Sticky wicket
October 21, 2017 4:48 AM Subscribe
I know next to nothing about cricket, but boy howdy, do I want to get off that guy's lawn.
posted by kokaku at 5:34 AM on October 21, 2017 [24 favorites]
posted by kokaku at 5:34 AM on October 21, 2017 [24 favorites]
Having close to zero understanding of the actual game and circumstances described, I nevertheless thoroughly enjoyed this as a fine Things Are Going Down The Drain rant.
posted by Dr Dracator at 5:36 AM on October 21, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by Dr Dracator at 5:36 AM on October 21, 2017 [6 favorites]
You know- all the young people I see playing Cricket on the weekends, when I ride my bike through Etobicoke or Mississauga, probably do watch Test Cricket, in the same way that I watch international football when the leagues aren't on. However, judging by the uniforms they're wearing, they are certainly more interested in Twenty20, and I can almost guarantee that they aren't that interested in English Test Cricket.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 5:52 AM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 5:52 AM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
Cricket is being destroyed? Come on. Your most famous prize is literally ashes. Cricket has a death wish.
posted by phooky at 6:15 AM on October 21, 2017 [26 favorites]
posted by phooky at 6:15 AM on October 21, 2017 [26 favorites]
I didn't read the article, but are millennials to blame?
posted by Behemoth at 6:24 AM on October 21, 2017 [19 favorites]
posted by Behemoth at 6:24 AM on October 21, 2017 [19 favorites]
In Britain, it is happening mainly from the bottom up, as village cricket disintegrates and the once ubiquitous informal cricket of playground, park and back garden is crushed by the power of football, even in high summer. When did you last see a group of children (public schools and Asian community partially excepted) playing cricket without an adult?The parallels with U.S. baseball continue to fascinate.
posted by non canadian guy at 6:40 AM on October 21, 2017 [9 favorites]
Harumph. Harumph, I say!
posted by leotrotsky at 6:49 AM on October 21, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by leotrotsky at 6:49 AM on October 21, 2017 [4 favorites]
English cricket might. Nobody is going to care about a market of 60 million compared to India and other ex-Empire bits at a billion people.
As an American in the tech industry, I always think of Cricket as an Indian sport having had so many classmates and co-workers obsessed with it.
posted by octothorpe at 6:52 AM on October 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
As an American in the tech industry, I always think of Cricket as an Indian sport having had so many classmates and co-workers obsessed with it.
posted by octothorpe at 6:52 AM on October 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
The parallels with U.S. baseball continue to fascinate.
Baseball and cricket are OLD games. They're mostly static. They also take a long time to play. The majority of the players spend the majority of the time standing around. They're just duller to play for most of the people most of the time.
Kids don't play baseball or cricket for the same reason that we don't carve turnips for Halloween anymore, better alternatives.
posted by leotrotsky at 6:52 AM on October 21, 2017 [6 favorites]
Baseball and cricket are OLD games. They're mostly static. They also take a long time to play. The majority of the players spend the majority of the time standing around. They're just duller to play for most of the people most of the time.
Kids don't play baseball or cricket for the same reason that we don't carve turnips for Halloween anymore, better alternatives.
posted by leotrotsky at 6:52 AM on October 21, 2017 [6 favorites]
Yeah, there was definitely some harumphing going on there. His latest book is about how British English is being destroyed by American English, so he may be one of those guys who is constantly bothered by the decline of all that is good and true in the world (or at least the UK), which actually plays neatly with my stereotypes about English cricket fans.
My sense is that the British people I know associate cricket with incredibly uncool posh people. Has it always been like that?
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:55 AM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
My sense is that the British people I know associate cricket with incredibly uncool posh people. Has it always been like that?
