Reflections on returning to England for the 2019 World Cup - This World Cup was “Made for Indian TV”

[Junaids]

It has been a strange and quite emotional experience to return to England to watch the 2019 World Cup.

I will be fifty years old this week. I grew up in England and have faint memories of the first World Cup in 1975 and vivid memories of the second and third ones in 1979 and 1983. All three were 60 over affairs with a red ball and showcased a game which rewarded the same skills as Test cricket did.

The Test audience and ODI audience were the same people in those days, because it was essentially the same game.

I took a couple of weeks off work to watch the 1996 World Cup and I attended five of the matches at the 2015 World Cup. I prefer Tests to ODI’s, but I love low-scoring 50 overs matches and the occasion that is the World Cup.

But this World Cup was different. From the time I landed back in England - 20 days into the tournament - hardly anyone that I met had watched a single game and most people didn’t even know that the ICC World Cup was taking place. Everyone knew that a Women’s FIFA World Cup was going on, but cricket has been reduced to being a niche sport like rugby league or netball or showjumping.

The first three World Cups in England were embraced by not just the English but also by people of all Commonwealth origins. The 2019 edition had an enthusiastic local Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi following, but at the grounds pretty much the only white spectators were males over the age of 50. And there weren’t that many of them!

I’m thrilled that Asian fans have embraced cricket. But having attended World Cup matches in England since 40 years ago I certainly notice the absence of West Indian and white English spectators.

This was different to my experience in Australia and New Zealand in 2015, where there were plenty of young non-Asian spectators, including lots of women. In England there were barely any.

I already knew that this World Cup was “Made for Indian TV”. This led to comical interludes at the grounds, with the scoreboards largely devoted to adverts and stadium activities advertising products that are not even available to British spectators. The in-ground advertising doesn’t get broadcast in India, and was a monumental waste of time and money, but also deprived spectators of knowing what the score was and how many overs each bowler had left.

This was symptomatic of how English cricket has largely abandoned any effort to cater for English fans at the grounds. They see their revenue as coming from Hospitality packages at the stadium and TV revenue, and act as if ordinary ticket buyers don’t count. The same administrators who sold English TV rights to a subscription-only network just fail to see that without a desirable stadium experience there will be no next generation of English cricket fans. At Edgbaston my ticket cost £240 yet I had to use my phone to see the scorecard!

Old Trafford is a further case in point. I’ve been going since the 1977 Ashes Test Match, and for years I was a Lancashire Member. But the roofed stands are gone, and the ground now consists of two enormous box-shaped Hospitality facilities with some (mainly uncovered) seats below and open stands elsewhere. When it rained in the India v New Zealand semi-final everyone huddled in the corridors below the stand and they - and the grotesquely antique toilets - soon became disgusting. It was a vile experience, and I quickly gave up and took a tram into Manchester. The next day I didn’t even bother to return for the Indian Innings - as far as I was concerned I was done with my home ground.

If anything the Edgbaston experience was even worse. The lengthy and static queues to get in and out of stairways to the seats brought back memories of the Ibrox and Hillsborough stadium disasters. And the toilets were even more disgusting, like a 1970’s football ground. Then the match ended, and signs warned that it was quicker to walk 2 miles to the city than to wait for a bus.

When Australia and New Zealand hosted the 2015 World Cup, match tickets included free bus or train travel to the ground. The English public received no such courtesy in 2019.

The cricket in 2019 was actually surprisingly good. But the stadium experience and matchday travel arrangements in England were primitive and repellent and made Adelaide and Auckland, let alone Sydney and Melbourne, look majestic.

But that is where English cricket seems to be. Completely orientated towards short-term profits from TV and Hospitality, with the ordinary public treated with contempt.

The idea of a “Made For Indian TV” tournament needn’t hurry domestic interest in cricket towards extinction. The 2015 World Cup hosted by Australia and New Zealand probably grew domestic interest.

But the 2019 tournament has failed to grow cricket in England. We are supposed to rejoice that the Final is to be shown on free-to-air TV in England. But it’s much too little, too late: after 14 years of free-to-air invisibility pretty much nobody under the age of 30 even understands cricket, let alone will choose to watch it.

But anyway, the Final is on free-to-air TV on the same day as the Men’s Singles Final at Wimbledon and the Formula 1 British Grand Prix. Why would that attract new viewers?

Any sport needs a spectator and participant base. Can cricket in England survive when its base is a combination of white grandfathers who like Test cricket combined with second and third generation British Asians who prefer the white ball game?

To me it looks awfully like the future for England is to become Toronto or Sharjah, hosting games for Indian TV which will be attended by a few thousand people of subcontinental ancestry.

 

[Abdullah719]

Interesting write-up.

 

[Bewal Express]

It has been a strange and quite emotional experience to return to England to watch the 2019 World Cup.

I will be fifty years old this week. I grew up in England and have faint memories of the first World Cup in 1975 and vivid memories of the second and third ones in 1979 and 1983. All three were 60 over affairs with a red ball and showcased a game which rewarded the same skills as Test cricket did.

The Test audience and ODI audience were the same people in those days, because it was essentially the same game.

I took a couple of weeks off work to watch the 1996 World Cup and I attended five of the matches at the 2015 World Cup. I prefer Tests to ODI’s, but I love low-scoring 50 overs matches and the occasion that is the World Cup.

But this World Cup was different. From the time I landed back in England - 20 days into the tournament - hardly anyone that I met had watched a single game and most people didn’t even know that the ICC World Cup was taking place. Everyone knew that a Women’s FIFA World Cup was going on, but cricket has been reduced to being a niche sport like rugby league or netball or showjumping.

The first three World Cups in England were embraced by not just the English but also by people of all Commonwealth origins. The 2019 edition had an enthusiastic local Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi following, but at the grounds pretty much the only white spectators were males over the age of 50. And there weren’t that many of them!

I’m thrilled that Asian fans have embraced cricket. But having attended World Cup matches in England since 40 years ago I certainly notice the absence of West Indian and white English spectators.

This was different to my experience in Australia and New Zealand in 2015, where there were plenty of young non-Asian spectators, including lots of women. In England there were barely any.

I already knew that this World Cup was “Made for Indian TV”. This led to comical interludes at the grounds, with the scoreboards largely devoted to adverts and stadium activities advertising products that are not even available to British spectators. The in-ground advertising doesn’t get broadcast in India, and was a monumental waste of time and money, but also deprived spectators of knowing what the score was and how many overs each bowler had left.

This was symptomatic of how English cricket has largely abandoned any effort to cater for English fans at the grounds. They see their revenue as coming from Hospitality packages at the stadium and TV revenue, and act as if ordinary ticket buyers don’t count. The same administrators who sold English TV rights to a subscription-only network just fail to see that without a desirable stadium experience there will be no next generation of English cricket fans. At Edgbaston my ticket cost £240 yet I had to use my phone to see the scorecard!

