How has your experience of watching the game changed over the period of time ?

[MechEng]

All ICFers who have followed cricket since 80's or 90's, give us your individual opinion on how watching the game has changed chronologically.

 

I've started following cricket seriously since mid-late 2000's ( used to only watch world cups before ) and the game today looks totally alien to me compared to what I watched 8-9 years ago.

[Trichromatic]

Started following cricket since 1997 and seriously after 2000.

 

ODI cricket has changed a lot and doesn't look much interesting anymore.

 

Player rivalries are missing and that has been biggest failure of cricket recently.

 

S

[tweaker]

I seriously started watching cricket after 1996 world cup .Now I am bored of watching ODI cricket,.From 1996 I watched Jayasuriya,Afridi ,Tendulkar,Lara etc.I really enjoyed the 1998 test series between India & Australia.

[Adi_91]

I still like the summer of Australian cricket. It has an aura that is wonderful to watch. Other than that, cricket has become boring. 

[beautifulgame]

I probably started watching in early 90s but remember much of that .My first firm recollection of memories were from 96 world cup when I was eight .

When growing up I was honestly obsessed with cricket .My only hobbies growing up were either watching cricket or playing cricket .I remember waking up midnight 4 am to watch Sachin and Ganguly bat in New Zealand during the 98(?) tour .

Nowadays I don't really care .Yeah I try to watch if I have spare time but mostly check scores from Cricinfo .Only thing that's sparks real interest is if it's world cup or IPL.

The biggest difference between then and now in India is back Cricket was only option for hobby .But now u have so many options to spend ur time that even imagining five days for a sport feels stupid let alone watching it .

P.S

What I really find it weird is the claims that test cricket and ODIs outside world cup are boring because they lack context .But they lacked context 20 years back as well when they were packing crowds .As if that is the reason for lack of crowds .

[velu]

lots of heart breaking moments in late 90s..

when i started following cricket saffers you to thrash us everyday and jayasurya was a nightmare.. also when  we were chasing  we know the result once sachin gets out

 

but our team improved a lot after dada took our team .. and our team started playing competive cricket and we became damn good chasers under dravid n then dhoni

 

anyway afterl IPL , we are getting overdose and not enjoying match international games 

[Ankit_sharma03]

Its isnt same anymore, quality of cricket has gone down for past many yrs.

 

1. Quality of bowling isnt the same. There was a time every team had 3-4 world class bowlers and now world has that much only.

2. Commentary of tony greig has been replaced by the numerous poor commentators. 

3.  Most sides were pretty gud in 90s specially, Wi, PAk, Sl, Zimb which are at all time low now which use to make competitions really intersting. Even post 2000 the competition was still good. The supremacy of Aus use to make other sides raise their game which produced many of gr8 series- Ind-aus 2000 n 2003-04, Ashes 2005, Aus-SA and many more. 

4. Broadcasting quality of star sports as garbage as anything. Luckily channel 9 n Sky sports produce gr8 cricket shows. 

5. Too many bilateral one sided series and far two less tri series. Tri series were gr8 fun and something to look forward to but the reason for avoiding it is beyond my understanding .  

6. Even though its a modern age of hitting n power batting yet there arent to many specialy talents like Gilchrist, sehwag, afridi, jayasuria for whom anybody and everybody would hook on to television. Bowling stars like Akhtar, lee, Bond whose bowling use to provide thrill to game has gone missing.

7. Too many t20 leagues.  

8. Downfall of Pak n wi , which for me was the diff flavour of cricket. Them being a gud or decent side use to provide gr8 entertainment for the game. 

 

[beautifulgame]

lots of heart breaking moments in late 90s..

when i started following cricket saffers you to thrash us everyday and jayasurya was a nightmare.. also when  we were chasing  we know the result once sachin gets out

 

but our team improved a lot after dada took our team .. and our team started playing competive cricket and we became damn good chasers under dravid n then dhoni

 

anyway afterl IPL , we are getting overdose and not enjoying match international games 

Jayasurya was a nightmare till he retired .Even his bowling lol

Chanderpaul was another .Loved batting against us .