Is it any wonder the kids would rather be playing soccer or basketball?Except that, as he mentions, kids in India play cricket all the time.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:55 AM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
sort of like how beisbol remains huge in large swathes of Latin America, as well as Japan.
posted by vogon_poet at 7:13 AM on October 21, 2017
posted by vogon_poet at 7:13 AM on October 21, 2017
Basically this is a cipher of a love letter to Margaret Thatcher.
posted by dis_integration at 7:22 AM on October 21, 2017 [12 favorites]
posted by dis_integration at 7:22 AM on October 21, 2017 [12 favorites]
> My sense is that the British people I know associate cricket with incredibly uncool posh people. Has it always been like that
Yes. Test Cricket takes days to play, so was for people with a lot of free time (ie the idle rich). Working people couldn't afford the time off. Rugby literally splintered over this, as the working class teams wanted to pay players who took time off for games, and the upper class teams wanted to keep it "amateur".
posted by Auz at 7:25 AM on October 21, 2017 [11 favorites]
Yes. Test Cricket takes days to play, so was for people with a lot of free time (ie the idle rich). Working people couldn't afford the time off. Rugby literally splintered over this, as the working class teams wanted to pay players who took time off for games, and the upper class teams wanted to keep it "amateur".
posted by Auz at 7:25 AM on October 21, 2017 [11 favorites]
As an American in the tech industry, I always think of Cricket as an Indian sport having had so many classmates and co-workers obsessed with it.
Ditto; I genuinely forget that it was originally British until something like this comes up.
My major memory of cricket at this point is how we got literally no work got done at my company the days after Sachin Tendulkar retired, cause everyone spent hours watching highlight reels on YouTube.
posted by Itaxpica at 7:39 AM on October 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
Ditto; I genuinely forget that it was originally British until something like this comes up.
My major memory of cricket at this point is how we got literally no work got done at my company the days after Sachin Tendulkar retired, cause everyone spent hours watching highlight reels on YouTube.
posted by Itaxpica at 7:39 AM on October 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
The sense of entitled ownership in this article is so salty you'd think GB still owned India or something.
posted by Groundhog Week at 8:32 AM on October 21, 2017 [8 favorites]
posted by Groundhog Week at 8:32 AM on October 21, 2017 [8 favorites]
There's nothing like listening to someone rant about how the thing they cherish is being destroyed, safe in the knowledge that it will never matter to you.
...that sounds too judgemental. What I mean to say is it's hilarious.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 8:40 AM on October 21, 2017 [6 favorites]
...that sounds too judgemental. What I mean to say is it's hilarious.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 8:40 AM on October 21, 2017 [6 favorites]
In Asia, it is being wrecked from the top down: by corrupt administrators, politicians, businessmen and bookmakers while the kids still play in every available back alley and rice paddy.
Dude has no idea what a rice paddy is, does he?
posted by Dysk at 9:00 AM on October 21, 2017 [55 favorites]
Dude has no idea what a rice paddy is, does he?
posted by Dysk at 9:00 AM on October 21, 2017 [55 favorites]
oh thank god, just that strange running sport. I thought you were talking about something important.
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 9:20 AM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 9:20 AM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
*hums "Village Green Preservation Society"*
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 9:31 AM on October 21, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 9:31 AM on October 21, 2017 [10 favorites]
English county cricket is a very important multi-month and all-consuming event in my life and, along with socialist medical care, one of the very few things that keeps me in my birth country. It's usually around mid to late September that I remember if I am in a relationship or not, or whether it ended in the summer without me noticing (that has happened). The concept of the Cricket Widow is a real one. Also, girlfriend from the mid-1990s, in the remote chance you read this I'd still like my CD collection back which I only noticed had gone around the end of September.
I started to read the article, then realised it was the usual "Cricket is doomed!" piece beloved of a few writers. There's an unusual parallel with Nintendo in the video game industry, in that pretty much my entire life, people have been forecasting their imminent and swift demise. True, both have their mis-steps and oddities, and function differently and mysteriously compared to other sports/video game companies.
But, both English County Cricket and Nintendo are still here. And the many people who have said that they would go under over the years and decades have therefore all been wrong.
After a few paragraphs I stopped eye-rolling and suspected -correctly - it was an Engel's piece. An easy guess, based on his "This thing is DOOMED!" track record [1] [2]. And then remembered when I had the misfortune to encounter him.
That was at a county cricket match at my favorite ground. Average crowd. Pleasant, warm, day. One bloke a few rows in front would not shut up and complained, endlessly, about everything. The facilities (which are great). The parking. The seat. The umpiring. The clock. The length of the grass. The cake (and if you complain about that cake at that ground then you are truly an asshole). The font on the scoreboard. The sun. The fucking wind in the trees.
