The state of cricket

---

Blogger Bec

Far be it from me to profess being a cricket expert - I've been sledged, heckled and harrassed for the way I enjoy cricket, and that is just from Doug.

I admit, I don't know point from leg gully, nor am I aufait with Tendulkar's batting average, and I don't even know how to spell the Australian coaches' surname.

However, I can safely say that I watch, support and admire the one day game with as much fervor and passion as the everyday Aussie bloke (albeit, NOT with a beer in hand...)

Given that, I feel that I can say my bit about the state of this year's CWC with a fair amount of impunity.

So, with no further ado, here are my thoughts about the tournament so far, God help me if any of it is misconstrued as racist, unintelligent or just plain uninformed ramblings.

Positives:
1. Australia is in spectacular form and it is an absolute pleasure and privildge to see the boys bowl, bat and field to the best of their ability against some outstanding opposition (SA only at this point but we have some superb match up's ahead, namely NZ and Sri Lanka)

2. Doug is getting slaps on the back and big kudos for marrying a woman who loves sport - yeah baby, keep building me up, prepare the poor boy for loooooooong married life ahead of him.

3. We have only had two live matches delayed by rain, and even then, the rain was welcome as it was so bloody hot!

4. You get local food at the grounds which is great way to strike up conversation and prepare yourself for the local restaurants which are the only places we could afford to eat!

5. The newspapers have wonderful coverage of all the games and offer fairly unbiased and balanced reportage.

6. On non cricket days, you can laze on beaches and swim in gorgeous water without the fear of being a) eaten by a shark, b) eaten by a croc, c) stung to billyo by stingers or d) freezing your boobs off. Winners all round.

7. The beer (outside the ground) is CHEAP. Asia cheap. Dougo is in heaven.

8. The visiting cricket fans are outrageously happy to be here. Everyone loves the cricket, they love the spectacle and they just love the fact that they are on holiday. They've all spent a small (or large) fortune getting here and by God, they are going to make the most of it. Brilliant.

9. In many of the countries, there are public holidays on match days - that is a great system. Bring it on in Aus I say, let's all have January off!

10. The local people rock. They are friendly, casual and all about the lime. Every one speaks to you (OK, mostly men speak to you but that's because women really run this region of the world. They are the ones holding down the jobs, they're the ones earning the cash, and they are certainly the ones running the households cos every bloke and his dog is down at the pub "limin")

OK, negatives.

1. The competition - i mean c'mon, Pakistan and India being knocked out by minnows?? They are all about blaming the system and the way the tournament is structured but if they can't beat two tiny little minnow teams, then they don't deserve to be here. It frustrates the hell out of me that two of the world's biggest and most powerful cricketing nations, with incredibly powerful players, should find it necessary to blame everyone but themselves for disgracing their countries with bad performances.
And to be frightfully controversial, it REEKS of the almighty disgusting shadow that has pervaded this supposedly gentlemanly game for the last decade or so - match fixing. Has n one (and I mean players and the ICC alike) learnt from the horrific events of Cronje??

2. Which leads to my second point - the tragic death of Bob Woolmer. The media has been RIFE with speculation and to say that we have been immune to all the conspiracy theories would be a lie. We heard it all, though for the first few days we scarcely believed that it even happened at all - it just seemed too outrageous.

At first, it was a heart attack but no one over here believed that for a second. The image of a dejected and (my opinion only) frightened Bob packing away his laptop in the Paki boxes minutes after the loss will stay ingrained in my memory. We all saw it and said "that man is a goner". How prophetic our words were....
Then we heard about captain's houses being burnt down, players lynched outside hotel rooms and the sneaking suspicion that murder was the real cause. People's hair was standing on end but no one was really suprised.

