Quality day Henry bought his son a Kent top which meant when my son saw it I had to get him one.On the way out Sky were interviewing Warnock I thanked him for Paddy.Little Joe is now Kent hooked and the pro 40 game against Glamorgan 3rd August is now booked for Canterbury Dads only on the lash two others confirmed happy days.
Warnock was with his son who had a Kent top on..My mate spoke to him and i got a photo and an autograph for my Sheff Utd mate..the guy was an absolute gentleman
It appears to have attracted traditonal non- cricket fans like Henry and NSS (apologies if either of you ARE traditional cricket fans but have formed the impression you are not).
I've yet to attend a 20/20 and to be honest it's a bit alien to somebody who started out watching 3 day county cricket at Blackheath in the dim and distant past. What do "traditionals" like Chirps and BFR think?
I guess the key question is whether Henry and NSS feel inspired to go to "proper" cricket!
LG - I have taken my son to 20/Twenty a few times over the last 3 years - He goes to the Valley more regularly - He is 7 and if you ask him what his favourite sport is he will answer Cricket.
If he goes on to watch 20/T over the rest of his life or even gets into the longer forms of the game it ensures the game doesn't die.
The problem that Cricket faces it has one form of the game that at County level sells out - the others barely register - While 20/T remains a festival in the middle of the County season the number of supporters will be easy to maintain but what happens if they have it running from March to September...I think the interest will be diluted and attendances will fall massively. A maximum 4/6 week 20/T county season means they won't kill their mid-season cash cow but whether that happens...
Today's was the third Twenty20 game at Beckenham I've been to (one in each of the last three years).
My wife also really enjoys going, although to be truthful for both of us it's probably as much about the good atmosphere and the chance to have a drink or two in the sunshine as it is for the cricket itself...
We've since also been to a few Middlesex one-day games at Lord's, but I couldn't honestly say that I'd be drawn to the first day of a longer County match.
It might not be cricket in the 'proper' sense of the word, but the fact that so many kids get along - and that some seem to spend almost all of the afternoon playing their own games in the car park area! - must be good news for the long-term future of the game, in one form or another.
I made a last minute decision (well 11.00am) to go. Phoned up the ground and was told that there were about two thousand tickets left but that they expected to sell most if not all by 3.00pm.
I took my 9 year old lad for his first cricket match. Having been brought up on the "real stuff" I wasn't sure how I would take to this slog fest pyjama game but it was enjoyable if some of the shots weren't right out of the orthodox coaching manual.
I can see why it is popular, it's short, at times violent, and if you win, pretty sweet. As a fan I didn't care much that the game petered out after six or seven overs once Essex started to lose wickets and got behind the asking rate. As a neutral, I'd have liked it a bit closer than it was.
As for the "boundary" and "wicket" music well I absolutely hate it but to be fair you couldn't hear it very well in large parts of the ground. On the other hand it was the best bit for my son "thats Queen that is Dad" as the umpteeth "another one bites the dust" assaulted my ears. So maybe I'm just a middle aged grumpy old fuddy duddy.
In terms of the performances, well Denly really looks the part. He seemed to be able to pierce the field time and again and was prepared to go over the top when needed. Tredwell looks really difficult to get after and Arafat has certainlty come on a lot since he gave up running the PLO.....:-)
Len i enjoy cricket when i do get to watch it live as i enjoy the whole day out element,few beers,nice weather etc.I wouldn't take the littlen to a county championship game yet as I don't think it would hold his attention,but I am going to do a pro 40 game at Canterbury in a couple of weeks.
20/20 is the way forward for cricket as it not only emphasises the aspects of cricket that people want to see - runs and wickets, but highlights the negatives of other forms of cricket,i.e. the long gaps that can exist between excitement. 50 overs will be the first to go, then the emphasis on county will be 20/20 and finally test match cricket will die. Apparently it is only in England and maybe Australia that thye still get great crowds for test matches.
In addition, the decision to move tests to Sky makes them less accessible and for people like me who love tests the corresponding cost of tickets to attend test matches, when you may only see a few overs bowled while sitting in rain and wind is prohibitive.
20/20 good value for money and exciting- its a winner and with the money going into the game will be marketed to be the dominant form of the game over the next ten years.
