Is Cricket Your Favourite Sport?

[Stapel]

Traditionally, I've always watched loads of football, cycling and speed skating (hey, I'm Dutch).

I got into cricket without anyone telling me about in the first place. I just happened to be in a pub in London in july 1995, when a match was on. I asked another pub visitor about it and he was happy to (try to) explain it to a Dutchy. Since BBC TV is on cable in 99% of Dutch homes, I picked up the habit to watch Test cricket occasionally. In 1998 (?) this was brutally abrupted for reasons not known to me at the time.
In the summer of 2004, I was once more in London and the virus returned to me, again in a pub. From that moment, I checked cricinfo on a regular basis. The 2005 Ashes sucked me completely into it. Since then, I watch far more cricket than any other sports. Consequently, I started playing cricket in 2006. In my first match, 3 days after my 33rd birthday, I was bowled for a 2nd ball duck.....

 

[pasag]

A tough one, but I rarely get emotionally involved in a cricket match like I do in a football match. Even though my frustration with the administration of the AFL grows every year, I'd take a Doggies flag over five World Cups without even thinking about it.

Will you settle for winning a prelim?

 

[bagapath]

I am a true Indian. Cricket is the only sport I love to watch and play. I also like watching tennis or playing ping pong or pool. But cricket first, second and third and then the rest.

 

[bagapath]

In my first match, 3 days after my 33rd birthday, I was bowled for a 2nd ball duck.....

Have been playing cricket for 25 years. I still get bowled first ball. You are far far better than me already.

 

[Jono]

Will you settle for winning a prelim?

That's brutal.

 

[DaRick]

Cricket, quite comfortably.

Somewhere well down the list would probably be AFL and then NRL would be very close behind.

I watch rugby union maybe once or twice every couple of years at the most and have never really cared for it. Although I actually used to play soccer with acquaintances when I was young, the same thing applies.

 

[Shaggy Alfresco]

1. Cricket
= Football







Rugby union/Tennis/NFL








Anything else













Basketball

 

[Pratters]

Re: basketball. I think the trouble for those of us from a football background is the way scoring is fetishised in the sport. & by so doing the currency of scoring is completely devalued.

Simon Barnes had a good line to compare association football with Aussie Rules; he said in Aussie Rules scoring is a kiss on the lips, but in football it's an orgasm. To extend his analogy further, in basketball scoring is barely a firm handshake.

Having started watching basketball before football, I found football's lack of goals to be a boring factor compared to basketball. The hoops in basketball constantly keep me engaged.

 

[Pratters]

I love basketball aswell but honestly basketball only makes for amazing viewing when watching superstars dominate the game. It is a sport of superstars, you couldn't pay me to watch a local basketball game or even the Indiana pacers taking on the NJ nets. It is flat out unwatchable unless u have Kobe or Wade doing their thing. Watching an NBA superstar take over the game is probably the best viewing in sports though.

The creative aspect of the game is amazing too and playing it is always fun much like football.

Have you watched European basketball? It is amazing. Also, college basketball in the US is a top draw and is excellent to watch.

 

[Pratters]

Also, regarding football v basketball, you have 11 players in football while 5 in basketball playing at one particular time. So the involvement levels of the players in the game is much more in basketball and much more fun to play.

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

Also, regarding football v basketball, you have 11 players in football while 5 in basketball playing at one particular time. So the involvement levels of the players in the game is much more in basketball and much more fun to play.

All comes down to personal preference really and what you're used to. Like Brumby and Goughy, I can't stand watching basketball because so much happens that effectively nothing happens. You really appreciate an incredible game of football, say a 5-4 result, because it's so different and so much more enjoyable than your average 0-0. The moments that really stand out and get the crowd going are the goals; in basketball you just seem to get a minor cheer from the crowd every time points are scored.

I also find the lack of territorial importance in basketball a bit alien - you can have the ball at the back of your own half, but can still score in a matter of seconds. Playing it is also frustrating from my experience (although this is confined to PE lessons) because you can't really touch anyone... having played football all my life I just want to push anyone who is clearly better than me on the deck.

And on the quote above, I find playing a sport with at least 10 others very rewarding - a shared experience with just four others would be strange for me. And the fact that I rarely touch the ball doesn't really change anything either.

