A pretty interesting article about the World Cup on ESPN.com's Page 2. "Interesting" mostly due to its tone. You can see that the writer, Michael Davies, has a decent grasp of the game and knows enough to actually enjoy watching it. Yet he feels like he has to adopt a dismissive, condescending air in his piece to appease the American audience, with lots of cheap jabs and "wink, wink... aren't these guys a riot?!" asides.
Between all the hyperbole, however he does make a few valid points. First, the tournament is bloated, and overlong. I don't think anyone disputes that. Second, a more salient point:
Not even the people of the Caribbean really seem to care unless their team's playing.
True, and slightly surprising. It's understandable that the locals in these small islands may find the ticket prices out of their reach, but why aren't there more foreigners around to fill the stadiums? Are clear waters and white sanded beaches not a drawing card anymore? Or are there so few real cricket fans in the world?
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