COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Angry reaction to Yorks' relegation | County Awards | Teams of the season | Will counties vote against Strauss Review? | Should we split cricket into two codes?
I miss it already.
At 10.30am on Monday, I wanted to be worrying about the toss, the complexion of the pitch and whether the oppo had included that young talent everyone was talking about.
Now, with the Championship over for this year, my concerns are more fundamental. Like what will be left of county cricket after next season? We know the structure of the 2023 campaign will mirror this one but the decisions taken in the next 12 months may mean 2024 is the beginning of the end. Or at least a sharp acceleration in the ongoing decline.
I know what you are thinking, we have been writing postmortems about the Championship for years. I penned my own 'last-chance to see' in 2019.
But the decline is obvious, the pessimists only have to be right once and never has a governing body seemed so hell-bent on shrinking the game it is supposed to grow.
Regular readers will know I link the decline of county cricket with the decline of this country as a whole and particularly our political class. This week, Mike Atherton's excellent piece urged the authorities to respect the 'downtrodden county diehards' when they shape the future. But just look at the UK's inequality, poverty, number of food banks, failing services and general anger. Whatever the soundbites and spin, our leaders have spent much of the last 30 years with their boots on the heads of the many for the enrichment of the few. No-one cares about the downtrodden, especially if they are old. Unlike other countries, we have outsourced the care of our elderly for decades and, when Covid hit, their treatment was beyond callous.
One central plank of the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named and the Strauss Report is that concentrating resources in the ECB's favoured areas at the expense of the county game will increase revenue at the top end allowing them to support and develop the sport as a whole. This is dangerously close to trickle-down economics, a theory somewhat undermined by the fact that precious little trickles down. It seems nobody does benevolence anymore.
The common link between 'leveling up', 'austerity' 'Truss's push for growth and 'the Strauss Review' is the preferred route to prosperity never seems to involve the powerful giving up anything. It is all very well to 'grow the pie' but if you don't have your hand on the knife it will never be divided in your favour.
So it is time for the counties to stay strong, vote against this plan and withstand the inevitable pressure to divide and rule.
Despite everything, the first-class game must retain some power otherwise others would not be wanting to take it away.
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Players’ contracts, deals and releases
Contracts: Montgomery (Nottinghamshire 3yr), Paterson (Nottinghamshire - 2yr), Rawlings (Sussex), Westley (Essex - 3yr), Sales (Northamptonshire - 3yr), Berg (Northamptonshire - 1yr)
Signings: Lamb (Warks to Derby), Karevlas (Sussex)
Released: Azad, Griffiths, Bates, Bowley, Evans, Sakande (all Leicestershire)
Players of the Year awards: Derbyshire, Glamorgan, Hampshire, Northamptonshire, Somerset, Warwickshire
Steven Patterson: Former Yorkshire skipper retires from professional cricket (BBC Sport)
County Championship Round-up
Gallery: Surrey lift County Championship trophy (Surrey CCC)
Teams of the Year: Wisden, BBC Sport, PCA Team of the Year, PCA MVP rankings, PCA Player of the Year shortlists
Liam Norwell saves Warwickshire's necks with nine-wicket haul and sends Yorkshire down
It is ironic that, for all the think tanks behind the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named, the event was criticised for having few good finishes this season. But the Championship ended with two crackers - Yorkshire’s defeat and Warwickshire’s survival. These will be savoured and, unlike most short-form cricket, remembered.
You can’t fast-track history and meaning.
Season-closing thoughts (Peakfan - Derbyshire)
Somerset County Cricket Club 2022 season review (Somerset County Gazette)
Nottinghamshire will soon eye Division One title, says captain Mullaney (BBC Sport)
Forumidable Season report (Middx Tell We Die)
Scroll through to the lunchtime chat on the final day of the Championship season. An excellent discussion hosted by the peerless Kevin Howells.
Yorkshire CCC: a club relegated and a club destroyed (Yorkshire Post)
I have been mulling over whether to include the Yorkshire Post’s coverage of their club’s demise. It is not just because I dislike their approach. It is mainly because I am not sure if it is the oldest and most tiresome trick in the journalist’s playbook, creating controversy for readership. The above piece and the following tweets from the Yorkshire Post editor and George Dobell illustrate the issues.
