It's just not cricket...

[yanpa]

After 150 years, Japan is finally falling in love with cricket
Often confused with croquet, the game is becoming ever popular with plans afoot for an international ground

It is a scene that will be familiar to cricket lovers the world over: furious running between the stumps after the smack of leather on willow, applause for a well executed cover drive, and cheers for a rare six.

Yet the shouts of encouragement from the edge of the boundary are in Japanese, and the aural backdrop is provided by countless cicadas nestling unseen in the trees.

Out in the middle, Japan’s batsmen are making a late attempt to close in on the 148 run target set by their opponents, West Kathmandu cricket club, in their Twenty20 match in Sano, a town of 120,000 people in Tochigi prefecture, north of Tokyo.

...more...

[Taro Toporific]

After 150 years, Japan is finally falling in love with cricket
Often confused with croquet, the game is becoming ever popular with plans afoot for an international ground

Huh?

Perverted croquet, gateball, would never be confused with cricket in Japan---There's no throwing in Japan's bizarro-croquet and nobody under the age of 70.

elderly-gateball_vs_cricket.jpg

[Yokohammer]

Never learned to love cricket. Had to play it in phys-ed when I was a wee snotnose back in the Land of Oz, but it bored me to tears. Maybe I should take another look with my slightly longer adult attention span. The idea of a game that has lunch and tea breaks is actually kind of appealing. Now that’s culture, and somehow I can't see it catching on here without some major modifications.

[Russell]

Never learned to love cricket. Had to play it in phys-ed when I was a wee snotnose back in the Land of Oz, but it bored me to tears. Maybe I should take another look with my slightly longer adult attention span. The idea of a game that has lunch and tea breaks is actually kind of appealing. Now that’s culture, and somehow I can't see it catching on here without some major modifications.

Well, you're talking about a country in which growing Bonsai trees is a hobby. Talking about attention span...

[Yokohammer]

Never learned to love cricket. Had to play it in phys-ed when I was a wee snotnose back in the Land of Oz, but it bored me to tears. Maybe I should take another look with my slightly longer adult attention span. The idea of a game that has lunch and tea breaks is actually kind of appealing. Now that’s culture, and somehow I can't see it catching on here without some major modifications.

Well, you're talking about a country in which growing Bonsai trees is a hobby. Talking about attention span...

Bonsai ... not exactly a spectator sport.

I was thinking they might be able to appropriate cricket culture by inserting tea ceremony intermissions, or maybe some refreshing zen meditation. There's really no way of knowing what will catch on. I'm pretty sure it wont' be televised though.

[Russell]

Never learned to love cricket. Had to play it in phys-ed when I was a wee snotnose back in the Land of Oz, but it bored me to tears. Maybe I should take another look with my slightly longer adult attention span. The idea of a game that has lunch and tea breaks is actually kind of appealing. Now that’s culture, and somehow I can't see it catching on here without some major modifications.

Well, you're talking about a country in which growing Bonsai trees is a hobby. Talking about attention span...

Bonsai ... not exactly a spectator sport.

I was thinking they might be able to appropriate cricket culture by inserting tea ceremony intermissions, or maybe some refreshing zen meditation. There's really no way of knowing what will catch on. I'm pretty sure it wont' be televised though.

I like that idea, cricket with tea ceremony.

And you never know which country would be interested in the broadcasting rights.

[wagyl]

You can be surprised at what gets televised, and what attracts an audience.

Compelling TV. Don't knock it until you have tried it.

[Russell]

You can be surprised at what gets televised, and what attracts an audience.
[...snip...]
Compelling TV. Don't knock it until you have tried it.

You did not even mention those Norwegian programs...

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I'm a lifelong cricket lover, but willingly concede it's not a sport to easily acquire a love for.
Having said that, I would have thought it had many qualities the Japanese seem to adore, based on their track record of behavior...mindless repetition, obsessive focusing on irrelevant details, long periods of inactivity, a lengthy rest break every couple of hours, uniforms, archaism, ample opportunity to display passive-aggressive behavior and hour-after-hour, day-after-day of excruciatingly demanding effort only to fail to produce a result.

[Wage Slave]

I'm a lifelong cricket lover, but willingly concede it's not a sport to easily acquire a love for.
Having said that, I would have thought it had many qualities the Japanese seem to adore, based on their track record of behavior...mindless repetition, obsessive focusing on irrelevant details, long periods of inactivity, a lengthy rest break every couple of hours, uniforms, archaism, ample opportunity to display passive-aggressive behavior and hour-after-hour, day-after-day of excruciatingly demanding effort only to fail to produce a result.

