No 112, Jan 4 - The Grumbler's County Cricket Newsletter
🟣 More battle scars in county cricket's fight for survival 🟡 Graves back to Yorkshire? 🟠 Is there a player power problem? 🔴 Atherton on the demise of Test cricket 🔵 Cook may go white-ball only
“If the cricket world diffuses into a morass of privately owned and run tournaments, then the base of the pyramid is going to suffer badly. There will be fewer youths playing the game and less making elite teams, and, therefore, fewer players available for the highly paid franchises. A vicious cycle indeed.
“This cascade might take a few years, but it would happen.
“Producing cricketers takes years of fertiliser and water from mums, dads, coaches, ground staff, councils and a myriad of volunteers, so the cashed-up privateers should be making a serious contribution to the bottom line. After all, cricket to them is a business; it must be financially sustainable. If you run out of a quality primary resource your business is doomed to mediocrity at best; complete collapse at worst. You cannot buy what doesn’t exist, no matter how deep your pockets.”
Not my words. They were written by former Australian pace bowler Geoff Lawson in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Normally, I go on a bit of a rant at the start of these newsletters.
But, this time, I could not have put it better than Lawson.
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PPPS If you want to get involved in any groups to change this situation. Then there is the County Cricket Members Group and, of course, the Cricket Supporters Association.
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The future of County Cricket
Thompson has his plan and talks well. But how can he say this was the best Blast ever? It is just a lie or a politician's truth. You-know-what has diminished the Blast. And its negative influence will only grow. Reports last month said the world’s original T20 (and the counties’ lifeline) may make way if the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named expands. And it will.
The idea underpinning all these moves is sound - bi-lateral cricket is going to fade away and replacement money is needed. But the constant search for short-term money over long-term resilience is sport's problem. It will only go into players’ pockets and, despite what the vested interests tell you, that does not help the game. It is telling that Thompson does not discount you-know-what turning into a T20. Having neutered or killed off half a dozen counties and built up foreign-run, non-member franchises in their stead, that would be the ultimate bait and switch.
The ECB tiptoed through a tumultuous 12 months - and more tough challenges await (The Cricketer) ($)
Under threat, in a state of flux and yet the county game never fails to deliver (The Cricketer) ($)
My point. If, as has been reported, counties might get 50% of a new joint venture but the only way to realise any of that revenue is by selling then they have to make themselves minority shareholders. Presumably quite a small majority at that.
And, as stated above, it is a one-time sale. So that is one cash injection in exchange for losing control, maybe forever.
Madness.
Cricket's crucial 2024: Counties face grim future unless they show ambition (Telegraph)
Unless I missed it (and please tell me if I did) but these views were not articulated when Gordon Hollins was CEO of Somerset. But now he has gone, out it comes again. Funny that.
Remember when he worked at the ECB, Hollins was the first to be quoted saying you-know-what was “not for you".
We are in the middle of a concerted PR push to get an expansion agreed of the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named.
And the sub-editors at the Telegraph seem to be constantly writing headlines suggesting the choice is a binary one - do what the ECB says or die. Then again, I used to do that job and, given their audience, such a story will get read.
But, yet again, the only ambition presented is one that, in my view, destroys the foundations of the game.
I hear the one-dimensional views on the other side saying ‘OK, where's your plan?’, ‘What are you putting forward?’
To this, I reply - where was my opportunity at the start of all this and why are you asking me now when the goalposts have been moved so far in one way and the direction of travel is locked in by others’ decisions.
In his interviews for the ECB CEO's job that went to Teflon Tom Harrison, Richard Gould pushed a Premier League Blast and was critical of Harrison's Hundred proposal. Now he is tasked with making the bloody thing happen.
At that stage, I would have loved a forum to suggest an alternative. I had ideas. Probably impractical but ideas of change, development and growth - hopefully in money and meaning. But in my experience of elite sports organisations, they never really consider anything but cash, the rest is just PR. So I suspect it would have been pointless.
Then came the Strauss Report. This was a handpicked group of acolytes in sports performance and business professionals designed to change the game still further. But it was their plan, their agenda, you-know-what was off the table and Strauss flounced off because he did not get his way.
Then the ECB blew a king’s ransom on multi-year England contracts to allow the top players to never have to work again ‘look after their families’. Again, on both occasions, there was no seat at the table for the likes of yours truly.