I looked at the person next to me, who just muttered "Engels" and eye-rolled. His continuous churning continued, until he made a distinctly over-the-line comment about the possible ancestry of one of the players. I thought "Er, you can't say that". The person next to me took the opportunity to complain to a steward. Said steward, who had been nearby the whole time and was also probably fed up of this bloke with verbal diarrhoea, told Engels loudly to shut it or he'd be asked to leave the ground or dragged out if necessary. There was a smattering of applause from nearby spectators.
He sat there fuming, silently, for a few minutes, got up and left. We didn't see him again the rest of the day.
tl;dr - original article written by a full-time doom-monger and bore with unpleasant views and an inability to stop whining.
posted by Wordshore at 9:32 AM on October 21, 2017 [64 favorites]
I started to read the article, then realised it was the usual "Cricket is doomed!" piece beloved of a few writers. There's an unusual parallel with Nintendo in the video game industry, in that pretty much my entire life, people have been forecasting their imminent and swift demise. True, both have their mis-steps and oddities, and function differently and mysteriously compared to other sports/video game companies.
But, both English County Cricket and Nintendo are still here. And the many people who have said that they would go under over the years and decades have therefore all been wrong.
After a few paragraphs I stopped eye-rolling and suspected -correctly - it was an Engel's piece. An easy guess, based on his "This thing is DOOMED!" track record [1] [2]. And then remembered when I had the misfortune to encounter him.
That was at a county cricket match at my favorite ground. Average crowd. Pleasant, warm, day. One bloke a few rows in front would not shut up and complained, endlessly, about everything. The facilities (which are great). The parking. The seat. The umpiring. The clock. The length of the grass. The cake (and if you complain about that cake at that ground then you are truly an asshole). The font on the scoreboard. The sun. The fucking wind in the trees.
I looked at the person next to me, who just muttered "Engels" and eye-rolled. His continuous churning continued, until he made a distinctly over-the-line comment about the possible ancestry of one of the players. I thought "Er, you can't say that". The person next to me took the opportunity to complain to a steward. Said steward, who had been nearby the whole time and was also probably fed up of this bloke with verbal diarrhoea, told Engels loudly to shut it or he'd be asked to leave the ground or dragged out if necessary. There was a smattering of applause from nearby spectators.
He sat there fuming, silently, for a few minutes, got up and left. We didn't see him again the rest of the day.
tl;dr - original article written by a full-time doom-monger and bore with unpleasant views and an inability to stop whining.
posted by Wordshore at 9:32 AM on October 21, 2017 [64 favorites]
His latest book is about how British English is being destroyed by American English
Ah, one of those people. Thank you for the context. "The language I speak, known for being insanely adaptive and evolutionary is changing. Make it stop!" I thought that name was familiar, and you jogged my memory. Lynneguist over at Separate By a Common Language spoke of a run-in with him a while back. She wasn't terribly impressed.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 9:33 AM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
Ah, one of those people. Thank you for the context. "The language I speak, known for being insanely adaptive and evolutionary is changing. Make it stop!" I thought that name was familiar, and you jogged my memory. Lynneguist over at Separate By a Common Language spoke of a run-in with him a while back. She wasn't terribly impressed.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 9:33 AM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
In Britain, it is happening mainly from the bottom up, as village cricket disintegrates
Bollocks. Standing room only at the last few matches I went to.
and the once ubiquitous informal cricket of playground, park and back garden is crushed by the power of football, even in high summer. When did you last see a group of children (public schools and Asian community partially excepted) playing cricket without an adult?
Even though there's a gale blowing, on the patch of lawn next to the nearby church right now.
posted by Wordshore at 9:38 AM on October 21, 2017 [8 favorites]
Bollocks. Standing room only at the last few matches I went to.
and the once ubiquitous informal cricket of playground, park and back garden is crushed by the power of football, even in high summer. When did you last see a group of children (public schools and Asian community partially excepted) playing cricket without an adult?