Old Trafford is a further case in point. I’ve been going since the 1977 Ashes Test Match, and for years I was a Lancashire Member. But the roofed stands are gone, and the ground now consists of two enormous box-shaped Hospitality facilities with some (mainly uncovered) seats below and open stands elsewhere. When it rained in the India v New Zealand semi-final everyone huddled in the corridors below the stand and they - and the grotesquely antique toilets - soon became disgusting. It was a vile experience, and I quickly gave up and took a tram into Manchester. The next day I didn’t even bother to return for the Indian Innings - as far as I was concerned I was done with my home ground.

If anything the Edgbaston experience was even worse. The lengthy and static queues to get in and out of stairways to the seats brought back memories of the Ibrox and Hillsborough stadium disasters. And the toilets were even more disgusting, like a 1970’s football ground. Then the match ended, and signs warned that it was quicker to walk 2 miles to the city than to wait for a bus.

When Australia and New Zealand hosted the 2015 World Cup, match tickets included free bus or train travel to the ground. The English public received no such courtesy in 2019.

The cricket in 2019 was actually surprisingly good. But the stadium experience and matchday travel arrangements in England were primitive and repellent and made Adelaide and Auckland, let alone Sydney and Melbourne, look majestic.

But that is where English cricket seems to be. Completely orientated towards short-term profits from TV and Hospitality, with the ordinary public treated with contempt.

The idea of a “Made For Indian TV” tournament needn’t hurry domestic interest in cricket towards extinction. The 2015 World Cup hosted by Australia and New Zealand probably grew domestic interest.

But the 2019 tournament has failed to grow cricket in England. We are supposed to rejoice that the Final is to be shown on free-to-air TV in England. But it’s much too little, too late: after 14 years of free-to-air invisibility pretty much nobody under the age of 30 even understands cricket, let alone will choose to watch it.

But anyway, the Final is on free-to-air TV on the same day as the Men’s Singles Final at Wimbledon and the Formula 1 British Grand Prix. Why would that attract new viewers?

Any sport needs a spectator and participant base. Can cricket in England survive when its base is a combination of white grandfathers who like Test cricket combined with second and third generation British Asians who prefer the white ball game?

To me it looks awfully like the future for England is to become Toronto or Sharjah, hosting games for Indian TV which will be attended by a few thousand people of subcontinental ancestry.

He is saying what I have said for the last 10 years.

 

[tahir_dj]

Thats the biggest issue
The home team is playing final and there is no enthusiasm at all among english fans.

And the main stream news channels or websites are promoting third grade football league than the cricket.

 

[Lego20]

So then blame it on your own english population. Why the condescending undertones against India and Indians.

 

[Junaids]

The misuse of the stadium scoreboards was probably the most annoying act of contempt against the paying public.

What’s the point of not showing the number of overs that each bowler has bowled, but instead using the scoreboard to advertise to an English crowd:

1. A alcohol brand that is not on sale in the UK.
2. A TV channel that cannot be viewed in the UK.
3. A smartphone brand which has sold less than a thousand phones in the UK?

It highlights the dangers of selling worldwide TV rights to a foreign network which can sell them on.

As a reminder, FIFA sell their rights country by country.

 

[Junaids]

So then blame it on your own english population. Why the condescending undertones against India and Indians.

I wasn’t condescending about India: I accused the English organisers and ground operators of contempt to the paying public.

 

[Markhor]

Every sports administrator has to make a trade off between visibility that comes with free to air TV or the immediate financial boost of pay TV but with reduced exposure to your product.

It's clear that putting cricket behind a paywall in England has been a disaster. You could line up the England starting XI for tomorrow's final in Trafalgar Square and I doubt even half of the passerbys would recognise their names and faces. Participation has dropped sharply and in state schools cricket is hardly played except if you're in a community with a large South Asian population. Much of that is down to the fact Sky have a monopoly on cricket and most working class folks can't afford to fork out on a subscription.

So why are ECB so reluctant to wean themselves off the Sky heroin ? Because many of the 18 Counties are struggling to stay afloat and are saddled with large debts, therefore the Sky money is their lifeline. That's why they're so keen on this nonsense Hundred competition.

IMO there's two solutions. Adopt the Australian approach where anti-siphoning laws ensure the free to air broadcasters essentially have first refusal.

The second is to accept that English cricket CANNOT sustain 18 Counties financially and that some of them must go to the wall.

 

[Junaids]

Another bugbear of mine is this nonsense of removing the tops from soft drink bottles.

The health and safety argument goes the other way - drinks should be capped. It’s sheer economic piracy to remove the tops in the hope that the bottle will get knocked over and they will get to sell an extra one.

Oh, another observation.

When I left the UK it was still the case that if you wanted to move into or out of your seat you did it between overs, so you didn’t ruin the view for other spectators.

Now the only people left who observe that courtesy are aged 50+: neither the younger fans nor the stewards understood this.

With the consequence that my neighbour didn’t see Steve Smith get run out in the Semi-Final because the people in the row in front had decided to get up and go to the bar.

 

[Junaids]

Every sports administrator has to make a trade off between visibility that comes with free to air TV or the immediate financial boost of pay TV but with reduced exposure to your product.

It's clear that putting cricket behind a paywall in England has been a disaster. You could line up the England starting XI for tomorrow's final in Trafalgar Square and I doubt even half of the passerbys would recognise their names and faces. Participation has dropped sharply and in state schools cricket is hardly played except if you're in a community with a large South Asian population. Much of that is down to the fact Sky have a monopoly on cricket and most working class folks can't afford to fork out on a subscription.

So why are ECB so reluctant to wean themselves off the Sky heroin ? Because many of the 18 Counties are struggling to stay afloat and are saddled with large debts, therefore the Sky money is their lifeline. That's why they're so keen on this nonsense Hundred competition.

IMO there's two solutions. Adopt the Australian approach where anti-siphoning laws ensure the free to air broadcasters essentially have first refusal.

The second is to accept that English cricket CANNOT sustain 18 Counties financially and that some of them must go to the wall.

I hold Giles Clarke responsible for much of this.

Durham and Yorkshire in particular have been crippled by the cost of bidding for international match hosting rights.

Those millions should have been spent on roofs for the grandstands, modern toilet facilities and improved entry and egress staircases (even escalators like in Australia).

But the ECB has taxed grounds for hosting rights, with the result that facilities are awful and the counties are insolvent.

 

[Markhor]

[MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] - Giles Clarke has much to answer for and so do our politicians in destroying a national sport.

Let's not forget in 2009, the Davies Review set up by the New Labour Government to look at the protected events list, i.e. the events that must be aired on free TV, had recommended the Ashes be relisted.

The ECB spent £500k lobbying against cricket returning to FTA ! Of course, turkeys won't vote for Christmas as the ECB hierachy themselves are elected by the members (the Counties) who are hooked on the Sky heroin.

