County Cricket Matters
An idea 100 years in the making
Question: Why exactly did it take English cricket 110 years from the formation of the official County Championship before they realised organising it into two divisions was a good idea
Kenny Shovel
25-Feb-2013
Question: Why exactly did it take English cricket 110 years from the formation of the official County Championship before they realised organising it into two divisions was a good idea? I know the administrators were terribly busy back then separating amateurs and riff-raff into different dressing rooms and enforcing a strict black tie and tails dress code for the final session of the day at Lords, but even so, letting the entire 20th century slip by before they got round to adding the extra competitiveness generated by a two tier championship does seem to be a bit lacking in urgency and devoid of common sense.
I mention this as we're now at the point of the season which always highlights the benefits of creating a two division structure. As for all the excitement being felt in Warwickshire as they close in on a seventh championship title - failing to do so now would be almost Devon Loch-esque - for much of the rest of the county circuit the real tension surrounds much closer battles to avoid relegation into Division Two or gain promotion into Division One.
This never used to be the case. When I first started watching county cricket, thirty years or so ago, it was only ever the three or four teams at the top of the table who had anything other than pride to play for during the Championship run in. Outside of that group the cricket was still enjoyable but experienced spectators could indulge in the traditional end of season pastime of trying to spot which members of their squad were now playing to maintain their average and/or secure a contract for next season.
Full postMake the most of what's left
It’s been a miserable, wet summer for spectators
Kenny Shovel
25-Feb-2013
It’s been a miserable, wet summer for spectators. And over so soon.
Say what you like about Twenty20 Finals Day but it’s certainly carved out a niche for itself in the sporting calendar. Four teams, four sets of fans and three games all crammed into a single day’s play. A hundred-and-twenty-overs of cricket played at breakneck speed. And unless next year’s SuperBowl is being staged at San Diego Comic-Con I can’t think of too many sporting occasions that afford the Cosplay community quite the same chance to feel at home.
That’s right, sports nerds, you can watch Dimitri Mascarenhas bowl dibbly-dobbly medium pace and a man dressed as one of the Viz pathetic sharks jump into a ball-pit while you sit in the stands disguised as The Green Lantern. Nobody will bat an eyelid. Not even Batman himself, who’s probably sitting next to you.
Full postEngland demands wreck climax to county season
And so another summer of Test cricket has reached its conclusion
Kenny Shovel
25-Feb-2013
And so another summer of Test cricket has reached its conclusion. The infuriatingly abridged three-match series against South Africa has been lost 2-0. England outplayed. Their reputation for planning and preparation undermined by determined batting, quality fast bowling and modern forms of communication that allow you to instantly converse with thousands of people across the globe but are seemingly incapable of passing the message “I’ll buy you a beer if you stop being a prat” to a team-mate at the other side of the dressing room.
For a second successive year we have witnessed the No. 1-ranked Test side dethroned, with South Africa now rightfully acknowledged as the best cricket side in the world: an abundantly talented team, well led and deserving of nothing but admiration. Yet somehow the sight of Graeme Smith parading the ICC Test mace on The Oval outfield left me hoping that the NASA Curiosity mission to Mars was the first faltering step towards finding another habitable planet on which to rebuild humanity. Perhaps that’s just disappointment?
In years gone by that kind of dissatisfaction at a series defeat would have been partially numbed by the knowledge that a month of the County Championship was left to be played out. A month of games in which England players would take full part. A month when rest was a four-letter word.
Full postThis was surely the longest cricketing day
Goodbye to the emotional ups and downs
Kenny Shovel
25-Feb-2013
Goodbye to the emotional ups and downs. An end to countless hours sat in front of a screen transfixed by a once in a lifetime sporting opportunity. It’s over at last. No, not London 2012, I’ve finally finished the ECB county cricket fans' research survey.
A couple of points. Was I the only one who had a ‘Dear God, this is taking longer to get through than The Lord of the Rings’ moment? There really should be a warning to monitor blood sugar levels before you commit someone to spend that amount of time without sustenance.
And I’m not sure the length of that survey is helpful to collecting the views of domestic cricket supporters. Exactly how many Twenty20 fans will have the patience to complete it?
And I know age was one of the questions asked but the ECB must already have enough of a grasp on the demographics of the average county member to understand that time is becoming increasingly precious to them. I’m not sure everyone who starts that survey will make it to the other side. Or rather, perhaps they will, in a different sense.
