It’s not that, historically, sporting events have struggled to excite me. I get excited about the Commonwealth Games. I get excited about the World Rugby Sevens.
There was even a time when I got excited about Country versus City Origin games, and developed a fierce loyalty to the concept of ‘City’ that stays with me today. I definitely possess the sporting excitement gene.
And yet, somehow, the World Twenty20 hasn’t quite excited me.
This might be because Australia hasn’t started in it yet: as a rather pathetically one-eyed Australian supporter in all sports (except for international rules, which is a non-sport, and a fairly stupid non-sport at that, and which brings out in me nothing but an urgent need to see the plucky Irishmen give the cocky AFL mob a belting) I do tend to get a lot more excited when the prospect of Australian triumph is imminent.
So with any major tournament, it never quite feels ‘on’ until the nation in which I was fortunate or unfortunate enough to be born gets involved.
This has been exacerbated in the World T20 by the weird format where all the minor nations had a go at each other before the big boys got started. Which was fun, but strange, especially when the big boys were playing warm-ups against each other at the same time and it all got kind of confusing as to which games were real games and which games weren’t – and that’s always a problem with Twenty20 cricket anyway.
And there, I fear, lies the well-known rub. The fact is, I strongly suspect I’m struggling to get excited about the World Twenty20 because it is a tournament to determine world supremacy in a game which wasn’t invented until after I was born, and that makes it all seem slightly trite.
How on earth can a sport claim genuine gravitas and importance when nobody even had the idea to play it until I was in my 20s? And if that seems a bit solipsistic of me, maybe you don’t understand just how intoxicating the power trip of writing humorous sports columns is.
Test cricket I get excited about. Even when it’s not particularly exciting Test cricket. In the summer just gone, I knew the series against the West Indies would be a dreadful and slightly depressing mismatch, but gee it got the blood pumping to know it was on.
Because no matter what the standard of play, no matter what the gulf between the abilities of one side or the other, when I look at a Test match, I see the continuation of a tradition the best part of 150 years old. I see passionate, dedicated sportsmen lining up in the ranks of history.
And one-day cricket I can get excited about. There was a one-day World Cup before I was born – the legend had already begun by the time I came into the world, and before I started actually paying attention to the game, Australia had already won one. There was already a one-day folklore, a one-day tradition.
It’s no Test cricket, and there’s always plenty of pointless, disposable one-dayers being played around the world: but when two top-flight teams clash in a series, and especially when the world gathers for that venerable four-decades-old tournament, it remains a thrill. Even when the one-day format itself feels a trifle weary.
Now, Twenty20 cricket is currently forging its traditions, and the fact that it has more music playing over the PA, more irritating on-field interviews, and more bizarrely counterproductive reverse pulls from the batsmen, doesn’t mean those traditions won’t grow and blossom in time.
In fact they certainly will: T20 has hurtled towards seriousness from its frivolous beginnings at an alarming pace, and all we need to do is ban every broadcaster from fitting any player with an earpiece to make it a fully-fledged Deadly Serious Affair, if it’s not one already, which it probably is to loads of people who aren’t me.
It’s not a matter of enjoyment. I enjoy T20 enormously. It is massively entertaining, and the nature of the truncated format means a large percentage of playing time is generally spent with the game in the balance, with a good proportion of games going down to the wire.
Also the skills on display are genuinely spectacular – it’s not actually all that easy to hit a six, especially when your hands are back to front. And it’s damnably hard to land a yorker exactly where you want it when the awful consequences of a minor miscalculation are all too apparent. Not to mention the now regular sight of the leap-back-catch-the-ball-fall-over-the-rope-throw-the-ball-in-run-back-over-the-rope-and-catch-it-again manoeuvre. It’s incredibly impressive.
And I do want Australia to win. I do. I will be less happy if Australia doesn’t win the World Twenty20 than I will be if they do. It’s just that if they don’t, I feel like my reaction will be closer to the ‘oh well’ end of the spectrum than the ‘punch a wall’ end that tends to come into play, for example, during Ashes series.
I just feel like the World Twenty20 is… fun. And the sporting events that get me the most excited aren’t fun. The Ashes. State of Origin. The Bledisloe Cup. Grand finals of various stripes. They’re not fun. They’re torture.
It’s utter agony to sit through them because I know just how miserable I’ll be if they don’t end the right way. The World Twenty20, up to now, has been a great spectacle to watch, with little to no fear of all-encompassing melancholy setting in at its conclusion.
However, as Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar put it, the fault, dear Cassius, lies not in our international cricket formats, but in ourselves. If the World Twenty20 isn’t exciting me, it seems likely that the blame is on me.