I'm another lifelong cricket lover and I am in full accord with that - bang on the money. Maybe there is one more aspect of the game which should find fertile ground? The constant potential to assign blame or credit for the failure or success of the entire 5 day project on one player. He dropped that critical catch or produced an inspired 6 overs of bowling or got 150 or so.

And yes, as mentioned earlier, the idea of stopping play for a lunch and tea is bound to wildly appeal. Ditto the idea of bringing your supplies of food and drink for the day.

What people really lack is an acceptable excuse to do nothing except eat, drink and chat for extended periods. Days even. And that's always been cricket's trump card.

[wagyl]

Hang on guys. Only one of you can be the silly mid on.

[kurogane]

I'm a lifelong cricket lover, but willingly concede it's not a sport to easily acquire a love for.

I don't know if this works, but perhaps it's like ice hockey? Or even baseball or Merkin Football? I have tried to watch cricket, but it is boring and interminable. I had an absolute blast playing it, though (kudos to the British Council for the free kit), and I bonzered a rounder for sevens under a sticky wicket in three...........I think

Having said that, I would have thought it had many qualities the Japanese seem to adore, based on their track record of behavior...mindless repetition, obsessive focusing on irrelevant details, long periods of inactivity, a lengthy rest break every couple of hours, uniforms, archaism, ample opportunity to display passive-aggressive behavior and hour-after-hour, day-after-day of excruciatingly demanding effort only to fail to produce a result.

feck..............

[Wage Slave]

Hang on guys. Only one of you can be the silly mid on.

OK, I'll be deep backward third man.

[yanpa]

I'm a lifelong cricket lover, but willingly concede it's not a sport to easily acquire a love for.
Having said that, I would have thought it had many qualities the Japanese seem to adore, based on their track record of behavior...mindless repetition, obsessive focusing on irrelevant details, long periods of inactivity, a lengthy rest break every couple of hours, uniforms, archaism, ample opportunity to display passive-aggressive behavior and hour-after-hour, day-after-day of excruciatingly demanding effort only to fail to produce a result.

I'm another lifelong cricket lover and I am in full accord with that - bang on the money. Maybe there is one more aspect of the game which should find fertile ground? The constant potential to assign blame or credit for the failure or success of the entire 5 day project on one player. He dropped that critical catch or produced an inspired 6 overs of bowling or got 150 or so.

And yes, as mentioned earlier, the idea of stopping play for a lunch and tea is bound to wildly appeal. Ditto the idea of bringing your supplies of food and drink for the day.

What people really lack is an acceptable excuse to do nothing except eat, drink and chat for extended periods. Days even. And that's always been cricket's trump card.

I once attended a baseball match (and finally know what the standard Japanese unit of volumne looks like from the inside), while the dudes in pyjamas were doing their stuff (which struck me as a condensed, somewhat faster version of cricket without the little pole gate thingies but with more maths), I did notice a lot of people seemed there to just hang out, drink beer (kindly provided by young ladies wearing beer-dispensing backpacks, an excellent innovation which should be promoted actively in other contexts), wander in and out to the concession stands while something inscrutable goes on in the background.

[Wage Slave]

It's very hard to explain the appeal of cricket to a non follower and totally unnecessary to anyone who has gained an appreciation. It's almost as if all of life is in the game somewhere if you watch it long enough. To get hooked doesn't actually take all that long provided you are paying a bit of attention and learn a bit about it. And indeed, that's life too - anything really worthwhile demands a bit of learning and a bit of time.

It is the greatest game.

[kurogane]

Very poetic.
Nicely written. I am leery of the idea that learning about something necessarily leads to appreciation: I don't disagree with what you are saying there, but it can quickly descend into a panglossian psychocentricity. It's a nice sentiment, but somewhat simplistic as a measure or mechanism of personal taste and preference. As an example, I know perfectly well why it takes Merkin Football teams so fucking long between plays to actually start the game again, but that doesn't mean it's not boring and stupid compared to sports where play is continuous, or at least frequent, like soccer or hockey. Sumo would be analogous. I get plenty of it, but it still takes 2 men too many minutes to move for 5 seconds. I think basic cultural attitudes play a much bigger role than acknowledged by many, and can't be accounted for by reference to personal effort and interest, though those cultural attitudes are individually manifested, obviously: circulated collectively but interpreted individually, to borrow a bit of old Anthony Cohen.

