No 71, Oct 20 - The Grumbler's County Cricket Newsletter
🔴 Will a county 'go under' like Wasps? 🟤 Fat chance! Key says support you-know-what 🟣 Buttler & Croft contracts at Lancs 🟠 Yorks racism hearing in public? 🔵 Hollywood CC 🟢 Benefit Years no more?
WisdenWorld - our community cricket partner, helping to fund the grassroots game
One of the critical questions often thrown at the structure of county cricket is “if you started from scratch would you have 18 first-class teams?”
The answer is almost certainly “no” but it is a pointless, hypothetical notion. I mean would you really choose to spend so much time with ALL the members of your family if you had not been born into it?
And, in a sporting context, would you have 92 teams in the elite football structure given that, according to financial expert Kieran Maguire, the average League Two club loses £13,000, a League One club £30,000 and a Championship club £300,000… per week. Yet, in the last decade, almost all the teams in the National League, the ‘fifth division’, have gone fully professional.
Sustainability is a major concern across the sporting world and, alas, football fans still cling to the knight-in-shining-armour ideal. But, Rod Bransgrove aside, there are few of those in cricket and, as the old joke goes, “what’s the best way to become a millionaire?”
… be a billionaire and buy a football club.
While football and cricket are bound by histories stretching back 150 years, rugby union professionalised relatively recently. They should have some “last mover advantage” as the Premiership only started in 1997. But it is clearly not working. In the last few weeks, Worcester Warriors have gone out of business and Wasps are in administration. Both have been relegated from the top flight and all their staff have lost their jobs. Many other teams are in financial trouble.
I am no rugby union expert but the latter are a big name. Two-time European champions and six-time English title-winners. If Wasps can go under then so can a number of first-class counties, especially if the ECB continue to regard the game so lightly.
While specific financial comparisons between rugby and cricket are hard, many of the usual problems are there - player salaries, Covid, the risk taken on developing stadia etc (You can read up on the issues here, here, here and here)
Thankfully, county cricket does not appear quite so precarious just yet and some clubs have even been paying down debts in recent years. But typically, 40 to 60 per cent of their revenue is still centrally funded. Also, in fairness to Teflon Tom Harrison, the ECB did a decent job of shoring up the counties when Covid hit.
Then there is the issue of private equity investment, something which is moving into many sports right now and took an early, controversial stake in rugby union. My concern is that these organisations enter into a sporting relationship posing two questions that fans never ever ask themselves.
How much will we earn?
When will we exit?
While their financial injection can be critical in growing a sport, it can also lead to short-term decision-making based on protecting their investment, not helping the club.
Across almost all sports, player wages are the key expense. They are at the heart of the divisions created across football in the past few decades and Mike Atherton outlined the evolution of cricket salaries in a fine piece two years ago.
Effectively, the Premier League is now four mini-competitions - the two who can win the title, the next five who can qualify for the Champions League, the ones who should stay up and, if they care, could be a Thursday-night team plus those just happy to stay up. The wage table mirrors the league table almost exactly, there is no solution and it is very, very boring. Under the Strauss Review, you could see the County Championship going the same way with the top division full of counties made rich by hosting Tests and you-know-what. The rest will be forever adrift in the feeder leagues.
So has private equity investment contributed to wage inflation in rugby and many of the current financial problems at Premiership clubs?
I ask the question because, make no mistake, cricket may well go the same way.
It has been widely reported that the ECB hope to bring outside investment into (or just sell) franchises in the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named when it is fully established. This is a major worry for English cricket and the more traditional parts of the world game.
Let’s try to see this from all sides. If these franchises (or even counties in a Premier League Blast) can’t compete salary-wise, then the lure of becoming a year-round player contracted to the global franchises of an IPL giant will be hard to resist. And that might mean the international retirement of star players in their prime.
So if you cannot pay your way, you look for outside help or any cash your commercial department can drum up. Even if it is a partnership of dubious morality, see tweet.
But, by definition, opening up English cricket to private equity means money will be its master. If it is not already.
Of course, the genie is not going back into the bottle. The pursuit of sporting success and the desire to maximise the financial return on that is all part of the game. In itself, that is no bad thing and, as I said, a path to growth. But the speed of change, the resilience of the organisations and the meaningful foundations of the sport must be paramount. Otherwise, the self-harm inflicted by money-above-all sporting organisations can be irreparable.
Because ‘growth’ is not just about your bank balance.
The sound of two top-flight rugby union clubs going under should be clanging across county boardrooms throughout the land.
Over the past few years, all of the ECB’s words (but very few of their actions) have suggested they are committed to retaining 18 first-class counties. The more collegiate culture of county cricket means they will be expected to step in should one start to struggle to survive. They have in the past.
But there is a genuine fear that a county could go under and after that loud warning from a neighbouring sport many of us will be watching the governing body closely.
If a single first-class county disappears down a financial black hole then the whole of English cricket will bear the cost.
