No 65, Sept 1 - The Grumbler's County Cricket Newsletter
🔵 Strauss review doomed to fail? 🟤 Why not start with a 'blank sheet of paper'? 🟢 Stevo stuns Hants 🟠 Thompson takes over, finally 🔴 Is talent draining towards smaller counties? 🟣 All the moves
“Like your shirt, mate. Yeah, I think it’s rubbish too.”
The Australian was propping up a bar at Hudson Yards on the east side of Manhattan last Saturday. I had wandered in seeking solace from the oppressive heat and something long and cool for my thirst. I was wearing an “Oppose the H*ndred” T-shirt.
We exchanged cricketing pleasantries and I told him about this newsletter. (Hi again, if you did sign up).
But it struck me afterwards, what does the rest of the cricketing world make of the battle for county cricket that’s raging right now?
If it is anything like Brexit, it is a weary shake of the head towards an always-eccentric, backward-looking yet creative country that, after arguing with itself for a number of years, has deliberately fired a bullet straight into its own foot for no adequately explained reason.
You might argue that a strong England team is required to keep the red-ball game alive on a global scale. If only to maintain those hefty media rights and some sort of competitiveness in the series against Australia and India.
But, alas, this is our problem and, if character is destiny, then somewhat inevitable. I doubt cricket fans overseas care and, such has been the marginalisation of the game in the UK over the last 30 years, it only resonates with a minority of a fraction of the population with a niche interest.
If, as I firmly believe, we are moving towards a system with franchises, not counties then life will go on. The earth will still spin on its axis and bills will still have to be paid.
Of course, the latter will be a PROPER crisis this winter and I fear many households will be facing real difficulty by the time next season’s membership fees have to be paid. If Andrew Strauss’ High-Performance Review sucks any more joy from the coming campaign then many will shrug and say “oh, I’ll watch it on YouTube”
My January, February and March are spent waiting for April - the smell of cut grass, the sheen of whites and the bell that denotes play is about to commence once more.
It is my sanctuary, my quiet passion and my happy place. Literally, I use it as an anti-depressant. It also supplies a universal language that allows me to bond with a random cricket fan in a New York bar.
We might have been the only two people in that city on that day who cared less.
But I get a similar feeling in the UK sometimes too.
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Players - signings, contracts, releases
Ins: Budinger (Leicestershire), Azhar Ali (Worcestershire - 2023 overseas), Holden (Middlesex - 3yr), Imam-ul-Haq (Somerset - last 4 games), Williams (Northamptonshire - last 4 games), Banton (Somerset - new contract), Coughlin (Durham - 2yrs), Lynn (Northamptonshire - Blast 2023)
Outs: Pattinson (Nottinghamshire- released), Salisbury (Durham - end of contract)
In his blog, Dan Weston suggests that players are not going from big counties to small because of you-know-what. In fact, if was having any effect, it was the opposite as fringe players are looking for opportunities.
You could argue that Joey Evison (Kent), Zak Chappell (Derbyshire) and Sol Budinger (Leicestershire) all left Nottinghamshire in recent weeks for this reason.
Weston does not provide data but, as my podcast with him proved, numbers are his strengths so I’d assume there is hard evidence.
Fair enough. We all should check our biases as often as we can.
Yes, yes, I know. Pot and kettle. But at least I am trying.
The Campaign to Save County Cricket
Ignoring The Hundred means Andrew Strauss' high-performance review is deeply flawed (Cricketer) ($)
Binds of history and Hundred leave Andrew Strauss with little room to be radical (Times)
County Championship set to remain at 14 matches in 2023 (Cricketer)
Lies, Damn Lies, And High-Performance Reviews (Being Outside Cricket)
Rob Key: The Hundred will 'secure future of our game' - but first-class cricket needed at height of summer (Sky Sports)
And the award for the best intro of the week goes to…
…George Dobell.
"Like reviewing the last journey of Titanic without mentioning that unfortunate incident with the iceberg, the Andrew Strauss high-performance review is deeply, perhaps fatally, flawed."
It is no surprise that Dobell and Mike Atherton have very similar takes on the Strauss review. If the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named is sacrosanct then, frankly, we are failing to address the whole problem and, as a result, it will fail.
As both of them point out, we clearly have too much cricket and yet a review implemented by the governing body that just added a new tournament is protecting said tournament.
The ECB cemented the event’s future a few weeks before a new chair came in and while this long-awaited review was preparing to go public with its discussion points.
It is admirable that these have been outlined on Strauss's blog. Though, as Being Outside Cricket points out, there is spin here. We are being sold certain points but only some are worth buying.
