Is the Popularity of Test Cricket on the Wane?

It must be remembered that there are several types of cricket currently being played at many different levels even internationally. These include test cricket, one-day cricket and most recently, Twenty-twenty cricket has ceased the imagination of even those who do not traditionally follow cricket. It has been suggested that it would be much better to have fewer international matches, a smaller ICC with less money at stake and that this would rekindle the interest in test cricket to make it a truly special event.
To examine the reason for the seismic shift in cricket is to those outside the traditional cricket world, consider for a moment how Cricket is played. Two teams of eleven players each, which take turns to bowl a hard-leather ball. It follows a complicated system of 42 rules difficult to the outsider to understand. Traditionally test cricket is played in white clothes and with red balls. In the limited over form of the game more drama is brought to the spectacle by the wearing of brightly colored team kits. Test cricket seems inordinately long, up to six hours a day with breaks for refreshment whereas the shorter versions of the game can be all over within a day and sometimes within hours. Little surprise therefore that these limited over games are marching onwards.
Test cricket is the highest regarded form of the game despite the inroads being made by the new forms but it has to be conceded that one-day international cricket is now more popular amongst the wider sporting world. The sport of cricket has been played around the world in one form or another for 800 years. It has emerged as the universal common language of South Asia an ambassador if you like to a world beyond cricket.
Cricket has to be prepared to embrace change in order to appeal to a broader audience it already spans the generations, with a little more flexibility it can ensure that the traditional battles like the 2009 Ashes Test series continues to flourish for many decades to come

Cricket in the USA

Whilst most of the eyes of the cricketing world are turning to the 2009 Ashes Series between England and Australia how many of you known that in the past our American cousins played the game of gentleman?

As early as the 1700s, American cricket clubs were established and this was not long after they first appeared in England. Cricket quickly became established as a leisurely pastime. Not long after, eastern Canada developed their own clubs. This acted as a catalyst to both the US and Canadian cricket clubs to go in search of regular competition and it soon led to the first international cricket match.

The first Canada vs. USA cricket match has been played annually since the 1840s, and brings upwards of 10,000 fans to New York. Believe it or not it is one of the oldest international sporting events in the world today. The Canada vs. USA cricket match was to prove be the first of what would eventually lead to a far reaching international sport.

The 20th century saw cricket in America go into terminal decline. Whilst In the late 1800s, cricket remained an amateur sport, at the same time both England and Australia were on the verge of launching a professional system for their cricketers. Internationally, a real effort was put into improving cricketing standards but many North American cricket clubs chose to remain elite preserving their amateur status. Who now has heard of Town ball? A sport developed out of cricket and was played in small town and city squares. This was easily played in urban areas.

More importantly a select number of cricket clubs went on to sponsor the first American baseball teams, as they came to be called .In the 1900s, the game of baseball became so popular in the USA that it all but put to death the game of cricket that gave it life. Within a few short decades, cricket in the USA was nothing but a distant memory.

Some 30 years ago in the back in the 1970s, the USA turned once again to cricket as populations increased with a corresponding interest in cricket. Disney even looked at the potential profits that could be gleaned by bringing cricket back to the United States. The jury is still out as to whether a new cricket association should be re launched or if the sporting American public would spend money investing in first-class cricket matches and watching international cricketers in their own cities and towns. With down turn in the global economy, the time is possible not quite right to reintroduce the game to the North American shores but who knows what the future holds for this potentially lucrative market. The face of cricket continues to evolve and as you watch the bitter rivalry played out between the English and Australian cricket players for the 2009 Ashes series this summer, dare to believe that one day a the USA cricket team will visit these shore to contest an inaugural first test between the two nations.

Ashes Test 2009 - Who Would Be a Cricket Selector?

With the 2009 Ashes Test about to start, the selectors of both the England and Australian cricket teams, will come under intense scrutiny. When it comes to selecting a squad of players the game of cricket is unique. amongst all sports. In football for example it is the manager who picks the team whereas in cricket it is the job of a panel of selectors containing several members. These selectors contain people who all have extensive in the game having all played at various levels.

The selectors in cricket are often at the centre of controversy most especially when the team do particularly badly. This is completely understandable as it is the selectors job to pick the team and if those players picked do not perform to the expected standard then the very credentials of those that picked those players in the first place are brought into question. Returning to football if the team does not perform the manager can and frequently is sacked - an option not available when there are several selector involved in the original selections.