Even though there's a gale blowing, on the patch of lawn next to the nearby church right now.
posted by Wordshore at 9:38 AM on October 21, 2017 [8 favorites]
How ever are we supposed to play, sir, if not standing on your lawn?
posted by OHenryPacey at 9:55 AM on October 21, 2017 [10 favorites]
posted by OHenryPacey at 9:55 AM on October 21, 2017 [10 favorites]
This guy needs to have Raffles come stay at his place and lift all his silver.
posted by praemunire at 10:19 AM on October 21, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 10:19 AM on October 21, 2017 [6 favorites]
My sense is that the British people I know associate cricket with incredibly uncool posh people.
Charters and Caldicott take grievous offense to this statement.
posted by non canadian guy at 11:31 AM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
Charters and Caldicott take grievous offense to this statement.
posted by non canadian guy at 11:31 AM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
Rugby literally splintered over this, as the working class teams wanted to pay players who took time off for games, and the upper
Is there anything in England that is not, when it comes down to it, about class?
posted by acb at 11:55 AM on October 21, 2017 [4 favorites]
Is there anything in England that is not, when it comes down to it, about class?
posted by acb at 11:55 AM on October 21, 2017 [4 favorites]
My sense is that the British people I know associate cricket with incredibly uncool posh people.
Sir, you have intolerably slandered my character and I demand retribution in an appropriate manner. Pistols at dawn, tomorrow. My seconds will contact your seconds to conduct the necessary arrangements. Good DAY to you.
posted by Wordshore at 11:57 AM on October 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
Sir, you have intolerably slandered my character and I demand retribution in an appropriate manner. Pistols at dawn, tomorrow. My seconds will contact your seconds to conduct the necessary arrangements. Good DAY to you.
posted by Wordshore at 11:57 AM on October 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
Is there anything in England that is not, when it comes down to it, about class?
Or anywhere, really, if you squint hard enough.
posted by chavenet at 1:41 PM on October 21, 2017 [4 favorites]
Or anywhere, really, if you squint hard enough.
posted by chavenet at 1:41 PM on October 21, 2017 [4 favorites]
I left my hometown (Richmond, Va) in 1994 for graduate school and work, and came back in 2014. I've noticed guys playing cricket on the weekends at some of the public schools and I have to say, it is kind of cool.
Recently, I went with my daughter to a birthday party for a child in her class where everyone except for us was from India, and the kids and adults spent hours taking turns hitting a rubber ball with a cricket bat while some of the men taught me the rules of the game. It was fun, and I still have a lot to learn, but I did get the impression that, like baseball, cricket games can be very long.
posted by 4ster at 2:56 PM on October 21, 2017
Recently, I went with my daughter to a birthday party for a child in her class where everyone except for us was from India, and the kids and adults spent hours taking turns hitting a rubber ball with a cricket bat while some of the men taught me the rules of the game. It was fun, and I still have a lot to learn, but I did get the impression that, like baseball, cricket games can be very long.
posted by 4ster at 2:56 PM on October 21, 2017
I know next to nothing about cricket, but boy howdy, do I want to get off that guy's lawn.
You should read the article and want to get a sunburn and urinate on the author's lawn because you've had 5 or 6 session ales, took all of the author's possible on street parking options and believe the empire and tradition have been restored.
That'd be proper cricket.
posted by srboisvert at 3:14 PM on October 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
You should read the article and want to get a sunburn and urinate on the author's lawn because you've had 5 or 6 session ales, took all of the author's possible on street parking options and believe the empire and tradition have been restored.
That'd be proper cricket.
posted by srboisvert at 3:14 PM on October 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
As long as commentators mumble nasally from the wireless about balls, sir, cricket shall never die.
posted by No-sword at 4:33 PM on October 21, 2017
posted by No-sword at 4:33 PM on October 21, 2017
Sir, you have intolerably slandered my character and I demand retribution in an appropriate manner. Pistols at dawn, tomorrow. My seconds will contact your seconds to conduct the necessary arrangements. Good DAY to you.I live in Iowa and don't like college football. My very existence is an insult to all of my neighbors. You're going to have to wait your turn before we can have that duel.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 4:38 PM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
I live in Iowa and don't like college football.
