Is cricket the most unprofessional sport?

[Tattieboy]

8 minutes ago, rtmohanlal said:

 

so it can be rightly assumed that  to follow   Ashes  a very high proportion of  British people  who otherwise  have not that much interest in cricket would follow it keenly  because of the  'historic' element  associated with it. Isn't it? Now, that is very interesting and also very satisfying  for an ardent game lover like me.

I wouldn't say follow but a larger proportion of people in UK would know what the ashes were .

A core element of cricket followers here , they I would say interested in all forms of the game more than India . If you are a keen cricket follower  then you are committed not fickle like across there .

Most of all cricket followers are attached to clubs here , they are the lifeblood of cricket , nearly every test , first class cricketer has started from a club , it's a social scene , league and cup games , spectators, social members with events . What you see in the crowd are mainly people from clubs who pick a ground to go and watch a test, a WC , an ok whatever it is . 

I get the feeling  that not one UK British Asian plays or is a member of a cricket club here and are totally unaware of what and who the cricket culture is here . 

I have mentioned this before but my club in Scotland draw crowds for league weekend games more than most Ranji Trophy games and years gone by when I played and we had a great team attendances that Ranji Trophy teams could only dream about .

[Ranvir]

2 hours ago, Tattieboy said:

I wouldn't say follow but a larger proportion of people in UK would know what the ashes were .

A core element of cricket followers here , they I would say interested in all forms of the game more than India . If you are a keen cricket follower  then you are committed not fickle like across there .

Most of all cricket followers are attached to clubs here , they are the lifeblood of cricket , nearly every test , first class cricketer has started from a club , it's a social scene , league and cup games , spectators, social members with events . What you see in the crowd are mainly people from clubs who pick a ground to go and watch a test, a WC , an ok whatever it is . 

I get the feeling  that not one UK British Asian plays or is a member of a cricket club here and are totally unaware of what and who the cricket culture is here . 

I have mentioned this before but my club in Scotland draw crowds for league weekend games more than most Ranji Trophy games and years gone by when I played and we had a great team attendances that Ranji Trophy teams could only dream about .

British fans show a great interest in sports even if a brit is not involved or of it's an obscure sport. If you look at the London Olympics, everything was sold out.

 

When it comes to the ashes I wouldn't say non cricket fans follow it, it's more so that regular cricket fans follow it more and are more passionate about it than other cricket matches including the world cup.

[Franco Vazquez]

LOL If it was second best sport then why the eff more people here are aware about Womens FIFA WC than this WC even though they are hosting it? This WC has been a PR disaster with some really one sided games and weather

[Ranvir]

2 minutes ago, Franco Vazquez said:

LOL If it was second best sport then why the eff more people here are aware about Womens FIFA WC than this WC even though they are hosting it? This WC has been a PR disaster with some really one sided games and weather

The liberal left wing BBC are really doing their best to push this women's world cup just like they have articles on transvestites and gays on their website every single day. No one cares about women's football. Men will never accept it and women don't care about sport.

[Franco Vazquez]

4 minutes ago, Ranvir said:

The liberal left wing BBC are really doing their best to push this women's world cup just like they have articles on transvestites and gays on their website every single day. No one cares about women's football. Men will never accept it and women don't care about sport.

I know they don't care about it and its more like forced but still at least they are trying to generate awareness about the tournament unlike ICC who dont give an eff about the tournament.

[IndianRenegade]

It’s the nature of the sport. Many baseball players are also unfit by the same standards. But things are changing, in the old days if you were a good bat or bowl teams could get away with hiding you in the field. But with the way the game has evolved this is not a good option anymore.

Edited June 22, 2019 by IndianRenegade

[rtmohanlal]

3 hours ago, Tattieboy said:

I wouldn't say follow but a larger proportion of people in UK would know what the ashes were .

A core element of cricket followers here , they I would say interested in all forms of the game more than India . If you are a keen cricket follower  then you are committed not fickle like across there .