And I can work on that. I’m sure I can. With hard work, honest commitment, and constant repetition of the mantra, “I don’t like cricket… I love it!” I can get excited about this feisty young player on the world sporting stage.
There’s no reason why I shouldn’t. By the end of this year’s tournament, I will be as invested and irrationally obsessed with it as anyone on God’s green earth.
May the ghost of Gilbert Jessop strike me down if I am not.
anon
Guest
I've been really enjoying it. T20 is the only format that matters. Australians still won't take it seriously. Some how it's beneath them.
RR
Guest
Wel i agree with most points but you can't compare anything with India vs Pakistan . Politically India is one of the biggest economies and India an very important role in keeping a check on belligerent Pakistan.India and Pak have been at war too .So India vs Pak attracts global media attention as the match almost always involves leaders meeting each other. Infact India vs Pak was already in news as soon as WT20 started and was in media.Here is the Mark Zuck post about it.I beg to differ no other rivalrly comes closer to this in any sports. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10102717445294641&set=a.612287952871.2204760.4&type=3&theater
Lazza
Guest
If you count all the pro Football leagues in Europe the turnover is something like 20 Billion Euros per year. American Football has one pro league only and nothing else.If a Euro Super League ever comes in it would dwarf American Football who rely on their home market and very little else.
Don Freo
Guest
Oh, T20 is still some kind of cricket and, therefore, great to watch. Just not as compelling as Shield cricket. Enjoyment of cricket viewing has everything to do with the playing of the game. Whether my team wins is immaterial. If you need your team to win before you can enjoy it you are just parochial...not a true cricket fan. Strange comment, John.
John
Guest
As your Aussies got well beaten, I presume you will stay unexcited But yes 20/20 ok for the odd viewing
Raugeee
Guest
Why is Gem not showing the cricket as advertised????
Don Freo
Guest
NRL is a funny game where fat guys run 2 metres...everyone jumps on them then 2 minutes later they get up, run 2 metres and people jump on them again. They do this for over an hour. Some Australians like it.
Don Freo
Guest
T20 is not as exciting as Shield cricket. With 60 minutes to go in the whole season (at this very moment), 66 runs or 3 wickets...or even a draw...could have the home final played in any of 3 venues. One wicket either way last week would have thrown up a fourth variable.
Don Freo
Guest
T20 is not as exciting as Shield cricket. With 60 minutes to go in the whole season (at this very moment), 66 runs or 3 wickets...or even a draw...could have the home final played in any of 3 venues. One wicket either way last week would have thrown up a fourth variable.
The Bush
Roar Guru
"Sorry i am not remotely aware of NRL ." N. F. L. Not N. R. L. "Your FIFA link doesn’t mention any link for viewership country wise Because i clearly remember 20% of FIFA 2010 WC came from India most by any country .FIFA has granted India special privilege to host ISL.No country except India has the league of ISL format.",/i> Yes it does. That's exactly what the report does. It clearly breaks down how many viewers from each country. India wasn't even the top nation in Asia viewship wise. China alone dwarfs how many people watched the FIFA World Cup compared to India. As you haven't provided any evidence to support your position I don't see why I should believe anything you say. "Going forward" Again, what has that go to do with the present? Nothing. "India vs Pakistan is one of the most watched events in the world attracting attention of the entire world and to say the least most fiercly fought rivalry in the world due to political reasons. No sport does that." You do realise that some countries have actually fought wars over football? There's even a war called "the Football War". Look it up. Viewership alone is not what makes something the largest sporting event in the world. As I said, there are more factors than that.
RR
Guest
Sorry i am not remotely aware of NRL . Your FIFA link doesn't mention any link for viewership country wise Because i clearly remember 20% of FIFA 2010 WC came from India most by any country .FIFA has granted India special privilege to host ISL.No country except India has the league of ISL format. Going forward FIFA will depend on Asia especially Middle East,India and China for money.Europe simply don't have the resource.It is evident from the fact that lots of players are moving to China and most of the top european clubs are run by ARABS . In fact China will play a huge role in coming years . Well viewership and fan base is the most important thing in any sports.Money and TV deals are by product of it. My point is Super Bowl is known around the world because of all the hoopla and media frenzy around it.It is far from a sporting extravaganza.Its known for all the non sporting reason like top Hollywood actors performing in it. Super Bow has hardly any fan following outside USA except maybe few European countries. But since US is still a huge economy it doesn't need a massive fan base to generate the wealth for the sport. India vs Pakistan is one of the most watched events in the world attracting attention of the entire world and to say the least most fiercly fought rivalry in the world due to political reasons. No sport does that. From Prez of US to Roger Federer to Mark Zuck everyone is interested in this . Cricket has never been popular than this and Cricket is going to be more popular specially T20.