I live in North Carolina and I think college basketball is boring and barbeque tastes awful.
posted by thelonius at 4:42 PM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
I live in North Carolina and I think college basketball is boring and barbeque tastes awful.
posted by thelonius at 4:42 PM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
I live in North Carolina and I think college basketball is boring and barbeque tastes awful.
Well, bless your heart.
;)
posted by 4ster at 4:43 PM on October 21, 2017 [4 favorites]
Well, bless your heart.
;)
posted by 4ster at 4:43 PM on October 21, 2017 [4 favorites]
up the court, down the court. Ooh! A time out!
posted by thelonius at 4:51 PM on October 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 4:51 PM on October 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
Kids don't play baseball or cricket for the same reason that we don't carve turnips for Halloween anymore, better alternatives.
As outdoor group sports go, baseball is pretty great for kids. Everyone gets a chance to hit, throwing and running are important but not the only measure of ability and size isn't either. It requires some gloves and a bat and a ball, but that's nothing compared to football or hockey.
Soccer certainly might be more fun and easy for many kids, basketball too for some, but baseball's a pretty great game and allows for enjoyment even if you're just throwing batters practice and fielding if you don't have enough for a game. I imagine cricket isn't that different if you've already developed the interest going in.
That doesn't compete with video games anymore though, since the era of unorganized outdoor kids play seems largely over and indoor games more important to culture in the west.
posted by gusottertrout at 5:11 PM on October 21, 2017
As outdoor group sports go, baseball is pretty great for kids. Everyone gets a chance to hit, throwing and running are important but not the only measure of ability and size isn't either. It requires some gloves and a bat and a ball, but that's nothing compared to football or hockey.
Soccer certainly might be more fun and easy for many kids, basketball too for some, but baseball's a pretty great game and allows for enjoyment even if you're just throwing batters practice and fielding if you don't have enough for a game. I imagine cricket isn't that different if you've already developed the interest going in.
That doesn't compete with video games anymore though, since the era of unorganized outdoor kids play seems largely over and indoor games more important to culture in the west.
posted by gusottertrout at 5:11 PM on October 21, 2017
When he says that they took the game away from the public and gave it to Sky, does that mean previously they could be watched on TV for free, and now have to pay for it?
posted by Brocktoon at 5:59 PM on October 21, 2017
posted by Brocktoon at 5:59 PM on October 21, 2017
Exactly that, Brocktoon. It went from free-to-air terrestial TV to Sky's subscription service.
posted by Dysk at 6:07 PM on October 21, 2017
posted by Dysk at 6:07 PM on October 21, 2017
As outdoor group sports go, baseball is pretty great for kids. Everyone gets a chance to hit, throwing and running are important but not the only measure of ability and size isn't either. It requires some gloves and a bat and a ball, but that's nothing compared to football or hockey.
The thing about soccer, football, and hockey is if you're really bad at sports there's still some hope of hiding -- you just run around looking busy and try to stay away from the ball. In baseball you are guaranteed a turn to be humiliated in front of everyone and disappoint your parents.
posted by vogon_poet at 6:34 PM on October 21, 2017 [7 favorites]
The thing about soccer, football, and hockey is if you're really bad at sports there's still some hope of hiding -- you just run around looking busy and try to stay away from the ball. In baseball you are guaranteed a turn to be humiliated in front of everyone and disappoint your parents.
posted by vogon_poet at 6:34 PM on October 21, 2017 [7 favorites]
The thing about soccer, football, and hockey is if you're really bad at sports there's still some hope of hiding -- you just run around looking busy and try to stay away from the ball. In baseball you are guaranteed a turn to be humiliated in front of everyone and disappoint your parents.
In the test format, this is also true of cricket, except that if you're not in the top half of the batting order you're assumed to be middling-to-hopeless with a bat, and if you hit the ball and score some runs you've done well.
posted by Merus at 6:47 PM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
In the test format, this is also true of cricket, except that if you're not in the top half of the batting order you're assumed to be middling-to-hopeless with a bat, and if you hit the ball and score some runs you've done well.
posted by Merus at 6:47 PM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
Every cricket post should come with pamphlet entitled 'What the hell is cricket anyway?'.
posted by runcibleshaw at 6:52 PM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by runcibleshaw at 6:52 PM on October 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
It is very silly to complain about kids playing soccer instead of cricket because soccer is literally the easiest sport to set up: you need a ball, a vaguely open space, and agreed-upon markers for where the goal is. There will be people playing soccer on generation ships. As long as humanity propels itself along a ground, soccer will be with us.