As another example close to my heart and lips, I think Budweiser is a perfectly fine generic beer. Perhaps if beer snobs were to learn of its rich history and complex manufacturing process they would begin to appreciate it for what it is? In a related development, recent research shows that pigs might, in fact, fly. Plus Busch was a shedload nicer than those creepy Coors.

[Takechanpoo]

can't-keep-eyes-off type sports never have gotten the whole nation level popularity in this country.
yakyu, marason(ekiden), golf. the common element of those sports which have gotten the whole nation popularity among j-ppl is that it can be watched leisurely while chatting, eating snacks and drinking alcohol.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Another thing I love about cricket is that it had a World Series that actually involved the world.

[Russell]

Another thing I love about cricket is that it had a World Series that actually involved the world.

I suppose you mean those parts of the world that play cricket...

[yanpa]

Another thing I love about cricket is that it had a World Series that actually involved the world.

I suppose you mean those parts of the world that play cricket...

Well at least you won'te feel left out

The Dutch cricket team is a national cricket team representing the Netherlands. It is administered by the Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond (Royal Dutch Cricket Association) which is based in Nieuwegein in the centre of the country and is older than many renowned cricket clubs in the West Indies, Australia, and New Zealand.

Cricket has been played in the Netherlands since at least the 19th century, and in the 1860s was considered a major sport in the country. Other sports - notably football - have long since surpassed cricket in popularity amongst the Dutch, but today there are around 6,000 cricketers in the Netherlands. The first national association, the forerunner of today's Royal Dutch Cricket Association, was formed in 1883 and the Netherlands achieved Associate Membership of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1966.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlan ... icket_team

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Another thing I love about cricket is that it had a World Series that actually involved the world.

I suppose you mean those parts of the world that play cricket...

The Dutch women's team has traditionally been fairly strong and the Dutch men's team has played in a couple of World Cups and used to play in one of the English knockout leagues. I believe a Dutchman called Ryan ten Doeschate holds the world record career batting average for one-day internationals (Disclaimer: like many members of the Dutch (and English) team, he was born in South Africa. There are many Aussie Dutchies who've played for the Netherlands, too, and we even had a Dutchie Holland, who had nothing to do with the Netherlands).
Incidentally, one-time Dutch opening bowler Dirk Nannes is a fluent Japanese speaker and is involved (owns or runs) in a business in either Hakuba or Niseko, so he qualifies as a Fucked Gaijin, too.

[Russell]

Another thing I love about cricket is that it had a World Series that actually involved the world.

I suppose you mean those parts of the world that play cricket...

The Dutch women's team has traditionally been fairly strong and the Dutch men's team has played in a couple of World Cups and used to play in one of the English knockout leagues. I believe a Dutchman called Ryan ten Doeschate holds the world record career batting average for one-day internationals (Disclaimer: like many members of the Dutch (and English) team, he was born in South Africa. There are many Aussie Dutchies who've played for the Netherlands, too, and we even had a Dutchie Holland, who had nothing to do with the Netherlands).
Incidentally, one-time Dutch opening bowler Dirk Nannes is a fluent Japanese speaker and is involved (owns or runs) in a business in either Hakuba or Niseko, so he qualifies as a Fucked Gaijin, too.

Thanks for clearing that up.

To be honest, I was completely unaware of even the existence of cricket in the Netherlands. I cannot remember it ever having been featured in the Dutch media. Kind of sad really, since the media rather pays attention to all kinds of "stars" who have accomplished nothing in life.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Another thing I love about cricket is that it had a World Series that actually involved the world.

I suppose you mean those parts of the world that play cricket...

The Dutch women's team has traditionally been fairly strong and the Dutch men's team has played in a couple of World Cups and used to play in one of the English knockout leagues. I believe a Dutchman called Ryan ten Doeschate holds the world record career batting average for one-day internationals (Disclaimer: like many members of the Dutch (and English) team, he was born in South Africa. There are many Aussie Dutchies who've played for the Netherlands, too, and we even had a Dutchie Holland, who had nothing to do with the Netherlands).
Incidentally, one-time Dutch opening bowler Dirk Nannes is a fluent Japanese speaker and is involved (owns or runs) in a business in either Hakuba or Niseko, so he qualifies as a Fucked Gaijin, too.

Thanks for clearing that up.

To be honest, I was completely unaware of even the existence of cricket in the Netherlands. I cannot remember it ever having been featured in the Dutch media. Kind of sad really, since the media rather pays attention to all kinds of "stars" who have accomplished nothing in life.

I adore the Dutch team...you can see the love of the game in their eyes. Many other teams, particularly the Australians, are full of wankers!