No 24, Aug 4 - The Grumbler's County Cricket Newsletter
The Royal London Cup is great but where is the coverage? | Dan Moriarty | Kent coping with Covid | Chesterfield | The Wikipedia page that got changed | A new minor league starts.. no not that one
The Royal London Cup has been great, hasn’t it? Some tight finishes, stunning comebacks, beautiful out-grounds and youngsters given a go. We know it is a diluted competition this season but, as a product, it is holding up well. Of course, there is no coverage. The Cricketer are doing their best and thank heaven for the ECB’s Reporters’ Network and, of course, the streams. But even the Test series with India has flown under the radar in relative terms. That is why I found this tweet illuminating. It leaves me with the nightmare of little county news to round-up in this newsletter and a gap that my anger and disappointment in modern English cricket are all too happy to fill. In 2019, I watched the first and last games in Essex’s successful Blast campaign. Both were fervent sell-outs of 25-28,000 people paying full-priced tickets. Yet the opener at Lord’s had no dedicated media reports outside the specialist cricket sites and the final at Edgbaston received about as many newspaper inches as two double-headers in the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named are currently getting. Still, like the worse Silicon Valley start-ups, the powers-that-be will continue to fake it until they make it. Trying to present selfish objectives as altruistic ones, creating a PR smokescreen and a cult of happy-clappy success as they burn through their reserves in search of future financial stability. The only difference is they hold all the power over the competition and are not subject to regulation. They are the regulators! Even Mark Zuckerburg has never had all these advantages.
Royal London Cup
Royal London Cup team of the week
Important win for Middlesex at Lancashire | Eskinazi key to previous victory
Glamorgan are surprise group leaders after win over Surrey
Royal London Review: Episode 12 - The show goes on
I was on this podcast, along with some much more intelligent people.
News, views and interviews
I have covered the journalists’ response to the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named. Here are the bloggers’ views…
The plan to end 50 over one-day cricket – or perhaps a few counties! (Cricket51 Days)
A round-up piece on a couple of games. My beloved Essex receive some flak in this but I agree about the 'ring of steel' point. Although I'd venture that the experience of Essex on T20 nights is enough to make any Head of Stewarding err on the side of caution.
We need to talk about The Hundred (The Cricket Blog)
Hundred Flatters To Deceive (The Full Toss)
The Hundred, Part I – A new audience? Maybe… (Periodic Cricket)
This blog seems to think county cricket is robust enough to survive the fall-out whatever happens with the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named. I disagree. Firstly, they are trumpeting it as a success no matter what. This will be seen as justification of an approach based on a lack of transparency, consensus and a communication strategy based on half-truths and ass-covering. Sanjay Patel is everywhere I turn in the media these days, as is the stat that the competition will make a profit. This does not include £24m in payments given to the counties (£1.3m each) and other significant costs such as consultancy fees. I was pessimistic about its effects on county cricket before the event started, now my concern has increased 10-fold. There has not been enough scrutiny by the wider media, others have towed the party line given they are beneficiaries while the counties have been gagged legally. Then there are the other tricks, see Tweet of the Week. So all we have left is a handful of independent journalists and county fans. These are the only people worth listening to - and, it must be said, they are not all anti. The obituaries of the 18 first-class counties have been written for decades but, after just a week or so there is talk about expansion and development of this event. Just like we knew all along. Honestly, I am starting to envisage a future where Essex only exist as a part-time, minor county.
A blog from a non-partisan source (he's not English). However he broadly sits on the fence. No-one believes the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named will stay limited to its current scope. It has been fuelled by a thirst for greater power. When do you ever see people like this stop and say ‘enough’?
A post on the ECB’s finances (SideOnCricket)
He was the young find of the 2020 county season. Now he's Surrey's No1 spinner.
Kent director Paul Downton hasn't had it easy (CricketWorld)
“We were putting together a side overnight, six short for an 11 o’clock start,” said Downton. “It was 8pm on a Saturday night. It probably happens a lot to club third XIs when various people get taken from you late, but from a professional cricket point of view it was extraordinary really.”
Gimmickry can help county cricket too (The Cricket Paper)
There is so much that could be done for the existing county cricket tournaments. Its promotion would strengthen the existing structure of the game. It will never happen because the ECB do not care. Digital newsletters, like podcasts, are cheap, easy and effective marketing methods. So why is this the only one out there? And why it is being produced by a fan?
Gloucestershire Cricket Advertise for Performance Director & Head Coach Roles (Gloucs CCC)
All change in Bristol. Ian Harvey is the favourite.
Matthew Wade signs all-format deal with Worcestershire for 2022 (Cricinfo)
Eye-catching signing by the Pears.
We interrupt this newsletter for a game of county cricket
Derbyshire entertain Yorkshire at Chesterfield on Sunday. It is another ground on my bucket list and, from the looks of this video, seems marvelous.
Tweet of the Week
As everything on Wikipedia is open-source, I looked up who did these edits on July 28th. As far as I can see, the majority were done by one individual. You can buy services like this or just do it yourself. It could be entirely innocent but a culture of NDAs, opaque processes plus “North Korea” style television commentary certainly raises suspicions.
Links I like…
Join the Cricket Supporters Association, it’s free
County Cricket Matters - Buy the magazine direct or on Kindle
County Cricket Natters podcast on the Royal London Cup in conjunction with The Cricketer
Finally….
OK, this is not county cricket but it is interesting. Seattle is getting its first ever real cricket pitch. Decent view too. Meanwhile Minor League Cricket started last week in the US, featuring more than 200 games in 21 cities. Twenty-seven teams will compete for $250,000 in prize money, the largest purse in American cricket history.
Finally, finally…
Yes, I am still plugging my book on county cricket and midlife.
Buy through Amazon or through me for an autographed copy
🏴☠️ Buy from Independent bookshop | 🇺🇸 Buy in USA | 🇦🇺 Buy in Australia
P.S. I am still off social media, except to promote this newsletter. Won’t be back until the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named is over. The only exception will be if Essex somehow make the Royal London Final.