On The Circuit
Mahmood learns from spell in wilderness
Sajid Mahmood was advised to change counties last year after Dominic Cork was picked ahead of him for Lancashire
ESPNcricinfo staff
25-Feb-2013
Sajid Mahmood was advised to change counties last year after Dominic Cork was picked ahead of him for Lancashire. But Mahmood ignored Rod Marsh's suggestion and he's relieved that he did. Find out why here.
Full postPavilion set for the chop
The demolition of a cricket pavilion in Worcester has galvanised locals and stirred the BBC into running a campaign to leave it standing
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
The demolition of a cricket pavilion in Worcester has galvanised locals and stirred the BBC into running a campaign to leave it standing. The 130-year old pavilion is on the Cinderella Sports Ground and despite appeals from the local council, SJS Property Management, acting on behalf of owner Kays (Shop Direct), are going ahead with plans to tear it down, even though the pavilion was to be retained as part of the development.
Full postKent sell Chevallier painting
Kent County Cricket Club have announced that the painting by Albert Chevallier Tayler of the Kent v Lancashire match at Canterbury in 1906 has been sold at Sotheby's for £600,000.
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
Kent County Cricket Club have announced that the painting by Albert Chevallier Tayler of the Kent v Lancashire match at Canterbury in 1906 has been sold at Sotheby's for £600,000.
The painting of the Kent side which won the County Championship in 1906 was hung at the St Lawrence Ground at Canterbury until 1999 when it became too expensive for the Club to insure and was loaned to MCC and displayed at Lord's.
Kent County Cricket Club Chairman, Carl Openshaw, said: "The decision to sell the painting was a difficult one, but the finances of county cricket clubs are becoming increasingly fragile and, since it was no longer possible to display it at Canterbury, we took the view that the proceeds should be used to help to ensure the longer-term future of the Club.
Full postThe name game
Writing in The Sunday Telegraph , Steve James says that the ECB is now beginning to have a retink about the spurious nicknames given to county sides in a bid by marketing men to make them more appealing
Martin Williamson
25-Feb-2013
Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, Steve James says that the ECB is now beginning to have a retink about the spurious nicknames given to county sides in a bid by marketing men to make them more appealing. How many people know who are the Phantoms, Lightning, Dragons, Steelbacks ...
"If you can reel off the counties related to those monikers, please accept my hearty congratulations, even if that anorak does look a little silly. If not, do not fear, because you are not alone in your indifference to such superfluity. Be grateful that the nicknames, introduced in 1999, are rarely listed without their geographical identities. For that is the problem: to do so is too long-winded.
"Even the England and Wales Cricket Board are now beginning to wonder about their viability. An unofficial sounding out of media outlets was made earlier this season and the response was not encouraging. A waste of time was the general consensus."
Cricinfo sticks to using traditional county names - despite terse emails in the early days from county PR men and the ECB - because most readers were bewildered when we briefly adopted the nicknames. Any attempts to persuade people to grow familiar with the names was not been helped when Surrey decided last year to change theirs ...
Full postBlackwell targets September
Ian Blackwell, the Somerset captain, is hopeful he might return to action before the end of the season
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
Ian Blackwell, the Somerset captain, is hopeful he might return to action before the end of the season. He injured his shoulder in May and the early prognosis was that he would struggle to make a comeback this summer.
However, he is making good progress and told the Somerset website: "All being well I can bat again in six weeks, bowl in seven weeks and two weeks after that start throwing.By the second week in September I might be in a position to play again."
Full postAstle arrives in Manchester
Nathan Astle has arrived in Manchester ahead of his stint with Lancashire
Andrew McGlashan
25-Feb-2013
Nathan Astle has arrived in Manchester ahead of his stint with Lancashire. He is replacement for Brad Hodge, who leaves after the current match against Middlesex to play in the Top End series in Australia.
Astle will join up with his new team-mates when they travel to Edgbaston for their C&G match against Warwickshire. If Lancashire win they secure a place in the final, at Lord's, against Sussex.
Full post