Crowd Behaviour

 In today's Telegraph Michael Henderson has written a piece on the deteriorating behaviour of cricket crowds.
    As someone who's not lived in England for nigh on 25 years I can't really comment on his observations , but I respect his judgement.  The crazy costumes seen at cricket nowadays brought a smile when first seen , but I must admit , I find it tiresome and distracting now.
    That Sky shows these people at every opportunity , beer in hand (nothing wrong in that ) screaming and shouting (plenty wrong with that!) and apparently not bothering with what's happening in the middle.
     These so called fans just want exposure and a 'Did you see me on TV yesterday?" quip in the pub/office.
    Stewards stand and watch and laugh along with the foulmouthed antics - all this in close proximity of women and children. Call me old fashioned , but that's behaviour that deserves an eviction from the ground.
     I'm not adverse to the odd expletive , but in the right company. I enjoy my beer , but know my limits. More importantly , I love my cricket and the fine spectacle that it is takes almost total concentration.  Chatting between balls with friends , discussing the game , is terrific. But the people I go to cricket with all abide by one simple rule - we don't talk when the bowler turns at the end of his run.
     The social side of cricket is part of it's appeal , but the game comes first. Respect for your fellow spectators is a close second , but that doesn't prevent making new friends and enjoying a good laugh along the way.

    In South Africa dressing up is very rare and I've experienced little rowdyism at tests , just a little overindulgence sometimes that has been sorted out (usually by other spectators , the stewards are hopeless!).  All in all , watching a test at Newlands differs little from my times at Old Trafford in the 60's - it's still a great experience.

    My question is - Is cricket less pleasurable in your part of the world nowadays? Is it downright unpleasant and you're loathe to attend now? Have you stopped taking your wife/girlfriend/parents and children?

    If the answer to any of those posers is "yes" then it's about time we lobbied our cricket committees and the ICC and see something done.
   

 Yes mate , political correctness gone mad!!  Apparently in England they want to ban conkers , sacrilege,that !! 
 
   I don't want to get on my high horse , but when was the last time you saw a youngster hold a door open for a lady or give up a seat on the bus ?
 
    I think I'll just nip out and slap a student!
  

I can only speak for Trent Bridge, which is the place I go to watch international cricket. There it is managed quite well as it is made quite clear that anyone wishing to join in Barmy Army style antics and general rowdiness should buy tickets for the William Clarke stand which is over to one corner and leaves the rest of the ground to watch the cricket.

From a distance it can be quite amusing in small doses though I would hate to be sat amongst them for a day. Indeed my notion of hell is to spend a lifetime saving up to follow England on an overseas tour then find myself stuck beside that Jimmy Saville lookalike pillock at the ground!

(As a general rule you may also find that buying the most expensive tickets tends to keep you away from the worst behaved specatators!)

 Yes Roscoe , the security can be heavyhanded too , as I've said , a laugh at the cricket is part of the enjoyment.
    I have to admit that I always have a wander over to the Barmy Army at the lunchtime interval and enjoy the banter - some extremely funny lads amongst them and Clobs , "Jimmy" is alright!
     I like the idea of putting the "lively" ones in a single section , that way , you can't complain if you can't hear yourself think!

     It doesn't have to be a morgue-like atmosphere , but traditionally , cricket is a quieter sport. The tension at Edbaston when Lee and Kasper were within 3 runs of winning was excruciating - and the silence was deafening , anyone attempting to start a chant then would've been rightly lynched!

 They have more staying power than I did at that age Roscoe!  True though , I've never seen them upset the locals and the landlords love 'em to death!

 That's right Clobs , the lads that travel have worked hard to get the money together and they are cricket fans.   Many are contracted guys from the gulf who work their bums off to earn enough to take 3 months off to tour - real supporters!  They're not kids either , I'd say they're early 30's-40 and rather decent on the ale!

Sadly, I have never been to watch a cricket match but it is quite obvious to me that crowd behaviour at the cricket grounds have deteriorated over the years.  The 1996 WC semi-final at Eden Gardens sticks in my mind.

Where i live, the team palying gets a crowd of around 200 people, but they are absolute fantastic and always giving their team 150% not matter the scorecard.

Thanks Cap!!  Fortunately we're still in the great majority , genuine cricket lovers must make up 90+% of the crowd in stadiums around the world.
    Sadly that idiotic minority can ruin a fine day's play and a family day out with their mindless antics.
    Personally when an individual within my proximity behaves like a total pratt I have a plethora of put downs which - a) Puts him in his place and b) Brings a few laughs !   
     I still have yet to be punched too!!


Edited by Sledger - 22 June 2007 at 5:53am

Luckily at my source of international cricket "Jade Stadium" it is almost law, be it unwritten that the drunks buy tickets for the tui stand (funnily enough, tui is a brand of beer). Thus, leaving the rest of us to enjoy the cricket and laugh at their drunken antics. Though it is sad that this happens at all

Although, Middlesex have responded saying the problems were exaggerated.

http://www.cricketworld.com/england/county/middlesex/article/?aid=12051

That's the Middlesex CCC statement regarding the matter.


Edited by -JP- - 27 June 2007 at 10:46am

So Robert Croft is the latest player to complain about verbal abuse.  He's a tough cookie and has been around , but when he says that the Somerset fans went "way over the top" in their recent T20 clash , then the ECB has to act.
        It's disappointing fellas. These fixtures are fantastic family affairs , but the foulmouthed brigade seem set on ruining the fun.  More security is needed and the yobs evicted at the first signs of trouble.

       Just how long before some thug invades the field and attacks a player physically?

Originally posted by zuhair_abbasi First things first….there should not be parks in the stadium….people just tend to have a picnic on the grassy area of the ground and seem least bothered about cricket in the centre!!

I'm sorry but I don't understand what you are trying to say here? Parks in the stadium? Can you explain further?

Ah I see what you mean, and as you rightly say, there are hardly any here.

At any of the big grounds its all allocated seating, no ticket no entry!

I'm sure the yobs probably like the atmosphere at a ground and find that their behaviour is more 'tolerated' because of said atmosphere.

I would have thought though that they aren't a fan of the prices (of entry or a pint!) and at the Oval now on International match days you can't take any of your own alcohol, which makes it quite expensive to get tipsy!

Yeah in NZ all the beer is watered down to become 2%. Hardly strong enough...