Change in the format of Cricket

ENG-105 RESEAERCH PAPER

For this research first of all I would like to thank Mr A.Q.M.A Abul Kashem Bhuiyan,lectuter.English Department,North South University .He has helped me a lot throughout the entire study period by giving me his precious time and directed me properly with proper guideline to efficiently conduct the study. I am also grateful to him for his useful guidance, positive criticism and encouragement during the preparation of this study. I would never be able to complete this research paper except his guidance. I am also grateful to my friends, who helped me in varieties of way. They helped me in all the process including survey, data collection, analysis, secondary research. Unless their help, it would be very much hard to complete my research paper. I would like to thank those who participated in my survey. They sacrificed their valuable time to fill in my survey questionnaire and gave important suggestions I am very grateful to my cousin Farhad, for his useful guidance, cooperation and encouragement during the preparation of this study.

Finally, all extol and commendation should go to almighty GOD, the most merciful who enabled me in completing this work soundly and orderly.

Cricket is one of the most popular game in the world .But cricket has changed a lot from its beginning to today. In this study, the change in format of cricket is discussed. I wanted to know that, change is making cricket popular or not. The study shows that change in the format is making cricket popular .So, my hypothesis has matched with my findings. I tried to research based on my hypothesis. This study also shows that among three formats, T-20 is more popular than Test and ODI cricket. But one of the most important aspects of this research is that T-20 cricket and Test cricket will run independently and will not harm one another. Although T-20 cricket is becoming more popular, still Test cricket have enough chance to survive. For this, International Cricket Council (ICC) should give same priority to all three formats. After all, this research finds that change in the format of cricket is blessings not curse.

Table of contents:

Name:
Page:
Introduction 2
Background
3
Areas of research 4
Hypothesis
5
Methodology
6
Data presentation &analysis 7
Summary

Reference

Appendix

The encyclopedia defines cricket as "a bat and ball, team game played during the summer in the British Isles and in several countries influenced by the British, such as Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, South Africa, and West Indian nations". What though accounts for its popularity (especially since many find it to be an over-long sport full of unintelligable terms)? Having 800 million plus playing it on the Indian sub-continent helps. Also, being able to beat so frequently the country that invented the game must lend some satisfaction to those who play it outside of the British Isles. It is a popular bat-and-ball sport played by two teams of 11 players each. Teams hold cricket matches on oval fields ranging from about 100 to 160 yards long and marked by obvious boundaries. Two umpires regulate all on-field activity during a cricket match. The rules of the sport are called the Laws of Cricket. Two wickets sit in the center of the field a few yards apart. The batting team has two batsman at all times, while the fielding team has 11 players on the playing field. The bowler, similar to a pitcher in baseball, stands behind one wicket, while the wicket keeper stands behind the other wicket to catch any ball the striking batter misses. The non-striking batter stands next to the wicket near the bowler, prepared to run if the striking batter hits the ball. As days are going, format of cricket is also changing. Cricket started with its original form named test cricket about 200 years ago. But now it has lots of format including three main formats: Test, ODI and T-20.Peoples are being more interested in shorter version of this game. Now they want to see more ODI and T-20 cricket rather than test cricket. This tendency is destroying cricket’s original spirit but making cricket more popular than before. Cricket was mainly popular in British colonies.T-20 is breaking this barrier and making cricket popular in other countries .Now a day’s people are busier, they have no enough time to watch test cricket. That’s why they are choosing T-20 cricket. Due to change in the format of this game, cricket’s financial condition is also changing. After all, the change in the format of cricket making it’s a more granted game like football.

.