With that in mind, play the video in this piece for Rob Key’s take.
Here’s some of what he said and my points in reply in italics.
RK “It is for the game to debate... This is not us saying 'this is what we are doing and you are getting on with it.'"
No, it’s not, as you are taking the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named off the agenda. Also, this debate is the opposite of the process employed for the introduction of that event. So what has changed? Is this an acceptance that the previous approach was wrong?
RK, when asked by Atherton ‘why not start with a blank sheet of paper?’: “The tournament-that-shall-not-be-named is an “integral part of the system”, “part of the broadcast deal” and “the best v the best”.
But this is because the ECB have made it so. It is deliberate and, in order to execute, hollowed out the game’s finances. As explained last week, the criteria set out for you-know-what was woolly and we have no indication that it has been met. Yet its future has been assured. The haste of the broadcast deal, only with Sky, and the overall lack of scrutiny smack of a stitch-up to serve the specific purpose of ‘locking in’ the tournament. For all the talk of compromise and too much division, the attitude that bulldozered you-know-what and the deceit over its creation seems to have remained. Hence the rancour.
RK, when asked have you taken the views of supporters on board: “This is about everyone. This is about saying to the game ‘what do you want to do?’ It is not us ramming it down your throat.”
This is not true. Even the ECB must accept there is a sizeable number of cricket fans who believe you-know-what IS the major problem. Surely this is worthy of investigation. And, of course, the event has been utterly ‘rammed down the throat’ of domestic cricket, bending the entire game to its will and using up communal resources. The Strauss Review will not alter this.
That said, we must, must, must have change. Firstly, in leadership, as the ECB continues to prove itself not fit for purpose and then in quite a few other areas too. In my opinion, we should use this opportunity to investigate the true viability of 18 first-class counties in all competitions. Or at least different structures. For example, adding six teams to make two divisions of 12 but opening up the game to part-time clubs.
One other aspect noticeable in the Sky interview is Atherton asks nearly all the difficult questions. Ian Ward is silent most of the time. OK, you might argue he is the presenter here but it is a long discussion segment and he steps right back. Across all subjects, there is a lot of criticism of “official media” or “client journalism” right now. I did the job for over a decade and I know I pulled punches often. It was never spelt out, there were never edicts from on high but my role was clear.
The real problem here is that, unfortunately, like the game, the cricket press is not as big and powerful as it used to be and the nature of modern media means Sky and BBC will always bat for their own products.
There are lots more stories on the Strauss review below.
This one about staying at 14 matches for 2023 might be the most important. Let’s be crystal clear - it is no victory, merely a stay of execution. But if we are staying at 18 counties, playing 14 first-class games then where will the cuts take place?
My only hope is that new ECB chair Richard Thompson can firmly grasp the tiller in this period.
Like Dobell and Atherton, he is a sensible voice in a sport that has been listening to the wrong people for far too long.
By the way, Thompson started his new role on September 1 - here’s his first blog…
Richard Thompson, ECB Chair - My vision for cricket (ECB)
County Championship set to remain at 14 matches in 2023 (Cricketer)
Strauss's review proposes smaller Championship top tier, 'revamped' 50-over competition (Cricinfo)
Counties clash on playing Championship games during the Hundred (Times) ($)
Compromise is key to overcome scheduling carnage (Cricinfo)
Here’s Ed Warner, former chair of UK Athletics, who also sees you-know-what as a massive compromise which, for a review offering ‘no compromise’, means it may create a committee-driven camel when we need a horse.
County Championship points overhaul set out to incentivise winning and big scores (Standard)
It was utterly crazy to de-emphasise wins relative to draws in the points system a couple of years ago. I really do not like the lack of bowling bonus points in this proposal. The history of cricket is still shackled to the notion that batting is more important than bowling. As ever, there is a class issue at play.
The county game is about so much more than readying for England (The Cricketer)
Another fair-minded piece from Paul Edwards. I have always maintained that, if county cricket is ONLY about feeding the international game then it is over as we know it. It used to have resonance and meaning. The Duke of Edinburgh handed over the Championship trophy, the newspapers followed the action daily, and the Gillette Cup felt like FA Cup final day. It is not about recreating that but building back better and different.
Deary me, that sounds like a political slogan. Sorry.
Rob Key wants to see first-class cricket return to August (Telegraph)
Personally, I am far less opposed to the Championship being played while the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named is going on than I am to the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named itself.