Most of all cricket followers are attached to clubs here , they are the lifeblood of cricket , nearly every test , first class cricketer has started from a club , it's a social scene , league and cup games , spectators, social members with events . What you see in the crowd are mainly people from clubs who pick a ground to go and watch a test, a WC , an ok whatever it is . 

I get the feeling  that not one UK British Asian plays or is a member of a cricket club here and are totally unaware of what and who the cricket culture is here . 

I have mentioned this before but my club in Scotland draw crowds for league weekend games more than most Ranji Trophy games and years gone by when I played and we had a great team attendances that Ranji Trophy teams could only dream about .

if club  cricket in Scotland could gather such attendances   more than Ranji trophy games, why Scotland doesn't have a strong national team.? By the sense of it, that should have been the case.Isn't it?

[Franco Vazquez]

1 minute ago, rtmohanlal said:

if club  cricket in Scotland could gather such attendances   more than Ranji trophy games, why Scotland doesn't have a strong national team.? By the sense of it, that should have been the case.Isn't it?

Money. Not a lot of money is invested in cricket there. They don't even get as much opportunities to play big teams. They might play England once in 2 years but thats it. Why should someone chose cricket when they probably won't get to play big teams and not even the WC when they could make much money elsewhere.

[rtmohanlal]

2 hours ago, Franco Vazquez said:

Money. Not a lot of money is invested in cricket there. They don't even get as much opportunities to play big teams. They might play England once in 2 years but thats it. Why should someone chose cricket when they probably won't get to play big teams and not even the WC when they could make much money elsewhere.

Have to disagree, I am afraid. The base is spectator interest  for every  sport to grow. As per ' Tattieboy 's claim, his club could draw  audience that could rival even that of Ranji trophy  .Naturally clubs competed with one another  and this was the case several years back as per  Tattieboy .If  cricket could draw such number of audience , it is only natural that higher levels of cricket would have automatically developed   and eventually a strong national team would have been formed  several years back and had been established as a strong team by now. For instance take BAN.They first started playing international cricket in 1986 only.They became at the least a lower ranked team only by around 2015.Till that moment all the  factors that I pointed above had been happening in an inter related manner.And the basis of all this development was spectator interest, because then only money would come.  All the matters automatically followed.

 But that never has happend as of now with Scotland.

[Tattieboy]

1 hour ago, rtmohanlal said:

Have to disagree, I am afraid. The base is spectator interest  for every  sport to grow. As per ' Tattieboy 's claim, his club could draw  audience that could rival even that of Ranji trophy  .Naturally clubs competed with one another  and this was the case several years back as per  Tattieboy .If  cricket could draw such number of audience , it is only natural that higher levels of cricket would have automatically developed   and eventually a strong national team would have been formed  several years back and had been established as a strong team by now. For instance take BAN.They first started playing international cricket in 1986 only.They became at the least a lower ranked team only by around 2015.Till that moment all the  factors that I pointed above had been happening in an inter related manner.And the basis of all this development was spectator interest, because then only money would come.  All the matters automatically followed.

 But that never has happend as of now with Scotland.

I have been to Ranji Trophy matches where three men and some stray dogs watch it , you can't say those states are living off the earnings of spectator interest . No one is going to invest in Scottish cricket , it's a minority sport . Take for example yesterday's games , over last two years Scotland has beaten England, Sri Lanka , Afghanistan, India has never played us because they not interested in helping Scotland at all,  what's is their prize for that , 3 fixtures in the next 5 years against Test Nations . Players at any sport only get better by competing against better players . 

I know what Indian cricket is all about , seen it all , seen good   friends of mine getting caught up in the politics of it , businessmen can't get into politics so next best thing to get power and influence is cricket . Our society is not like that , it is for the love of the sport . 

As you are a cricket nation , we are a football nation , minority sports struggle in India , minority sports struggle here in Scotland .

