Cricket Culture in Various Nations

Having resumed league cricket this weekend after an extended uni-induced break, I had a chance to catch up with a couple of new club members. One of them is an all-rounder here from Sydney for 8 months. Getting to the point, we had a great chat about cricket in Australia: the brilliant domestic infrastructure, the difference in attitude (apparently, Aussie club cricketers have a good laugh and really enjoy themselves out there even when they lose, unlike subcontinental cricketers), the greater appreciation of test cricket in general and fan behavior at matches (he prefers watching local matches on his couch since he gets bored of the "drunk" scene), etc.

This made me curious. How does the scene at a cricket match differ from England to WI to Pakistan to Australia to etc? How do players approach the game? How do fans approach the game? Even the smaller cricketing nations (Ban, Zim, Ken) would be great to learn about.

Please try not to state the obvious.

Club cricket in Britain is awesome.

Sorry if I stated the obvious.

Nah, seriously, I genuinely do greatly enjoy it. If Aussies have a "it's not the winning that counts, it's the taking part" attitude, the British certainly do. And TBH, I think that's quite right. It's always been the way cricket is - having a quiet sup with your adversaries in the bar afterwards is, in some ways, every bit as important as standing under the boiling sun for 8 hours doing often sod-all.

Doesn't mean I don't like to get the best figures I can, of course. And, if the game's a competetive one with points at stake, I rather like to win it too.

Richard said:

Nah, seriously, I genuinely do greatly enjoy it. If Aussies have a "it's not the winning that counts, it's the taking part" attitude, the British certainly do. And TBH, I think that's quite right. It's always been the way cricket is - having a quiet sup with your adversaries in the bar afterwards is, in some ways, every bit as important as standing under the boiling sun for 8 hours doing often sod-all.

Doesn't mean I don't like to get the best figures I can, of course. And, if the game's a competetive one with points at stake, I rather like to win it too.

Click to expand...

what level do you play at Richard?

Well I haven't played genuine competetive cricket for 3 seasons now (mostly only get the chance to play Wednesday friendlies at the merment), but when I do it's Sunday XI. I've played in all of Third, Second and First Division. It's only Devon, though, and Devon is generally very poor in standard compared to, say, Kent or Yorkshire.

Swervy said:

what level do you play at Richard?

Click to expand...

There's no way this kid has played the game at any level higher than that of attempting to bowl out earthworms at the botom of his garden.

Bank on it.

Hahaha

Nothing beats English village cricket, and a pint at the local afterwards.. I don't care for Malcolm Speed, drug takers, match fixers and the world cup when you can have a beer and a chat with a bunch of guys who play with you and against you because they love it.. And then do the same thing next weekend.. I miss it so much tbh.. The friendships you build if you stick around a decent English league don't leave you, no matter where you end up..

Richard said:

Well I haven't played genuine competetive cricket for 3 seasons now (mostly only get the chance to play Wednesday friendlies at the merment), but when I do it's Sunday XI. I've played in all of Third, Second and First Division. It's only Devon, though, and Devon is generally very poor in standard compared to, say, Kent or Yorkshire.

Click to expand...

Yeah the standard of Kent league cricket is very good also the facilities most clubs have are ace. When I use to play we had quite a few of Kent's now first class cricketers around or in the opposition and on top of those boys some very decent overseas players.

Was meant to play some cricket in Seaton a few years back (when I left Secondary School) but I ended up spending my summer in South Africa. According to a friend of mine the standard was appalling but I could have done with the free runs tbh.

The standard over here is pretty good.. We have such a good standard of spin bowling, it baffles as to why we don't ever produce anything at national level.. Clubs are built around the traditional playing schools and their old boy foundations, and often cricketers give up when they reach thirty years old.. The facilities and pitches are generally good in my experience, but the distance and the time spent on the road just makes me prefer English village cricket.. Like everything else here though. it's unfortunatly very race based, with Afrikaans cricket clubs, English, Black, Coloured and whatnot

PathanPower said:

There's no way this kid has played the game at any level higher than that of attempting to bowl out earthworms at the botom of his garden.

Bank on it.

Click to expand...

Better file for ruptcy, then, TBH.

Richard said:

Better file for ruptcy, then, TBH.

Click to expand...

Well IF you did, and it's a big if....you certainly didn't succeed at said level.

Yes, and you'd know that from wherever your true location is.

