**Official** South Africa in England 2012

[wpdavid]

I'd say, certainly for team sports, it's second or third in terms of people following it.

Trouble is there's a real big ****ing drop off after #1, of course...

Just a bit. Judging by the kids I come across at work, the level of interest in the game is minimal.

 

[Stumpcam]

Of course England is helped by bolstering their team with ex-saffers.

I wish people would get over this.

These players have qualified to play for England through heredity, parentage, or residency bourne of dissafection with the pro-black policy aledged to have dominated South Africa's selection system in the recent past.

They chose to play for England, and why should England not use them if the players want it?

 

[Cabinet96]

I know in London there's a 1:10 ratio of kids who play cricket compared to those who play football. I think that improves somewhat for the rest of England, though. Point still stand, however, that Cricket is very much a minority to Football in this country.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Only just under a year have England been number one.

Yeah well the fact we were miles down the rankings 3 years ago has something to do with that. You don't get to be number 1 overnight you know. The fact is SA were far better placed in most of the last 3 years to become the best side and flunked it. If we beat you in this series it will take you a long time to get anywhere near the top again.

 

[wpdavid]

I wish people would get over this.

Too bloody right. Perhaps someone can set up a separate thread where folks can get it off their chests and leave the rest of us to discuss the cricket.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Just a bit. Judging by the kids I come across at work, the level of interest in the game is minimal.

Sad to hear, but one of the inevitable by-products of Sky having all the coverage & association football becoming a twelve month affair is that this is likely to become ever more the case.

Kids now have a much slimmer chance of finding cricket by accident than when I was a nipper. I suspect the sport will survive through the public schools, clubs and our subcontinental communities.

Which is kinda a bummer, really. Hate to see cricket become ghettoised.

 

[Heboric]

Any chance of explaining why you think the cricket structure in SA is so poor compared to weaknesses in the English structure that I mentioned?

And, as has already been said, cricket is not hugely popular in England. Anyone familiar with the country knows that it's very much a minority sport.

Well money, technical support structures, decent facilities (Yes we have Newlands, Wanderes and Kingsmead, but compared to Englands facilities. The power of the pound lures better coaches/support staff - look at Cape Cobras - There coach is Paul Adams - I mean wtf. In the county structure players face quality international players more often - our first class structure there will very rarely face other international players (barring ex Protea players) - again the pound.

Plus soccer and then rugby is king

 

[BoyBrumby]

Well money, technical support structures, decent facilities (Yes we have Newlands, Wanderes and Kingsmead, but compared to Englands facilities. The power of the pound lures better coaches/support staff - look at Cape Cobras - There coach is Paul Adams - I mean wtf. In the county structure players face quality international players more often - our first class structure there will very rarely face other international players (barring ex Protea players) - again the pound.

Plus soccer and then rugby is king

I was under the impression association football was more or less exclusively a black sport in the republic?

The national team at 2010's world cup certainly supported this belief.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Sad to hear, but one of the inevitable by-products of Sky having all the coverage & association football becoming a twelve month affair is that this is likely to become ever more the case.

Kids now have a much slimmer chance of finding cricket by accident than when I was a nipper. I suspect the sport will survive through the public schools, clubs and our subcontinental communities.

Which is kinda a bummer, really. Hate to see cricket become ghettoised.

I can't help but feel this is a bit of a case of a glorified and idealised memory.

Yes, cricketers in the youth setup today fall into three main categories - (i) kids at private schools, (ii) kids whose fathers are obsessively keen on the game and have inculcated said addiction from an early age, and (iii) kids whose best mates fall into (i) or, more likely, (ii).

Let's be honest, even if cricket was freely available on terrestrial TV, we're no longer living in a world where there are four channels and everyone has to watch one of them if they want to amuse themselves. We now have hundreds of channels available to everybody on every TV set, and that's without considering the impact of TV on demand, the Internet, smartphones...

Club cricket still has a massive participation rate in the summer (even if the standards are not great), the women's game is on the rise and rise and the national side / academy setup is in the best state it's ever been in. I'm quite happy that we don't have the 80s and 90s back, thanks very much.

 

[Neil Pickup]

I was under the impression association football was more or less exclusively a black sport in the republic?

The national team at 2010's world cup certainly supported this belief.

Arguably vice versa, too: the only visible sporting logos and affiliations in the Cape townships we saw over Easter were footballing, and mainly the Kaizer Chiefs at that. It's not too dissimilar to the upper-class/working-class dichotomy we experience between cricket/rugby and football in England.

