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Dawid Malan surprises everyone
By Will 2 years ago, mid-July, 8 Comments »
He has apparently played nicely all season has Dawid Malan, Middlesex’s 20-year-old left-hander. I hadn’t seen him until today, when he produced the most blistering 103 imaginable to help Middlesex beat Lancashire and loft them into Finals Day. This was no slog. This was a perfectly crafted innings of rare elegance, celebrated with no more exhuberance than flicking his bat to the crowd and nodding to their applause.
He destroyed the spinners in particular, through quick footwork and even faster hands, smacking them over long-off and midwicket. But he looks like he can play all around the wicket, too. A serious talent.
I was surprised at Sky’s commentary. Nasser, in particular, is going absolutely nuts over Twenty20 this season, gushing and weeping over the talent he has seen over the past few weeks. He has a point too. There are a lot of young players who have poked their heads up above the parapet in this Cup. Twenty20 exposes the brave (and foolhardy), and never was there a more appropriate format of the game for the fearlessness of youth to demand our attention.
Today’s match was a belter. Middlesex were 21 for 4 before Malan (whose nickname is AC…) went berserk, and their bowlers then tied Lancashire up in knots. They were knotted, if you like. More wibble here.
8 Comments »Middlesex meet Lancashire in Twenty20 quarter-finals
By Will 2 years ago, at the end of June, 1 Comment »
Well, I say “meet”. It’ll be so fleeting an encounter as to make Lancashire’s trip south completely pointless. We’re not even letting them play at Lord’s – we thought we’d let England and South Africa enjoy it, even though we actually have no say in such matters – so it’s off to Uxbridge. Or The Oval. The south-London plebs have said we can borrow their wasteland for a few hours; besides, they’ll enjoy seeing Lancashire get whipped by our marvellous mix of Irishmen and Kolpakians.
Bring. It. On.
1 Comment »Flintoff: should he, shouldn’t he?
By Will 2 years ago, at the start of May, 9 Comments »
Apologies for the lack of updates. I’ve been down in sunny, rainy, windy Hove. While I was down there, much discussion took place in the press box about Mike Atherton’s debut as The Times’ chief cricket correspondent, namely his interview with Michael Vaughan. The England captain alluded to the likelihood of Andrew Flintoff returning for the first Test against New Zealand, which most media outlets picked up on.
I think it’s both inevitable that it will happen, and a positive for England. I am less convinced he will survive the whole summer – on landing, his ankle still points awkwardly and unnaturally away to the off side, which can only exhaserbate the problems he has had – but I’d rather he broke down playing for England than Lancashire. He’s bowled well enough for his club so far this season, and although he’s not scored any runs, his influence with the ball is still great enough to warrant his inclusion. Hell, Justin Langer – no stranger to OTT remarks – still considers him the best fast bowler in the world, though that was on the back of receiving a battering from Flintoff last week.
So where do you stand? Should Fred play the first Test, or bide his time with Lancashire until the South Africans arrive? Leave a comment and vote at the site.
9 Comments »Do we need counties?
By Jonathan Liew 2 years ago, mid-April, 22 Comments »
There are 18 counties playing first-class cricket. That’s quite a lot. There are more domestic teams in England than in any other country. Yet they’re not evenly spread around – London and its environs has an embarrassment of teams, while parts such as the south west, the far north and most of Eastern England have none at all.
Now partly, that’s due to population: cricket teams are concentrated around the biggest cities. And yet, we persist in clinging to the county apparatus, a hotchpotch of hazily-defined localities that has very little relevance to the social geography of today. Counties don’t really exist in any meaningful sense any more; in fact, for four of the 18 counties, that’s literally true. The county system is rooted in a long gone past, and it hasn’t changed, even though everything around it has. Does the idea of ‘Warwickshire’ mean anything to anyone any more? Certainly not for someone like Ian Bell, who was born in Coventry – which since 1974 has been part of the West Midlands.
If it were only a quibble about names and boundaries, we could probably let it go. But this archaic system has a more serious effect on the domestic game. With large shifts in population and wealth away from rural England and towards the towns, some counties clearly have an inherent advantage over others. A county like Lancashire, with a catchment area of Liverpool and Manchester, the surrounding towns, Cheshire and Cumbria, have far more resource to draw on than the likes of Leicestershire, which has one medium sized town and four rival cricketing counties on its borders. It may always have been this way to an extent – pre-reform Yorkshire was bloody huge – but that doesn’t necessarily make it fair.
As a result, prosperity – and thus success – is distorted by the fact that some counties will always be struggling to prosper, regardless of cricketing merit, and some will always be comfortable. Test grounds – a major source of potential revenue – are concentrated almost exclusively around big cities. Look at the list of county champions: the top four are Yorkshire, Surrey, Middlesex and Lancashire – areas with high populations and a Test ground. Then look at who has come bottom most often: Derbyshire, Somerset, Northamptonshire, Glamorgan. When Leicestershire can’t hang on to a player like Stuart Broad, who was born in the county and has played all his cricket there, it’s clear the playing field is not level. The influx of Kolpak players have counteracted population factors to an extent – but they still need to be paid, and the biggest counties will always jostle their way to the front in this respect.