The game of cricket has become a rage across the globe, especially in countries like England, India, Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, etc. Millions of cricket fans wait for four years to witness the next World Cup. With the start of the Twenty-Twenty Game and the IPL series, the rage has just gone up a notch. However, there are so many cricket fans out there who don’t even know the origin of the game, as to how it came into existence. Keeping in mind all such people, I have provided some interesting background information on cricket. The exact time of the inception of cricket, as a game, is not known. However, it is believed that the game was initiated during Saxon or Norman times, by children living in the Weald (southeast England). For the coming centuries, the game continued to be child’s play and it was only around 17th century that adults developed an interest in it. The earliest reference dates back to the 1611, when two men in Sussex were indicted for playing cricket on Sunday, instead of going to church. The same year, definition of cricket, as a boys ' game, was noted. Till the English Civil War, numerous other references can be seen that point out towards the fact that cricket had indeed been taken up as an adult sport. With the end of the war and the start of the Commonwealth period, the popularity of the game diminished a little. After the ‘Restoration’, in 1660, the game gained more recognition and with time, also started attracting gamblers, making large bets. By the end of the 17th century, gambling had entered the game big time. In fact, the game at Sussex, held in 1697, played for high stakes of 50 guineas a side. With the growth of gambling in cricket, patronage also came to be seen. Gamblers started building up their own teams. Amongst the early patrons, the most notable ones comprised of a group of aristocrats and businessmen, who were active from about 1725. However, the first game using country names for teams was played in the year 1709. It was around this time only that cricket games started receiving press coverage also. Though cricket had been introduced to North America in 17th century only, it moved to other countries in the 18th century. The colonists took the game, from England, to West Indies. As for India, the officials British East India Company brought it here in the first half of 18th century. In Australia, the diffusion of the game started as early as 1788, just when colonization had begun. However, countries like New Zealand and South Africa became acquainted with cricket only in the early years of the 19th century. Formation of Rules It was in the 18th century only when the procedure of formation of cricket rules began. Though the basic rules, of bat, ball, pitch, wicket, how out, etc had been there since ages, the year 1728 saw ‘Articles of Agreement’ being laid down. It was penned down to establish the code of practice in a particular game, especially in relation to payment of stake money and distribution of gambling winnings. ‘Laws of Cricket’ were formed for the first time in 1744 and saw an amendment 30 years later (1774). Finally, MCC was found at Lord 's, in 1787, becoming the custodian of the Laws. Other Developments

Eighteenth century also witnessed other developments in context of cricket. Sometime after 1760, the original form of bowling gave way to pitching of the ball. From 1772 onwards, the concept of scorecards came into existence. The first famous clubs of cricket came up in England, namely London and Dartford. With time, Slindon (Sussex), Maidenhead, Hornchurch, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Bromley, Addington, Hadlow and Chertsey were formed. Amongst all these, the most notable one was Hambledon. Though the game suffered setbacks, with Seven Years Wars and Napoleonic Wars, it managed to survive and prosper. Nineteenth Century

Nineteenth century witnessed changes in the organization of the teams. William Clarke formed the traveling ‘All-England Eleven’ in 1846 and encouraged many other similar teams. With the development of the railway network, teams from long distances started playing against each other and the game also started attracting spectators from distant places. In 1864, cricket witnessed legalization of over-arm and the publishing of ‘Wisden Cricketers ' Almanack’. W G Grace, the ‘Great Cricketer’, also made his debut in the 19th century (1865). Cricket Goes International and Tests Start

The first game of international cricket was played between USA and Canada, in 1844. The year 1850 saw the first overseas tour, by a team of leading English professionals, to North America. The inaugural Test match is believed to have been played on 15 March 1877 at Melbourne Cricket Ground, when an England team went on a tour to Australia. South Africa became the third nation to play test matches, in 1889. It was in 1890 that the first championship, County Cricket Championship, was formally constituted. Six-balls over was also adopted during the 19th century only. In the year 1909, the Imperial Cricket Conference (now International Cricket Conference) was formed, with England, Australia and South Africa as members. With time, India, West Indies and New Zealand also became Test nations, followed by Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. The ‘apartheid’ of South Africa became one of the greatest crises to hit the game of cricket. South Africa was suspended from International Cricket Conference. It formed ‘rebel tours’, offering money to international players for forming teams and tour South Africa. With the end of apartheid, things came back to normal. One Day Cricket

It was in the 1960s that English county teams started playing a version of the today’s ‘one-day cricket’. It comprised on only one innings each and a maximum number of over’s per innings. With time, the popularity of this type of game grew and the formation of a national league, in 1969, led to reduction in the number of matches in the County Championship. The first limited-overs international match was played at Melbourne Cricket Ground, in 1971, as a trial. However, it became immensely popular and is today played throughout the world. World Cup

ICC organized the first Cricket World Cup in England, in 1975, with all the Test playing nations as participant teams. The matches consisted of 60 six-ball overs per team, played during the daytime, in traditional form. Eight teams took part in the first tournament - Australia, England, the West Indies, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and a composite team from East Africa. Australia and West Indies reached the finals and the latter won the tournament. Since then, Cricket World Cup has been organized every four years.

