a big fan of cricket, especially Twenty/20. I always thought it was such a boring game, but Twenty/20 is loads of fun to watch. I think i only became a fan after i moved to india for school. I can see how Test cricket can be viewed as boring and slow (its SLOW!), but even the 50 over matches are fine. Is it cause Baseball just superseeded cricket in the states? cause i was reading up on the history and it seems like the US had a very sporting cricket history...I know they are plans now to create a twenty/20 league in the US modeled on the IPL, but i dunno if its gonna get off the ground .
David L From United Kingdom, joined May 1999, 9212 posts, RR: 42 Reply 1, posted (4 years 3 days 6 hours ago) and read 4451 times:
On this one I'm going to have to come to the defence of the USA and point out that cricket has never exactly been popular in most of the world.
People who think cricket's too boring tend to be judging it on what it is not, rather than what it is. In case anyone's in any doubt, cricket was never meant to be one or two hours of non-stop excitement. It's a whole occasion, a day or few out with something else going on. It's not unusual for people to take a book or MP3 player to a full game or generally enjoy a day talking to their mates and tune in and out of the match as they see fit. I guess a lot of people in the USA and Europe already have golf for that.
BAViscount From United Kingdom, joined Mar 2004, 2338 posts, RR: 4 Reply 2, posted (4 years 3 days 6 hours ago) and read 4443 times:
I guess my first thought was that cricket's just so depressingly boring...but then I realised that's just my personal opinion. I just have horrible childhood memories of returning from summer Sundays spent at the coast (the fact that we were returning home in the first place was bad enough), only to have my Dad insist on listening to cricket on the car radio!! Try listening to cricket on AM radio and see if you still think it's interesting!
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Imiakhtar From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 3, posted (4 years 3 days 5 hours ago) and read 4430 times:
Quoting David L (Reply 1): On this one I'm going to have to come to the defence of the USA and point out that cricket has never exactly been popular in most of the world.
Quoting David L (Reply 1): I guess a lot of people in the USA and Europe already have golf for that
I guess these are probably the main reasons.
If you look at the current list of ICC members (Pak, Ind, Aus, NZ, SA, WI etc), almost all of them were colonies for long periods of time, which allowed cricket to get established.
In the US, you have the NFL, NBA and baseball. For some of these countries, cricket is the only sport they've ever known. Most kids in Pakistan and India can hold a cricket bat before they can talk
true, but i think twenty/20 is just as exciting as baseball. Dont get me wrong, i love baseball, the nfl, nba, et all...but i think cricket has its place as well. I dont watch Test matches though, and even 50 overs are boring now.
Imiakhtar From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 6, posted (4 years 3 days 1 hour ago) and read 4357 times:
Quoting CaliAtenza (Reply 4): true, but i think twenty/20 is just as exciting as baseball. Dont get me wrong, i love baseball, the nfl, nba, et all...but i think cricket has its place as well. I dont watch Test matches though, and even 50 overs are boring now.
I agree. Twenty/20 can be just as exciting (the recent SA vs Aus were ace!), but I'm a bit of a purist myself and prefer the ODI and test matches. In 20/20, In my opinion, there's no real test of skill. It doesn't take much to swing the bat and middle it (I guess in that sense it's not too dissimilar from baseball!).
My friends seem to think I'm slightly strange in that I can spend whole summer's day (weather permitting ) at the village green watching cricket.
Unfortunately, I won't be watching much cricket this summer. The tickets for the WI vs Eng game in a couple of weeks In Brum are £60 .
StealthZ From Australia, joined Feb 2005, 5424 posts, RR: 49 Reply 7, posted (4 years 3 days 1 hour ago) and read 4348 times:
Quoting CaliAtenza (Thread starter): Is it cause Baseball just superseeded cricket in the states?
Likely, cricket was reasonably widely played in the USA before the development of modern baseball. I think baseball became somewhat of a craze in NYC around the middle of the 1850s and as that was where media etc was largely based at the time that is where the publicity was and it just grew from there.
It is not widely known that the first ever international cricket match was played between the USA and Canada, in 1844.
The first international tour by an English national cricket side was in 1859 to the United States then to Australia in 1862.
It has been mentioned, at least anecdotaly that baseball became popular with the more Irish leaning US population because it was "un English" (which is kind of funny because it largely originated in parallel with cricket in England)
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IH8BY From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2005, 1117 posts, RR: 3 Reply 8, posted (4 years 3 days 1 hour ago) and read 4348 times:
Quoting David L (Reply 1): It's not unusual for people to take a book or MP3 player to a full game or generally enjoy a day talking to their mates and tune in and out of the match as they see fit.
Or drink. A lot.
