ENG-105 RESEAERCH PAPER

Submitted To: A.QM.A Rahman Bhuiyan

Lecturer, North South University
Submitted By: S U B R A T A RANJAN HAZRA
ID: 083 099 030 SEC: 10
North South University
August 12, 2010
 For this research first of all I would like to thank Mr A.Q.M.A Abul Kashem
Bhuiyan,lectuter.English Department,North South University .He has helped me a lot throughout
the entire study period by giving me his precious time and directed me properly with proper
guideline to efficiently conduct the study. I am also grateful to him for his useful guidance,
positive criticism and encouragement during the preparation of this study. I would never be able
to complete this research paper except his guidance.

I am also grateful to my friends, who helped me in varieties of way. They helped me

in all the process including survey, data collection, analysis, secondary research. Unless their
help, it would be very much hard to complete my research paper.

I would like to thank those who participated in my survey. They sacrificed their
valuable time to fill in my survey questionnaire and gave important suggestions

I am very grateful to my cousin Farhad, for his useful guidance, cooperation and
encouragement during the preparation of this study.

Finally, all extol and commendation should go to almighty GOD, the most merciful
who enabled me in completing this work soundly and orderly.
 Cricket is one of the most popular game in the world .But cricket has changed a lot from its
beginning to today. In this study, the change in format of cricket is discussed. I wanted to know
that, change is making cricket popular or not. The study shows that change in the format is
making cricket popular .So, my hypothesis has matched with my findings. I tried to research
based on my hypothesis. This study also shows that among three formats, T-20 is more popular
than Test and ODI cricket. But one of the most important aspects of this research is that T-20
cricket and Test cricket will run independently and will not harm one another. Although T-20
cricket is becoming more popular, still Test cricket have enough chance to survive. For this,
International Cricket Council (ICC) should give same priority to all three formats. After all, this
research finds that change in the format of cricket is blessings not curse.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Name: Page:
Introduction 2
Background 3
Areas of research 4
Hypothesis 5
Methodology 6
Data presentation 7
&analysis
Summary
Reference
Appendix
 The encyclopedia defines cricket as "a bat and ball, team game played during the summer in
the British Isles and in several countries influenced by the British, such as Australia, New
Zealand, India, Pakistan, South Africa, and West Indian nations". What though accounts for its
popularity (especially since many find it to be an over-long sport full of unintelligable terms)?
Having 800 million plus playing it on the Indian sub-continent helps. Also, being able to beat so
frequently the country that invented the game must lend some satisfaction to those who play it
outside of the British Isles.

It is a popular bat-and-ball sport played by two teams of 11 players each. Teams hold
cricket matches on oval fields ranging from about 100 to 160 yards long and marked by obvious
boundaries. Two umpires regulate all on-field activity during a cricket match. The rules of the
sport are called the Laws of Cricket. Two wickets sit in the center of the field a few yards apart.
The batting team has two batsman at all times, while the fielding team has 11 players on the
playing field. The bowler, similar to a pitcher in baseball, stands behind one wicket, while the
wicket keeper stands behind the other wicket to catch any ball the striking batter misses. The
non-striking batter stands next to the wicket near the bowler, prepared to run if the striking batter
hits the ball.

As days are going, format of cricket is also changing. Cricket started with its original
form named test cricket about 200 years ago. But now it has lots of format including three main
formats: Test, ODI and T-20.Peoples are being more interested in shorter version of this game.
Now they want to see more ODI and T-20 cricket rather than test cricket. This tendency is
destroying crickets original spirit but making cricket more popular than before. Cricket was
mainly popular in British colonies.T-20 is breaking this barrier and making cricket popular in
other countries .Now a days people are busier, they have no enough time to watch test cricket.
Thats why they are choosing T-20 cricket. Due to change in the format of this game, crickets
financial condition is also changing. After all, the change in the format of cricket making its a
more granted game like football.
.
 The game of cricket has become a rage across the globe, especially in countries like

England, India, Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, etc. Millions of cricket fans wait for four

years to witness the next World Cup. With the start of the Twenty-Twenty Game and the IPL

series, the rage has just gone up a notch. However, there are so many cricket fans out there who

dont even know the origin of the game, as to how it came into existence. Keeping in mind all

such people, I have provided some interesting background information on cricket.

