Has Cricket lost it's soul?

[Zarrix]

I write this as my interest in cricket is at a nadir. I didn't even know that there was a test match starting today, until I flicked over to fox sports on the television at my university. I seen an almost empty ground, in crickets apparent stronghold, India. The most grueling format of the game, and not a soul is interested. I didn't appear that interested either. I wonder, has a perfect storm of events and decisions eroded the soul and the essence of the game of cricket?

I only have to think back a few years ago, 2001's India/ Australia series to see the sport at it's very best, in the context of these two teams. I was only eleven years old, but that was a great time, following every ball of that great series. Fast forward 9 years, and I barely even care. Even think of the 2005 Ashes as another yardstick.

The ICC have themselves to blame for this lacklustre situation I think. Firstly, the plethora of needless games has eroded away the relevancy of most contests. How many one dayers have Sri Lanka and India played in this last year. Far too many. Was anyone really interested in the ODI's last summer?

As an indicator of how far the 50 over game has fallen, does anyone give a shit about the 2011 World Cup? I don't think I will be watching it. Same with the 20-20 world cup held every 18 months it seems. It's overkill, and it sure is killing.


Secondly, they are an organisation that is genuinely gutless, seemingly unwilling to take the hardline action whenever scandals emerge. The Pakistan- England fracas has just been allowed to roll on and continue on it's destructive course, with no intervention from the governing body.

The series' against South Africa perhaps disguised some of the potentially fatal frailties of the game and it's governing. A good Ashes series might do the same this summer. But I can't get over the fact that I think that the game is dying right in front of our eyes, and it saddens me. And I think it is more than just a temporary lull due to the lack of an A grade team. The only people to blame here it seems are the ICC, their incompetency and their unwavering greed.

 

[dirtyratz]

I tend to agree. Funny thing is, 20/20 is destroying elite international cricket, yet I am really looking foward to the domestic 20/20 comp, perhaps more so than the actual Ashes, kinda like looking foward to the footy season.

One dayers are finished, forget about them.

Test cricket, to me is still the pinical of the sport, but when only a few thousand are at the game in the sports strong hold of India, then something is seriously wrong.

 

[outabounds]

you guys are spot on. Its really sad because you do not have to be a Test quality player to succeed at 20/20. Hopefully the Ashes will ignite some passion for test cricket this summer.

 

[rickyp]

bingo, used to long for the summer of cricket, now I couldn't care less. Its the Ashes, we're looking to regain them, I don't care. I'll go on Boxing Day, but only out of habit.

 

[krisholio14]

Yes it has, thanks largely to the hit and giggle that is 20/20.

 

[HSSB]

I can't wait till the Ashes myself, but then again I cannot wait for the domestic 20/20 season as that was great last year.

I used to hate test cricket, but in the last few years I have grown to love it, staying up amazingly late just to watch the Ashes was fun, last years test series were average though and the ODI's are just sh*t now

 

[Papa Juggs]

One thing killed cricket and nothing else.

The deal to make sure it stays off free to air.

Nobody is going to pay money to watch sports that are already sucking in millions of dollars in sponsorship. People see it as greedy and just don't watch at all.

 

[Phone]

cricket lost it's soul when it turned professional.

 

[Ill Chicken]

Blame T20? Hardly. Blame the administrators, blame the lack of a proper FTP, blame TV stations that aren't willing to support it and blame the lack of money in the longer formats.

 

[Zarrix]

Blame T20? Hardly. Blame the administrators, blame the lack of a proper FTP, blame TV stations that aren't willing to support it and blame the lack of money in the longer formats.

I agree, I think 20/20 can be a great asset for cricket, I think it's invention and implementation has been handled incredibly poorly, mainly regarding the ICC's unwavering and startling support for the one day game.

 

[King Elvis]

I blame the ICC.

 

[dr nick]

I blame the ICC.

correct.


Domestic T20 is the best innovation over the past 2 decades though.

 

[Dr Awkward]

For the moment Cricket has lost its soul. For a multitude of reasons but mainly due to poor administration. Unfortunately the ICC have lost sight of some important aspects of the game.

