Where in the world is the cricket we knew and loved?
So I read this article in the SMH online today: Wake me up when it's over. It's a pretty short piece on why the author, Peter Fitzsimons, is bored with the current Cricket World Cup. It's so short that I've copied it here.
He writes:
"OK, hands up, if you can remember a single thing about this cricket World Cup so far, apart from the tragic demise of the Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer. Has there ever been a more wilfully boring tournament in the history of the world? Seven weeks of it! Flannelled fools from across the globe, thrashing willow at leather and chasing after it for reasons best known to themselves … least of all the very few people in the stands who are there to see them do it. I have no idea where we're up to at the moment, but - good Lord willing and the creeks don't rise - I am hoping it will be over by the end of this month. Why is it so dull? Dunno. Perhaps they have changed the format this time or perhaps it is because while plenty of whales choked on minnows in the early rounds, the minnows remained minnows thereafter. Maybe, in this country there is just so much cricket you can watch or care about in any given twelve-month period and we all reached our quota by about the 2nd of January. But whatever it is, I should just like to record this thing is as dull as the last soccer World Cup - soccer! Rah! Love it! - was thrilling."
Sure, a murder at any World Cup is pretty attention-gripping. And it's hard work for any sport to bring the focus back to the game. (By the way, there's been no news lately of where the investigation into Woolmer's death has got to. Any tips?)
And yep, I agree - the crowd numbers have been depressingly low. That could be due to the location, but it's also undoubtedly due to the fact that the largest cricket-fanatic populations are no longer interested in watching this tournament. After India and Pakistan were kicked out, there was no reason for that lucrative market to take part anymore. And that's totally their right, in fact it's probably what I would do if I wasn't also Australian - a World Cup without your team in it is jolly boring. The fact that the Irish are presumably tuning in is not making up for the loss of millions of South Asian viewers.
But I disagree that Australians are so deluged with first-class cricket that they don't care anymore. The real problem is that the games all start at 11.30 pm and are over when you get up in the morning. Anyone with a life can't actually watch the games live.
I've been reduced to eagerly awaiting Warwick Hadfield's witty summaries at 7.30 each morning on ABC Radio National. Yet I still love the thrill of the chase, the number of wickets or runs won by, the players who broke records and the players who have had the worst series of their lives (um ... Michael Vaughn spring to mind?).
I'm hoping against hope that the tournament will not be a washout with Australia winning more World Cups than anyone else ever has. That would be boring. What would be interesting would be a nail-biting win by South Africa, Sri Lanka or New Zealand on the night of 28 April. Here's hoping.
And while Fitzsimons might want to be woken up after it's all over, you can be sure I'll be awake that night for the grand final.
Unless ... could Kevin Rudd ask them to start earlier?
P.S. The Chaser last week was not up to standard - I thought it was actually fairly boring and not their usual talent. Pity, cos I normally love watching them.
He writes:
"OK, hands up, if you can remember a single thing about this cricket World Cup so far, apart from the tragic demise of the Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer. Has there ever been a more wilfully boring tournament in the history of the world? Seven weeks of it! Flannelled fools from across the globe, thrashing willow at leather and chasing after it for reasons best known to themselves … least of all the very few people in the stands who are there to see them do it. I have no idea where we're up to at the moment, but - good Lord willing and the creeks don't rise - I am hoping it will be over by the end of this month. Why is it so dull? Dunno. Perhaps they have changed the format this time or perhaps it is because while plenty of whales choked on minnows in the early rounds, the minnows remained minnows thereafter. Maybe, in this country there is just so much cricket you can watch or care about in any given twelve-month period and we all reached our quota by about the 2nd of January. But whatever it is, I should just like to record this thing is as dull as the last soccer World Cup - soccer! Rah! Love it! - was thrilling."
Sure, a murder at any World Cup is pretty attention-gripping. And it's hard work for any sport to bring the focus back to the game. (By the way, there's been no news lately of where the investigation into Woolmer's death has got to. Any tips?)
And yep, I agree - the crowd numbers have been depressingly low. That could be due to the location, but it's also undoubtedly due to the fact that the largest cricket-fanatic populations are no longer interested in watching this tournament. After India and Pakistan were kicked out, there was no reason for that lucrative market to take part anymore. And that's totally their right, in fact it's probably what I would do if I wasn't also Australian - a World Cup without your team in it is jolly boring. The fact that the Irish are presumably tuning in is not making up for the loss of millions of South Asian viewers.
But I disagree that Australians are so deluged with first-class cricket that they don't care anymore. The real problem is that the games all start at 11.30 pm and are over when you get up in the morning. Anyone with a life can't actually watch the games live.
I've been reduced to eagerly awaiting Warwick Hadfield's witty summaries at 7.30 each morning on ABC Radio National. Yet I still love the thrill of the chase, the number of wickets or runs won by, the players who broke records and the players who have had the worst series of their lives (um ... Michael Vaughn spring to mind?).
I'm hoping against hope that the tournament will not be a washout with Australia winning more World Cups than anyone else ever has. That would be boring. What would be interesting would be a nail-biting win by South Africa, Sri Lanka or New Zealand on the night of 28 April. Here's hoping.
And while Fitzsimons might want to be woken up after it's all over, you can be sure I'll be awake that night for the grand final.
Unless ... could Kevin Rudd ask them to start earlier?
P.S. The Chaser last week was not up to standard - I thought it was actually fairly boring and not their usual talent. Pity, cos I normally love watching them.