The exact time of the inception of cricket, as a game, is not known. However, it is

believed that the game was initiated during Saxon or Norman times, by children living in the

Weald (southeast England). For the coming centuries, the game continued to be childs play and

it was only around 17th century that adults developed an interest in it. The earliest reference dates

back to the 1611, when two men in Sussex were indicted for playing cricket on Sunday, instead

of going to church. The same year, definition of cricket, as a boys' game, was noted.

Till the English Civil War, numerous other references can be seen that point out towards the fact

that cricket had indeed been taken up as an adult sport. With the end of the war and the start of
the Commonwealth period, the popularity of the game diminished a little. After the

Restoration, in 1660, the game gained more recognition and with time, also started attracting

gamblers, making large bets. By the end of the 17th century, gambling had entered the game big

time. In fact, the game at Sussex, held in 1697, played for high stakes of 50 guineas a side.

With the growth of gambling in cricket, patronage also came to be seen. Gamblers

started building up their own teams. Amongst the early patrons, the most notable ones comprised

of a group of aristocrats and businessmen, who were active from about 1725. However, the first

game using country names for teams was played in the year 1709. It was around this time only

that cricket games started receiving press coverage also.

Though cricket had been introduced to North America in 17th century only, it moved
to other countries in the 18th century. The colonists took the game, from England, to West Indies.
As for India, the officials British East India Company brought it here in the first half of 18th
century. In Australia, the diffusion of the game started as early as 1788, just when colonization
had begun. However, countries like New Zealand and South Africa became acquainted with
cricket only in the early years of the 19th century.

Formation of Rules

It was in the 18th century only when the procedure of formation of cricket rules began.
Though the basic rules, of bat, ball, pitch, wicket, how out, etc had been there since ages, the
year 1728 saw Articles of Agreement being laid down. It was penned down to establish the
code of practice in a particular game, especially in relation to payment of stake money and
distribution of gambling winnings. Laws of Cricket were formed for the first time in 1744 and
saw an amendment 30 years later (1774). Finally, MCC was found at Lord's, in 1787, becoming
the custodian of the Laws.

Other Developments

Eighteenth century also witnessed other developments in context of cricket. Sometime

after 1760, the original form of bowling gave way to pitching of the ball. From 1772 onwards,
the concept of scorecards came into existence. The first famous clubs of cricket came up in
England, namely London and Dartford. With time, Slindon (Sussex), Maidenhead, Hornchurch,
Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Bromley, Addington, Hadlow and Chertsey were formed. Amongst all
these, the most notable one was Hambledon. Though the game suffered setbacks, with Seven
Years Wars and Napoleonic Wars, it managed to survive and prosper.

Nineteenth Century

Nineteenth century witnessed changes in the organization of the teams. William Clarke
formed the traveling All-England Eleven in 1846 and encouraged many other similar teams.
With the development of the railway network, teams from long distances started playing against
each other and the game also started attracting spectators from distant places. In 1864, cricket
witnessed legalization of over-arm and the publishing of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. W G
Grace, the Great Cricketer, also made his debut in the 19th century (1865).

Cricket Goes International and Tests Start

The first game of international cricket was played between USA and Canada, in 1844.
The year 1850 saw the first overseas tour, by a team of leading English professionals, to North
America. The inaugural Test match is believed to have been played on 15 March 1877 at
Melbourne Cricket Ground, when an England team went on a tour to Australia. South Africa
became the third nation to play test matches, in 1889. It was in 1890 that the first championship,
County Cricket Championship, was formally constituted. Six-balls over was also adopted during
the 19th century only.

In the year 1909, the Imperial Cricket Conference (now International Cricket
Conference) was formed, with England, Australia and South Africa as members. With time,
India, West Indies and New Zealand also became Test nations, followed by Sri Lanka,
Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. The apartheid of South Africa became one of the greatest crises to
hit the game of cricket. South Africa was suspended from International Cricket Conference. It
formed rebel tours, offering money to international players for forming teams and tour South
Africa. With the end of apartheid, things came back to normal.

One Day Cricket

It was in the 1960s that English county teams started playing a version of the todays one-day
cricket. It comprised on only one innings each and a maximum number of overs per innings.
With time, the popularity of this type of game grew and the formation of a national league, in
1969, led to reduction in the number of matches in the County Championship. The first limited-
overs international match was played at Melbourne Cricket Ground, in 1971, as a trial. However,
it became immensely popular and is today played throughout the world.