Most selectors, especially those involved in the international cricket arena are well paid - how would you like to travel the world watching top class cricket all expenses paid ! The beauty of the game is cricket fans are particularly knowledgeable and that means that if they do not agree with any of the selection decisions and they are proved right the selectors will come in for heavy criticism.

One of the selectors is usually the cricket coach as well, after all he manages the team his opinion will carry a lot of weight .If he wants a particular player in the team or conversely one dropped he will get his way. Whilst the cricket captain is not on the selection panel his opinion will carry a lot of weight after all, a captain who is not in tune with his selectors will adversely effect everyone involved .The panel of selectors will try to give the captain they want.

At the end of the day it is the role of the panel of selectors in cricket is to pick the best eleven cricketers available for selection. Due to injuries or more often lack of form that is not always possible due to player injuries or even more likely loss of form. Often player selections give rise to a huge amount of controversy and the selectors are called to account for their decisions.

The one and only objective of the selection panel is providing the captain and coach with the best possible squad of players to perform their job. Whether it is the England cricket selectors or the Aussie cricket selectors that have got it right, will soon be revealed.

Cricket in the Streets of Pakistan

There hasn't been a day in the last sixteen summers that the cricket in our street has not been played. They (players, kids and the spectators) will come out in the noon while the elders are sleeping at their homes and will rush to the dead end of the street. Yes the dead end! Its where the wickets are placed so that there is no wicket keeper, no slips, no fine leg and third man!

There is only one rule in this form of cricket; hit the ball as hard as you can and for the bowlers is to ball as fast as they can. Certain rules and tricks are in the blood of these legends. You will not see a single ball being pitched up to the batsman and there are no straight elegant drives ever. This cricket continues through out the year until the news comes of the annual Summer Gala. That's the time when the best players are chosen and they are taken to the ground-yes the real ground!

The annual Summer Gala 2009 was a fun. There were as many teams as many are the streets-around 110 teams! 10 matches per day were to be played and every match was of 8 overs only. The team from my street made it to the finals after 20 days of continues matches and they were not rested for the final as well. Average score in these matches is around 100-130.

The final is always a mega event as some MPA is always invited to do the final prize distribution. Even price distribution is fun. The prizes are fixed and stipulated. Once someone sees that the game is going one way, he will put a huge price for the player who performs from the other side. This works as a catalyst and keeps putting the spirit in the game. Generally players end up with great money and the unofficial prize announcers get great publicity. There are even prices for a great diving stop!

Over all its fun and it was more fun this year. Many players made good many and all other had great time playing their favorite game. The spectators came from all around the city and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves. You can watch the photo coverage of the this event and other such local festivals here.

Howzat! Appeal to the ICC

The cricket world is going to erase a thrill, sensation and many shining stars in its fascinating skies. There are several reasons behind this loss. Some are hypothetical and some are somewhat real. The hypothetical threats of terrorist activities are the major cause of this eclipse. The team that didn't wish to visit a certain country due to another more moneymaking engagements recorded his apprehensions about terrorist attacks and attempted to evade the matches. If ICC makes a decision to send them to the more profitable places as far as monetary benefits are concerned they'd become ready to play in Iraq or Israel. The dichotomy of the cricketing world about this syndrome of terrorism is worth discussing.

The Tamil issue in Srilanka and host of other issues in India are disturbing the whole fabric of society but there's no threat of any terrorism! Australia and New Zealand are the 2 states that are situated on the edge of the planet but they can not guarantee that there is no terrorism in these states. Certainly not, terrorism is a global threat and the strongest countries of the world are not exceptions. Those that do not wish to play cricket in asia are just attempting to subdue the Asian cricket as well as Asian states.

They have their own vested interests. When their ICC plans visit of any western country of the Asian countries the different groups behave differently over this call. If it is India Sri Lanka or Bangladesh they are never fearful of ant threat due to politics in spite of the incontrovertible fact that this territory is too a prey to the same threat of terrorism.

Can't they see just how much money cricket is bringing into the region? I mean gambling on cricket matches alone is an extremely profitable exercise. If cricket gets lost, so does all this extra income into those countries.

Only the Pakistani section isn't sufficient to any of the western states. There's constantly politics concerned in this decline. If the ICC wants to invigorate cricket and if it wants to enhance promoting activities it should become unprejudiced and decide on the merit as well as the condition on the ground. Otherwise the world body would be the one responsible for the downfall of this million greenback game and it's mass interest.

Gavin is a longtime sports writer who freelances for some of the major sporting publications in the country.