I was always trying to know about the effect change of format in cricket. At last I have got the chance. I have tried to find the reason behind change. Actually I tried to look on some specific questions or basic question about the change in the format of cricket. The questions are – What’s the thinking of people about the crickets format change?
Is change in the format destroying its original spirit? What do people think about it?
Is T-20 a threat for test cricket?
Why Young generation like T-20 cricket?
How changes in the format relates to the financial change in cricket? These questions guided me to design my questionnaire.

From my research, I expect to find that more change in the format is making cricket enjoyable as well as popular. Since people of today’s world are busier so they have no enough time to watch a cricket match during five days. If one is not a hard fan it is almost impossible to watch a cricket match even a single day. I also want to know by how muchT-20 cricket is affecting Test cricket. My assumption about T-20 cricket is that people are being less interested due to the increase popularity of T-20 cricket.

For my primary research, I have conducted a survey of representative sampling of the general public in Dhaka and interviewed people who actually had the knowledge about cricket and tried to find out what they think about the change in the format of cricket? Is it making cricket more popular or not? To that end I designed a questionnaire with different types of questions so as to obtain a range of useful data which helped me to answer my research questions. I made 11 questions for my survey. Every question consisted with minimum three options. Some question had four options. I surveyed on twenty two people. From them twenty were male and only two were female. All of them were between 20-22 years of old. First I tried to know if they know about cricket or not. Because my research was related to those people who know about cricket and keep all news about cricket. For my secondary research, I planned to use resource of Bangladesh cricket board (BCB) and also consulted few books written by cricket experts .I browsed internet and collected information from ICC website as well as renowned cricket website like Cricinfo, cricketnext, yahoocricket.com etc.

1. What do you think about the change in the format?

For this question, 59% people choosed option (a) and said change is necessary and it is making cricket more popular. Surprisingly nobody said change is unnecessary.36% people choosed option –(c) as their answer and said change is always in sports, cricket is also changing like other sports. Only 5% people said anything else about the change. But that is not negligible. These people said change is necessary but not too much. So from this question we can say that maximum numbers of peoples are in favor of change in the format of cricket and rests of them believe that change is an ongoing process. One reason could be that, people like change. Change gives a new taste. In this case it is reasonable too. Peoples of the world are being busier. They have no enough time to watch a cricket match during whole day. It’s created a chance to watch cricket match, those who are busy. Another reason is that, change is always in sports & cricket is also changing like other sports. If we take a look on other sports we will also see some changes in those other sports too. So, according to maximum people it is a good decision to bring changes in the format of cricket.

Q.2 Do you think, change is making cricket more popular?

For this question, I also surveyed on 22people. From them 20 or 91% said that change is making cricket more popular. Nobody said change has no effect on its popularity. Interestingly 9% said that they can’t say. From the above illustration, it is clear that people are in favor of change. They have been coped with change. Due to the change, cricket is spreading all over the world. Few years ago, nobody knew that any European country (except England) or American country can play cricket or like cricket. But today cricket is played all across all over the world. And the only reason behind cricket’s diversity is T-20 cricket. The survey made this fact clear.

Q-3-Do you agree that popularity is more important than the original spirit for game like cricket?

In my survey I found 32% people said popularity is more important. But significantly, 59% people said popularity and original spirit both are equally important. Only 9% people said that first original spirit than popularity. So it is clear from the survey that popularity and original spirit both are equally important. Popularity can’t run along without spirit conversely if there is no popularity everything is meaningless. Some people think that popularity is more important because, popularity shows the acceptance of a sport. Those people who believes original spirit is more important than popularity because original spirit is the base for any game. And those who believe that popularity and original spirit both are equally important; they think these two can’t go lonely. Both are equally important for the success.

Q.4-which format of cricket you like most?
Q-5-Would you please rank the formats?

This question of my survey shows the popularity level of the formats. It is clear from the chart that Tweenty-20 is the most popular format. 55% people said that they like twenty-20 most. One Day Cricket is the second in the chart.27%people said that they like ODI cricket most. Least percent of people said they prefer Test cricket rather than ODI and T-20 cricket.18% people preferred Test as their best choice.
Then they were asked to rank these formats as order of preferences. The answers were also same.55% people ranked T-20 as their first choice. People choosed T-20 as their first choice because, it takes less time as well as it is more entertaining than Test and ODI. Fans can enjoy more entertainment within short time. Those, who choosed Test and ODI as their choice, they believe in original spirit. They don’t want to destroy cricket’s spirit. Unfortunately, the popularity of ODI cricket is decreasing.

