What do F1 and Test Match Cricket have in common?

[FB]

Well, on the face of it very little, but if you scratch away at the surface it appears quite a bit.

For those not aware the first test match of The Ashes series against Australia started today, in Cardiff. The reason why the first match of England vs. Australia took place in Wales, at a ground which has never hosted a test match before, is very simple – they paid more than others were prepared to. Are you starting to get the picture?

Also, during the course of the commentary on TMS today Vic Marks made an interesting comment when one of his co-commentators mentioned the quality of the facilities at Sophia Gardens; VM said that he felt that the first reason for choosing a test match venue should be the quality of the pitch rather than the facilities. How many great F1 circuits have been taken off the calender becuase the "facilities" are not good enough?

So it appears that the administrators of Cricket are as short sighted as the administrators of F1 racing: “he who pays most gets a race/Test Match” and “never mind the quality of the track/pitch how many toilets are there and how good is the air conditioning in the press box?”

When will the people that run sports realise that the reason why fans go to see an event is, first and foremost, to watch the sport; if the facilities are adequate we would be happy as long as the sport is exciting and sport exists because of the fans. We pay for it through our TV licences, the purchases we make which allow companies to sponsor teams and events and, in some cases, via our taxes - the Welsh assembly stumped up a large wedge to help Cardiff win the bid for the Test Match; personally I think this as unacceptable as MP's buying duck houses on expenses,

So if any sports administrators are reading this please, please, please stop chasing the money and start thinking about the fans, for a change.

 

[bogaTYR]

with both sports it takes days before the result is known!

sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[Brogan]

I was wondering why the Ashes was kicking off in Cardiff....now I know.

Sadly it's a sign of the times.
Sport is big business and the bottom line these days is profit, rather than spectacle.

If F1 carries on the way it is then before long it will be holding races in front of empty grandstands and then will just die a quick death.
Someone else needs to be at the helm who understands what F1 is all about - the fans!
Of course if CVC didn't have the huge debt to service then they wouldn't be chasing the high paying governments in Outer Mongolia and other such places which have very little interest in F1.

 

[Galahad]

It is actually the England-and-Wales cricket team. 126 years is arguably long enough for the Welsh to have to wait for an Ashes test.

Why, it would be like holding the British Grand Prix in England every year.

 

[Brogan]

Yay for us Welshies

Somehow I can't see F1 cars driving around Pembrey or Anglesey though.

 

[FB]

I deliberately avoided the whole "England and Wales" cricket board thing as I don't really have problem with the test match being in Cardiff; more of a problem however with the daft decisions behind why it is there.

BTW - the longest Test Match in history was between England and South Africa (in South Africa) and lasted 9 days. The match ended in a draw as the England team had to leave to get their boat home

 

[Galahad]

Judging from the first two days' play in the Test, FB, you were absolutely right. The cricketing equivalent of the Hungaroring, it would seem.

It's a shame that the owners of F1 don't have any consideration for the long-term health of the sport and are, apparently, only interested in short-term profits and a quick sale.

The teams, at least, have a vested interest in big crowds, since they are trying to sell products on behalf of their sponsors. People say it's all about TV these days, but even TV viewers notice empty grandstands. The fans of teams like Wigan, Blackburn and Middlesbrough are gently mocked by commentators and fellow fans for their half-empty stadia; F1 similarly will do its reputation no good at all by continuing to race in places where nobody could care less.

 

[cider_and_toast]

The trouble is, and where many F1 fans feel let down, is that with many of these new venues the designer has been given the opportunity to create a circuit from the ground up that would enhance modern F1 racing and in almost every case they have failed.

If we ran a simple "best circuits" poll how many would be circuits built in the last 10 or so years?

If you look at the cost of general admission tickets (which are way too high) a GP still dosn't make it's money from this area but more from the corperate and sponsor packages. It's a bit like Concorde syndrome where it eventually made a profit by charging a price that rich people were prepared to pay knowing full well that the general public could never afford to. Every time Bernie talks about facilities at tracks it dosn't take a genius to figure out he's not talking about number of public toilets and the leg room in the grand stands.

I still think that a modern track could be designed with both racing and safety in mind no matter where it is in the world.

 

[Muddytalker]

The trouble is, and where many F1 fans feel let down, is that with many of these new venues the designer has been given the opportunity to create a circuit from the ground up that would enhance modern F1 racing and in almost every case they have failed.