For me, the story is quite wrong in its fundamental assertion that all was well at Yorkshire two years ago. Instances of “appalling racism” were going on, see tweet below. Implicit in their stance is that the victim-cum-whistleblower has created the problem. This is not true. And Azeem Rafiq’s own character flaws do not lessen this fact in any way.
The failure of the ECB to properly run and/or police the initial inquiry has piled pressure on an already fraught and difficult process. Meanwhile, Lord Patel has made a number of mistakes in his attempts to clear up the mess left behind. Like many, I am impatient for a resolution but due process needs to be followed. But I know these positions are at odds with each other. However, the forces blocking change are using errors or early assumptions to cry ‘witch-hunt’ when, in fact, the entire point of this process is to uncover prejudice from the other direction.
All this is a bad look for Yorkshire and cricket. Every camp in this seems to have made mistakes but, ultimately, each one must decide what side of history it wants to be on.
Oh and if you believe all such racist complaints are mainly ‘hurty words’ and ‘banter’ there is an unsubscribe option at the bottom of the page. Feel free to use it.
And all this comes into focus once more when the team fails.
Joe Root got his fair share of criticism for missing Yorkshire’s final game and playing in a pro-am golf event with the likes of Piers Morgan and Kevin Pietersen. While my impression is that Root has been one of the better high-profile England players at returning to the county game, David Hopps makes a strong case for the prosecution.
Joe Root puts golf before Yorkshire, in symptom of system in crisis (Cricinfo)
Meanwhile, Yorkshire took the unusual step of issuing their social media guidelines, presumably because of the flak they have been getting for going down.
Campaign to Save County Cricket
Majority of counties set to reject Andrew Strauss high-performance review (Times) ($)
“Lancashire have become the latest county to say publicly that the Strauss proposals are “unworkable”, and that they will not even put them forward to their membership for discussion until they are reworked. They join Middlesex, Essex, Kent, Sussex and Leicestershire in saying that they will not vote for this reworked schedule or structure. Derbyshire, Northamptonshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire are expected to make similar public statements after discussing the proposals with their executive boards and members.”
Downtrodden county diehards deserve to have their voices heard (Times) ($)
Andrew Strauss' review will kill county cricket – it must be stopped (Telegraph)
Jos Buttler says proposed reductions could raise standards (BBC Sport)
Right on cue, a couple of the flashy elite players come out in support of Strauss’ plan to pear back county cricket. Having benefitted from its education, they now seem happy to reduce the size of the school when they should be helping to build a new wing for the benefit of future generations.
Perhaps, like a glorified student loan, elite players should pay a percentage of their wages to back county teams until a certain threshold is met.
Excellence to treasure – so why would you cut games? (Times) ($)
Should cricket split into two separate professional codes? (Full Toss)
News, Views and Interviews
Remembering Robin Marlar | 1931 - 2022 (Sussex CCC)
Sussex Cricket mourns death of Robin Marlar (Sussex World)
Robin Marlar, former Sussex captain and Sunday Times correspondent, dies aged 91 (Cricinfo)
Delroy Rawlins - See you back at Hove in 2023 (Royal Gazette)
Ian Salisbury leaves Sussex coaching role (Argus)
Cricket bosses claim 'progress' being made on tackling racism (BBC Sport)
New Masterplan and Levelling-Up Fund bid to transform Edgbaston Stadium (Edgbaston)
Masterplan Unveiled to Transform Edgbaston (Insider Media)
Five receive county caps (Peakfan)
The unique culture of English county cricket (Economist)
Claude Henderson appointed full-time Leicestershire director of cricket (The Cricketer)
‘I want to make a difference there’: Shan Masood ready to lead Yorkshire (Guardian)
High cricketing drama unfolds in Worcester as its magnificent cathedral looks on (OneCricket)
Speaking of Worcester, their rugby team have been wound up. Wasps are in financial trouble too. If they can go bust then so can a county or two. Worcester Warriors, Wasps & Premiership Rugby - key questions answered (BBC Sport)
Indian Premier League cricket team defends global expansion (FT) ($)
On the ever-excellent TalkSport Cricket Collective podcast, Neil Manthorp made a point about the way the new South African T20 draft had been run. He argued that IPL owners, who bought all the available franchises in the new competition, were often acting to support their big teams back home.