 

[Heboric]

I was under the impression association football was more or less exclusively a black sport in the republic?

The national team at 2010's world cup certainly supported this belief.

Yes its is being 80% of the population

 

[Furball]

Well im astonished you think a first world country has worse infrastructure than a third world country. Especially where the sport of cricket is so popular in comparison in England.

What irritates me is that people on here are quick to say the Proteas are the most underachieving team there is. I counter that by saying England should be performing better.

Then there is the yo yo of how good the England players are, it seems to fluctuate depending on the situation on hand like after the aftermath of the Pakistan series - all of a sudden England couldnt play spin

Just how popular do you think cricket is in this country?

 

[Furball]

Sad to hear, but one of the inevitable by-products of Sky having all the coverage & association football becoming a twelve month affair is that this is likely to become ever more the case.

There's close to bugger all domestic football on council telly during the season though.

 

[BoyBrumby]

I can't help but feel this is a bit of a case of a glorified and idealised memory.

Yes, cricketers in the youth setup today fall into three main categories - (i) kids at private schools, (ii) kids whose fathers are obsessively keen on the game and have inculcated said addiction from an early age, and (iii) kids whose best mates fall into (i) or, more likely, (ii).

Let's be honest, even if cricket was freely available on terrestrial TV, we're no longer living in a world where there are four channels and everyone has to watch one of them if they want to amuse themselves. We now have hundreds of channels available to everybody on every TV set, and that's without considering the impact of TV on demand, the Internet, smartphones...

Club cricket still has a massive participation rate in the summer (even if the standards are not great), the women's game is on the rise and rise and the national side / academy setup is in the best state it's ever been in. I'm quite happy that we don't have the 80s and 90s back, thanks very much.

**** off. It never rained when I was a lad and you couldn't move for immaculate forward defensive stokes on every street corner.

Seriously, I suppose I may be guilty of projecting. I came from a not particularly cricketing family (old man was vaguely interested, but speedway and pigeon racing were his two real sporting loves; I **** you not), attended a comprehensive & yet somehow developed enough of a fascination for the sport to have made nearly 40,000 posts in a forum dedicated to it.

Of course at my comprehensive in the late 80s-early 90s we still were taught cricket and had sports fields to play it on. I suspect this is not always the case at out non-fee paying schools now.

 

[Heboric]

Just how popular do you think cricket is in this country?

More than South Africa for a start.

Look at the crowd attendance between the two countries. Yes at Newlands test matches are well attended, but not so in other parts of the country.

 

[Furball]

More than South Africa for a start.

Look at the crowd attendance between the two countries. Yes at Newlands test matches are well attended, but not so in other parts of the country.

Test crowds in England pale into insignificance when you compare it to football and probably both rugby codes, certainly Union.

 

[Cabinet96]

Indeed. There must be in excess of 100,00 people attending the football in Machester if both City and United are at home. Compare that to the 20,000 you'd get for an Ashes test at Old Trafford.

 

[BoyBrumby]

In all fairness, tests are played over five days for the most part. The combined attendances are probably higher than for a union test or a football international, certainly at the London grounds, anyway.

 

[Jacknife]

I can't help but feel this is a bit of a case of a glorified and idealised memory.

Yes, cricketers in the youth setup today fall into three main categories - (i) kids at private schools, (ii) kids whose fathers are obsessively keen on the game and have inculcated said addiction from an early age, and (iii) kids whose best mates fall into (i) or, more likely, (ii).

Let's be honest, even if cricket was freely available on terrestrial TV, we're no longer living in a world where there are four channels and everyone has to watch one of them if they want to amuse themselves. We now have hundreds of channels available to everybody on every TV set, and that's without considering the impact of TV on demand, the Internet, smartphones...

Club cricket still has a massive participation rate in the summer (even if the standards are not great), the women's game is on the rise and rise and the national side / academy setup is in the best state it's ever been in. I'm quite happy that we don't have the 80s and 90s back, thanks very much.

Agree.

 

[benchmark00]

**** off. It never rained when I was a lad and you couldn't move for immaculate forward defensive stokes on every street corner.

Seriously, I suppose I may be guilty of projecting. I came from a not particularly cricketing family (old man was vaguely interested, but speedway and pigeon racing were his two real sporting loves; I **** you not), attended a comprehensive & yet somehow developed enough of a fascination for the sport to have made nearly 40,000 posts in a forum dedicated to it.

Of course at my comprehensive in the late 80s-early 90s we still were taught cricket and had sports fields to play it on. I suspect this is not always the case at out non-fee paying schools now.

Gotta be a gee up.