Cricket things that annoy you

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Another thing that annoys me is the elitist attitude towards grass roots, park and community cricket. The vast majority of cricket lovers and cricket players never play at a level which warrants or can afford professional umpires, yet they are the ones who provide the income for professional players and umpires, pay their subscriptions, support club sponsors, attend fundraising events, pay the council rates to maintain grounds and facilities, attend working bees, coach and umpire the kids and drive them to games, etc. etc. Then we get pissed on by elitist snobs who tells us we aren't playing 'real cricket'.
That’s fine.
It’s not elitist to say the standard is rubbish. I don’t expect people to like being told the standard of cricket which they play is rubbish, either. Nothing groundbreaking about that.

Id bet good money the ones who pot test cricketers on this forum treat their wheelie bin cricket like a test match on the weekend. That annoys me.
 

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Please explain to me how I’m wrong. You’ve usually got a novel in you (which I enjoy reading btw).
You're entitled to your opinion. I think the majority would disagree. IMO what you dismiss as rubbish bin cricket is actually real cricket to most people.
 
Please explain to me how I’m wrong. You’ve usually got a novel in you (which I enjoy reading btw).

Mate, take a trip across the great dividing range.

See where Trent Copeland and Chris Tremain, Henry Hunt, and Don Nash and Peter Toohey etc learned how to play cricket, and ask if the guys who played with them are wheelie bin cricketers just because people out here live in towns of, in some cases, a few thousand people, up to 30, and there aren’t umpires falling out of every noodle bar willing to give up their Saturdays to stand in 38 degree heat for $14 an hour.
 
I wonder if the same people who dismiss District Cricket and similar as wheelie bin cricket (just because there aren't paid umpires), also use think that AFL football is the only 'real' Australian Rules football? Or worse, think that 'AFL' is the name of the game, rather than the name of one competition?
IMO 'real' Australian football is the stuff still sometimes played on suburban grounds, or at least played in the last century before the advent of the AFL.
The reason for the analogy is that I see 'cricket' going the same way. The game itself is being subverted by the peak bodies that now control it.
 
Pretty poor having the u16 out there tbh. I remember doing it when I was about 12 and giving a bloke out stumped when I wasn’t watching because of the pressure of being appealed. No idea if he was in or not but he seemed to think he was, but a junior shouldn’t ever be sent out to umpire even at square. Get them to do scoring if they need to do bits to help out

Opposition captain sounds like a good bloke, some of the shit blokes masquerading as cricketers out there wouldn’t be so forgi

In comps where you have to umpire yourself, young guys have to learn somehow.

Agree that its not easy for young guys however.
 
In comps where you have to umpire yourself, young guys have to learn somehow.

Agree that its not easy for young guys however.
Best solution is adult controlling umpire and junior at square leg. If square leg decision is required, the controlling umpire will confer and decide after discussion. Don't leave it to the junior to make the call.
 
Mate, take a trip across the great dividing range.

See where Trent Copeland and Chris Tremain, Henry Hunt, and Don Nash and Peter Toohey etc learned how to play cricket, and ask if the guys who played with them are wheelie bin cricketers just because people out here live in towns of, in some cases, a few thousand people, up to 30, and there aren’t umpires falling out of every noodle bar willing to give up their Saturdays to stand in 38 degree heat for $14 an hour.
Agree Phat

I'm not 100% sure what the OP's gripe is about.

Used to work in an industry where I was transferred usually every 3-4 years to other towns with work. 90% of which were country towns (which was great as I'm a country lad originally anyway)

Some of these towns had only 300 - 500 people in them and the local footy and cricket associations consisted of around 6 other towns in that association.

Local sport in these places was is and remains everything.

We didn't have the luxury of cricket umpires but the standard was no less for not having them.

As an aside, I played for 2 years in the city at District level (only C grade mind you) but can say that some of the very best cricketers I ever played against where from country associations.

And in those associations, we umpired ourselves.
 

