Is test cricket the most favoured form of the game back there?

Posted by yamheisenberg@reddit | AskABrit | View on Reddit | 18 comments

Despite cricket not being nearly as popular as football, the crowds at the cricket seem to be so lively, especially during test matches - and even more so during the Ashes. Way more than white ball formats. Sometimes I wonder if cricket is as popular as football, all thanks to the fans. I’ve never heard cricket stadiums go as wild as they did when Stokes hit that winning four in 2019 at Headingley, and when Broady took his final wicket at The Oval. Also, does every spectator get that ear piece that I’ve seen snooker game spectators have?

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wardyms@reddit

That ear piece costs extra. They’re about £5 and you can choose between commentary options.

Watching cricket live as a spectator sport is nowhere near as good on TV, it’s really hard to follow where the ball is at times.

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CymroBachUSA@reddit

No, not really ... it's just an excuse for a 5-day piss-up and a chance wear stupid costumes and call yourself and eccentric englishman. Very few people care, TBH. Now let the flame wars begin!

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jupiterspringsteen@reddit

Test cricket is the most popular format in England. The first 4 days of all test matches against any of the decent test playing nations usually sell out months in advance. And the tickets aren't cheap.

Pro cricketers know test cricket is the ultimate format, and so too do the majority of English fans.

Cricket on the whole is pretty popular, I'd say it's the second most popular sport here.

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LeTrolleur@reddit

I prefer T20, watched IPL growing up and was disappointed we couldn't have a similar league on TV here.

Test cricket bores me if I'm completely honest, I don't think I have the attention span, others like it though so who am I to judge.

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Poseidon-Hermes@reddit

I’ve been to a couple of tests and the occasional T20 game. It was maybe 5% for the cricket, then 95% to have a silly day out with some mates.

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Breakwaterbot@reddit

Same reason I go to the rugby tbh.

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SlightlyMithed123@reddit

For actual cricket fans I’d say Test is the No1, I like the other formats but none compare to a Test match for me.

It is shifting with T20, there is a much younger crowd, much like with that weird 100 thing they’ve come up with.

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Dennyisthepisslord@reddit

As a cricket fan who certainly thinks a good test match beats a good t20 game I'd say it's pretty even. Younger fans, families and perhaps more casual fans will prefer the shorter form but hopefully eventually be converted into test fans by a good series or match.

Financially test cricket here is still a big deal. It's isn't cheap to go for a day and the London grounds will get roughly 100k attending a test.

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Hamsternoir@reddit

Say what you like about it but a lot of kids are getting into cricket through the hundred.

At grass roots most villages large enough for a pub will also have a cricket club.

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monkeymidd@reddit

Also the all stars programme where you pay about £40 and get a bag , bat , ball , t shirt and 8 training sessions is doing wonders for junior cricket

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Hamsternoir@reddit

You can hardly move at our club on a Friday night when it's training for the older youth teams and All Stars is on.

Very different from my oldest's first match where we only had four and the opposition had 8. Now there's two teams plus extras at every age level.

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WinkyNurdo@reddit

Twenty five or so years ago I lived in a village in Dorset, which had a river running through it, a cricket pitch by the river and a pub opposite the cricket pitch, albeit over the road, aptly named The Cricketers. Of a summer weekend I would happily take a blanket down to the grass verge and sit under a tree with a few ciders and lazily watch these unfit, puffing, red faced yet wily old men and enthusiastic, slogging youngsters thoroughly enjoying themselves on the pitch in the sun. It was a lovely way to spend a slow day.

Sadly the pitch was sold up some years ago and is now a bloody supermarket, with the cricket club moved to the peripheries of the village.

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DivePotato@reddit

Lords only has a capacity of 3l

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Dennyisthepisslord@reddit

There's more than one day of play 😉

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UncleSnowstorm@reddit

Nobody in the UK is into cricket.

But a lot of people like cricket as a background noise for drinking.

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BlackJackKetchum@reddit

Last things first, over ear commentary radios are quite popular, but you have to pay for them.

My Test ground is Trent Bridge, and I’m off to watch one day of the Zim test in a few weeks. I anticipate a great day’s entertainment. The Bridge, Headingley, Old Trafford, up to a point the Oval, and especially Edgbaston have at least one loud stand where there will be lots of singing, drinking and dressing up. Lords - nope, rather sedate.

County cricket cannot fill grounds, but the Hundred (a bastardised form of T20) has done a pretty good job of getting folk into stadia.

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pcor@reddit

A good portion of the cricket fans I’ve known (have always found it incredibly boring myself) have basically treated test matches as a kind of multi-day bougie bender, which might go some way towards explaining the enthusiasm.