Cricket...WTF?

[jimbo12345]

Right, so i pack my bags a few years ago and head to dirty China. When i left, cricket was mainly played in whites, the ball was red, and rules were relatively simple.

Now, i flick over to watch England v Ireland, there's wearing multicolor shell suits, the water boy is now the buggy they use to carry fake-diving Spanish bastards off the pitch in UEFA, the ball i no longer see, the umpires have more wires than Terminator, some power play thing has been introduced, (what is that...seriously), the adverts during every ball offer "find your perfect indian bride" websites and to top it off, Al Quaeda is assassinating national coaches over fears their gambling problems come out.

That just ain't cricket. So, seriously, WTF?

[suprafreak6]

im upset cause india fucked up, but had a nice match last week...

[jimbo12345]

we beat the Irish. Need i say more.

[suprafreak6]

when you say we, do you mean england or india

[007™]

Sri Lanka Is #1

[manker]

when you say we, do you mean england or india

Considering England have just beaten Ireland and India didn't play them at this World Cup - I'm gonna stick my neck out and say that he means England.

[jimbo12345]

when you say we, do you mean england or india

Considering England have just beaten Ireland and India didn't play them at this World Cup - I'm gonna stick my neck out and say that he means England.

Thank you Manker. I also mentioned Flintoff, thought that was a clue to.

I also mentioned Al Quaeda, which is a figmant of the American and British mind. Yanks dont play much cricket, thus i must be British.

But seriously..crickets messy right now.

[manker]

Yeah it is messy. I'm not getting into this World Cup at all - I decided to look up the result of today's game instead of watching the highlights on BBC1.

I think it's mainly the one day game that's going a bit shit, it's more exciting but there doesn't seem to be so much skill, with all the emphasis on scoring quickly the deft stroke players seem to be failing 'cos of the need for them to bat at a high tempo and the sloggers are prospering. Which I suppose is fine if you like watching a cross-bat baseball type shot sail over the ropes, but not so good if you'd prefer to see an elegant cover drive.

The test matches are still as good as ever I remember, maybe even better since while teams retain their slower scoring, more techically sound batsmen, it seems now that a prerequisite for each team is to also have at least one pinch-hitter who can cunt the ball over the main stand. The mix of the two is fantastic.

What I'm getting around to saying is that while limited over cricket has altered rules left, right and centre in trying to appeal to the lowest common denonimator - and so has degenerated into a competition of who can hit the ball the hardest - test cricket has become a lot easier on the eye.

Oh yeah - and 20/20 'cricket' is even worse. The Aussies wear shirts with their nickname printed on the back, rather than their surname. Now that's not cricket.

[jimbo12345]

Test cricket is great. I loved it when i had a long weekend, watching qulaity for 5 days. (then again, with England, never guaranteed ).

World Cup serves its purpose. But what is this power play? I tried to look it up.

As for 20/20, i got to see a few night games with Yorkshire a while ago. It was brilliant!! Granted, it's not proper cricket, but kids love it as its short enough to keep their attention, it brought people to games who wouldnt usually, and, well, to some, it cuts all the boring bits out and condenses exciting shots into a day.

The world cup though, it's "balled me over", and the rules have me "stumped". But test cricket will always have me by the "googlies". "Bye".

[maebach]

my dad was asking the same thing about the costumes, he said that all white seemed more professional. O well, Im goin for the Windies now, but they fucked up today. I dont want SL to win. Ireland would be great. NO AUS, and I wouldnt mind if England won something.