In olden days when there was only test cricket and most test matches ended in a draw cricket was descriebed as lousy game played by some 11 fools. Then came one day cricket, coloured clothing, white balls, flood lights which revolutionised the game. Today the game changed a lot and it has become faster especially with the advent of Twenty20. But still today it is just played in some 9-10 countries out of which also some 8 countries are only comptetive if u exclude Bangladesh, Zimbabwe etc. The cricket will lose its popularity in long run bcos of the following reasons: 1) There has been downfall especially in terms of performance in countries like India, Pakistan whose performance was pathetic in the recent world cup 2007. If cricket loses popularity in Indian subcontinent then you can concluded it will be a dead sport within notime. This is bound to happen bcos in near future both India and Pakistan are going perform worse especially after retirement of the present main players these teams wil have great difficulty in finding replacements. 2) AUSTRALIAN DOMINANCE: In 70s & 80s West Indies was a superpower in cricket and they were just unbeatable but in those days also they were colsely matched by Australia, England and even to some extent India. In 1990s Pakistan was world champs in 1992 and Srilanka in 1996 and moreover the entire decade both South Africa and Australia were evenly matched till 2000 when matchfixing scandal hit South Africa which actually weakened the team. After 2000 Aussies were absolutely dominant and they won 2003 and 2007 world cups without even losing a match. In this world cup no team was able to match them. The No2 team SA hardly mathes Aussies which we saw in semifinals. This unipolar dominance in world cricket will damage the interest the game. At present Australian team has great players who will retire in 2 or 3 years but their next gen players were also great like Hussey, Tait, Watson, Clarke etc Other teams have no answer for them. South Africa can actually challenge them like they did last year when they chased 434 but they are chokers in world cup which proved once again this time. They just lose in big tournaments like World Cup and also in the past they had their share of misfortune. England challenged Aussie by beating them in Ashes 2005 but they are good only in Test Cricket still in 2006 ashes they lost 5-0. They were inconsistent in one day cricket since 1992 World cup. India and Pakistan have no chance since who will replace guys like Inzamam, Sachin, Dravid or even Shoab Aktar. West Indies will be further weakened after Laras retirement they just have to remember past glory. 3) MATCH FIXING: It is still there and not all matches we see are genunine. How Australia lost so easily to England and New Zealand 5 matches in a row before world cup. How come India lost to Bangaldesh so badly and Pakistan to Ireland. This firmly proves that. This will ruin cricket even further and this world cup the murder of Bob Woolmer (ugliest incident)
I believe in India, time has come to concentrate more on other sprot where we lag behind very very much ( only 1 medal per Olympics for country with 1 billion population). Take out the excess oney from BCCI and use for developement of other sports like soccer, athletics, etc. Develop our National sport Hockey and we again need get into winning ways like our glorious days when we won 7 Olympic medals on the trot.
The Germany Football world cup 2006 had a bigger impact on India than this Cricket world cup... it is not just the fact that India lost in the first round, it is also the fact that the Game has been dominated by Australians to such an extent that it has glutted people's interest in it...
RE:Cricket losing popularity to Europeam football
by VarunKumar Madhavan on Apr 29, 2007 12:13 PM Permalink
and many of my friends have now started following European football instead of cricket matches...
RE:Had indian team of 2003-4 played this world cup...
by Mat on Apr 29, 2007 05:33 PM Permalink
Did we field Greg Chappell and 10 other clones of his to play against Bangladesh? I was against his appointment as his track record as a coach was poor. But he did the fans a big favour by showing us that our team is poor in talent, character and flexibility. He also showed that the bench strength of ours is even more pathetic .So, instead of blaming him, lets just analyse what he has shown us....1)our team is NOT GOOD ENOUGH and 2)there is not going to be a good team in the near future. I think it is high time we make the cronies in BCCI accountable for not nurturing our upcoming cricketers for the last few decades, OR we could all hide under the veil of GC bashing and foolishly expect the next coach to take the team to the next level overnight with his magic wand .Do you really think a Buchnan or Woolmer can change 14 players given by our local cricketing system in a matter of couple of years? The changes should be made when they are in their early -mid teens and for this; BCCI is the responsible body. We just have to improve the way cricket is played in India and how selections are made. Bowler friendly fast pitches have to be made. Local matches such as Ranji matches should be made more competitive. Right now the standard is very poor. We all know of these realities, the BCCI members know and even the selectors know this fact. The chief selector Mr Vengsarkar had mentioned in a boastful tone after one of his centuries at Lords how much making centuries in fast, bouncy tracks meant to him and that scoring enormous amount of runs at Ranji matches meant nothing. He went on to say that "the only way to get out in a Ranji match was out of boredom". Yet nobody, even when they have the authority seems reluctant to do something about our local matches .Only if we invest heavily in our cricket infrastructure, improve the selection process and nurture our up coming talents will we win the World Cup. If we begin now, like the Aussies did in the early 1990s will we be a true contender.
Such is the superiority of this australian cricket, they should be dis-qualified from playing world-cups on this planet and should be upgraded to other planets, galaxies where similar contests take palce
RE:Arrogant aussies think they are world champions
by Raman sSubramanya on Apr 29, 2007 12:18 PM Permalink
To play against Aussies, one should get qualified ! U guys have no qualification.
RE:Arrogant aussies think they are world champions
by Mat on Apr 29, 2007 05:46 PM Permalink
Tell me you were just joking or high on something when you wrote this mail.
I feel this world cup has rather had a highly negative impact to cricket... Very very poor job by the West Indian committee as well as ICC... And Aussie domination has completely killed the spirit of the game.... It was a shame to see good teams like Pakistan and Ofcourse India be side stepped by teams like Ireland and Bangladesh just because of one bad game... very very poor competetion in the game... Not to mention the prices of tickets, accomodation, travel... This World cup is probably one of the worst World cups in history... Ow and to add to it all, the finals was played in such poor conditions... Shame for Cricket..
RE:World cup destroying cricket?
by Mat on Apr 29, 2007 05:52 PM Permalink
I agree to most of the things you wrote .I do not agree Pakistan and India did not qualify because of loss of one match. India and Pakistan lost two.And if you are implying that winning one more win could have got them into the next stage,then it was only delaying the inevitable.