[cite]Posted By: Kap10[/cite]20/20 is the way forward for cricket as it not only emphasises the aspects of cricket that people want to see - runs and wickets, but highlights the negatives of other forms of cricket,i.e. the long gaps that can exist between excitement. 50 overs will be the first to go, then the emphasis on county will be 20/20 and finally test match cricket will die. Apparently it is only in England and maybe Australia that thye still get great crowds for test matches.
I think that there is an inevitablity about this because of the accessibilty of and commercial sucess of 20/20. I don't care whether we lose the 50 over stuff but I really hope we don't lose the 4 and 5 day game because the true art of cricket may well be lost as well. To be fair, over the last few years Test Matches have been far more exciting as the game has developed a more offensive edge and pitches which are set up to produce results.
To say though, that "there are long gaps that can exist between excitement" seriously underplays the nature of first class matches. Matches can have their low scoring phases but if you understand the state of the game, those periods can be very tense and interesting for the true cricket lover. The difficulty for the game is drawing in and keeping the attention of casual watchers.
A few years ago, I was able to go to Test Matches regularly at Lords and The Oval on corporate junkets. It used to p*ss me off that many were there just to get p*ssed at somebody elses expense with very little interest in the actual cricket. For me, I went for the cricket and had to spend much of the time pretending to enjoy the p*ss up and the boring beery small talk that accompanies such occassions.
Had a superb day yesterday, which was made even better by the great result. The best part had to be when Ali Cook dropped a catch.
Some of the Essex fielders took a bit of stick, especially Chambers but it was all a bit of fun.
Had a great seat right next to the beer tent and I did notice Mr Irving make his way in there a couple of times. Will definitely be going again. Come on the Kent!
when cook did hold a catch i commented to him "that's better alaistair you didn't trip over your own feet this time" we wasn't amused.Christ though i've never seen feet so large he's a lucky boy if the saying is correct.
[cite]Posted By: Plaaayer[/cite]Had a superb day yesterday, which was made even better by the great result. The best part had to be when Ali Cook dropped a catch.
Some of the Essex fielders took a bit of stick, especially Chambers but it was all a bit of fun.
Had a great seat right next to the beer tent and I did notice Mr Irving make his way in there a couple of times. Will definitely be going again. Come on the Kent!
Only went to the beer stall once. The others trips were buying shirts and burgers for the young un and getting rid of the excess beer.
Should have said hello Plaaayer. Would I have recognised you?
I'm already a part time fan of cricket but not a huge aficionado. Been to county games at Lords and Canterbury and understand enough of the rules and technique to appreciate it without being any sort of expert. Always hope England win the test and look out for Kent's results and position.
I used to enjoy watching the test matchs on TV. Test match Special is wonderful, especially when you turn the radio on and discover it's on by accident. I can spend the next few hours just wallowing in the whole event.
I enjoyed yesterday enough to go to another 20/20 or even a one day game. Would even take in a test but doubt I would be drawn to a county game unless it was local.
My son was engaged most of the time but it was his first game and he didn't really get all that was going on. He liked the 4/6 cards to hold up and that "we" won as well as the big hits and when the essex player dropped the catch.
He did like enough to say he'd like to go on a summer cricket course so we shall see.
[cite]Posted By: SoundAsa£[/cite]Watch out for a highly confused tall gangling fella accompanying a bewildered litle lad carrying a baseball bat and pitchers mit.
It'll be Henry and his lad Joe!!
[cite]Posted By: Plaaayer[/cite]Had a superb day yesterday, which was made even better by the great result. The best part had to be when Ali Cook dropped a catch.
Some of the Essex fielders took a bit of stick, especially Chambers but it was all a bit of fun.
Had a great seat right next to the beer tent and I did notice Mr Irving make his way in there a couple of times. Will definitely be going again. Come on the Kent!
Only went to the beer stall once. The others trips were buying shirts and burgers for the young un and getting rid of the excess beer.
Should have said hello Plaaayer. Would I have recognised you?
I'm not sure Henry, may have seen me in the Lib before a game before. I'll definitely come up and say hello next time, glad your boy enjoyed it, I'll definitely be going again.
Comments
It appears to have attracted traditonal non- cricket fans like Henry and NSS (apologies if either of you ARE traditional cricket fans but have formed the impression you are not).
I've yet to attend a 20/20 and to be honest it's a bit alien to somebody who started out watching 3 day county cricket at Blackheath in the dim and distant past. What do "traditionals" like Chirps and BFR think?
I guess the key question is whether Henry and NSS feel inspired to go to "proper" cricket!
