August 16, The Cricket Paper

Although most of my week was spent at Chelmsford watching Simon Harmer turn Surrey inside out, I did dip in at Radlett for the final few overs when Hampshire were eight-down needing 30 to beat Middlesex. I thought about popping to Worcestershire but, alas, my view at New Road was restricted.

No, I was not breaking the land-speed record and social distancing rules with reckless abandon, it is just that these new live streams really allow you to get around in the Bob Willis Trophy.

A couple of decades ago, ball-by-ball BBC local radio commentaries changed the nature of following county cricket. Those of us who had spent the 1980s waiting for the Clubcall announcer to finally mention the score, the 1990s waiting for Ceefax page 341 to scroll through and the early noughties waiting for Cricinfo to refresh, finally had up-to-the-second broadcast coverage. However, elsewhere, county cricket failed to keep fast pace with the development of the digital age. Only a few years ago, clubs were still prohibited from publishing game clips on social media until an hour after the end of play.

Gradually, the regulations have been rolled back. A couple of seasons ago, a few counties started syncing those BBC commentaries with live video from the analysts’ cameras on top of the sightscreens. Finally, county cricket has a television-like streaming ‘product’. OK, it was a static view of the strip, clunkily switching each over so you could watch from behind the bowler’s arm.  For a catch in the deep, you saw the shot, the fielder looking to the sky in anticipation then a simultaneous fist-pump when the cherry was pouched. But it was still a huge leap forward that put paid to much office productivity among the county faithful.

Encouraging viewing figures and a new, even more liberated broadcast deal meant counties were always planning to develop their offering in 2020. But Covid-19 has made the connection crucial. Somerset have added three more cameras, a slo-mo replay option and, crucially, a manned camera. Notts and Surrey have upped their coverage in similar ways, the latter promising content during intervals and rain-breaks to keep viewers entertained. This all costs precious post-pandemic pounds but high-quality, economic technology is now available to clubs desperate to connect with their fanbase.

Most of these feeds are openly available on YouTube for the first time this season, a move that has developed the audience still further. Essex drew 100,000 views for their opening fixture in the Bob Willis Trophy while Somerset got 126,000 on just one day. There is a revenue stream for counties if coverage can be sponsored or at least accessed via registration so the clubs can use our data. Middlesex have circumvented the thorny issue of using BBC output for commercial purposes by employing their own commentary team. Lancashire have perhaps the most comprehensive coverage (seven cameras, travelling home and away) but, like Worcestershire, it has been members only.

This is a difficult balance. Open streams on YouTube offer easy access but not the exclusivity to show members are getting value for money. When the government re-imposed their lockdown on sporting events, some counties told members their sooped-up streaming service was an exclusive benefit, even though it was available for all. Thus far, streams had been a nice-to-have extra, not a paid-for product. When you cross this threshold, technical glitches will not be tolerated.

But no matter, this is all the price of progress. Let’s hope this season is a step-change for streaming domestic red-ball cricket. It is ‘appointment-to-view’ watching for members and will encourage, not inhibit, attendance for the casual fan.

County cricket should embrace the advent of low-cost, high-quality web production to entice its legion of armchair fans. The game can ill-afford to swim against the stream.

* Read The Grumbler column The Cricket Paper, every Sunday during the season

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