Is Test cricket the 'ultimate form of the game' or a symbol of British imperialism?

[Manny_Pacquiao]

On 5/16/2020 at 10:59 AM, Nikola said:

Depends people these days don't have time to watch cricket else world cricket actually doesn't even need BCCI and it's money to run test cricket. BCCI can play 2 or 3 ipl edition per year along with random paytm/pan masala leagues with srilanka/west indies/bangladesh.

BCCI subsidizes cricket around the world, especially in england and australia. Whatever politics you see in the ICC is designed to keep the BCCI in-line with english and australian objectives. If the BCCI breaks away, cricket in those countries will decline, there won't be any money to be made from TV rights.

 

I'm surprised BCCI hasn't broken away from the ICC yet. maybe they aren't sure on how to expand the IPL.

 

On 5/16/2020 at 4:40 PM, Stumped said:

in England tests bringing in by far the most money each summer.

Only if they play 10 matches against australia or india.

 

On 5/17/2020 at 1:33 AM, Straight Drive said:

Depends on which people you consider. For someone retired like me, watching atest is not a problem. There are audiences in every age group. Its just not the teen or middle aged people who form the viewer base.

True, but you need to attract the next generation.

 

test cricket is dying in England and australia, and this has nothing to do with the BCCI. the average teenager in australia would rather play fortnite than go outside with a cricket bat.

 

I think the issue with Test cricket is that it was never meant to be a mainstream sport that appeals to the masses. it was never meant to be football. it was always a niche sport funded by the elites. Which is why england and australia never bothered to grow the game across the world.

[Clarke]

Volkswagen was founded in the influence the third Reich, doesn't mean it's pure evil, dieselgate notwithstanding. 

 

Origins aside, it's a matter of taste. If it is really so bad or parasitic, it will die its own death. Until that happens, some of us will cherish great games like the Headingley Ashes test last year.

[Manny_Pacquiao]

2 hours ago, Clarke said:

Volkswagen was founded in the influence the third Reich, doesn't mean it's pure evil, dieselgate notwithstanding. 

 

Origins aside, it's a matter of taste. If it is really so bad or parasitic, it will die its own death. Until that happens, some of us will cherish great games like the Headingley Ashes test last year.

Sure, but Volkswagen and german companies publicly accepted wrong-doing, issued apologies and donated millions to jewish welfare organizations.

 

The british, on the other hand, are extremely proud of their empire, and they frequently tell you savages to be grateful for the 'gifts' of democracy, secularism and british law. And the railroads. always remember the railroads.

[Clarke]

57 minutes ago, Manny_Pacquiao said:

Sure, but Volkswagen and german companies publicly accepted wrong-doing, issued apologies and donated millions to jewish welfare organizations.

 

The british, on the other hand, are extremely proud of their empire, and they frequently tell you savages to be grateful for the 'gifts' of democracy, secularism and british law. And the railroads. always remember the railroads.

VW is a major German entity with a major govt stake. Cricket is not centralized with the crown at all. 

 

I'd rather stick to cricket than debate pride in institutionalised plunder, slavery & mass murder on a cricket forum. 

[Manny_Pacquiao]

1 hour ago, Clarke said:

VW is a major German entity with a major govt stake. Cricket is not centralized with the crown at all. 

 

I'd rather stick to cricket than debate pride in institutionalised plunder, slavery & mass murder on a cricket forum. 

Cricket enjoys strong public interest in england, its the vestige of the elites.

 

The point is that test cricket looks completely out of place in today's society. And the imperialistic history is one of the lesser discussed aspects of the game. The game is essentially a colonial relic.

 

By the way, england and australia still control the sport. BCCI has worked its way into holding a very powerful veto, but that's about it. 

 

Shouldn't that change in the future? I'd prefer a BCCI run cricket federation over the present day england and australian-led ICC.

Edited May 18, 2020 by Manny_Pacquiao

[zen]

The effort to connect Tests with the cons of imperialism is not a meaningful exercise. The transfer of imperialist values to indigenous cultures has many dimensions including the use of English language, wearing pants, shirts, and suits, and so on. 