And I still won't call it football
posted by Merus at 6:55 PM on October 21, 2017 [6 favorites]
And I still won't call it football
posted by Merus at 6:55 PM on October 21, 2017 [6 favorites]
Thanks, Dusk. That happened in my market too. Lakers, Dodgers, Angels, Galaxy, all went to cable sports.
posted by Brocktoon at 7:29 PM on October 21, 2017
posted by Brocktoon at 7:29 PM on October 21, 2017
Good riddance. Cricket is a despicable game. Never understood the appeal.
posted by Coventry at 7:29 PM on October 21, 2017
posted by Coventry at 7:29 PM on October 21, 2017
Oh, gosh, this fed my soul. I didn't even know that I missed, nay, longed for the dignified outrage of an old Englishman who is witnessing the natural change of the world and Does Not Approve. His last really good moment was the summer of 1913, when the shadows were long on the cricket grounds and Everyone Knew Their Place.
Obviously, he's a crazy old bat and generally awful and cricket is doing just fine, as this thread demonstrates. I never really got into it (I was, and remain, a rugby supporter) but one of my happiest memories is watching a Twenty20 match at the end of my fresher year. Someone explained the rules to me. It didn't matter. I was drinking lager with friends and very occasionally something delightful happened, and we all got very excited, and then went back to talking and drinking. It is exactly like a baseball game, and it is wonderful.
posted by kalimac at 7:43 PM on October 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
Obviously, he's a crazy old bat and generally awful and cricket is doing just fine, as this thread demonstrates. I never really got into it (I was, and remain, a rugby supporter) but one of my happiest memories is watching a Twenty20 match at the end of my fresher year. Someone explained the rules to me. It didn't matter. I was drinking lager with friends and very occasionally something delightful happened, and we all got very excited, and then went back to talking and drinking. It is exactly like a baseball game, and it is wonderful.
posted by kalimac at 7:43 PM on October 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
Rugby has been floundering in its death throes since 1895.
posted by Wolfdog at 11:07 AM on October 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Wolfdog at 11:07 AM on October 22, 2017 [2 favorites]
The thing about soccer, football, and hockey is if you're really bad at sports there's still some hope of hiding -- you just run around looking busy and try to stay away from the ball. In baseball you are guaranteed a turn to be humiliated in front of everyone and disappoint your parents.
Heh. Sure, it depends on why you're playing the sport and what you enjoy of course, but one of the nifty things about baseball and, I assume, cricket, is that it can reward a variety of skills, including not having to run around a lot for kids who aren't great at that. Overweight kids can still enjoy hitting and perhaps be good at it and stick to catching or first or third base to avoid having to run a lot. A small kid who may not be able to hit much can still be good as a fielder, a kid who can throw but not much else can pitch and most kids can do a bit of all of that and still feel fine if they aren't being pushed to compete where winning is the only thing that matters.
Soccer and basketball have their advantages too for some kicks, and some, I'm sure love football and hockey, but I certainly wouldn't push my kicks in those directions as much since those require a higher level of organization that tends to carry connected attitudes towards "play" that I personally don't care much for, but I'm sure there are programs that are exceptions to that as well.
posted by gusottertrout at 12:55 PM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Heh. Sure, it depends on why you're playing the sport and what you enjoy of course, but one of the nifty things about baseball and, I assume, cricket, is that it can reward a variety of skills, including not having to run around a lot for kids who aren't great at that. Overweight kids can still enjoy hitting and perhaps be good at it and stick to catching or first or third base to avoid having to run a lot. A small kid who may not be able to hit much can still be good as a fielder, a kid who can throw but not much else can pitch and most kids can do a bit of all of that and still feel fine if they aren't being pushed to compete where winning is the only thing that matters.
