No 74, Dec 2 - The Grumbler's County Cricket Newsletter
No 74, Dec 2 - The Grumbler's County Cricket Newsletter
🟤 The 2023 fixtures are out 🟣 That disgraceful 'flea' quote 🔵 Claims that counties 'win civil war' 🔴 £400m to kill/save county cricket 🟢 RIP Jeremy Lloyds 🟠 County player fails dope test
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In days gone by, football managers were known to pin newspaper clippings containing derogatory quotes about their team on the dressing room wall before games.
Then they just walked out.
There was no need for a rousing team-talk.
Consider this the same thing.
PS The county fixtures are out. Sync them to your calendar here
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Signings, contract, appointments
Signings: Ali (Warwickshire - Overseas till July)
Contracts: Mulder (Leicestershire - 2yr), Gofar (Gloucestershire - 2yr), Coad (Yorkshire - 2yr), Harris (Middlesex - rookie), Fernandes (Middlesex - rookie), Carter (Nottinghamshire - 1yr)
Mickey Arthur signs three-year extension at Derbyshire (Derbyshire CCC)
Luke Wright named as England Men's new selector (Cricinfo)
Gloucestershire add Robbie Joseph as bowling coach after successful trial run (Cricketer)
Shaftab Khalid: Ex-Pears spinner joins Bears as coach from South Asian Cricket Academy (BBC Sport)
Staffordshire swoop for ex-Lancashire fast bowler Liam Hurt (Express and Star)
Durham targeting overseas bowler to fill Chris Rushworth void (Cricketer)
Laurie Evans denies wrongdoing after anti-doping test returns positive result (Cricketer)
Laurie Evans: Perth Scorchers cancel contract after positive test for banned substance (BBC)
The future of county cricket
How the counties fought back to win cricket's civil war (Telegraph) ($)
Private equity firm ‘makes £400m offer’ for 75% stake in the H*ndred (Guardian)
Counties could receive £10m windfalls if £400m H*ndred offer is accepted (Telegraph) ($)
The H*ndred bid leaves counties with more questions than answers (Cricketer) ($)
ECB’s Richard Thompson: ‘It’s not quite a Packer moment, but it’s a real risk’ (Guardian)
When stories about the counties ‘winning cricket’s civil war’ came out, you knew there would be a response.
Only the speed and size has been a surprise.
First things first, there has been NO victory for county cricket against the Strauss High-Performance Review or any ‘civil war’. Members have merely blocked the two key recommendations of a body answering a narrow question asked by the previous leadership of the ECB which, if history was anything to go by, was only going to be used to push their pre-ordaned agenda.
Remember, just last year, the current ECB CEO accused the previous regime of “ambushing” the counties to push through the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named. While the counties’ resistance to change has been clear and leaving aside the pros and cons of the actual event, the story of how you-know-what was forced through is one of the most shameful episodes in English cricket’s recent history. And that particular award has some stiff competition.
Despite former chair Colin Graves' words to the DCMS Select Committee, they were NOT consulted in any meaningful way in the development of you-know-what. It was created in laboratory conditions by marketers and consultants using a petri-dish full of focus groups and whiteboard ideas.
Then the ECB antagonised the counties and their devotees as, having barely promoted the domestic game for decades, they suddenly found the will and the money to throw £200m at every game in you-know-what, papering over its cracks at every opportunity.
This is why Graves went before the event started despite wanting to extend his tenure as Chair and Teflon Tom Harrison was forced out after one version with a hefty bonus based on the television deal. The renewal he rushed through before his departure now acts as the event’s primary shield against falling television ratings and concerns over hidden costs. Even new chair Richard Thompson is using it as such.
Unlike his predecessor, the former Surrey man can use the word ‘custodian’ and no-one will laugh. His actions have suggested something closer to what many of us want, innovation and change based on the bedrock of the counties.
But, in my experience, sports executives do not like suffering defeats by supporters. In the wake of the protests that blocked the European Super League, the American owners of Liverpool and Manchester United have already indicated they are selling up, taking their ball and going home. The gravy train has been shunted into a siding and, despite all the perfectly-pitched PR to the contrary, they were only ever here for the money.
The same will apply to private equity’s interest in English cricket. They look to any acquisition asking the two questions fans never, ever pose - how much can we make and when can we exit?
In hindsight, it was entirely predictable that a story would be floated re-emphasising the value of the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named with a big, fat number in the headline. After all, the promise of £1.3m per year (£24m in total) was the crucial carrot in getting through you-know-what in the first place. The sticks were the threats of ‘re-allocating’ international games etc away from non-compliant counties.
Effectively, this was the price for county cricket selling August. OK, the 50-over cup was still played and, though it was a joyous ‘dads and lads’ affair, it was second-class cricket and so it was no surprise to see Royal London not renew their sponsorship. This loss, like the £24m aggregate payment to counties, should appear as a deficit in the accounts of you-know-what. But they don’t. And, of course, doubts have arisen about the ongoing viability of that payment, a classic bait-and-switch.
That is why we should be so sceptical about any story trumpeting a large enticing number when a major, structural, impossible-to-reverse change is on the other side of the deal.
Here’s one the government prepared earlier.
Harrison and Boris Johnson only had to ‘sell the sizzle’ on their ideas as, typically, they were out the door before they had to deliver the long-term benefits it promised.
The £400m story was broken by Sky Business, whose sports arm have been the ECB’s major supporter and source of funds since 2005. Having heavily PR-ed the benefits of free-to-air aspect when you-know-what was announced, it was with Sky Sports that Harrison did a quick, unilateral TV deal till 2028 just before he was pushed out. That has bound the hands of the domestic game and, with inflation at 10 per cent, agreeing the same terms will offer an increasingly diminishing return.
