Magic of cricket

The game of cricket has become immensely popular across age and gender barriers. In the 1960s and 1970s, cricket was principally enjoyed by boys above 15 or 16 years and by men. Women rarely took interest in cricket, though many of them wanted to know the score by the end of the day, if their country team was playing.

Now, children of all ages relish watching the game in the stadiums. They also don the jerseys of their teams. Even children of four-or five-years of age clap their hands with joy and scream with delight when a sixer is hit. They know when their team members bash a sixer or bag a wicket. Perhaps they just copy their parents. Many children even cry when their home team loses a match.

Now, girls of all ages particularly in the teen years and also women enjoy the game immensely at the stadiums. They too yell and rejoice at the various twists and turns in the game. This is a new phenomenon. Women were never enthralled with cricket earlier. Now they are active participants in watching the game. Some girls even play cricket for their countries.

These trends will make cricket more popular, generate more players and provide more livelihoods to the players and the staff.

Rajendra Aneja,
Mumbai, India