 

Talking about cricket, besides tests, even T20s were invented in England. ODIs is a product of a collaboration b/w Eng and Aus, and later popularized by Kerry Packer. Test is called Test because it posses the ultimate challenge to your cricketing skills, and that aspect is what is appreciated the most about it. Sports such as Soccer/Football are said to have originated in England too. 

 

Those interested in sports with more native flavors should try to focus on playing/watching Chess, Polo, Kabaddi, and likes.  

Edited May 18, 2020 by zen

[Khota]

11 hours ago, Clarke said:

Volkswagen was founded in the influence the third Reich, doesn't mean it's pure evil, dieselgate notwithstanding. 

 

Origins aside, it's a matter of taste. If it is really so bad or parasitic, it will die its own death. Until that happens, some of us will cherish great games like the Headingley Ashes test last year.

Germans did not go around looting and plundering as much as Brits did.

[Khota]

7 hours ago, Clarke said:

VW is a major German entity with a major govt stake. Cricket is not centralized with the crown at all. 

 

I'd rather stick to cricket than debate pride in institutionalised plunder, slavery & mass murder on a cricket forum. 

Those things are not decoupled from each other. You get to play 5 days if you have time and money.

[Khota]

Pants have more to do with romans and perhaps french than Brits.

[Clarke]

17 hours ago, Manny_Pacquiao said:

Cricket enjoys strong public interest in england, its the vestige of the elites.

 

The point is that test cricket looks completely out of place in today's society. And the imperialistic history is one of the lesser discussed aspects of the game. The game is essentially a colonial relic.

 

By the way, england and australia still control the sport. BCCI has worked its way into holding a very powerful veto, but that's about it. 

 

Shouldn't that change in the future? I'd prefer a BCCI run cricket federation over the present day england and australian-led ICC.

Thats just your view, rather an excuse to target test cricket. All test cricket fans see it as a contest between bat & ball. Too bad you need to find obtuse links when Bumrah bowls to Williamson with the red ball in hand and you're keen to somehow connect the game to General Dyer or Churchill. 

[Clarke]

10 hours ago, Khota said:

Germans did not go around looting and plundering as much as Brits did.

It's irrelevant, neither is related to a test match across the years.  

[Khota]

32 minutes ago, Clarke said:

It's irrelevant, neither is related to a test match across the years.  

It is very relevant. Brits had more time on hand than Germans so they could play this crapfest for 5 days.

 

It is so evidenttoday also as Germans have become more innovative now are more into Engineering etc. whereas England is into finace and stuff.

 

The game was bought to slaves to show how sophisticated they are with pure Victorian crap or whatever.

[Clarke]

1 hour ago, Khota said:

It is very relevant. Brits had more time on hand than Germans so they could play this crapfest for 5 days.

 

It is so evidenttoday also as Germans have become more innovative now are more into Engineering etc. whereas England is into finace and stuff.

 

The game was bought to slaves to show how sophisticated they are with pure Victorian crap or whatever.

My point of relevance was to crimes committed by either empire. Its absurd if anyone links current day VW to Third Reich or modern day test match to the many ills of imperialism. When Kohli & Ashwin are winning tests for India, they're not doing it to earn glory for the former British empire. What's so difficult about that ? 

[Adamant]

For me an overseas victory in Australia or England is as big as a world cup victory. 

Test cricket in SENA is exciting, in asian conditions virat kohli's team is too strong so we don't get many tough matches. 

 

Cricket won't survive outside india if test matches come to a halt. 

[Khota]

22 hours ago, Clarke said:

My point of relevance was to crimes committed by either empire. Its absurd if anyone links current day VW to Third Reich or modern day test match to the many ills of imperialism. When Kohli & Ashwin are winning tests for India, they're not doing it to earn glory for the former British empire. What's so difficult about that ? 

Winning a match was a way for former servants to tell their masters that we are better than them. Cricket is an elite sport and it still is in England. The sport for masses is football.

 

A thumbrule for you to learn from. Smaller the ball more elite a sport is..

