Are you enjoying watching cricket?

[JackOutback]

The Big Bash is really the only form I enjoy at the moment.

Test cricket has been a bore on roads. ODI is just meaningless, as is T20i.

Like someone mentioned above, I love watching bowlers go about their business more than bats and I don't subscribe to the idea that the BBL is all about bats. Quality bowlers are vital - it's why Scorchers have been so dominant over the years.

I think the nature of T20 promoting the batsmen taking big risks is exciting from a bowling perspective. You get a real battle between bat and ball because the batsman isn't looking to bunt to square leg for a single. Economy rates are higher in T20 but it's all relative.

I agree that T20 can still be a contest between bat and ball, you simply have to adjust your expectations of what constitutes a good over. Seeing a bowler restrict a team to five or six in an over, when they have been going at 10-12, is quite enjoyable.

 

[Cleavy]

it's just a thing to watch, but I'm not emotionally invested in the participants.

 

[iluvparis]

The ODI series has been a complete and utter joke. Basically unwatchable.

I'm almost tempted to say I won't watch another ODI until a team in Australia gets bowled out for under 200.

The sad indictment of what's happened to cricket is that I really don't even GAF if a batsmen scores a century any more. It's almost like 150-200 is the new 100.

 

[Leeda]

Um do we want more matches, or more runs, or else more equal competition?

Just can't stand the complete whitewash of some games and then the latest games between India and Aus are
rippers because they are close.

Is there some kind of betting where things are riding on the last two wickets with maybe ten runs to go and two fours are hit
and well anyone knows what will happen for the last ball.

I kind of want the close competition rather than a slack jawed opposition just making up the numbers.

 

[Seagrave_Holmes]

I was never interested in the T20 and couldn't give a rats about it but I've been watching the Big Bash almost every night it has been on this summer. Certainly more entertaining than the tests (Adelaide being the exception) and ODIs over the last couple of years. Watching us bat first and declare 3 wickets down for 500+ in tests is a complete snooze fest and does nothing to help our bats improve in bowler friendly conditions.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

I still enjoy it, and when a bowler manages to produce the goods in the conditions you know they have bowled really well.

I do prefer to see batsmen have to fight for their runs, but still being able to punish bowling that is not good. A century means something when a batsman has to play themselves in and has to work to stay on top of the bowling. So often they can hit through the line from ball one, and concentration slips result in edges for four or six rather than edges to the keeper.

Its still a battle of bat and ball, but expectations have to upped for batsmen and downed for bowlers. Especially in the 50 over game. Going for 55 or 60 off ten overs used to be almost unforgivable, both from the bowler and from the captain for having the guy bowl out his ten, now its a pretty solid result for a bowler. For the short games, which are about quick runs

In Tests, though, regularly going for half a day's play with no expectation of a wicket is not good for the game. Its not going to change any time soon in Australia. CA can't risk having oppositions bowled out on bouncy decks, or Australia being Trent Bridged on a surface with even the slightest life.
Until we start having Shield decks that do something, and batsmen still coming through with 900+ runs a summer into the Test side, the Test pitches in Aus won't be changing.

 

[footyfan1978]

Enjoyed the cricket when it is good quality. I must admit I do not value the runs I see batsmen score in all forms of cricket as much in recent years as I know with bats made to make ball go a lot longer, ropes in and pitches of little variety to assist bowlers that expectations of what batsmen scores will be have to be a lot higher. This is a bit of a trough in terms of quality cricketers around the world at the moment. There just is not enough world class pace bowlers around at moment to excite me as much as some other eras. These are just cycles but what does concern me is if all the wickets are drop in pitches and have such little diversity which seems to be happening. That is not a cycle. That is a change in how wickets prepared. Really not sure it is good for the game overall.

As for the three formats of cricket. I am quite happy the balance of Tests, one dayers and T20's. They are playing the Big Bash at right time with right amount of teams. Just need to tweak some of timing so ODI's and Big Bash fit even better together so can get more of the best players on the field in both forms of game. Internationally I still think we should get back to something like each nations only playing about twenty one day internationals a year. Only five in Australia this summer is about right. I'm not sure I care enough about T20 internationals yet. Quite happy if T20 cricket is all about domestic franchises and leave it at that. Maybe the Big Bash final is played before the five one day internationals or we play one day internationals straight after the Matador Cup early in summer and put back Gabba Test by a week or two.

 

[psychobrown]

Quite simply, yes.

 

[swingdog]

No, I know it's my age and I know it goes in cycles but the game is so biased towards the batsman now it's boring. Would love to see modern batsmen try and cope with facing a peak West Indies attack.

The danger that was present in that era made batting much more challenging. It's why cricket stats are so misleading - a century against Marshall, Holding et al. is worth double whatever Warner pounds out on a net pitch in Perth these days.

 

[ioppolo]

I remember when Symonds and Ponting destroyed Sri Lanka at the SCG in 2005/6 and scored 350ish. It seemed MASSIVE at the time. Now it's like scoring 300 used to be. Ridiculous. Give me a game where a team grinds their way to 235 and actually has a shot at defending it. I also miss the old "enforcer" opener whose job was to bat through for 120* off 140.

 

[Kram]

Around 220 used to be a 'good' score when I was a kid.

 

[Noobz0r]

Give modern batsman a bat from the 80's and see how they go.

 

[Gough]

As shit as the Tests were this summer, all six were easily more memorable than any other game played this summer.

 

[iluvparis]

there was a stat earlier showing this will be the 5-match ODI series with the most runs scored in the history of cricket. Not only that - there has been about 25 less total wickets in this series than in any other show in the top 5.

in fact - it is very likely that there will be more 6s scored in this series than wickets taken.

anyone who doesnt think this is a complete disgrace has their head in the sand

 

[PTizzle]

I still enjoy it, but I don't care nearly as much as I used to which is sad. I hate what test cricket has become when we're playing at home, the rare crackers we have seem to be despite the pitches rather than partly because of them. I know some enjoyed it but that WACA test against NZ was so dull that for parts of it I was just flicking through Cricinfo instead of watching it when I was at home.

I've noticed I catch up with my mates to watch the cricket a lot less nowadays too - the allure of watching a day of test cricket together is as low as I can remember.

 

[ioppolo]

Haven't watched **** all of the ODI series. Been mainly BBL since the NZ series ended. Worst summer in a long time.