No 163, July 22: The Grumbler's County Cricket Newsletter
š£ Championship is back - all the previews š Glam, Durham & Yorks sign overseas š“ 2005 - an opportunity missed š¢ Schedule shenanigans šµ The Cheltenham Festival is older than Dracula
Quite simply, cricket was better back then.
I have followed the game since the late 70s and, like every cricket fan, nostalgic navel-gazing is not only my sporting safe place but a celebrated pastime.
Yet, 2005 was different - a moment in time, a unique opportunity, cricketing Kismet.
England were brave and brilliant, in matches that really mattered. The narrative meandered and evolved; almost all the games were tight and, largely speaking, the spirit was excellent too.
Cricket earned the nationās attention that summer. There was no need to buy it, like now.
A year earlier, Lordās had played host to its first game in the Twenty20 Cup, the revolutionary new competition. I was one of 26,500 at that match between Middlesex and Surrey. My team was not playing but this felt like history. Contrary to the tales told in the last few years, the majority of county fans had seen past the hit-and-giggle accusations of the first year and backed the new venture. That game was the best-attended county fixture (excluding one-day finals) since 1953.
The āunique opportunityā being talked up now is significantly weaker than the one the ECB let slip from their grasp back then. It might be richer. But richer is not greater when it has cost you control of the game to franchise owners (who, ironically, owe their power to your failure to act) and has undermined the foundations of the county structure, which may be suboptimal and outdated, but still creates all the talent and remains the primary professional connection for the country at large.
And, remember, every ārevolutionā in football supposedly makes it richer and yet the vast majority of clubs lose money to such an extent that UEFA introduced financial constraints. But teams are bending those rules to breaking point in order to spend yet more. This is the path that English cricket is placing its first, tentative foot upon.
I have not got around to reading this report yet. It has been a tough, busy week. But the backers and the timing have set off my spidey senses. Especially, as it has become part of the preview narrative of the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named. I now suspect they will announce the finalisation of the deals just before this yearās version launches.
Maybe the lovely Debbie McGee can do the on-stage reveal.
Meanwhile, the Blast groups are over. As I write these words, the first quarter-final is 44 days away. Scarborough and Cheltenham play host to Championship games this week. I have been to neither ground but we all know they hold a special place in the cricketing calendar. Yet, no-one outside the county bubble seems to care that much.
The entire schedule and indeed the domestic game is a mess. The plans for the new format are even messier. And, unforgivably, we still might be talking about a launch next season.
But in a week or so, a bright, expensive month-long distraction will be presented as a panacea.
Of course, it is the opposite.
The same leadership class that blew ā2005ā have also created this car crash. And the institutional memory of that colossal cock up has helped to make this latest gamble so large it is ātoo big to failā.
Whatever that means.
But I do know that failures in the leadership of English cricket rarely lead to a REAL change in the type of people in charge.
Until that happens, expect the game to create opportunities only for the few, not the many.
The final day of the Old Trafford Test underlined how the series had captured the nation. No fewer than 17,000 people were turned away because the ground was already full by 9.30am and the roads were gridlocked. I was in a car with Tony Greig, and the police wouldn't let us through. "But we've got to get in to do the telecast!" Greig exclaimed in his inimitable South African accent.
NB: Speaking of failures, I made an important mistake in last weekās intro. The Ā£6m budget for the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named was allocated for āevent productionā, which encompasses much more than just fireworks. My mistake and a stupid one too.
There are some strengths in this blog going straight from my head to yours, unfiltered. But everyone needs an editor.
And I am not here to spread fibs to get my point across, unlike some.
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PS 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
Click on each team for a different preview
Division One
Hampshire vs Nottinghamshire
Sussex vs Essex
Somerset vs Durham
Warwickshire vs Worcestershire
Yorkshire vs Surrey
Division Two
Derbyshire vs Leicestershire
Glamorgan vs Kent
Gloucestershire vs Lancashire
Middlesex vs Northamptonshire
Kiwi Test star Kane Williamson to make Middlesex first-class debut against Northants | Daventry Express
It has been noticeable that county websites are becoming more inconsistent in posting match previews. This fixture list was easy to fill for the first 150 editions, less so now. I am not necessarily being critical here. Like ground curators, there seems to be a lot more work with the addition of womenās games etc, but I am not sure the resources have increased accordingly. However, with mainstream media largely disinterested, club media is more important than ever.
And while we are on the topic, the ECB Reporters network previews and reports are fine. They fill a very traditional hole. But it is just one of many ways in which county cricket needs to communicate more imaginatively to interest the non-traditional audience.
But, yet again, the focus and resources are elsewhere.
