AIBU to ask what people actually enjoy about watching cricket?

[Dovesono]

Someone took me to watch a cricket match the other day and I was bored senseless. Didn't have a clue what was going on, although most of the time it seemed to be nothing very much at all.

Please can someone explain the appeal? And why are the rules so bloody complicated?

It was county level in case that makes a difference.

I guess it’s like most sports really. If you don’t understand the rules, then you’re not going to enjoy it. I don’t like rugby, but I could probably get into it if I took the time to try and understand it.

Watching live cricket in person is not for beginners.

I think the first cricket match you watch should be a T20 match on the telly.

Honestly... i think its the drinking with friends more than the cricket.

Eta... i do t go before I have an alcohol lecture

Cricket doesn't have rules, for a start. It has Laws.

The appeal to me is the thinking that goes into it, how atmospheric or ground conditions can completely alter the dynamics of the game and an individual's effectiveness in it, the range of skills involved, split second decision-making, and the sheer timelessness of it. For those of us who grew up in the Commonwealth, it's also an important tie between us and back to the UK.

On TV, I also look out for streakers.

I don't enjoy sport much at all. But I must admit, cricket goes on forever and the rules are incomprehensible. I mean, you can't even make an educated guess at what's happening. I have been to cricket matches and the only good thing is that it's held in the summer (so usually warm and sunny) and you can go and grab a gin and tonic or two.

Comforting that it's not just me!

@InveterateWineDrinker "On TV, I also look out for streakers."

After reading your post I was almost feeling ashamed of my flippant gin and tonic comment - until that!

Was it a test match?

I didn’t like it at all but then my kids starting playing and we starting taking them to watch. I love the hundred - it’s like rounders need big scores. I can deal with a 20/20 but anything else boring - test match can be hours and nothing has actually happened

I mean, it will be completely tedious if you don’t know what’s going on and don’t understand the rules. It’s not like going to watch acrobatics where even if you don’t understand the scoring, you can still get what’s happening.

Pretty much everyone else there will know how cricket works, understand the progress of the game and be keen to see it in person. Some will be mostly enjoying hanging out with friends and/or having a drink too.

I had no idea what was going on at all till kids got into playing. Now I can (reluctantly) do the scoring at matches if needed, and def follow along with what’s happening. The kids and DH know more and will have all the info on why it is that this player was important here or there, why it’s particularly good that one did well, why this one was a disappointment etc.

Love cricket especially test match but Started as social thing as could take picnics and ur own drinks and it has a rhytm and a flow.... Now mainly listen (TMS on 5sx ) which is fabulous... As prices are so dear for internationals prefer 20/20 to 100 byt both entertaining enough and more affordable..
Start with those and go with someone who'll explain it .. although listening on radio whilst watching over time means I have a rough idea..
Was the nicest activity dc did as kids .. although some clubs are less friendly than others was a cheap holiday club that involved fresh air and not too stressful! Most kids coaches met were lovely and about enjoying the game ...

I didn't understand rugby for decades, until one day, someone took the trouble to explain to me that it's against the rules to pass the ball forward.

I got it then, and really enjoy it now.

Every single person who has tried to coax me along to watch cricket has said something along the lines of 'it's great, you can chat/drink/sit in the sunshine with friends'.

All of which I can do without boring cricket. It doesn't seem to have any other appeal unless you're actually playing.

I'm ambivalent but i mostly enjoy the background noise of leather on willow and polite clapping while drinking pimms and doing the crossword

Was it played with a red ball or a white ball?

They are two very different games.

It’s rounders really, isn’t it? Just up and down rather than in a circle.

Though any sport that stops for tea works for me.

YANBU to ask (as per your title)

YABU to think it is boring.

Although, if you've never been to a cricket match and never followed it on TV, then a County match probably wasn't the best place to start.