If he goes on to watch 20/T over the rest of his life or even gets into the longer forms of the game it ensures the game doesn't die.
The problem that Cricket faces it has one form of the game that at County level sells out - the others barely register - While 20/T remains a festival in the middle of the County season the number of supporters will be easy to maintain but what happens if they have it running from March to September...I think the interest will be diluted and attendances will fall massively. A maximum 4/6 week 20/T county season means they won't kill their mid-season cash cow but whether that happens...
My wife also really enjoys going, although to be truthful for both of us it's probably as much about the good atmosphere and the chance to have a drink or two in the sunshine as it is for the cricket itself...
We've since also been to a few Middlesex one-day games at Lord's, but I couldn't honestly say that I'd be drawn to the first day of a longer County match.
It might not be cricket in the 'proper' sense of the word, but the fact that so many kids get along - and that some seem to spend almost all of the afternoon playing their own games in the car park area! - must be good news for the long-term future of the game, in one form or another.
I took my 9 year old lad for his first cricket match. Having been brought up on the "real stuff" I wasn't sure how I would take to this slog fest pyjama game but it was enjoyable if some of the shots weren't right out of the orthodox coaching manual.
I can see why it is popular, it's short, at times violent, and if you win, pretty sweet. As a fan I didn't care much that the game petered out after six or seven overs once Essex started to lose wickets and got behind the asking rate. As a neutral, I'd have liked it a bit closer than it was.
As for the "boundary" and "wicket" music well I absolutely hate it but to be fair you couldn't hear it very well in large parts of the ground. On the other hand it was the best bit for my son "thats Queen that is Dad" as the umpteeth "another one bites the dust" assaulted my ears. So maybe I'm just a middle aged grumpy old fuddy duddy.
In terms of the performances, well Denly really looks the part. He seemed to be able to pierce the field time and again and was prepared to go over the top when needed. Tredwell looks really difficult to get after and Arafat has certainlty come on a lot since he gave up running the PLO.....:-)
A good (somewhat long) day out.
In addition, the decision to move tests to Sky makes them less accessible and for people like me who love tests the corresponding cost of tickets to attend test matches, when you may only see a few overs bowled while sitting in rain and wind is prohibitive.
20/20 good value for money and exciting- its a winner and with the money going into the game will be marketed to be the dominant form of the game over the next ten years.
I think that there is an inevitablity about this because of the accessibilty of and commercial sucess of 20/20. I don't care whether we lose the 50 over stuff but I really hope we don't lose the 4 and 5 day game because the true art of cricket may well be lost as well. To be fair, over the last few years Test Matches have been far more exciting as the game has developed a more offensive edge and pitches which are set up to produce results.
To say though, that "there are long gaps that can exist between excitement" seriously underplays the nature of first class matches. Matches can have their low scoring phases but if you understand the state of the game, those periods can be very tense and interesting for the true cricket lover. The difficulty for the game is drawing in and keeping the attention of casual watchers.
A few years ago, I was able to go to Test Matches regularly at Lords and The Oval on corporate junkets. It used to p*ss me off that many were there just to get p*ssed at somebody elses expense with very little interest in the actual cricket. For me, I went for the cricket and had to spend much of the time pretending to enjoy the p*ss up and the boring beery small talk that accompanies such occassions.
Some of the Essex fielders took a bit of stick, especially Chambers but it was all a bit of fun.
Had a great seat right next to the beer tent and I did notice Mr Irving make his way in there a couple of times. Will definitely be going again. Come on the Kent!
Only went to the beer stall once. The others trips were buying shirts and burgers for the young un and getting rid of the excess beer.
Should have said hello Plaaayer. Would I have recognised you?
I used to enjoy watching the test matchs on TV. Test match Special is wonderful, especially when you turn the radio on and discover it's on by accident. I can spend the next few hours just wallowing in the whole event.
I enjoyed yesterday enough to go to another 20/20 or even a one day game. Would even take in a test but doubt I would be drawn to a county game unless it was local.
My son was engaged most of the time but it was his first game and he didn't really get all that was going on. He liked the 4/6 cards to hold up and that "we" won as well as the big hits and when the essex player dropped the catch.
He did like enough to say he'd like to go on a summer cricket course so we shall see.
Gangling! Gangling!
I'm not sure Henry, may have seen me in the Lib before a game before. I'll definitely come up and say hello next time, glad your boy enjoyed it, I'll definitely be going again.