Blast Review
County cricket: frustrated fans left hanging for T20 Blast quarter-finals | The Guardian
Durham earn home quarter-final with record-breaking stand, Kent sneak into knockouts | The Cricketer
Players, coaches - moves, deals, news etc
There are a few counties bringing in reinforcements for the end of the Championship campaignā¦
Asitha Fernando: Sri Lanka bowler's return boosts Glamorgan for Championship run-in | BBC Sport
Pakistan's Imam-ul-Haq joins Yorkshire until end of season after Gaikwad withdrawal | ESPNcricinfo
Bertie Foreman: Sussex spinner joins Worcestershire on short loan | BBC Sport
Ben Green: Somerset all-rounder extends Leicestershire loan spell | BBC Sport
Durham: South Africa bowler Codi Yusuf back for second stint | BBC Sport
Nikhil Gorantla: Surrey batter signs 'multi-year' contract | BBC Sport
But Northamptonshire could not sort out theirs before the restart
Northants go into crucial Championship clashes without an overseas batter | Daventry Express
Meanwhile, other teams are sorting out next seasonā¦
Nathan Gilchrist: Kent bowler to join Warwickshire on three-year deal | BBC Sport
Exciting 24-year-old Kent batsman Tawanda Muyeye commits to stay with the county until at least 2027 | Kent Online
Really good to see him stay. Especially after losing Gilchrist to a host county. Another host, Hampshire, and Essex were very interested in the batter.
Sussex Secure Tom Price Signature | Sussex Cricket
Another departure from Gloucestershire.
Jewell to return to Derbyshire in 2026 | Derbyshire CCC
Jewell signs on for 2026! | Peakfanās Blog
Essex set to sign out-of-contract Gloucestershire seamer Zaman Akhter | The Cricketer ($)
Samit Patel to leave Derbyshire | Derbyshire CCC
Interview: Patel reflects on his time as a Falcon - Derbyshire CCC
He has hinted at retirement.
Title-chasing Nottinghamshire braced for fight to keep head coach Peter Moores | The Cricketer ($)
News, Views and Interviews
Durham offer support to county cricket shake-up | BBC Sport
County Championship should be cut to 12 games, says PCA | BBC Sport
PCA calls for cut to County Championship schedule to protect playersā wellbeing | The Independent
As I have bored you with written before, this is the controversial elements of the Andrew Strauss report re-presented but without the ECB leading the charge. They learnt their lesson from that earlier rejection so the playersā union are front and centre.
And, if the messageboards are anything to go by, they may suffer for it. While we know that travel schedules are cited as problematic along with match exertion, suddenly I am seeing posts picking apart certain playersā workloads.
Why are they playing club games? Why have players with multi-format contracts who have been injured for most of the season likely to be fit to leave for you-know-what in August? Are we still paying those red-ball specialists who will have their feet up for most of the time next month? What about jetting off for back-to-back franchise competitions?
In the last couple of years, I have seen social media posts of players who have taken advantage of a gap in the schedule to take their partners abroad on a mid-season holiday.
The playersā workload is being presented as the primary reason for changing the schedule. I fear blowback.
Also, while we are talking of the Strauss Report. Dave Brailsford was an important contributor to the high-performance review. He is back in cycling after an expensive failure at Manchester United. And he is still not answering key questions about his previous reign.
(By the way, David Walsh. What a journalist. We need his type in cricket right now.)
English county cricket clubs pin hopes on cash windfall | FT
Poorer county cricket clubs count on the magic of The H*ndred | Observer
The āwindfallā narrative is persistent and annoying.
Remember, the majority of this money is available only by application and will be staggered over a number of years. It is earmarked for long-term projects, such as ground redevelopment, or reserves. There is good sense in this. It stops counties throwing one-off cash at short-term, on-field success. But it makes two massive assumptions: that the ECB can be trusted not to change their approach in the coming years and they will still have control of their own agenda.
Remember when you-know-what was launched and all that talk of external investment and overseas ownership? Yeah, me neither. Back then, Ā£1.3m per county per year was the carrot. But the ECB moved the goalposts. The old bait and switch. Those franchise deals have not been signed yet, in part, because the new owners are flexing their muscles.
Also, if there is any āmagicā in the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named and its distribution of franchise sales revenue, then it is because after the initial tranche of money is distributed, the previous financial safety nets will disappear in a puff of smoke.
And I am talking Paul Daniels here, not David Blaine.
World Test Championship: England to host next three finals - ICC announces | BBC Sport
Britain's most unique cricket grounds: BBC Sport visits beaches and castles | BBC Sport
Why is more not being done to arrest the demise of the Dukes ball? | Telegraph
Honestly, this is the saddest story of the season
The story of this newsletter
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