P.S. I have a new sponsor for this newsletter. All the money is going to grassroots cricket. See story at the bottom of the page.
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Players and Coaches - moves, contracts, departures
Moves: Lamb (Warwickshire to Derbyshire), Loten (Yorkshire to Nottinghamshire), Salisbury (Durham to Leicestershire)
Contracts: Walallawita (Middlesex), Heldreich (Northamptonshire - 2yr), Martindale (Nottinghamshire - 1yr), Hull (Leicestershire - 2yr), Pettman (Nottinghamshire - 2yr), Croft (Lancashire - 1yr), Ingram (Glamorgan - 2yr), Schadendorf (Nottinghamshire - 2yr)
Departures: Hurt (Lancashire), Cohen (Derbyshire), Plom (Essex)
Jos Buttler: England white-ball captain signs new Lancashire contract (BBC Sport)
The reaction to this three-year deal was interesting. Speaking very broadly, the replies to Wisden’s story (who one can assume were general fans) was cynical and negative. Buttler played just one Blast game for his county last season. But the replies to Lancashire’s story were much more positive. You would have thought it would be the other way around.
Derbyshire: Leus du Plooy replaces Billy Godleman as captain (BBC Sport)
Ben Cox awarded benefit by Worcestershire for 2023 (Worcestershire CCC)
Is it me or are there fewer benefit years nowadays? Apart from some tax issues reducing the upside for players, it stands to reason. The stars with the ability to hold down a place for a decade are now spending much of their time in T20 Leagues while one of the obvious failures of the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named is that it is clearly not the best-v-best event the ECB as they have to dive so deeply into county squads. This to-and-fro loosens the ties of loyalty county players have always enjoyed. If they are allowed to freelance away from their mother clubs because ‘it is a short career and they need to maximise their earnings’ then expect fans to throw in coppers not notes when the bucket is passed around just before they retire.
Matt Mason: Bowling coach leaves Warwickshire for England Women role (BBC Sport)
Alex Gidman: Worcestershire head coach leaves New Road with immediate effect (BBC Sport)
James Taylor returns to Leicestershire as new batting coach (The Cricketer)
Kirtley invited to apply as Sussex CCC unveil new role (Sussex World)
Meanwhile, here’s a LinkedIN post that demonstrates the career trajectory of a modern county cricketer. Jack Brooks has had an excellent county career. He must have been close to England honours at some point. But, with the end in sight, he is looking for winter work and experience to ease his transition out of the game. Reality bites for the retired athlete.
The Yorkshire Racism Scandal
Intimidation and abuse forces Azeem Rafiq and his family from their homes (Cricketer)
Racism case against players and Yorkshire could collapse (Times) ($)
Azeem Rafiq to receive extra security at ECB’s Yorkshire hearing after threats (Guardian)
Azeem Rafiq: 'Never-ending campaign of lies' has put my family at risk, says spinner (BBC Sport)
If cricket really is trying to root out racism, it is failing (Cricketer)
CDC hearings in Yorkshire saga likely to be held in public (Cricketer)
Azeem Rafiq’s own failings do not give Yorkshire CCC any high ground -Andy Bull (Guardian)
This week we could find out whether the hearing into the racism scandal at Yorkshire is held in public or not. Azeem Rafiq has always wanted it in the open, now the ECB has taken that stance too. There are opponents to this, quoting the issue of legal indemnity over any possible libel. For me, transparency builds trust and there is precious little of that in English cricket these days. Assuming the legalities can be circumvented, this must be an open hearing. It is absolutely necessary in this case because of the past failures of governance and process from those in authority.
These days, the downside of this public laundry is that those with the dirtiest linen are hung out to dry. Whatever happens, it will be uncomfortable for all sides and a dark day for the game. I expect there will be a moment or a quote that snatches the headlines and goes viral in cricketing circles. Maybe a famous name will be ‘cancelled’.
For me, the point of all this is to rid the game of racism. Yes, that should mean punishment for the guilty but it should be framed in such a way as to send out a clear message, ensure there is no repeat AND build a better game going forward.
This is not achieved merely by scapegoating, labelling and ‘cancelling’ people, unless their actions are so entrenched and extreme that salvation appears beyond them. Cricketing exile just creates more divisions and the hardest part of real inclusion is agreeing to disagree but still working together for a broad, common goal.
By his own admission, Rafiq has lessons to learn too but, as Andy Bull says, those failings in no way weaken his case or strengthen anyone’s defence of Yorkshire.
The online sentiment around this story is frankly a cesspool. One that worries me greatly about the UK as a whole, not just its cricketing fraternity. This is a national issue partly created by the wider media and has been going on for decades. Or to put it another way, this is why, in his final, heartwrenching interview before succumbing to cancer in the mid-90s, playwright Dennis Potter explained why he had named his tumour after Rupert Murdoch.