His thoughts and expressions are solely for the entertainment of himself and any reference to businesses, corporations and sporting teams not affiliated to any of the publications he freelances for.

Trading Talk - The Ashes - Second Test

Now the talking is over and series underway, the tussle for the Ashes hots-up with a mid-summer second Test at the Home of Cricket. Ashes spread bettors thumbing through their formbooks will be aware that Lord's is traditionally a ground where the Aussies have enjoyed rich pickings - it was the scene of their solitary victory in the 2005 series and the tourists have remained unbeaten there since 1934. Like the Ashes schedulers who moved the Lord's test from its familiar position as the series opener, buyers of the Australia match win index spread will note their dominant record of 15 victories, 14 draws and five defeats.

However, spread buyers of Australian team and individual match runs will note that captain Ricky Ponting has a poor individual record at Lord's with an average of just 17.25 in Tests against England, having never made higher than 49. Furthermore, few of the current Aussie squad have experience playing in front of the MCC. Of those that do, vice-captain Michael Clarke performed admirably here in 2005 with an average of 51 and top score of 91. Simon Katich has an average of 47 from the same two innings, but he will be hoping to keep Andrew Flintoff at bay who bowled him four times in the last series on English soil.

Unsurprisingly, Sporting Index expect the batting danger man for the Three Lions to be Kevin Pietersen, whose two Lords knocks in the 2005 series yielded a brace of half centuries backing up his superb ground average of 72.90 - the highest of any Englishman to have played more than 5 matches at the venue. Buyers of Andrew Strauss's total runs spread should also be pleased to note that the England skipper is fifth in the all-time list of England Test scorers at Lord's.

Currently standing on a total of 989, the left-handed England opener will easily pass the 1,000 mark if he produces anything like his previous Lord's form.

Those interested in Ashes spread betting will be interested to know that he has hit three of his 17 Test centuries on the ground which, along with a further four 50s, have boosted his ground average to 58.17, compared to a Test average of 43.96.

With Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath consigned to the Ashes history, cricket spread punters will have to look a little harder than in previous series for obvious choices of who might be a value buy among the bowling index spreads on offer. Those cricket spread betting may know that Brett Lee is the highest Lord's wicket taker of the current squad against England - and with the paceman's seven victims coming at an average of 27.42 and strike rate of 47.2, the Barmy Army, and spread sellers of Lee's total series wickets, will be hoping he doesn't come through medical examinations on his injured rib.

For the home side James Anderson and Flintoff are regular Lord's wicket takers, having struck a combined 49 times in their England Test careers. Sporting Index bettors interested in the Flintoff series all-rounder performance spread will observe Freddie's 25 Lord's successes, including 4 in the last home Ashes series, which have taken a total of nine matches to claim with a bowling average of 35.92 and strike rate of 70.4.

Suggesting he may well be England's trump card in the Ashes, at least to buyers of his performance spread, Anderson has penetrated far more frequently and already has two Lord's five-for's under his belt from six matches there. His 24 wickets come at an average of 27.79 with a strike rate of 55.3. NB - All averages are accurate ahead of the Ashes series on 06.07.2009

Diary of a Spread Bettor (Week 8)

Thursday 9th July

I thought England's 435 all out was an unbelievable score in the circumstances. The tail wagged as well as I have ever seen a tail wag before. Swann, Anderson and Broad all chipped in with boundaries galore to post a decent total. The English spirit of 2005 was back and n my eyes, the Aussies were certainties to lose an early wicket in response...

I sold Hughes' runs at 50 in-running for £5 and was thrilled to see him nick a Freddie Flintoff special through to Prior for 36. A cheeky £70 profit and I was off to the perfect start. I was confident and more importantly, so were England. In fact, there was a real chance that the Three Lions could actually take more wickets and go on to win the match.

I soon sold Katich for £3 in-running at 82 and sold Australia runs for £4 at what looked a massive 525. Sadly, it soon became clear that the only person heading to Lord's 1-0 down was going to be me! I had taken one giant step into that 'corridor of uncertainty' and I had to decide quickly whether I was going to head back.

As the ball began to rattle its way to all four corners of Cardiff, I decided to take my hit shortly before 6pm and buy Katich back at 132 (a £150 loss) and also opted to buy £8 of Australia runs at 575 to take another £200 loss and go the other way for £4. Both batsmen were closing in fast on their centuries and with the score at 249/1 at stumps, I had done the right thing. Sometimes it's right to take the hit if you've blatantly got something wrong. My misjudgment had cost me £350, but if Australia batted on past 575, I had a chance of getting something back.