World Cup

ICC organized the first Cricket World Cup in England, in 1975, with all the Test playing nations
as participant teams. The matches consisted of 60 six-ball overs per team, played during the
daytime, in traditional form. Eight teams took part in the first tournament - Australia, England,
the West Indies, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and a composite team from East
Africa. Australia and West Indies reached the finals and the latter won the tournament. Since
then, Cricket World Cup has been organized every four years.
 I was always trying to know about the effect change of format in cricket. At last I have got
the chance. I have tried to find the reason behind change. Actually I tried to look on some
specific questions or basic question about the change in the format of cricket. The questions are

Whats the thinking of people about the crickets format change?

Is change in the format destroying its original spirit? What do people think about it?

Is T-20 a threat for test cricket?

Why Young generation like T-20 cricket?

How changes in the format relates to the financial change in cricket?

These questions guided me to design my questionnaire.

 From my research, I expect to find that more change in the format is making cricket
enjoyable as well as popular. Since people of todays world are busier so they have no enough
time to watch a cricket match during five days. If one is not a hard fan it is almost impossible to
watch a cricket match even a single day. I also want to know by how muchT-20 cricket is
affecting Test cricket. My assumption about T-20 cricket is that people are being less interested
due to the increase popularity of T-20 cricket.
 For my primary research, I have conducted a survey of representative sampling of the
general public in Dhaka and interviewed people who actually had the knowledge about cricket
and tried to find out what they think about the change in the format of cricket? Is it making
cricket more popular or not? To that end I designed a questionnaire with different types of
questions so as to obtain a range of useful data which helped me to answer my research
questions. I made 11 questions for my survey. Every question consisted with minimum three
options. Some question had four options. I surveyed on twenty two people. From them twenty
were male and only two were female. All of them were between 20-22 years of old. First I tried
to know if they know about cricket or not. Because my research was related to those people who
know about cricket and keep all news about cricket.

For my secondary research, I planned to use resource of Bangladesh cricket board

(BCB) and also consulted few books written by cricket experts .I browsed internet and collected
information from ICC website as well as renowned cricket website like Cricinfo, cricketnext,
yahoocricket.com etc.
1. What do you think about the change in the format?
 a.change is necessary &is
5% making cricket more
popular
36% b.unnecessary

59%
c.change is always in
sports&cricket is also
changing like other sports
d.anything else
0%

For this question, 59% people choosed option (a) and said change is necessary and it is
making cricket more popular. Surprisingly nobody said change is unnecessary.36% people
choosed option (c) as their answer and said change is always in sports, cricket is also changing
like other sports. Only 5% people said anything else about the change. But that is not negligible.
These people said change is necessary but not too much. So from this question we can say that
maximum numbers of peoples are in favor of change in the format of cricket and rests of them
believe that change is an ongoing process.

One reason could be that, people like change. Change gives a new taste. In this case it is
reasonable too. Peoples of the world are being busier. They have no enough time to watch a
cricket match during whole day. Its created a chance to watch cricket match, those who are
busy. Another reason is that, change is always in sports & cricket is also changing like other
sports. If we take a look on other sports we will also see some changes in those other sports too.
So, according to maximum people it is a good decision to bring changes in the format of cricket.

Q.2 Do you think, change is making cricket more popular?

 Proportion

0%
9%
(a)-Yes change is
making cricket more
popular
(b)-Change has noeffect
on its popularity

(c)-Can't say

91%

For this question, I also surveyed on 22people. From them 20 or 91% said that change
is making cricket more popular. Nobody said change has no effect on its popularity. Interestingly
9% said that they cant say. From the above illustration, it is clear that people are in favor of
change. They have been coped with change. Due to the change, cricket is spreading all over the
world. Few years ago, nobody knew that any European country (except England) or American
country can play cricket or like cricket. But today cricket is played all across all over the world.
And the only reason behind crickets diversity is T-20 cricket. The survey made this fact clear.
Q-3-Do you agree that popularity is more important than the original spirit for
game like cricket?

Proportion
(a)-yes popularity is
more important
9%
32%
(b)-Popularity and
original spirit -both are
equally important
59%
(c)no,first original spirit
than popularity

In my survey I found 32% people said popularity is more important. But

significantly, 59% people said popularity and original spirit both are equally important. Only 9%
people said that first original spirit than popularity. So it is clear from the survey that popularity
and original spirit both are equally important. Popularity cant run along without spirit
conversely if there is no popularity everything is meaningless.