We have to do better, find some common ground and plot a path forward. I’m sure many of the ‘villains’ of the upcoming CDC hearing work hard, pay their taxes and love their kids.
If redemption and growth is possible, let’s try that for a change.
P.S. If you think this is all overblown then please send me a list of the other people associated with this story who feel they need to leave the country due to abuse and send me some examples like those below. I’ll put them in the newsletter next week.
News, Views and Interviews
Rob Key interview: The Hundred will save county cricket (Telegraph) ($)
No, it will not.
Also the arm-round-the-shoulder, ‘c’mon mate’ approach really annoys me. After being bullied through, the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named has been protected, pampered and the cracks have been papered over. It was not open to proper scrutiny when it was created, NDAs and threats were flying around to stop counties moving against it (this and that £1.3m help us understand why the counties voted for it), the TV deal that secured its future was waved through almost in secret and it has been left out of the Strauss High-Performance Review.
If, as George Dobell is suggesting, an upcoming financial review reveals its annual loss as £25-30m then there is a strong argument for renegotiating with Sky and scrapping it.
And here’s the part where the rubber hits the road. After all that duplicity, if you think the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named will continue to benevolently sustain county cricket in perpetuity and not pull the plug someway down the road then you are obviously a student of the Liz Truss Academy of Crystal Clear Thinking.
There were plenty of times to get support from county cricket fans way back when and yet we were purposely ignored.
P.S. Here’s a prediction. If the county members do prevent the Strauss Review from going through then expect the ECB or some counties to quietly change their constitutions a few years down the road to stop a repeat. It is just like Boris Johnson when he fell foul of his own ethics advisor. He simply tried to abolish the position. Or when he changed the disciplinary rules to protect Owen Patterson. Or any other number of his transgressions. It is the way of modern UK leaders, unfortunately.
ECB forced to water down plans to cut County Championship fixture list (Telegraph) ($)
Twitter threads on the county meetings over the Strauss HP Review have been invaluable for keeping abreast of the mood. Here’s one from a Surrey fan. Open it up and scroll down.
The good people at Deep Extra Cover produced end-of-season reports on the counties. I could not find all of them (sort the navigation out chaps) but here’s the partial list. Will add to it when I can find more.
Gloucestershire
Northamptonshire
Nottinghamshire
Sussex
Yorkshire
Pasty’s big blitz: the inside story of Warwickshire’s great escape (Guardian)
The five county cricketers of the year (Guardian)
Cricket is changing, but not for the worse (Cricinfo)
Season’s Reflections: TV or not T (Yahoo Over Cow Corner)
Sport and sentimentality: Are we in denial about the role of business within sport? (Reaction)
Andrew Flintoff’s ‘Field of Dreams’ cricket documentary to return (Cricket 365)
Southchurch Park cricket pavilion set to be torn down (Southend Echo)
I sat and watched a few days at Southchurch Park with my Dad in his later, less-able years. I’d give my right arm for just one more.
Revitalised Mulder was at the point of saying goodbye to cricket (The Citizen)
This is a wonderfully simple scheme. I’d argue only county cricket can deliver this scheme as it is long, quiet and patient. These are precisely the qualities that make it different and thoughtful. They are also the three qualities cricket’s leaders seem to want to expel from the game.
Yorkshire: Darren Gough certain club remain a draw for players despite relegation (BBC Sport)
Jordan Thompson keen to right the wrong of relegation and boost England chances (Cricket 365)
EXCLUSIVE: Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson is considering quitting Yorkshire board after just five months due to the club's failure to act on 'mental health crisis' report (Mail)
And finally…
“Bowler’s names?”
“Karloff, Boris from that end, Flynn, Errol going up the hill!”
Cucumber sandwiches, Cary Grant and pitch-side glamour: Remembering the Hollywood Cricket Club (Independent)
The story of the new sponsor
In the last edition of the newsletter, I included this tweet. Bill from Wisdenworld contacted me a few days later.
The idea was to use the audience we have created (almost 1,000 subscribers and 2,000 page impressions per week) to do some good for the game at grassroots level.
We discussed the idea and then got to the usually-sticky issue of the fee. I suggested a figure and Bill immediately offered 25 per cent more. Every single penny will go to charity. We are finalising the donation now. It’s just ‘due process’ stuff and I’ll announce the recipient then.
You will see that Wisdenworld banner until the end of next year. Apart from the odd, flash sale line that will be it. Initially, I offered a little more collateral but Bill turned it down and he was very strict about having no editorial influence whatsoever.
In short, I am absolutely delighted to have a sponsor who understands the value of the community we have built, the content they enjoy and the game we all love.
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This newsletter started in January 2021 because, frankly, no-one else was publishing one and the county game lacked promotion. It will always be free and we will never misuse your data.
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If the Hundred format is so wonderful and better than 120 ball matches for TV viewing purposes, why not switch all counties to play 100 instead of T20. Or is it simply a desire to eliminate 'unfashionable' counties?