Then the 2010 General Election happened and Davies was kicked into the long grass by a government even more beholden to their Murdoch paymasters. Cue another wasted 9 years until this World Cup finally brought home the stupidity and short sightedness of ECB !

 

[Pakpak]

Thats the biggest issue
The home team is playing final and there is no enthusiasm at all among english fans.

And the main stream news channels or websites are promoting third grade football league than the cricket.

Absolutely. The BBC was more obsessed with showering Womens' Football World Cup instead. The scorecard news tabs were simply on the lower sections down the page.

 

[the Great Khan]

totally agree with junaids..outside the asian community nobody has really been interested. Its depressing and youngsters are just not interested..

this hundred comp may prove to be a big dud too..the paywall has destroyed it all..in 2005 non cricket fans really got into the game..its not like sky didnt show games, they did but FTA tv had games too..why cant we have a joint model??

 

[Last Monetarist]

The World Cup's been a huge failure in terms of wider engagement with the English public, but this was always going to be the case without there being any exposure on television, which isn't for once the ECB's fault as they don't control the rights for ICC competitions. Nonetheless, it's already a minority sport on par with netball or lawn bowls for most people I know in England. Putting the final on FTA is like putting blotting paper to cover a gaping wound.

 

[JaDed]

It doesn’t help when your captain is basically Irish, Botham was the last known ‘English’ cricketer that could draw crowds, so maybe England should have some home white cricketers to grow interest at home if not let the ones with asian ancestry take over.

 

[TalhaSyed]

I can't help but feel like the English media has done a horrendous job of covering the cricket world cup and hyping up the competition - despite the home team being in the final.

Apart from the Asian British population - the general public has next to no knowledge about this competition - whilst I'm sure any Tom, Dick or Harry on the street will be able to tell you exactly what's happened in Wimbledon or the Women's Football World Cup.

The English cricket team are on the brink of possibly creating history for Britain in the next few hours, yet the BBC (BRITISH Broadcasting Corporation) think the American football team and Tyson Fury deserve more coverage - disgraceful.



You couple such crappy coverage with the lack of Free View matches - along with the ICC destroying the associate teams and reducing the world cup to 10 teams - it's all just an extremely sorry sight to see for cricket fans.

 

[Salma_T]

Great insights [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] paytv has killed cricket which was a minority sport to start with into the very outer spheres. [MENTION=137142]JaDed[/MENTION] I don't think the lack of "white Englishmen" in the team is hurting England it is the lack of coverage across free to Air tv and the press. Flintoff was very very popular in 2005 post the Ashes but everyone could watch it.

 

[UP]

Cricket is an Asian sport now, the quicker we make peace with that the better. ICC and various other boards have destroyed cricket because of being greedy leachers and aiming for short-term profits. Everybody in the governing body lacked vision and planning. Cricket is dead or nearly dead in white countries despite ICC holding the golden hen of T20 since 2005. T20 was the perfect answer to Football but old babas in ICC had no leadership to truly take that dynamic format across the world. T20 is still the answer to all cricket problems but ICC is all BCCI. Hardly anyone from white community takes interest in cricket anymore. Go to any social media site of ICC, players or boards - you will rarely or won’t see a non-asian name in comments or like section. It is very saddening and heartbreaking to see. And here we have fools in ICC dreaming of breaking into the USA market. Whereas, boring games like Golf and Tennis generate massive interest in the media and in general public.

What more surprising is that the current English team is the GOAT in English history and they too can’t help this sorry situation. If the current thrilling English team can’t generate interest in their people then cricket IS dead.

Shame on you ICC/all boards.

 

[UP]

The way things are going, I will not be surprised if all non-Asian teams turn into minnows within next decade or so.

And BCCI will finally have its dream fulfilled of an 8-9 month of IPL season per year just like NHL or NBA.

 

[angrypathan]

Cricket is an Asian sport now, the quicker we make peace with that the better. ICC and various other boards have destroyed cricket because of being greedy leachers and aiming for short-term profits. Everybody in the governing body lacked vision and planning. Cricket is dead or nearly dead in white countries despite ICC holding the golden hen of T20 since 2005. T20 was the perfect answer to Football but old babas in ICC had no leadership to truly take that dynamic format across the world. T20 is still the answer to all cricket problems but ICC is all BCCI. Hardly anyone from white community takes interest in cricket anymore. Go to any social media site of ICC, players or boards - you will rarely or won’t see a non-asian name in comments or like section. It is very saddening and heartbreaking to see. And here we have fools in ICC dreaming of breaking into the USA market. Whereas, boring games like Golf and Tennis generate massive interest in the media and in general public.

What more surprising is that the current English team is the GOAT in English history and they too can’t help this sorry situation. If the current thrilling English team can’t generate interest in their people then cricket IS dead.

Shame on you ICC/all boards.

Cricket is well and truly alive in Australia. Even with the odd hours most WC games have been shown on Free to Air TV

 

[moghul]

I generally don't read long post, but this one I read, every single word of it, very well written and more importantly very well highlighted a big problem cricket in general , particularly in England is facing.

For the same reason, I was not happy to see most of the matches filled by mostly blue and rest the green jersey wearing spectators, no significant local presence.

I went on to watch 2015 world cup in NZL and Australia. The grounds were much bigger, in Australia and arrangement were far better, but the same problem I felt in Australia too, although to a lesser extend, less than expected local presence . In India-Australia SF in Sydney, I was in stadium and there were more Indians than Australian in the stadium.

 

[surg]

First of all congratulations on being such an avid fan of the sport.
The decline of standards in the English grounds as you mention have marched the improvement of conditions in the Indian grounds. Your write up explains the loss of interest of the English fans.

 

[James]

I take on board everything that has been said but I do have a slightly different perspective to some.

I would first disagree that “nobody” knows the World Cup is on. It has been a topic of conversation in our office for several weeks now. And not just amongst South Asians. (This is admittedly not the normal situation with cricket in English popular culture, which I will come onto.)

I also confess to being repeatedly confused by how the very real concerns over viewership and general interest do not tend to play out at cricket grounds during the English international season. Every day of every England game, every year, seems to be either sold out or strongly attended, and with a good atmosphere. And yet apparently cricket is going nowhere, ailing, dying. But every year those same crowds keep flocking back. I would like to briefly analyse this minor phenomenon.

Many of the comparisons are made directly with the hugely popular national sport of football. But football is a different game to cricket in many ways.

Football enjoys mass appeal across every ethnic, socio-economic and age-dependent boundary; whereas since its advent, cricket has long been associated with a specific profile of gentlemanly behaviour, the stiff upper lip and the politely applauding middle classes. Ticket prices and Sky packages are also geared towards the middle income earner.

These cultural traditions within their key demographics seem to have created a nostalgic, insular and quasi-cultist identity for cricket, wherein the English game in particular is comfortable with its well-mannered second fiddle position to the behemoth lead act of football, and does not wish to challenge this status quo; cricket as a result is not so openly discussed in the offices, pubs and bars - except between those who are “in the know”.

