This time of year is a very exciting time of year for a cricket fan.
I have very happy memories as a teenager of the Telegraph fantasy cricket league. My brother Gary and I would've spent a week or 2 agonising over the player lists trying the pick a team mixed of proven performers and up and coming players. It was always easy enough to identify the players that would be reliable enough to have a decent county season. The county championship was always full of plenty of old county pros who you could bank on. The key was trying to find a cheap player who was going to have their breakthrough season. The outsider who would elevate a decent team to a winning team. It was skill I always thought I had, but the evidence certainly never backed this claim. My brother on the other hand always managed to do it. The best example was a left arm Worcestershire bowler called Alamgir Sheriyar. Gary picked him in 1999 as a struggling young bowler, and of course he ended up as one of the top wicket takers that season. Gary was actually printed in the top 10 in the country for quite a few weeks in a row.
Today marks the first day of the matches in the county championship and it brings back all the memories of Gary and I were regularly checking Ceefax for the latest scores. We don't do the fantasy cricket anymore though unfortunately. It lost its edge when the England players play so little of the season, and the overseas players change so regularly. It used to be skill to pick a team that had the longevity to perform consistently throughout the whole season, but now it's more of an exercise of managing the numerous amount of transfers each player is allowed. More transfers equals more hits for the paper's website and therefore more revenue. I get that they need to do that. But it takes the edge off the game.
Never mind, it's still exciting, just for different reasons. It marks the start of summer. And it's still exciting to see who will make the breakthrough.
In the last few years, April/May has seen a rival to the county season for our attention. The Indian Premier League.
Now that it's in its 8th year, I've tried to like it and get into it but I've really struggled with it. And I'm not alone in that in this country. You often hear that the sentiment in India (probably the new powerhouse in world cricket) is that England (the old powerhouse) is "jealous" of the successes of the IPL. I can see why that might be thought. T20 cricket originated in England in 2002 but since then India have taken it and turned it into something the ECB would never have thought possible. The IPL is watched by millions and each game is played in front of a full house. The Indian fans have adopted teams with the same intensity as the average football fan over here. It attracts the best players and best coaches in the world. Every team plays in gold. There is advertising everywhere, and in between each over the camera moves to a preening Bollywood star or business leader owner overlooking his latest folly with dark glasses and flowing hair. It is undoubtably a huge success and it's set a template for other competitions around the world.
It's the Lamborghini of the cricket world. A garish bright green Lamborghini, the type that's parked outside the Grand Casino in Monte Carlo.
I think that's why it doesn't sit well with the English cricket fan. We've all grown up with the conservative world of the MCC. Pristine cricket whites, afternoon tea, village greens and stiff upper lips. Everything the IPL isn't.
It is (or was) the Black shiny Rolls Royce. Understated, but of immense quality.
There is an underlying compulsion to preserve the memories that we've grown up with and the IPL doesn't fit with this. We're not jealous, we're just a bit scared. Scared that what we hold dear might change. The IPL and the BCCI hold the power and the money to change the game, and since the IPL the game has changed.
It puts the ECB in a bit of a quandary (one of many they have to sort out at the moment!). After the World Cup debacle, it's clear that they need to change. To embrace the brave new world that that IPL has carved out. But they need to stay true to the past as well as there's too much history to just turn the back on.
Other countries have managed it. Australia have the Big Bash League. Another huge sucess which has lead to them being World Champions. It's a more easy going version of the IPL and more accessible. It suits Australia. It's like a high end convertible. A decent Alfa maybe. The West Indies have a more modest competition (The Carribban Premier League) but it's growing. It seems to be the only form of cricket they are interested in. With all the contractual wranglings in the Caribbean at the moment at Test Level, it is the antithesis. The rough and ready, but comforting VW camper van. The Bangladesh Premier League is corrupt, and has a lot of problems so I can't really compare this with the others but I guess for the sake of this metaphor it can be a car as well. Let's call it a blacked out BMW and move away from it quite quickly.
