Big Bash League vs Ram Slam

[Grizzly_za]

So I'm struggling to enjoy the Ram Slam T20 series after watching some of the Aussie Big Bash League games. The Aussies make it look way more exciting for a few reasons.

For starters almost every team has one or often several bowlers capable of bowling over 145 km/h. Then these bowlers also know how to do death bowling. Yorkers (at the stumps and on the wide line) and slow bouncers abound. I'm a batsman myself but I love seeing a good bowler earn his pay. Take Yasir Arafat (no the other Arafat) for example. That guy is seriously impressive with a ball in hand (get your mind out the gutter you perverts). Ok he is an import but the Aussie bowlers, even the ones who aren't international players, just seem to somehow put more effort in or something. Yes we have a couple of good bowlers like Kyle Abbott. I'd still like to see more aggressive bowling though.
Their batsman also constantly seem hungry for big hits. Even if they only need 5 an over for victory they go big to keep their net run rate up.

Also the entertainment value of the BBL is miles ahead of what we have here. There are people on trampolines and fireworks and even the music feels louder and more exciting. They also have exciting commentators who make jokes and feel more into the game. Many of our commentators don't sound as if they're enjoying it. I remember the local T20 scene being much more exciting in previous years with dancers and fire and stuff. The stadiums also seemed fuller then.

I understand the BBL most likely has a WAY bigger budget than our league, but that's no excuse for things like our teams' uniforms looking so ugh. Pedantic as it may sound, the BBL players have genuine New Era caps and a kit that looks like someone actually got paid to design. I dig that. It is slightly American but it suits the T20 scene more.

I know I sound like the average person who only watches 20 overs cricket and demands action but I'm not. I love all forms of this beautiful game. I just feel our standard has gone down and other countries are stealing our viewers and fans in the process. A commentator on the BBL recently mentioned the large South African TV audience they have.

Here's hoping next year is bigger and better for our local scene.

Your thoughts?

 

[MickeyD]

You are spot on! This also ties into the thread I started about attendances at local cricket games. If CSA and the sponsors made more of an effort to spice things up then I'm sure the public will return to the Stadia.

As it is now, Some unions are spreading their games over two venues (Warriors, Titans, Knights), which alienates many loyal fans. Why must I watch less than half the (so-called home) games that my team plays?

To set up the "razzmatazz" at so many venues is crazy. Instead we end up with a half-baked competition played before empty Stadia.

As to the Supersport commentators.... liven the feck up please!!!!

 

[Wall]

So I'm struggling to enjoy the Ram Slam T20 series after watching some of the Aussie Big Bash League games. The Aussies make it look way more exciting for a few reasons.

For starters almost every team has one or often several bowlers capable of bowling over 145 km/h. Then these bowlers also know how to do death bowling. Yorkers (at the stumps and on the wide line) and slow bouncers abound. I'm a batsman myself but I love seeing a good bowler earn his pay. Take Yasir Arafat (no the other Arafat) for example. That guy is seriously impressive with a ball in hand (get your mind out the gutter you perverts). Ok he is an import but the Aussie bowlers, even the ones who aren't international players, just seem to somehow put more effort in or something. Yes we have a couple of good bowlers like Kyle Abbott. I'd still like to see more aggressive bowling though.
Their batsman also constantly seem hungry for big hits. Even if they only need 5 an over for victory they go big to keep their net run rate up.

Also the entertainment value of the BBL is miles ahead of what we have here. There are people on trampolines and fireworks and even the music feels louder and more exciting. They also have exciting commentators who make jokes and feel more into the game. Many of our commentators don't sound as if they're enjoying it. I remember the local T20 scene being much more exciting in previous years with dancers and fire and stuff. The stadiums also seemed fuller then.

I understand the BBL most likely has a WAY bigger budget than our league, but that's no excuse for things like our teams' uniforms looking so ugh. Pedantic as it may sound, the BBL players have genuine New Era caps and a kit that looks like someone actually got paid to design. I dig that. It is slightly American but it suits the T20 scene more.

I know I sound like the average person who only watches 20 overs cricket and demands action but I'm not. I love all forms of this beautiful game. I just feel our standard has gone down and other countries are stealing our viewers and fans in the process. A commentator on the BBL recently mentioned the large South African TV audience they have.

Here's hoping next year is bigger and better for our local scene.

Your thoughts?

You are spot on! This also ties into the thread I started about attendances at local cricket games. If CSA and the sponsors made more of an effort to spice things up then I'm sure the public will return to the Stadia.

As it is now, Some unions are spreading their games over two venues (Warriors, Titans, Knights), which alienates many loyal fans. Why must I watch less than half the (so-called home) games that my team plays?

To set up the "razzmatazz" at so many venues is crazy. Instead we end up with a half-baked competition played before empty Stadia.

As to the Supersport commentators.... liven the feck up please!!!!

Completely agree. Our T20 has no glitz factor behind it.

I didn't even know the Dolphins were playing yesterday, only saw it this morning. If I had known they were playing, I would have went down to Kingsmead for an evening out with the SO.

 

[AthenianOwl]

BBL FTW! I watch it every morning (SA time zone) on the Internet.

On the other hand, Ram Slam? What is this? Maybe that's because I don't have DSTV at home. It's ridiculously expensive. I'm not willing to pay R700 p/m just to watch local cricket on TV. I'm not very familiar with RAM SLAM teams. Good job, CSA. I'm sure that the majority in SA don't have DSTV at home.

Local cricket's not popular in SA because of poor marketing/promotion strategies.

 

[DJ...]

Just look at how many kids are at the BBL games. I suspect that all kids get free entrance, clubs get special rates, those within close proximity of the stadium are bombarded with marketing, the series is advertised like crazy on Aussie tele, players are financially incentivised to play an exciting brand of cricket, commentators actually want to be there and have fun at the same time, and they're given the budget to work with by Cricket Australia (with perhaps an allowance given by the ICC as well).

