England will be happy today

I didn't realise until recently that Barnsley and Woolley Miners Cricket Clubs had merged, a combination of not owning their facilities (Barnsley at Shaw Lane), and dwindling player/spectator interest at Woolley. Relative big names at their respective levels, produced some good county and international players over the years.

I think there is something particularly sad about dwindling interest and participation in cricket. Its a sport open to perhaps the widest range of people, range of fitness or lack of, certainly compared to football, and it has, to me, always represented something about strong communities, villages etc. Clubs survived the impact of pit closures, and loss of subsidies, because of relative mass interest in the game. I too think that 2005 was a real watershed moment in the game. The authorities, not just in cricket, undervalue the game outside of the professional ranks.

 

Can't be arsed to argue, just telling it like I see it. If you know anyone involved with village cricket, ask them what they think. Cricket at grass roots level is dying.

 

My reading is that the prevailing attitude is that it's only elite sport which matters. The people who make these decisions (and the people who support them) don't think that cricket or football (or whatever) is worth playing if you've got no chance of playing at the very highest level. So the village team, or Sunday afternoon football, can fall by the wayside as long as it's replaced by a few locations where only the best can play as much as they want.

And yes, in all fairness, that might get you a better top flight or national team. But the cost, to me, is far too high.

 

Ex-Colliery clubs I think?

 

But there were plenty of players to fill these teams ten or twenty years ago, and the population has increased significantly since then.

 

Hemsworth="Hemsworth Tyke, post: 1985594, member: 7198"]Too many teams stahlrost[/QUOTE]
Hemsworth, you know the price of everything and the value of nothing.

 

Personally, I quite like being able to wander around the corner and watch a team of amateurs playing cricket fairly badly and having a great time. Much as I love listening to the England team on the radio, to me that's what sport should be.

I play badminton fairly regularly, in a venue subsidised by the city council. I'm terrible. I'm sure there are people out there who would argue that the funds used to subsidise my substandard hour of badminton should be redirected towards the Olympic team, but I'm quite glad that it hasn't been.

 

Having been to numerous test grounds, I have to say despite the money Lords gets and spends and the very wealthy people it caters for, it's a grim place to watch cricket. It's a morgue and has no atmosphere at all. Add to that the ridiculous slope and if it were anywhere else than the heart of St Johns Wood it would have been relocated years ago.

Edgbaston is a much better ground and has much more to develop.

The Oval are looking at another round of redevelopment replacing the stands left and right of the pavilion and likely adding extra tiers. I mentioned a little while ago that despite there members holding constant, they made less money last year and got less revenues from TV and tests.

Also interesting sky are remodelling their tv packages and breaking apart the sports package as numbers of subscribers have slowed, and BT have seen similar.

Will be interesting to see what happens as brexit bites and recession takes hold in the 12-24 months.

 

Aye. That's it. Definitely. Couldn't agree more. There's no other factors at work anywhere. Nowt stops a kid from playing cricket like not being able to choose between playing at Shaw Lane or Kex.

 

Why's it not right? People getting together and playing a game they enjoy. Fair enough, they're not at international level. But you say it's "not right". Why?

 

This. I've played in the Wetherby League for 10 years or so and at club level elsewhere since I was 16. In the Wetherby League there were 6 divisions all of a decent standard. Now there's only 3 divisions, with numerous clubs folding and being forced to field only one team. This hasn't even made those 3 leagues stronger, the third division of them is probably only as good as the 6th was.

In part it's down to TV not being on television, but there's other factors such as people not having the time etc.

Prices for tests are astronomical, despite revenues for TV coverage etc being at record levels.

 

A largely irrelevant article not reflecting reality of club cricket.

 

From the early eighties until my dad took redundancy in 1988, the coal mines used to play a form of 20/20 against each other regularly. Just great fun, but competitive. I used to love watching it, travelling around the area, and not infrequently I was asked to make up the numbers for my dad's team (Bullcliffe Wood) if players were on the wrong shift etc. As a 9-15 year old, it was fantastic to play with and against 'the big misters". Wonderful times. Those cricket fields at Darton, Stainborough, Rockingham, Ecclesfield, Woolley were my Lords, my Trent Bridge. I've never played serious league cricket but it's a sport I really respect as it represents so much of what I consider to be the values of life.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

 

Does anyone else get pissed off at how slow the pace of the game has got these days? I'm sure it never took as long as it does nowadays to change a field placement, Batsmen call people on between overs(and balls sometimes) for different gloves and crap and even Fielders take time out of the game by asking for random pads and helmets etc. On TMS they mentioned going to 8 ball overs to minimise the time lost during the over change, but not sure if it will actually make a difference...

 

Do you want a game this weekend???

 

About 20 years ago, maybe longer, a friend of mine, who was a pretty decent fast bowler for local cricket was asked if he fancied joining birdwells B team, by a old boy who we regularly spoke to in our local boozer. He was the wicket keeper. After a few more beers my mate decided he would give it a crack and i said i would go with him, take a few cans and watch. They ended up being a man short and i was talked into playing aswell. Looked a right wally playing league cricket in my jeans and barnsley shirt
Has it turned out i wasnt very good at batting or bowling but turned out to be a pretty good fielder. Ended up playing the entire season with them and loved every minute, especially when we batted second. I was last bat and used to sit there having a few beers hoping the overs would run out before it got to my turn. They never did, although i did once hit a four(it was my highest score of the season)

This post has absolutely no relevance to the opening post but i thought i would share anyway

 

Yes, agree. Although I recall grumbles about this back in eighties, especially when playing the West Indies, about deliberately slowing the over rate. I think much of that was down to them rarely using spin bowling, so the relentless use of that wonderful seam attack, over the day, did cost a few overs worth of time. Not that many sides lasted 90 overs in a day v Garner, Holding, Roberts, Ambrose, Walsh, Baptiste, Marshall......Does seem more tactical/deliberate nowadays though.

 

Back in the early 90s I was a student at a little college near Chester with one of the lecturers organising a team. Did not play in any league, but 20/20 friendlies against local teams (and Christies Hospital team in Didsbury). I was a crap batsman (highest score 8), fairly rubbish bowler (although did get 2 wickets in 2 overs once), and crap fielder, but it was fun - everyone bowled and most of us got to attempt to bat. One of my big regrets is not joining a local team when I moved back here.