2023 ODI World Cup | Preview Thread

[Kriterion_BD]

I actually thought Bangladesh would win 3-0.

Is this a joke?

England's A side just got smashed 3-0 in the T20s...which is obviously our weaker format. Hency why I thought we *should* have won the ODIs 3-0. Obviously cricket is played on the field and not on sheets of paper, so unexpected results can pop up.

[Kriterion_BD]

League 2 has officially ended and in dramatic fashion. Everyone - including myself - had written Nepal off after they had only won 8 of their first 24 games...but having won 11 of their last 12. Nepal surpassed the USA and Namibia to seal automatic qualification to the WCQ!

Scotland, Oman, and Nepal finish in the top 3 of League 2.

Namibia, USA, UAE, and PNG will go to the play-off tournament that starts in 10 days time.

[secretzimbo]

Did you see the crowd in Nepal today? Impressive.

I'll be rooting for Namibia in the Qualifier-Qualifier.

[Kriterion_BD]

Did you see the crowd in Nepal today? Impressive.

I'll be rooting for Namibia in the Qualifier-Qualifier.

I did see that crowd...it was absolutely massive.

[eugene]

How come Nepal aren't better at cricket? And by better I mean something like Zimbabwe or Netherlands level. It seems like it is the most popular sport in the country and they border India? Does the geography of the country make things difficult? Lack of money?

[secretzimbo]

Lack of money for sure, as with all associates but especially as a poorer country.

But also I’ve read plenty about that their poor board/administration/corruption etc in their cricket board over the years too

[Kriterion_BD]

I always found it odd how poor their cricket was given its their #1 sport. Oddly enough soccer/football was always #1 in Bangladesh except for the 1997-2010 period. Cricket is back to #2 now.

[secretzimbo]

I always found it odd how poor their cricket was given its their #1 sport. Oddly enough soccer/football was always #1 in Bangladesh except for the 1997-2010 period. Cricket is back to #2 now.

Interesting, I just assumed cricket would be top dog there. When you say football is number 1, is that predominately overseas football, e.g EPL?

I would guess the national cricket team is more popular than say the national BAN football team?

Also in terms of whats played on the streets by kids - would it be cricket or football?

[Kriterion_BD]

I always found it odd how poor their cricket was given its their #1 sport. Oddly enough soccer/football was always #1 in Bangladesh except for the 1997-2010 period. Cricket is back to #2 now.

Interesting, I just assumed cricket would be top dog there. When you say football is number 1, is that predominately overseas football, e.g EPL?

I would guess the national cricket team is more popular than say the national BAN football team?

Also in terms of whats played on the streets by kids - would it be cricket or football?

It’s hard to say for sure.

Cricket was very much a niche sport in Bangladesh before the 1997 ICC Trophy (now called WC Qualifier). It was still somewhat popular but football was king, queen, and bishop. But after elevation to Test status, cricket briefly took over football until probably 2010 or so. I couldn’t tell you the exact reason but cricket seems to be less popular just from a fan perspective. It’s still a big business and the BPL is still well attended.

But back in 2008 we would have several thousand in to watch a Test match, where Bangladesh inevitably got slaughtered. Nowadays, there is hardly 500 fans in for a Test or maybe 5000 for an ODI, whereas the stadium was absolutely jam packed before.

And it has nothing to do with success because Bangladesh now are obviously a much better team than in 2010 in all 3 formats. Unless, back then wins were so rare people came in hoping for a rare chance to witness history. Who knows? Lol.

I would however say that more people watch Bangladesh cricket than Bangladesh football, but that might be because cricket gets way more attention since we play that at the highest level and are in the abyss in terms of football.

[eugene]

Following football in Bangladesh must be tough, the national team is completely irrelevant, even in Asia, and I can't imagine the domestic league has much going for it.

I guess in the 2000s top tier international cricket was still a novelty. I think cricket's popularity is declining in most parts of the world - the T20 hype disguises the decline, but in all honesty I think far fewer people care about cricket now than they did 20 years ago.