Then there is Graves. Here’s George Dobell on his possible re-emergence in this tale…
If you look at English rugby right now there is every reason for sport to beware of private equity bearing gifts. Yes, F1 has regained some relevance thanks to a similar deal but Bernie Ecclestone's fiefdom had run aground long ago and, almost certainly, the PR noise is much greater than any signal of success.
Which brings us back to this headline-grabbing yet practically-vague figure of £400m.
What does that actually buy? OK, a reported 75 per cent stake. But what does that mean? The ability to control the domestic schedule and take players from counties? What about the effect on the Test game, which is still 80 per cent of English cricket’s revenue? It is a very different dynamic when such arrangements are purely contracted transactions with a company and not a mutually-beneficial arrangement with a governing body.
If all the major players are fully contracted to franchises then I can see how it might work. But that is the end of red-ball and county cricket. So please don’t tell me that the £400m is going to help the game. Or, as the next day’s follow-up said, counties could get £10m each.
As inducements with obvious, sinister motives go, it is right up there with this one.
Better judges than I have suggested this deal would be the kill or cure for county cricket. Though ‘the Richards’ seem much more minded to resuscitate than suffocate, the domestic game needs to quickly sort out its governance to prove it is worth saving. Read the tales about Sussex and Essex in this newsletter, or the news that Yorkshire have kicked a can full of racism allegations down the road to 2023.
This is precisely the wrong time for such poor and divisive management.
But the game is still recovering from the worst leadership in the history of the ECB. One whose influence has sucked every ounce of trust from people who pay hundreds of pounds year-in, year-out, then labelled them parasites for failing to believe only those who toss in a tenner each summer to watch some fireworks have the game’s true interests a heart.
Don’t believe most of the ECB, don’t believe most of the players, don’t believe most of the commentators - they have too much skin in a version of the game that primarily serves themselves.
Just believe in county cricket and its ability to return to some sort of relevance within this country.
But we’ll need real leadership from within and real change to achieve it.
News, Views and Interviews
The inside story of Sussex's decline (Telegraph) ($)
This is a throwback piece, a long, in-depth article on the inner workings of a county. Inevitably, it is a troubling tale of decline and dispute. But, leaving that aside for a second, it is just nice to see the game covered this way.
As for Sussex, there has been trouble on the south coast for some time. Critically, they are debt-free but the mood is not good. Even their crop of fine youngsters can be seen as a sign of neglect in team-building. And, with membership tanking and concerts taking priority, you could argue that Hove is at the centre of county cricket’s Venn diagram of problems.
When sports businesses are so small, personalities matter. Leicestershire are the minnow county but they have a CEO with big ambitions. Derbyshire have Mickey Arthur at the helm. Sussex are accused of having leadership issues on and off the pitch but, above all that, they are not giving their fans much joy.
Their talented kids may come through but patience is wearing thin.
And more Michael Buble concerts cannot fill the gap.
‘A competitor, magic guy, chatty umpire and friend to many’ – Jeremy Lloyds dies at 68 (Times) ($)
Jeremy Lloyds: Former all-rounder and international umpire dies aged 68 (BBC Sport)
Essex’s Sam Cook and England Lions hungry for a taste of cricket’s big time (Guardian)
I’m biased but Little Chef is getting more skilful and miserly by the year. Despite lacking the seemingly-requisite pace to break into the full England team, this ongoing improvement is keeping him in the conversation.
Smart balls aim to bring ball-tracking and Ultra Edge tech to club cricket (Times) ($)
Winter now brings big paydays not empty schedules for English cricketers (Guardian)
Warm-ups between counties and touring sides could be scrapped (Times)
Derbyshire sacrifice T20 home game for Edgbaston's 'Blast Off' double-header (Cricinfo)
The day the music died (Lord Ric of Beckley Furnace)
Exclusive: Cricket could return to Olympics with six-team T20 competition (Telegraph)
It can only be a good thing for the global game if T20 can become an established Olympic sport played by more the just full and associate countries who fill the World Cup berths. However, at three hours, surely 240 balls-per-game is too long for a large tournament.
And, before you ask, so is 200.
The responses to this tweet were surprisingly warm for an otherwise faceless insurance company whose investment in cricket has not been that long-standing. Their deal involves more than just the 50-over competition but, arguably, the domestic event offered more brand recognition. It was just called “The Royal London” by many. So demoting it to a second-class event run in the shadow of the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named, its television deal and £200k-per-game marketing spend hugely undermined its value.
Racism in county cricket
Let’s take these in the order they occurred…
Essex Board Announced (Essex CCC)
Azeem Akhtar appointed new Chair of Essex County Cricket Club (Essex Cricket)
Cricket world in new row after ‘Zionist lobby’ tweet (Jewish Chronicle)
Statement from Club Chair, Azeem Akhtar (Essex CCC)
Trouble at Essex this week with the new board appointed, then a new chair, who calls an investigation into himself a couple of days later after a report suggested he had liked anti-Semitic tweets.
All this with a report pending into historic racism allegations at the club.
P.S. In a future newsletter, I’ll talk about my experience putting myself forward for the board at Essex CCC. Put it this way, I won’t bother again.
Azeem Rafiq: 'It's unquantifiable what I've lost' (Cricinfo)
‘Harrowing’ results of inquiry into racism in Bristol cricket clubs (Bristol 24/7)
And finally…
The Nevill Ground is on my bucket list. But I won’t be crossing it off this next year.
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