May 4, 2005
I never thought I'd say it...
Yes, cricket can be boring.
There, I've said it. As a cricket addict, often I find myself defending the game, especially against charges that it is dull. But I can't defend this Test Match between the West Indies and South Africa that has recently petered out into a draw. How can people expect a sporting event to be taken seriously when, after five days, it has barely reached half way? That is, if it were allowed to be continued in a timeless fashion, as Test Matches used to be played.
Five days produced a grand total of 17 wickets, of which only one was taken in a second innings! It was a "batfest", with a record eight centuries and a tally of 1,462 runs.
It's Test cricket like this that encourages the popularity of one-day and Twenty-Twenty matches.
Posted to Cricket by Keith Pittywhat if they didn't count personal records unless there was a result?
Posted by: Jed Wesley-Smith at May 10, 2005 2:23 PMExcellent idea! It would be interesting to see how much shorter the list of Test triple-centuries would be if that rule was applied. I like it; Lara's 400* and 375 both wouldn't make the list. I'm sure Haydos wouldn't be unhappy about such a rule.
Posted by: Keith Pitty at May 10, 2005 4:15 PM