Here's one cricket player -- Usain Bolt -- who is a really fast bowler
Can the world's fastest human endure the world's slowest sport?
Absolutely, and Jamaica's Usain Bolt showed recently that not only can he play cricket, but he actually enjoys it.
The world and Olympic record holder at 100 and 200 meters took part in a charity cricket match at Discovery Bay in Jamaica and, as this rather long and initially rather loud but atmospheric video shows, Bolt turns out to be a dab hand as a batsman and as a bowler.
"Cricket is my first love," Bolt said before the game, in which he got to test his skills against some of the finest players in the cricket-mad West Indies.
How can you not enjoy a sport where they break for tea?
-- Grahame L. Jones
Photo: Usain Bolt, right, plays a shot during a promotional cricket game in Jamaica on Sunday. Credit: Collin Reid / Associated Press
"How can you enjoy a game where they break for tea?", even if I accept the comment in jest, I can't help wonder if you have any idea what cricket is about, other than collecting off hand references gleamed from period novels or other writers from the wild west making humorous references about the game. Cricket is far more physical than baseball, about as dangerous as Ice Hockey, has the strategy that makes American football seem like tic-tac-toe, players as skillful as top NBA stars.
Do yourself a favour, get educated :)
Posted by: niqbal | October 23, 2009 at 04:53 PM
Baseball, not Cricket is the world's slowest sport. Get your facts right.
Posted by: Sam | October 23, 2009 at 04:57 PM
Cricket is slower than curling?
Posted by: RichP | October 23, 2009 at 05:04 PM
WOW, slower than your thought process. Go to woodley cricket grounds in san fernando valley and stand in the crease and see how slow it is. Do yourself a favor youtube cricket highlights and see what the game is about , so next time you will not suffer from foot in mouth diease as you have.
Posted by: "sachin tendulkar" | October 23, 2009 at 05:36 PM
Usain Bolt's first love being cricket should not be a surprise. Anybody who has watched a game of cricket knows how fascinating, fantastic and captivating the game really is. It is a game that is still centered around good sportsmanship. I don't take offense to the headline as much as the tone of the description - 'but he actually enjoys it.' Why should those who like or love cricket be considered odd? Hundreds of runs are scored in a game of cricket and every moment can be full of action. Anybody who has tried to hit a fast ball after it has hit the ground knows how tough and fun it can be.
Over two billion people worldwide choose to follow cricket every day. It is a game played at the national level by countries in Asia, Europe, North America, Africa and Australia with major support.
Despite the vast amount of money in baseball and U.S. Football, there is a reason why the game of cricket is still more popular worldwide and continues to grow in stature. As good sportsmanship is still the foundation of cricket , the author could have used that aspect of the game to introduce cricket to American masses used to baseball, basketball and American football. Unless of course, the intent really is to mock the game of cricket.
Usain Bolt is a gentle giant and a really good sport. No wonder his first love was cricket.
Posted by: Sharath G. | October 23, 2009 at 05:38 PM
I am an avid fan of American and Rest of the World Football, Basketball (both American and Other), last but not the least Cricket. The slowest game I've ever seen was Baseball. I've read articles that Baseball evolved from Cricket, but Cricket has gotten a lot more quicker nowadays.
Posted by: Prem Venugopalan | October 23, 2009 at 05:42 PM
You whiners should be glad the writer saw fit to give ANY coverage to the obscure niche sport of cricket...if it wasnt for Usain being involved, it would have gotten NO play at all.
If you are so easily offended about such "harsh" words about your beloved sport, maybe you should look more to Commonwealth media...in America, cricket will never be seriously covered!!
If boxing fans were so unrealistically thin-skinned as to let unfavorable media coverage get under our skin, we would have given up long ago...LOL!!
Posted by: Verballistic | October 23, 2009 at 05:52 PM
Baseball is a MUCH slower sport than cricket! c'mon. Like someone else said: get educated!
Plus is a cultural thing. Americans will never understand Cricket.
Posted by: me | October 23, 2009 at 06:22 PM
Nice to see some Cricket coverage, it's not just about the test matches but there is limited overs, day/night matches and 20/20 which is really fast. Was disappointed when I went to the US nearly fell asleep at a Baseball match, sorry it's slower
Posted by: Tracy | October 23, 2009 at 07:37 PM
what sport are you calling the slowest ?
In American football, a play lasts 10 seconds then the teams go into huddles to "plan" the next play or even worse the offensive team is replaced by the defense or special teams, meanwhile 10 minutes later I am already asleep.
In Australia I never watch the Super Bowl live because of this.
Anyhow, England, Scotland, Ireland, Australia,New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka ,The countries of the West Indies, Bangladesh, Netherlands etc do not think cricket is slow. Watch the next World Cup where people outside the states play a game that requires athletic leg speed, catching with bare hands, throwing strength and actually hitting the ball to a place where the fieldsman is not.
Posted by: mike wawn | October 23, 2009 at 09:25 PM
Worlds Slowest Sport??? Grow up Mr Jones or at least read up.
Dont get left behind when the world of cricket and all the crazy money thrown around it (especially in India, Asia, Australia etc ) goes MEGA !!
Cricket's Twenty-20 version is growing fast and is one of the most exciting slam-bang events in the world. Step out of the US of A and boring, paralysis-inducing baseball for a lil bit, there is actually life outside of America, thou u might not believe it.
Posted by: Amit | October 23, 2009 at 10:11 PM
Slowest sport ? It just shows how naive you're about the game of Cricket. You're looking through the 'packaged' american-game-eyes to not know and appreciate the essence of Cricket.
If you were to dig a bucket of pop corn and drink a gallon of soda or beer and have entertainment programs in between super bowl, that's fast for you.
The travesty is, what you called world series is essentially a national series, where as Cricket is truly a global sport - the real global sport. Guess who is not part of this global phenomenon ?? Yes...
Posted by: ShankarR | October 23, 2009 at 10:14 PM
SLOW == Baseball, Boring year long torture.
its not world series its national series.
If japan , Dominican Republic or Cuban clubs play most US clubs will LOOSE.
Posted by: Ram | October 25, 2009 at 09:03 AM
Sorry Ram...the World Series currently lives up to its name more than ever!! It is more INTERNATIONAL than ever, with the best players from all over the GLOBE now playing in the US...Dominican Republic, Japan, Korea, etc
And for baseball-haters like Amit and ShankarR...apparently you fail to realize there is a sports world OUTSIDE of the British Commonwealth and ONLY nations that are former British COLONIES actually play cricket!!
Baseball predominates (and always WILL predominate) throughout the Americas...South, Central and North America, as well as Japan, China and most other countries that were never colonized by the Brits!! BTW, the sun HAS set on the British Empire...
But maybe the most telling fact regarding the significance of the two sports is shown when you do a word search---for "baseball" you get 963 million links, whereas "cricket" will get you only 499 million...and about half of THOSE are about the INSECT!!
Posted by: Verballistic | October 26, 2009 at 12:46 AM