I disagree with Gary. With the advent of TV, cricket has been popularised. Its much easier to catch cricket than those days. Cricket has become more popular. Its West Indies's fault that they cannot bring up good cricketers.
Without television, Indian cricket would not have been the same that it is right now with millions flowing in. And we too have been able to unearth good players (dont say they stay longer once they get in! thats a different argument).
RE:Thats wrong Gary!
by R on Jun 11, 2007 10:58 PM
i agree with gary! while i agree with you to an extent - yes cricket has been popularised by Tv. sure no doubts. but its the overkill of cricket and milking the cow dry thats killing cricket. look at how BCCi exploits cricket in india, and with all that money effectively controlling cricket world over!
west indies is a different issue though. every country has its cycle, right now windies are down.
If Sobers had played test cricket in this era he would have scored 45-50 test hundreds in the 93 tests that he played instead of 26. During his days he played on bowler friendly wickets without helmets and was equally at ease with both pace and spin. Sobers was pure class and all of natural talent. Bradman paid a rich compliment to him in the video showing Sobers innings 254 n.o in the Aus Vs Rest of the World games in 1973. The way he played Thompson and Lillee (both tearway fast bowlers at that time) was really amazing. In one particular instance he smacked 5 fours in an over from Thompson (then it was a 8 ball over in Aus). In addition to his outstanding batting, he could bowl really quick with the new ball or bowl spin and chinaman. He is truly a living legend.
RE:You are correct Sir !
by Minto on Jun 08, 2007 10:10 PM
Sobers is the greatest cricketer of all time. However, the game has changed. Players are physical much more fit, the rules have changed, the audience changed and there is lot more money in the game. Most of the money has been brought in by the TV.
The game is a professional one especially in the international levels. American Baseball players play 166 regular season games plus playoff games. They travel a lot and fly across the country.
People should stop complaining and adjust to the reality.
I think that Sir Gary might be a bit off the mark here. I think TV has contributed to the growth of cricket but has popularised other sports as well. It's just that cricket is competing with sports that are better marketed and more organised. I do agree with him that kids are spending more time in front of the idiot box but where are the open grounds to play cricket in cities like chennai or mumbai where open space is worth more than gold. Hence TV is not the only factor sir gary