[Adi_91]

39 minutes ago, beautifulgame said:

Jayasurya was a nightmare till he retired .Even his bowling lol

Chanderpaul was another .Loved batting against us .

Andy Flower also loved us. Inzamam, Ponting, the list is endless.

[MechEng]

I remember back in late 1990s when we lost a game to Pakistan, my elder cousin brother and his friends kept talking about Ijaz Ahmed for almost one week, I knew nothing about the game except I memorized that name. Recently when I checked for Ijaz Ahmed's batting in the late 1990s on cricinfo, I found out which knock they were talking about, his 139 off 84 balls at Lahore.

Edited September 6, 2016 by MechEng

[Mosher]

I have been following cricket since the early 90's. I love test cricket and still do. But most of my cricket crazy friends have stopped following the game after the retirement of the big guns of Indian cricket. Test cricket just doesn't have the same following anymore. Only few cricket crazy fans watch it now and hardly any kids watch it. Interest in ODI's too is on the wane. Its all about T20's now and it brings in the crowd but this T20 overdose needs to stop.

[Soorma_Bhopali]

23 hours ago, MechEng said:

All ICFers who have followed cricket since 80's or 90's, give us your individual opinion on how watching the game has changed chronologically.

 

I've started following cricket seriously since mid-late 2000's ( used to only watch world cups before ) and the game today looks totally alien to me compared to what I watched 8-9 years ago.

I watched my first match on television in 1983 ..Ind vs. Pak test match at Jalandhar or some other place and thereafter followed cricket till now ..

 

I do agree that ODI cricket and some one-sided test cricket has lost it's sheen ..nowadays, only marquee contests like Ind vs. Aus, Ind vs. SA or Ind vs. Pak in test/ODI  cricket hold attraction

 

One -sided contests are killing cricket ..I did not even bother to watch Ind vs. WI test series..by one -sided , I am concerned about imbalance between Bat and ball..watching T20 where WI and Ind both scores 240+ in a T20 was no fun except some time in the end .This type of imbalance is not good. 

 

 

[goose]

It's rare for one facet of a sport to change out of all recognition i.e batting. Imagine if in football players suddenly became adept at scoring by shooting from the halfway line. Pretty much what's happened.

[express bowling]

I have been watching cricket  from the time when the West Indies toured India in 1983 / 84.  Never stopped watching since then.

 

In the '80s,  there was only one and then two channels. When cricket matches were telecasted then everyone in the family watched them. Test cricket was held in a much higher esteem then and  ODIs were often played like test cricket till the 40th over.  Correctness of batting technique, and often form over substance, took precedence.  Professionalism and fitness levels were far lower then.  Perceptions  based on reputations played a large part in cricket of that era. For example, any pacer from the West Indies was perceived to be quick even if he was medium pace. 

 

As the protective gears of that era were not developed, bats were much less strokeful and fitness levels were lower.....fear played a big part in the cricket of that era ( albeit lesser than in the ' 60s and '70s ).  Any bowler, who could bowl short deliveries at even decent pace, was far more difficult to handle and risk of  physical injury dominated the minds of batsmen then. West Indies was the undisputed king of teams and there was clear daylight between WI and the others.

 

There was an old world, almost idyllic charm to the game.

 

Indian cricket was very different. We were always the underdogs against top teams, whether we won or lost. This was primarily because India did not have any decent pacer apart from Kapil Dev. It was the era of endless Indian  medium pacers, many of whom were small in size too. It was a pathetic sight to see them bowl unless we were playing in England. Then, they became tigers due to the swing on offer.  Another factor which contributed to the underdog status was the poor quality of spinners then and the flat Indian pitches.  The big 4 had left and Kumble was yet to come.basically India did not have any penetrative bowlers unless we were in England. ( as  Kapil also deteriorated from 1986 or so ).  It was all about the batting....and technically correct batting and we have won ODI tournaments using that in the '80s.