Here are 6 things that the ICC can do to help cricket get its soul back:

Firstly: Prepare better test cricket pitches. It is ridiculous to play cricket for 5 days without weather interruption and not get a result. Pitches on the subcontinent make for boring cricket. They don't offer a good contest between bat and ball. You don't have to work hard enough to hit runs. I know they think they need matches to go for 5 days for TV money but even more than that they need matches that are interesting and competitive and end in a result.

Secondly: Get full crowds. The current test in India is too hard to go to for locals. Not only are the tickets stupidly expensive but you have to provide a 'security pass' which is a b*tch to get in order to get in. And the stadium is in a poor location. It is a ridiculous situation to have where there are proabably 250 million people watching the game in the world and the stadium is empty. This happens way too often. Just make tickets cheaper and get people in. It's better for everybody.

Thirdly: Better scheduling. Test series against India should not be two tests. Australia and India have a great rivalry and offer great cricket we should be playing 5 test series against them. Why are we playing Sri Lanka in some ODIs and T20's as preparation for the Ashes?? Stupid. A grab for some quick cash. Think of the sport first and cash second. Keep all matches meaningful and avoid useless international matches with no soul.

Fourthly: Get rid of ODI's. Its kind of sad and I like them more than most people, but I have finally realised that this needs to happen. Three formats is too many and does not provide enough focus for fans. ODI's are just so forgettable now. It's time to say goodbye and yes in the short-term money will be lost but it has gotten to the point where ODIs are detracting from the other formats too much.

Fifthly: Maybe keep T20 as a franchise sport. I tend to agree with the people who are not blaming T20. T20 is a good franchise sport but it doesn't seem like a good international sport to me. I would seek greater cooperation between the IPL and ICC and perhaps keep the T20 world cup and a handful of other things but avoid overschduling it for international games.

Sixthly: Stop treating the sport like it is a corporation and start treating it like an actual SPORT. Cricket is a game that was created 150 years ago and we are all custodians of it. It does not exist to make money or for any commercial reasons. It exists for the community and for people to play and watch. Cricket would be nothing without players and fans. They come first, admin comes last. Administators are obliged to be accountable to fans and what they want.

 

[Howard Littlejohn]

It is sad that cricket has lost its ay so badly. T20 has accelarated this, but Test cricket has been a poor performer onthe sub-continent for some time. That isn't helped by playing these matches where they are played. Would crowds have been better in Chennai and Kolkota? Eden Gardens, cricket's highest capacity and India's numnber one ground, has held just six Tests in the last 10 years.
Yes, an India-Australia series deserves more than two Tests, but two is better than the zero originally slotted in.

I do think the days of 50 over cricket are numbered, and in some ways that's not a bad thing. Both 20 and 50 over cricket are bastardised versions of the sport, and 20 has some logistical advantages such as ensuring both teams bat in the same lighting, either natural or artificial, rather than a 50 over day/night game. It also has some distinct disadvantages in that the opportuity to build an innings or build pressure on a batasman doesn't exist.