Within a couple of days, it became official. Banners were erected around the grounds by Saffers and Pakis alike, most team wore black arm bands and all flags were are half mast at all subsequent games. A pall was cast over the tournament but, for good or bad, the games went on and the players did what they had to do to bring positive exposure to the game as a whole. The people most affected in our area were the Saffers as Bob had been such a fixture in their camp. "sources" close to the team said that many of them were taking it really hard. During the Aus v SA match, we had a minute of silence for Woolmer.
The media did a good job walking the fine line between causing panic and informing people, I think. They reported on it every day, and still do, but nothing hysterical or potentially inflammatory. The police are very, very cagey about it, that's for sure.

I don't know why it is taking so long to solve this. There are lots of suspects and I cannot presume to know anything but given the reaction of people in Pakistan, and that of the Pakistan media, there is a much, much deeper story to this than just Pakistan losing their place in the CWC. I believe that Bob "knew something". Only time will tell, but let's hope, for the sake of the Woolmer family, that that time will be very, very soon.

3. The massive cost of getting and staying here. Not just for the punters (we all know how expensive the Caribbean is, especially for the Kiwis, Saffers and Aussies) but also for the minnow teams - pretty much all of their players are run of the mill guys who hold down "real" jobs. Some of them have even had to lose their jobs to get here. Added to that, the huge cost of transport and accommodation, it is sending many of the players from minnow teams broke.

4. The most frustrating aspect of this entire tournament is the ticketing.

We, like most other fans here, put in for these tickets almost a year ago (May 2006). We were finally allocated tickets in September, most of us finding out that we either missed out on games entirely or got down graded to Category 2 or 3 tickets due to a high demand. From that, we all assumed that the great seats (shaded and with a view) had been allocated to some other fan; the games were sold out, so we just put up and shut up.
Frustratingly and disappointly, when we all turned up to the matches, and there were HUNDREDS and I mean it, HUNDREDS of spare seats in the Category 1 areas. And Category 2, and category 3, and Party Stand.
We tried to upgrade our tickets but we were told, again, that the matches were all sold out and that no more tickets were available. Meanwhile, we were baking in the sun watching the blue seats remain empty for the whole 2 weeks straight.
We thought, OK, perhaps the sponsors are getting them, or the government is giving them to the locals. That's a great idea - get the locals in, give them discounted tickets, whatever, just fill the seats so the atmosphere is great and the game is given a high profile. Anything to lift the game and get people in.
But no, 2 long weeks went by and only ever half the ground was full.
As time has passed and we read more newspapers and ask questions of the locals, we find some of the underlying causes of this debarcle:
*there are no passouts so if you want to watch the cricket you have to be there from 7:30am and stay until 5:30pm. this does not encourage local people, who have to work/look after children, to come. You can't just come for a few hours either side of lunch, you have to be there all day. And for those people who have flexible working hours like cab drivers, if they have a fare for the afternoon, they can't come for the morning, leave and do the fare then come back again. Once they are out, they are out. It's ridiculous/
*security is so tight that there are often lines up to 2 hours long to get into games. the locals aren't interested in that. they have better views from their tv screen...
*the prices of the ticket are out of reach of the average West Indian. $50US for a Cat2 ticket, no way.
*people - local and foreign - put in for large allocations of tickets, thinking they could sell them on. WRONG. Coming out here is an expensive exercise and many fans dropped out after realising that they couldn't afford to pay $200US A NIGHT for a poky little guest house. So, person after person that we met along the way had at least 2 or 3 tickets going spare. That's a whole lot of seats that are going empty.

OK, that's a huge diatribe of blahhing, so I'm going to stop there.

I love cricket, and this is a wonderful experience so i will continue to part ways with my cash in order to see Australia hopefully cruise to a 3rd successive CWC. (And if we don't, John is safe I think...)

Love to all
Bec

---

Comments

[Dad]

Beautifully crafted Bec - the passion and voice somes though so well!

[louise]

WOW!
we really DO write the same!!! so fascinating ...and thought provoking..and hmm isn't it interesting that you just HAPPEN to be there ..at this very same time..there's a book in you girl!