 

Another aspect of that era were home umpires even in test matches and there were stars in that area, especially from Pakistan. 

 

The "90s  saw a significant  improvement in the quality of  telecast as well as dedicated sports channels. ODIs became more colourful. Tendulkar and some other Indian batsmen brought stroke-play to Indian cricket among top quality batters ( previously, there was only Azhar ). Ganguly continued this trend as did Laxman. Kumble was the wicket taking machine...but my most exciting memories were India trying to produce genuine quick bowlers in that decade ( with the MRF pace Foundation and Frank Tyson's project )  and succeeding with Srinath....who was fast and bouncy....what a change that was from the era of Madan, Chetan, Prabhakar, Sandhu etc.

 

This decade also saw improved protective gears and better bats in the 2nd half.   

 

ODIs were very exciting to watch, with strong rivalries and many evenly matched teams. There was a good fight between the bat and the ball but lots of exciting stroke-play was visible too.  Cricket was not the one sided slog-fest it is now but neither was it sleep-inducing ODIs of the mid-"80s..with batsmen blocking.

 

The modern era has brought about much much better fitness....which manifests itself in super fielding, high bowling speeds throughout the day and running between the wickets. We are also seeing much much better bats. T20s are dominant now. This has improved stroke-play in the other formats too.  Lots of data is available and players are analyzed using software. Even fans are privy to the stats and  player analysis. The game is much more professional.  India is expected to win now. The mind-set of cricketers have become far more aggressive and the confidence that comes from an economy on the up is a big plus for us now.

 

Speed-guns show the bowling speeds of bowlers and they cannot get away by taking it easy later on in the day.  India  producing multiple fast bowlers in the '10s  is  another aspect I enjoy a lot.

 

All this is very good....I would just like  more and more sporting pitches and a  fair fight between the bat and the ball.  Please don't hand over the game to only the batsmen and let them earn their reputation.  Cricket would be the winner then.

 

 

Edited September 6, 2016 by express bowling

[Mosher]

5 hours ago, express bowling said:

I have been watching cricket  from the time when the West Indies toured India in 1983 / 84.  Never stopped watching since then.

 

In the '80s,  there was only one and then two channels. When cricket matches were telecasted then everyone in the family watched them. Test cricket was held in a much higher esteem then and  ODIs were often played like test cricket till the 40th over.  Correctness of batting technique, and often form over substance, took precedence.  Professionalism and fitness levels were far lower then.  Perceptions  based on reputations played a large part in cricket of that era. For example, any pacer from the West Indies was perceived to be quick even if he was medium pace. 

 

As the protective gears of that era were not developed, bats were much less strokeful and fitness levels were lower.....fear played a big part in the cricket of that era ( albeit lesser than in the ' 60s and '70s ).  Any bowler, who could bowl short deliveries at even decent pace, was far more difficult to handle and risk of  physical injury dominated the minds of batsmen then. West Indies was the undisputed king of teams and there was clear daylight between WI and the others.

 

There was an old world, almost idyllic charm to the game.

 

Indian cricket was very different. We were always the underdogs against top teams, whether we won or lost. This was primarily because India did not have any decent pacer apart from Kapil Dev. It was the era of endless Indian  medium pacers, many of whom were small in size too. It was a pathetic sight to see them bowl unless we were playing in England. Then, they became tigers due to the swing on offer.  Another factor which contributed to the underdog status was the poor quality of spinners then and the flat Indian pitches.  The big 4 had left and Kumble was yet to come.basically India did not have any bowlers unless we were in England. ( as  Kapil also deteriorated from 1986 or so ).  It was all about the batting....and technically correct batting and we have won ODI tournaments using that in the '80s.