Full postKeep it simple, stupid
I love county cricket as much as the next man - unless the next man happens to be George Dobell
Kenny Shovel
25-Feb-2013
I love county cricket as much as the next man - unless the next man happens to be George Dobell. Not that he ever is the next man, though.
Cricinfo’s No 1 Rikki Clarke fanboy enjoys the pampered luxury, giddy intellectual discourse and Michelin-star dining on offer in the average county press box. While I sit in the stands overhearing 20-minute conversations about the difference between fast-medium and medium-fast, sampling the culinary delights of the burger van that time forgot and, during my latest day of spectating, finding myself sitting near someone who, for no discernible reason, decided to change into a pantomime cow outfit for the middle session of play.
Well, at least I can claim to love county cricket as much as Random Animal Costume Man. Probably a bit more actually, as he didn’t seem to mind missing a wicket whilst putting on an imitation Friesian head with ‘come milk me’ eyes and an ‘I failed my GCSE in Common Sense’ lolling tongue.
But something odd happened recently. That love I have for the county game was tested when I had a mini existential cricket crisis. Not a dramatic, full blown apostatising of the lbw laws in favour of the rules of offside. But I did - and this is difficult to admit - notice that my county’s latest CB40 game was being televised and thought to myself: “Meh, I can’t be bothered to watch.”
Full postIn praise of the long tail
Does anyone remember that sports other than those represented in the Olympics exist
Kenny Shovel
25-Feb-2013
Does anyone remember that sports other than those represented in the Olympics exist? Probably not, given that London 2012 has parked itself like a Borg cube in our national consciousness, assimilating us into its egalitarian spirit via a newfound collective obsession with pelotons, repechages and watching beach volleyball after your better half has gone to bed.
Thankfully the opening ceremony had a demonstration match to remind cricket fans of their first love. Strange field they had set though. Two men at deep square leg? Why? Was the slog sweep a popular shot during eighteenth century village cricket? Still, at least they had a third man. There are some county captains who should take note of that. Nothing gets the members riled up quite like the ball flying off an edge and down to an unguarded third-man boundary.
You’ve got to get on to the field of play for that to happen, of course. And the latest round of Championship matches were once again hit by rain, meaning only one out of the five games ended with a result. An important one though, as when Middlesex failed to chase down 118 on the final day at Chester-le-Street it gave Durham their first win of the season and renewed hope they might somehow avoid relegation. There are now just 15 points separating the bottom four sides in Division One, so we could well be in for a blanket finish. Although given the weather, perhaps it’s going to be more of a wet blanket.
Full postThe glorious uncertainty of the County Championship
Cricket doesn’t exactly dominate newspaper back pages at the best of times, but this summer it’s almost been invisible, hidden away among so many other high-profile sporting events and headline-grabbing stories
Kenny Shovel
25-Feb-2013
Cricket doesn’t exactly dominate newspaper back pages at the best of times, but this summer it’s almost been invisible, hidden away among so many other high-profile sporting events and headline-grabbing stories. Even the window between Wimbledon and the Olympics has ended up being dominated by Rangers insolvency, Premiership footballer court cases and Bradley Wiggins’ sideburns.
So when cricket writers are finally afforded a little elbow room it’s perhaps understandable they’re expected to concentrate on England’s debacle against South Africa at The Oval. Understandable, if unfortunate for county cricket. As tucked away from back page headlines you might find the briefest summary of matches confirming that players in the county championship, when they finally get back onto the field of play, can still produce the most absorbing sports tournament on earth.
Because the County Championship remains the most infuriatingly unpredictable, gloriously open competition. The kind of nerve jangling, volatile climax we saw in this year’s Premiership title race has become almost par for the course when it comes to English cricket’s domestic title. And with only six rounds of matches left this summer you could still make a case for any one of five teams to have a realistic shot at the title should they maintain form. As while early season front-runners Warwickshire still top the table with a game in hand, last week’s defeat by Somerset allowed the chasing pack to make up ground and Somerset themselves to move into third place just when their inspirational captain, Marcus Trescothick, is returning from injury.
Full postMother nature v county cricket
They say that Mother Nature can be a fickle mistress and the way she’s treating the current domestic season is certainly reminding me of Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction
Kenny Shovel
25-Feb-2013
They say that Mother Nature can be a fickle mistress and the way she’s treating the current domestic season is certainly reminding me of Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. I’m not sure which of the counties has left her feeling spurned and vengeful but they need to make amends before the Twenty20 Finals Day mascot race is ruined when the competitor that most resembles a pet rabbit is found floating face down in a ball pool overflowing with rainwater.