All of these things woo a crowd. None of these things are done locally.

Heck, right now they have Gillie and Ponting commentating together. And they're great.

Another question I have - what has RAM actually done to develop cricket in SA and to increase crowd attendance? Hardly anything in my books. They've taken over existing structures and rebranded them. Our choice of principle sponsor is terrible...

 

[SinghDude]

Blame CSA.

The Indians are right, Lorgat is a kunt. Hire a CEO who knows how to run a profitable business.

 

[Electric]

Total waste of time and effort.
What's worse is that a few years ago we were setting the standard for this sort of event.

 

[MickeyD]

Blame CSA.

The Indians are right, Lorgat is a kunt. Hire a CEO who knows how to run a profitable business.

Seriously? How long has he been there?

 

[DJ...]

The game on at the moment between The Hurricanes and The Heat is shaping up to be a goodie. It is just more exciting.

Why? I suspect that it's down to production quality, decent commentators, quality cricket being played, and a good crowd at the venue.

Now go back and watch our local games - poor crowd attendance, commentators like Pommie who spend a minute dragging out a single sentence about how the seam of the ball has shifted a millimetre to the left in one spot, and mediocre production quality from Supersport and the promoters (the bare minimum).

We do however have good cricket being played. But few people want to watch it...

 

[MickeyD]

We do however have good cricket being played. But few people want to watch it...

'tis true! We have some serious talent.

Another thing... note their scheduling of the fixtures. You don't get matches played at the same time, like here in sunny SA.

 

[SinghDude]

Seriously? How long has he been there?

CSA is responsible for cricket in SA .


Lorgat is a worm... he has somehow riggled himself into a position of power yet again.... Just how much positives can one take since he got appointed ?


All that has happened is SA has become somewhat ostracised by the BCCI, nobody wants to play us anymore. The big 3 ( India , Aus and Eng ) will dictate how world cricket is run and where exactly the money will go to.


The fact that the BCCI don't trust Lorgat should have been taken into account when he was appointed.

He needs to go.

 

[SinghDude]

On another note.....



Is Albie going to get another chance for the Proteas, he had a poor last game , but otherwise he seems to be bowling and batting fairly well again ... the break has rejuvenated him !!!


Lets hope he continues to perform in the Ram Slam and is rewarded with a recall to the national team.

 

[AthenianOwl]

Just look at how many kids are at the BBL games. I suspect that all kids get free entrance, clubs get special rates, those within close proximity of the stadium are bombarded with marketing, the series is advertised like crazy on Aussie tele, players are financially incentivised to play an exciting brand of cricket, commentators actually want to be there and have fun at the same time, and they're given the budget to work with by Cricket Australia (with perhaps an allowance given by the ICC as well).

All of these things woo a crowd. None of these things are done locally.

Heck, right now they have Gillie and Ponting commentating together. And they're great.

Another question I have - what has RAM actually done to develop cricket in SA and to increase crowd attendance? Hardly anything in my books. They've taken over existing structures and rebranded them. Our choice of principle sponsor is terrible...

Now we're cooking...!

 

[DJ...]

'tis true! We have some serious talent.

Another thing... note their scheduling of the fixtures. You don't get matches played at the same time, like here in sunny SA.

And they're all night games. I know we have night fixtures in ours too, but I had to google that and find it on the Supersport site. They don't even have their own website to punt it.

As I said in your previous thread, the marketing is atrocious for local cricket. It's not like we don't have the crowds - watch SA vs Aus - we've got the crowds and they want to watch good cricket. But CSA dropped the ball on local game and series advertising so people have no interest in it.

It started when Supersport took over imho. You can only watch on Supersport; they put in the bare minimum advertising and it only reached a premium subscriber audience for the most part; CSA washed their hand of responsibility and left it to Supersport. Even the Supersport Series. It wasn't even televised for a long time!

All of this boils down to marketing, and the lack of it in SA, as well as games being exclusively available via an incredibly expensive subscription service. They've narrowed their market to such an extent that it is a niche audience who actually attend the games...

 

[Electric]

Like how he performed in the IPL but failed for the Proteas?

 

[DJ...]

On another note.....



Is Albie going to get another chance for the Proteas, he had a poor last game , but otherwise he seems to be bowling and batting fairly well again ... the break has rejuvenated him !!!


Lets hope he continues to perform in the Ram Slam and is rewarded with a recall to the national team.

They fscked Albie over. They saw him pinch-hit and then pigeon-holed him.

Albie is a quality batsman. He can bat through when needed and put on big totals, but being an explosive batsman is a double-edged sword when it comes down to the selectors and their decision-making. Albie could have been a great middle-order batmsan and his bowling is adequate too (it's not great). Could have...

 

[Stefanmuller]

I see the NZ series on at the moment they offer 100 000NZ dollars for a successful catch taken in the crowd and if not mistaken there are prizes for catches in the BBL too (although maybe a 1000bucks).

Things like this can draw crowds, even if the RAM series only offer R5 000 per catch. They get dropped 95% of the time anyways.

 

[Electric]

NZers I know go to the cricket for that catch.
Even if they don't come near to the catch, the entire crowd just loves it.

 

[DJ...]

Yup, as I suspected, kids get in free at the KFC Big Bash, as confirmed by the commentators. Kids absolutely drive numbers up. And they have their own website - http://www.bigbash.com.au/

They have great marketing initiatives and great sponsors. And it's not available exclusively on expensive monopoly services there.

CSA, open your fscking eyes...

 

[SinghDude]

Sponsors don't want to be associated with corrupt officials.


Surprised that Ram actually came in to sponsor the T20 series.