AIBU to ask what people actually enjoy about watching cricket?

Lots of cricket players are overweight as well so I’m not sure how much movement is really involved

Do a perfunctory google search for 'Dwayne Leverock catch', then tell me fat men can't fly. It was a World Cup game.

Cricket goes on so long they had to make the shorter version to try and keep it alive because no one under 50 was interested

I mean, that is clearly just not true. Of course, not many people U50 are available to watch county games being played midweek, when they are at work, but there is HUGE interest in the Test matches, and the grounds are full of adults of all ages.

Lots of cricket players are overweight as well so I’m not sure how much movement is really involved

Once again, completely untrue at professional level. I'm sure it is true the lower down the leagues you go, just as it is if you watch parks football, or 3rd team of club rugby. It is great to see people of all shapes and sizes choosing to come out and play sports at their own levels. However, I have marvelled at the athleticism of the fielding teams, more and more so over the last 2 or 3 years.

I play,, which is fun. Watching is mostly quite dull unless it involves a member of my own family, or Ben Stokes when he's pseed off about something.

Back to say that my phone's ringtone is Soul Limbo, the BBC's test match theme. I was once out and it went off, so I apologised, saying, "oh, that's mine", only for a man behind me to reply, "no, it's mine" as he answered his phone!

Just saw this quote:
Glenn McGrath out for 2, 98 runs short of his century. 😂

Cricket does throw up some incredible human interest stories that you just don't see in other sports. Some of my favourites are

*Eddo Brandes, the Zimbabwean chicken farmer with a penchant for a beer and somewhat unlikely fast bowler who single-handedly beat England in the 1992 World Cup in what any reasonable person would have seen as a hopelessly lost cause;

Sultan Zarawani, the only actual Emirati in the UAE team at the 1996 World Cup who had learned a bit of cricket at boarding school, and went out to face Allan Donald of South Africa - the fastest bowler in the world - in a sunhat and got felled by a first-ball bouncer. Donald later confessed he feared he'd killed him;

John Davison, a fringe player for Victoria and then South Australia who couldn't hold a place in an Australian state side. Primarily a spin (slow) bowler, he happened to have been born in Vancouver and played for Canada in the 2003 World Cup where he opened the batting against the West Indies and scored what was then the fastest-ever World Cup century;

Malachi Jones, the 17 year old schoolboy from Bermuda who opened the bowling in the 2007 World Cup match against India and his first ball got an edge off Robin Uthappa. The ball flew to the right of the 20 stone prison van driver Dwayne Leverock at first slip, who flung himself into the air and caught it with his weaker right hand.

*Eddo Brandes also had one of the best known comebacks to the Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath's sledging and the only player who ever left him speechless.

McGrath - "Why are you so fucking fat?"
Brandes - "Because every time I fuck your wife she gives me a biscuit."

Sydney.

There are the human interest stories, like the player who isn't a recognised batsman coming in at a critical point in the game and making a big score, or the bowler who's been out of form taking five wickets and saving the game. And you watch that story developing over a day or longer.

I'm a lifelong fan. My dad was too, so there was always cricket on tv or the radio at home and I learned about the laws, strategy and players over time. My sister, brought up the same, couldn't be less interested.

It's a hard sport to get into "cold" - although my OH did after he met me and is now just as big a fan. Once you do understand what's going on, it's a fascinating sport with so many nuances and variables.

Village cricket is the best. A chance to make friends in the sunshine

This, I’m a cricket convert after my kids started playing! It’s just so civilised, you sit in deckchairs and someone comes round at the end of an innings with a tray of tea.

T20best place to start. Lords is actually cheap to go to, Watching tennis is like going to church, watching cricket is like going to the pub! The crowd is always great.

I love cricket in all its formats, although I definitely don’t know every rule, just enough to follow what’s going on. I really enjoy the atmosphere at the ground and have a few favourite English and international players. I also love watching newer formats - T20 and the hundred. And with the women’s teams doing so well, I’ve started following women’s cricket too. Both my children play as well, so cricket is a big thing in our house.

Shock - people like different things

The highlight of watching a live cricket match is a picnic and Pimms as very little is happening on the pitch

The main highlight of watching cricket on TV seems to be having a nice snooze in front of an almost totally unchanging green expanse on the screen (at least it was for my DF! )

DH is a massive cricket fan, and I hate it. No matter how much he explains it I just don't get it. I very much think you either get it or you don't.

The draw at Cardiff in 2009 ashes was not a game that fizzled out. It was an amazing finish and a draw was a brilliant result. I think that’s an issue - you have to appreciate that a draw of a test in a test series can be as important as a win.

Where were you living when Lara scored his 501?

@DovesonoI realise I didn’t answer your question about what I find interesting when I watch cricket, but I’m guessing statements about why the captain changes his team’s field positions, when certain bowlers are taken off & others put on, the intricacies of left arm over & right arm round bowling, playing a captain’s innings & the use of night watchmen etc might be lost on you too. I’m ignorant of rugby & find it less interesting as a result, but rugby matches don’t last as long. I have asked people to explain the rules of rugby to me, but they are always strangely loathe to do so 🤷🏽‍♀️.

I don’t think 20/20 or The Hundred are similar enough to test cricket so even if you like the short format of the game, you won’t necessarily like test cricket. The tactics are just not the same.

The Ashes in 2005 was an amazing series and that is where I became hooked.

Cricket goes on so long they had to make the shorter version to try and keep it alive because no one under 50 was interested. I can’t actually believe how long the games drag on for. Lots of cricket players are overweight as well so I’m not sure how much movement is really involved.

I don’t doubt this is one of the reasons.

you do REALLY need to enjoy cricket to sit through a test match and it helps a lot if you know the rules.

Personally I love it and could sit watching test cricket all the time if I didn’t have a small child.

There is! Which I only grasp in flashes. Thinking particularly of climactic scenes in !Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L Sayers and Cricket Term by Antonia Forest.

Yes those two of course. The Cricket Term is a book I can read over and over. I had read MMA before I read Cricket Term, so I understood the references.

I used to enjoy watching the Sunday League games back when the BBC used to show them, and seeing all the county grounds.

I love a live T20 game on a sunny afternoon/evening but prefer the comfort of home for test matches these days. Just a bit too long to be sitting in not super comfortable seats etc.

Unless it’s a Hundred or 20/20 match, cricket is not a sport you’re going to enjoy on your first experience. Im not really a fan of any sport but I can see why people love cricket so much. My DS plays and absolutely adores it, much more than football (Which he also plays). He seems to love it because there are so many tactics involved which he finds fascinating.
DH usually goes to Lords once at year to see a test day. He goes for both the sport and the social side, it’s an excuse for him to spend the day drinking wine and eating snacks wit his old friends! But he also enjoys the game, too. He and DS will spend hours listing to test commentary or watching highlights on the TV.
Ive been to a few one day internationals, 20/20 and Hundred games. The latter were fun as they were fast paced and exciting. No way would I go to a test match.
TMS (Test Match Special) on the radio is an excellent listen, whether you’re into cricket or not!