But then this year's Twenty20 has already been floating in the water, so to speak. Prior to the championship break I'd mentioned my concern that a continuation of this summer’s incessant rainfall during the T20 window could have a devastating effect on county finances. Sure enough, the rain kept on falling, resulting in sixteen matches being abandoned without a ball bowled. Spread out amongst the eighteen counties that might sound manageable, but rain, like grass on a club pitch, rarely appears in an even covering. So for a side like Gloucestershire who had two games at Bristol washed out, that left only three home fixtures to generate the same income earned from the eight matches of last year’s larger competition format. It’s hard to see how their finances, along with most other sides on the circuit, aren’t going to be badly hit. Little wonder some counties are starting to favour a T20 competition spread throughout the summer to lessen the affect of a period of inclement weather.
Although that’s not an approach that would have worked this season, as the current “period of inclement weather” could be more accurately described as “2012”. It hit first-class cricket and the CB40 earlier in the year and now the latest round of championship games have seen eleven days play and more than fifteen hundred overs lost. It's left supporters debating how you're supposed to approach playing matches if the rest of the season continues to be threatened by rain. Do you play for first innings bonus points? Or, like Northants and Glamorgan and Gloucestershire and Yorkshire, do you sacrifice some of them with declarations or innings forfeitures in the hope conditions relent for a final day run chase? Both options feel an unsatisfying way to play cricket and it’s leaving me with an uneasy feeling about the championship run in. I’ve no doubt the best teams in both divisions will end up towards the top of the table, but just how much will the final places be determined by weather?
Full postFlying cats and weather for ducks
Ever seen a flying cat
Kenny Shovel
25-Feb-2013
Ever seen a flying cat? You would if you’d spent much time on the internet this week, as the place has been cluttered up with links to articles and videos about the Orvillecopter. For those of you who missed the story, the Orvillecopter is a family tabby, unsurprisingly named Orville, who, after being run over by a car, has been stuffed by its owner and used as the framework for a remote controlled toy helicopter.
I mention this as the sight of a much-loved friend being transformed in an ill-advised, disrespectful manner, seemingly at odds with God’s will and anything approaching common-sense, has inexplicably made my mind drift back to the ECB’s continued attempts at restructuring county cricket. A completely unfair mental leap to have made on my part - not least as ECB payments to the counties are considerably more generous than a daily tin of Whiskas Duck & Chicken in Gravy - but it does show the kind of thing that plays on your mind when you’re shivering in the stands, wondering which of the ground staff is most likely to get hypothermia.
But then, if I’m honest, the whole start to the domestic season has been worrying me. Perhaps not as much as the thought of being sent to the taxidermist before having a miniature rotor blade attached to each of my paws and my tail converted into a radio antenna but, still, I’ve been distracted by a distinct feeling of anticlimax surrounding county cricket this year.
Full postA season for the underdog, I hope
There is a malevolent presence at the heart of English cricket
Kenny Shovel
25-Feb-2013
There is a malevolent presence at the heart of English cricket. An all consuming darkness that clings to the national game, wrapping its dank pervasive influence around the counties and dragging them down into a circle of Hell unknown to Dante. An evil that condemns good men to an eternity of hard toil in return for a fleeting glimpse of Arcadia, with those who stumble on the way forced into the senseless, everlasting ennui of limbo.
I speak, of course, about the format of the CB40 - a one-day competition where three qualifying groups feed directly into a semi-final stage. With only the first placed team in each group of seven guaranteed to go through to the knockout stage it’s a structure that means counties must win relentlessly for the slightest chance of qualifying, whilst any side losing three out of their first four or five games can look forward to months of one-day cricket as meaningless as the plot of a Michael Bay movie.
As a format, it’s the antithesis of the World Cup, a tournament where teams can practically lose every game of the opening group stage and still get through because of run rate and their captain having a telegenic smile.
Both competitions feature Netherlands. But while the Dutch perform a supporting role during the World Cup – they’re expected to be early fall guys while other countries, with a wider TV demographic reach, progress further – in the CB40 they’re currently topping the table in Group A after victory against Essex at Schiedam on Tuesday.
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