 

[Franco Vazquez]

2 hours ago, rtmohanlal said:

Have to disagree, I am afraid. The base is spectator interest  for every  sport to grow. As per ' Tattieboy 's claim, his club could draw  audience that could rival even that of Ranji trophy  .Naturally clubs competed with one another  and this was the case several years back as per  Tattieboy .If  cricket could draw such number of audience , it is only natural that higher levels of cricket would have automatically developed   and eventually a strong national team would have been formed  several years back and had been established as a strong team by now. For instance take BAN.They first started playing international cricket in 1986 only.They became at the least a lower ranked team only by around 2015.Till that moment all the  factors that I pointed above had been happening in an inter related manner.And the basis of all this development was spectator interest, because then only money would come.  All the matters automatically followed.

 But that never has happend as of now with Scotland.

How many times BD played big teams in that time? They had tours to every Test nation and used to get smashed more often than not and it helped them getting better at it. Not every player is born with super skills and people tend to get better when they play against better teams. How can I hit sixes in MCG when I have played my whole life in my back ground with 20 m boundaries?

[LordPrabhzy]

I think what Tattieboy isnt making clear in his posts is the underlying perception of Brits for cricket. Yes his claims of a club game in Scotland attracting many more people than a Ranji game might be true and even county games here dont have many people attending during the week but could be generally more than Ranji games. But putting that aside, the reason for this is the perception- Brits view cricket has a way of passing time and a game they could attend WHILE doing other things; chatting, catching up and drinking. Its something that is on in the background. The Ashes rivalry is there, yes and it does attract a lot of attendees for each test match, but the perception is still of a 'day out'. English people generally will not lose sleep over who wins the ashes, there isnt going to be violence or things like that we see in India or have seen previously. To them its a game where they go for a fun day out and hope to see  good cricket from either side. Thats why kids are not taking up the sport here as much; govt schools dont give much importance to cricket and more importantly no free to air coverage to allow as many new kids to watch matches on TV and get into the sport. British Asians who are die hard fans of the game esp Indians do not take up the sport professionally (not as much). is because they support India primarily and also there is a perception that they might not fit in and get accepted in the club culture where it is predominantly white. So they stick to supporting India and playing cricket at local leagues as a past time.

Compare this to Football, there is so much more of a tribalism aspect where club football is the epitome of loyalty, even more than the England national team ( from which no one has any expectations as it is), tensions run high, there is a stream of abuses against opposition payers, away and home fans are kept away from each other by armed police.

In terms of popularity in the UK;

 

Football

Rugby

Tennis

Formula 1

Golf

Olympic Sports

 

 

 

 

Cricket.

Hope that answers your question.

 

 

 

 

[rtmohanlal]

11 hours ago, Tattieboy said:

I have been to Ranji Trophy matches where three men and some stray dogs watch it , you can't say those states are living off the earnings of spectator interest . No one is going to invest in Scottish cricket , it's a minority sport . Take for example yesterday's games , over last two years Scotland has beaten England, Sri Lanka , Afghanistan, India has never played us because they not interested in helping Scotland at all,  what's is their prize for that , 3 fixtures in the next 5 years against Test Nations . Players at any sport only get better by competing against better players . 

I know what Indian cricket is all about , seen it all , seen good   friends of mine getting caught up in the politics of it , businessmen can't get into politics so next best thing to get power and influence is cricket . Our society is not like that , it is for the love of the sport . 

As you are a cricket nation , we are a football nation , minority sports struggle in India , minority sports struggle here in Scotland .

 

 

11 hours ago, Franco Vazquez said:

How many times BD played big teams in that time? They had tours to every Test nation and used to get smashed more often than not and it helped them getting better at it. Not every player is born with super skills and people tend to get better when they play against better teams. How can I hit sixes in MCG when I have played my whole life in my back ground with 20 m boundaries?

so what you people  are basically saying is that Scotland has been getting relatively very few chances at international level(against bigger  teams) when compared to some parallel newbie  like Bangladesh.All the while Bangla spectators  could be attracted in large quantities to cricket,  Scotland couldn't do that.Some facts in this, but yet can't full digest because  of  Scotland being a comparatively richer & influential nation at international level in general when compared to Bangladesh. More over Scotland lies so close to England where there are several counties .Counties at the least  are  2nd level only  when compared to national level .Hence it feels a bit strange to think that Scotland couldn't till now   benefit a lot from playing against the county teams at least.