A few things I feel need to be fixed:
- No limited overs only (20 or 50 limit) tours apart from World Cups if they are to continue to exist. And if World Cups are to exist, bringing back their running time to no more than a month.
- Every Test series to be a minimum of three Tests, where teams are ranked close to each other five.
- Dead rubbers, whether limited over or Test, to no longer be played. This isn't so much a direct quality of or interest in cricket thing as a recognition of what destruction bookmakers can do, and allegedly are doing, to the integrity of the sport. Surely in a dead ruber the temptation for players to do the wrong thing increases; or more accurately, for those tempted the reasons not to give in are diminished.
- Scheduling revamp. The Future Tours Program is a great idea, when nations stick to it.
- The game's authorities recognising Test cricket as the ultimate of the sport, even though it doesn't bring in the dollars of other formats.
- A defined pathway for the second tier nations. Currently what has to be done to become a full ICC member is not spelled out anywhere. Along with this, funding to allow these nations to play regular first class and ListA cricket against counties, startes, provinces, etc. Ireland playing NSW might not bring in the people, but it would be a big step in getting Ireland (or Afghanistan, or Zimbabwe again) ready for Test cricket.
- The ICC has a format in mind for a Test championship over a number of years. This could be a good thing, but it appears they are going with one Test home and away against each opponent in a four year period and a one match final - which would make it a huge step backwards (and leave the way open for lucrative 20 and 50 over cricket, so no doubt it is what will happen much to the detriment of the sport).
- IPL, Champions League, etc, windows to be negotiated so that we don't get the ridiculous situation where players are coming from T20 straight into a Test series with barely enought ime for travel in between, as happened for this India-Australia series.
- Locally, scheduling changes to allow international cricketers to play Shield cricket occasionally, games in regional venues to be played on days where they are not competing with an international on TV, and more games in regional venues (but teams must play each format on the main venue in each state every second year at worst, ie Tasmania could not be scheduled to play in the Shield at the Gold Coast one year and Cairns the next).
- Again locally, Tests to start on Fridays again, rather than Thursday - Melbourne and Sydney have other ways of setting dates so that is for the other venues. So often by the Sunday the game is but over as a contest. It won't happen but I'd like to see Australia look at a seven Test home summer (either split 5 and 2, or 4 and 3, depending on the two opponents), with Tests 6 & 7 shared between Newcastle, Canberra, Gold Coast, Hobart.

 

[King Elvis]

correct.


Domestic T20 is the best innovation over the past 2 decades though.

Agree completely.

T20 should be the mainstay limited over for domestic cricket, because there just isn't the interest in 50 over domestics. International ODIs though, if they actually managed them properly (and didn't have ~350 run pitches all the time), would still be hugely popular; and they should be played as the lead in to a Test Series, while interest is still high.

I'd ideally play 5 ODIs, then 3 Tests (5 for the Saffers/Poms/Indians), then 7 T20 games.

One of the above posts mentions the shit wickets - that's also a huge factor; I'm so sick of seeing games played on roads where both teams make 400+ in the first innings, and it just meanders along to nothing unless one bowler can pull something crazy out of his anus.

It's so stupid as well; the rational is they want 5 days to maximise their income - yet wouldn't they rather 4 days where it was well attended and rated highly because people were actually excited and interested in the result?

Stop treating the sport like it is a corporation and start treating it like an actual SPORT. Cricket is a game that was created 150 years ago and we are all custodians of it. It does not exist to make money or for any commercial reasons. It exists for the community and for people to play and watch. Cricket would be nothing without players and fans. They come first, admin comes last. Administators are obliged to be accountable to fans and what they want.

This is so bloody right.

When the Poms and the MCC (and us by extension) were in control of the game, Cricket itself was the primary concern.

Now, the pricks in India use Crickets as a means to feather their own beds, and they don't give a shit about what they do to the game itself.

 

[jiphoc]

Any of this seam familiar to any of you? How about because it was the same "test cricket is dying" crying out when the Super Series first came in. What is the difference then between that and 2020? Both separate organisations playing cricket for money.

Then people blaming India. Back in the early 2000's a lot of security concerns and concerns over people bribing their way into the grounds and causing over crowding. This has lead to a dramatic increase in security during test matches and thus higher ticket prices to pay for it. However you can guarantee that outside the ground 1 billion people will be watching the game, spending money on the game and genuinely keeping the game afloat (yes test cricket).

If you want to be technical then if you say 2020 and India has killed cricket then you are simply saying that cricket had already lost its soul back in the Super Series beginnings as that came first. Besides if test cricket was in such a bad state then why is India asking ever series now do be changed into having more tests being played? Why is the ICC spending millions and millions into the game?

 

[Cousin Jed]

Besides if test cricket was in such a bad state then why is India asking ever series now do be changed into having more tests being played?

They are?

 

[Ill Chicken]

They are?

Yeah, two test series at home so they can maintain their number one ranking.

