Bad haircuts, music? It’s just not cricket
Roar Rookie
By Rory Spreckley, 16 Mar 2010 Rory Spreckley is a Roar Rookie
- Tagged:
- Australian Cricket, Cricket, Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke at the end of the first day of the the Australia vs Pakistan, third test match at Bellerive Oval, Tasmania, Jan 14th, 2010. AAP image/Richard Jupe.
Michael Clarke’s hasty departure from the New Zealand tour is another step in the evolution of cricket to a modern entity. Consider twenty years ago a future Australian captain leaving mid-way through a tour to be at the side of his twenty-two year old girlfriend?
And all for what appears to be the nothing more than re-evaluation of their young love. Consider the selectors taking it lying down.
You would have to be deluded thinking this could occur.
Long gone are the days of Bodyline, not so long gone are the days of Dean Jones vomiting all over himself in the sweltering heat of India.
And most recently, gone are the days of sensible haircuts.
Now we have “gee up” music blaring from stadiums, childish nicknames plastered on the backs of players, balls of flame erupting from the outer and matches that are finished much faster than it takes to get a round of overpriced mid strength beer from the bar.
Cricket is now all flash, style and most importantly, marketable. Australia’s Posh and Becks, Pup and Bingle are just the tip of the iceberg.
The whole notion of Twenty20 cricket reflects this trend: showcasing 20 overs of reckless batting with purpose of nothing more than hearing the repeated crack of willow on leather and watching balls launched into the stratosphere.
Imagine the AFL heading down this path, with the last Saturday in September being nothing more than a session of kick-to-kick between the two best teams. Or imagine boxers taking turns slugging each other on the chin with the aim of delivering repeated TKOs.
There is no doubt this form of the sport makes people happy and makes players rich.
But brand name joint photoshoots with your model girlfriend, and focusing on just one aspect of the game, takes away from what was once originally cricket – a gentleman’s game of tactics, patience and occasionally suspenseful drama.
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Mr cheese said | March 16th 2010 @ 1:04am | Report comment
Cricket has had to make its decision: do you want the sport to die, or do you want it to exist as a dumbed down slog-fest ????
They’re the two options.
Restoring cricket to its former place in English / Australian / Indian society is just not possible.
Sad, but true.
damos_x said | March 16th 2010 @ 10:46pm | Report comment
sad but definitely not true Mr Cheese, the real sad & definitely true fact is that the people who enjoy Test cricket are simply not in the majority financially & therefore the massive amounts of money on offer for 20/20 & IPL style tournies & the like are not feasible. I love to watch test cricket live but in my life I have seen much more televised action than I could ever hope to see live & as an Australian I include watching contests between other nations on pay tv etc, soi believe my wife & i paying our way but clearly not enough to compete with the deals on offer for the abbreviated forms of the game. I love both 20/20 & 50 over cricket, but all from the basis of Test cricket, a game that reflects life so much more accurately than the sound-bite style of lives we live today. perhaps cricket is more a reflection of modern life than we realise, so how strange it is to see that people don’t like or enjoy Test cricket, perhaps they are also not enjoying the true reality of life. Instant yet hollow satisfaction & no regard for perseverance, bullies everywhere, cheating rife & all for fame & money. I may seem like an old timer but I still admire respect & integrity, cricket reflects those values regardless of race colour or creed, unless it’s more money you hope to earn, then you burn your morals on the crease of popularity.