10 Reasons To Get Into Cricket Today

You might have heard that cricket is a boring sport. Nothing could be further from the truth; it’s packed with just as much drama and excitement as football, basketball, or any number of other popular sports. If you’ve been holding off on getting into cricket and following the fortunes of international Test play because you think it’s going to be boring, then you’re making a big mistake. Here are 10 of the most compelling reasons to get into cricket as soon as you can!

1. Playing it can improve your health

Cricket can be just as physically intensive as other sports. In fact, it has numerous health benefits; it improves your physical fitness, it can keep you entertained while you’re exercising, and it’s a great way to boost your mental health as well. Finding the right team and playing a round of cricket every few days can really keep you in good shape, so if you’re looking for a team sport to play but you’re not a huge fan of football, you should consider giving cricket a try!

2. T20 cricket is faster-paced than ever

One of the biggest criticisms levelled at cricket is that it’s slow-paced. Once upon a time, that may have arguably been the case, but nobody could call cricket slow nowadays thanks to the advent of T20 play. It was originally started at an international standard back in 2003, and it’s continued to be the standard for professional cricket since then. Don’t take our word for it; in an interview with sports betting platform Betway, legendary bowler Ian Bishop described T20 cricket as “a very serious format” with more “tactical nuances” than its classical cousin.

3. Each play is a thrill all its own

In football, the game is continuous, meaning you’re watching the ball stay in play for a significant period of time. The same isn’t really true of cricket; it’s more like hundreds of smaller games being played in succession rather than a single game. Each ball bowled is its own drama; will the batsman block it, hit it for six, or fail to get to it in time? Will the batsmen complete their runs by the time the ball makes its way back to the wicket? In this way, it could be said that cricket unfolds more like a mini-series than a movie.

4. Watching great cricket plays is exhilarating

Anyone who says cricket is boring has almost certainly never actually sat down and watched a whole game. Could Shane Warne’s incredible 2003 “Ball of the Century” delivery, in which he completely bamboozled English batsman Mike Gatting, be called boring? What about the 286 runs that were scored from a single ball in one particularly memorable game of Australian cricket (the ball got stuck in a tree)? These feats of athleticism need to be seen to be believed.

5. The basics are simple

Arguably, there are fewer rules to remember in cricket than in other sports, especially when you’re talking about the basics. At its core, cricket boils down to this simple tenet: score more runs than your opponent, and when you’re bowling, try to hit the wicket instead of their bat. Of course, there is more complexity to it than that, but we think you can sit down and start watching cricket without struggling to get any of the core tenets of the sport.

6. There are lots of complexities

Even though the basics of cricket are simple, that doesn’t mean you’re getting an overly basic game. There are plenty of different strategies both for batsmen and bowlers; will you bowl deep square leg or deep midwicket? Where on the pitch do you want to aim to make sure your ball ends up with a weaker fielding player? Cricket is a simple sport, but it achieves that hallowed mixture of being easy to learn and hard to master, making it great fun for those with a head for analytics.

7. Cricket still breaks new ground

Despite being a sport with a great deal of traditionalism behind it, cricket is still breaking new ground all the time. This year, the new The Hundred competition pitted players against one another in games of only 100 balls, leading to a much shorter and more intense game of cricket. This is similar to the way that T20 cricket broke the mould all those years ago, paving the way for a speedier yet somehow more strategic variation of the game.

8. The women’s tournaments are just as good

As a society, we really need to get over the stigma we have regarding women’s sports. There’s no reason that women’s cricket shouldn’t be regarded just as highly as men’s cricket is; with players like Cathryn Fitzgerald and Jhulan Goswami filling the ranks, women’s cricket is just as thrilling and strategic as the men’s sport. If you’re feeling fed up with how much men’s sport dominates the landscape, cricket is a great place to go for a refreshing alternative.

9. Cricket can be an event

Unlike football, which is often frenetic and tense thanks to its 90-minute running time, cricket can often last for an entire day or more. You can turn it into a background event; why not set up your workstation and get some work done while the cricket game hums along in the background? While it’s certainly true that cricket can offer just as much high drama as other sports, it’s also better at being relaxing and comforting, meaning it really does offer the best of both worlds.

10. Nations unpopular in other sports get a look-in

Thanks to the ubiquitous nature of cricket, the nations most commonly cited as the best teams are more refreshing and interesting than their football counterparts. While European football tends to dominate the conversation, in cricket, you’re just as likely to hear about teams like India, South Africa, and Australia, none of whom tend to field world-class athletes in football or other sports. Cricket is a great place to be if you’re a fan of these nations!

10 Reasons To Get Into Cricket Today to Other Sports

Top of This Page