Harrison’s inexplicable deal with Sky just before he left has been hit hard by inflation and the money has been allocated, see above. But not to counties (or no extra benefit amid rising costs so, in real terms, they have lost out). Arguably the ECB have spent Sky’s money in the way Sky would like. The landscape in UK cricket might look very different but for that contract. But we’ll never know for sure.
So when they say “accept change” they mean “accept OUR change”. The one that suits us and enriches the playing side and the business side. The one that, through relentless hype and promotion, will keep the satellite subscriptions paid so, in the end, everyone can feed from the same trough.
My ambition for county cricket is not that. But it is still ambition.
Then again, I forgot, I don't count.
For what it’s worth, given the current ECB-created mess we are in, if you cannot raise more revenue then I would cut costs. On Twitter, I said flippantly that re-allocating the fireworks budget from you-know-what might help and people took that seriously. In fairness, it is a start. More realistically, it means cutting players who spend more time away in franchise cricket than at home.
Yes, the standard will go down and, given that Essex have been their main title rivals in recent years, Surrey will only have challenges from a few franchise hosts. But statements from their chair (though not members) suggest the leading, and in many ways model, county may be happy to take a course that sees smaller counties dissolve into irrelevancy. And the actions of Thompson and Gould, former Surrey leaders now at the ECB, are actively driving it.
Regarding letting players go, the same argument was strongly put forward by Phil Walker in this podcast.
Chair's letters - Sussex, Hampshire. Also one from Lancashire but not the chair.
Retiring Hampshire chairman Rod Bransgrove on future plans (Daily Echo)
Previously, the Lancashire chair had said this, see video…
He wants more control of the franchise based at Old Trafford but pushes back against expansion and more teams. This pitches them directly against Durham, who are one of the two teams likely to join. As outlined, Surrey’s chair has previously stated he wanted the Oval franchise to play as Surrey.
So three senior figures at three counties have already set out different positions (though those of Surrey and Lancashire are close-ish) before talking to members.
And Essex said a week or so earlier that the proposals were so vague they could not be considered.
Clear as mud.
News, views and interviews
Contracts: Gubbins (Hampshire), Hudson-Prentice (Sussex - 3yrs), Hunt (Sussex - 2yrs), Taylor (Gloucestershire - 3yrs)
Zimbabwe T20 captain Sikandar Raza targeted by Northamptonshire (The Cricketer) ($)
Nathan Smith: Worcestershire sign Kiwi all-rounder for 2024 (BBC Sport)
Colin Graves in sensational Yorkshire return after seeing off Mike Ashley bid (Telegraph)
Colin Graves beats Mike Ashley in battle for Yorkshire CCC (Yorkshire Post)
Colin Graves’ return to Yorkshire Cricket would be a ‘disaster’, claims MP (Guardian)
Maurice Chambers and Jahid Ahmed criticise PCA for handling of racism complaints (The Cricketer) ($)
For me, the two most destructive elements in county cricket over the last 10 years have been the racism scandals and the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named. Graves’ leadership has had a hand in both. His tenure at Yorkshire included Azeem Rafiq’s spell. The failure of the county to address the issue of racism highlighted by the spinner sullied the reputation of one of the great counties and led them into a fight for their very existence. Meanwhile, he and Teflon Tom Harrison bulldozed through the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named amid accusations of threats, a lack of transparency and the perception it was being made up on the fly. As you know, I believe this will lead to the end of county cricket as we know it for the ‘lesser’ half of the 18 counties.
For the latter, he was hauled in front of the DCM select committee. For the former, he was consistently asked to turn up but failed to appear, drawing sharp criticism from MPs. For these reasons, I will not be going to Headingley for a Yorkshire game while he is in charge. I just cannot support this character.
Of course, as soon as I tweeted this, I got the whataboutery of Essex's situation. Go back and read the thousands of words I have written on this to find my position on Yorkshire. Yet they are going BACK to Graves. There is a worrying group of people who believe there is no case to answer at Headingley. Graves himself called it “banter”. The "Blame Azeem Rafiq" faction is still strong. In my opinion, the desire to blame the victim is stronger than at Essex.
Crucially, and again in my opinion, Essex are going FORWARD. They have been less resistant (but far from unresistant) to change, certainly acted more quickly to address their issues and, crucially, fought back against a similar push by the previous chair. I have been actively behind the club’s moves to sweep the floor.
I am not trying to judge the levels of racism that occurred, it is all abhorrent and no one will ever know the complete truth. I am looking at the reaction.
And though expect more flak for saying this, in my opinion, they are different.