It’s possible teams like Leicestershire and Derbyshire will never again reach the pinnacle of English cricket. The best they can hope for is the odd promotion or a dart at a one-day trophy here and there, but it’s equally likely they’ll wane and recede slowly into the background. That is, unless something is done about it.
If domestic cricket is ever to make proper money – and, who knows, provide a higher standard? – it needs to brand itself in more familiar terms. In short, we need fewer teams, more fairly distributed. The quickest way of doing this would be to merge counties; in short, persuading them to vote themselves out of business. That’s not going to happen. Instead, reorganisation of domestic cricket could be craftily disguised as a PR exercise.
Ironically, the IPL might be able to teach English cricket a thing or two in this respect. Moneyed franchises they may be, but the teams in the League are based in – and upon – very real localities. The players may not be sourced locally, but that will come in time. What’s important is that a bond is being forged betwen a cricket team and a town. In England, those bonds already exist in large part: Gloucestershire is by and large a Bristol team, Hampshire a Southampton-based club, Warwickshire is a Birmingham team, and so on. Towns have a far greater emotional and economic pull than counties these days, and are far more relevant in today’s society.
The idea, then, is this, although the details are less important than the diagnosis behind them. Cut the number of teams to, say, 12, and base each one around a large town. Let’s call them, for sake of argument: Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester, Bristol, Southampton, Birmingham, Nottingham, North London, South London, East London, Cardiff and Brighton. The South East has a quarter of England’s population, so it should have a quarter of the teams. The names, as I say, are largely irrelevant.
What English cricket would then have, essentially, is the Australian system in all but name. Teams would be able to draw on the emotional and financial clout of the major town, but talent-wise the spread would be far wider – and far fairer. It provides the best balance between levelling the playing field and preserving some semblance of geographical integrity. And the standard would improve.
Anyway, well done for getting through all that – any thoughts?
22 Comments »Dying embers
By Will 3 years ago, mid-July, 3 Comments »
Even the Lancashire dressing room of my time was inhabited by half-a-dozen or so. Nick Speak, Graham Lloyd, Phil De Freitas, Wasim Akram and Graeme Fowler all paid constant homage to nicotine. Early season Benson and Hedges games, when sponsors not only provided loot but product as well, produced a terrific scramble for those distinctive yellow bricks; even the non-smokers were known to hoard a packet or two to bargain with. How about a few half-volleys in the nets then, Daffy?
Phil Tufnell and Wayne Larkins were the culprits on my first England tour. Because I was a first-time tourist, and because I have no sense of smell, I was forced to room alternately with ‘Tuffers’ and ‘Ned’ for the whole five months.
Another cracking piece from Mike Atherton in The Sunday Telegraph.
3 Comments »Dampened Competition
By Emma 4 years ago, mid-September, 1 Comment »
While there are potentially two more days of contest left in the Championship race, Nottinghamshire’s first innings collapse to Sussex has left Lancashire’s claims very weak indeed. Of course, any team with Mushtaq Ahmed in form – not to mention a superb cameo from Rana Naved – is bound to find themselves in good stead, but I can’t help but feel for Lancashire. Many suggested that this would be their season, and for good reason; despite injuries, their attack has fired consistently and their batsmen have been impressive.
Where they may consider themselves unfortunate is the sheer amount of rain-affected matches they have played. Six of Lancashire’s draws were washouts where they had looked strong, with eight games drawn in total. Sussex, in comparison, have had five. Most recently, having been on a level peg until very recently, Lancashire have had two games they dominated lost to the weather. Sussex, meanwhile, managed to scrape together a win and a draw against Kent and Hampshire respectively.
Such are the quirks of the domestic game in this country, especially considering many Championship games are pushed to the extremes of the season to leave the prime weather to the money-earners of Twenty20 and Pro40. As it is, the red rose looks set to finish in second place for the 5th time since the ‘98 season. The last time they finished there, of course, was in 2003 – Sussex’s first, and for the moment only, Championship title. Not a piece of history Mark Chilton will be very happy to repeat.
1 Comment »The season draws to a close
By Will 4 years ago, mid-September, 2 Comments »
Surely it’s not that time again. September? It still feels like mid-May! Yet it’s true; another season draws to a close, and what a hectic summer it has been. I’m off to Southampton on Wednesday to see Lancashire and Hampshire – should be a belting match, one Lancashire need to win if they’re to see off Sussex for the title. What have been your highlights and lowlights of the summer?
2 Comments »Video of the Mark Vermeulan incident
By Will 4 years ago, mid-September, 4 Comments »
See here. And see here and here if you don’t know what I’m talking about.
4 Comments »A day for umbrellas
By Emma 4 years ago, mid-September, No Comments; be the first!