Q.6- If another format of cricket is introduced (like T-10, T-5, 70 over’s, 100 over’s), will you support?

For this question of my survey, 23% people said it would be a new innovation to introduce more formats like T-10, T-5,70overs cricket etc. But 68% people said no need of any more formats. Rest of them said something else. Rest 9% said no need of any more formats but if any format is introduced that should not be less than 20 over’s. Actually, the reason why people said it would be a new innovation to introduce a new format is that the new version might be more entertaining. Maximum people said no nee of any more format. Because there are already three formats are available. This is enough for any sport. There is no any sport in the world, which has three formats. If any more format is introduced it could divide the fans and thus can affect the existing format.

7. Do you think Twenty-20 is threat for Test cricket?

This questions answer about the existence of test cricket.41% people said t-20 will make people less interested in test cricket. Only 9% said t-20 will not harm test cricket. Surprisingly 45% people said T-20 and Test will run independently and will not harm one another. Only 1% people said they can’t say anything about this question. From this question we can conclude that major % of people still have belief that T-20 and Test will run independently .
The reason why people think that T-20will make people less interested in test cricket is T-20 less time to finish .So why waiting for five days. There are opponents too. They believe T-20 will not harm Test cricket because, they think although Test cricket takes 5 days to finish, it gives the real sense of cricket. This form determines the best cricketers of the world. Still it is the most prestigious format of cricket. There are some others too, who believe that T-20 and Test will not harm one another and will run independently. Their philosophy is clear; when format is different everything is different. So they will run independently.

8. T-20 is making cricketer richer than before-what do you think?

From the above chart we can say, 68% people are agree that T-20 cricket is making cricketer richer than past.18% peoples said cricketer were always enough rich to support their life. And 14% people had other comments about this survey question.
There are lots of reasons behind cricketer’s improved financial condition. But the main reason behind it is that the Indian Premier League (IPL).IPL has changed the world cricket. It was a revolution of cricket. It has become so popular that corporate world is thinking differently about cricket. They are spending more money in the IPL for the sponsorship. Now a day’s cricketers are millionaire. Lots of prizes are given to them which were incredible few years ago. Some people disagreed because, cricketer were always a star to their country. Although they had no millions of dollars, they were enough rich to survive.

9. Do you think Twenty -20 cricket should be given most priority by International Cricket Council (ICC)?

From the above illustration we find that ,32%people said T-20 should be given most priority by the International Cricket Council(ICC).14% people said that ICC should not give most priority to T-20 cricket. But significantly 54% people said that T-20should be given as priority as other formats. It is clear from the survey that people believe that although T-20 cricket is more popular ICC should give same priority to all the formats. There are lots of reasons to give priority to T-20 cricket .Among them,the growing popularity is the main reason. People want to see more T-20 cricket match. People’s interest shows the demand of T-20 cricket. In some countries it has become one of the biggest medium of recreation. But there are some valid reasons for not giving most priority to T-20 cricket. If International Cricket Council (ICC) give most priority to T-20 cricket, that would make people less interested to other formats. Then cricket will lose its original spirit. Although there are disagreements to give most priority to T-20 cricket, there is a combined way to. Maximum people belie that T-20 cricket should be given as priority as other formats. Because, all of the member are belongs to same family.

10. After all, change in the format of cricket comes as a--?

50% people said, change in the format of cricket comes as a blessing. Rest 50% were neutral. Nobody said, change in the format of cricket is a curse. Change comes as a blessing because of some reasons. First, change makes the cricket more popular. And popularity of cricket is increasing day by day. Second, change reduces the monotonous of cricket. Cricket is now no more a monotonous game. It’s full of entertainment. That’s why people are in favor of change. It is clear from the above graph. Peoples are either neutral or in favor of change. Before T-20 was discovered, lots of people were less interested in cricket. But after introducing of T-20 cricket, the popularity of cricket has increased largely. Even the countries, where once a time nobody knew about cricket, cricket is being popular in those countries too. For example, U.S.A, Netherland, Afghanistan etc. In those countries, very few people knew about cricket. But now cricket is a popular game in those countries. They didn’t watch cricket because it was played all day long. But now T-20 cricket has made cricket, shorter. As a result, those people are being interested in cricket.

