How come cricket is not spreading to other countries?

[Richard]

Have you not seen their flag?

I have, but I always think it's Australia's.

 

[Flem274*]

I have, but I always think it's Australia's.

Stabby stabby rip stab

Would like a new flag in all honesty, but still..

 

[Black_Warrior]

You can disagree, but that's the way it is. Yes, your own case is different, but the number of people like you are tiny. That is well established. The overwhelming number of cricket fans are people who've grown-up with the game because their parents (usually fathers, of course) are fans and\or players. They don't neccessarily have to have been into it from the age of 6 or whatever as I was, but it'll have been there and thereabouts, then they'll gradually fall under the spell.

There's heaps of research out there that's been done on the matter.

Cricket's great challenge is to try to draw in, in large quantities, people who are already relatively grown. It may be impossible - it's something it's been unable to do for centuries. Other games are miles, miles better; and, of course, have much more of a mass-market to the very young as well.

Umm what kind of research? I dont mean to be rude but its just that I find that a bit hard to agree with. I have seen a lot of people who been drawn into the game at a much later stage in their lives...some of them even had the opportunity to do so at a much earlier stage in their lives but did not find it interesting then.

 

[brockley]

I think michel divineuto should play for italy once he retires from durham.

 

[Uppercut]

There's heaps of research out there that's been done on the matter.

Sauce!?

 

[Richard]

Sauce? You mean source?

Pretty much every piece I've read on the "expansion" of the game from realistic-minded writers (ie not those like LA-ICE E on here who just take a frankly ridiculously optimistic stance) mentions it.

I'm not sure if there'd be any form of widely available surveys out there, but I've absolutely no doubt that plenty have been undertaken and that it's widely known that the overwhelming majority of cricket fans have been introduced to the game at a young age.

Of course, cricket has sufficient fan-base that even with the overwhelming majority being of one type there'll still be thousands of millions of another.

 

[Richard]

Umm what kind of research? I dont mean to be rude but its just that I find that a bit hard to agree with. I have seen a lot of people who been drawn into the game at a much later stage in their lives...some of them even had the opportunity to do so at a much earlier stage in their lives but did not find it interesting then.

Just because your own experience differs from the norm doesn't mean the norm isn't a norm.

And BTW someone who has been exposed to it early in life and only gained keenness for it a little while later fits into the category which I describe as the majority rather than the minority.

 

[GIMH]

You can disagree, but that's the way it is. Yes, your own case is different, but the number of people like you are tiny. That is well established. The overwhelming number of cricket fans are people who've grown-up with the game because their parents (usually fathers, of course) are fans and\or players. They don't neccessarily have to have been into it from the age of 6 or whatever as I was, but it'll have been there and thereabouts, then they'll gradually fall under the spell.

There's heaps of research out there that's been done on the matter.

Cricket's great challenge is to try to draw in, in large quantities, people who are already relatively grown. It may be impossible - it's something it's been unable to do for centuries. Other games are miles, miles better; and, of course, have much more of a mass-market to the very young as well.

Dunno, obviously if there's quantative research fair enough, but I know plenty that don't fall into this category at all. My dad hates cricket, I started watching aged about 12 but even then didn't really become a fanatic where cricket took equal footing to football until I was about 19 and Steve Harmison ruled the world (). And my best mate who watched the bulk of the Ashes with me wasn't really a fan at all when he went off to uni but has always watched with me since coming back.

 

[sledger]

Sauce? You mean source?

Reminds me of an awesome thread.

 

[Uppercut]

Sauce? You mean source?

Pretty much every piece I've read on the "expansion" of the game from realistic-minded writers (ie not those like LA-ICE E on here who just take a frankly ridiculously optimistic stance) mentions it.

I'm not sure if there'd be any form of widely available surveys out there, but I've absolutely no doubt that plenty have been undertaken and that it's widely known that the overwhelming majority of cricket fans have been introduced to the game at a young age.

Of course, cricket has sufficient fan-base that even with the overwhelming majority being of one type there'll still be thousands of millions of another.

That's just a load of common fallacies and weasel words. "It's true because the overwhelming majority of people know it" or "the only people who disagree with it are ridiculous". The short answer was "there is no sauce". You're going by anecdotal evidence, probably exclusively your own.

 

[GIMH]

There was no sauce in my cupboard on Saturday morning, sausage butty just didn't taste as good

 

[Uppercut]

Moral of the story, you can never rely on anything without some sauce.

 

[marc71178]

Bacon or Sausage sandwiches just don't need sauce - butter is enough.

 

[Uppercut]

Bacon definitely needs brown or red sauce. Sausages I can accept no sauce for.

Richard needs to find me one though, instead of saying "lots of reliable cricket writers say it, it's an accepted fact" when I have read innumerable amounts of articles by reliable cricket writers and never once encountered anyone ever saying anything about cricket being a sport that you either get into when you're young or not at all.

 

[stumpski]

I haven't read anything to that effect, but I suspect it's true. Someone talked about not getting into cricket until they were 15 or 16 as if that's somehow middle-aged - that's young in my book. I would imagine that most cricket fans are hooked by the age of 25 - but then I suspect that's the case for most sports, and a lot of other pastimes too for that matter.

 

[Uppercut]

I don't think 15 or 16 can be defined as "young" when speaking of when you get into a sport. If I got into cricket at a young age (i.e. when I was about 15) then it doesn't leave many words to describe the age in which I got into football (about 3 months, by all accounts).

In my experience that's not at all unusual, particularly in comparison to other sports. Not in this country anyway, maybe in India it's common for people to be born holding a bat.

 

[Brett Dale]

The weather, the pitches needed, the equipment, the time needed to play a game will all be factors.

 

[StumpMic]

Cricket is not spreading because its not an easy game to understand. It is boring until you actually play it yourself. I didn't like watching cricket until I moved and the kids in my new neighbourhood played cricket. After you play it you understand the basics and then you begin to enjoy watching it on TV too. Later on you learn to appreciate good batting and quality bowling. You pick up things as you go along. Its not something that can be learned overnight. Its an acquired taste.

 

[Black_Warrior]

Just because your own experience differs from the norm doesn't mean the norm isn't a norm.

I am happy to accept what you propose as the norm if only you were able to provide some empirical research results that are credible. Till then, your and my opinions are just that - an opinion...

 

[Arjun]

Look at Formula 1, supposedly the most popular sport worldwide, after football. We find that the drivers are predominantly European. The cars they drive, or the teams they represent, are mostly European, or Japanese (only one left now). They race in circuits mostly within Europe, but for two in the Americas, four in Asia and the one in Australia. That's hardly global. Yet, it is considered an internationally popular sport, and there seems no need to get involvement of other countries in it. There's no need to complain about the lack of globalisation of cricket, when it has often resulted in making a mockery of the game. They need to establish themselves in their core base and keep it strong there itself. Leave the globalisation aspect to the marketing staff in the game. If something as heavily technical as F1 is so popular, cricket shouldn't be too far behind.