When I saw my first cricket match, a limited overs contest in Canarsie Park, I could have sworn that nothing was happening for huge swatches of time. Fielders stood around for the most part idly while the batsmen fended off one bowled ball after another interminably. Occasionally, a batsman would deign to run, and fielders would have to exert themselves to keep the runs down to a minimum. The nothingness was punctuated by the occasional boundary or an out, and these seemed somewhat exciting but hardly sufficient reward for an entire day of watching. A couple of hundred runs might be eked out in this manner by each side.
Under the tutelage of the players over the course of several seasons and a season spent in Barbados following cricket at all levels (including a number of interviews with Sir Conrad Hunt), I became sufficiently knowledgeable of the game to understand that it is, without question, the most complex and exciting game ever devised by the mind of man. The periods of nothingness were, in fact, filled with action and intrigue. I even came to prefer test cricket, the 5 day affair, to the bastardized one day version of the game. Competence led to salience led to ever greater competence led to increasing salience and, finally, love.
Limited overs sacrifices a lot of the subtleties of the game, but its popularity is understandable. In addition to practical considerations, there is more reckless batting, leading to more offense or more frequent opportunities for spectacular defensive plays. Less competence is required for the spectator, and there is less for players to think about. Score runs or keep the other side from scoring runs. No need to manage time, no point in brilliant defensive batting, no chance for strategic shuffling of the batting order.
Cricket will never catch on in America on a grand scale. It requires too much competence to enjoy, and playing time at some level is almost a prerequisite to fandom. Americans won’t invest 6-8 hours in the game which is so hard to learn and which is challenging both to play and to enjoy, far more so than other American sports. Also, it is difficult to modify cricket to make it palatable to superficial and ignorant fans. The NFL and NBA make rule changes that privilege offense and suck most of the subtlety from the games, and this allows them to appeal to a widening fan base that love touchdowns, sacks, slam dunks and rejections. Baseball builds small ballparks and facilitates the long ball and appeals to skin deep fans who love only homers and strike-outs and occasional web gems. There is no need to have ever played any of the American games to be a bona fide sports fan. A profound fan might even be sickened a little by the pandering to the masses.
Cricket might have a chance if you modified it to last less than 3 hours and if you denuded it of any of its endearing characteristics. For example, the batsman might be required to run on a struck ball. This would quicken the pace of the game; however, it would be a completely different game, and the thought of it makes me a little nauseated. It may be possible, however, to build a fan base for genuine cricket based on the modified version from which fans would graduate to limited overs and then to test play. The existence of highly knowledgeable baseball fans gives me hope, since these folks see the game in terms of series and entire 162 game seasons rather than individual games. Moreover, they appreciate that every pitch is an event, every foul a defensive act, and every seemingly empty space or moment is filled with action and meaning.
It would be a better world if there were more cricket fans in it, and Americans would be better people with cricket in their hearts.
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7 comments:
Capitalist stooge!
Actually, I sat down with some grad students from India a few months ago and they explained the game to me -- sounded facinating and if I had the time to play it for 5 consecutive days, I might try it out more often : )
But think of the 1939's great timeless test in South Africa, declared a draw after 10 days because the England team were going to miss the boat back to Southampton docks.
elaib, one of the beauties of cricket is the possibility of a draw, but this is something hard for Americans to appreciate. I recall attending a West Indies/Australia test match where the Aussies got out to a seemingly insurmountable lead, and it was the chance for the West Inians to achieve a draw that made the rest of the match meaningful. The West Indies came back on the strength Brain Lara's amazing batting and actually won when all we hoped for was a draw. This is the only time I have ever run out onto the field after a sporting event in order to make an ass of myself.
Conrad Hunte! For a while in the mid-80s Conrad Hunte lived in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was married to Atlanta news anchor Patricia Hunte. He & his wife were members of Atlanta Covenant Church (wacky fundamentalist church), where I went to fourth & fifth grades, & he taught cricket & football (that is, soccer) to the students. Strange the way these things happen. I haven't thought about him in years until I ran across this blog post by chance. Kindly fellow he was.
I also went to church with Conrad Hunt in Atlanta. It's amazing who you sometimes know. He just seemed like a really nice guy. You never would have known that he was a "Sir" anything or a famous sports personage in certain circles. I remember his cricket lessons fondly even if I can barely recall the details of all the rules.
Today , they have modified Cricket, to an 3 and half hour affair to attract more crowd and have more fun, with the new rules of 20-20 Overs Per Side (One day game is 50-50 Over per side and required entire day) while, 20-20 requires only 3 and half hour and There are like 15-20 Sixes(Consider that as Home Run in Baseball) but It will take huge effort for Americans to Learn this game..
Just curious. Are you White or African American??? We are also huge cricket fans. Cricket IS the Greatest Game in the Universe. No doubt about that. Best way for Americans to enjoy it with the new T20 format. It lasts only for 3 hours, just like a baseball game.
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