Soccer and basketball have their advantages too for some kicks, and some, I'm sure love football and hockey, but I certainly wouldn't push my kicks in those directions as much since those require a higher level of organization that tends to carry connected attitudes towards "play" that I personally don't care much for, but I'm sure there are programs that are exceptions to that as well.
posted by gusottertrout at 12:55 PM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
Yes, disagree with the linked piece, seemingly along with everyone here. I do live in one of the leafier bits of London but my son has three local teams to choose from at under-10 level and hhe club he plays for, Bank of England Sports Club is pretty mixed, with a majority from state primary schools.
At our local, council-run, sports facility there's half a dozen nets with games being played on pitches all over Richmond throughout summer. Three weeks ago my son had his end of season dinner with the coaching staff and his teammates and they had a ball.
And what I'm most excited about is that there's two girls in his squad playing as equals, of which all of the parents and staff are super supportive. While this may be the view from the Lords tea-room, emphatically from the perspective of kids cricket, it's not a world view I recognise.
posted by dmt at 1:18 PM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
At our local, council-run, sports facility there's half a dozen nets with games being played on pitches all over Richmond throughout summer. Three weeks ago my son had his end of season dinner with the coaching staff and his teammates and they had a ball.
And what I'm most excited about is that there's two girls in his squad playing as equals, of which all of the parents and staff are super supportive. While this may be the view from the Lords tea-room, emphatically from the perspective of kids cricket, it's not a world view I recognise.
posted by dmt at 1:18 PM on October 22, 2017 [1 favorite]
I suspect this was secretly written by John Major.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:59 PM on October 22, 2017
posted by Chrysostom at 10:59 PM on October 22, 2017
Clearly in a minority here, but I thought this was pretty good. He's certainly a conservative, but he's criticising: privitisation (the move from BBC to Murdoch's Sky) and the Conservative government's selling-off of inner city playing fields, both of which arguably lead to the decline in interest in cricket.
There are massive changes happening in cricket, changes that could see us lose what was great about the game. Mostly what we're talking about here is the decline of test cricket, which he addresses in two ways:
Firstly the attempts to develop a test championship. I think he makes reasonable criticisms here, and actually doesn't mention some of the problems (for example, we'll somehow have a championship where teams only have to play six other teams as part of the championship - not quite sure how that works?). Equally, I'd argue that the current system of allocating tests is massively unfair on small countries, and completely driven by short-term commercial imperatives at the big three (England, India and Australia - where 'big' is about size of audience, not necessarily ability). The small teams don't get to play as many games, so they remain weak, and therefore aren't given any games.
This leads to outcomes that are bad for everyone (Remember NZ playing an absorbing two test series in England a few years back, both sides and fans denied the opportunity to see a decider? With England then playing a boringly one-sided 5 match series against Australia instead. OK, normally we all love the Ashes, but I bet most people would have preferred NZ to play 3 tests).
My only disagreement is a minor one - I suspect a NZ v South Africa final, in London, would attract a pretty decent crowd - there being quite a few Kiwis and Saffas living in the UK.
Secondly he's talking about the rise of T20, and especially the rise of franchises as opposed to national teams. This is a massive change. The T20 game is built around instant gratification, around six hitting, and reduces the role of any player who isn't hitting big shots. It's tilted the balance away from the bowler, and taken all nuance out of the bowler's role. It's spectacular, but boring (if any Americans are still reading this, imagine reducing the size of a baseball ground, giving the batters much better bats, maybe reducing the diamond as well - you'd get far more runs, but that's not necessarily a good thing).
And then you have the rise of franchises. Instead of players playing for their region, and then hopefully their country, they jet around the world, play in what is basically a pick up team for a few months, and then to another. The teams have no history - Sydney Sixers instead of New South Wales, the proposal to establish a city league in England rather than the counties (which he alludes to).
