Why are the English so bad at cricket?

...I just find this interesting, considering that Australia has one the last 8 or so Ashes test series. Your population is over double ours, yet you cannot secure and train young talent. You have not had a champion test cricketer in over 20 years.

This is an unfortunate state of affairs for world cricket.

 

Hey, we're not bad when it comes to matches against most other nations (India, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, etc.).
It's just that you Aussies are too good for anyone, so you can't really judge us on our results against you.

 

We have moved on from Cricket to the best, and only truely global sport.

Football.

Sport of Kings.

UKS

 

We obviously taught you too well.

Meanwhile I heard that the French are claiming that they invented cricket. If that's the case then why don't they play the game internationally. If they did maybe we could actually beat someone.

On a side note, I think it's about time we actually gave Australia the Ashes.

 

Maybe it's because cricket is SUCH a BORING game so most us young'uns run a mile when they suggest trying out for your local team at school.

Although that never would happen to me seeing as I'm a girl

 

I actually find tennis more boring then cricket. strange but true.

And shall we not forget that a certain Kiwi director recorded his SFX for Helm's Deep at a cricket match. That must have been a hell of a game.

 

ENgland is fine against all others except Austrailia. ANd everyone else is poor against Austrailia

 

England only appear bad cos there's only a few nations who seem to play cricket. Scotland has a team apparently... Erm... I don't know anything about it though... Does anyone??

Cricket is dull. Golf is also dull. Horse-racing's dull too unless you're a gambler. But the TV coverage of them lasts for hours... Zzzz...

 

Scotland do have a cricket team, they played in the last world cup. I don't know if they will be in the next one though.

 

The reason why the British are soooooo crap at Cricket is because they find it too difficult to play, and there isn't enough interest garnered at a young age.

Don't get me wrong, I love football, I'm rampant about it, but any fricken muppet can understand football. Cricket requires an ounce of intelligence, and a smidgen of patience, which in this bloody day and age, is almost non-existant in British society. I suppose that's why Australians are so good at it, is because with our lifestyle, if we were anymore laid back, we'd be horizontal!

But remember, you guys are good at football (not great, because, lets face it, you could have won the world cup, but choked as usual!), but you're also crap at virtually every other sport you play too - And Britain invented most of them!

But I tell you what a fundamental problem is about cricket - Toffs! Yep, why is it, only the upper class seem to play it. You don't see the average council estate kid playing it. In Britain, it's a game for the rich, whereas in Australia, it doesn't matter if your rich or poor, everyone plays it.

And to whoever said that it's not played much around the world, ummm....I think you're wrong there. You'd be surprised how much it is played. Canada has a team (they were even in the 1979 world cup), I think that it is even played in America too (I could have sworn I read an article that there is a club in New York), it's played around the south Pacific, Holland, Scotland, France, south east Asia, all over Africa...Loads of places!

 

Well I'm into cricket, I used to play for my school and everything but as time has gone I have kinda got bored of it.
Besides Footy is our national sport and when we on song we can be a great team at that.
Complaining about the English Cricket team is like hitting a dead horse with a stick, besides we need the proper youth schemes etc to really make anything of the team and we havent got that.
Australia well you've got it all, so its no one you can destroy every team in the cricketing world.
Anyway you Aussies prove yourself in the football arena, you may have beaten us at cricket but footy? well we will see what happens when we have a friendly or meet in the World Cup

 

The present Australian cricket team are probably the best cricketing team in the world.....ever.

It's not that we are really crap. It's just that the Aussies are great at the game!


Now, Rugby on the other hand....

 

Actually, did you guys hear that Australia are the first team to qualify for the next world cup? I can't remember why exactly, but there was a thread on the JC...I'll have to find it...

EDIT: Here it is

 

The Boxing Day Test has shown that the English are really fantastic fielders!

 

It's not just cricket where Australia are so much better. Australia excel at a great many sports Cricket, Tennis and Athletics are all examples of sports where Australia enjuoy significantly greater success that England or the UK and were pretty closely matched at rugby. As The Gatherer said in his opening post Australia has a population less than half that of England, so why the better level of success.

IMO such things do not happen by accident but by design. The authorities in Australia understand the need for massive investment at the grassroots level, our government does not. On top of this too many british coaches across all sports teach youngsters that it's the taking part that counts, maybe I'm wrong but I don't think many australian coaches take that attitude.

 

Hi

I agree with the comments above. Our government does invest in sports, but seems to avoid investing in the home grown stuff. There is now reason why we should not be amongst the best cricketers in the world, but not enough is done to support the sport in the UK.

We can be good at sports. We recently won golf's Ryder Cup and our equestrian team are always a threat at the Olympics, not to mention the rowers!!

But these are sports with plenty of money behind them anyway. Sports such as cricket need more government intervention to make them more accessable to the masses. I have grown up with no understanding of the rules or the scoring of cricket. If I knew, or had been taught at school, I would be able to follow the game more easily.

We can win at sports; football, golf, rowing, athletics etc. We just need to support the traditional homegrown stuff more.

V.