Anyway, if Strauss continued to captain the side like Bungle from Rainbow (look him up if you don't know who he is), there was more than just a good chance that Australia could post 700! What was he doing gifting both Ponting and Katich hundreds and not applying more pressure and why did he take the new ball and then put the spinners on again ten overs later... a certain Geoffrey would have never done that!

Friday 10th July

I found myself in the very strange position of driving to Newmarket and cheering on every Aussie boundary. The scoreboard raced onto 299 and then Katich was trapped LBW by Anderson for 122. Spread betting does funny thing to you. While all English cricket fans were celebrating, I was sat quietly irritated. Not only had the dismissal cost me £30 (I had closed Katich at 132), it also meant that my buy of Australian total runs at a ridiculously high level was also looking dodgy to say the least!

The next 30 minutes were horrendous and by the time I had parked the car (told you it does funny things to you), both Hussey and Ponting had joined Katich back in the pavilion. They were 331/4, their runs quote had collapsed and I didn't know what to do. I had taken too many hits already and my proverbial gum shield was hanging out of my mouth. I didn't panic and decided not to watch or listen to another ball until getting back in the car.

To cap it all, I'd also backed Scenic Blast ante-post in the July Cup and was upset when the Aussie sprint sensation trailed in a distant sixth. I had spent the afternoon throwing money at all things Australian and it was costing me a fortune. It hadn't been a G'Day (sorry had to do it)!

Saturday 11th July

The weather forecasters had said all week that we'd be lucky to see a ball bowled in Cardiff on Saturday - they were wrong. Two full sessions and thank god, a sack full of Aussie runs. They batted brilliantly all day and when Haddin was eventually caught for 121 (with his partner North not out on 125), the total had reached an impressive 674. The declaration followed disappointingly (I must be the only man in England who wishes they were still batting now!) and I had made 99 x £4.

After all the stress and strain, I had won back £396 to cover the £350 loss and add to the early £70 profit. England lost two early wickets which was great news for my £5 sell of Cook's series runs at 355. His contribution in the first test was just 16 from his two knocks and things were looking rosier.

Sunday 12th July

Watched Pietersen leave one he'd have never have left if the world and his wife hadn't been on his back for playing 'that shot' in the first innings. Strauss and Prior then followed him quickly back to the pavilion and at 70 for 5 before lunch, they were heading for certain defeat.

Collingwood stood firm throughout the day and then Anderson and Panesar somehow managed to pull off an incredible draw. I didn't have a bet, but was firmly back supporting England. It was a huge result and was made even more enjoyable by Ponting's sour grapes at the press conference. I also think that Collingwood is beginning to turn into Alan Shearer... close your eyes the next time he is interviewed.

By the way, I found out some interesting cricketing trivia today too. Did you know that James Anderson now holds the Test cricket record for the batsman with the most consecutive innings' without a duck. It currently stands at over 50! Lara, Bradman, Tendulkar... none of them managed to do it!

Also, Michael Vaughan, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting have over 80 test match centuries between them, but none of them went on to make a double century. That's an extraordinary statistic when you think that Jason Gillespie only made one test century in his career and he coverted that into a 'double-ton'!

Monday 13th July

A rubbish day of sport to start an unbelievable sporting week that includes not only the Open Golf Championship, but the second test from Lord's.

Ayr were forced to abandon racing when seven horses fell in one race on a slippy surface. Luckily all the horses were okay although a few jockeys will now be on the sidelines for a bit. They are scheduled to race there again next Monday, so there must be a great spread betting 'slip' market somewhere - how about the number of horses that slip over at Ayr multiplied by the number of slip catches taken at Lord's!

By the way, Steve Harmison was named in the squad for Lord's as a possible replacement for a doubtful Freddie Flintoff. I'd say that he'd be a good selection for an English side that only managed to get six wickets in Cardiff!

Tuesday 14th July

Bastille Day in France and Aidan O'Brien saddled half the field in the Grand Prix de Paris run at 7.20pm in Longchamp. I didn't fancy any of his four runners, but there was no real value to be had selling his rags too cheaply. I opted to sell Age of Aquarius at 14 on a 50-25-10 index on the basis that I reckoned he'd get tapped for toe at the business end and would make-up 0. In short, a £10 sell would have yielded a £140 profit if the Lingfield Derby Trial winner failed to make the frame. Sadly, there were no fireworks and he finished second in a messy race costing me £140 at the same time.