 

[Johnson#26]

Wish they'd ditch T20 cricket. Play it once a summer, and that's it. It's actually boring to watch, 9 times out of 10. Blowouts galore, less skill and wherewithal required.

TBH it's boring to have an Aussie team with the likes of North, Hauritz, Haddin, Watson, Clarke and Johnson. They're all overrated, duds or boring. Hussey, Katich and Punter are the only ones worth watching, and the only ones who put a proper price on their wickets. Bollinger's ok, too.

It's just so uninspiring. I wouldn't mind if we had different players in, who had a bit of spunk about them and, I guess, a bit of warmth about them (in a public sense). I loved the Aussie side from 00-Jan07, because they had interest and charisma (as well as being champions). Now it's just boring city.

Not to mention the fact that the opposition are also so vanilla.

 

[jiphoc]

Yeah, two test series at home so they can maintain their number one ranking.

I could be wrong, but I do not think they where in a position to loose the number 1 ranking this tour. The South African tour a while back was similarly changed and the winner of that had the number 1 ranking. The only outcome out of this game is Aussies I believe sliding to 5th (someone clarify as cbf checking) if they loose.

 

[TheGoatBaron]

correct.


Domestic T20 is the best innovation over the past 2 decades though.

That's the thing I think.

20/20 Cricket is good at a Domestic level, because it pulls in the crowds, but not so good at International level, because of the fact, you see players retire from Test cricket before they're well over due to retire to play in the IPL.

20/20 Cricket is killing the game at International level, it should only be played at Domestic level.

These days, I prefer to watch Domestic Cricket rather than International Cricket these days.

 

[OzBomber]

Completely agree. Only 2 years ago I would stay up all night to watch Australia player the West Indies in meaningless dead rubber tests as we would absolutely thump them, and I loved every minute of it.

I could sit on the couch all day and be transfixed by test cricket, watching ball by ball. Today I still care, but hardly as much as I used to. I've watched a little of the current test, but for the majority it's just been a case of checking the scores every hour or so.

The Ashes will be completely different, but gone are the days of interest levels as high as it was back in 2005 where everyone, even those not very interested in cricket were talking about the series despite it being played on the other side of the world. Gone are the days where we would get 70-80,000 to ODIs and the first day of the Boxing Day test. It's a real shame. However you have to admit that pre 2007 we were blessed with an amazing era of cricketers, absolute guns which could play entertaining cricket in all forms. Like Johnson said, our current team is pretty dull and boring to watch and do lack the flair of previous sides.

I for one completely agree with the T20 overkill. I'd prefer it was kept domestically (by domestically I mean in your own country) and to the absolute minimum with the amount of matches. 1 T20 for the summer and no more of this IPL rubbish.

I will always love cricket and test cricket, but whether others want the same thing is up to them.

 

[Dr Awkward]

TBH it's boring to have an Aussie team with the likes of North, Hauritz, Haddin, Watson, Clarke and Johnson. They're all overrated, duds or boring. Hussey, Katich and Punter are the only ones worth watching, and the only ones who put a proper price on their wickets. Bollinger's ok, too.

I agree with you that our team is pretty boring at the moment, especially the batting order. But you have NFI if you think Watson and Johnson are duds.

 

[OzBomber]

I agree with you that our team is pretty boring at the moment, especially the batting order. But you have NFI if you think Watson and Johnson are duds.

He didn't say them specifically, he said those in that group are either overrated, duds or boring.

 

[Zarrix]

That's the thing I think.

20/20 Cricket is good at a Domestic level, because it pulls in the crowds, but not so good at International level, because of the fact, you see players retire from Test cricket before they're well over due to retire to play in the IPL.

Couldn't agree more. I would like to see a football style format for the 20-20 game, largely dominated by domestic clubs with an international competition every few years. 20-20 has the potential to be great for the game if the ICC do the right thing, which they are presently not.

Cut ODI's completely off, give International 20-20 games a rest and thus some meaning. It is a revolution that isn't fully workable yet, but hopefully we can get there.