Before the internet....

[Ram]

@ The Flip cards... Yea, cant forget the Srinath Yorker. Was an absolute clean bowled. Was from the Independance cup in Dhaka. It was made even more special because Srinath didnt bowl that many yorkers.

[Cricketics]

Yep ! Those are the ones i was talking about ! Saale, why did you give them away...did you know that some auction sites are selling those same cards (ie; a set of 10) for $20 upwards ? Kuch zyaada paisa nahi, but that shows you that they are valued.

hmm nice never knew about such sites.. and yaa i remember flip card book... i had one black n white of gavaskar drinking thumz up.... anyone had that?? nostalgia

[Gaurav]

Radio and sports magazines from the local library. Walking with your friends with arms around each others shoulders like gay lovers hahahahahahahah........ those were such innocent days. I learned quickly that shoulder walla stuff did not work in UK :hysterical: Man those were the days. Amazing how internet has changed everything. I miss those days (minus the arm around the shoulder stuff) hahahahahah. Just touching the hand of my girlfriend was like sex in those days.

[Rajiv]

I had the flip cards of Kapil ( 83 WC )

[Donny]

Some interesting posts. When did TV arrive in India ? TV began here in 1956, just before the Melbourne Olympics. I'll never forget my first glimpse of Test cricket on the box. I knew very little of cricket. Some kids played it at school but all I noticed of that was a ball being propelled towards another kid with a bat who would try to smack it over, what I later learned was, mid wicket as hard as he could. Not much art or science in that, I thought. Then, one day at a mate's place, I saw a fascinating sight. It was a small man in whites (creams actually) on TV performing magic. He was a left hander and was playing the most delightful off side strokes. I was captivated. "How can the ball go in that direction?" I wondered. I was watching Neil Harvey. It was an Ashes Test match. My first taste of a sport I've now loved for 50 years. It was still years before we could afford a TV set so my early Test and Sheffield Shield (matches between the states) knowledge and appreciation was gained first through ABC radio and our daily newspaper and subsequently, from cricket books. I devoured them. Names like Bradman, Trumper, Larwood, The Nawab of Pataudi, Spofforth, Fleetwood-Smith, WG Grace, Hobbs etc. captured my imagination. The more I read, the more I wanted to read. I was hooked. The first series I experienced in full was the fantastic Australia/West Indies battles of 1960/'61 which featured some of (would become) the most famous cricketers ever - Richie Benaud, Frank Worrall, Wes Hall, Garfield Sobers, Lance Gibbs, Neil Harvey, Rohan Kanhai, Bob Simpson, Alan Davidson etc. After England (and other countries who got dragged along) had nearly killed Test cricket through the 50s, with their 'draw first and only win if there were no risks' style of play, along came the incredible tied Test in Brisbane. The Calypso Cavaliers, especially Hall and Sobers, had captured the puplic's imagination. Aussies like Benaud, Davidson and O'Neill became almost overnight heroes. By now, I had started playing and it wasn't long before I had become vice captain of my school team and was convinced I would captain Australia. I set my sights on leading the team in the 1972 Ashes tour in England. I even wrote to my grandma, who lived in Kent, informing her of this. :regular_smile: Some upstart named Ian Chappell got the job. Bloody selectors !! :angry_smile:

[King]

By now, I had started playing and it wasn't long before I had become vice captain of my school team and was convinced I would captain Australia. I set my sights on leading the team in the 1972 Ashes tour in England. I even wrote to my grandma, who lived in Kent, informing her of this. Some upstart named Ian Chappell got the job. Bloody selectors !!

:haha:

[Gambit]

Some interesting posts. When did TV arrive in India ? TV began here in 1956, just before the Melbourne Olympics. I'll never forget my first glimpse of Test cricket on the box. I knew very little of cricket. Some kids played it at school but all I noticed of that was a ball being propelled towards another kid with a bat who would try to smack it over, what I later learned was, mid wicket as hard as he could. Not much art or science in that, I thought. Then, one day at a mate's place, I saw a fascinating sight. It was a small man in whites (creams actually) on TV performing magic. He was a left hander and was playing the most delightful off side strokes. I was captivated. "How can the ball go in that direction?" I wondered. I was watching Neil Harvey. It was an Ashes Test match. My first taste of a sport I've now loved for 50 years. It was still years before we could afford a TV set so my early Test and Sheffield Shield (matches between the states) knowledge and appreciation was gained first through ABC radio and our daily newspaper and subsequently, from cricket books. I devoured them. Names like Bradman, Trumper, Larwood, The Nawab of Pataudi, Spofforth, Fleetwood-Smith, WG Grace, Hobbs etc. captured my imagination. The more I read, the more I wanted to read. I was hooked. The first series I experienced in full was the fantastic Australia/West Indies battles of 1960/'61 which featured some of (would become) the most famous cricketers ever - Richie Benaud, Frank Worrall, Wes Hall, Garfield Sobers, Lance Gibbs, Neil Harvey, Rohan Kanhai, Bob Simpson, Alan Davidson etc. After England (and other countries who got dragged along) had nearly killed Test cricket through the 50s, with their 'draw first and only win if there were no risks' style of play, along came the incredible tied Test in Brisbane. The Calypso Cavaliers, especially Hall and Sobers, had captured the puplic's imagination. Aussies like Benaud, Davidson and O'Neill became almost overnight heroes.

Good post Donny. Have heard and read a lot about that Aus-WI 1960 series. What made that tie a true tie was the fact that 40 wickets were taken in the game. TV came to India in the late 70s, early 80s.