The Bush
Roar Guru
Agree, plus you'd avoid an Olympics year. I think they've done it so that there's room next year for the Champions Trophy?
The Bush
Roar Guru
"You are also wrong. Money in Cricket in India will increase exponetially as the Indian economy grows ." Will. So what, I"m talking about "now". It's not relevant that viewship of it is tiny in the rest of the world. What's relevant is that the NFL TV rights are worth an estimated $3B a year. What exactly are the TV rights value for the Cricket World Cups? http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2011/12/14/the-nfl-signs-tv-deals-worth-26-billion/#107e31652a67 "FIFA WC also gets most of it viewership from India as expected(An official from FIFA released this stats)." Please provide a link to this. This comment is deluded at best. Back in reality: http://resources.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/tv/02/74/55/57/2014fwcbraziltvaudiencereport(draft5)(issuedate14.12.15)_neutral.pdf I don't know what Bollywood v Hollywood has to do with this discussion, but if it makes you feel better, I'm sure a handful of Bollywood stars make as much as Hollywood stars, if that makes you feel happy. In fact a 5 minutes bit of research reveals that in fact there are a handful in the top 10: http://www.forbes.com/pictures/emjl45mmei/10-mark-wahlberg/ Dunno about "more" than though...
The Bush
Roar Guru
jeznez, Let's just say I find it very unlikely that 120 million people watched New Zealand play Australia at the last rugby world cup final. Very unlikely. I accept that 2007 was two tournaments ago, but it was also the last tournament in Europe. Do you actually think that four times as many people suddenly tuned in to the same event eight years later? Let's be serious here mate. To me it's even less believable when you consider that the 2007 final had England and RSA, two countries whose time zones were perfect for viewing and both with substantially larger markets than Australia and New Zealand. But yeah, as I said, there's so many factors to take into consideration the whole thing is impossible to answer.
RR
Guest
You are also wrong. Money in Cricket in India will increase exponetially as the Indian economy grows . Super Bowl is hardly gets any viewership in India and China.Just to make a comparison top Bollywood stars are paid more than Hollywood actors including endorsements. FIFA WC also gets most of it viewership from India as expected(An official from FIFA released this stats). There is already a huge amount of money in Cricket and other sports in India . Infact Baseball is trying very hard to break into the Indian market but it has failed repeatedly.
jeznez
Roar Guru
Bush - 2007 is three tournaments ago, World Rugby estimate 120 million watched the RWC final in 2015 so if those numbers are accurate it is growing fantastically. Completely agree that it is a moot point though and not looking to hijack the thread.
RR
Guest
I don't know how this page appeared on my Google search index but You are wrong .INDIANS run the cricket and the SILICON VALLEY. Even MARK ZUCKERBURG posted about the World T20 on his FB timeline. Cricket is a massive sport just behind Fifa. If any one can make Cricket a global sport it has to be INDIANS because of their sheer size. People are a lot aware of Cricket in USA thanks to Indian diaspora.
Evan
Roar Rookie
It seems as though we just won the 50-over World Cup and now their is a 20-over World Cup. Would have though it would have been smarter to wait until next year for the world T20, giving us a two year gap between world cups.
The Bush
Roar Guru
Rugby has a wider spread of countries in the sense that it's not so Anglo, with teams like Italy, France, Argentina, Japan and Georgia. There's also less of a gap between the top 10 and the bottom 10, but rugby's problem is that outside of a few small places like Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, New Zealand, Wales (debatable) and certain sections/parts of countries (minor) like France and South Africa, the sport is never the most popular sport. In contrast, as you say, Cricket might be more limited in the countries it reaches, but the combined population of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan is over 1.5b and the sport is completely dominant. The sport also has a higher profile in both England and Australia than rugby, whilst I've read reports that it is usually the second most popular sport across all sections of South Africa. But still, the whole thing is pointless. If we're honest the Superbowl dwarfs these events in terms of sponsorship, prize money, TV money and genuine actual ratings (the 2007 world cup final only had about 30 million actual viewers). At the same time you'd argue that the Euros could have a claim, more than a 100m watch those finals easily. There's just a lot of events around the world that are huge. The only thing anyone could agree on is that the FIFA World Cup is the biggest.
EastsFootyFan
Roar Guru
Personally I prefer Rugby, but in terms of sheer size Cricket is hard to go by purely thanks to the subcontinent. Their India-Pakistan match was something like the highest rated pool match in any international sporting tournament ever from what I understand.