Tony Lewis: Base would be weakened by academy (24 August 1997)

Sunday 24 August 1997

Base would be weakened by academy

By Tony Lewis

IT is time to recognise the awful affliction shared by those who have the responsibility for running English cricket - the compulsion to be seen to be doing something and to be saying something about it.

What a screech of protest last week when Mr Banks, the Sports Minister, omitted cricket from his plans for an Academy of Sport. Those who want to be seen to be doing something reach out dai- ly towards the oasis of an academy. Australia has one, and everything Australian has to be right, they say, because many of its Test players are academy boys. England must throw millions of pounds at an academy. It will be all right then.

What rot! At a time when cricket in Britain is less and less a compulsion of the young surely we are not seriously suggesting that we take the best young players out of their counties, thus weak- ening further the base of the game which urgently needs maintaining and widening. And what will the lads do when they arrive at this academy? Who will teach them, and what? Nothing that they cannot be taught back home.

There should, of course, be a concentrated effort to grab the youngsters of ages 11-17 and get them into a stream of excellence as soon as possible. But the population of England and Wales mer- its an `academy` in every county, 18 of them. This will require a considerable financial investment, but if National Lottery money does indeed come to cricket, it should be used to re-engender the wide appeal of hard, competitive cricket - as "Raising the Standard" can do - and to keep the base of the pyramid wide.

It can be argued that our national teams should have a facility to prepare for tours. That is easy. So the players can use the Institute of Sport next to Sophia Gardens in Cardiff or trot off to Edgbaston or Lilleshall or soon, maybe, to the MCC`s development at Shenley or the new venue at Wakefield. There are plenty of nests available for bonding. We do not need to throw valuable money at a National Academy of Sport.

Nor would we ask the Government to allow cricket to spray money towards 18 counties, but insist each county come forward with a bid for the funds based on a proper business plan approved by the England and Wales Cricket Board and embracing private sector funding partners.

It is time to stop talking ideological clap-trap. For too many long years we have been applying extra layers of waffle to the England team when the focus should have been cricket. I remember hearing the coach explain another poor performance by saying "Devon Malcolm bowled too many `four` balls". This time at the Oval came the revelation "we did not get our game plan together". Identifying symptoms of illness is fine, but what do you do about it?

The Churchill speeches and Land of Hope and Glory are now mere echoes from distant battlefields of defeat, but still we hear that "we have the best players in the world". I feel sorry for the good men who have tried to improve England`s performance - Micky Stewart, Ray Illingworth, David Lloyd and all their helpers.

They have had to talk a good fight because, I guess in their hearts, they know how impossible it is to change much technically in those over 20. Illingworth and Peter Lever tried to put Malcolm technically right. He did not respond. He is still all over the shop. Not their fault.

Please - no academy, no centralising of the nation`s summer game. I beg you - stick to cricket and more cricket, deflate your footballs and fold up your flags. Build the deep desire to be the best.

Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/)