At the moment the T20 competition in England is getting lost. It's not special. It's not bad, but it doesn't hold the excitement. The county championship and especially Test Cricket are Rolls Royce's (although a bit ageing and will probably need a service at some point soon). The T20 competition is a Ford Mondeo. A bit rubbish. I'm sure the ECB will change things as there are all sorts of ideas flying about, from an FA cup style competition advocated by Midhael Vaughan, to a similar franchise competition to the IPL and BBL. Whatever happens, they need to get the balance right. A Rolls won't work with T20. If a competition can be made that feels like an Aston Martin the I think the ECB would've got it just about right..
Sunday, 12 April 2015
Wednesday, 8 April 2015
Paul Downton - the soap opera continues
So Paul Downton has just been sacked. That's not what the ECB statement exactly states but it's fairly clear he was pushed rather than a jump occurred.
I love Twitter. The news was announced there via several sources all trying the be the first at the precise time I was composing a rubbish tweet about the St Kitts game (I can't let it go). I think the Independent newspaper won.
I find the statement quite interesting and it definitely seems like there's more to come. They specifically mentioned a 're-structure' and if the managing director goes, I think it's pretty safe to say the selectors may not be far behind.
The new role of 'Director of England Cricket' is also interesting. They say the new post holder will 'report directly to the Chief Executive'. It seems the incoming Colin Graves is certainly setting his new scene before he takes over as ECB chairman in May.
It had to happen really. The ridiculous soap opera that is English cricket demanded it. The World Cup performance crossed a line that was so low nobody thought it was possible. The direction English cricket was going in was so far from where it so plainly should be that changes had to be made.
Where could this lead for the English cricket fan? Well I must admit that I'm quite enjoying this prolonged saga! I know it's wholly embarrassing and that the rest of the cricketing world must see the ECB as bunch of inept dinosaurs, but to watch from afar, it's like watching an episode of TOWIE (with egg and bacon ties rather than Fred Perry polo shirts). It's great listening to Boycott rant! It's genuinely compelling. And as much as I'd like to see more stability and of course better results, it just makes it all a bit more interesting.
We will wait and see what the future holds.
And as for KP (of course no discussion about the future of English cricket would be complete without a reference to him). No reaction on Twitter yet. I think Jarrod Kimber sums it up when he joked earlier: "There is a PR team currently wrestling with KP trying to stop him pressing send"
I love Twitter. The news was announced there via several sources all trying the be the first at the precise time I was composing a rubbish tweet about the St Kitts game (I can't let it go). I think the Independent newspaper won.
I find the statement quite interesting and it definitely seems like there's more to come. They specifically mentioned a 're-structure' and if the managing director goes, I think it's pretty safe to say the selectors may not be far behind.
The new role of 'Director of England Cricket' is also interesting. They say the new post holder will 'report directly to the Chief Executive'. It seems the incoming Colin Graves is certainly setting his new scene before he takes over as ECB chairman in May.
It had to happen really. The ridiculous soap opera that is English cricket demanded it. The World Cup performance crossed a line that was so low nobody thought it was possible. The direction English cricket was going in was so far from where it so plainly should be that changes had to be made.
Where could this lead for the English cricket fan? Well I must admit that I'm quite enjoying this prolonged saga! I know it's wholly embarrassing and that the rest of the cricketing world must see the ECB as bunch of inept dinosaurs, but to watch from afar, it's like watching an episode of TOWIE (with egg and bacon ties rather than Fred Perry polo shirts). It's great listening to Boycott rant! It's genuinely compelling. And as much as I'd like to see more stability and of course better results, it just makes it all a bit more interesting.
We will wait and see what the future holds.
And as for KP (of course no discussion about the future of English cricket would be complete without a reference to him). No reaction on Twitter yet. I think Jarrod Kimber sums it up when he joked earlier: "There is a PR team currently wrestling with KP trying to stop him pressing send"
St Kitts v England
I don't quite get it.
I was watching the live stream of the St Kitts and Nevis v England tour match last night and I can't quite understand what anyone gets from a match like this.