According to reports, franchises in the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named are being primed for outside investment. Surely, most of this will be IPL money and they will act the same way. OK, the UK market is bigger than the one in South Africa but the IPL team will always be the mothership.
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August 2023
- Aug 8, 2023 Because cricketers are worth it. Greed, ego and contract negotiations Aug 8, 2023
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May 2023
- May 20, 2023 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Blast preview | Foxes put meaning over money | Should Essex house Tigers? | Lancs v Somerset declaration row | Roach goes home | Lancs try to change rules at AGM May 20, 2023
- May 12, 2023 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Marketing trends in County Cricket | Week 6 Previews | Chaos at Derby | Cricket Paper back this weekend | Why invest in Yorkshire? | Tom Harrison paid £1.13m in final four months May 12, 2023
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April 2023
- Apr 29, 2023 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Week 3 reviews | 12-month IPL contracts offered to England players | Own your mistakes! | Sort out 'reciprocal' rights for county members | Tom Price heroics Apr 29, 2023
- Apr 21, 2023 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Championship Week 3 previews | Ballance retires | The dangerous ageism of labelling older fans 'a problem' | Saudi Arabia T20 threat | Oh Mickey (Arthur), you're so fine Apr 21, 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- December 2022
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November 2022
- Nov 18, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: ECB change board | Back to an eight-team top division? | Smeed's move the first of many? | Hogan unretires | Major deals at Notts | Yorks racism hearing ramps up Nov 18, 2022
- Nov 3, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Richard Gould - the right CEO for the ECB ? | Shock Rushworth move | Yorkshire's key changes | New contracts - Wood, Barker, Hain | Surrey, Worcs coach appts Nov 3, 2022
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October 2022
- Oct 21, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Will a county 'go under' like Wasps? | Key says support you-know-what | Buttler & Croft contracts at Lancs | Yorks racism hearing in public? | Benefit Years no more? Oct 21, 2022
- Oct 8, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Angry reaction to Yorks' relegation | County Awards | Teams of the season | Will counties vote against Strauss Review? | Should we split cricket into two codes? Oct 8, 2022
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September 2022
- Sep 30, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Fantastic finale to the Champ season | Success at Surrey, Notts & Middx | Warks send Yorks down | Strauss Review reaction - and it's not good | Hildreth and Hogan farewells Sep 30, 2022
- Sep 16, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Should high performance mean high priority? | Royal London Cup previews | You-know-what 'least enjoyable' competition | $10m fine shows ECB the way on fighting racism Sep 16, 2022
- Sep 12, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Thompson delays county vote on Strauss review | Media blitz - Fri night Blast games, transfer window, player exodus | "One man and a dog" - still!!! | You-know-what Yr 2 figures Sep 12, 2022
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August 2022
- Aug 18, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: 'Over my dead body' CEO on cutting counties | The schedule is a pretzel or a Rubik's cube | Hildreth retires early | Thompson's in-tray | My Faustian bargain Aug 18, 2022
- Aug 16, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Thompson appointed ECB chair | Special General Meeting forced at Lancashire | Yorks tribunal underway | Flintoff's Field of Dreams considered | Stevens to leave Kent Aug 16, 2022
- Aug 3, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Major moves announced | Yorks change captain | Royal London Cup is not an 'alternative' | What Dr Who tells us about the demise of county cricket | Loads of pessimism, sorry Aug 3, 2022
