posted Apr 26, 2008

It seems everyone is trying to make money out of the game. I am afraid sooner than later people will start losing interest in it and that will be the beginning of end of game.

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posted Apr 26, 2008

very well said!! long live cricket and to hell with all this junk 20/20 and some texan cowboy

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posted Apr 27, 2008

Despite the amount of football matches and the predictability of the final table ( No need to guess which 4 clubs will be at the top, and one club to be relegated will be the one qualified through play offs) is there any dearth to the crowds watching EPL. I read in one magazine that only 7 people watched the intial county game. It cannot get worse than this. So why not think fresh?
Here are the problems of 'International cricket'
-Quality equal strength teams are lacking. So there are very few exciting contests like 2005 ashes series. The difference was just 2 runs (If Aussies had hit two runs in Edgbaston they would have won it 2-1). But such exciting contests are a rarity.

-People cannot afford 5 days (time and money ). It will cost 300 pounds for a person to watch all 5 days of test cricket in Lords.How many can afford it?
-Children should be able to see live games. By taking test cricket to pay channels many kids have been deprived of watching their heroes.
The excuse given was a few million pounds extra money without which ECB will be in very poor condition. With the money from twenty 20 cricket, test cricket can return to free channel.
- Cricketers will be well off - so more talent will come into play. Dhoni and Symonds are earning more than 1 million dollars for 6 weeks of play.
I am sure if properly managed and implemented Cricket will be No 1 sport in England.
But ECB is only busy thinking and generating good ideas ( like ODIs, Twenty 20 and pink balls) - while else where people have smartly marketed these ideas very well and tasted commercial success.
I hope the ECB will take the correct decision and enjoy the fruits of its own ideas.

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posted Apr 27, 2008

20/20 is nothing but home run derby of American Baseball. Gmmie a break!

Mahabala

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posted Apr 27, 2008

"Allen Stanford comes across a joker - (no offense) - he is putting money into two teams (UK/Carrieban) both at the bottom of the list. sorry Mr. Allen you will miserably fail - first, give some of your millions to solve poverty in Jamaica, and reduce violence - Indian cricketers are fearful of their lives in Kingston, Jamaica, after 6 PM"

ravibala can talk such absolute rubbish sometimes!

When has an Indian cricketer ever been attacked in Kingston in 60 years of Test cricket?

And you talk of poverty in Jamaica - it's nothing compared to the poverty on the streets of Indian or Sri Lankan cities!

Stanford has done a lot to revive interest in cricket among the young children and women in the Caribbean with his 20/20 competition. That in itself is an achievement. Test match attendance in the Caribbean is much older.

I also think that 20/20 cricket is more fun than one-day cricket. My order of interest is Tests, 20/20, and then ODIs at the bottom....

And I wouldn't worry about Stanford failing. His domestic 20/20 competition is a long-term project, to bring American tourists to Antigua. In that, he is succeeding, and given that he owns airlines and hotels in Antigua, he won't be losing money!

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posted Apr 27, 2008

This latest survey shows the greed of players nowadays. They would rather play in a domestic competition to earn a quick buck than play cricket at the highest level. Its not asthough the english players are badly paid, which is why we've heard the new zealand players leaving international cricket.

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posted Apr 28, 2008

20-20 is here to stay for long long time. Whether u belong to India, Oz, England or any other place, all of u who have posted messages are watching the game with interest for what-so-ever reasons.

India has taken advantage after ICL realised its potential and made good inroads. But finally IPL had the last laugh since it is under the umbrella of BCCI and ICC with enough organisational power and money power and not to forget the huge mass of Indian fans.

Just like any product development, Oz, England, WI may improve the game and dish out to the whole world. If Indians are allowed to play those games, there would be lot of Indian spectators to watch on tv or live. Many people have learnt, followed, studied Yoga exercises and developed it commercially and became multi millionaires thro'out the world. Just like India gave Yoga to World, Successful formula for 20-20 would be simply copied from India.

Even in India, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkota has full houses whereas it was less than 50% in Mohali. Bangaloru had mixed response. Mumbai was having near full house. It was OK with Hyderabad. So any right thinking person would agree that it has mixed response from each Center even in India. For people of Punjab, game of Cricket is not God since they partonise Hockey, Kabadi and many other games which are intense in physical activity.

As long as people are interested to watch and follow 20-20, there is not any thing called TOO MUCH.

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posted Apr 28, 2008

I like county cricket. I get to games whenever I can. I love how everybody says we need to change it, to make it more interesting and increase crowd sizes. How exactly? The bottom line is cricket is played over the course of 4 or 5 days, during working hours. You are NEVER going to solve the crowd size problem. You need county cricket to breed players for the test team (which is the most important of the international sides). So I'm very interested to hear some actual suggestions on this front instead of saying "we must change" but failing to offer a solution.

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posted Apr 29, 2008

We need to play 5/5 - that way all of the counties could play the entire league in a day and a half.

The final could be streteched to 6/6 and we could all be home again in time for Doctor Who. 20/20 is far too boring for the modern crowd.

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posted Apr 30, 2008

sporting knowledge...Your question was on change for the county 4 day game.I know this might not suit everyone but I believe that if we shorten the number of these games they might take on a more immeadiate significance. If we treat the two divisions as two leagues and everyone play each other you get 8 games. Home or away would be decided as it is in Davis Cup tennis , that is the last time these two met team A had home advantage therefore it is a home game for B. The first season would refer to the last game of the season before.The divisions would be on the current north/south divide. After the 8 games top of north plays second in south and top south vs second north for a place in the final. A little like the Aussie 4 day stuff in terms of games.Less meaningless fixtures and real pressure to perform. It also opens up the season and if worked around the international format perhaps clubs could demand their test players for say a minimum of 4 games, injury permitting. Just an idea.

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