The Girls point of view

[tigerlillythe7th]

My dad (although he now denies all knowledge of this) started my obsession with cricket. He always had control of the remote control back in the days when we only had one tv and as a result there were many a Sunday summertime afternoon spent watching the test. However, it was only in 2002 that it became more than a 'if its on, I'll watch it' thing. Dad called me in to watch this guy bat, who was on 180*. He got out 17 runs later & I wasn't overly impressed. Things started to change though when he bowled Tendulkar (someone who I'd heard of with only a very limited amount of knowledge), and then a couple of week later, I sat down to watch the same guy progress from about 20* to 195. I was hooked- he dominated the game like no other I'd seen, and mananged to do it with a certain elegance & grace that others seemed to lack. Hence I'm now a definite Vaughan & cricket fan.

xxEmmaxx

[imaginarydiva]

Ill try answering each question to the best of my ablities.

Q.How did they develop their interest in this game?
A. THe only thing I can say is being an indian,it was impossible for me to stop myself from being sucked into that mania.
Q.Was it Thanks to their fathers or their boyfriends/husbands...??
My father hates cricket and thinks only those watch cricket who have nothing better to do.Maybe that DOES apply to me.Boyfriend?If he does classify as a boyfriend,my boyfriend used to like cricket but it is not interested since hes moved over to the states.He says cricket is no match for baseball which does give me a convenient excuse to call him names.Husbands? OK!Child marraige isnt allowed in India.But yeah,if i do succeed in my ambition of marrying Andy Blignaut....ok,next question
Q.What do they like about the game and what do they hate about it...??? Please tell us who is your favourite cricket player?
A.The best thing about the game is that it is the only sport where indians dont suck as much as they do in other sports.Also,i guess the game is all about tolerance.I think cricket is the ultimate test of endurance.So it beats all reality TV shows by a mile.What do i hate about it?Nothing.My favorite cricket player.I worship the whole indian team like crazy.I don't think any of them would be my favourite cricket player as i do not view them as humans in my eyes.They are gods.I also love the Zimbabwean cricket players as well.If I had to chose one...my ultimte weakness,Andy Blignaut.
If the guys are feeling left out of the discussion then they could please tell us what kind of support would they want from their girls???I guess I am not qualified to answer that but how come none of the guys mentioned 'cheerleading'?

[treasuredbrook]

Hi
Thanks a lot for all your feedback...I just had another last question....Are any of you on the girls cricket team at a regional or national level...Do you plan to pursue it ?

Looking forward to your feedback.
Thanks
Nidhi

[Zainub]

Hi treasured book, I don't know why I haven't helped you out with your pursuit of finding out the girls perspective until now but I'm doing it now anyway. We girls are a very diversified bunch, I can find you people who detest any and all kinds of sport, who will go to many lengths avoiding it, and on the other hand you will find people like many of the female contributors on our board, truly passionate supporters of not teams, but the game, each in their own special way.

My love for cricket though is specifically inherited. My mom is fan as well, and I grew up watching her being passionate about cricket, so I picked it up from her and gradually become totally addicted to it. My dad is not as much fan him self, but in a family where female cricket fans comprehensively outnumber him, he does not have many options. I don’t have brother, and I don’t have a “boy friend” either, not technically at least. So its fair to say I’ve not got my cricket love from either.

What do I love about cricket? Basically everything, but chiefly its capacity to engage all senses, and as Rodney Cavalier once put it to provide “a soporific indifference to time and circumstance, the same person can enter and exit both states of mind". There is nothing like the satisfaction and pleasure you get from watching a full day of test cricket, and then dwelling over what might happen the next day, and how it will affect the result. In essence I’m addicted to the languor of cricket, its unhurried, leisurely progress and how it has the ability to be energizing and exciting at the same time.

Hate is strong term, I don’t specifically hate anything about cricket, but I do have an aversion for over drunken cricket fans at stadiums, cricketers with bad hairstyles, or who are excessively skinny. As far as my favorite players are concerned, their numbers are well and truly uncountable (and every increasing). The vary from the extremes of Shahid Afridi, Inzamam ul Haq and Ashley Giles to Nasser Hussain, Gary Kirsten and Adam Gilchrist.

[Richard Jenkins]

" Its an incomprehensible game. You can't tell who is who because they all wear white! (She's never seen odi cricket!)

Why is that out/not out?

"When does the season start/end?" Is cricket always on? Why do you spend so much time on that site and not with me.( read women are from venus, men are from mars!) You promised you do the (insert chore/thing you've been trying to dodge for weeks now and should've done ages ago here) but all you've done is waste time doing (insert sport/hobby/lifestyle choice) instead."

" Stop drinking so much beer, that's your (any number above 4) this game"

On test cricket
"Why did they spend so much time playing a game for a draw?" Actually I wonder that sometimes too!"

finally "its just a stupid game and anyone who plays it is a saddo."

Still i 'm just as bad about Aha which she's crazy about!! Why?

[Occasional Fan]

French by any chance, Jenko? I certainly have many of the same issues with my Czech lady friend, who simply DOES NOT UNDERSTAND!

[Zainub]

Originally Posted by Richard Jenkins

Why is that out/not out? "When does the season start/end?" Is cricket always on?

Hmm, those 2 sentences sound very familiar. I've tried to explain Saad what constities a LBW about a hundred times at least, but he's still going to pop up the question every time there is dismissal or appeal.

Originally Posted by Richard Jenkins

" Stop drinking so much beer, that's your (any number above 4) this game"

....how many did you say..............I'm afraid your lady friend is bang on wrt to this, that is seriously unhealthy! Drink fresh fruit juice instead, that's what I do.

[Teatime FatCat]

I'm afraid the future Mrs Teatime FatCat has yet to grasp the mettle of our great game. She did, in the early days of our relationship, ask me if I did the 'woody stick thing' or the 'hop skip and jumpy thing'.

She has now progressed onto a basic understanding, and a tolerence of the game on the telly of nearly 3 minutes. She still however, doesn't believe that a game lasts for 6 hours and that it is now compulsory to drink beer at the close of play to re-hydrate oneself.

I shall keep working on her.

[Occasional Fan]

Originally Posted by Zainub Razvi

....how many did you say? I'm afraid your lady friend is bang on wrt to this, that is seriously unhealthy! Drink fresh fruit juice instead, that's what I do.

Ah-ha! Another one who DOES NOT UNDERSTAND!

[Richard Jenkins]

Whenever i suggest holidays in exotic places like south africa or new zealand or Australia or West Indies or India or pakistan she's stopped saying yes cos she's cottoned on to the cunning plan of seeing some test match cricket at the same time..... I still remember the honey moon suggestions which were all refused on the grounds of 'no cricket please'

You can't find the staff!!