It’s almost as if there is a small but significant portion of the British population that loyally pays up every year to sustain the sport of cricket, and this behaviour is passed down through successive family generations.

And thus cricket ultimately remains a staple summer event in England which is sustained on a particularly keen method of life support, but never spreads beyond its uniquely quirky band of hardcore followers. In perpetuity.

 

[Gullycricket]

Cricket is an Asian sport now, the quicker we make peace with that the better. ICC and various other boards have destroyed cricket because of being greedy leachers and aiming for short-term profits. Everybody in the governing body lacked vision and planning. Cricket is dead or nearly dead in white countries despite ICC holding the golden hen of T20 since 2005. T20 was the perfect answer to Football but old babas in ICC had no leadership to truly take that dynamic format across the world. T20 is still the answer to all cricket problems but ICC is all BCCI. Hardly anyone from white community takes interest in cricket anymore. Go to any social media site of ICC, players or boards - you will rarely or won’t see a non-asian name in comments or like section. It is very saddening and heartbreaking to see. And here we have fools in ICC dreaming of breaking into the USA market. Whereas, boring games like Golf and Tennis generate massive interest in the media and in general public.

What more surprising is that the current English team is the GOAT in English history and they too can’t help this sorry situation. If the current thrilling English team can’t generate interest in their people then cricket IS dead.

Shame on you ICC/all boards.

I blame this on only BCCI.Their greed and pathetic mentality destroyed cricket

 

[RamLakhan]

Very good thread and discussions! That's why I like PP

 

[RamLakhan]

I blame this on only BCCI.Their greed and pathetic mentality destroyed cricket

But sadly we have to read this too here! Blaming BCCI/India for everything! Cricket would have dead by now without the massive interest in India!

 

[bluevision]

Just curious, how expensive are the paid TV channels in UK? Saw loads of cribbing over it in last few weeks. What about online streaming apps etc?

 

[Xoib]

I take on board everything that has been said but I do have a slightly different perspective to some.

I would first disagree that “nobody” knows the World Cup is on. It has been a topic of conversation in our office for several weeks now. And not just amongst South Asians. (This is admittedly not the normal situation with cricket in English popular culture, which I will come onto.)

I also confess to being repeatedly confused by how the very real concerns over viewership and general interest do not tend to play out at cricket grounds during the English international season. Every day of every England game, every year, seems to be either sold out or strongly attended, and with a good atmosphere. And yet apparently cricket is going nowhere, ailing, dying. But every year those same crowds keep flocking back. I would like to briefly analyse this minor phenomenon.

Many of the comparisons are made directly with the hugely popular national sport of football. But football is a different game to cricket in many ways.

Football enjoys mass appeal across every ethnic, socio-economic and age-dependent boundary; whereas since its advent, cricket has long been associated with a specific profile of gentlemanly behaviour, the stiff upper lip and the politely applauding middle classes. Ticket prices and Sky packages are also geared towards the middle income earner.

These cultural traditions within their key demographics seem to have created a nostalgic, insular and quasi-cultist identity for cricket, wherein the English game in particular is comfortable with its well-mannered second fiddle position to the behemoth lead act of football, and does not wish to challenge this status quo; cricket as a result is not so openly discussed in the offices, pubs and bars - except between those who are “in the know”.

It’s almost as if there is a small but significant portion of the British population that loyally pays up every year to sustain the sport of cricket, and this behaviour is passed down through successive family generations.

And thus cricket ultimately remains a staple summer event in England which is sustained on a particularly keen method of life support, but never spreads beyond its uniquely quirky band of hardcore followers. In perpetuity.

This.Despite this constant whinge of cricket dying in England the English cricket season is the most well attended among all test nations that includes India.Cricket will always play second fiddle to Fiitball in UK but the summer game attendances especially for tests are best in the world and by a fair distance.
I just think English don't like one days and it will take a generation of good performances for them to start caring about white ball cricket

 

[Xoib]

Cricket also seems to be the main headline on all major uk sports pages followed by tennis and then F1

 

[Tiger96]

England is a funny country where people have to pay an expensive subscription amount to watch their own National Team play Cricket.

The Finals being shown on FTA has become a Breaking News

 

[happydavy]

I think to say lack of interest amongts English is a narrow view, for people (read OP) who are too much concerned about what white guys think. Lack of interest was all across.

For most indians of my age group in 30s, all we desired to see was Sachin and Yuvraj holding the world cup, which had already happened. In 2011, I remember offices getting shut early during quarter/semis/finals. This time around there was no such buzz. When indians lost to kiwis, there was disappointment but it didn't extend beyond 2-3 hours. The reason I am on this forum is because most of friends, who used to be massive cricket fans, don't watch much or talk cricket much. Among educated upper middle class Indians, cricket is by and large irrelevant.

 

[ak619]

[MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] why are you so concerned about the lack of white men at the grounds? Aren't the 1st and 2nd gen Asian immigrants English citizens? Will their next of kin not be English? Do they not count as "English people taking interest in cricket"?

Or are you only English if you're white?


Whites today are about 50-60% of the population in most parts of the country. It's rather unrealistic and senseless to expect their representation to be the same as it was when their population was 80-90%


As far as the "Made for Indian TV" part is concerned, I'm afraid people have to just get used to it. It is a fact that US, Indian and Chinese markets are by far the most influential ones globally. I'm sure we'll all agree that there's an overwhelming influence of American culture in all our lives, regardless of where we live. The same is happening with India now. So that's just become a fact of life now. It's only going to grow further.

 

[Salma_T]

[MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] why are you so concerned about the lack of white men at the grounds? Aren't the 1st and 2nd gen Asian immigrants English citizens? Will their next of kin not be English? Do they not count as "English people taking interest in cricket"?

Or are you only English if you're white?


Whites today are about 50-60% of the population in most parts of the country. It's rather unrealistic and senseless to expect their representation to be the same as it was when their population was 80-90%


As far as the "Made for Indian TV" part is concerned, I'm afraid people have to just get used to it. It is a fact that US, Indian and Chinese markets are by far the most influential ones globally. I'm sure we'll all agree that there's an overwhelming influence of American culture in all our lives, regardless of where we live. The same is happening with India now. So that's just become a fact of life now. It's only going to grow further.

I think you will find there is probably no area that has 50-60% white population I don't know where you got those stats from. Yes there are pockets but no to the extent of your claim. If i could be bothered I would look up stats (2011 Yorkshire had a 85% white pop have had a chance to look at recent stuff).

 

[Captain caveman]

[MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] why are you so concerned about the lack of white men at the grounds? Aren't the 1st and 2nd gen Asian immigrants English citizens? Will their next of kin not be English? Do they not count as "English people taking interest in cricket"?

Or are you only English if you're white?


