tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7251157054005755258.post8080801397180908527..comments2024-03-13T09:17:05.086+00:00Comments on Cricket Burble: Lighten up Bucknor!Edhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06755797969506651900noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7251157054005755258.post-57284135729609538702008-05-21T16:22:00.000+01:002008-05-21T16:22:00.000+01:00I think people are reaching the point where they a...I think people are reaching the point where they are past caring.<BR/><BR/>How about next year we all watch the cricket from a living room or pub with Sky enjoying a beer of glass of wine, without paying £65?Edhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06755797969506651900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7251157054005755258.post-38564292540906686202008-05-21T13:51:00.000+01:002008-05-21T13:51:00.000+01:00I was also there on Friday and it was shambles. I...I was also there on Friday and it was shambles. It looked like Bucknor was off to a show in the West End and had a pre-show dinner booked for 5.30pm. The was also no apparent correspondence between the level of the light and the players having to go off.<BR/><BR/>C couldn't agree more that cricket needs to realise it is in the entertainment business. On Saturday a friend of mine took 3 friends to Lord's for the first time. They are really football fans, but fancied going to see some cricket - an ideal opportunity to convert them to the wonderful game of cricket. They saw less than 9 overs (~9%). I then began to imagine fans trekking across the country to watch football and having the game called off after 8 minutes. Ridiculous. Needless to say these people are lost from cricket forever. <BR/><BR/>Of course, I couldn't be there to witness this particular day's debacle as I was playing cricket....all day....in the bad light and rain. Not that difficult!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7251157054005755258.post-69206572282485578312008-05-21T10:12:00.000+01:002008-05-21T10:12:00.000+01:00It is disappointing that this topic has not been s...It is disappointing that this topic has not been significantly pursued either here or on Cricinfo: does no one care that the cricketing public is being short-changed? The constant interruptions when I was there on Thursday and Friday, and the lack of play on Saturday (when many club cricketers in the South East of England managed to overcome marginally adverse conditions) made this test match pretty well meaningless from very early on. Yet we see the England coach hypocritically saying his players wanted to get on and play: why didn't they turn down the offer of bad light on Friday evening then, when Strauss and Cook were having no difficulty and were on top of the NZ bowling?Peter Lambhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01316786398580772598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7251157054005755258.post-47996641102877106822008-05-17T17:32:00.000+01:002008-05-17T17:32:00.000+01:00The sooner the cricket authorities realise that th...The sooner the cricket authorities realise that they're in the entertainment business the better; they might then adopt that business's maxim: "the show must go on".<BR/>At present once the 25-over mark has been passed every effort seems to be made for the show not to go on and thus to minimise the entertainment offered to the paying public. Not only do the present laws encourage an over-sensitivity to anything less than perfect light, but even when play is taking place overs are bowled at such a funereal pace that there is never any chance of exceeding the minimum number of overs per day (even though that's calculated at the already slow rate of 15 per hour).<BR/>One of the reasons why the over rate is so slow was demonstrated by an example from yesterday's play: Anderson bowls, ball is played gently back to him. He then hurls the ball to wicketkeeper Ambrose before turning to amble extremely slowly back to his mark. Meanwhile the ball is passed to one of the slips who polishes it inelegantly on his backside for something like 30 seconds before throwing it to Vaughan standing level with the bowler's end stumps. Vaughan turns and walks to Anderson, who has just reached the end of his run-up, and hands him the ball before returning to his fielding position at mid-on. Result: about a minute between successive balls when it should have been less than half a minute.<BR/>So what are the remedies for these failings? I suggest:<BR/>1. Abandon the bad light law in its entirety.<BR/>2. Fine all members of a side that fails to bowl 15 overs per hour in any innings and award a significant number of extra runs to the opposition. (Umpires to use common sense in the event of genuine and justified interruptions in play.)<BR/>3. Permit only the bowler to polish the ball.<BR/>The cricketing authorities must look very hard at the quality of their main product and speedily remedy where it is deteriorating. Otherwise they will lose their best market, and many of the enthusiasts they lose will not turn to their other products: I (and many of my generation) will never attend a twenty-20 sideshow, it isn't cricket as we know it.Peter Lambhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01316786398580772598noreply@blogger.com