England whinge about India tour itineray

[Goughy]

There have been lots of complaints over this in the past. One of the key things is to make it as tough as possible for the Barmy Army to travel and embarass English cricket by keeping them away from the big stadiums because 'they can'.

As for not knowing the grounds and cities. I dont, but I can tell you that every report I read and person I talk to mentions how the facilities in major cities have improved a great deal but that the secondary cities are still a long way behind.

This doesnt really matter as long as England follow the same path and deny India a Lords game on their next tour.

 

[Salamuddin]

Yes, so? You think they're all happy with it?

It's not unfair to expect England to play in at least some "out" grounds - nor anyone else. But you always hope to get at least the odd game at a "big" ground. This proposed itenerary contains zero.

Richard, England got Sardar Patel Stadium which is a frontline test match stadium at Ahmedabad.
They are playing a test at Mumbai (at Mumbai's best stadium - the CCI is a much better venue than the Wankhede which in any case is unavailable due to renovations).

They are also playing in the Feroze Shah Kotla in India's capital. It's not like they haven't been given a so-called "big ground".

 

[steds]

If the BCCI were given the likes of Hampshire/Durham/Old Trafford (yeah i went there ). Instead of the bigger / best looking / more historical grounds

Third largest (Test match capacity) and second oldest Test ground in the country. What more do you want?

 

[Salamuddin]

There have been lots of complaints over this in the past. One of the key things is to make it as tough as possible for the Barmy Army to travel and embarass English cricket by keeping them away from the big stadiums because 'they can'.

As for not knowing the grounds and cities. I dont, but I can tell you that every report I read and person I talk to mentions how the facilities in major cities have improved a great deal but that the secondary cities are still a long way behind.

This doesnt really matter as long as England follow the same path and deny India a Lords game on their next tour.

If England deny India a game at Lords, I have no problem. That's their prerogative.
But if you seriously think the BCCI care two hoots about "embarrassing" ENglish cricket - you are mistaken. The BCCI make money whether or not the Barmy Army show up.

 

[Richard]

Hardly zero. The last ODI is in Delhi. Both the tests are in traditional test centres.

Richard, England got Sardar Patel Stadium which is a frontline test match stadium at Ahmedabad.
They are playing a test at Mumbai (at Mumbai's best stadium - the CCI is a much better venue than the Wankhede which in any case is unavailable due to renovations).

They are also playing in the Feroze Shah Kotla in India's capital. It's not like they haven't been given a so-called "big ground".

Whether the CCI is a better ground than the Wankhede I don't know, but it's not a front-line stadium and never has been. The Feroz Shah Kotla is the closest there is in the itenerary to a "big" ground and even this is nowhere near the prestige of the Chinaswamy, the Chepauk, Eden Gardens or the Wankhede. Motera is certainly not what would be called a high-profile ground either.

 

[James]

Don't see what the complaints are about really. Good on the BCCI for taking the games around the country and allowing fans from all around India to watch their team first hand IMO.

It's the same in New Zealand now where they take games to Queenstown, and probably places like New Plymouth, Rotorua, etc in years to come. Rather than just playing in the big cities of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Obviously isn't as big a country as India, but the same sort of thing applies I reckon.

 

[Richard]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with spreading the games around, but ideally you want a mixture of "big" and "small" for every tour.

 

[James]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with spreading the games around, but ideally you want a mixture of "big" and "small" for every tour.

Why should that really matter to the touring team though? Especially in regard to ODI cricket.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Third largest (Test match capacity) and second oldest Test ground in the country. What more do you want?

It's a dump.

 

[steds]

It's a dump.

True, but being a dump doesn't make any smaller or less historical, which was two of your three criteria.

 

[andruid]

Can't say I expected more from the money grabbing BCCI either.

The whole cricketing administration is a bloody joke, 7 ODIs and just two test matches, i'd much rather we didn't bother touring the bloody country if that's the type of pointless schedule we have to play.