 

Another aspect of that era were home umpires even in test matches and there were stars in that area, especially from Pakistan. 

 

The "90s  saw a significant  improvement in the quality of  telecast as well as dedicated sports channels. ODIs became more colourful. Tendulkar and some other Indian batsmen brought stroke-play to Indian cricket among top quality batters ( previously, there was only Azhar ). Ganguly continued this trend as did Laxman. Kumble was the wicket taking machine...but my most exciting memories were India trying to produce genuine quick bowlers in that decade ( with the MRF pace Foundation and Frank Tyson's project )  and succeeding with Srinath....who was fast and bouncy....what a change that was from the era of Madan, Chetan, Prabhakar, Sandhu etc.

 

This decade also saw improved protective gears and better bats in the 2nd half.   

 

ODIs were very exciting to watch, with strong rivalries and many evenly matched teams. There was a good fight between the bat and the ball but lots of exciting stroke-play was visible too.  Cricket was not the one sided slog-fest it is now but neither was it sleep-inducing ODIs of the mid-"80s..with batsmen blocking.

 

The modern era has brought about much much better fitness....which manifests itself in super fielding, high bowling speeds throughout the day and running between the wickets. We are also seeing much much better bats. T20s are dominant now. This has improved stroke-play in the other formats too.  Lots of data is available and players are analyzed using software. Even fans a re privy to the stats and  player analysis. The game is much more professional.  India is expected to win now. The mind-set of cricketers have become far more aggressive and the confidence that comes from an economy on the up is a big plus for us now.

 

Speed-guns show the bowling speeds of bowlers and they cannot get away by taking it easy later on in the day.  India  producing multiple fast bowlers in the '10s  is  another aspect I enjoy a lot.

 

All this is very good....I would just like  more and more sporting pitches and a more fair fight between the bat and the ball.  Please don't hand over the game to only the batsmen and let them earn their reputation.  Cricket would be the winner then.

 

 

Great post bro.

[express bowling]

1 minute ago, Mosher said:

Great post bro.

Thanks bro

[MK55]

I used to watch  cricket intermittently in the late 90s. Don't recollect most of the matches vividly but I do remember some batting performances of Tendulkar in the ODIs. Also watching fast bowlers excited me the most during those days. Remember watching Brett Lee when he had debuted and him and Akhtar in their early years. The anxiety of India PAK matches was a different level altogether. Even those who weren't interested  in cricket tuned in. Our performance against PAK was disappointing on most occasions though during those days. Was embarrassing to watch Ganguly struggle against genuine pace. Zimbabwe was also a good team then. In fact they produced a number of decent cricketers like Streak, Olonga, Flower and bowlers like Andy Blignaut, Friend etc later on. IIRC Olonga and Andy Flower screwed us a few times. Also recollect Prasad getting bowled by Olonga in the 99 WC.

 

Started following cricket more keenly since the 2003 WC. I had also grown up to a decent age then. Brett Lee and Bond were brilliant during the WC. Also remember watching live when Lee had clocked 160k and bowled Atapattu, defending a low score. I reckon Nehra bowled the best spell of his career against England. I hadn't followed him a lot back then and it came as a surprise. West Indies weren't known for power hitting but they did produce some exciting bowlers like Edwards, Best etc. In test cricket, Ashes 2005 was probably the most entertaining series that I had watched. Of all the Overseas series, the Australia tour was always special and have followed most of them.  Also recollect Mitchel Johnson bowl some fiery spells against SA in 2009 I guess. Have been a fan of him since then.   

Biggest disappointment now has been the pitches. Reverse swing is absent in ODIs. Also, test cricket in places like Australia with those drop in pitches has been a let down. Quality of batting has improved massively with the advent of T20s. Most bowlers in the 90's or early 2000's would have struggled now considering the pitches and the elevated level of batting. Test cricket in the sub continent has become more watchful than in places like Australia and WI.