By now, I had started playing and it wasn't long before I had become vice captain of my school team and was convinced I would captain Australia. I set my sights on leading the team in the 1972 Ashes tour in England. I even wrote to my grandma, who lived in Kent, informing her of this.:regular_smile: Some upstart named Ian Chappell got the job. Bloody selectors !! :angry_smile:

Almost every kid sees this dream of his shattered at some stage. :

[chanakya]

OK how old are you Donny ?

[Predator_05]

Some interesting posts. When did TV arrive in India ? ! :angry_smile:

Probably the 70's, but back in those days the TV's were black and white, and only one or two channels were available for viewing. I don't know how people followed cricket. Cable television (the Murdoch empire) arrived in 1992 and that's when cricket on television (broadcasted on channels like ESPN and Star Sports) took off.

[beetle]

Spotstar....it was my bible. Didn't discuss with boys...coz they were all idiots...and girls were uninterested. no one at home liked cricket....... Those days I was a yuvi and kaif fan.... I used to buy sportstar for the posters and pics......all my walls were covered with sweaty guys ...much to the displeasure of my dad.:D I used to beg for posters from the librarian......and he used to check the mags before and after I issued them ...for missing pics....:P My scrapbook with pics of cricketers was my prized possesion but my mom confiscated it when I got married.....:D I didn't have a single poster od Dravid.....and everytime he used to come to bat....I used to say....acchacha ab aap log TV dekho...yeh to bore karega.:giggle:

[Aditi]

TV (duhh), Newspapers (TOI in particular) and of course, Sportstar...used to collect the posters of my fave cricketers and wallpaper my room :D Snuck in transistors at school during the 1996 WC and got half-days off to run home and watch the India matches...good times! BTW...those trump cards were kickass lol....and collecting enough Coke bottlecaps to exchange for stuff...Ohh and anyone played the cricket boardgame "Howzzat!"??

[Aditi]

Didn't discuss with boys...coz they were all idiots...and girls were uninterested. no one at home liked cricket.......

Thats weird....most girls in my school in Bombay loved cricket, as does everyone in my family...whole big group of us would all sit and watch matches together haha

[beetle]

Thats weird....most girls in my school in Bombay loved cricket' date=' as does everyone in my family...whole big group of us would all sit and watch matches together haha[/quote'] You are lucky.... mein to pehle bhi akele hi dekhti aur ab bhi.....:cry_smile:

[Lurker]

how did you discuss and follow the game? Today, you read articles on CI and ICF. You come here and vent your frustrations or celebrate with other fans.

It may surprise you Gambit but following cricket in my teens was lot easier than it is today. And I dare say in some ways fans were lot more educated back then too. Now dont read that as nostalgia love(or maybe it is). The thing is cricket back then was lot less. The number of teams obviously were lot less back then(I am talking of mid to late 80s here). And the number of quality cricket played was even less. Every year there would be 2 good series and maybe 1 good International LOI tournament. It was easier to keep abreast with it. It was also the time when Newspaper was the main source of information and most sports fan would take the newspaper and go straight to the last page, or second last page (those were the sports section). Now why do I say the fans were more knowledgable? For one it was so easy to keep track of stats. Lets take the example of bowling. I remember very clearly that Lance Gibbs was the leading wicket taker then(309 wickets). He had long retired but his wickets were a record. The 2nd leading wicket taker was Fred Trueman(307) followed by Underwood and Bedi. I remember when Bob Willis broke Gibbs record, then Botham broke Willis record, Hadlee broke Botham's record and Kapil Dev broke Hadlee's record. In between Imran, Marshall etc also went past Willis record. Point being I was very aware of each milestone even though I must be aged in single digit. Same was with batting records. Most fans knew Sobers was number 1 run getter back then, then Boycott broke his record, Sunny Boycotts record and Border Gavaskar's. It is a little different today with so much cricket that sometime you wonder, okay Warne is the biggest wicket taker but how many wickets does he have? Or how many runs has Lara scored. I personally lost track of it since 2000's. The way to keep in touch with cricket was newspaper first, then radio and then periodicals. Radio was fantastic. The commentary on radio would paint a picture that TV never could. Speaking of periodicals Sportstar has been widely acknowledged already. Then there was Sportsworld and Sportsweek, the former was edited by Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi and if I am not mistaken was a Anand Bajaar Patrika magazine. Top stuff. Then there were Hindi periodicals - Khel Bharta, Krida Jagat, Cricket Samrat, Cricket Bharti etc. xxx

[Guest dada_rocks]

radio commentary nothing can match the excitement of that..

[Aditi]

Book Cricket!! :hysterical:

[beetle]

Book Cricket!! :hysterical:

:two_thumbs_up:

[apocalypse]

Probably the 70's, but back in those days the TV's were black and white, and only one or two channels were available for viewing. I don't know how people followed cricket. Cable television (the Murdoch empire) arrived in 1992 and that's when cricket on television (broadcasted on channels like ESPN and Star Sports) took off.

it was called Prime Sports..

[apocalypse]

Spotstar....it was my bible. Didn't discuss with boys...coz they were all idiots...and girls were uninterested. no one at home liked cricket....... Those days I was a yuvi and kaif fan.... I used to buy sportstar for the posters and pics......all my walls were covered with sweaty guys ...much to the displeasure of my dad.:D I used to beg for posters from the librarian......and he used to check the mags before and after I issued them ...for missing pics....:P My scrapbook with pics of cricketers was my prized possesion but my mom confiscated it when I got married.....:D I didn't have a single poster od Dravid.....and everytime he used to come to bat....I used to say....acchacha ab aap log TV dekho...yeh to bore karega.:giggle:

yuvi and kaif? u started watching late?

[Lurker]

yuvi and kaif? u started watching late?

Nope. It took her 15 years of watching the game to understand it :D