Shambolic

 

[Salamuddin]

Whether the CCI is a better ground than the Wankhede I don't know, but it's not a front-line stadium and never has been. The Feroz Shah Kotla is the closest there is in the itenerary to a "big" ground and even this is nowhere near the prestige of the Chinaswamy, the Chepauk, Eden Gardens or the Wankhede. Motera is certainly not what would be called a high-profile ground either.

The CCI regularly hosted test matches until Wankhede was built. Wankhede is currently unavailable due to renovations so the CCI becomes Mumbai's no.1 stadium.
What exactly is you defn of a front line stadium ? Because it it is anything to dow ith the quality of the pitch, the outfield , the prcatise facilities and accessibility, CCI beats Wankhede hands down.
Th Wankhede only became Mumbai's main stadium because of a turf war within the MCA not beacuse it was a better stadium.
Motera may not be as historic as Eden Gardens but it is one of India's major test match stadiums in a major city of India.
England don't have much ground to stand on I'm afraid.

 

[steds]

Until they rid their stadiums of vomit, I don't think we should tour at all.

 

[Salamuddin]

Until they rid their stadiums of vomit, I don't think we should tour at all.

ok good luck then don't tour...I'm sure the ECB will easily be able to make up for the lost revenue.

 

[Dasa]

I can't really see what the complaint is...England isn't being sent to backwater country towns, and they're playing the Tests in Ahmedabad and Mumbai.

 

[Son Of Coco]

The starter of this thread certainly had no agenda in mind.

 

[duffer]

Don't see what the complaints are about really. Good on the BCCI for taking the games around the country and allowing fans from all around India to watch their team first hand IMO.

It's the same in New Zealand now where they take games to Queenstown, and probably places like New Plymouth, Rotorua, etc in years to come. Rather than just playing in the big cities of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Obviously isn't as big a country as India, but the same sort of thing applies I reckon.

Agree with this, I think the England fans are discounting the amount of politicking that the BCCI has to deal with to keep all their State Associations happy and giving them a token ODI here and there goes a long way to keeping them happy.

If the ECB had a problem with the tour they should've played hardball instead of choosing the spineless route.

EDIT: And there are no backwaters in that itinerary, probably not as many tourist hotspots as they would've liked but it's not like we're sending them to woop woop.

 

[Fusion]

Don't see what the complaints are about really. Good on the BCCI for taking the games around the country and allowing fans from all around India to watch their team first hand IMO.

It's the same in New Zealand now where they take games to Queenstown, and probably places like New Plymouth, Rotorua, etc in years to come. Rather than just playing in the big cities of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Obviously isn't as big a country as India, but the same sort of thing applies I reckon.

I can't really see what the complaint is...England isn't being sent to backwater country towns, and they're playing the Tests in Ahmedabad and Mumbai.

AWTA

 

[silentstriker]

The BCCI can basically bitch slap anyone into agreeing to whatever they want to happen, the spineless ECB is no exception.

So wait a minute, it's BCCI's fault for not convincing the ECB to hold more Tests? This boggles my mind. If the BCCI had requested the ODIs, they'd be the bad guys, but if the ECB requests the same thing, the BCCI are still the bad guys?

As if the BCCI wouldnt complain if we stuck India into crappy stadiums when they toured here. Its a fair point.

They have before, and they got brushed off. How quickly people forget.

I cant either. Its a terrible schedule.

A nightmare for players and supporters. Its well know that when BCCI are being political and getting nasty they send touring teams (this has happened to England before) to backwaters where the hotels are of a lower standard than at the major cities and its difficult for fans to travel to and from.

If I was England I wouldnt aprove it, especially given the composition of the tour in terms of games.

India had complained to England many times when they were less powerful about this exact thing. And the answer they got was 'It's the decision of the hosting board, so you're SoL.'

And Rajkot has a population of 1.5 million. A lot of fans there who'd like to see a game from time to time. India have a lot more grounds than England, and all the various state boards need to get games.

 

[silentstriker]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with spreading the games around, but ideally you want a mixture of "big" and "small" for every tour.

Mumbai, Delhi, and Ahemdabad aren't big enough cities for people to travel to?