2022 saw a few signs of progress after about 20 years of no progress whatsoever.
Has ZCF seen enough progress last year for the return of the ZCF XI though?
Ha! I was lacking motivation this time last year to do an annual XI and was thinking perhaps it had run its course since the response seemed to diminish the last few years. Also not sure I keep up with the forum enough to know the characteristics of some of the newer regulars.
Yeah, I pretty much thought so as well, but still asked the question . And yeah, in their heyday, those threads were a lot of fun! Wonderful memories and something we can go back to with nostalgia!
Not really. I deeply want to agree with you both but the reality is different.
Commentators recently were seriously discussing that this could be South Africa’s last ever Test tour to Australia. For example.
Pakistan have been getting less than 200 people per day to the ground (in Karachi!) for recent Tests. Another example.
Zimbabwe’s tests with Ireland and Afghanistan this year are unlikely to go ahead etc.
Unless you are either;
1. A wealthy Indian business magnate
Or
2. A normal Indian dude who regularly inexplicably gambles their entire family income on cricket betting
Then your opinion holds decreasing weight. Sadly.
Even in India, stadiums are 80% empty for Test cricket. The lack of crowds for Tests outside of England or Australia has been that way for quite some time. So that isn’t necessarily alarming.
The WTC will survive because all 9 member boards regard it as a prestige issue at the very least. Most of them genuinely care about Test cricket as well. One silver lining is that T20 leagues are forcing a little more parity in number of fixtures. Used to be Bangladesh would play 4 Tests a year and England would play 15, with all other teams somewhere in the middle. Now, all teams are playing 6-11 a year.
bilateral ODIs are going to be the biggest loser but my hope is the overwhelming success of the ODI World Cup and Champions Trophy will inject renewed interest in bilateral ODIs.
One positive of 2022 on this forum is that as soon as Zimbabwe cricket started doing well, the trolls have disappeared.
I think that's got more to do with the one-time BRMT admin logged in last year, those troll accounts were probably banned. And new ones can't get in until they have their first 10 posts approved.
