No8, April 14 - The Grumbler's County Cricket Newsletter
All the previews on Round Two, 'Fake' stumping fall-out, Jack Simmons, Alec Stewart, Why Darren Stevens is a Wookie, Jackson Bird injury and I got a piece on county cricket in Newsweek
It’s back. The County Championship returned with plenty of runs, a couple of cracking finishes and a hefty dollop of controversy. I am going to try to make these newsletters weekly throughout the season so I’ll mix up the format a little. But hopefully it will still go out every Wednesday, which is deliberately timed for the start of the four-day games.
So let’s begin with previews of this week’s fixtures, then move on to the news.
(Click on the links for different previews, either from the counties or other outlets)
Nottinghamshire v Warwickshire
Aaaaaaaand just as we begin the new campaign, an understandably pessimistic piece about the season ahead by Huw Turbervill. There’s a cloud hanging over 2021, it will come into view in late July. Whether the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named works or not, it is clear the game’s administrators are not listening to or respecting long-serving county fans.
Full stream ahead: county cricket rolls out digital revolution for Championship (The Guardian)
I have written it before. The future of County Championship cricket is free, easy-to-access streaming. Middlesex had 150,000 views for their first Championship game, Leicestershire had 68,000. Sports content strategy is my day job. I even run a podcast of the same name. When I have time, I'll do a plan for county cricket streaming content and send it to people who might be able to put it on the desk of those who matter. I expect to be ignored. Their resources are placed elsewhere. However, this week I spent far too much time watching Essex 2s play via YouTube. Let's be honest, if you look in the right places, we've never had so much county cricket to watch on our screens.
Honestly, at times during the last 18 months, Surrey have acted more like the governing body of cricket in the UK than the ECB. They have been bold enough to challenge the thinking on the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named, took the lead over staging comeback games last season and now they want to bring the IPL to the UK. This must be good for cricket in England as it is the 'live spectacular' television wants and has some hope of engaging the English-based fans from the Indian sub-continent who love the game but do not seem interested in the domestic version. The ECB have their own plans in this regard but, funnily enough, they do not involve bringing over the IPL. Not suprising. It would show how badly they were beaten at their own game.
Lewis McManus stumping controversy overshadows innings win for Hampshire (Cricinfo)
So here’s the story of the first round of Championship games, unfortunately. Somerset had a stunning comeback win and there were double hundreds flying around but the story was Lewis McManus’ fake stumping. Personally, I am more bothered about the lack of responsibility taken in the interview below than the incident itself. Why not just say ‘yes, it was stupid, as captain I should have called it back. It was all in the moment, not premeditated but this is on us as a team and me as a captain. We’ll take whatever punishment is coming’. The sort of deflection below might serve to protect the player and team spirit but the offense is clear and taking ownership builds integrity and trust. These qualities create respect for cricket and, over the long-term, make it one sport that parents will want to steer their children towards because of its clear, moral values. (Also see this piece in The Cricketer on the fall-out)
Jackson Bird ruled out of County Championship with bulging disk in his neck (Cricinfo)
This is a big blow for Lancashire. A key seamer has dropped out in the busiest period of the Championship season when this type of bowler is enjoying favorable conditions.
Billy Root: The hard-earned path to a homecoming hundred (Wisden)
One of the nicest moments from the last week was Joe Root congratulating his brother on his ton at Headingley. This is a decent piece on a decent cricketer.
Darren Stevens: a quite magnificently durable Wookie of a cricketer (KingCricket)
This wins not only headline of the fortnight but ‘drop intro’ too. It mentions Keanu Reeves and Nigel Farage before it finally gets to the point. In the past few years, Stevens has moved from 'good old county pro' to the Queen Mother of the domestic game. Everything he does is lauded. He deserves the accolades though. The only problem, he is the nemesis of my team, Essex.
Alec Stewart: I’m glad to have stars back in the squad (LondonOnline)
Alec Stewart is worthy of the utmost respect as a player and a person. In this piece he talks a couple of times about the calibre of a player's personality. Are Surrey employing the "No Dickhead" policy made famous by the All-Blacks?
You're not a victim, Taslima Nasreen, you're a bigot (Images)
The most notable part of this sorry episode was the effect that fellow players had in simultaneously highlighting and undermining the abuse.
Growing older, but never old (Cricketer)
A fine, fine piece on Jack Simmons, who seemed to be Stevens' age throughout his career. However he was the definition of the word "canny". Graeme Fowler sums him up brilliantly in this piece. We will not see his like again. (See the YouTube video at the bottom of the newsletter).
Why England's Slow, Soothing National Sport Must be Preserved | Opinion (Newsweek)
Ok, so this piece is by me. The interesting thing was I managed to successfully pitch it to Newsweek in the US, hence the angle and over-explanation of the game. It went on a page with opinions on Joe Biden’s early months, the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out in the States and the Derek Chauvin trial etc
Tweets of the Week
This picture shows that a) Prince Phillip was a true supporter of cricket, including the county game b) handing over the Championship trophy used to be only worthy of the most prestigious people. This round of games will be suspended on Saturday for his funeral.
Podcasts (specifically on the County Championship)
…which are best to find because there are so many on the IPL right now
Neil Manthorp and Steve Harmison on the first round of Championship games.
A preview on the season from Inside Edge, still counts I think
Links I like…
Cricket Supporters Association - Join here, it’s free. Also, watch out for their survey
County Cricket Matters - Buy the magazine direct or on Kindle to make Jeff Bezos even richer
Jobs in Cricket - Full Stack Python developer… in cricket. No really.
Finally…
Yes, I am still plugging my book on county cricket and midlife.
Buy through Amazon or through me for an autographed copy
Finally, finally, let’s end on a high…
Hell of a shot to finish this and win the Refuge Assurance Trophy. From the most unlikely source too.