Again all just personal preference, but of all mainstream sports, I think I probably dislike basketball the most.

 

[Shoggz]

Football certainly used to be my favourite sport, but I have 'fallen out of love' with it over the last ten years or so..

Whereas.. I just seem to have become more and more obsessed with cricket, to the point where I will do the daft things like watching 'other' teams in the middle of the night!

I'm also trying to indoctrinate my offspring into the sport - my son likes playing it, but he's not so keen on watching it - though he did come with me to see Warwickshire against Derbyshire in the Pro40 match at Edgbaston in September.. Seeing so many international players was quite a thrill for him - Bell, Trott, Sreesanth to name but three.

 

[zaremba]

When I arrived here in 2003 I definitely would've said no. I was essentially brought up in a rugby league obsessed environment and I followed suit. As a kid I actually hated cricket, but when I reached eleven years old or so I started watching it casually through the summer just to give me more sport to follow, and started playing a lot of backyard cricket with my neighbours as well.

It might sound a bit "suckhole" but I think CricketWeb actually got me into cricket a lot more than I otherwise would be. To have such a wealth of knowledge and opinions available to me at all times and a group of people to discuss the games with as they happen all the time really makes cricket a lot more enjoyable for me as a whole. I got involved in playing competitively in 2005/06 as well and I love it more as each season passes.

The answer is definitely yes now, by some margin.

Aaawww. Great stuff.

 

[zaremba]

I also find the lack of territorial importance in basketball a bit alien - you can have the ball at the back of your own half, but can still score in a matter of seconds.

Good point. The territorial aspect is one of the things I really like about rugby.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Aaawww. Great stuff.

See just how much Prince EWS has learned - not just about cricket, but about life in general...

 

[Jarquis]

Just read PEWS's post. Think I said pretty much exactly the same thing in this thread but deleted the post out of fear of sounding foolish.
I don't have the opportunity to talk about cricket with friends and if it wasn't for this place I wouldn't have anyone/anywhere to discuss matches. I don't think I'd have half the interest I do in the game. Don't get me wrong, before I joined this place I woke up early every day of the 06/07 Ashes to watch a good session or so before going to school. I wouldn't have stayed up until 3 am the last 4 nights watching Pakistan vs Australia if it wasn't for CW though.
I love the game of cricket but it's only really been a big part of my life for 2-3 years at most. I don't think I can honestly say I like it more than football which has been a part of who I am since the day I was born. Though I can safely say I love it just as much.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Having started watching basketball before football, I found football's lack of goals to be a boring factor compared to basketball. The hoops in basketball constantly keep me engaged.

Yeah, football's uniquely high premium on scoring isn't necessarily better or worse than basketball's extremely low one, it's just what one is used to.

If one were so minded there's a case to be made that with scoring so relatively easy and free flowing in basketball there's less chance of fluke results and the "better" (measured in terms of possession or territory or chances created or whatever) team usually wins. Becuase of the very high value scoring in football has (0-0 and 1-0 are very common scorelines) it lends itself to upsets where a keeper makes two dozen saves and his team scores from their only chance. Lots of people (self included) like that about football, but I could see it being perplexing to those not steeped in a footballing culture.

 

[Shri]

Just read PEWS's post. Think I said pretty much exactly the same thing in this thread but deleted the post out of fear of sounding foolish.
I don't have the opportunity to talk about cricket with friends and if it wasn't for this place I wouldn't have anyone/anywhere to discuss matches. I don't think I'd have half the interest I do in the game. Don't get me wrong, before I joined this place I woke up early every day of the 06/07 Ashes to watch a good session or so before going to school. I wouldn't have stayed up until 3 am the last 4 nights watching Pakistan vs Australia if it wasn't for CW though.
I love the game of cricket but it's only really been a big part of my life for 2-3 years at most. I don't think I can honestly say I like it more than football which has been a part of who I am since the day I was born. Though I can safely say I love it just as much.

You wouldn't bitch about batting at 8 either if it wasn't for CW.

 

[Jarquis]

You wouldn't bitch about batting at 8 either if it wasn't for CW.

Wut? How is that CW related?

 

[Shri]

Wut? How is that CW related?

You would know piss all about the technical nuances(unlike me) of the game and you wouldn't know when to do what.: