Is Cricket Your Favourite Sport?

[aussie]

That's in hindsight though. If the Ashes had turned into a 5-0 drubbing, then it wouldn't have held any excitement.

(Feel I'm getting into a bit of a DIckinson, "it's the expectation that counts, not the result" argument here ).

Well actually i wasn't talking about the end result of the series. I was comparing the build up the Ashes 05 & IND vs AUS 04/05 to that of the football WC. All carried the same excitement for me.

If the end result was AUS losing in India or England getting knocked out in the first round of the WC, the frustration & disappointment @ the end would have been equal.

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

Well actually i wasn't talking about the end result of the series. I was comparing the build up the Ashes 05 & IND vs AUS 04/05 to that of the football WC. All carried the same excitement for me.

If the end result was AUS losing in India or England getting knocked out in the first round of the WC, the frustration & disappointment @ the end would have been equal.

Ah okay, fair enough. Although I still can't see how you could get as excited over the Australia v India series compared to a World Cup, each to their own though.

 

[archie mac]

I have played basketball for my University and it is by far the best game to play, also great to watch. Also, it can hardly ever get monotonous, some thing which can happen to cricket on flat pitches.

Well it must just be me

One side goes down and scores, then the other side go down the other end and scores, and then someone misses, the just when it is exciting they call a time out


Was going to take over as Australia's No.1 sport in the early 90s or so they said, never even got close

 

[grecian]

Well it must just be me

One side goes down and scores, then the other side go down the other end and scores, and then someone misses, the just when it is exciting they call a time out


Was going to take over as Australia's No.1 sport in the early 90s or so they said, never even got close

Yeah totally agree with this, I know it show's my ignorance, but I really don't get it. Think my P.E . teacher in Secondary school put me off it, and Field hockey too, by being so evangelical about both. He kept on saying Basketball would take over soccer in GB, within 10 years, that was a very long time ago now, and I'm reasonably sure it didn't happen.

Anyway, cricket for me, SOOOOO many things wrong with soccer that I can't even start. Still love the basic game of Association Football, and prefer it now to the way it was in my youth, but 100s of other factors have always kept cricket ahead. Violence, money, loutish players and intimidation of officials being the most.

Prefer cricket for being a more meditative, complex and soothing experience, think it's better for my equilibrium TBH. I find myself having a lot more fun watching it.

I enjoy Golf too, for lots of the reasons I like cricket.

 

[BoyBrumby]

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.

 

[Uppercut]

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.

Which is also why, for me, watching the team I support bowl beats watching them bat by so, so much. Nothing batsmen can do will ever beat the thrill of watching the stumps of a crucial opposition batsman cartwheel.

 

[Craig]

My interested has started to wane in the last few years, I would tend to watch a cycling race or game of football over cricket, but that isn't the case now. I have watched just about every ball of the Australia - Pakistan Test, and I watched a lot of the New Zealand - Pakistan series, and the same with the Ashes. My family doesn't give cricket the time of the day, they would rather watch Today Tonight then any form of cricket on TV. My best mate watches it if there is nothing else on, but AFL is numero uno for him.

I grew up on rugby union, but I barely even watch it these days, I prefer league during the winter months, a bit of AFL, and football and cricket go well because of the times of the day they are played at. I guess cricket, cycling, football are all pretty even as my favourite sport. League number two.

 

[Smudge]

1st: Harness racing
2nd: Cricket
3rd: Rugby Union

 

[aussie]

Ah okay, fair enough. Although I still can't see how you could get as excited over the Australia v India series compared to a World Cup, each to their own though.

AUS legacy was on the line that series, it doesn't get bigger than that.

 

[Goughy]

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.

The big problem with basketball is how the fouls are called (an accusation that I guess could also be levelled at Union)

The difference betwen a defensive foul, offensive foul and a no-call is all upto interpretation and diferent players get different calls and different refs make different calls. That is true in all sports but nowhere near the same as in basketball at both pro and amateur level.

IMO, its a mess to be honest and I also agre Re: scoring issue.

 

[Top_Cat]

I watch mainly three games, Cricket, ODI's and T-20. I think I like cricket best

Haha, nice.

As far as watching, cricket number 1 for mine, athletics a very, very close second. Don't really much like the Olympics in general but still get all excited by field events. The 100m final is like crack for me too. Most American sports, I enjoy the idea of watching them more than the reality of it; the ads for them are really slick so I get pumped for seeing a baseball game which is quickly quelled when I sit down and actually start watching. Hockey the notable exception.

Playing, it's open. Love any team sport and would play cricket more often if we had a local T20 league or something.

 

[andyc]

Definitely cricket for mine, then soccer. Better at playing soccer than cricket, mind you.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

To play, yes.

To watch, no. I enjoy watching cricket less and less with each passing year, gotten to the point where I barely watch any cricket unless Watto.

 

[Simon]

To play, yes.

To watch, no. I enjoy watching cricket less and less with each passing year, gotten to the point where I barely watch any cricket unless Watto.

Pretty much the same as me, love playing cricket and do so (either indoor or outdoor) about four or five times a week.

I'd rather watch Rugby League or Tennis though. Overall I'd probably say League is my favourite sport.

 

[Prince EWS]

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.

 

[SJS]

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 happened 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.

That must be so very gratifying to read, James.

 

[nightprowler10]

Can't stand basketball, worst sport.

Racist! Easily the best American sport. Couldn't give two ****s about baseball anymore though Football is fun to watch and play.

I haven't watched a lot of basketball but I have played a lot, both in reality and in gaming and it never gets to the point of boring for me. I love the sport a lot.

Yeah I was speaking strictly as a viewer. It can get pretty boring if neither teams have any defense or when neither have any offense. To play, basketball is up there with cricket for me. In fact, sometimes I prefer it.

 

[Craig]

I came to CW thinking I knew a thing or two about cricket. I was wrong.

 

[silentstriker]

Racist!

Haha, it's hilarious because I know several white people who will freely admit they don't watch the NBA for that reason and the word 'thug' makes a frequent mention, and yet the sport that most people are crazy about (NFL) is at least 70% black. It makes no sense whatsoever.

For me, it's not the NBA, it's basketball. That sport is terrible to watch, I can't even watch it in the Olympics where I could generally watch any random sport that the US is in and I don't even know the rules to.

Baseball is a fantastic game, it's been slowly climbing in my estimation. I don't think it'll overtake cricket, but it's just better organized, played at a higher athletic level, and it's just a better product for the consumer. And it's a much purer game in many ways than cricket (no Coca Cola Double Plays and names of airlines in 62 point font on uniforms). But the reason it'll never come close is purely because I grew up with cricket, and it's part of who I am. If I grew up in an environment where NFL, MLB and Cricket were an equal part of life, cricket would be a distant third. The product sucks, it could be so much better if they gave Tests more structure, introduced day/night tests, had a real championship, etc. They finally introduced referrals, so maybe that's a positive sign of things to come.

 

[mohammad16]

I have played basketball for my University and it is by far the best game to play, also great to watch. Also, it can hardly ever get monotonous, some thing which can happen to cricket on flat pitches.

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.