Then again, remember, I am not here to convince anyone of anything.
Why I’ve never felt gloomier about Test format (Times)
Steve Waugh slams cricket administrators over South Africa Test farce (The Age)
Neil Brand captains makeshift South Africa Test squad to New Zealand (Cricinfo)
Lack of cricket partly responsible for Dean Elgar's retirement (Cricinfo)
Mike Atherton nails it in his piece.
And he adds this:
"It is not straightforward to say that county cricket cannot pay its way, because the billion-pound television deal from Sky and BBC for, principally, international cricket relies on the players produced from the county pathways, county academies and county cricket. Increasingly, though, it feels as if the game will look to alternative revenue streams, through private investment or private equity, which will accelerate the end of clubs as member-run organisations."
This is why I have always been uncomfortable with the approach of county members simply saying "we create the players" and then using the nature of the organisation to retain the status quo while offering little or no room for growth. While often impoverished, county cricket used to have enough pulling power to be a viable competition in its own right. It was on the back pages and live on terrestrial TV a few decades ago. That has disappeared and it is left the game clutching at straws
Steve Harmison called it correctly in this podcast, above. Here’s the key quote. The muscles of player power are being flexed in terms of England. And, for once, someone has had the bravery to call it out. I do not expect any pundit on a short-term Sky contract to say this and other journalists may have trouble getting interviews if they are similarly outspoken. You could argue Stokes’ swift reaction showed the remark had hit home. This barb cannot be swept aside by the athletes’ often-used rebuttal ‘well they have never played the game’.
But you could argue player power is a key influence on the decisions being made in UK cricket right now. And very few are truly calling it out.
It is allowed to influence the preparation for the series in India. Stokes' must not have listened to the full podcast before he tweeted as Harmison covered their time in the UAE as part of his criticism.
Meanwhile, Stokes was allowed to opt out, reportedly because he was waiting for the next television deal. Why? How?
Remember the ECB's contribution to counties has been flat for five years and will be flat for the next five. And, at the Essex AGM, it was suggested this had influenced the decision about which players were being offered contracts.
So it is rich players getting richer at the expense of lesser players.
But while many county members, including myself, will say "let them go" if their white-ball ambitions with franchises limit their county appearances to pointlessly rare levels, a more casual Sky audience are likely to want stars.
Adding to my contention that Sky are the key force behind the destruction of county cricket as we know it. As, as they hold the purse strings, others are falling into line.
Sam Cook interview: White-ball cricket could be my future (Telegraph)
Clash between MLC and Blast could see English players miss chunk of county T20 | (Cricinfo)
I love Sam Cook. Far inferior bowlers than him have enjoyed creditable England careers but I understand why he has missed out given the pace demanded these days. I fully take his point on the physical demands versus the rewards of red-ball cricket. It cuts to the core of the key issue in the game. (Though the TalkSport podcast said ticket sales for the Windies this summer were going very well). I also remember the 2019 Blast Finals Day when Cook was a mere bit-part player. Since then, he has turned himself into a fine white-ball bowler through performances at Essex. Likewise, Paul Walter is having a great Big Bash.
Hopefully, it will not come to this but if Cook takes the white-ball only route, meaning he is only going to play a handful of games a year for Essex then it is best to go freelance, with all the earning potential and insecurity that entails.
All this severs the connection between players and fans.
The comment to this piece($) struck me as the opposite of that. We are losing this sort of feeling about the game.
Marcus Trescothick awarded an OBE in New Year's Honours List (Somerset County Gazette)
Trescothick named in New Year’s Honours (Somerset CCC)
Banbury Cricket Club announces Jack Brooks as new head coach (Oxford Mail)
Dramatic pictures show cricket ground and Pitchcroft flooding (Worcester News)
New Road is normally underwater at this time of the year so Storm Henk was always going to see it submerged.
Monty Panesar joins Great Witchingham cricket club (BBC Sport)
5 things we want to see in cricket in 2024 (The Bouncer Cricket Blog)
New junior coach follows his heart to be a Bear (Warwickshire CCC)
You see people who love sport CAN turn down more money to follow their passion.
Chance to Shine urges cricket to tackle ‘postcode lottery’ holding talent back (The Independent)
Many counties are skint. Everything is facing cutbacks, presumably including talent development. Franchises cannot and will not handle the diversity issues in talent development or help grow women’s cricket at the grassroots level.
They may provide heroes and heroines but there is no pathway for everyone, everywhere to join in.
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