Some people think that popularity is more important because, popularity shows the
acceptance of a sport. Those people who believes original spirit is more important than
popularity because original spirit is the base for any game. And those who believe that popularity
and original spirit both are equally important; they think these two cant go lonely. Both are
equally important for the success.
Q.4-which format of cricket you like most?
Q-5-Would you please rank the formats?

Proportion
Test cricket ODI cricket Twenty-20 cricket

27%

55%
18%

This question of my survey shows the popularity level of the formats. It is clear from the
chart that Tweenty-20 is the most popular format. 55% people said that they like twenty-20 most.
One Day Cricket is the second in the chart.27%people said that they like ODI cricket most. Least
percent of people said they prefer Test cricket rather than ODI and T-20 cricket.18% people
preferred Test as their best choice.

Then they were asked to rank these formats as order of preferences. The answers were
also same.55% people ranked T-20 as their first choice. People choosed T-20 as their first choice
because, it takes less time as well as it is more entertaining than Test and ODI. Fans can enjoy
more entertainment within short time. Those, who choosed Test and ODI as their choice, they
believe in original spirit. They dont want to destroy crickets spirit. Unfortunately, the
popularity of ODI cricket is decreasing.
Q.6- If another format of cricket is introduced (like T-10, T-5, 70 overs, 100
overs), will you support?

proportions

9% (a)-yes of course,it would

be a new innovation.
23%

(b)-No need of any more

format

(C)anything else
68%

For this question of my survey, 23% people said it would be a new innovation to
introduce more formats like T-10, T-5,70overs cricket etc. But 68% people said no need of any
more formats. Rest of them said something else. Rest 9% said no need of any more formats but if
any format is introduced that should not be less than 20 overs.

Actually, the reason why people said it would be a new innovation to introduce a new
format is that the new version might be more entertaining. Maximum people said no nee of any
more format. Because there are already three formats are available. This is enough for any sport.
There is no any sport in the world, which has three formats. If any more format is introduced it
could divide the fans and thus can affect the existing format.

7. Do you think Twenty-20 is threat for Test cricket?

 proportion
a.yes T-20 will make people
less interested in test cricket.
1%

b.T-20 will not harm test cricket

41%
45%
c.T-20 and Test will run
independently & not harm each
another.
9%
d.can't say

This questions answer about the existence of test cricket.41% people said t-20 will make
people less interested in test cricket. Only 9% said t-20 will not harm test cricket. Surprisingly
45% people said T-20 and Test will run independently and will not harm one another. Only 1%
people said they cant say anything about this question. From this question we can conclude that
major % of people still have belief that T-20 and Test will run independently .

The reason why people think that T-20will make people less interested in test cricket is
T-20 less time to finish .So why waiting for five days. There are opponents too. They believe T-
20 will not harm Test cricket because, they think although Test cricket takes 5 days to finish, it
gives the real sense of cricket. This form determines the best cricketers of the world. Still it is the
most prestigious format of cricket. There are some others too, who believe that T-20 and Test
will not harm one another and will run independently. Their philosophy is clear; when format is
different everything is different. So they will run independently.

8. T-20 is making cricketer richer than before-what do you think?

 proportion
a.absulutely,today
cricketer are richer
than past
14%

18% b.cricketers were

always enough rich to
68% support their life.

c.anything else

From the above chart we can say, 68% people are agree that T-20 cricket is making
cricketer richer than past.18% peoples said cricketer were always enough rich to support their
life. And 14% people had other comments about this survey question.

There are lots of reasons behind cricketers improved financial condition. But the main
reason behind it is that the Indian Premier League (IPL).IPL has changed the world cricket. It
was a revolution of cricket. It has become so popular that corporate world is thinking differently
about cricket. They are spending more money in the IPL for the sponsorship. Now a days
cricketers are millionaire. Lots of prizes are given to them which were incredible few years ago.
Some people disagreed because, cricketer were always a star to their country. Although they had
no millions of dollars, they were enough rich to survive.

