By clementfaria Published: November 10, 2009
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Despite it being the middle of June and the height of the cricket
season, the main sports coverage in both television and newspapers, it
seems to me, is almost entirely devoted to the game of football
compared to that of cricket.
In fact, I would go so far as to say that our beloved summer game could
almost be classed as an also ran in relation to football, for we are
for ever being fed news about the latest multi million pound player
transfers to those clubs able to afford these astronomical amounts of
money. About the latest club managers sackings; about new club managers
appointments; about club teams updates in the remotest parts of the
country that we have never heard of before. And so it goes. . . On. . .
and on. . . and on. . . and on. . . I'm wondering, will it never end,
this overfeed of football information? Especially when our game of
cricket is hardly mentioned at all.
There's no mention of the county cricket scores by the television
anymore. Indeed, you would be hard pressed to find them in most of the
newspapers anywhere these days also, except perhaps in the small print
hiding in the corner at the bottom of a page somewhere. You may well
ask, 'But what about 20/20 cricket? That gets plenty of coverage'
My reply is, ' But what about it?' After all, this smack-bam-wallop!
interpretation of the game is hardly cricket now, is it? Oh, I know it
draws large crowds to watch it. And there's lots of money for everyone
involved; but we all know where that debacle in the West Indies led us
recently, don't we? It's all hype and no substance, in my opinion. The
whole character of the game will be lost if we carry on in this way,
and we'll find it ending up the same as football. Money! Money! Money!
With players contesting the umpires decisions, arguing with them,
swearing at them, even being sent from the field of play because of
their outrageous behaviour toward them. Who wants that? I know I don't.
And this kind of behaviour has now also become part and parcel in club
cricket up and down the country ever since the introduction of league
cricket over the years, with players slagging each other off in a most
ungentle many way that it has actually become acceptable as the norm by
everybody. What used to be looked on as an enjoyable afternoon's game
of cricket between two friendly, good-natured teams appreciating each
other's skills, has now been turned into what can only be described as
a war zone out on the cricket field on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
In those happy days long ago when cricket was played as it should be,
it was a recognised thing that after the match the custom was to then
enjoy a glass of ale in the pavilion bar with the opposition to discuss
the game we had just spent all afternoon playing together. And it was
here that we learned so much about each other both as players and as
individuals. We actually respected one another's cricketing talents.
Not like now, where if you lose a game, your opposition will be
showered and changed and on their way home without a mention of the
afternoon's contest within minutes of the match ending. There appears
to be so much hostility between players now, which is such a shame,
because ultimately the game, in my opinion, will suffer because of this
bad attitude and general lack of respect for it if continued in this
manner.
Which only leaves me to just repeat: 'What have they done to our beloved game of cricket?'
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