If we ran a simple "best circuits" poll how many would be circuits built in the last 10 or so years?

Whilst I agree with the sentiment, there is plenty of argument to say that the older circuits looked better (i.e. more overtaking) because of the cars that were on them.

If you put today's machinery on a chicane free Monza, Zandvoort or Mexico City I bet it would still be as difficult to pass on as today's circuits, and likewise stick some Lotus 72s, 49s, Ferrari 246s, Brabhams and BRMs, or even the turbo cars of the late 70's and 80's and they would be able to overtake each other. Why? Because of performance differentials, and the higher chances of error that were around.

And when I say performance differentials, it's not just one car being quicker than another, but one having more power at the expense of grip or weight, the turbo boost that used up more fuel, or better brakes but poor straighline speed, etc.

That's my take on it, anyway.

 

[Boyle]

The trouble is, and where many F1 fans feel let down, is that with many of these new venues the designer has been given the opportunity to create a circuit from the ground up that would enhance modern F1 racing and in almost every case they have failed.

To be fair to Herr Tilke, he has shown with tracks like Istanbul and Sepang that if he is given the tools he can do a very good job. The problem is that the hosts of the races at Bahrain, Shanghai, etc want the the tracks on a flat piece of land, with which there is very little a designer can work with.

And on the question 'What do F1 and Test Match Cricket have in common?', the norm is that the races/matches tend to be processional and not fun to watch but on the occasions when they are exciting, it is spectacular.

 

[bogaTYR]

we had an interesting discussion on tilke circuits not too long ago, this actually showed that the tilke circuits are pretty well designed. but, he has people to please and can only work with what he is given. tilk does not design bad circuits, but the customers of tilke agree on bad circuits.

otherwise i agree with GM. in earlier days a driver talked to his mechanic and they adjusted the car. now teams press a button on a PC and the right setup for the car appears on a screen.

unfortunately i cannot give too many bright comments on cricket. basically i never get to see it

 

[McZiderRed]

When it comes to similarities between F1 & cricket, I agree the comments made by FB. The Cardiff pitch itself is the problem, not the fact that the match is being held in Cardiff. There were concerns made about whether the pitch would last 5 days without breaking up. Looks like they played it safe by making sure it would last, but the result is they produced a pitch to bowl on*.

I will say though that the difference between F1 & cricket is that cricket players** make more than 20% contribution to the outcome...



* At least for England, anyway!

** Australian players!

 

[cider_and_toast]

I caught part of the Simon Mayo programme on Five this afternoon and he was talking to one of the daily's F1 correspondants (the mail I think) and the chap was sayingt that the feeling across the bulk of F1 media (reporters and journalists) is that it is time for Max and Bernine to go. His quote was something along the lines of "Both men have done a lot for the sport but now they need to realise for the good of the sport it is time for them to step down."

Now this dosn't really present a big problem with Max and hopefully his replacement will be someone from outside F1 and we see a different side to the FIA but the problem lies with Bernie. At the moment Bernie is employed by and works on behalf of the interests of CVC (I know this has been covered before). CVCs only interest in F1 is to recoup their debts and make a profit on the commercial rights of F1. Now Bernie has been a player in this game for his whole life and occasionaly (yes it may be occasionaly) he acts not only in the best interests of CVC but also the best interests of the sport. There are several teams (Brawn/Honda, Jordan and Minardi to name 3) that on more than one occasion owed their survival to Bernie and his money. Now if Bernie walks away and CVC appoint a money man who has no background in the F1 world or is a pure money man then things could be a whole lot worse. Some how I think it's better the devil you know in this case.

Maybe by Max standing down and a true counterpoint to Bernie getting the job at the FIA there will be some checks and balances between the power of CVC/Bernie, the FIA and the teams. There is an old saying that goes "Be careful what you wish for"

As far as the cricket goes, it's going to end in a draw as the rain will spoil the show.

 

[FB]

As far as the cricket goes, it's going to end in a draw as the rain will spoil the show.

And what a draw More than made up for the snooze fest in Germany, even though I only had the radio coverage.

 

[cider_and_toast]

Let's hope we can improve the bowling figures for the next test.

Great draw though.

 

[RickD]

There are no excuses for poor bowling at Lords, so if we have trouble there, we may as well give them the ashes and forget the rest of the tests.