- Aug 1, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Will counties lose that £1.3m payment? | Why the balls have gone soft | Join Campaign to Save First-Class Cricket | B&H Cup 50 years on | Northeast's 410* Aug 1, 2022
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July 2022
- Jul 20, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Why first-class county cricket will be gone in six years Jul 20, 2022
- Jul 14, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Scarbados and Southport shine | Lancs Action Group rally members | Why do 'outsiders' love the Champ | What change will YOU make to save the game? Jul 14, 2022
- Jul 2, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: What Wimbledon can teach English cricket | Vaughan off-air | Gale's parting shot | Sibley, Barnard moves | 'Bazball' in the county game | Who's out of contract Jul 2, 2022
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June 2022
- Jun 24, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Last four Yorks chairs blast ECB | Champ games to be played in UAE or Sri Lanka? | Introducing the 6ixty | Seriously, how to replace the ECB? | Big Somerset signing Jun 24, 2022
- Jun 17, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Yorkshire and former players charged | Willey returns to Northants | Moeen, Sibley to move? | Chesterfield of dreams | YouTube stream hacks Jun 17, 2022
- Jun 9, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Blast catches fire at last | Sky's schedule, fights and food problems | Why fan engagement is the key | Yorkshire payouts Jun 9, 2022
- Jun 2, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Blast crowds struggling, are you surprised? | Foxes fight back with £10 deal | Key to cut Championship games? | Fans' banners taken down | Jim Parks RIP Jun 2, 2022
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May 2022
- May 26, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: T20 Blast Off | Ticket sales struggling because of you-know-what? | Has Championship been a let-down so far? | Surrey's classy gesture | Big sponsorship deal for Lancs May 26, 2022
- May 19, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: ECB CEO Tom Harrison goes... finally | Have bad balls helped batters? | Bees stop play | Where you get in free after tea | Why should we listen to ex-players? May 19, 2022
- May 14, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Is a different Dukes ball the reason for all the runs? | Finally, an ECB chair we can believe in? | Sparkling new Potts |Best of the blogs May 14, 2022
- May 5, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Should Joe Clarke play for England? | Essex boardroom problems | Six ducks for Kent tail-ender | Yet more ECB nonsense May 5, 2022
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April 2022
- Apr 24, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Strauss Review nonsense | Key appointment doubts | Compton's stunning start | TalkSPORT's quality coverage | Syd Lawrence Apr 24, 2022
- Apr 15, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: All the Championship previews | Mickey Arthur defends county cricket | A list of the ECB's mistakes this week | Player moves Apr 15, 2022
- Apr 7, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: All the County Championship previews | Fantasy League tips | Bumble speaks out | Latest player moves | And 'Teflon Tom' wants to secure 'his legacy' Apr 7, 2022
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March 2022
- Mar 28, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Should we have a fan-led review? | Surprise! Talk of culling some counties | Yorkshire can't get out of their own way | Should the ECB fine themselves? | All the moves Mar 28, 2022
- Mar 7, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Warne remembered by Hampshire | Power struggles at top of the county game | More trouble at Yorkshire | Should Durham be asking questions? | Lots of new signings Mar 7, 2022
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February 2022
- Feb 18, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: 'Civil War' at Yorkshire | Why Tom Harrison is cricket's Chesney Hawkes? | Mickey Arthur flies in | Surrey's 15k members | Davies banned for tweets | All the player moves Feb 18, 2022
- Feb 2, 2022 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Angry about the fixtures, the Yorkshire scandal and especially the ECB... here's why Feb 2, 2022
- January 2022
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December 2021
