Cricket as Sport Activity - Essay Example

? Hobby – Some Sport Activity – Cricket by ENGL 000 As a sport, cricket is renowned all over the world and that too because of a number of reasons. Its popularity is seen close to football and tennis. It is famous in different regions of the world with special emphasis paid towards this sport in Australia, Northern Europe, Asia, Southern Africa and Central America. Its players are remarked as cricketers who are considered as true ‘stars’ of the game in the countries where they are revered and adored by millions. Especially in India, one of the biggest cricketing nations of the world, the stardom is of immense value and significance. The most popular cricketer in the world at the present is Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar who has attained the attention of the Indian populace as they believe he is their God and hence they follow each and every move of his. The game is professionally played in a few countries, most important of which are Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, England, India, Kenya, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, an amalgamation of Central American states by the cricketing name of West Indies and Zimbabwe. Many people play it as a hobby because it gives them satisfaction and the me-too feeling that they can copy actions of cricketers is an emotional attachment. Some play it because they can relate to the game while others just play because it is their favorite pastime. Then again, there are the young ones who play cricket in the form of online cricket games, while some manage cricket teams through video programs which essentially link them with this game in one way or the other. The game of cricket is a bat and ball game which is played at 11 a side (players on each team). The field is a circle which has a pitch (also called the wicket) measuring 22 yards from one end to another formed in a rectangular fashion. Each team takes its turn to bat a quota of certain overs and then the other team bats. When one team bats, the other one fields and vice versa (Quester 1998). There are two on field umpires who supervise a match at all times. There is also a third umpire who sits with the match referee who in turn oversee the match proceedings. The game of cricket is governed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) which has its headquarters in Dubai, the famous city of the United Arab Emirates. Formerly, it was based in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. The laws of cricket are taken care of by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) whereas there are Standard Playing Conditions for Test Matches, One Day Internationals and Twenty20 matches. Incidentally, these three forms of cricket are the ones that are played by professionals all over the world, and especially in the countries mentioned above. Cricket is played both by men and women. The ICC takes care of both the men’s teams and the women’s teams that are put forward by the individual nations – all of which come under the auspices of the ICC. It is mandatory for all the member nations to comply with the rules and policies as laid down by the ICC so that there are proper standards which are in place as far as the playing conditions, doping issues and other factors are related (Level 1 Coaching Course 2013). Having a uniform set of rules means that the ICC has more control over the member nations and the game of cricket as a whole prospers as there is a parent body that has complete command and control regarding the sport. Cricket has always been historical in terms of its age and grandeur within England. It is due to this reason that its headquarters was in London until the 2000s. The English hold the rights for this sport mainly because they were the ones who started playing it for the first time. The first Test Match was played between England Australia back in the late 1880s. The first One Day International Match was played similarly between these two arch rivals in 1971 and the trend continued so on (Harrison 1999). Cricket has been able to make its mark just a single time – within the 1900 Summer Olympics and ever since has waited for it to be a part of the world’s biggest sporting event which is held every four years. Its historical basis dates back to the 16th century of the Tudor times in England. Some evidence points out that cricket was existent as a sport which was played by Prince Edward who was the son of Edward I (Longshanks) in Kent in the year 1301 (Cox 1999). There have been instances that the game was played during these centuries by a select few but was never very famous amongst the masses. Some of the greatest players to have graced this sport include Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Gary Sobers, Vivian Richards, W G Grace, Imran Khan, Jawed Miandad, Asif Iqbal, A H Kardar, Kapil Dev, Wasim Akram, Sunil Gavaskar, Martin Crowe, Richard Hadlee, Richie Benaud, Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh, Geoffrey Boycott, Ian Botham, Graham Gooch, Graeme Pollock, Barry Richards, Ian Chappell, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Shoaib Akhtar, Saqlain Mushtaq and many others (Harrison 2000). The modern day greats include the likes of Brett Lee, Michael Clarke, Shane Bond, Ross Taylor, Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Shahid Afridi, M S Dhoni, Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Shaun Pollock, Heath Streak, etc. The nations which have their teams playing professional cricket boast of huge fan following mainly because cricket is adored all over the world. They stand to take credit for backing their teams through good times as well as bad ones. Especially one can talk about the Indian cricket team which has a backing of more than a billion people. Each and every test match, one day international and twenty20 match is followed with equal zest and spirit by the huge fan following all over India (Mousley 2007). It is for this reason that India has all the major advertisers that run the sport globally. Also the Indian cricketers are handsomely paid, not only for representing India in the three formats of the game but also for pasting