As it is, certain players do not play white-ball cricket at all and the youngsters would get more from a red-ball run. There would be more cricket with a Championship game a week and so fans would benefit.
Four games in August would be a considerable chunk of the season and it could undermine the entire competition for some. But the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named is doing that to the whole of domestic cricket.
Then again, the 50-over seemed to go very well again this year in its August spot. Good games and good crowds. A proper governing body would build upon this.
Surely, this has been part of the plan all along. Create a product then sell it to the highest bidder. As in football, they will be from overseas and much of that which does not show up on a bank statement will be lost.
Rob Key responds to Geoffrey Boycott's criticism of Dave Brailsford's role in ECB review (Mirror)
There is no problem bringing in experts from outside but Brailsford is tainted due to the recent scandals that his rider "Bradley Wiggins used performance-enhancing drugs under the guise of treating a legitimate medical condition". And when the man who exposed Lance Armstrong is criticising someone in cycling then we need to listen.
Brailsford was very successful but, at what moral cost?
Also, the big problem with high-performance reviews is that high performance is not the reason most of us follow our teams or our country. For example, Somerset and Essex famously did not win a trophy until 1979 and the former have yet to win the Championship. My own team were pretty awful for the two decades before 2016.
England have been pretty crap forever, both at football and cricket, but we still enthuse.
Yes, success brings more attention, more fans and more sponsors. But think about it, has Team GB's golden haul at London and Rio changed your perception of athletics? Has the 2019 World Cup win had a huge effect on cricket?
Constant failure is very damaging but mediocrity laced with the occasional highlight is the way of British sport and, somehow yet we are one of the globe’s greatest enthusiasts.
There is so much more to the sport than High Performance.
High-Performance Review statements and meeting dates from counties - Worcestershire, Yorkshire, Warwickshire, Glamorgan
News, Views and Interviews
Hampshire have been using a Fawlty Towers meme to celebrate their victories this season so Kent reacted in kind after the Royal London Cup win. All good fun. Please forgive my pessimism but it says something that we have to go back to the 70s for mainstream cultural references on county cricket.
Still, the Royal London cup semis were great.
County cricket: Lancashire and Kent reach Royal London Cup final (Guardian)
Darren Stevens blows away Hampshire's treble hopes (Cricinfo)
Marvellous stuff from Stevo.
But, honestly, is there a bigger moaner after defeat than James Vince?
Darren Stevens vows to play on next season after 'gutting' Kent release aged 46 (Cricinfo)
Andy Hurry: Somerset 'penalised' for supplying players to The Hundred (BBC Sport)
Traditionally, the way to be successful in county cricket was to produce great players who were not quite great enough to represent England. Surrey often claim that international calls are the reason they do not win trophies commensurate with their resources. However, there is a difference between losing them to England compared to the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named. Representing your country is an honour.
Paul Farbrace: Warwickshire director of cricket to leave at end of season (BBC Sport)
By all accounts, he’s a good egg and, on the face of it, this is a family decision.
Kevin Sharp to end 47-year full-time cricket career (Cricketer)
Club Statement: Gary Ballance (Yorkshire CCC)
This strikes me as plain odd. Ballance has "cleared the air" with Azeem Rafiq. Sure, it's good news but there is no substance and an odd event to make a formal statement about. It needs quotes from the pair and even a picture.
Gary Ballance international return with Zimbabwe would be welcomed, says coach (Yorkshire Post)
Village cricket team records one of the lowest scores in history (Joe.co.uk)
What Have You Done to Me?! (YahooOverCowCorner.com)
Fantasy sports are massive in the US. It still has a hardy audience over here and cricket really lends itself to this area. From an audience perspective, it is sticky content too. For example, only betting or my fantasy team can really get me engaged in a nondescript certain draw on the last day. Here's a blog that happily disappears down this rabbit hole.
The Somerset Cricket Players Emporium (PeteAird.org)
Reimagining The Blast. Is It Really That Simple? (Full Toss)
Simon Harmer's toil exposes gulf in class at Test level (Telegraph) ($)
Rob Key: wrapped up in cricket’s cosy world but still England’s figure of hope (Guardian)
This is great from Barney Ronay. Apart from affability and the ability to talk on camera, I have always been concerned about what Rob Key really brings to his role as England MD. The quote below sums it up. The same applies to Andrew Strauss.
“English cricket is a small, sealed world played and run by a shrinking pool of people from the same demographic. Solve that and you solve every problem from playing standards to revenue streams to panicky new formats.”
Speaking of which…
And finally…
Kia Oval to be renamed Micky Stewart Oval for one match (BBC Sport)
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