I've been working at the Test match in County Durham today, and a lot of drinking was going on, much of it by people who had dressed up in fancy dress. I think it's as much about the occasion as the cricket!
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StarAC17 From Canada, joined Aug 2003, 3211 posts, RR: 9 Reply 10, posted (4 years 2 days 22 hours ago) and read 4296 times:
Quoting CaliAtenza (Thread starter): Is it cause Baseball just superseeded cricket in the states?
That is probably the reason which is also why we play American football over Rugby. Also Cricket isn't that popular in Canada either because we are a country that baseball is pretty popular as well.
Quoting BAViscount (Reply 2): I guess my first thought was that cricket's just so depressingly boring...but then I realised that's just my personal opinion
Yeah and people who love cricket and hate baseball hate baseball because they think it is boring.
ThirtyEcho From United States of America, joined Dec 2001, 1634 posts, RR: 1 Reply 13, posted (4 years 2 days 16 hours ago) and read 4236 times:
Quoting N229NW (Reply 11): Cuz it's boring and the rules are flat out *^%$&^* impossible to understand?
OK, cricket rules are hard to understand.
Now, explain baseball's Infield Fly Rule. And don't forget the exceptions valid only on Tuesdays when a runner named O'Malley has his left foot tagging second base. the field is wet, an odd number of fans are drinking beer and it is not, yet, September.
Baseball stopped being fun when the umpires stopped wearing top hats and stopped smoking cigars.
CPH-R From Denmark, joined May 2001, 5744 posts, RR: 4 Reply 14, posted (4 years 2 days 14 hours ago) and read 4217 times:
Quoting IH8BY (Reply 8): I've been working at the Test match in County Durham today, and a lot of drinking was going on, much of it by people who had dressed up in fancy dress. I think it's as much about the occasion as the cricket!
I wouldn't be surprised if that was more to do with the weather though
Poor West Indies players, I'm sure a fair lot of them would rather be back home in the Caribbean, rather than cold, grey and windy County Durham (and of course, Captain Gayle would rather be in a third country altogether...)
TransIsland From Bahamas, joined Mar 2004, 2031 posts, RR: 11 Reply 16, posted (4 years 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 4153 times:
Quoting David L (Reply 1): On this one I'm going to have to come to the defence of the USA and point out that cricket has never exactly been popular in most of the world.
But it's popular pretty much in all the old colonies (main exception I can think of is prolly Canada), so it should be popular in the US.
I think the problem is that Twenty/20 and 50 Overs (my favourite) are fairly new additions, and for the longest time cricket meant that "long, boring game" (to this day the only form of the game that my father will accept). My guess is that Americans changed that to baseball, because their attention span simply wasn't long enough.
In fact, all games with a mass audience in the U.S. seem to be designed around commercial breaks. One reason why football (you know, the proper football, played with a ball that is generally kicked with the feet) will never be really big in the U.S. either.
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ZANL188 From United States of America, joined Oct 2006, 3244 posts, RR: 0 Reply 17, posted (4 years 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 4149 times:
Quoting TransIsland (Reply 16): In fact, all games with a mass audience in the U.S. seem to be designed around commercial breaks. One reason why football (you know, the proper football, played with a ball that is generally kicked with the feet) will never be really big in the U.S. either.
It's how the clubs make the revenue they need to pay some of the obnoxious player salaries.... IMHO it doesn't help the game any....
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David L From United Kingdom, joined May 1999, 9212 posts, RR: 42 Reply 18, posted (4 years 2 days 6 hours ago) and read 4120 times:
Quoting TransIsland (Reply 16): But it's popular pretty much in all the old colonies (main exception I can think of is prolly Canada), so it should be popular in the US.
When they see the error of their ways and come crawling back, we'll give it another go.
Quoting TransIsland (Reply 16): for the longest time cricket meant that "long, boring game"
It's boring compared to soccer or American football, yes, but soccer and American football are boring compared to a shuttle launch and cricket is less boring than golf and Monopoly to a great many people, including me. Comparing cricket to soccer, baseball, basketball or American football is just meaningless. Cricket is a completely different concept.
CPH-R From Denmark, joined May 2001, 5744 posts, RR: 4 Reply 19, posted (4 years 2 days 5 hours ago) and read 4094 times:
Quoting TransIsland (Reply 16): and for the longest time cricket meant that "long, boring game" (to this day the only form of the game that my father will accept).
The thing is, Test cricket can be awfully exciting at times as well. Just look at first two tests (which were actually played, disregaring the debacle at the Viv Richards stadium) of Englands recent series in the West Indies, the former seeing England absolutely collapse in a display of excellent bowling and the latter having an absolutely nail-biting ending.
