it looks like the wirter is having a very narrow minded attitude about cricket.His view seems to be one sided and a closure of eyes towards realities.What he thiks about must be correct about test cricket.But the reality is just against in the case of one day cricket and 20 @ 20 cricket.From his opinions expressed in the article it sounds as if he has never seen a one day match in his life.Also about the ripples of excitement which 20@20 cricket creates all over the world especially in cricket playing nations.20@20 cricket is an instant hit world over.Especially in England where cricket was created.
Well!!!!the article makes an interesting reading from the statistics point of view.Every sport played in this world is interesting,has its own beauty , has its own intricacies and heart stopping moments.It depends on how interested people are to understand it.In my view Popularity of a sport only depends on how fast people can understand the intricacies of a game and start patronizing it.For example if you take foot ball ,its a very simple sport to understand and follow.Well defined target and simple rules.So,its easy for an average viewer to get the hang of it and start patronizing it.Same is the case with tennis ,hockey e.tc.Once more people start patronizing it obviusly sponsers come in and the money flows and this money would inturn help in the popularity of the game.So,I mean to say it has nothing to do with what players wear or how they walk.Cricket has its own unique quality and beauty.For the simple reason that Americans and majority of the Europeans don't understand its not right to talk on a low vien about such a great sport.I do accept that there is much to do from the administrator side but just for increasing viewrship its doesnt make sense to make cricket baseball
Hi, Kudos on a wonderful article. But I beg to differ in a few places 1.India is a place where sport is patriotic and not entertainment, So please we rejoice at having a World no 77 ( She deserves evry bit of attention) but would view tennis at least in a stadium only if Sania is playing. See, Domestic Cricket even if stars are present does not draw a crowd. 2. Cricket is long and probably that is why it is successful in India. In this part of the world most things are longer than their western counterparts, Movies, Weddings, Festivals and guess what we enjoy it. 3.Even Tennis and Football have off days. I doubt how many more are interested in a MAN United vs Southampton than a England vs Bangladesh.
4. The sociological Impact of Cricket is something we tend to forget, and Indian Football does not adopt. I sincerely would be surprised If we have a 5% viewership of International Tennis. 5.Cricket has heroes and We have World beaters. period. My two cents on this matter Vijay
how in the hell u can even think that cricket is taking beating bcoz whatever excitement football or tennis r providing, trp of eng v ban and pak v wi as described by u r much higher than other sports. plz take a look,
I shudder to think how much the 'white-uniform' version of this game (in addition to the countless weird colored attire version) has contributed to the wasted resources of people who watched a 6 day drama (or 'drawma') from 26 highly paid direct participants on an open stage (with 11 idle all the time) often produce nothing at the end (they call it a 'draw').
How I wish bulk of that time had been used to graduate from the terms like 'third-world-countries' or developing countries.
A couple of developed nations probably needed plenty human resources and they found them in .. I do not wish to list the countries.
There is the other 'c' that has had the appeal to 'watse and idle' and deserves the decline, the 'mostly trash' called 'cinema' from the same countries that promoted cricket in large quantities, and India top on that list again.
No wonder the title 'third-world-country' has stayed on without being snatched..
First of all i thank the author to highlight the current situation of a sport, which is called as a religion in indian subcontinent.
who are responsible for this biggest losses in attraction to this sport,
First would go to useless and unskilled officials of ICC. The body which says it governs the cricket, but it ruins the cricket to its greatest extent.
Improper planning of cricket matches, and then no proper rankings for the countries, for example a country like india is third in test cricket ranks at the lowest in ODIs. can you expect a team in any of the sport who are some much confused like this.
then about bangladesh and kenya, who cares if they play cricket or not, being inducted to cricket both teams have won 2 or maximum 3 matches in their last 5 to 6 years and still saying we need to be develop in cricket.
there is no point in encouraging a croud when u conduct a match between australia vs bangladesh, it will like the one bangladesh receives in england today.
have a good panel of cricketers to rule the cricket thow off all these nonsense staffs like malcom speed,dalmiya away from cricket, then cricket will come back to its glory soon.
As I have written in the recent issue of Wisden cricket asia, it is high time we seperate the Indian test team and ODI team and expect more accountability from each. it will enable more talented people to gain employment from what is a lucrative game in India and create more role models for youngsters to emulate. We may be able to spread only one form of the game to Europe and elsewhere and it is obvious which one it is.