What's worse is that the franchises have more money than national teams - we've already seen the West Indies test team reduced to a shell, because its best players are all in the T20 leagues. Soon the same thing will happen to New Zealand, then no doubt Sri Lanka and South Africa. Cricket will be something that happens far away, on TV, at odd hours of the day, not something that we can watch in our own towns. Test cricket will die and we'll end up with the bastardised T20, which is fine as an occasional snack, but no substitute for the full meal of a test.
posted by Pink Frost at 1:03 AM on October 23, 2017 [2 favorites]
There are massive changes happening in cricket, changes that could see us lose what was great about the game. Mostly what we're talking about here is the decline of test cricket, which he addresses in two ways:
Firstly the attempts to develop a test championship. I think he makes reasonable criticisms here, and actually doesn't mention some of the problems (for example, we'll somehow have a championship where teams only have to play six other teams as part of the championship - not quite sure how that works?). Equally, I'd argue that the current system of allocating tests is massively unfair on small countries, and completely driven by short-term commercial imperatives at the big three (England, India and Australia - where 'big' is about size of audience, not necessarily ability). The small teams don't get to play as many games, so they remain weak, and therefore aren't given any games.
This leads to outcomes that are bad for everyone (Remember NZ playing an absorbing two test series in England a few years back, both sides and fans denied the opportunity to see a decider? With England then playing a boringly one-sided 5 match series against Australia instead. OK, normally we all love the Ashes, but I bet most people would have preferred NZ to play 3 tests).
My only disagreement is a minor one - I suspect a NZ v South Africa final, in London, would attract a pretty decent crowd - there being quite a few Kiwis and Saffas living in the UK.
Secondly he's talking about the rise of T20, and especially the rise of franchises as opposed to national teams. This is a massive change. The T20 game is built around instant gratification, around six hitting, and reduces the role of any player who isn't hitting big shots. It's tilted the balance away from the bowler, and taken all nuance out of the bowler's role. It's spectacular, but boring (if any Americans are still reading this, imagine reducing the size of a baseball ground, giving the batters much better bats, maybe reducing the diamond as well - you'd get far more runs, but that's not necessarily a good thing).
And then you have the rise of franchises. Instead of players playing for their region, and then hopefully their country, they jet around the world, play in what is basically a pick up team for a few months, and then to another. The teams have no history - Sydney Sixers instead of New South Wales, the proposal to establish a city league in England rather than the counties (which he alludes to).
What's worse is that the franchises have more money than national teams - we've already seen the West Indies test team reduced to a shell, because its best players are all in the T20 leagues. Soon the same thing will happen to New Zealand, then no doubt Sri Lanka and South Africa. Cricket will be something that happens far away, on TV, at odd hours of the day, not something that we can watch in our own towns. Test cricket will die and we'll end up with the bastardised T20, which is fine as an occasional snack, but no substitute for the full meal of a test.
posted by Pink Frost at 1:03 AM on October 23, 2017 [2 favorites]
I'm with Pink Frost. The linked author's tone was bombastic, but the points were largely spot on if you are a fan of test cricket.
I especially resonated with the mention of rescheduling test matches, as I do religiously go to day 2 of the Sydney test with an old friend and occasional ring ins when they are back in Sydney. And I know plenty of ex-Adelaide folk who fly home to hang out with friends and family for that test, and lazing on the couch for the Melbourne test is what summer is about.
Moving these things because they wish to capture additional revenue because TV advertisements can be sold for more in India at a different time is disgraceful, but has been contemplated in recent years.
It would be akin to moving Thanksgiving to June to suit Amazon so they can better promote Black Friday sales.
I would be neutral on T20 if it wasn't breaking the test matches. It really angers me that 'growth' of the game comes at the expense of fans who have cared about it for a long time. 'Growth" isn't what is happening here, financial commercialisation is.
posted by bystander at 5:39 PM on October 24, 2017 [1 favorite]
I especially resonated with the mention of rescheduling test matches, as I do religiously go to day 2 of the Sydney test with an old friend and occasional ring ins when they are back in Sydney. And I know plenty of ex-Adelaide folk who fly home to hang out with friends and family for that test, and lazing on the couch for the Melbourne test is what summer is about.
Moving these things because they wish to capture additional revenue because TV advertisements can be sold for more in India at a different time is disgraceful, but has been contemplated in recent years.
It would be akin to moving Thanksgiving to June to suit Amazon so they can better promote Black Friday sales.
I would be neutral on T20 if it wasn't breaking the test matches. It really angers me that 'growth' of the game comes at the expense of fans who have cared about it for a long time. 'Growth" isn't what is happening here, financial commercialisation is.
posted by bystander at 5:39 PM on October 24, 2017 [1 favorite]
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