Or the Boxing Day test between Australia and South Africa, with JP Duminy and Dale Steyn completely saving South Africas bacon in an excellent ninth wicket stand.
Or the Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka test played at the same time, where Bangladesh fought for their lives and nearly succeeded in getting a sensational win, despite starting their second innings 520 runs behind.
Sadly, all of that is spread out a bit, and I often find you end up with a contest where it appears that neither side is interested in doing much besides playing for a draw.
Personally, Twenty20 doesn't interest me very much, as it seems like 75% is just down to batsmen trying to slog as much as possible, and that eventually gets boring to watch.
Imiakhtar From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 20, posted (4 years 2 days 2 hours ago) and read 4063 times:
Quoting StealthZ (Reply 7): It is not widely known that the first ever international cricket match was played between the USA and Canada, in 1844.
Well, StealthZ's post got me thinking. A quick google revealed the scorecard on the day. Suffice it to say, there weren't many that made it to double figures
SmithAir747 From Canada, joined Jan 2004, 1599 posts, RR: 33 Reply 21, posted (4 years 1 day 20 hours ago) and read 4006 times:
When I moved to London for 3 years (2004-2007), I got really interested in cricket. Every chance I got, I watched cricket on TV.
It was not until May 2007 that I finally got to see a cricket match (it was a Test match between England and the West Indies) at Lord's. For a souvenir, I bought myself a cricket bat and a red Lord's logo ball.
I even played a cricket match once--an impromptu game in my Hall's lounge, with a makeshift bat and a barstool for a wicket. I got to bat for one over, and I got to bowl for an over.
Just like US baseball does not get beamed over to UK TV, neither does cricket get beamed over to US TV. So I do not get to watch cricket at all here in California! If it were possible, I would catch some cricket on TV. Is there any way?
I love both baseball and cricket; that makes me sort of unusual doesn't it?
Since I lived in England for 3 years, I feel it is my "2nd home country". So naturally I still have an interest in how things are over there, including cricket.
SmithAir747--still a Londoner to this day (at least at heart)!
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CPH-R From Denmark, joined May 2001, 5744 posts, RR: 4 Reply 22, posted (4 years 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 3989 times:
Quoting SmithAir747 (Reply 21): Just like US baseball does not get beamed over to UK TV, neither does cricket get beamed over to US TV. So I do not get to watch cricket at all here in California! If it were possible, I would catch some cricket on TV. Is there any way?
Depending on your internet connection, you can watch it online via http://www.willow.tv who has the rights to show most cricket online. It's a bit pricey, but they allow you to replay all the matches on-demand for a fair period afterwards.
MillwallSean From Brunei, joined Apr 2008, 1115 posts, RR: 5 Reply 23, posted (4 years 1 day 15 hours ago) and read 3968 times:
Cricket and the colonial spread of sports is quite interesting.
I enjoy Cricket, its fun to watch and even more fun to play. 20-20 is something I remain sceptical about though. I can see that its probably the sports only chance of finding a new "TV audience" but to me it doesnt quite make it.
Its rather interesting to note that football is by far the biggest sport in Britain. Nothing even comes close.
Yet football wasnt the sport that the British took with them to their colonies. Sailors and factory workers brought football it to many parts of the world but within the empire itself, where university educated servants of the empire ruled football never succeeded.
I am of course generalising a bit, football is huge in Africa, enormous in the middle east and a religion in SE Asia. All parts of the world where the empire ruled.
But
India, Pakistan, Bangla and Sri Lanka became cricket hotbeds and so did the West Indies. The West indies still has quite a bit of football too though.
Australia became everything but football (It was the southern European immigrants that reallt lifted football in that country - greeks, italians and criatians etc)... cricket is huge in Aussie, they invented their own football that caught on in most of the country and Rugby league is favoured in two Australian states where Aussie Rules didnt catch on.
New Zealand choose rugby union and so did the white people of South Africa. The SA blacks tend to be just like most of Africa completely football crazy. (The nicknames of the South African rugby and football teams says it all; The national rugby side is called "the Springboks", the national football team is called "bafana bafana"...)
Canada, well they went icehockey nuts, not to sure what that has to do with Britain but its a real good sport to watch so never mind that.
The Verdict must be that the empire failed miserably when it comes to sport.
They brought the upper class sports to the far corners of the world, rugby with its extreme boarding class background and Eton tradition became popular with farmers in the far corners of the world.
Cricket, a sport where you dress in white and have a teabreak became the sport on the subcontinent.
The British did bring football to South America and continental Europe though, mainly through sailors, so its not all doom.
