Cricket - the finest sport ever invented

My favourite sport is cricket (preferably test matches, but one-day and T20 too).

A match can last 5 whole days, and very possibly end in a draw. And it's written in the laws that everyone must stop for a cup of tea mid-afternoon.

The subleties of the game reflect in microcosm every aspect of human struggles and conflicts. It's chess, war, diplomacy, pugilism, and more, all rolled into one.

When ET invades, the fairest way of resolving any inter-planetary / galactic conflict will be to stage a test match at Lord's in London.

discuss.....

HOWZAT!!

23

I agree with you, mate.

One of my biggest passions in life is sport. I'm a fan, or a follower of just about every sport going.

However, cricket is my favourite sport, and I agree with your appraisal of the game in your OP.


The 5-day Test Matches are amongst the finest contests in any sport.

Someone once described the tactics of cricket as ''chess on grass'', and I'd agree with that appraisal.


I think cricket has been both cursed, and blessed, with the ''Twenty20'' game.

It's been ''cursed'', in a way, because of the ridiculous amounts of Twenty20 cricket these days, and cricketers turning into football players, chasing after lucrative short-term contracts in the IPL or Australia, rather than playing for the love of the game.

I also worry about the long-term effect it's going to have on some of the batsmen's techniques... It's all very well attempting to heave every second ball over ''cow-corner'', or reverse sweeping it to the third-man boundary, but this isn't going to help you if you've got to bat out 140 overs for the draw !


Cricket has also been ''blessed'', in the fact that the Twenty20 game rejuvenated the profile and popularity of the sport: now, cricket is ''cool'', and the Twenty20 ''revolution'' laid out the blueprint of modification for all other sports to follow.

A lot of other sports have tried to recreate the success of the ''Twenty20'' cricket format, but all have failed to achieve the revenue and expansion that cricket has achieved so far.


All that being said... I still prefer spending a day watching a Test Match at Trent Bridge... Ahh, bliss !