DDD SYSTEMS & Dr. Dan Diaper. Article promoting the Bangladesh Premier League – I’m with the BPL – 3rd. December, 2015.
I’m with the BPL – article
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I’m with the BPL.
by
Dr. Dan Diaper
This year’s
Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) has been more enjoyable than any other Twenty
20 series I’ve seen, ever. Why? To give a bit of context, I’m a red ball
cricket chap, to the extent that I disagree with many current cricket
commentators and would rather have a five day Test ending in a, hopefully
close, draw than four innings in three days as has happened too often in Test
matches in 2015. On the other hand, I
can happily enjoy all forms of cricket and my previously published position is,
“I don’t mind what the result is, provided it is good cricket” [1, p44].
I’ve watched a fair
bit of white ball cricket over the years, both 50 overs and T20. I’ve enjoyed watching the Indian Premier
League (IPL) develop over the last half dozen years, not only tactically, but
also in how the cricket is presented on television. It’s old hat now, but I recall how the
Indian’s, given free rein in their own domestic competition, made the Kerry
Packer style pyjamas as worn by the rest of the world look positively
dowdy. From the beginning, gold was a
favourite, predominant, particularly on pads and helmets, combined with one or
more bright colours. This is not
criticism, but recognition that Asian and European visual tastes differ, and it
should not be forgotten that it was Asian designs, particularly on cotton, that
besotted the Victorian era. Furthermore,
just as bio-diversity is undoubtedly a good thing environmentally, so anything
that combats globalised style monoculture, World McDonaldisation, is equally a
good thing.
While merely a matter
of personal and cultural preferences, I attend, albeit electronically, IPL
matches for the cricket, often very good, and quickly find the additional
razzamatazz tedious and distracting. I’d
rather see what the players are doing between balls to smoke, dancing flames,
or dancing girls, although the dancing enthusiasm of IPL crowds certainly
provides suitable television atmosphere, but between overs, thank you. I also note how other countries have copied
the IPL style. I think it was the
Australian Big Bash at the beginning of the year where there was much
commentary concern about birds being barbequed by the flaming flame effects;
they obviously prefer their lumps of animal dead before putting them on the
barbie (thus speaks a long term vegetarian).
What has delighted me
about the BPL this year has been the differences between it and the IPL. There’s been little razzamatazz and the
cameras, apparently they use 24 of them, have shown what is happening on the
cricket field, with occasional crowd shots.
The television editing has been particularly consistent, which is good
for a number of reasons, most importantly that using a similar sequence of
camera shots emphasises the rhythm of a match, within and between overs. I pay more attention to this than most
people, although everyone will recognise the universal camera sequence of the
bowler on his run up and the cut to the shot from somewhere above and behind
the bowler’s head, down the wicket, as the ball is bowled. In the BPL the camera sequence at the fall of
a wicket is, within context, invariant. I can attest to this as I’ve learned to
exploit it so as to be able to take many successful screen grabs that I’ve
distributed on Twitter.
If anything, I’ve
rather over-Tweeted during the BPL, but I enjoy the technical challenges of
graphic Tweets (for the BPL I do use several computers, in two different rooms,
with different synchronisations so I watch on one PC and then re-watch and
screen grab on a second – I can get a picture on to Twitter within about 2
minutes of the event). For such fun, my
efforts have been appreciated and my Tweets have been replied to, Re-Tweeted
and liked, and I’ve acquired quite a few new followers; I hope they will stay
with me as I cruise the world’s cricket after the BPL ends.
Not only
electronically, but the crowds at the ground have been near ideal. I’d watched Bangladesh home Test matches
previously so this is what I expected of the Tiger People. Good ground attendances, with clearly
knowledgeable and definitely enthusiastic crowds, but with a dab of decorum
which, I admit, has a British feel to it.
As a topic close to my metaphorical heart, I note with pleasure that the
gender balance within the crowds is also better than I observe in many other
parts of the world.
A common mistake is
to think that the best cricket is played by the best sides in the world. I
observe “Good Cricket” at many levels and that the BPL is a domestic
competition has not prevented a great deal of good cricket being played. It is also good that the BPL has been able to
attract some top class international stars; Kumar Sangakkara being a personal
favourite of mine.
If I have a mission
in my public presentations about cricket, it is that I want to promote all
forms of the game, played at all levels, by all sorts of people, including
women, children, the disabled, etc. I
have, and will continue, my time permitting, to promote the BPL and encourage
people beyond just Bangladesh supporters to enjoy the Good Cricket that is on
offer. The BPL is globally free-to-air
on the internet; in the U.K. I’ve access to several streams from several
servers and the video quality from some of them is very good.
On Thursday, 3rd.
December, 2015, two Test matches start and in the past, preferring red ball
cricket, I would normally have followed one of these. I’ve a free day but I’ve enjoyed the BPL so
much that, after writing this article, I will be with the BPL for the day. How can I recommend it more strongly than that?
[1] Diaper, D. Watching Cricket on the Radio. New
Generation Publishing.
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