Is cricket the most complicated game?

Jopub

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There's a lot of people in many threads asking about cricket and its various formats, laws and all manner of historical questions.

As soon as you start to think about cricket and its rules it does strike you how fking compicated it can be

Many years ago I remember being completely stumped ;) when an old Austrian friend asked me about 'this english game'? .

I never ever got to the end of any explanations before we always collapsed in a heap of laughter as I and he could'nt believe some of the seeming 'craziness' about the game

Now some games are very intricate in their possibilities - chess for example but are actually simplistic in terms of actually playing the game.

Golf has some strange archaic rules but the logic of the game, the main aim of the game is not difficult to grasp.

Baseball may get a look in here but for me doe'snt seem compareable to cricket in complexity

Rugby - I dont think so

Are there any games that are maybe native to the far / middle east / the sub continents that we here know little about but area match for cricket in terms of its uniqueness ?
 
Like anything, its not complicated if you know the game.

Baseball and American football seem complicated to me, but that’s because i don’t really know the sports.
 
Jopub said:
Dunno I've watched / played cricket all my life and it really does seem pretty complicated to me in comparison to others
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Have you ever stood on the pitch and though “this is too complicated”?

Just take it for what it is.

I like the fact that’s its more complex than other sports.
 
I dont think its that complicated, in essence, one team is trying to hit your stumps, the other team is trying to stop you, of which they get more points for how far away they manage to get the ball away from their stumps.

The runs bit is more of an arbitrary add on to keep score.

the only point it gets more complex is taking into account environmental factors.
 
Jopub said:
Me too however when one tries to explain the game to others it seems incredibly incongruous, bizarre at times as well as complex
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I think you just have to explain the basics ie One team bats, the other team bowls - and that's it.

That said, American Football seems pretty complex - but that's not why I dislike it - there's just too much stopping and starting.
 
Somone tried to explain cricket to me once and I've watched all four hours of Lagaan. Still, I don't understand it in the slightest. Someone is trying to knock over the wickets while someone else tries to bat it away?
 
I think, when you look at sports like football, rugby, American football, even the "lesser" sports like golf, boxing, darts, etc. The games themselves may be riddled with idiotic rules, some of which nobody understands, and some of which are just plain daft, but the actual essence, and aim of the sport remains pretty simple, so much so that even a complete moron can't fail to understand it; Score more points than your opponent to win the game, punch this guy's face in without letting him punch yours, drive faster than the other cars, etc. You don't need to understand the rules of football to understand what's going on.

With cricket, the sport itself may have the same simple formula, but at some point early on, an idiot has been put in charge of deciding how to determine who wins, and the rules have ended up being based around that. As a result, nobody has a fecking clue unless it's ALL explained out to them. It's like taking football, and saying, "right, if you score from this part of the pitch, it counts as two goals, but if the goalie catches it, you're sent off, and if you have more sending offs than goals, you lose, even if the other team has 0 goals"

Tennis has the same problem. I know, lets have games within games, which are within sets, which are within games, and you get 15 points for every point you get. Luckily, the retardedness is kept to a minimum, as there's only so much confusion you can create with two people hitting a ball over a net at each other.
 
noodlehair said:
Tennis has the same problem. I know, lets have games within games, which are within sets, which are within matches, and you get 15 points for every point you get. Luckily, the retardedness is kept to a minimum, as there's only so much confusion you can create with two people hitting a ball over a net at each other.
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Not to mention the whole "right, it's actually 45 points but we'll call it 40 as it's easier to say" business.
 
noodlehair said:
I think, when you look at sports like football, rugby, American football, even the "lesser" sports like golf, boxing, darts, etc. The games themselves may be riddled with idiotic rules, some of which nobody understands, and some of which are just plain daft, but the actual essence, and aim of the sport remains pretty simple, so much so that even a complete moron can't fail to understand it; Score more points than your opponent to win the game, punch this guy's face in without letting him punch yours, drive faster than the other cars, etc. You don't need to understand the rules of football to understand what's going on.