 

Mathematically:  Elite Sport is == 1/(Size of the Ball)

 

Golf: Very Elite, smallest ball.

Cricket, Tennis: elite sport.

Football: Large Ball , Game for masses

 

Ofcourse there are exceptions to the rule but it hold true most of the time.

 

[Ankit_sharma03]

Test cricket is the ultimate format, smaller formats dont give u chance to correct mistakes so luck factor become big but a bigger format will give u another chance like life and if ur really good ull bounce back. 

This is why ull see minnows defeating big team in shorter formats but hardly in a test match coz at the end quality will win.

 

But shorter formats are like fast food, guilty pleasure thats also needeed. 

[Mariyam]

20 hours ago, Khota said:

Winning a match was a way for former servants to tell their masters that we are better than them. Cricket is an elite sport and it still is in England. The sport for masses is football.

 

A thumbrule for you to learn from. Smaller the ball more elite a sport is..

 

Mathematically:  Elite Sport is == 1/(Size of the Ball)

 

Golf: Very Elite, smallest ball.

Cricket, Tennis: elite sport.

Football: Large Ball , Game for masses

 

Ofcourse there are exceptions to the rule but it hold true most of the time.

 

I have a theory here.

The colonial powers were really devious. They designed sports and spread them to the colonized nations so that they could keep the people distracted from the freedom struggle.

Take for instance Test cricket. I am sure a 5 day game is better suited for the pleasant summer climes of the UK than a generally humid place like India. Having some Maharaja be a part of cricket club and have him jump around in a dusty ground in some town is a good way to make him feel 'included' and guarantee his services as a collaborator.

An entertained populace never revolts.

Edited May 21, 2020 by Mariyam

[Khota]

4 hours ago, Mariyam said:

I have a theory here.

The colonial powers were really devious. They designed sports and spread them to the colonized nations so that they could keep the people distracted from the freedom struggle.

Take for instance Test cricket. I am sure a 5 day game is better suited for the pleasant summer climes of the UK than a generally humid place like India. Having some Maharaja be a part of cricket club and have him jump around in a dusty ground in some town is a good way to make him feel 'included' and guarantee his services as a collaborator.

An entertained populace never revolts.

Could be true.

Concentration camps, Divide and Rule are all the contributions of Brits. (There contributions to science are also unbelieveable and I am their biggest fan.)

As the joke goes, Sun never set on British empire because god could not trust them in the dark.

[Khota]

 George Bernard Shaw summed it up pretty good:

 

"The English are not a very spiritual people, so they invented cricket to give them some sense of eternity."

 

 

 

[NameGoesHere]

I enjoy all forms of the game but it’s Test cricket any day of the week over these twitch and itch T-20s.  And India T-20 games over IPL any time.  I stopped watching even IPL finals after the third or fourth season.
 

Whether Test cricket will survive in the next 50 years is an entirely different question.  
 

On a separate but related note I find the article in the OP not very convincing.  For example it’s a pretty bold statement to make without any supporting proof that:

 

Originally the game of cricket was exported to all of Britain’s colonies for one very specific reason, as a way to reinforce a hegemonic cultural order in the face of emancipation of the relative slave populations

 

For that one specific reason? Wow.  
 

Or perhaps it was because a few English folk - as is the case everywhere - just took the game with them abroad, to play because they enjoyed it? The same reason that Indian students who go to America or non-UK Europe play cricket?  Or are we also reinforcing a kind of Indian hegemony? 
 

Generally historical analyses that are in absolutes should be read carefully. 
 

Think of it this way - if we had been colonised by the French, Spain or Portuhal

woild we be playing cricket? I’d bet we’d all be on the Indianfootballfans.com site today had our colonial masters been from any of those 3 nations.  And as a side note is football a tool that France/ Spain/Portugal/Holland etc deployed in Africa?

 

I’ll close by noting that I’m not a naive observer.  Cricket - the so called gentleman’s game- has been (as khota noted) historically connected to gambling, and cheating, and the so called higher virtues attached to it were probably through an upper class public school English affectation of the Mathew Arnold variety.