Cricket is one sport that creates a lot of debate. Is it the most boring sport of all time or is it actually exciting? When you look out at the crowds at a cricket match, many people are enjoying a picnic, bbq or a few drinks, few are actually watching the game. In a world obsessed with sport, cricket appears to be the one game that even cricket fans are not bothered to actually watch it. If you are a fan of cricket or want to find out if it really is interesting, read on for some facts about the game. In defense of cricket:
Shepherds and cricket
Shepherding is not the most exciting job as you spend days in the hills looking after sheep. Maybe then it is no surprise that it was these adrenaline junkies who invented the sport of cricket as a way to pass the time while herding sheep.
The neverending game
Sometimes watching cricket can feel like the game will never end, in one famous case, that actually happened. The longest cricket match ever played was in 1939 between England and South Africa. The game lasted 14 days and still didn’t end. England needed 42 runs to win but their ship home was due to leave the next day. The match was declared a draw and the English team got in some sightseeing before they left.
More exciting than church
The first game of cricket took place in 1646, it proved so popular that many people started to skip church in order to play the game. The church started to give fines to those caught playing cricket instead of going to mass.
A legendary loser
One of the greatest batsman to ever play for New Zealand was Bert Sutcliffe. He played 42 tests for his country and had the unlucky record of never winning a game. Anytime New Zealand played with Sutcliffe they lost. They did win some games during his era but he missed all of these games.
There you have it, the four most exciting facts about cricket. If they don’t have you leaping from your computer and running to the streets to play cricket then nothing well. In reality, cricket is not that bad. It can be fun to play but sometimes is just a little drawn out to watch. It was for this reason that T20 was created, a shortened version that was deemed more exciting to watch. That’s right, cricket is so boring that the organizing body changed their own game to try and get people to stay awake while watching.