With cricket, the sport itself may have the same simple formula, but at some point early on, an idiot has been put in charge of deciding how to determine who wins, and the rules have ended up being based around that. As a result, nobody has a fecking clue unless it's ALL explained out to them. It's like taking football, and saying, "right, if you score from this part of the pitch, it counts as two goals, but if the goalie catches it, you're sent off, and if you have more sending offs than goals, you lose, even if the other team has 0 goals"

Tennis has the same problem. I know, lets have games withing games, which are within sets, and you get 15 points for every point you get. Luckily, the retardedness is kept to a minimum, as there's only so much confusion you can create with two people hitting a ball over a net at each other.
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Great post noods..

Its all about certain mental and cognitive strategies that athletes can use to help themselves with competition and athletic success similar to fans understanding. Cricket fans show a number of cognitive strategies, such as regulating and managing arousal levels, showing self-confidence, using concentration and focus, feeling in control and not forcing things, using positive imagery and thought, exercising commitment and determination, setting goals, having well-developed plans and well-developed coping strategies. To enhance confidence, practice specific plans to deal with problems during competition. Practice routines to deal with unusual circumstances and distractions before and during competition. Concentrate wholly on the upcoming performance and block out irrelevant events and thoughts. Use several mental rehearsals prior to competition. Don't worry about other competitors before a competition - instead focus on what you can control - your own performance. Develop detailed competition plans. Learn to regulate arousal and anxiety. A team is a group. Teams differ a bit from groups though. A team is any group of people that work together to accomplish a shared goal. Team members and team dynamics have to depend on and support each other to accomplish a shared goal. To create an Effective Team climate Foster social support - mutual respect and support enhance team climates Encourage Proximity - closer contacts promote team interaction Create distinctiveness - the more distinct the group feels, the better the climate will be Practice fairness Foster similarity - the greater the similarity felt by the group, the closer the climate will feel. Nexts its about Individuals and Team Performance. The individual ability of each team member is important; however the ability of the individuals in a team is not a good predictor of how a team will perform. The more co-operation and interaction that is needed for a certain task, the more that the importance of individual ability decreases and the importance of group productivity increases. Therefore, teams made up of individuals with equal ability tend to play best. One of the best technique is Social loafing...
Social loafing is a phenomenon that can cause a teams productivity to go down. It occurs when individuals within a group or team put forth less than 100% effort due to the fact that there are others who can pick up their slack. There are ways that one can eliminate social loafing in a team: Emphasize the importance of individual pride and unique contributions, Identify individual performances, Determine the specific situation where social loafing occurs, Conduct individual meetings to discuss social loafing, Look at times from a team mates point of view and Break the team down into smaller units. Also Adolescence (12 - 18 years old) is a particularly hard time for children. They are experiencing all kinds of new changes in their bodies and in their feelings. As well, they often feel misunderstood as they are struggling to leave behind their childhood and become adults. Adolescence has commonly been characterized by issues such as rebellious behaviour, lying, cheating, school performance problems, negative attitudes, disobedience and disrespect, sibling rivalry, drug and alcohol abuse, pressures from peers, depression, and issues of sexuality.

Hope this helps..
 
And even when you have gone to the trouble of understanding the rules it is then incredibly boring except for the few bits that aren't. It is a sport made for TV so that you don't have to waste nearly a week at the ground with the likelihood the end will be as dramatic as jelly making. Except when it isn't
 
Wibble said:
And even when you have gone to the trouble of understanding the rules it is then incredibly boring except for the few bits that aren't. It is a sport made for TV so that you don't have to waste nearly a week at the ground with the likelihood the end will be as dramatic as jelly making. Except when it isn't
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:lol: Admit it , you love it!
 
I do enjoy it although I much prefer watching it on TV to going.

The best bit with the Ashes is that whoever wins I get to take the piss out of someone. Win win :)
 
I've been following cricket since the 2003 series against South Africa and I'm still not always sure what's going on. I mean, I know the rules but am probably only up to about 60% with the tactics/strategies. I'm persevering tho.

It's like chess. I know the rules but I couldn't beat anyone for love nor money.
 
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