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"I wonder"

If England win The Ashes what percentage of the country will go suddenly cricket mad like when they won the Rugby World Cup?
I've got no interest in the sport at all, couldn't care less, but well done to them if they do win.
But you can see legions of the self-same morons that crammed into Heathrow to cheer the rugby boys suddenly lining the streets with inflatable cricket bats, The Sun's "Owzat!" front-page and all manner of public polls declaring one of the cricketers "Golden Balls" and talking about how we've known all along we could win etc etc

RastaBillySkank wrote:
> The thing about cricket is that I hate it.

We need more people like you. And me.

RastaBillySkank wrote:

Pretty much what I think about Cricket, so read his post and pretend I said it!

I can't stand cricket. I hope England lose, and the country gives up on the dull, dull sport. I didn't watch England win the rugby world cup, and in all honesty, it didn't do anything for me. Football's my sport though, and if England do well at that, then that makes me happy. The rest, I just don't really care about.

The real question is how long it will take Tony Blair to jump on any victory bandwagon, claiming that it wouldn't have happened if we had a Conservative government.

The thing about cricket is that I hate playing it. I was forced to for 3 years at school for the summer term and so that naturally turned me off it completely and so not really giving watching it a chance. I could never go and watch a game but I've been entranced by the current Tests. Cyc's right, you just find yourself waiting for the next ball... then the next etc. I've done what I never, ever thought I'd do by actually watching cricket for 4 hours and I actually started enjoying it.

That said, it will never replace or even rival football in my affections. Despite my new found appreciation of it, it still pales in comparison. Pales to the point of transparency.

And to the point. What it'll come down to among the Sun reading non-cricket liking folks if England win the Ashes will be the fact that we beat the Australians. The sport is inconsequential in the tabloids eyes when we get one over on Johnny Foreigner.

Ashes? Cricket?

Buh?

England? Whu?

gerrid wrote:
> Cricket is one of those games which, if you know what's really going
> on, and you can get into the intricacies of the sport, is a lot more
> interesting than if you only have a vague understanding.
>
> Some people see a load of men in white standing around and running
> backwards and forwards for no reason, but there's a lot more going
> on, it's just a shame people aren't interested enough to sit down and
> appreciate it.

Thank god we Alleynians understand and enjoy it's amazingness.

Game wrote:

> Football for the football season, cricket over the summer and golf
> all year round...

I'd go with this and the inclusion of rugby and every other sport known to man in dribs and drabs too.

I'm a sports freak, so of course I'd love cricket, but this negativity you associate around the people that cling on is misguided, Goatboy.

Assuming that no fans/players stop liking cricket *if* we win The Ashes (pretty much dead cert) then even if only a few cling ons actually stick to the sport then the sport has gained.

Going back to the rugby thing. Wilkinson was increased in status after winning the World cup, along with a few others, to scary heights for rugby players. This means more exposure and interest. I'll go on to say that I never thought young children really paid much attention to these supposed "idols". However when playing cricket with my 6/7 year old nephew (who loved it from before) he idolised all the players. Cricket and football were his sports, but just because he idolised Wilkinson, he played rugby for a whole season this year gone. This just shows the power winning something like this.

Winning is special for the Brits, and I've only ever seen good things come out of English success.

Cricket is a great sport.

It's a gentlemans game.

Football for the football season, cricket over the summer and golf all year round... That's my sport done.

I've just started playing badminton on Mondays because it's the only sport one of my mates plays...

I suppose you have to have played cricket or have a great interest in it to like it. It can seem a bit boring, but it really isn't...

I like watching it.

You find yourself waiting for the next ball...and the next...

then a wicket/4/6 depending on what is interesting at the time (i.e, who you want to win)

If England is losing badly I tend to turn it off ^^

I guess it's like any sport really.

People casually watching the Snooker may think it's just a pointless seedy bar game, when those who understand the dynamics of the sport will find it quite captivating.

Same with Football/Rugby/Golf/Motor Racing.