9. Do you think Twenty -20 cricket should be given most priority by

International Cricket Council (ICC)?
 PROPORTIN
a-definitely
0%

b-not at all
32%

54% c-T-20 should be given

as priority as other
14% formats
d-others

From the above illustration we find that ,32%people said T-20 should be given most
priority by the International Cricket Council(ICC).14% people said that ICC should not give
most priority to T-20 cricket. But significantly 54% people said that T-20should be given as
priority as other formats. It is clear from the survey that people believe that although T-20 cricket
is more popular ICC should give same priority to all the formats. There are lots of reasons to
give priority to T-20 cricket .Among them,the growing popularity is the main reason. People
want to see more T-20 cricket match. Peoples interest shows the demand of T-20 cricket. In
some countries it has become one of the biggest medium of recreation. But there are some valid
reasons for not giving most priority to T-20 cricket. If International Cricket Council (ICC) give
most priority to T-20 cricket, that would make people less interested to other formats. Then
cricket will lose its original spirit. Although there are disagreements to give most priority to T-20
cricket, there is a combined way to. Maximum people belie that T-20 cricket should be given as
priority as other formats. Because, all of the member are belongs to same family.

10. After all, change in the format of cricket comes as a--?

 proportion

a.blessing

50% 50%
b.curse

c.neutral

0%

50% people said, change in the format of cricket comes as a blessing. Rest 50% were
neutral. Nobody said, change in the format of cricket is a curse. Change comes as a blessing
because of some reasons. First, change makes the cricket more popular. And popularity of
cricket is increasing day by day. Second, change reduces the monotonous of cricket. Cricket is
now no more a monotonous game. Its full of entertainment. Thats why people are in favor of
change. It is clear from the above graph. Peoples are either neutral or in favor of change. Before
T-20 was discovered, lots of people were less interested in cricket. But after introducing of T-20
cricket, the popularity of cricket has increased largely. Even the countries, where once a time
nobody knew about cricket, cricket is being popular in those countries too. For example, U.S.A,
Netherland, Afghanistan etc. In those countries, very few people knew about cricket. But now
cricket is a popular game in those countries. They didnt watch cricket because it was played all
day long. But now T-20 cricket has made cricket, shorter. As a result, those people are being
interested in cricket.

# Who is your favorite cricketer? If any

 Proportion
1-SACHIN TENDULKAR

11%
SAKIB AL HASAN
10%
41% AFRIDI

18% SORAV GANGULY AND

WASIM AKRAM

OTHERS
20%

This was a courtesy question of my survey. But it shows the popularity of cricketers
of the world.

41%people said that their favorite batsman is Sachin Tendulkar. Sakib Al Hasan of
Bangladesh is in the second position .20% people selected Sakib as their favorite batsman. With
18% support Shahid Afridi is in third in popularity. Interestingly there are two retired cricketer
also in the list. Sourav Ganguly &Wasim Akram are 4th in the list with 10% support.11% people
gave dispersed answer. The answers were like Shoib Malik, Md. Ashraful, Umar Akmal, and
Yuvraj Singh
 The format of cricket is changing and the change day by day and it is making cricket
more popular. But how peoples are reacting about the change-it is the main theme of my
research. From this research, I have come up with some important ideas about the changes in the
format of cricket.

One of the most important aspects of the research is the effect of T-20cricket on Test
cricket. Lots of people believe that T-20 will harm Test cricket .because the time consuming of
T-20 cricket. The biggest advantage of the T-20 cricket is this time. As days are passing, peoples
of the world are being busier.

Another important finding of the research is the globalization of cricket. T-20 Cricket is
making cricket more popular all over the world. Since T-20 takes less time as well as more
entertaining, peoples are being interested on it. A few years ago, nobody could think cricket in
U.S A. But now due to T-20, cricket match is being held in U.S.A.People are thinking it as a
very positive aspect of the change in cricket.

One more important findings of the research is that the popularity and original spirit both are
equally important for cricket.

My hypothesis was that change in the format is making cricket enjoyable as well as
popular. After the research, I have found that my assumption is right. Maximum people agreed
with my hypothesis because T-20 is more entertaining as well as shorter than other formats.
 By the analysis of change in the format of cricket, it can be said that change is necessary
and it is making cricket more popular. Due to the change in format, cricket is spreading all over
the world.

By the analysis, it can be also said that T-20 cricket is more popular than Test and ODI
cricket.T-20 cricket has become so popular that people are being less interested in other formats.
They want to watch more T-20 match than Test and ODI formats. From the analysis, also can be
said that ICC should give same priority to its all the formats for the existence of Test and ODI
cricket.

So at the end of the research study on change in the format of cricket, it can be said that
change in the format comes as a blessing for cricket and it will lead cricket to the pick.

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