The Ashes & a market society
Ive been to three days of Ashes cricket this year. I was at day two of the first Test at Edgbaston (£90) where I thought good competitive cricket was played. I was at day one of the Lords Test and got very wet (£150 ticket was refunded). I was at the first day of the final Test at the Oval on Thursday (£100). There were things to enjoy and Cummins bowling in particular was impressive but the overall quality of cricket wasn’t great.
An issue is that the values of a market society have permeated cricket to an extent where the impact is significantly negative.
We live of course in a market economy. We can debate whether this is a good thing and whether it works for the many as opposed to the few.
A market society reflects a world where the values of the economy start to rule in wider society. Is there a profit or a loss taking place? If the latter why is something happening? Since time is money, best to crack on with the things.
Yet a 5 day Test match that may produce no result at all is the antithesis of all that. It is like slow food or cask ale. Something that cant and should not be hurried
Action must be and is taken….
So in an English summer where we have had the magnificent World Cup it was also felt that a 5 Test Ashes series had to be shoe horned in with only a small break in-between
The Guardian has reported that England Test captain Joe Root has played 24 international matches since May and frankly it shows. Likewise the current Oval Test is the latest in the year that an Ashes Test has ever been played
The impact of the market society in cricket starts to be felt by the players. Several England players who were out at the Oval on the first day were playing one-day cricket shots as if there was a hurry. There wasn’t. Similarly several sixes were struck. Good entertainment of course, but what kind of mindset does a player have who is doing that on the first afternoon of a 5-day game? Perhaps not one that is really attuned to a lengthy match.
Time is money indeed. Perhaps its time to provide public funding for the infrastructure of cricket, as the national game, to make sure, as far as possible, that it continues to exist as a game rather than a profit centre.
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