No 57, July 7 - The Grumbler's County Cricket Newsletter
π£ Can we force out our cricket leaders too? π€ The Blast - undermined but unsurpassed π΅ New Sky TV deal close π΄ Flintoff's TV show π’ Four county CEOs interviewed π‘ Moeen, Lyth, Gabriel deals
How do we change our sporting leaders?
As we have found out this week, there are mechanisms to oust the powerful in politics even if they have a majority of 80 and have just won a vote of no-confidence. The blood-letting will weaken this country and those who sustained our lying, incompetent, deluded soon-to-be ex-Prime Minister should be utterly ashamed of themselves. Yet it is somewhat comforting to know he was exposed in the end.
But, again, what of our sporting leaders? There are no elections or true visibility over the top people, how they are appointed or the policies they implement. We might know the slogans whether it is Levelling Up or Inspiring Generations and there will be a glossy PDF somewhere online but the real impact will be obscured by the spin inevitably required to create a veneer of success.
When the TCCB turned into the ECB, I cannot recall any discussion about this radical change of approach. It just happened. Likewise, the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named was loosely outlined then barged through via 'inducements', non-disclosure agreements and strongarm tactics before being barfed into being over a few years. County chiefs turned up to a meeting to discuss the venture only to be told a press release was going out imminently to announce its launch. It was the opposite of democracy and, for many, good governance.
This week, reports suggested a new Sky television deal means the event will retain its role at the centre of domestic cricket until 2027 at least. Who decided that? Itβs not like the ECB has a proper chair or CEO right now. What criteria was used? What is their definition of success? And when are we really going to be told how this all fits together?
The Sky deal is said to be three years. Reportedly, Teflon Tom Harrison wanted 10 and quit as soon as he could not get that signed off. Having stayed on to bank his bonus help avoid a power vacuum at the top of the ECB, he then created one. Now the multiple messes he left behind must be handled by the next appointment. They will say 'not me guv' and the Johnsonian staple, 'move on', when asked about how we got here. The ECB's manipulation has been akin to that of this Governmentβs bully boy tactics over the last few years. Only this week, David Hopps wrote that the ECB sent messages to Surrey "suggesting certain executives should be removed or silenced" over their support for the county game.
Although the governing body is supposedly βownedβ and run for the benefit of the counties and, yes, they could have turned down that Β£1.3m annual fee (sorry, it's a dividend so the accountants can keep that Β£24m off the books and present you-know-what as just about it profit), it clearly does not work that way in reality.
The Blast, a money-maker and real innovation of which the ECB can be proud, has been marginalised and undermined because it no longer fits the agenda. But whose agenda? How can I voice disagreement? And, if there are enough people upset with the direction of the ship, how can we change the captain and crew?
Of course, this is cricket. It is not real life. Then again, cricket is the very thing I think about when I am trying NOT to think about real life. It is a glorious distraction, among the most important of the unimportant things.
And, while it has been an era-defining week in politics, if that Sky story is true and the future of the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named is enshrined then it has been a bigger one in county cricket. I say this because it will accelerate the slow death of a competition that was founded when Gladstone and Disraeli were jostling for a spell in No 10.
This is not about staying in the past. In politics, sport and life, change is essential.
But, outside of a few executives appointed by a board I do not know, who actually voted for this one?
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T20 Blast
County cricket: T20 Blast quarter-finalists settled amid controversy (Guardian)
One of the great county rivalries, stripped of all that's good about the game (Cricinfo)
And, in all probability, this process is going to continue. As I have said, the story below, if confirmed, is a nail in the coffin of the county game.
Player News
Contracts: Lyth (Yorkshire - 3 years), Du Plooy (Derbyshire - 1 year), Vascencelos (Northamptonshire - 3 years)
Signings: Imam Ul Haq (Somerset - final 4 CC games), Gabriel (Yorks - next 3 CC games), Williams (Lancashire - 3.5 years).
Then thereβs this one, there are reports suggesting Moeen turned down a better financial offer from Yorkshire. Errrβ¦ I thought they were skint.
Will Beer: Sussex leg-spinner to leave county after 15 years (BBC)
Andy Goram, Scotland's last dual cricket and football international, dies aged 58 (Cricinfo)
Andy Goram obituary (Guardian)
Andy Goram was a football player but, I sense, a cricket person. He got fined by Hibs for playing for Scotland against the Australians. He said: "Sure, I have been in the Champions League, turned out for Scotland with 50,000 or 60,000 spectators in stadiums across the world, and been in the goalmouth at Old Trafford with a crescendo of noise echoing all around me.
"But these were no more enjoyable than locking horns with Allan Border, Merv Hughes and the other Aussies in that packed ground in Glasgow."
