To think that cricket is shit?

[Cheeseoncrumpets]

I dont get it. Its so monotonous and seems to go on forever and the scoring is all over the place. Its all wickets and runs and overs. At least with football when the ball goes into the net you know that someone has scored, same with rugby when the ball go over the line. But cricket just completley and utterly baffles me and always has. Yet some people seem to really love it. Yesterday I saw a bloke who was clearly meant to be working sneakily watching the Ashes on his mobile phone, its obviously rivetting to some.

Its just boring shit though, isnt it?

So offended by this 😂😂😂

Comparison is not the thief of joy. Cricket is.

Standing round for hours on end in case it stops raining. (A game played in England that you can’t play in rain ffs!!) They finally get out and ball after ball is bowled and fuck all happens.

Yawn, yawn, fucking yawn.

Jimmy Anderson’s arse is its one redeeming feature.

YANBU.

YABVU.

But then again, I grew up watching West Indian cricket which is an altogether different experience from the more dignified looking English version.

Imagine lots of sweltering sunshine, conch shell horns and old men playing dominoes, girls in Carnival costumes dancing, lots of beer and food and lots of fast bowling and hard hitting. The game is marvellous and even more so if the crowd and atmosphere is right.

IME, it is always the people who don't understand it who call it boring.

I'll readily admit that I don't understand it. I don't understand all the rules of football (guess I must have the brain of a toddler) but I still enjoy watching it. Cricket, not so much. I'm just sticking up for those non cricket fans on here who are getting a bit of a pasting implying we must be 'thick' from others. We (DH and I) regularly drive past The Oval to go up to the Proms at the Albert Hall, last week loads of people were going in to watch something, there is obviously something that attracts people to cricket but just like us sitting through hours of Mahler and Britten each to their own I guess.

YABU! I love cricket and F1 (both of which I've been told are 'boring sports') and loathe football!

YABslightlyU. I'm not a fan of cricket either but that doesn't mean it's shit. Just means it's not my thing (and yes, I do understand the rules!). I prefer football but then again, it's almost a religion in the city I'm from.

Ds1 came home on a high today after being top scorer and a few sixes. Ds2. (Same match) was on a downer because he was out for a duck.

This! The game can turn on a sixpence and even the most anticipated batter can be out before they have hit a single ball or made a run. But I love that there are three elements (batting, bowling, fielding), so hopefully something else went OK for your DS2 nokidshere!

And scones....what other sport has afternoon tea built in!

OP .....YABVVVVVVVVVVVU. Give a live county 50 over or T20 game a go. A great day out (take your own scones)

As my user name suggests I'm also going to say YABU

I was of the same thought until DS1 started playing and as a dutiful parent went to watch him, then I quickly got hooked (it does help the more you understand the rules and appreciate the critical long term tatics that are employed especially in the longer format)

I love TMS and watching on TV, but for me being at the ground, sat talking to an opposition fan (even an Aussie!) in the next seat whilst having a drink is the ultimate in civilised society!

There are plenty of sports thst I don't enjoy watching but I have never felt the need to call it shit, just not something I enjoy

If we’re discussing the scoring process (which indeed you were OP when raising a comparison with football and rugby....) cricket is just as straightforward.

YANBU to not enjoy a sport

YABVU to decide something you don’t like is “shit”.

YANBU. This is how I feel about all sports. Except swimming. Swimming I can watch.

@phoenixrosehere
I highly hope our sons don’t get into it. The idea of having to sit through cricket games for however many or long they are, fills me with dread. My idea of torture. I rather them get into rugby or football than cricket.

There have been countless threads about occuping teens in the holidays. Cricket is perfect. It's a long game, there are loads of opportunities to play and keep dc off gaming and out of trouble. Because it's such a long game and slow at times there are loads of opportunites to make friends (unlike football and rugby where you run around then go home even in training) plus dc mix with men of different ages providing lots of good adult male role models - so hard to get elsewhere. I honestly think cricket is such a brilliant game for dc to get into.

@phoenixrosehere

Oh and having watched my dc play all sorts of sports, watching your child get thrown the ground and often injured in the freezing cold rain for a rugby match is not much fun!

Posh rounders with lots of bewildering vocabulary. Rounders is shit anyway without adding a load of pretension and dragging it out for weeks.

No I don't understand it. Girls weren't allowed to do "boys" sports when I was at school. No cricket, no football, no rugby. The concept of staring at a screen gawping at other people running around, throwing and catching is lost on me anyway. I'll admit going to a sporting event when there is an atmosphere is nicer.

The people in charge know it's boring to have a sport that goes on for weeks with very little happening, hence developing the 20:20s and other shorter variations that are actually tolerable to watch.

I much prefer doing sport to observing other people do them. I suspect for various reasons that extend beyond my lack of sporting prowess that I am dyspraxic, so to me a ball is either thrown or caught or missed (in my case usually missed). I don't see any subtlety in it and I can't process and retain scores or where balls land in relation to things. (Refereeing on PE cover was interesting and I quickly realised that I had to delegate score keeping as I can't remember and track simple scores such as in netball) My experience of playing team sports can be summed up by the words "inept" and "ostracised". I prefer solo sports where no one will mock me for faliure. So my interest in complex, subtle, team sports with a whole random language that has to be understood in order to play or watch is naturally very, very low.