Someone needs to find Chris Adams and ensure that he is in no way performing any kind of rain dance. After a morning deluge washed out Thursday’s play at Old Trafford as well as Edgbaston, Lancashire’s chances of staying level in the title race are becoming faint. With Sussex sitting out this week’s round, they have been unhampered by the bad weather. Mark Chilton’s men, on the other hand, have now suffered two games running, with good performances against Warwickshire going to waste for the same reason. Requiring maximum bonus points and victory to grab top spot, they have only taken four Durham wickets, and are running out of time.
At the other end of the table, Yorkshire will also be rueing the lack of play in today’s Division One matches. With their two remaining bats skittled in what little action they saw at Headingley, the win Craig White’s side desperately need will be a hard task. The last thing they will want to see is third from bottom Durham holding on for a draw, especially as they will be playing each other next week. Maybe they will take some heart from the fact the only Harmison they will face will be batsman Ben – his older brother has been ruled out as a precaution.
No Comments »All very football
By Emma 4 years ago, mid-September, 2 Comments »
Whilst England’s summer is now over, the domestic leagues still have a few more matches left to play. In fact, play will continue as far as September 24th, with the new Pro40 playoff to decide whether there will be a third team relegated.
Interestingly, it seems that two of England’s names on the injury list may yet still get a last first-class game this season. Lacking the necessary match fitness to feature in the battle for a place in the last round of the County Championship, with Durham and Lancashire facing competitive matches, Duncan Fletcher has suggested that Liam Plunkett and Jimmy Anderson might well make use of the county loan system.
Not one of the most well known of contract loopholes, the idea was introduced by the ECB in the pre-season of 2005 to allow more England-qualified talent to emerge. Similar to the loan rules that govern football, domestic players may sign for a short period with another county, though they may be recalled at any time if guaranteed first team cricket by their own county. Fletcher hopes that the pair may be able to take the field for counties playing dead-rubber matches, possibly in an attempt to ready them for potential spots on the Ashes tour.
2 Comments »Can we have our ball back, please?
By Emma 4 years ago, at the start of September, 1 Comment »
Some things never change, whether you are playing for school, club or country. It’s one of cricket’s charms.
Every cricket club needs understanding neighbours. There is more than one landmark case documenting the kind of troubles that can arise when a big hitting batsman decides to go aerial. So when a resident of Chelmsford was confronted with Lancashire’s twelfth man hanging over her fence this evening, it was nice to see her smilingly poke around her garden to lend a hand.
Unfortunately, as Chelmsford lacks the huge stadia of an international ground, the local houses seem to be fair game. As such, it took two attempts to find a ball of the appropriate age.
1 Comment »Going domestic…
By Emma 4 years ago, at the start of September, 6 Comments »
I didn’t get to see much of the one-day international yesterday because of work, and it doesn’t seem to have been much of a loss. So, with a brief congratulatory note to Pakistan for yet another fine bowling performance, I’m moving onto county cricket.
As much as the Championship can ever be viewed as hotting up, the Division One title race is providing as close a race as last year. A quick bit of maths suggests that unless Sussex avoid the likely draw against Hampshire today, they will remain level with Lancashire. Comparing the teams’ fixture lists for September, this weekend’s rain could prove to be decisive. Down in Division Two, Surrey have cruised their way through to automatic promotion. However, the fight between Essex and Worcestershire for the final place up will provide some tail-end tension for the season. The match between the two was rained off yesterday, leaving Essex ahead by the barest of margins with two games left to play.
In the meantime, I’m going to my last home Pro40 of the season. Who needs international cricket?
6 Comments »Water bomb stops play
By Will 4 years ago, at the end of August, 3 Comments »
A caterpulted water bomb stopped play between Lancashire and Warwickshire this afternoon, at Stanley Park in Blackpool. Written up Cricinfo. Love stories like these!
3 Comments »A return to cricket…at last
By Emma 4 years ago, at the end of August, 1 Comment »
After the last week, a domestic final is like a breath of fresh air. Finally, a chance to talk about real cricket! The C&G Trophy sparked a real duel between the two teams most likely to take home the County Championship this season. Whilst lacking such touching scenes as Kevin Pietersen poking a prone Ian Bell, felled by a cramp that helped Hampshire to defeat Warwickshire last year, this year certainly provided more exciting cricket. Impossibly close until the last, Sussex finally pipped Lancashire after James Kirtley collected his fifth wicket, Dominic Cork stranded at the other end.
The competition’s new format has come under much scrutiny. In the two months since the last C&G games, both sides have sustained injuries and suffered various dips in form. There seems to be little logic in playing a final so long after the event, where interest can dip and teams can be playing very different cricket to their early season form.
Next year will bring the introduction of semi finals. Even if they had been in place this year, Nottinghamshire, with three matches lost to rain, would have had no hope of making them. There are finite days in an English summer – maybe a return to a direct knockout would help ease the pressure on the schedule?
1 Comment »Flintoff playing against Kent
By Will 4 years ago, mid-July, 7 Comments »
Andrew Flintoff makes his Championship comeback today against Kent. Live scorecard.
Update: 2 for 11 from 10 overs. Nice.
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