Richard said:

Well I haven't played genuine competetive cricket for 3 seasons now (mostly only get the chance to play Wednesday friendlies at the merment), but when I do it's Sunday XI. I've played in all of Third, Second and First Division. It's only Devon, though, and Devon is generally very poor in standard compared to, say, Kent or Yorkshire.

Click to expand...

Richard, did you play against a bloke named Simon Mahony a few years back? He's an opening bowler who plays for my club here and winteres in the Devon league about 4 or so years ago.

The name actually rings a bell, but not sure whether that's with good reason or not.

The only Aussies I know for certain are WAns who've played as our overseas-players - Hugh Brown and Chris Rogers himself.

Like to see Simon bowl to Rogers - they'd run out of cherries after about 2 overs!!!

Richard said:

Well I haven't played genuine competetive cricket for 3 seasons now (mostly only get the chance to play Wednesday friendlies at the merment), but when I do it's Sunday XI. I've played in all of Third, Second and First Division. It's only Devon, though, and Devon is generally very poor in standard compared to, say, Kent or Yorkshire.

Click to expand...

the reason I ask is because I have rarely seen the type of cricket that you talk about, where its all about having a jolly good game, and it doesnt really matter who wins.

I am in the 3rd division (out of three!!!) of a not too brilliant league, and by and large it is very competitive. In the top division it is very very competitive

When I was playing in Blackpool 15 years or so ago, no matter what the level (even playing against touring sides on Sundays) the games were always competitive to the max.

Me personally, I never want to lose!!!

The Vincibles by Gideon Haigh, as discussed in the book thread a while back is a brilliant and very lighthearted look at the culture of club level cricket, in particular the South Yarra Cricket Club in Melbourne. It's awesome tbh.

Edit. Called 'Many a Slip: A Diary of a Club Cricket Season' in England btw.

Swervy said:

the reason I ask is because I have rarely seen the type of cricket that you talk about, where its all about having a jolly good game, and it doesnt really matter who wins.

I am in the 3rd division (out of three!!!) of a not too brilliant league, and by and large it is very competitive. In the top division it is very very competitive

When I was playing in Blackpool 15 years or so ago, no matter what the level (even playing against touring sides on Sundays) the games were always competitive to the max.

Me personally, I never want to lose!!!

Click to expand...

I certainly never want to lose (in a competetive game - don't really care too much in a friendly). But there are more important things than winning.

As I say - it's been several years since I played competetive cricket. But never is the winning everything.

adharcric said:

apparently, Aussie club cricketers have a good laugh and really enjoy themselves out there even when they lose

Click to expand...

This really is a massively open-ended statement. There are a few aspects to the attitude that most take out.

First of all, you're out there to win. You don't want to waste the Tues/Thurs training, the pre-season, getting to the ground early, etc. on getting battered. You're prepared to do little niggly things that just might give your side an extra 1% advantage; like chatter, using bounce throws all day to soften the ball up, etc.

But with that, as soon as you leave the field, it's part and parcel of playing competitive sports that you engage with the opposition after the match, talk about the game and often you'll know a few blokes from the other team and have a chat about other stuff too. The guy who might have been in your ear all game giving you a bake is having a beer with you after the game. I think in the eyes of most, that's how it should be.

Another aspect to is that I think there is still a lot of reverance for the little aspects of cricket ettiquette; such as waiting for the umpires and fielding side to take the field before the batsmen do, not running if the ball has hit the batsman, etc.

But mainly, especially with cricket, you've got to go out there to have fun. You're spending 6 hours out of your weekend playing the bloody thing, you may as well enjoy it! Especially when you're in the field for 100 overs; often it's the banter that keeps you alive. I know most of the stuff I say in the field is usually just in-jokes with other guys in the team, making fun of each other. But at the same time, as soon as the bowler comes in, it's game on, and for the next 10 seconds after that, you might slip in a few jibes here and there.

I think there's a real "on/off" culture about cricket here. When it's game on, it's really game on. But doing that for so long isn't enjoyable by nature; you can't do it all day, nor can you do it when the game is over, so in a way you switch gears throughout play, training or anything cricket.

pasag said:

The Vincibles by Gideon Haigh, as discussed in the book thread a while back is a brilliant and very lighthearted look at the culture of club level cricket, in particular the South Yarra Cricket Club in Melbourne. It's awesome tbh.

Edit. Called 'Many a Slip: A Diary of a Club Cricket Season' in England btw.

Click to expand...

Have played against a few guys who get a mention in that book, IIRC.