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The fact that the cricket public never got to see the heights that the greats of the South African test could have achieved in the 1970's due to SAF banishment from test cricket:

A quick look at the list:

Eddie Barlow; 30 tests
Barry Richards; 4 tests
Graeme Pollock; 23 tests
Mike Proctor; 7 tests
Clive Rice; No tests
Denys Hobson; No tests
Peter Pollock; 28 tests
Vincent Van der Bijl; No tests

Could also add Alan Lamb, who was 17 in 1970. No doubt would have gone on to play tests for SAF. And there are more of course.

Just how good would have the SAF been throughout the early to mid 70's?. Imagine seeing Richards and Pollock bat together?

The Oldman saw Pollock hit 175 at Adelaide Oval in 1964. He said he was the best batsman he saw.
 
The fact that the cricket public never got to see the heights that the greats of the South African test could have achieved in the 1970's due to SAF banishment from test cricket:

A quick look at the list:

Eddie Barlow; 30 tests
Barry Richards; 4 tests
Graeme Pollock; 23 tests
Mike Proctor; 7 tests
Clive Rice; No tests
Denys Hobson; No tests
Peter Pollock; 28 tests
Vincent Van der Bijl; No tests

Could also add Alan Lamb, who was 17 in 1970. No doubt would have gone on to play tests for SAF. And there are more of course.

Just how good would have the SAF been throughout the early to mid 70's?. Imagine seeing Richards and Pollock bat together?

The Oldman saw Pollock hit 175 at Adelaide Oval in 1964. He said he was the best batsman he saw.
My old man saw a lot of Pollock and says the same thing.
 
The fact that the cricket public never got to see the heights that the greats of the South African test could have achieved in the 1970's due to SAF banishment from test cricket:
Quite interesting that cricket's controlling bodies took such a stand against the racist policies of the South African Government in the 1970s.

I mean, government racism and discrimination against religious minorities isn't a thing amongst any of the current Test playing nations today, is it?
 
Agree Phat

I'm not 100% sure what the OP's gripe is about.

Used to work in an industry where I was transferred usually every 3-4 years to other towns with work. 90% of which were country towns (which was great as I'm a country lad originally anyway)

Some of these towns had only 300 - 500 people in them and the local footy and cricket associations consisted of around 6 other towns in that association.

Local sport in these places was is and remains everything.

We didn't have the luxury of cricket umpires but the standard was no less for not having them.

As an aside, I played for 2 years in the city at District level (only C grade mind you) but can say that some of the very best cricketers I ever played against where from country associations.

And in those associations, we umpired ourselves.

This.

We’ve had dozens of blokes go down to Sydney and comfortably hold their own in the higher grades and not even the cream of the crop from here either, in my time playing senior cricket. Many blokes just don’t take cricket seriously enough to have a go down there.

There’s others that did and never quite made it to the absolute top but still made a tonne of runs - my former chief of staff was the local under 20s captain when the Penrith first grade coach was here one day and saw him play and asked him to go and have a crack in Sydney: nearly 4000 first grade runs later and a handful of summers with the NSW second XI later he was a bee’s dick from a state cap.

These are the sort of players that come from comps or towns where there might be half a dozen ticketed umpires if that at any given time.
 
Bear in mind this game HAD an umpire so by the strict definition it wasn’t ’wheelie bin cricket’ but it was in a comp that did periodically have to umpire its own games and never ever had 2 umpires in a game unless it was a final.

The first season I played first grade here it was an eye opener - the amount of sledging and stuff and the pace of the change bowlers etc.
my best mate from uni encouraged me to join the club we would end up playing for, and we had never seen each other play before. He was quick, and f**king angry. Ended up best man at my wedding.

Third game we played together he bounced this poor bastard and shattered his nose - plastered it all over his face. Basically gave the most cursory check to make sure he could get off the field ok then just stood at the top of his mark wiping the blood on his trousers from the ball waiting for the next poor prick to come out to bat. Ended up taking 7-26 or something ridiculous. ‘He should have gotten out of the way’ I think were his words.
 

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Cricket things that annoy you

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