# Who is your favorite cricketer? If any………

This was a courtesy question of my survey. But it shows the popularity of cricketers of the world. 41%people said that their favorite batsman is Sachin Tendulkar. Sakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh is in the second position .20% people selected Sakib as their favorite batsman. With 18% support Shahid Afridi is in third in popularity. Interestingly there are two retired cricketer also in the list. Sourav Ganguly &Wasim Akram are 4th in the list with 10% support.11% people gave dispersed answer. The answers were like Shoib Malik, Md. Ashraful, Umar Akmal, and Yuvraj Singh

The format of cricket is changing and the change day by day and it is making cricket more popular. But how peoples are reacting about the change-it is the main theme of my research. From this research, I have come up with some important ideas about the changes in the format of cricket. One of the most important aspects of the research is the effect of T-20cricket on Test cricket. Lots of people believe that T-20 will harm Test cricket .because the time consuming of T-20 cricket. The biggest advantage of the T-20 cricket is this time. As days are passing, peoples of the world are being busier. Another important finding of the research is the globalization of cricket. T-20 Cricket is making cricket more popular all over the world. Since T-20 takes less time as well as more entertaining, peoples are being interested on it. A few years ago, nobody could think cricket in U.S A. But now due to T-20, cricket match is being held in U.S.A.People are thinking it as a very positive aspect of the change in cricket. One more important findings of the research is that the popularity and original spirit both are equally important for cricket. My hypothesis was that change in the format is making cricket enjoyable as well as popular. After the research, I have found that my assumption is right. Maximum people agreed with my hypothesis because T-20 is more entertaining as well as shorter than other formats.

By the analysis of change in the format of cricket, it can be said that change is necessary and it is making cricket more popular. Due to the change in format, cricket is spreading all over the world. By the analysis, it can be also said that T-20 cricket is more popular than Test and ODI cricket.T-20 cricket has become so popular that people are being less interested in other formats. They want to watch more T-20 match than Test and ODI formats. From the analysis, also can be said that ICC should give same priority to its all the formats for the existence of Test and ODI cricket. So at the end of the research study on change in the format of cricket, it can be said that change in the format comes as a blessing for cricket and it will lead cricket to the pick.

References

1.Tendulkar ,A .(1999) Making of a cricketer(M. Sadi,Trans.) .Dhaka:Shafique press.

2.Shuvra, U.(2001,February 21) Sei Sob Innings(2nd ed.).Dhaka:Ononna Press.

3.Pridham, C. H. B. (2008,May). The Charm Of Cricket Past And Present. Stokowski Press. Retrieved August 4,2010,from http://www.flipkart.com

4. Mike Young calls for change in USA cricket (2010,April 12).ESPN cricinfo Retrieved August 4,2010from http://www.cricinfo .com

5. The formtat may change, but cricket’s soul must remain intact (2008, aprill16).Buzzle

Retrieved August 4,2010, from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/190032.html

6.Cricket history (n.d.) stickiewicket

Retrieved from http://www.stickiewicket.com/cricket_history.php 7. A brief history of cricket(n.d.) cricinfo Retrived August 11,2010 from www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/239757.htm

8 Malies,J.(1930) Great Characters From Cricket 's Golden Age Manchester:Manchester Press

9. Warne ,S.(2008,October 2)Shane Warne 's Century: My Top 100 Test Cricketers Paris: Mainstream Publishing.

10. New one-day format planned (2010,June 11).sportal Retrieved August 4,2010 from http://www.sportal.com/au/cricketnews

11. T-20 format changing face of global cricket (2009 October 15).merinews Retrieved August 4,2010 from http://www.merinews.com/sports

12. History of cricket (n.d) iloveindia http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/history-of- cricket-1833.html 13. Mcgrath,G.(2009,May 7)Line and Strength

Melborne: Yellow Jersey Press

References: 1.Tendulkar ,A .(1999) Making of a cricketer(M. Sadi,Trans.) .Dhaka:Shafique press. 2.Shuvra, U.(2001,February 21) Sei Sob Innings(2nd ed.).Dhaka:Ononna Press. 3.Pridham, C. H. B. (2008,May). The Charm Of Cricket Past And Present. Stokowski Press. 5. The formtat may change, but cricket’s soul must remain intact (2008, aprill16).Buzzle Retrieved August 4,2010, from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/190032.html 8 Malies,J.(1930) Great Characters From Cricket 's Golden Age Manchester:Manchester Press 9. Warne ,S.(2008,October 2)Shane Warne 's Century: My Top 100 Test Cricketers Paris: Mainstream Publishing. 10. New one-day format planned (2010,June 11).sportal