 

Another huge myth is that football is a minority sport in India. No, it is not...Football has huge fanbase. Still remember watching the  Maradona goal vs England  in a neighbour's house  when we had no television at home. Even in my grand mother's  place  in a rural area, people  in the entire  neighbourhood  would use to flock in homes where there were even black and white TVs during world cup times  and this was the case even some 30 years back(in rural areas, TVs were even that much rarer in those days).Such occasions turned to be  festive for them.Here people's passion  would  go to such extends that  they would side with one team or the other and  if their team losses, they can't take it in a calm way. We have even reports of a few emotional fools committing  suicide based on these in my state.So India's position in world football does not have any thing related to spectator support. Football is more of a physical sport where body strength plays a huge role. Indians in general are physically weaker built when compared to an average European or South American. But one plus point is the huge population from which hugely built boys with basic talent could be identified , given proper training in every factor and from which a good national team can be built.But that require great long term planning in that direction which hasn't been the case till now.

[Comrad]

Yes, cricket is the most unprofessional sport. Cricket is a sport that originated in the early 16th century and has not lost its popularity since then. The pinnacle of the international game is the Cricket World Cup. Other major competitions include the T20 World Cup, a series of Tests, and one-day matches, which I often bet on the crickex app. Many domestic competitions in each country are highly competitive. Unlike many other sports, a game does not necessarily have to start and end on the same day. In fact, there are both one-day matches and multi-day matches that last from three to five days. Each day's game lasts a maximum of six hours.

[speedracer]

On 6/23/2019 at 10:38 PM, rtmohanlal said:

 

so what you people  are basically saying is that Scotland has been getting relatively very few chances at international level(against bigger  teams) when compared to some parallel newbie  like Bangladesh.All the while Bangla spectators  could be attracted in large quantities to cricket,  Scotland couldn't do that.Some facts in this, but yet can't full digest because  of  Scotland being a comparatively richer & influential nation at international level in general when compared to Bangladesh. More over Scotland lies so close to England where there are several counties .Counties at the least  are  2nd level only  when compared to national level .Hence it feels a bit strange to think that Scotland couldn't till now   benefit a lot from playing against the county teams at least.

 

Another huge myth is that football is a minority sport in India. No, it is not...Football has huge fanbase. Still remember watching the  Maradona goal vs England  in a neighbour's house  when we had no television at home. Even in my grand mother's  place  in a rural area, people  in the entire  neighbourhood  would use to flock in homes where there were even black and white TVs during world cup times  and this was the case even some 30 years back(in rural areas, TVs were even that much rarer in those days).Such occasions turned to be  festive for them.Here people's passion  would  go to such extends that  they would side with one team or the other and  if their team losses, they can't take it in a calm way. We have even reports of a few emotional fools committing  suicide based on these in my state.So India's position in world football does not have any thing related to spectator support. Football is more of a physical sport where body strength plays a huge role. Indians in general are physically weaker built when compared to an average European or South American. But one plus point is the huge population from which hugely built boys with basic talent could be identified , given proper training in every factor and from which a good national team can be built.But that require great long term planning in that direction which hasn't been the case till now.

Indians are not weaker built compared to your average south American lol unless you are referring to the vegetarian malnourished impoverished Indians. Same applies to the comparison with Southern European countries. 

 

There are many states in India where Indians are just as strong if not stronger physically. 

 

When you are comparing physicality, you have to factor in diet, nutrition and access to fitness equipment etc. Average Indian is poorer hence he can't afford to play sports as he needs to find a way to survive just to get by. Not to mention quota system and internal politics etc. 

 

Go down to the rural areas of india, you will see for yourself how well built many of these villagers are terrible diets. 

Edited December 17, 2022 by speedracer

[Vijy]

why did this 2 year old thread get revived?