stickers on their bats, for displaying logos on their shirts, for appearing in branded programs and a list of other commercial activities that have essentially boosted the Indian cricket team’s graph, not only within India but all over the world (Captain MS Dhoni signs record Rs 25 crore bat deal 2013). The commercial aspect that has come in within cricket leaves many people astounded worldwide. This is because the sport did not receive much backing at the hands of advertisers and brands some 50 years back. Now the entire ballgame has changed, and that too for the betterment of the sport one knows by the name of cricket. It has made giant strides commercially and coordinated with some of the biggest brands that there are in the world of business and advertising (Easton 1996). Also the advertising stakes have become huge since nearly every brand wants to attain television rights and viewership space as people get hooked on to television, radio and the Internet whenever a match is on air. This is a good sign but one which raises quite a few eyebrows especially in the minds of the people who can be remarked as the purists. However, with the advent of time these changes and amendments do come in and that is what makes the game of cricket a very unique proposition. As far as batting and bowling methodologies are concerned, there are the different modes of dismissals that need comprehension. These include the bowled out where wickets are shattered, the leg before out where the batsman’s legs should be in front of the wickets and the bowler has to make an appeal to the on field umpire, the caught dismissal where a catch is taken without the ball coming in contact with the ground, the run out where the batsman is short of his crease, the stumped where a batsman when hitting a ball leaves his crease and the wicketkeeper takes off the bails with the ball, the hit wicket when the batsman accidentally or intentionally hits the wickets while playing a shot, the hit the ball twice dismissal where the batsman intentionally touches the ball more than a single time, the obstructing the field dismissal where the batsman comes in contact with the ball, the fielder or any other circumstance which is unbecoming of his stay at the pitch, the handled the ball out which suggests that the batsman needs to stay clear of the ball and should not touch it to affect the game in his favor and lastly, the timed out mode of dismissal which means that the upcoming batsman was late in his arrival at the pitch, by a measure of three minutes (11 Ways of Dismissal – Getting out in Cricket 2013). The game of cricket is popular also because it boasts of runs, huge sixes, well timed fours, dazzling wickets, superstar cricketers, Bollywood (Indian cinema) celebrities, involvement of politicians, different stakeholders, a lot of glamour, money and cobranding with huge brands, movies, etc. All this calls for more and more popularity of the sport around the world. It is a different feeling when one sees how cricket is expanding within South Asia and Europe (Yassim 2013). Also it has begun to make its mark within China and North America, however in the latter case baseball substitutes cricket due to the same style of sport play and field settings. Yet cricket remains a different and very sell-able commodity in a number of different ways. The sport of cricket is known as the gentleman’s game merely due to the fact that it is followed in letter and spirit of a true gentleman. The cricketers are taken as honest individuals who would not question the authority and the decisions of the umpires, however much is about to change with the advent of fast paced cricket in the form of twenty20 matches globally. Essentially speaking, cricket is a true sport that is adored by nearly 2 billion people in this world, which is one third of the whole world’s population. This calls for an interesting understanding to be reached upon as far as this sport is concerned. The need is to draw level with how cricket is progressing with each passing day and how commercial tangents have largely ruled the roost as far as this sport is concerned. The need is to know where to draw the line between what is acceptable and what is generally seen as a no-no within this game. The height of commercialism can always be deceiving but it is up to the ICC and the relevant stakeholders to decide where to take cricket from here (Johns 2009). The road is filled with both opportunities to cash in as well as sheer potholes which can create problems and concerns. Now is the time to buckle up and balance off the whole equation to make cricket an ever more popular sport within the different lengths and breadths of the world. Works Cited 11 Ways of Dismissal – Getting out in Cricket. Web: http://www.yesiknowthat.com/getting-out-in-cricket/ , 2013. Online. Captain MS Dhoni signs record Rs 25 crore bat deal. Web: http://www.thatscricket.com/news/2013/12/03/captain-ms-dhoni-signs-record-rs-25-crore-bat-deal-070090.html , 2013. Online. Cox, Dr. Richard William. The Mammoth Book of Sports and Games. Reference Reviews, 13(8), 1999. Print. Easton, Christopher. The Business Game of Cricket. Industrial and Commercial Training, 28(4), 1996. Print. Harrison, David. Encyclopedia of World Sport: from ancient times to the present abridged edition. Reference Reviews, 14(1), 2000. Print. Harrison, K.C. One-day International Cricket. Reference Reviews, 13(7), 1999. Print. Johns, Kate. Sportainment: changing the pace of limited-overs cricket in South Africa. Management Decision, 47(1), 2009. Print. Level 1 Coaching Course. Web: http://www.iccglobalcricketacademy.com/CourseInfo.aspx?Bid=1&Cid=38 , 2013. Online. Mousley, Wendy. Television viewers’ motivations to follow the 2005 Ashes Test series: implications for the rebranding of English cricket. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 16(1), 2007. Print. Quester, Pascale. The Australian Cricket Board (ACB): mapping corporate relations. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 3(4), 1998. Print. Yassim, Mazia. Cricket as a vehicle for community cohesion: building bridges with British Muslims. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 4(2), 2013. Print. Read More