Comments on: It’s not cricket

By: Russell Holden

Russell Holden — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:04:01 +0000

The first Ashes Test outside England was an undoubted success and I am delighted to see that Cardiff has been awarded a range of international fixtures until 2016. This is just reward for the organizational effectiveness of the five days coupled with the warm welcome given to everyone that attended. However, attention must also be given to Glamorgan cricket as their current plight has to be addressed with urgency.

By: Royston Jones

Royston Jones — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 18:04:18 +0000

I find it worrying that any Welsh patriot should welcome the England v Australia game to Cardiff. Why was Cardiff awarded a test match? – for the same reason the politicos want a UK soccer team in the London Olympics. They’re trying to use sport to turn back the devolutionary tide.

And how can it be money well spent (on Sophia Gardens)? There’s no guarantee that the ground will ever see another test match. So the crowds (did I say ‘crowds’?) turning out for county and other games certainly won’t justify the expenditure.

That’s because cricket as a game is dying. When I was a boy – back in the ’50s and early ’60s – we played cricket all summer long. When was the last time you saw a bunch of kids play an unsupervised and spontaneous game of cricket? They probably lack the attention span required nowadays. Which explains why cricket has had to introduce ever shorter formats to keep the gnat brains interested.

Lack of crowds is also attributable to Glamorgan deserting St. Helen’s, for Swansea always provided the biggest crowds. But of course in the modern Wales everything must be in Cardiff . . . even when it’s economic lunacy.

So, as a Jack, I’d be quite happy to see Cardiff City Cricket Club go to the wall. Then they could play baseball at Sophia Gardens, pulling in thousands to watch Grange Albion play Ely Social!

By: Hendre

Hendre — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 09:45:32 +0000

Apart from the Daily Hate’s bit of nonsense over the anthems, the coverage was pretty positive. What I find depressing is Quentin Letts’s suggestion that the Welsh Assembly is ‘expendable’ as a means of reducing politician numbers. (I commented as ‘anon’ on Glyn Davies’s blog.)

By: dave Rodway

dave Rodway — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 07:20:47 +0000

Good on you Joseph. Yes I too thought it was terrific, but I’m biased, Welsh and from Cardiff…
I spent a few hours with some English fans and not one of them shared the views of the Daily Mail or the rest of the pompous whingers who complained. Not one. So much of this anti-Welsh crap is media-generated, media-fanned, and, I’m sorry to say, encouraged by some of our own battier anti-Welsh Welsh.
Check out Betsan Powys’s blog for an almost daily update on the ravings of the welsh-hating fascist wing of our own population.

By: Joseph Karnes

Joseph Karnes — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:16:41 +0000

Well said!

As a first time visitor to Cardiff for the last day of the Test, I applaud the relatively minor investment in Sophia Gardens, which paid off for this event alone, in terms of world attention – and will continue to pay dividends to Cardiff for decades to come.

Hat’s off to all those who made the Cardiff Test a reality.

Joseph Karnes
Santa Fe, New Mexico