May 7, 2008...2:53 pm
It’s just not cricket…or is it?
Cricket. Right. Hmmm…
This is a tough one for us. The World has done stories on cricket in the past, but grudgingly. On the one hand, our BBC folks, chief among them Rob Hugh-Jones, will always be willing to bend your ear about the beauty of cricket. “It’s just a longer, more elegant version of baseball, and hey, you get to break for lunch and tea.” A lovely way to spend five days, etc.
Sure thing, Rob. But why are they called bowlers? And what’s with that bat? And why are there two batsmen (batsmen?) out there at the same time? Anyway, you see the potential tension. After all, the last thing we like to hear on the newscast which tops our show is, “and now the international cricket scores…” We’re betting that not a lot of American listeners really care about overs, wickets, silly mid-offs, and the like. “England had a good innings,” just sounds a bit off, sportingly and grammatically, to some of us.
This, however, is something else entirely. The NYT reports on India’s new cricket league, the Indian Premiere League. This article follows nicely along from the radio report from the BBC’s Tinku Ray that I linked to above. India is going all out to add a bit of Bollywood to the genteel sport of cricket. Laser light shows? Stilt-walkers? Matches that don’t last five days?
Awesome, some will say. Let’s get the Wii generation on board with this venerable game.
But I can already hear the purists — the Sceptred Isle’s version of Chicago Cubs fans, some of whom blew a gasket when the lights went up at Wrigley Field in 1988. No way, an abomination, now how will I justify my afternoons spent skiving off work?
Perfect time to sit down, put the kettle on, and decide where your cricket loyalties really lie. Well, that is if you have any cricket loyalties at all.
Clark
marcowerman
01onlyagamer
carolhills
wtroop
gallafent
matthewjbell
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