The Dullest Cricket Team

[NameGoesHere]

On 7/15/2020 at 11:52 AM, Mariyam said:

Cricket?

Eh?

[Mariyam]

On 7/11/2020 at 2:11 PM, Mariyam said:

Which team diminishes your interest in the game? Which team makes cricket totally unwatchable?

Which team is bad news for international cricket from a marketing PoV?

 

I am going to go with New Zealand.

Our semi final loss in the world cup, was one of the worst things that could have happened to world cricket.

A bunch of marketable 'stars' losing to relative nobodies doesn't do the sport any good. An India England final would have been a spectacle. One in which Indians would be emotionally involved. And maybe a few Englishmen too.

 

New Zealand is an effective side, which is basically a team is greater than sum of parts type outfit. In my living memory there has been no controversy around their side/players. They hardly have any recognisable faces. Most people wouldn't know a NZ cricketer if one walked past them in the street. Can't even name 5 NZ cricketers from all their sides combined. Williamson, Vettori, Ross Taylor. Who else? Bevan (not sure)? Bond; who I remember only because of the name.

 

I am glad England won that world cup. And I am glad the won it the way they did.

 

And these guys aren't even marketable locally. To further illustrate my point, go back to the forgettable champions trophy of 2017. NZ were sponsored by Amul. That is right, for a nation whose economic mainstay is sheep rearing/ milk production, Amul sponsoring their national team is an achievement of sorts. But this post is not about the greatness of Amul. Amul was their sponsor so that the Amul could get some "shelf time" for the Indian TV audiences. 

 

Another really dull side is Sri Lanka after the WC 2011 final. They've had a forgettable decade. After the likes of Malinga/Arnold retired from their side, there is no one to fill the gaps talent wise. All our recent games with them have been very one sided. Even Bangladesh put up so much more fight.

 

What are your views?

Going to bump my own post @KINGTENDULKAR style.

 

Congrats NZ. But all in all, this game will be the death knell of test cricket for the reasons mentioned above.