Firstly the England team. As fans we hear a lot about the importance of time in the middle for both batsmen and bowlers. I get that. A match situation will always be better preparation (especially mentally) than constant drills in the nets. But the home team have been so unbelievably poor. I watched James Tredwell take 3 wickets in the second innings in the space of 3 overs. With every respect to James Tredwell (I'm actually a big fan of him) he shouldn't be completely unplayable. He doesn't turn and rip it. He doesn't exactly bamboozle many batsmen with flight and guile. He's steady and clever. But yesterday the batsmen made him look like Murali. The majority of the home team didn't have any first class experience. One of them was only 16. I can't imagine the the England players can learn much about their form against a moderate standard club team. Apart from a very superficial ego boost maybe. They can bowl out a 16 year old. Big deal. The batsman had to defend the straight balls and just wait for the inevitable 1-2 bad balls an over. For the bowlers, a good/average ball can look like a Jaffa. Does this simulate the challenges they will face over the next 17 months in Test cricket? As George Dobell wrote yesterday - it's like preparing to face a lion by stroking a kitten. I don't quite get it.
But they can only face what's put in front of them. They are playing again today, but with mixed teams. Quite farcical. This brings me onto the St Kitts team. What are they getting out of it? First class cricket in the West Indies has seemingly been on the decline for some time. There are no major sponsors. No one watches it. But I would think that for a tiny island team with minimal resources, their top players would jump at the chance to play against a top test side looking for a challenge. But they all stay away. They have a rest and send a second/third string team in to get slaughtered. I don't quite get it.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not singling out St Kitts and Nevis. There has been a growing trend of pointless warm up games at the beginning of tours. English counties are just as bad. Every touring team over here has to play a county second team. Surely they would get more out of a good old fashioned game of pairs cricket amongst themselves! It seems these matches are just opportunities for the players to get injured. I've just heard that Stuart Broad has limped off whilst bowling to Gary Ballance in a St Kitts shirt. Broad is pivotal to England's hopes this summer. And now he's at risk. It reminds me of the very unfair demise of Mark Boucher, the South African stalwart keeper. His career was ended by a bail hitting him in the eye after Somerset second teamer Gemaal Hussain was bowled by Imran Tahir at an empty Taunton. Seems rather a waste.
I get that time in the middle on a foreign pitch is needed. But can fans like me be blamed for thinking - I don't quite get it.
(I've still been watching a grainy, soundless live stream for the past 2 days though...)
I was watching the live stream of the St Kitts and Nevis v England tour match last night and I can't quite understand what anyone gets from a match like this.
Firstly the England team. As fans we hear a lot about the importance of time in the middle for both batsmen and bowlers. I get that. A match situation will always be better preparation (especially mentally) than constant drills in the nets. But the home team have been so unbelievably poor. I watched James Tredwell take 3 wickets in the second innings in the space of 3 overs. With every respect to James Tredwell (I'm actually a big fan of him) he shouldn't be completely unplayable. He doesn't turn and rip it. He doesn't exactly bamboozle many batsmen with flight and guile. He's steady and clever. But yesterday the batsmen made him look like Murali. The majority of the home team didn't have any first class experience. One of them was only 16. I can't imagine the the England players can learn much about their form against a moderate standard club team. Apart from a very superficial ego boost maybe. They can bowl out a 16 year old. Big deal. The batsman had to defend the straight balls and just wait for the inevitable 1-2 bad balls an over. For the bowlers, a good/average ball can look like a Jaffa. Does this simulate the challenges they will face over the next 17 months in Test cricket? As George Dobell wrote yesterday - it's like preparing to face a lion by stroking a kitten. I don't quite get it.
But they can only face what's put in front of them. They are playing again today, but with mixed teams. Quite farcical. This brings me onto the St Kitts team. What are they getting out of it? First class cricket in the West Indies has seemingly been on the decline for some time. There are no major sponsors. No one watches it. But I would think that for a tiny island team with minimal resources, their top players would jump at the chance to play against a top test side looking for a challenge. But they all stay away. They have a rest and send a second/third string team in to get slaughtered. I don't quite get it.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not singling out St Kitts and Nevis. There has been a growing trend of pointless warm up games at the beginning of tours. English counties are just as bad. Every touring team over here has to play a county second team. Surely they would get more out of a good old fashioned game of pairs cricket amongst themselves! It seems these matches are just opportunities for the players to get injured. I've just heard that Stuart Broad has limped off whilst bowling to Gary Ballance in a St Kitts shirt. Broad is pivotal to England's hopes this summer. And now he's at risk. It reminds me of the very unfair demise of Mark Boucher, the South African stalwart keeper. His career was ended by a bail hitting him in the eye after Somerset second teamer Gemaal Hussain was bowled by Imran Tahir at an empty Taunton. Seems rather a waste.
