That’s Just Not Cricket – It’s The End Of The World As We Know It

Something quite unexpected happened to me this afternoon. As I sat with an old friend watching his university play cricket against my university, I suddenly became really interested.

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My usual view of cricket is not too different from that of Malcolm Tucker’s (see bottom), but today was different. As one of the fielders missed an easy catch, my friend remarked that he would probably get a fine. 

A fine? Surely not! Is not cricket the gentleman’s game, played purely for the respect of other gentlemen? Apparently not. All the players are given a ‘fine’ if they do something stupid. 

The fines are reportedly handed out by general consensus, but the captain has a veto. The fines are then counted up and the value of the fines is decided at the end of the season (so that no-one faces a bill too high). 

Thus there is uncertainty about what doing something stupid will cost you, but you do know it will cost you. The cricketers were being incentivised to play well.

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Obviously, playing well already has the incentive of getting picked again, or winning the match, but clearly the university cricket powers think this is not enough. Apparently, the players needed more of an incentive to play well.

Monetary incentives are used all the time in Behavioural Economics (and all walks of life) to give people a motive for trying their best. It's interesting to see that even the venerable game of amateur cricket uses money likewise.

“Cricket? That’s the English equivalent of sport isn’t it? No actual physical contact; just glaring.” 

- Malcolm Tucker in The Thick Of It (BBC).

Recommended listening:

It’s The End Of The World As We Know It by R.E.M.