Wednesday 15th July

The calm before the storm. Two of the best sporting events of the year get underway tomorrow and it's time to get stuck in. Starting with the Cricket and I've decided to have a go at individual player match runs, or should I say lack of runs! I've sold Cook's contribution for £3 at 70, Bopara for £3 at 70 and Hussey for £3 at 67. All three look out of touch and I cannot see them scoring over 200 runs in the match between them. I also couldn't resist buying Strauss at 84 for £3 on his favorite track in test cricket.

The Open (used to get in trouble from my Dad for calling it the British Open) gets underway ludicrously early tomorrow and I've had a right crack at a few finishing positions (I always say that with a slight Geordie accent for some reason - must be the Alan Shearer within me).

I've sold Mahan at 34 for £5, Kaymer at 38 for £5, Curtis at 38 for £5, Perry at 38 for £5 and Watney at 41 for £5. I've also got against the following by buying their finishing positions for £5...Garcia at 32, Goosen at 39 and Singh at 41. I have also bought the winning score at 274.5 for £30 and sold players under par for £20 at 9. Basically, I won't have a clue whether I'm winning or losing until the weekend... I bet Bungle Strauss will be hoping for that same feeling!

Five Batsmen Who Have Great Records on the Scoreboard!

First one: There are many great cricket players in their sports. When you think of these great players the player that probably comes to mind first is Donald Bradman. Bradman, an Australian Cricketer was acknowledged as the greatest batman of all times. By the age of 22 he had set many records for high scoring, some of these records are still unbeaten, he is idolized by many Australians' during the height of the Great Depression.

Second one: Another one of the top cricket batsman is an Indian cricketer known as Sachin Tendulkar. In 2002 he was ranked as the second greatest test batsman of all time according to Wisden. Tendulkar is the highest scorer in both test matches and ODIs,. Tedulkar is also known for the most centuries in either form of the game. In 1997 he passed Laras record for the most runs scored in Test cricket, and went on to become the first batsman to score 12,000 runs in that form of the game.

Third one: Garfield Sobers born July 28. 1936 in the WEST Indies is regarded as crickets greatest ever all-rounder. In 1975 he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to cricket.

Fourth: Another one of the best cricketers in the sport is an Australian native known as Allan Borden. Borden still holds the world title for the most consecutive Test appearances, a total of 153 and the most test as a captain. A left handed batter Borden held the world record with a 11,174 test runs until 2005 when it was broken by Brian Lara in 2005.

Last but not the least: Probably another one of the best cricket players is Viv Richards, he was voted one of the top 5 cricketers of the century in 2000 by a 100 member panel of experts. In 2002 he was chosen as Wisden as the greatest ODI batsman of all times.

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Cricket Amateurs Can Learn How to Look After Their Cricket Bats and Use Them Well

Where do you start when choosing a bat for the first time? If you have never had to purchase a bat before it is a task which could be a little daunting. For starters, there are funny sizes starting with numbers and then changing to names and handle lengths. Then there is the type and grade of willow to consider and finally the shapes of the bats.

So first things first, work out which size of bat you need. If you are an adult and are less than six foot tall then you will probably want a short handle bat, which is the standard adult size bat. If you are six foot tall or over then you will probably be more comfortable with a long handle bat. This as the name suggests just has a slightly longer handle so that the player doesn't need to stoop so much to hold the cricket bat and play shots. If neither suits you some manufacturers offer a bat called the Long Blade model. This has a normal sized adult handle but blade is marginally longer as in the standard model. Overall it is therefore similar to a long handle bat.

For children the choices are obviously different. The sizes begin at zero and continue up to size 6 and then continue on to Harrow. There is also an Academy size which comes in between the Harrow and senior short handle cricket bats. Following are the guideline heights and sizes for the junior bat however various other points that should be considered will be discussed later.

It is best to visit a specialist equipment store when choosing a bat as they will let you lift the bats in store and you can then be sure that it is comfortable. Additionally the staff will be on hand to answer any queries you may have. The player who is to use the bat should stand and hold the bat as if he or she is waiting to play a shot on the crease and lift the cricket bat up in the back lift position as if about to make a shot. There should be no discomfort or strain for the player when lifting the cricket bat in this position. If the bat is too heavy for the player he will be forced to alter his grip as he lifts the bat to play a shot and this means that the bat will come down across the line of the ball. A bat for cricket that is too long will prevent correct pick up as the handle will get in the way. Both of these problems will affect the player's ability to properly develop their technical skills and play the game to their best ability.