You should have started with The Hundred, where is is completely set up for people who have not watched cricket before, and where they go to a great effort to explain the rules to people who are there for e the first time. It is also a much shorter match with much more defined and clearer rules and targets. The excitement levels are high, to the extent traditional cricket fans think it is over hyped and "not cricket". It is definitely aimed at kids and introducing non-cricket families to cricket.

Probably a better compromise is the T20. Again, limited time (3 hours for a game usually, including the break), and much clearer what target you are aiming at. More exciting to watch and far fewer 'nuances' to the game than in the longer / red ball format.

That said, I go to watch County cricket sometimes and enjoy it as a 'day out' as a whole, rather than specifically following the miniature of detail. It enables me to sit outside for the day, in the fresh air, spending time with the other people there, chatting, and just relaxing. I get bored sitting in my garden with nothing to do, but enjoy sitting at the ground with the cricket in front of me. I sometimes take my knitting or a crossword to do at the same time which is perfectly manageable.

I don't understand all the terms or all the nuances of red ball cricket but do love listening to Test Match Special on the radio, as it takes me back to my childhood as a long term 'sound of Summer'.

One day Inrernationals (ODIs) are the most exciting games. There are 50 overs (6 round of balls delivered in an over) for each side. Batting team sets a score within 50 overs - providing the team aren't bowled out -and the other team have to beat that total. It's very exciting when you know the rules. Test matches are played over 5 days and require a lot more patience. I love the game.

Honestly, I have mostly found it enjoyable when I've been slightly stoned/after a couple of G and Ts and having a picnic. The only time I thought I understood the rules fully I'd had a hash brownie as a student after a significant exam and was lying on the grass in University Parks. Then it all seemed compelling and clear, but I did also think a tree was talking to me.

I do find it aesthetically pleasing, though. And a feeling as if a game this long and uneventful can only take place in a safe and stable world... (Yes, I know.)

I agree entirely

I think I’m also put off by the fact that it’s a sport that only happens on sunny summer weekends, which (in a normal year) are rare and I’d rather do something more interesting with!

There's more appeal when the leather ball is rubber dubbed on the white trousers maybe it helps loosen the load after the match

This.

It can also be very strategic. There have been times when a batsman seems impossible to get out, and the captain has decided to put player into bowl who is not usually a bowler, because it's harder for the batsman to "read" what he's doing and therefore they stand a better chance of getting the batsman out; also putting a "night watchman" (ie, a player who's not a top batsman) in to bat towards the end of the day, rather than risk losing a good batsman by having them have to start an innings twice (the second time being the following morning).

I got into cricket purely because of a friend who did an excellent impression of a radio commentator called John Arlott. I was off work for several weeks, and started listening to the radio commentary just to hear if his impression was as good as the real thing. I found I wanted to know what they were talking about, so watched with the sound down while listening to the radio commentary, and got totally engrossed by it. I've loved the game ever since (although I'm not such a fan of the limited over game, which is a lot less complex).

I recommend listening to the radio commentary while watching for anyone who wants to learn about it, as they have to explain a lot more for the radio audience.

The limited over formats are more fast paced. But test match cricket is special. If you don't even know the basics of the game, I'm not surprised you weren't impressed. But test matches can be enjoyed at so many different levels once you begin to understand the game. The thinking behind who bowls when certain players are batting, and where to place fielders etc is like chess!

I’ve only ever had it on at home growing up or listening rather than going to watch, and it has lovely associations for me.

If I invited you to watch a cricket match with me and you said you didn’t know the rules, I would be explaining them to you as the game progressed! Of course you find it boring & incomprehensible if no one has ever taken the trouble to do that. I was taken to cricket matches every summer weekend of my childhood and progressed to scoring or making cricket club teas in my teens, as it was DDad’s favourite hobby. Still is actually, though he’s purely a spectator now he’s in his 90s. DBs still play and occasionally we will all go to watch a test match together. I have a pretty good idea of what’s going on and never have I ever found it boring.

Red.