I get that time in the middle on a foreign pitch is needed. But can fans like me be blamed for thinking - I don't quite get it.
(I've still been watching a grainy, soundless live stream for the past 2 days though...)
Tuesday, 7 April 2015
Middle please umpire...
Good afternoon Internet.
Something happened today that inspired me to start this blog. I've been off work sick with a raging stinking cold (the kind that only hits you when you have a long bank holiday weekend) and after I had become thorough sick of daytime TV I searched online for a live stream of England's first tour match of their current tour of the West Indies. It was the first day yesterday of their match against a St Kitts and Nevis XI, and I managed to find a UStream link on the WI cricket board website. It was a very basic setup of a soundless, fixed camera angle from one end. It wasn't really worth watching, but The Jeremy Kyle Show had long since lost its appeal. I was genuinely interested in seeing how Alistair Cook and Jonathan Trott would fair in their first match as an opening pair. (I had already missed the woefully weak St Kitts team being demolished for 59 all out).
One thing struck me straight away - Alistair Cook seemed to be taking guard with a very open stance. He must be trying to get his front foot moving more freely, thus negating his head falling over to the off side when playing outside the off-stump I thought. The only thing giving away that it was Cook was the fact that it was left handed batting, such was the poor quality of streaming, but somehow I managed to notice his change in stance.
I decided to tweet George Dobell (the excellent cricinfo.com writer) who I had noticed was covering the game out in the Caribbean. He replied saying that he would ask Cook about it at the close of play. Lo and behold, in his day 1 report on cricinfo.com he mentioned the change in Cook's setup at the crease.
It's only a small thing, but it made me feel very smug indeed. The kind of smug that cricket geeks like myself are very good at when they make a seemingly good call from their comfy armchairs, and I'm unashamedly no different. It's the endless talking points that make cricket such an enjoyable subject to discuss at length. My lovely fiancée persuaded me to write some thoughts down on here. (Yes that's right - I found a girl who listens to my cricket ramblings, and still agreed to marry me. My 15 year old self would never have believed it was possible..)
So here I am. A sounding board for some thoughts I have on cricket and the cricketing world. The odd baking entry will make it on here too, as any club cricketer knows, cakes and cricket go hand in hand..
Over bowled...
Something happened today that inspired me to start this blog. I've been off work sick with a raging stinking cold (the kind that only hits you when you have a long bank holiday weekend) and after I had become thorough sick of daytime TV I searched online for a live stream of England's first tour match of their current tour of the West Indies. It was the first day yesterday of their match against a St Kitts and Nevis XI, and I managed to find a UStream link on the WI cricket board website. It was a very basic setup of a soundless, fixed camera angle from one end. It wasn't really worth watching, but The Jeremy Kyle Show had long since lost its appeal. I was genuinely interested in seeing how Alistair Cook and Jonathan Trott would fair in their first match as an opening pair. (I had already missed the woefully weak St Kitts team being demolished for 59 all out).
One thing struck me straight away - Alistair Cook seemed to be taking guard with a very open stance. He must be trying to get his front foot moving more freely, thus negating his head falling over to the off side when playing outside the off-stump I thought. The only thing giving away that it was Cook was the fact that it was left handed batting, such was the poor quality of streaming, but somehow I managed to notice his change in stance.
I decided to tweet George Dobell (the excellent cricinfo.com writer) who I had noticed was covering the game out in the Caribbean. He replied saying that he would ask Cook about it at the close of play. Lo and behold, in his day 1 report on cricinfo.com he mentioned the change in Cook's setup at the crease.
It's only a small thing, but it made me feel very smug indeed. The kind of smug that cricket geeks like myself are very good at when they make a seemingly good call from their comfy armchairs, and I'm unashamedly no different. It's the endless talking points that make cricket such an enjoyable subject to discuss at length. My lovely fiancée persuaded me to write some thoughts down on here. (Yes that's right - I found a girl who listens to my cricket ramblings, and still agreed to marry me. My 15 year old self would never have believed it was possible..)
So here I am. A sounding board for some thoughts I have on cricket and the cricketing world. The odd baking entry will make it on here too, as any club cricketer knows, cakes and cricket go hand in hand..
Over bowled...
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