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 do miss the days of Beefy and Boycott. Remember reading Don't Tell Kath by Botham, who narrated the tale of England's then Vice Captain, Bob Willis instructing the incoming batsman (Botham) to run Boycott out 😆 🤣

I love watching it but you also have to listen to it.
Watching a test but listening to TMS is the way to go. They blather on about anything and everything
'2 slips and a gully'
I usually haven't a clue what they are on about but it's just lovely to listen to!

Rugby looks so violent to me.

I love football but can't watch rugby.

DH works in rugby (not a player). It is precisely as violent as it appears despite more safeguards against head injuries etc by stuff like lower allowed tackle heights. I refused to let DS do it more than he had to at school, though fortunately he's football-mad and hadn't the slightest interest.

I am totally with you, I just cannot fathom a game where you play it for five days and still nobody has won! But that's okay, it would be awful if we all liked the same things. More people having a lovely time at the cricket means fewer people at the places I want to go 😊

Wine

This is really true actually; commentary adds much more to cricket than it might to something like football, hockey, or pigeon-racing.

Good commentators won't just describe what's happening, they'll also speculate what's going through each player's mind, the choices they have with the resources at their disposal, and how that affects the way the game is played. I've rarely thought that a young player learns much by watching a televised football game compared to what they'll learning watching cricket, which is why it's been an absolute disaster having international cricket behind a paywall for most of the last 20 years.

I hate most sports except Ice Hockey and Basketball. Cricket is so boring and confusing to me I can’t stand it to be honest.

As a parent facilitating and taking kids along to play in matches and training, the fact that it usually only happens when the weather is good enough to be outside - and there’s often a bar / clubhouse - was a definite plus! In contrast to the chilly damp rugby touchlines…

DH is a massive sports fan, including cricket. Many years ago he was fortunate enough to win a pair of tickets to the final of one of the limited over competitions. I knew nothing about cricket at that time but he said it would be fun so off we went with our picnic. It was amazing! Our county team was one of the finalists which for DH, made it even more special. Our seats were actually in the middle of a load of supporters for the other side, but unlike football, we never felt intimidated at all. In fact, the other fans couldn't have been nicer. DH spent a lot of the day explaining cricket to me, so by the end I really got it. And, our county won the game by one run in literally the last ball of the game talk about exciting! We jumped up to celebrate whilst the poor fans around us sat there in shock that they had lost. But not one of them was unpleasant, in fact many of them congratulated us.
Cricket is about so much more than just walloping the ball from one end to the other. There are a lot of tactics involved in deciding your teams fielding strategy etc. Andrew despite its apparent slow pace, it can be very exciting indeed.

Edit for typo

I think if you have played a sport, even at a very basic level, you understand it in a way that is different. You see the nuances, appreciate certain skills, for example.

I wish there was some of it on free to air tv. The Hundred is not cricket, it is a game on a cricket field.

There have been some thrilling finishes to Test Matches. Headingley in '81 is one. The 2005 Ashes series was a classic.

Remember reading Don't Tell Kath by Botham, who narrated the tale of England's then Vice Captain, Bob Willis instructing the incoming batsman (Botham) to run Boycott out

Served Boycott right. He once ran out Derek Randall at Trent Bridge.

Surely lots of sports are boring if you dont understand them.....and also some -even if you do understand - take a long time....which can also feel boring.
Golf or cricket generally take too long to reach their conclusion for me to get interested

I enjoy (and understand) tennis but dont aways have the patience to watch a 5 set match.

DS likes F1 , I used to find it very dull but I started to read about it/listen to podcasts about it so i could understand, or have a conversation with him about it. Now I love it, and we watch (on tv) together.

If you don't understand the rules, you're bound to find cricket boring.

When I watch cricket, I like the intensity of the duel between batsman and bowler. I did finally learn to bowl in a very basic way when ds was playing and I found it very complicated and frightening, so I then found it scarier and more interesting to watch. Long ago I saw Shane Warne play, and it was amazing watching this rather podgy guy with a bad haircut turn into a lethal panther.

Gone too soon was the King of spin.

It’s boring AF. That’s why people get so drunk at it. It’s the only way to get through a test match.

Well understanding the rules helps. I find it’s a relaxing day, excuse to drink plenty of pimms and cider, take a picnic

If you think T20 is boring, you don't know what you're talking about. It's anything but when you're chasing a total within a limited number of balls remaining.

I like the cricket quite a lot. Once you understand the rules and the etiquette it becomes an engaging game but without understanding the rules it is confusing. I've been to the T20 several times, I like the speed of the Hundred and I went to the England/India test at Edgbaston. I've literally just entered the ballot for the Ashes Test at the Utilita Bowl for DH and myself. Wish me luck.

I discovered cricket as a young teenager girl in the Yorkshire Dales. Not only did all the hot lads from my school play on the local under 18s team, but visiting teams of hot lads turned up to play them every Sunday, or they (and me) visited other teams' grounds.
Now the big bonus for a teenage girl... only 2 team members on the batting side are out on the field at any given time, so you have all those other lads to flirt with!!

Beer in the sun (hopefully) with the ambient sounds of leather on willow in the background.

Tbf I'm more a T20 girl than a full 5 dayer but there is something quite meditative about cricket that encourages you to slow down.

The 100 is great for beginners btw, great atmosphere. If you can get a to watch in Cardiff it’s particularly great

I don’t watch sport and have no interest in it, but the radio reports of the 5 day matches used to,seem to me like epic matches out of ancient history. I loved the way that they built up over days.

Family relations were very keen on watching their local county matches. It was a big part in their lives.

I love cricket, all formats, the social side is great and there just isn't the same negativity as in football (especially grassroots). T20/The Hundred is good for entertainment, however you sometimes can't beat the slower pace e of a 5 day test!

I have been watching since childhood though due to family playing, and my children now play.