My loyal reader may have noticed that my outpourings have been somewhat fewer in recent weeks. I have no excuses. We were in the Croatian island of Brac (pronounced Bratch) in a place with quite wonderful wifi. You see, I got too lazy. But, hey, I’m back now.
The internet is a good way of keeping in touch with things you wouldn’t have been in touch with in years gone by. It wasn’t that long ago when the only way of keeping in touch with events back home was to buy that day old newspaper. Now, if you are sad enough, you needn’t miss a thing. In truth, I didn’t miss much.
I certainly kept abreast of the sport. I didn’t watch any of it on telly but I could tell that sporting occasion that has most affected our nation is the World Cup. And whilst I wasn’t interested in watching the telly, I did hear a bit of radio. Unless we were being had, it was the Women’s World Cup that was the centre of attraction in general and England’s progress in particular.
It is important to be honest and say that I have not been a supporter of women’s football, although it has started to grow on me just a little bit. And it has grown on me a bit because I am consciously not comparing it with the men’s version. If you take the size and strength aspects away, you have a different version of the same thing. Although I have an issue with the general standard of goalkeeping, overall I am getting there. I certainly hope Phil Neville’s girls/women win the thing.
I suspect that a decade or so ago, the cricket World Cup would be at the centre of the nation’s attention. However, I am certain that it isn’t. That’s because of a number of reasons, the main one of which is that ‘live’ coverage is only available to subscribers of Sky. Viewing figures are pitiful – barely 500,000 for the big games and considerably less for the lesser games. To say that the tournament has not gripped the attention of the country is a massive understatement. Cricket, already in major decline in terms of participation and retreating to its upper class/private school base, is for most people a sideshow. Those who are already fans are loving it. However, the legacy will be of a badly missed opportunity to expand the game, or simply arrest the decline. I suspect there is more interest in an American baseball game taking place in London this weekend, though no real level of interest, I’m afraid, in this house.
There was a time when this moderately interested cricket fan could name the entire Gloucestershire team and a number of players from every other county team. I have now reached the stage where I don’t know a single Glos player and don’t even recognise the names of some players in the national team. I doubt that this is an unusual situation.
I might watch the remaining England football games, not least because I’ll be in the company of millions given it’s on the BBC. The cricket, I could not care less about. It’s going on, albeit in the background, and it’s missing the public’s attention. The way things are going, we’ll be back to gentlemen and players soon. If we aren’t already.
