No 123, May 17 - The Grumbler's County Cricket Newsletter
🟢 County Championship previews 🔴 Lancs chair fighting re-election 🟣 Hants and Notts suffer key injuries 🟤 Volunteers clean up New Road 🔵 Stokes playing as Blackpool set for bumper crowd
Normally, I put a pithy intro here.
But we have a full round of Championship games coming up. Ben Stokes is playing for the first time in forever and Lancashire expect their match at Blackpool to be played in front of a bumper crowd.
The rest of the game is desperately concerning but the sun should be shining this weekend.
So let’s try to make hay in the domestic red-ball game while we still can.
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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.
County Championship - previews and review
Click on a team for a different preview
Division One
Essex vs Warwickshire
Lancashire vs Durham
Nottinghamshire vs Hampshire
Somerset vs Kent
Surrey vs Worcestershire
Division Two
Derbyshire vs Northamptonshire
Glamorgan vs Middlesex
Leicestershire vs Gloucestershire
Sussex vs Yorkshire
A Warm (and hopefully Dry) Welcome to Durham | Blackpool CC
Ben Stokes To Play First County Championship Game In Two Years | Wisden
We delve into the past for a solution to County Championship's draw problem | Telegraph
Jamie Smith backed for England after Surrey go clear at top of Division One | Cricinfo
Jamie Smith Rises Above England Peers To Demand 'Next Cab' Status | Wisden
A lovely piece on a day of Championship cricket at Kent.
Likewise, Jason Holder spoke with genuine warmth and affection about his short spell at Worcestershire. Then there were the volunteers cleaning up flood-ravaged New Road ahead of its return to action. With the odd Bear helping the Pears, see below
These warm, fuzzy stories were praised on social media. In many ways, it encapsulates my disconnect from modern sport. I value these tales, the emotions they engender and will pay good money to preserve them. Others won’t.
Player news, contracts and signings
Kiran Carlson to stay at Glamorgan until 2026 | BBC Sport
Warwickshire sign pace bowler Michael Rae on short-term contract | BBC Sport
Northamptonshire bowler Jack White nears playing return | BBC Sport
Naveen-ul-Haq: Hampshire lose Afghanistan paceman for T20 Blast | BBC Sport
Josh Tongue injury: England bowler could miss a significant portion of the home summer | BBC Sport
Tom Banton interview: I did not work hard enough after meteoric rise | Guardian
James Anderson to retire after Lord's Test against West Indies | ESPNcricinfo
Sam Cook deserves chance for England - Anthony McGrath | BBC Sport
News, Views and Interviews
Profit trumps all in plans for the [tournament-that-shall-not-be-named] | The Guardian
Rich and poor counties can’t afford to be at war over [tournament-that-shall-not-be-named]| The Times
[Tournament-that-shall-not-be-named] privatisation moves closer after counties give ECB green light | Times
It seems certain to happen now. You-know-what will be set in stone because of a series of deliberate decisions made by a handful of powerful people. So please don’t tell me 70,000 members are in danger of holding the game to ransom. The counties are just squabbling over the distribution for franchise sales, which as we know will be decisive for the future of the game.
Clearly, it is not just about the amount of money in the game because this week, without a hint of irony or good-timing, the ECB decided to trumpet record profits and interest metrics.
But the below is a very pertinent question given that the ECB has supposedly been running the game on behalf of counties, the vast majority of which were member-owned. And this analysis of the accounts demonstrates how much financial trouble the counties are in.
It does not add up. But then it never has.
For me, the desire to unshackle members from the game has always been at the heart of this process. Change was certainly needed but not like this.
The franchise sale is the third huge nail in the coffin of the county game after the initial creation and the unilateral extension of the television deal without which it may well have been binned.
From a personal perspective, I have to make a decision over the future of this newsletter once the sales are confirmed. I felt I have been repeating myself for some while and, from now on, it will all be whistling in the wind. Also, I am increasingly a target on social media by people who pick out one clause in a 280-word tweet above the 123 3,000-4,000-word newsletters I have written. Frankly, you can probably drive a bus through my arguments there.
I suppose I can always start sniping back, after all, it is their game now, not mine.
But as it stands, I think I will just pack up and go back to the pavilion and enjoy what is left of county cricket while I still can.
Lancashire chair facing re-election battle amid member disquiet | The Cricketer ($)
Lancashire Cricket announces operating profit for 2023 | Lancashire Cricket Club
Expect more of this. Before and after the counties accept the sale of franchises in the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named.
Essex, like Surrey, are having online meeting to discuss the move.
An entirely transparent tactic to diffuse dissent over this emotive issue. But they will be able to claim it has been discussed.
And most counties are scared of having binding votes so they are just ignoring the idea.
Here’s that piece on the latest P&L reports of counties. I am always wary of drawing too much from financials given the creativity of accountants and the internal desire to ‘manage a narrative’.
If anything the analysis is less alarmist than mine. Essex are given yellow status but at the last AGM they spoke of three separate trigger warnings over continuing as a going concern. That has never happened in my lifetime.
That said, it would have been interesting to do this 10, 20 and 30 years ago to see how much has really changed. When have county cricket finances not been in some sort of crisis?
David Lloyd: Derbyshire captain on stress of county schedule - BBC Sport
Labour: Worcestershire County Cricket Club has to stay at New Road | Worcester News
Volunteers clean Worcester's New Road after repeated flooding | BBC News
Eton vs. Harrow: Time is running out for one of England’s oldest and most exclusive rivalries | CNN
A superpower and a struggle: cricketers on life with ADHD | Cricket | The Guardian
Stan Cullimore Interview – Rain Stopped Play, inspection at 3
I loved the Housemartins.
Exclusive: Yorkshire CCC seek ECB U-turn over tier one women's cricket snub
Sussex have much more to complain about given their previous commitment and contribution to the women’s game.
How T20 has changed cricket forever | Cricket Monthly
Is cricket amusing itself to death? – Some musings | Pete Aird
Merv Colenutt: the County Championship is now second-rate | Somerset County Gazette
Packed county calendar not new – just look at my 2,000-mile month | The Times
A couple of sets of attendance figures. Certainly, the Championship is suffering right now but any remaining credibility has been undermined over the past few years. Not least by many whose careers were launched by it. However, it was growing before Covid and you-know-what. So was the Blast and that had big numbers. But not at the desired pace, returning the desired revenue and with the desired people in full control.
Both have been shunted to unsatisfactory months of the season. So what can you expect?
And finally…
The story of this newsletter
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The Repair Shop wouldn’t have it - that show’s all about the sob story, not the object.
Really appreciate 'The Grumbler' dropping into my inbox each week (in season) / fortnight (out of season); you provide such a valuable service collating quite so many links to various sources of press coverage (both national and local) which cannot (easily) be found elsewhere.
Please do not give up; you are a sane voice for long time followers of the game which we need particularly given the machinations of the ECB and the unwillingness of County Chairs/Boards to give members their rightful say on the direction, structure and broader governance of the domestic game.
If you decide ultimately not to continue then thank you and perhaps groups such as County Cricket Matters might shift away from X/Facebook to provide a web based blog forum accessible to all to fill the gap you would otherwise sadly leave.