Whites today are about 50-60% of the population in most parts of the country. It's rather unrealistic and senseless to expect their representation to be the same as it was when their population was 80-90%


As far as the "Made for Indian TV" part is concerned, I'm afraid people have to just get used to it. It is a fact that US, Indian and Chinese markets are by far the most influential ones globally. I'm sure we'll all agree that there's an overwhelming influence of American culture in all our lives, regardless of where we live. The same is happening with India now. So that's just become a fact of life now. It's only going to grow further.

86 % of the uk population is white, only 14% is ethnic!
Junaids is absolutely right to be concerned thst so few white english people are attending the cricket, as it implies that the vast majority of english people are not interested in cricket!

Your india thing, just means eventually india will have very few top teams to play against, as most of the top teams population are turning their backs on cricket!

 

[ak619]

I think you will find there is probably no area that has 50-60% white population I don't know where you got those stats from. Yes there are pockets but no to the extent of your claim. If i could be bothered I would look up stats (2011 Yorkshire had a 85% white pop have had a chance to look at recent stuff).

86 % of the uk population is white, only 14% is ethnic!
Junaids is absolutely right to be concerned thst so few white english people are attending the cricket, as it implies that the vast majority of english people are not interested in cricket!

Your india thing, just means eventually india will have very few top teams to play against, as most of the top teams population are turning their backs on cricket!

I said in parts of England. Not all of UK.

2011 census data showed the population of London had 69% whites. I would assume that in the last 8 years, especially considering the growth of immigration in Europe that number has dropped even more.

Same goes for Manchester and a few other major cities. Northern England and the rest of UK obviously still has majority white population.

As far the Indian angle I mentioned, yes what you're saying is a potential pain point. We'll have to wait and see how it's dealt with. But we can't deny the fact that Indian markets dominate global markets now.

When Western markets were dominating global economy, we saw the rise of Asian cricket. So I don't think it's a forgone conclusion that now when Asian markets are starting to dominate, western markets are going to vanish into oblivion.

 

[cricketjoshila]

I blame this on only BCCI.Their greed and pathetic mentality destroyed cricket

BCCI is only one of the 12 test nation boards.

Try again.

 

[sindhiboy]

I think to say lack of interest amongts English is a narrow view, for people (read OP) who are too much concerned about what white guys think. Lack of interest was all across.

For most indians of my age group in 30s, all we desired to see was Sachin and Yuvraj holding the world cup, which had already happened. In 2011, I remember offices getting shut early during quarter/semis/finals. This time around there was no such buzz. When indians lost to kiwis, there was disappointment but it didn't extend beyond 2-3 hours. The reason I am on this forum is because most of friends, who used to be massive cricket fans, don't watch much or talk cricket much. Among educated upper middle class Indians, cricket is by and large irrelevant.

As a pak living aborad, I can say that this really is the view of my many of my indian friends. Their interest is mostly concentrated on IPL and they are big football fans
There is a correlation with indians becoming richer and losing their interest in cricket and alot of the indian population is becoming wealthier

would also like to add the reason I am on this forum is not due to the diminishing interest of my friend circle,
but because idiots at cricinfo thought it was a good idea to stop the the comments on its articles or make it excruciatingly difficult

 

[baggy blue]

the over enthusiastic indian cricket lovers killed the beautiful game it seems. whether they have done anything wrong ? NO. they loved the game but this is the outcome unfortunately.

 

[happydavy]

As a pak living aborad, I can say that this really is the view of my many of my indian friends. Their interest is mostly concentrated on IPL and they are big football fans
There is a correlation with indians becoming richer and losing their interest in cricket and alot of the indian population is becoming wealthier

would also like to add the reason I am on this forum is not due to the diminishing interest of my friend circle,
but because idiots at cricinfo thought it was a good idea to stop the the comments on its articles or make it excruciatingly difficult

The IPL interest is purely limited to entertainment and not emotions. It's like there is 3 hour entertainment when u get home from work. See it's to do with generally how the world or specifically india has changed since last 2 decades. The younger generation is far less emotional in all aspects of life compared to my generation who grew up in 80s and early 90s. For us, cricket was everything and Sachin was god. Just like how for most of us, our first girlfriend was the love of our life. Not anymore.

Once in 90s there was this incident when entire train network in North India got disrupted for a few hours because a train driver got engrossed watching Sachin bat in an important match at the railway station and the train left the station an hour later disrupting the entire traffic. Gone are those days. Kohli and Dhoni may have a vocal fanbase but it's more advertisers and social media driven than pure emotions coming from masses. My dad in late 60s used to watch every ball of test cricket, he ain't even following this world cup live, only reads about it through newspapers.

Somewhere along the lines, the love just died, what remains is some interest, which is very transactional.

 

[Pakhs]

Just curious, how expensive are the paid TV channels in UK? Saw loads of cribbing over it in last few weeks. What about online streaming apps etc?

British public are generally only watch sport on HD TV and are not interested in watching anything other than football on Online Apps.

 

[sindhiboy]

sad to see the stands arent full

 

[James]

sad to see the stands arent full

Combination of bad traffic on the way to the ground, people setting off too late who will arrive later (got a mate doing live reporting for me), also Indians/Aussies who bought tickets in advance and haven’t turned up.

 

[IMMY69]

Test matches are still the pinnacle of the game for the majority of English fans.
The atmosphere during an Ashes match is electric.

I made a comment here on the atmosphere while I was at the England v Australia game at Lords. It just didn’t feel like a special occasion, you didn’t get that same enthusiasm you do when you attend a match that involves one of the Asian teams...

 

[j_kazmi]

The misuse of the stadium scoreboards was probably the most annoying act of contempt against the paying public.

What’s the point of not showing the number of overs that each bowler has bowled, but instead using the scoreboard to advertise to an English crowd:

1. A alcohol brand that is not on sale in the UK.
2. A TV channel that cannot be viewed in the UK.
3. A smartphone brand which has sold less than a thousand phones in the UK?

It highlights the dangers of selling worldwide TV rights to a foreign network which can sell them on.

As a reminder, FIFA sell their rights country by country.

This was the most annoying thing for me. I wanted to know the score but they kept showing this ad for and Indian alcohol brand.

The signal at Lords was also terrible so I didn’t know exactly what the score was at any given point.

 

[IMMY69]

By the way I didn’t notice any advertising at Lords targeting the Indian Market.
A popular food delivering app took centre stage..

 

[ak619]

By the way I didn’t notice any advertising at Lords targeting the Indian Market.
A popular food delivering app took centre stage..

Which one? Just curious.

 

[IMMY69]

Which one? Just curious.

Uber Eats

 

[ak619]

Uber Eats

Ah. Makes sense since they are one of the principle sponsors of this WC.

 

[SensiblePakFan]

The big 3 is to blame for surpressing growth of the game.

 

[cricketjoshila]

The misuse of the stadium scoreboards was probably the most annoying act of contempt against the paying public.

