No 13, May 19 - The Grumbler's County Cricket Newsletter
The 'fans are back in town' | We'll miss Surrey's CEO | The real and overall League tables | Looking back on the birth of T20 | All your Round 7 Previews | My column too
This newsletter is written by a county fan for county fans. So the lead story was always going to be about supporters returning to watch live cricket once again. It will lift the hearts of so many. I want to get back to Chelmsford desperately but I want Des Gallagher to see Lancashire even more. He is a nice, retired gent who responded to my request on The County Cricket Matters Facebook page for fans’ views on the comeback. We had a good, long chat. He’s had a rough time in the past year and truly misses talking cricket with fellow fans at Old Trafford. After the interview, I sent him a copy of my book to pass the time until his name comes up in the draw. Fingers crossed, Des.
So that is my lead story, one based on the true meaning of sport.
Here’s all the other, less important, stuff.
This week’s games
Each team name links to a different preview.
Surrey v Middlesex
Nottinghamshire v Worcestershire
Essex v Warwickshire
Derbyshire v Durham
Northamptonshire v Lancashire
Kent v Glamorgan
Hampshire v Leicestershire
Gloucestershire v Somerset
Here are the talking points from last week’s games
DeepExtraCover’s Team of Week 6
Here’s the table as it really is…
News, views and interviews
CEO thanks members as over 6,000 Championship tickets are claimed (Kent CCC)
Getting back in the ground, it’s going to be ‘pretty damn emotional’ (Cricket Paper)
Three pieces on the return of fans to county cricket. The last is my feature from The Cricket Paper at the weekend. I’ll be lucky to return before the end of June when the other restrictions are set to be rolled back. But I am sure I’ll feel the same way. I did a highly unscientific Twitter poll this week on fans feelings about going back - 12 per cent were nervous and five per cent would not return yet. In reality, I suspect more would concede they are concerned.
Wisden’s under-25 County Championship team of the season so far (Wisden.com)
Most of these names have been talked about in international terms except for Kiran Carlson of Glamorgan. I saw some of his 88 against Yorkshire last week and was impressed. As the second-highest run-scorer in the Championship, his numbers are not only exceptional, he has nearly achieved his season's best tally, after only a handful of games this term.
Stevie Eskinazi seeks loan deal after being dropped from Middlesex Championship side (Cricinfo)
With his deal up at the end of the season, a loan request is entirely understandable. But Middlesex are struggling and an internal shake-up maybe necessary anyway.
The right opportunity at the right time - it's the story of so many cricketing careers. Along with a youth spent in the "second home" of their local club.
Kent's Grant Stewart in Italy squad for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier (Kent Messenger)
Do you want to be Lanky the Giraffe, Lancashire’s mascot? (Lancashire CCC)
Happy 100th anniversary - Glamorgan CCC (Glamorgan CCC)
A short but pleasant piece on Glamorgan’s first first-class game on May 18, 1921 in front of 7,000 fans at Cardiff Arms Park paying one shilling and thruppence for the privilege.
My struggles with those of Derbyshire (Peakfan)
Peakfan is one of the most consistent county bloggers out there and he is not happy with his team.
How good is James Bracey? (RedBallData)
A concise but informative piece on the ‘next cab off the rank’ in terms of England batsmen. The context of ‘other bright young things’ is crucial. Many are lauded, few truly come through.
Speaking of England prospects… though I did not know he left Headingley under a cloud.
Richard Gould leaving Surrey to become Bristol City chief executive (Express and Star)
It is rare that the departure of the CEO at the league's richest club is so lamented. And I am no $urrey fan. But the county has positioned itself as a vocal opponent to the ECB in many areas (most notably, the tournament that shall not be named) when they would be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the changes proposed. Also they invested their own money in pushing to get spectators back into test events last season.
Reminiscing about a revolution (CricBuzz)
A fascinating piece on the birth of T20, the market research and drive behind it. Many of the problems they faced are still there, which must place into question the decisions of the powers-that-be over the last two decades. But also they talk of the 100,000 county members who "had a stranglehold on the game" at the time. That narrative still persists but is it really true today? T20 is two decades old, so many of the modern retirees were just entering middle age when it all began. I’d venture their sporting views - colored by the Premier League, the internet, social media and changes in politics and economics - are very different from the pipe-and-slippers brigade of 20 years ago. I would love to see research on this. One major problem in English cricket is the “us and them” attitude that has developed between the ECB and rank-and-file supporters. There is always a level of such enmity in any sport but the cricket authorities have managed to alienate and energise a demographic known for its conservatism and lethargy. This generation remembers that T20 was very quickly and widely accepted both by established cricket fans and enfranchised by latent ones. It was a huge success but counties were blamed for inviting in the beery, blokey crowd at the expense of families that might grow the game in the long-term. Hmmm, so members held back change but then there was change and then the counties ruined that. Sounds like a failure of governance to me. For decades the same ‘suits’ in the same jobs have been say the same things in the same accents. Their success are lauded, their plans well-funded and PR’d yet their failures are ignored or blamed on outside influences or fans. It’s not good enough.
Dean du Plessis: The first visually impaired commentator to cover international cricket (BBC)
My column from the weekend on why we should enjoy the red-ball game now as the mood may be very different at the end of the season.
Tweets of the week
OK so, technically, it’s an Instagram post but this is great. Surrey’s caption: “From our last @countychampionship home match with Middlesex, all the way back in 2017”
Videos I like…
A new vlog dedicated to the women’s game.
Links I like…
Fill up the Cricket Supporters Association survey
County Cricket Matters - Buy the magazine direct or on Kindle
Finally…
Yes, I am still plugging my book on county cricket and midlife.
Buy through Amazon or through me for an autographed copy
Finally, finally, let’s end on a high…
This guy was a magician, pure and simple.