County cricketers experience mental health "rollercoaster" according to research (Cricketer)
News, Views and Interviews
Freddie Flintoff: βPlaying cricket in Preston was like being Billy Elliotβ (Times) ($)
Andrew Flintoff: Current and ex-players have a responsibility to change perception of cricket (Cricketer)
Field of Dreams places a welcome spotlight on a very relatable issue (Cricketer)
The Repair Shop is a lovely show. The BBC blurb describes it as "expert craftspeople bringing loved pieces of family history and the memories they hold back to life. A heartwarming antidote to throwaway culture". Very often the 'customers' end up in tears after that special toy, heirloom or model is restored to its former glory. There is always a story behind the inanimate object and revealing that is the true point of the show.
County cricket needs to go in the Repair Shop. For so many, it is that old, tattered teddy bear you leave in the back of the cupboard yet can never throw away.
But Freddie Flintoff's Field of Dreams will have to do for now. In truth it is a sad indictment on those who have run the game that it means so little to modern working-class youth. They associate Flintoff with Top Gear, not the Ashes of 2005. For many of us, those Tests were JFK moments. I know exactly where I was when Geraint Jones caught Michael Kasprowicz to win the Edgbaston Test, Gary Pratt ran out Ricky Ponting at Trent Bridge and the umpires marched on to take off the bails at The Oval.
Test cricket was lost to Sky after that and state schools gradually abandoned playing it. So now we have Flintoff, the council-estate kid from Prestion, playing a missionary role. Hereβs a link on iPlayer. The piece in The Times made it look enticing. Iβll refrain from comment until I have seen the whole series.
Anything that brings cricket into primetime and preserves its legacy is fine with me. But it is a sticking plaster on a gaping wound which, in time, will see the game slowly bleed out.
More trouble on social media. Racism in the stands at Edgbaston. What has happened this summer?
Thrilling Finish As 250th Anniversary Marked In Style At Broadhalfpenny Down
One of the best things to come out of writing a book on cricket was being asked to talk to the Hambledon Club at the Bat and Ball pub (over the road from Broadhalfpenny Down) earlier this year.
But then Canadian cricket goes way back tooβ¦
Cricket in Hamilton: 175 years of history, lots of players, nowhere to play (CBC)
Then thereβs the ground of Sussex, the oldest professional sports club in the worldβ¦
Field Of Dreams, the first 150 years of County Ground, Hove (Brighton Argus)
Over the past few months, the venerable Tony Bishop of Guerilla Cricket has conducted interviews with four county CEOs. Here they are. I listened to them all last week. Two points were striking:
They are all cautiously optimistic about the county game
None could properly articulate where the-tournament-that-shall-not-be-named fits in. Even one CEO who worked at the ECB when it was being developed.
This tells you a lot.
The Guerilla Cricket podcasts consistently mentioned that around 60 per cent of the audience for the YouTube streams of Somerset and Warwickshire are aged 18-34. It is so good that I seriously doubt it. So many media consumption metrics are fake because the platforms and the content creators need eye-catching numbers and the industry is too new for real regulation. While YouTube is more youthful than, say, linear television, the content is not made for a young audience. With a couple of notable exceptions, I love the roster of county commentators but they are not going to convert my 13-year-old daughter to the domestic game. However, she loves Minecraft so a Space Bowl, see story above, might be an entry point. At least it relates to her. The NFL have simulcast games on Nickelodeon in recent years, using augmented reality graphics to reach a younger audience.
The most efficient solution for county cricket would be to have two different commentary options for different audiences on the same stream. But they need to be resonant voices.
Broadly speaking, all I really hear right now are older, traditional commentators or younger, posher ones.
Seven seeks to terminate multi-million dollar broadcast deal with Cricket Australia (Guardian)
Why Seven is suing Cricket Australia and wants out of its broadcast rights agreement (ABC)
Seven want out because they believe the scheduling, players available, salary cap and failure to have an auction have made the Big Bash inferior to the IPL. They argue it is not the 'product' they bought. Let's put this lens over the English Test team. OK, it is going well right now. But has it been properly looked after for the previous few years? Given Test cricket makes up the majority of the ECB media rights deal (the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named is around 16 per cent and the international game is pretty much the rest) could Sky ever argue the same thing? They won't, of course. That relationship appears very cosy. But still, this is an unholy row about a major plank of the cricket business in a major market. The result may ripple across the game.
Glamorgan cricketer finally laid to rest (Glamorgan Cricket)
Kent heart-scare cricketer takes on Ironman event (BBC)
Jack Leaning takes aim at county schedule: "It's an absolute joke" (Cricketer)
Introducing the new Somerset board (Somerset CCC)
You donβt often see such clear communication around the composition of a county cricket club board. I have decided I will put my name forward for selection at Essex CCC. Hereβs the process. I suspect this newsletter is one huge red flag on my application but I am prepared to stand up and be counted.
How The Hampshire Hawks City Academy Is Changing Cricket In The City (Ageas Bowl)
Exclusive: Umpires chief suspended over Devon Malcolm 'racism slur' leaves ECB (Telegraph) ($)
Cricket analyst Olly bags job with England team (EADT)
Gary Ballance makes cricket return for first time since Azeem Rafiq racism allegations (Mirror)
And, finally, Cheltenham is on my county cricket bucket list. It looks lovely.
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