I'd rather run a half marathon in the rain while the cricketers are sitting inside waiting for something to happen.

(My tone is intended to be far less beligerent than this probably sounds )

As a pp has pointed out, the last hour of the World Cup proves that cricket is anything but dull.

As an aside my Dm has asked that her funeral features the TMS theme. I am concerned that it's a bit too happy for the occasion but she is insistent!

The club my boys play for has a thriving girls section. At least as big as the boys. And their school have stopped rounders in favour of cricket for the girls, so there must be other schools in the area doing the same for them to play against. Training sessions, there are over 100 kids from 5-17 having fun in the sun, while their parents chat and enjoy a glass of wine or a beer.

DH coaches, umpires, runs 3 junior teams, and plays an occasional match.

DS9 has played over 30 matches this season and we will be taking him to a tournament today - 5 matches minimum, 6 a side, 6 overs. It will be fast and exciting.

Older DS plays for the club's 2nd XI, aged 13, as well as in his age group. The men are brilliant at supporting and nurturing, encouraging him. What other sports can kids that age play alongside an adult, and be the top scorer of the day?

DS13 also plays indoor league cricket in the winter. So for us, it is a year round thing. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

There is no swearing or loutish behaviour, unlike football, which DS9 also plays. That I do hate. It is cold, wet and miserable. I loathe the competitive dads, shouting and swearing at their sons if they don't play to their expectations, imagining their 8 year old as a future Beckham or whoever.

No I don't understand it

No clearly just this paragraph alone is one of the most annoying things i've read on this thread.
Girls weren't allowed to do "boys" sports when I was at school. No cricket, no football, no rugby
Was that a general statement orvjust at your school??? Because of it was general womens cricket has thrived for many many years, in fact it was womens cricket that first got a world cup, many many many years before the mens game did. Ever heard of Rachel hayhoe-flint? Look her up it might enlighten you. Football and rugby yes might be a bit further behind, but the sucess of the lionesses in resent years should show you how much the game is changing

The concept of staring at a screen gawping at other people running around, throwing and catching is lost on me anyway
Don't then, the thought of wayching a piece of black tarmac while one person runs over it prehaps every 5 monute is lost on me. Actually ots not, i've actually been to london marthon a number of times. But i'm not going to slag off any thing i don't understand as watching some men throw balls at each other.

I'll admit going to a sporting event when there is an atmosphere is nicer

Errr yes the atmostphere at cricket is just so so nasty, its so aggressive gosh i totally understand this statement. Oh wait no no no I don't, do you know nothing about atmosphere at cricket, it tens to be people enjoying a summer day out its much like tennis all very civalised. Tbh rugby isn't much different most of the aggrssion in rugby is on the pitch. Football yes has a bad reputstion and yes a small section of right wing yobos are causing it to feel like its getting worse again but the reality is at 100% of clubs and 95% this behaviour wouod be called out and stopped before it even started.

I do think it's possible to completely understand a sport and still find it boring. Yes. But I've seen only one post on this thread where the poster has said they understand cricket and still find it boring, and many posts where the poster says they find it boring and make it clear they don't understand the first thing about it.

It's a bit like being a teenager and enjoying baroque music - none of your peers understand it, but they're all more than happy to let you know that it's boring and you're odd for enjoying it.

I just don't understand it. Why is everything called a wicket. Where do the points come from when it just seems to be a guy batting and not moving. Why was us winning in the first bit yesterday apparently not winning really. IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE.

Why was us winning in the first bit yesterday apparently not winning really

That's part of the joy and fascination of it; that over a five day test the fortunes of each team can change so much. We're about to go into day 4 and it's very delicately balanced.

The rules are what makes it more interesting than many other sports.

The first time I noticed DH looking like a potential love interest was at a departmental cricket match. He turned up in full whites with his bat over his shoulder showing off his glorious forearms. Of course in my clumsy manner I teased him and said he looked all Brideshead revisited.

Cricket crowds at a live match are the most fun of all sporting crowds, great atmosphere.

Yes it's utter tedious shite, just like the people that obsessively watch it

No doubt you'll be obsessed Love Island, though...

Why was us winning in the first bit yesterday apparently not winning really

Really....? And this is different from any other team sport because....?

@Cheeseoncrumpets - if you wanted nice replies, maybe try a nice title. I found your title really irritating. There are lots of things I find 'shit' but I try not to offend people.

Why is everything called a wicket.
It isn't, only the wickets are.

Where do the points come from when it just seems to be a guy batting and not moving.
If he hits it over the barrier he gets 6 runs. If he hits it and it touches the barrier he gets 4 runs. If he does neither of these things and doesn't run then he gets 0 runs. You don't get a point from every ball. The skill of the bowler is bowling in a way that makes it difficult to get runs or encourages them to wrecklessly hit it high and get caught out.

Why was us winning in the first bit yesterday apparently not winning really.
Because its a 5 day game. Each team gets 2 turns to bat.

IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE.
It really does, you just aren't interested enough to learn the (pretty simple) rules. And that's fine, but it isn't the game's fault.