What’s the point of not showing the number of overs that each bowler has bowled, but instead using the scoreboard to advertise to an English crowd:

1. A alcohol brand that is not on sale in the UK.
2. A TV channel that cannot be viewed in the UK.
3. A smartphone brand which has sold less than a thousand phones in the UK?

It highlights the dangers of selling worldwide TV rights to a foreign network which can sell them on.

As a reminder, FIFA sell their rights country by country.

Lets throw out the ones who are willing to spend millions, for those who dont care.

 

[mgtow]

Big-3 and BCCI policy must be thanked for that.

Ever since the revamped policy, and batting-friendly; the result is inevitable. Truly, this world cup has been mindless bashing game where there is hardly competition between bowlers and batsmen. And even then, with the batting advantage condition to suit the certain big-3 nations and the influences through the umpires and somewhat of factor that benefits big-3 nations; the result is predictable. You don't need to tune in to find out which teams will be in semi final. The whole tournament seems farcical.

Nobody expect Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and other teams because the odds are against them through non-cricketing reasons which doesn't help. All the efforts to ensure that England, Australia and India must be in semi final for the financial reasons doesn't scream exactly fun unbiased game.

I didn't watch much of this world cup because i already knew that those teams will be in semi final. New Zealand was the surprise factor which was tied to Pakistan which would have been surprised factor as well.

English fans cannot afford Sky premium. Australians are not much fuss over WC unless it is Ashes in Australia. That leaves it to India who are crazily obsessed with cricket since cricket is only domain they have to tune in therefore all the allocated tickets are reserved for Indians doesn't help with the empty crowds if India is knocked out.

It is all biased, greedy, monopoly, politics and manipulative game. I am glad that England fans are saying good bye. It is just matter of time that Pakistan may follow the suit. Not worth sticking out for the game that is no longer balanced between batting and bowling thanks to new ball, strict policy towards the bowlers especially Pakistani bowlers, and to the extent, dead end track that makes no sense somehow excites Indians who know nothing about bowlers and the excitement of bowling.

For the next world cup; just play four teams which Australia, England and India are guaranteed and pick one as charity team that must be knocked out. It is farcical for what it is. No wonder why cricket is dying and i hope it goes extinct.

 

[cricketjoshila]

Big-3 and BCCI policy must be thanked for that.

Ever since the revamped policy, and batting-friendly; the result is inevitable. Truly, this world cup has been mindless bashing game where there is hardly competition between bowlers and batsmen. And even then, with the batting advantage condition to suit the certain big-3 nations and the influences through the umpires and somewhat of factor that benefits big-3 nations; the result is predictable. You don't need to tune in to find out which teams will be in semi final. The whole tournament seems farcical.

Nobody expect Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and other teams because the odds are against them through non-cricketing reasons which doesn't help. All the efforts to ensure that England, Australia and India must be in semi final for the financial reasons doesn't scream exactly fun unbiased game.

I didn't watch much of this world cup because i already knew that those teams will be in semi final. New Zealand was the surprise factor which was tied to Pakistan which would have been surprised factor as well.

English fans cannot afford Sky premium. Australians are not much fuss over WC unless it is Ashes in Australia. That leaves it to India who are crazily obsessed with cricket since cricket is only domain they have to tune in therefore all the allocated tickets are reserved for Indians doesn't help with the empty crowds if India is knocked out.

It is all biased, greedy, monopoly, politics and manipulative game. I am glad that England fans are saying good bye. It is just matter of time that Pakistan may follow the suit. Not worth sticking out for the game that is no longer balanced between batting and bowling thanks to new ball, strict policy towards the bowlers especially Pakistani bowlers, and to the extent, dead end track that makes no sense somehow excites Indians who know nothing about bowlers and the excitement of bowling.

For the next world cup; just play four teams which Australia, England and India are guaranteed and pick one as charity team that must be knocked out. It is farcical for what it is. No wonder why cricket is dying and i hope it goes extinct.

Rules are same for all teams. If the ROW can adjust why cant Pakistanis?

And what is this extra strict policy towards pak bowlers?

Do you have any proof of umpiring influencing?

 

[cricketjoshila]

The big 3 is to blame for surpressing growth of the game.

How?

 

[ElRaja]

casual british asians for the most part love limited overs cricket, whenever i've been to test matches there's always a very healthy presence of white fans, additionally the crowd tends to be more knowledgeable and friendlier to talk to, with less drunkard loutish behaviour and a more pleasant experience for all.

nearly all the grievances [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] mentions are virtually non existent, in my experience, during test matches. outside of the world cup England fans will never really care about limited overs cricket imo, the test game will always drive the interest in the sport among the grassroots who will continue to provide the talent future teams will be built on.

 

[barah_admi]

This has been a problem for decades now, made progressively worse post 2005. It will not change as the organisers are lining their pockets at the expense of the game.

 

[Anik Sharma]

Following the NZ coverages, it seemed like NZ people are more enthusiastic about the final than the englishmen(white). NZ, a small country happy that a moderately popular sport team of their country going to a final even if the game is far less exciting to them. They also didnt even care about the WC at the start.
But the UK enthusiasm was the lowest i felt cricket was disrespected, lol! Its your final!
Shame.

 

[happydavy]

Big-3 and BCCI policy must be thanked for that.

Ever since the revamped policy, and batting-friendly; the result is inevitable. Truly, this world cup has been mindless bashing game where there is hardly competition between bowlers and batsmen. And even then, with the batting advantage condition to suit the certain big-3 nations and the influences through the umpires and somewhat of factor that benefits big-3 nations; the result is predictable. You don't need to tune in to find out which teams will be in semi final. The whole tournament seems farcical.

Nobody expect Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and other teams because the odds are against them through non-cricketing reasons which doesn't help. All the efforts to ensure that England, Australia and India must be in semi final for the financial reasons doesn't scream exactly fun unbiased game.

I didn't watch much of this world cup because i already knew that those teams will be in semi final. New Zealand was the surprise factor which was tied to Pakistan which would have been surprised factor as well.

English fans cannot afford Sky premium. Australians are not much fuss over WC unless it is Ashes in Australia. That leaves it to India who are crazily obsessed with cricket since cricket is only domain they have to tune in therefore all the allocated tickets are reserved for Indians doesn't help with the empty crowds if India is knocked out.

It is all biased, greedy, monopoly, politics and manipulative game. I am glad that England fans are saying good bye. It is just matter of time that Pakistan may follow the suit. Not worth sticking out for the game that is no longer balanced between batting and bowling thanks to new ball, strict policy towards the bowlers especially Pakistani bowlers, and to the extent, dead end track that makes no sense somehow excites Indians who know nothing about bowlers and the excitement of bowling.

For the next world cup; just play four teams which Australia, England and India are guaranteed and pick one as charity team that must be knocked out. It is farcical for what it is. No wonder why cricket is dying and i hope it goes extinct.