- Dec 24, 2021 BLOG: All the major player moves & contracts | Exploring Cricket & class | A right old 'Codgerfest' | Counties redeveloping grounds | Changes at Yorkshire | Peter O'Toole taught by Imran Khan Dec 24, 2021
- Dec 10, 2021 BLOG: Yorkshire look to rebuild | Lancashire's new ground | Coaching changes at Hants | Northants and Derbyshire overseas signings | All the latest player moves | Delay on 2022 fixture announcements Dec 10, 2021
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November 2021
- Nov 28, 2021 BLOG: Latest on Yorkshire racism scandal, all the county cricket moves, are ECB 'fit for purpose'? Nov 28, 2021
- Nov 10, 2021 Sign up FREE to the only County Cricket newsletter - all the latest in one place Nov 10, 2021
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October 2021
- Oct 28, 2021 It seems you can't wish Geoffrey Boycott a happy birthday anymore Oct 28, 2021
- Oct 1, 2021 The Championship must find its niche again and Mason Crane must not ruin my Spag Bol again Oct 1, 2021
- Oct 1, 2021 The Grumbler's County Championship team of the season - 2021 Oct 1, 2021
- Oct 1, 2021 How to say goodbye to a cricket season, career or life Oct 1, 2021
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September 2021
- Sep 14, 2021 Dear Mr Dowden, first-class counties are 'art treasures' too Sep 14, 2021
- Sep 8, 2021 We love seeing the youngsters play but it helps county finances too Sep 8, 2021
- Sep 1, 2021 Why watch when there is nothing to play for? Sep 1, 2021
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August 2021
- Aug 24, 2021 The intended consequence of diminished horizons Aug 24, 2021
- Aug 18, 2021 Like the many who will follow him, red-ball Ravi will be missed Aug 18, 2021
- Aug 11, 2021 Cricket needs diversity from all sides Aug 11, 2021
- Aug 3, 2021 Gimmickry can help county cricket too Aug 3, 2021
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July 2021
- Jul 29, 2021 50 and out? Why one-day cricket may fall through the cracks Jul 29, 2021
- Jul 20, 2021 A failure of governance Jul 20, 2021
- Jul 13, 2021 Cricket, data and Foxes Jul 13, 2021
- Jul 9, 2021 Lessons from six months of creating county cricket content Jul 9, 2021
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June 2021
- Jun 30, 2021 What happens when you become a cricket 'meme’ Jun 30, 2021
- Jun 21, 2021 How 'Hobbiton' is starting a village cricket team during a pandemic Jun 21, 2021
- Jun 15, 2021 Where's the fun? Derek Randall and Spinwash show the joyful chaos of yesteryear Jun 15, 2021
- Jun 9, 2021 County cricket fans are having their say... and their 'When Saturday Comes' moment Jun 9, 2021
- Jun 2, 2021 Why cricket's best YouTube channel is under threat Jun 2, 2021
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May 2021
- May 26, 2021 Fanning the flames for REAL supporter representation May 26, 2021
- May 18, 2021 Getting back in the ground, it’s going to be pretty damn emotional May 18, 2021
- May 18, 2021 By the end of this season, we’ll know if traditional county cricket has been outgunned May 18, 2021
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October 2020
- Oct 7, 2020 Vitality Blast: Team of the Season 2020 Oct 7, 2020
- Oct 7, 2020 Streaming offers red-ball cricket a lifeline Oct 7, 2020
- Oct 7, 2020 My T20 finals days: Michelangelo, Kiss Cam and the Sugababes Oct 7, 2020
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September 2020
- Sep 30, 2020 The Grumbler's Team of the Bob Willis Trophy 2020 Sep 30, 2020
- Sep 30, 2020 Barmy Army 'batten down hatches' as Covid hits cricket tour business Sep 30, 2020
- Sep 30, 2020 No-one marketed the Bob Willis Trophy final, so I did it myself for a tenner Sep 30, 2020
- Sep 24, 2020 Udal on Parkinson's Disease - 'When you play cricket, you learn to fight' Sep 24, 2020
- Sep 24, 2020 Tom Banton's not Somerset's Messiah, he's a very naughty boy Sep 24, 2020
- Sep 24, 2020 Why cricket fans will mourn this season more than most Sep 24, 2020
- Sep 10, 2020 Cold-blooded Murtagh takes on Donald Trump's spinner Sep 10, 2020
- Sep 10, 2020 By George, he's the proud No11, batting in his mother's memory Sep 10, 2020
- Sep 10, 2020 Bring back the 'FA Cup' of cricket Sep 10, 2020
- Sep 10, 2020 County game grows viewership via stream power Sep 10, 2020
- Sep 9, 2020 Financial nous like ‘Barnacle’ Bailey can guide cricket though the pandemic Sep 9, 2020