Allrite From Australia, joined Aug 2007, 1409 posts, RR: 4 Reply 24, posted (4 years 18 hours ago) and read 3882 times:
While cricket may often be slow to the spectator, I personally think that its much more fun than baseball for players, especially when it comes to batting. In baseball you basically get one hit per innings. In cricket you can (hopefully) hit the ball multiple times, staying in as long as your skill allows*.
I read recently that the Belgians are supposed to have invented cricket.
* Subject to not running out of batting partners/captain declaring/match running out of time
Quoting BAViscount (Reply 2): I just have horrible childhood memories of returning from summer Sundays spent at the coast (the fact that we were returning home in the first place was bad enough), only to have my Dad insist on listening to cricket on the car radio!! Try listening to cricket on AM radio and see if you still think it's interesting!
No, that's the wonderful thing about test cricket! It gives you something to listen to on long summer drives. It's a perfect game for the Australian summer, when it's too hot to do anything much. You can leave the cricket on in the background while you do something else or just veg in front of the TV. You can look away, fall asleep, go to another room for a while and know that you have probably missed nothing, but even if you have you will see endless replays anyway.
Not like there is anything else to watch during summer anyway.
It was just a Chaser-style prank!
25 NZ107: You see, the form of cricket that is quick and in some ways requires less skill than the other 2 forms is the one in favour. A lot of people don't li
26 SA006: I've seen some REALLY boring soccer (football, whatever ) matches sometimes. Goes for any sport I guess. I thoroughly enjoy cricket soccer and rugby ,
27 LTU932: For the same reason it has never become popular in most of the world: It's too damn boring and can't even be considered a sport. Seriously, it's n
28 Allrite: I don't know how you can say the rules of cricket are difficult to understand then praise rugby. There's a reason why the latter has traditionally be
29 LTU932: In comparison, rugby is much easier to understand, especially if you also saw lots of American Football (e.g. NFL, College Football), a sport which d
30 CPH-R: I've always found the basic rules of cricket fairly simple, the only thing I've given up on figuring out is the various fielding positions Oh, and you
31 NAV20: Helluva interesting question, CaliAtenza...... I suppose that it boils down to the difference between 'Three strikes and you're out!' and 'If you mana
32 CaliAtenza: very interesting reply . I think people back home in the states would enjoy T20 cricket..especially the way IPL has been setup (similar to the americ
33 CXB77L: Law 25.1(b) The ball will be considered as passing wide of the striker unless it is sufficiently within his reach for him to be able to hit it with h
34 NAV20: Interesting this end too, CaliTenza. Baseball (like 50-over or 20/20 cricket) is 'designed' to produce a result within a timescale which suits easily
35 Mayor: In Major League Baseball, the National League still allows the pitcher to bat. In the American League, you have the "Designated Hitter" where the pit
36 LTU932: I just like to state for the record that I agree that the Designated Hitter thing is an abomination in baseball. If you play a baseball match, then p
37 SA006: Haha thats not a rule necessarily When at a stadium a commentator will state the bowler is bowling from, for example at Johannesburg, the Corlett Dri
38 Vikkyvik: Funny you mentioned that. I went to my first NFL game ever last season. Decided I probably won't go to another one. It's just a hell of a lot better
40 NZ107: But still doesn't require the pitchers to bat etc.. In cricket, generally the bowlers aren't the best of batsmen so the teams end up being evened out
41 Vikkyvik: Well, either the pitcher has to bat, or he has to be removed from the game. Most games, the starting pitcher will have at least one or two at-bats. S
42 HAWK21M: Out here cricket is extreamly popular.....I prefer the 2 minutes highlights though. I play the game too.bat well & bowl quite fast.but its been five y
43 NAV20: Thing is, Vikkyvik, a baseballer only has to hit the ball in a restricted arc - basically, in cricketing terms, "between point and square leg" . If
44 Srbmod: It definitely is a niche game in the US, mainly among those who are expats from areas like the Caribbean and the Subcontinent. Here in the Atlanta are
45 Mayor: Well, baseball has the advantage of built in commercial breaks.....between innings and also sometimes when there's a pitching change during the innin
46 RayChuang: Based on my personal memory, I think cricket was popular in many British colonies because it was considered THE sport to play at the British "public s
47 Vikkyvik: (well, except for the "both are fun to watch" part ) I think it's generally useless to compare the amount of skill necessary between different sports
48 NZ107: Now that's a game that no one really gets apart from Victorians and South Australians!
49 Bartonsayswhat: I can't belive that no one has explained this yet. It's really pretty simple. The rule was designed to stop a player, say F4 (2nd base) from intentio
50 CXB77L: You're forgetting Western Australians. New South Wales and Queensland have teams in the league as well, but they're more Rugby League country. Tasman
51 HAWK21M: For those interested the T20 World cup is days away regds MEL.
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