Yea right, a convicted fixer who spent time in prison is Pakistani fans' current favorite player and it's others who have made the game uninteresting.

 

[big_gamer007]

If all this true it paints a poor picture about ECB. I think England lacks a superstar now, Botham, Flintoff, pieterson. They need someone like these guys to get masses involved in the sport.

 

[The_KING]

The real problem is the length of cricket matches. The younger generation has a short attention span. They haven't got time to watch 5 day tests, 7.5 hour long ODIs. Even T20s take around 3.5 hours, which is too long. Cricket matches are too long and as a result feel boring at times. Younger generation would rather watch sports like football and tennis, because they are exciting sports and their matches aren't generally very long. For cricket to grow, it needs to become even shorter in the amount of time it takes a cricket match to finish. Maybe T10 is the way forward? Maybe T5?

 

[Junaids]

Lets throw out the ones who are willing to spend millions, for those who dont care.

With respect, you are missing the point.

The scoreboard is an essential part of the fame for spectators in the ground, who often have no mobile signal and rely on it to know how many overs each bowler has left.

It’s pointless using it for Royal Stag whiskey publicity because Royal Stag isn’t even for sale in the UK. It’s as if at an IPL match the scoreboard was being used for adverts for Monster Munch and Angel Delight.
[MENTION=1842]James[/MENTION], you have missed my emphasis on the different popularity of white ball and red ball cricket among the white population (52 million out of 65 million) in the UK.

My point is that the only white English people who watched this World Cup were aged 50+ and male, which suggests a catastrophic loss of interest in ODI cricket in the last two decades.

Yes, the Tests sell out on Days 1-4. But typically the small grounds mean that we are talking about 5,000 hospitality packages and 10-15,000 tickets per day.

Even Test cricket has a problem, because the loyal viewers are now aged 50+ and no new generation is coming.

Look at England’s stars in today’s World Cup Final: the heavy lifting was done by a Kiwi, a Barbadian and a South African.

I don’t blame the BCCI for this at all. The ECB has destroyed interest in cricket by selling all live rights to Sky, with the result that 90% of the population under the age of 30 doesn’t even know the rules of cricket, so when the 2019 Final was shown free-to-air and was gripping nobody new actually watched.

 

[Junaids]

The real problem is the length of cricket matches. The younger generation has a short attention span. They haven't got time to watch 5 day tests, 7.5 hour long ODIs. Even T20s take around 3.5 hours, which is too long. Cricket matches are too long and as a result feel boring at times. Younger generation would rather watch sports like football and tennis, because they are exciting sports and their matches aren't generally very long. For cricket to grow, it needs to become even shorter in the amount of time it takes a cricket match to finish. Maybe T10 is the way forward? Maybe T5?

The Day/Night Test experience in Australia actually disproves this.

The three Day/Night Tests in Adelaide but also the Pakistan one in Brisbane all had record attendances and record TV ratings.

Play starts on Thursday and each day runs 130 pm to 9 pm.

The two first days many workers and school kids tune in - or attend - from Tea onwards.

The two weekend days people can go to the beach or the shops in the morning and tune in after lunch.

It’s perfectly consistent with a modern lifestyle and the grassy pitches to protect the pink ball mean that it finishes in 4 days.

It’s the future.

 

[cricketjoshila]

With respect, you are missing the point.

The scoreboard is an essential part of the fame for spectators in the ground, who often have no mobile signal and rely on it to know how many overs each bowler has left.

It’s pointless using it for Royal Stag whiskey publicity because Royal Stag isn’t even for sale in the UK. It’s as if at an IPL match the scoreboard was being used for adverts for Monster Munch and Angel Delight.

[MENTION=1842]James[/MENTION], you have missed my emphasis on the different popularity of white ball and red ball cricket among the white population (52 million out of 65 million) in the UK.

My point is that the only white English people who watched this World Cup were aged 50+ and male, which suggests a catastrophic loss of interest in ODI cricket in the last two decades.

Yes, the Tests sell out on Days 1-4. But typically the small grounds mean that we are talking about 5,000 hospitality packages and 10-15,000 tickets per day.

Even Test cricket has a problem, because the loyal viewers are now aged 50+ and no new generation is coming.

Look at England’s stars in today’s World Cup Final: the heavy lifting was done by a Kiwi, a Barbadian and a South African.

I don’t blame the BCCI for this at all. The ECB has destroyed interest in cricket by selling all live rights to Sky, with the result that 90% of the population under the age of 30 doesn’t even know the rules of cricket, so when the 2019 Final was shown free-to-air and was gripping nobody new actually watched.

Royal Stag pays to be put on that Scorecard. If English companies were willing to pay they too would be there. Since not many english companies are willing to pay,as they think the captive audience in UK is small,ultimately its the fan that has to be blamed.

 

[ak619]

With respect, you are missing the point.

The scoreboard is an essential part of the fame for spectators in the ground, who often have no mobile signal and rely on it to know how many overs each bowler has left.

It’s pointless using it for Royal Stag whiskey publicity because Royal Stag isn’t even for sale in the UK. It’s as if at an IPL match the scoreboard was being used for adverts for Monster Munch and Angel Delight.

Just an FYI, the parent company of the Royal Stag brand is French, even though the whiskey itself is Indian.

So you never know. They might be looking to launch the brand in the UK, especially given the large Asian diaspora there.

And it's also not like Royal Stag is exclusive to India. It's also sold in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Australia, South Africa, West Indies and New Zealand, among others.

So if you think about it, it makes perfect sense for the company to promote itself at a world tournament where 8 out the 10 participating teams are representing markets where the product is sold - even if the host country isn't one of them... yet.

 

[LordJames]

England won the World cup, top news on BBC but nothing on Social Media, not many English people care about this at all.

Asian Muslims are talking about it due to "Allah comment" from Eoin Morgan

 

[Captain caveman]

Bcci and indian fans should heed the tale of the greedy little boy!

Once there was a greedy little boy, who was invited to a birthday party.
At the party, the children were playing birthday party games. The greedy little boy sneaked into the kitchen to see what treats were there. The greedy little boy saw a delicious birthday cake on the kitchen table. The greedy little boy could not resist and gobble up all the cake! When mummy went to the kitchen to fetch out the birthday cake, she was in shock to see it had all gone, just a few crumbs were left. Mummy told the rest of the children that there will be no cake because someone eat all the cake! The children started to cry! Mummy said to the children stop crying, i will rush to the shops and see if i can get another cake and mummy then rushed to the shops. While mummy was gone, the children figured out that only the greedy little boy was not playing the party games and must be the one who eat all the cake! The rest of the children got together and gave the litte greedy boy the beating of his life!
Mummy returned with a new cake, but the little greedy boy had gone home crying. The rest of the children enjoyed eating the new cake!
The end.

 

[Executioner]

I think to say lack of interest amongts English is a narrow view, for people (read OP) who are too much concerned about what white guys think. Lack of interest was all across.

