Why do I like Cricket?

Why do I like Cricket?

In the post-space age of the 21st century, a game like cricket does not fly. It can easily be described in disparaging terms and has been done by a variety of modern-day wise guys who like to feel they are in truly tune with the ways of the contemporary world. The game is a waste of time, even the 20-20 version lasts about 4 hrs. Moreover, hardly any respectable sporting nations have anything to do with it, and the few teams that are on the fringes of the league are only manifesting a sort of casual dalliance, not exhibiting any real effort to improve and play with the big boys, as it were. Finally, there are too many players in the field who are not directly involved in the unit of play.

To expatiate, unlike other sports, cricket is played in discrete units or “deliveries” and not in relative continuum like basketball for instance. In basketball a play will last until a basket is scored. Here, the play itself is quite brief but the gap between plays is rather transitory. Football has much longer plays. Both the sports can be conceived as tending to a continuum. In cricket, during a play the only moving parts are the bowler, possibly the two batsmen and usually one fielder who has to act on a hit. This makes 4 people out of 13 or roughly 35%. This means more than half the people on the park at any unit of play can be mentally “on the beach”. This is not a feature to be proud of for a professional sport.

So, why do I like cricket?

It is difficult for any Indian to answer this question in a non-partisan way seeing as it is really the only sport where we at least have a team in the park at the highest level. With only 8 countries out of 194 participating in the sport, this isn’t saying much. However, I will admit that 50% of my preoccupation with the sport arises out of national pride. There is still the other 50% that has to be explained. Here are my top 3 reasons.

1) The length of the sport is precisely what attracts me to it. In a long game, the best team always wins because of what one can analogically call “dollar averaging”. It is the same reason why the best stocks always gain in the long run. Short-Term games like 20-20 cricket are exciting because of high volatility, which implies that any team can win. Since cricket now has seen segmentation along the “term” on 3 different forms, I think it is well-covered for show-casing all the various points of attraction

2) The length also lends itself to a cerebral flavor, where one has the time to plan, strategise and execute on a macro level (across 5 days of a test match) and a micro level (per unit of play). Herein it becomes a war-game with a plethora of nuances and complexities which, once you get into it, can only delight, much like a game of bridge (I guess).

3) Frankly, the fact that there is not a professional club league on a massive scale yet, is a blessing because it implies a total absence of horsetrading. In soccer, I was an Arsenal man but now that Thierry Henry has moved south literally and only very recently, figuratively as well, I am torn in my loyalty. I must admit, though, that it may just be a matter of time before cricket, like many other professional team sports, reduces to a sub-game underneath the all -pervasive umbrella game. ..the board game of Monopoly complete with houses and hotels and get-out-of-jail-free cards.

And what is team sport if you don’t back a team?