Thought #5 — cricket, a reflection of our times
After recently attending a cricket match in its latest incarnation, the 20/20 version, I can tell you this… I don’t like it.
First of all, if you don’t know what cricket is, ie. if you’re not from a country that was exploited by the British, here’s a link to a quick explainer video.
So anyway, lets get something clear, I do like cricket, and I do like watching it. But this new version, with its dazzling fireworks, flashing lights, and deafening music, just isn’t for me…and that got me thinking…why not?
The 20/20 game is supposed to be a fast and furious version of the original game. Big hits, high energy, as many runs as possible, taking a hell of a lot more risks than a cricket player normally would, and all completed in an evening so you have time to sleep and go to work the next day. And sure that’s exactly what it delivers. So what is the problem?
The problem is, this game, the 20/20 version, was not made for me, a child of the 80's. It was made for the new generation of kids with ever and ever decreasing attention spans. Kids these days are constantly being bombarded with information, with distractions. Ipads, smart phones, internet, social media, advertising, on demand TV, YouTube, Instagram, bam bam bam. There is no relief.
And as soon as the bombardment stops, they get bored.
I get it. It’s like when you get off the highway after driving at a 110km/hr for the last 2 hours, and now have to drive at 60km/hr….BORING!!! it feels soooo slow.
To a “dinosaur” like me, I took offence to the decimation of the game I enjoyed watching. The beautiful One-Day game had been turned into a circus to get as much cash from our poor ADHD kids.
Wait, what? The One-Day game? But isn’t the Test-Match, the true game?
Here is where it gets interesting, here is where we see history repeating itself.
Yes, the Test-Match, is the true game, the original game. But for me, growing up in the 80’s, I couldn’t stand watching a potential 5 day cricket match…It was soooooo boring!!!! sooooo slow!!!
Sound familiar?
That’s right, us 80’s kids were considered attention deficient back then too. What with our Atari’s, Donkey Kongs, BMXs, and on-demand VHS movies, hahaha. History is funny.
So yes, cricket needed to get us 80’s kids back into the game too, they were losing money, they were losing us to “Pong” for crying out loud. Hence the One-Day game was invented, and it worked. The One-Day game sucked me and my generation in like a vacuum, and we didn’t stop watching.
Fast forward to the 00’s (naughties) and the kids have ants in their pants again. 20/20 is invented and the ants leave…..for now.
Have we changed, really? It seems like the same old thing repeating itself, just more intense. But even the intensity is subjective, depending on which generation you are from.
If you’re a 20/20 kid, it’s normal.
If you’re a One-Day kid, it’s intense.
If you’re a Test-Match kid, it’s probably bed time, hehehe.
So if our current generation has you worried, you better go live on a mountain, because the next is generation is going to be 10x.
But if you ever want to know how we’re travelling along down here, just turn on the TV and watch a game a cricket. You’ll know where we stand.
CitizenRod is an entrepreneur, industrial designer, artist, and thinker. Follow him on Steemit, Twitter, Insta, his artwork at rodrigoantoniomunoz, and his startup at Maate.it.
Note: This article was originally posted on Medium by CitizenRod.