For most indians of my age group in 30s, all we desired to see was Sachin and Yuvraj holding the world cup, which had already happened. In 2011, I remember offices getting shut early during quarter/semis/finals. This time around there was no such buzz. When indians lost to kiwis, there was disappointment but it didn't extend beyond 2-3 hours. The reason I am on this forum is because most of friends, who used to be massive cricket fans, don't watch much or talk cricket much. Among educated upper middle class Indians, cricket is by and large irrelevant.

None of my indian friends are interested either.

Educated upper class Bangladeshis doesn't care much about cricket. Heck, a good chunk of middle class people are more into football than cricket. Only reason why cricket is popular in SC is because our team plays it. A lot of fans don't even follow other matches.

Cricket is a dying sport. People don't have have 9 hours to waste every day

 

[gibsyhesperis]

Very interesting thread.
I guess my background is similar to the OP — spent all of my life in the UK and watched cricket from the time of the 1974 Pakistan tour of England.
The game has shrunk in popularity in that time. A variety of reasons — lack of free to air cricket, the selling off of playing fields by schools, cricket de-emphasised at schools etc.
Yesterday’s result was the main news story on BBC and Sky News. All the newspapers have it on their front page, The Times even has a wraparound.
Will it make a difference ? I’m not sure — once the euphoria dies down will this be sustainable ?
What is undoubtedly irrefutable is that world cricket needs several strong countries — the game cannot, and will not, survive as a global endeavour with just India (sporting wise and financially) and other Asian countries.
The game is dying in South Africa, West Indies — if England goes the same way, bowing down to the beast that is football, the game will be significantly reduced in terms of interest. In essence, a group of Asian sides playing each other +/- Australia.

 

[Xoib]

England won the World cup, top news on BBC but nothing on Social Media, not many English people care about this at all.

Asian Muslims are talking about it due to "Allah comment" from Eoin Morgan

Its front page news in all news papers and everyone from Queen to Theresa May, Boris Johnson have tweeted about it

 

[gibsyhesperis]

Its front page news in all news papers and everyone from Queen to Theresa May, Boris Johnson have tweeted about it

Spot on — main news story on TV and radio.
Across al the press.
Simply not true that it has not get attention.
Way more than Wimbledon final or Lewis Hamilton winning the British Grand Prix

 

[LordJames]

Its front page news in all news papers and everyone from Queen to Theresa May, Boris Johnson have tweeted about it

Exactly, organic hype versus hype being created by the Media and Tory elitist politicians

 

[Anik Sharma]

Exactly, organic hype versus hype being created by the Media and Tory elitist politicians

What? I saw lots of new white english cricket fans who agreed although they arent cricket fan but enjoyed it for the first time. (Fb, twitter etc.)

 

[Xoib]

I think cricket fans in UK need to lower their expectations cricket will never reach the support of Football however it occupies a strong niche in UK and continues to thrive well withing that niche. Netwest T 20 blast attracts on average 7000 fans per game. Test and odi's get on average 15000-20000 fans per day of cricket these numbers are similar to what Rugby games attract. There will be occasions like yesterday or Ashes 05 when cricket will get main stream occasionaly but mostly it will be Football younger brother along with Rugby.

 

[rhony]

The interest dwindled because England were losers for the past 2 decades. Even the fooball team was a loser but still they had Marquee domestic teams like ManU etc that could compete with the best. Now the entire generation has moved away from cricket and even if english cricket is winning, it's just a side note. It is a business and money, advertisers are aimed at potential customers. That's India. Indians will keep the flame alive. Don't worry. Worst case scenario is India will be the home of cricket with foreign players playing in Indian leagues for 6 months in a year like in NBA or MLB. So be it

 

[Junaids]

Its front page news in all news papers and everyone from Queen to Theresa May, Boris Johnson have tweeted about it

Those people and the newspaper editors are all white and aged over 50!

That’s the whole problem!

The Final was gripping and on Free-to-Air TV.

But British people under 30 have no notion of cricket, so they didn’t watch. More people watched Wimbledon, which is even more middle-class than cricket.

 

[Captain caveman]

Those people and the newspaper editors are all white and aged over 50!

That’s the whole problem!

The Final was gripping and on Free-to-Air TV.

But British people under 30 have no notion of cricket, so they didn’t watch. More people watched Wimbledon, which is even more middle-class than cricket.

What were the viewing figures for channel 4's world cup final coverage?
I'll be suprised if it over 3 million!
And what were the figures for the mens wimbledon coverage?

 

[RehanG]

What were the viewing figures for channel 4's world cup final coverage?
I'll be suprised if it over 3 million!
And what were the figures for the mens wimbledon coverage?

8,5million not bad.

 

[Captain caveman]

All these pictures of young men and women celebrating the cricket world cup win by england, has got very little to do with cricket, simply to do with england winning a world cup!
You would get the same reaction if england won the world cup in marbles!!!

THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT CRICKET FANS!!

 

[James]

All these pictures of young men and women celebrating the cricket world cup win by england, has got very little to do with cricket, simply to do with england winning a world cup!
You would get the same reaction if england won the world cup in marbles!!!

THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT CRICKET FANS!!

But they might now become cricket fans my friend. That is the whole point. The game needs to spread in order to survive into the 22nd century.

As passionate cricket fans of many decades we are highly knowledgable - we love our precious game and wish to safeguard its long-term future.

But we are occasionally guilty of wishing to wrap cricket in cotton wool for reasons of tradition and nostalgia, and this can add to the outside perception of cricket as an elitist sport - as we see it, we don’t want casual viewers to “pollute” our beautiful, blissful and relatively tiny space in which we happily exist.

This needs to change.

 

[Captain caveman]

But they might now become cricket fans my friend. That is the whole point. The game needs to spread in order to survive into the 22nd century.

As passionate cricket fans of many decades we are highly knowledgable - we love our precious game and wish to safeguard its long-term future.

But we are occasionally guilty of wishing to wrap cricket in cotton wool for reasons of tradition and nostalgia, and this can add to the outside perception of cricket as an elitist sport - as we see it, we don’t want casual viewers to “pollute” our beautiful, blissful and relatively tiny space in which we happily exist.

This needs to change.

Hopefully, some of these young people would have enjoyed the final and will now be willing to invest some of their time watching cricket. Its now for the england cricket team to keep these youngsters interested in cricket by playing the game with the same passion and flair that they have shown in this world cup!

The problem is, there will be no more live cricket on free to air tv, so this will mean alot of these youngsters may not have access to watch the cricket and will turn to other things instead!

 

[cricketjoshila]

Some posters in their sour grapes mode dont realise that without Bcci and India, ICC cant even pay the bills.

Except ECB and CA rest of the boards are afloat on the money ICC gives them, majority of which is brought by Bcci.

Without BCCI and India, the mummy and the boys will be in the breadline.