COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Yorkshire and former players charged | Willey returns to Northants | Moeen, Sibley to move? | Chesterfield of dreams | YouTube stream hacks
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Suddenly, everything feels a little better. England win a hard-fought Test in front of a packed house by playing positive cricket then the latest round of the Championship enjoys a clutch of tight finishes and somehow all seems good in the world. (Trent Bridge even sold 1,300 tickets to Friday’s Blast game to those who enjoyed free tickets on the final day.)
For me, this warm glow of sporting satisfaction is only created by depth and context. I enjoy T20 cricket and the big-hitting shortest format commands. I have seen hundreds of games live or in-person but 99 per cent of those bashes over the boundary have been forgotten. Yet I’ll probably remember Joe Root ramping Tim Southee for six until my dying day.
Put simply, England’s victory means more because it is a meandering story layered with nuance and subtlety. On Days One and Two there seemed very little chance of a victory. Little moments and mini-dramas built the story - Mitchell and Blundell’s stand, Pope answering his critics, Leach not answering his, the sublime Joe Root, the Southee run out, even Potts telling his team-mates that massive six had fallen into a pint of beer. Then came Bairstow. England ground it out, stuck it out and beat a side whose own doggedness in the past few years has turned them into World Test champions. This New Zealand team are one of cricket’s greatest over-achievers. And they have done it without being dickheads. Something you feel is almost impossible in elite sport these days.
To win on the pitch, the psychological recipe seems to be aggression, challenge everything, have an edge and bend every rule to breaking point. New Zealand have bucked that trend. If they went in for this type of thing they might even call it their ‘brand’.
Off the pitch, it is the marketers who ruin everything as usual. The focus is on the shorter, faster, brighter and younger. I like seeing sixes so the assumption is that I want more of them, all the time, in every game. But the biff, bang, wallop of the Blast is merely an entertaining diversion. Just like those thrill-a-minute, adrenaline-pumped movies such as Mission Impossible and the Fast and the Furious. Such popcorn is fine but if the hero is constantly clinging to a cliff edge or endlessly shooting their way out of impossible situations then you become numb to the danger and oblivious to their peril. Plot development, meaningful stories and three-dimensional characters make you care. These require time and space to develop. Often it is so slow and subtle, a gesture here and expression there, that you might need to watch the movie again to fully appreciate the filmmaker’s art.
There is no auteur in sporting contests. The story is organic and uncontrolled, albeit laws and regulations can be tweaked to make serendipity that bit more likely. But, after five days of plot development, when the story arc comes to a satisfying conclusion in the final session of the final day, the result is both memorable and meaningful.
At its greatest, sport is art.
Player News
David Willey to return to Northamptonshire at the end of 2022 season (Cricinfo)
This is a surprise but, at the same time, excellent news. As the article suggests, Northants are an unfashionable county and, with so many players out of contract, fans might have been fearing an exodus not celebrating a major addition. Vasconcelos was made captain this year but is coveted by a number of counties including Somerset while Josh Cobb’s short-form skills are exceptional.
Willey's quotes suggest an emotional pull to Wantage Road. I do not doubt that. But I would speculate that Yorkshire may need to cut the wage bill along with many other costs very soon.
His Instagram post, below, suggested the county have “prioritised restoring their reputation”. Yorkshire deny this but then they would, wouldn’t they?
That is why I was staggered to read their interest in Moeen Ali.
This story seems much more plausible…
Warwickshire make moves to sign Moeen Ali and Saqib Mahmood (and Ed Barnard) (Cricketer)
This piece adds that Dom Sibley has turned down a new contract and has been subject to an approach from another county. I feel sure he'll return to Surrey, but they are not the ones who have been in contact.
No return to Gloucestershire this season for Naseem Shah (Cricketer)
Visa delays scupper plans for Mujeeb Ur Rahman to join Middlesex (Cricketer)
Boo and double boo.
Counties make short-term signings to cope with demands of schedule (Cricinfo)
Nathan Sowter to leave Middlesex CCC at the end of the season (Cricket World)
Worcestershire's Ben Cox takes break from cricket to address mental health (Cricketer)
Perhaps we can thank Marcus Trescothick but cricket seems to be ahead of the other sports in treating mental health issues the same as physical ones. There’s a problem affecting your game so you step out, get well again and come back. Football, for example, is not as open as this and the flak that Emma Raducanu got after the nature of her Wimbledon exit last year was unkind and unfair. I suspect the knives will be out again in a week or so if she fails in the early rounds
But she was not mentally weak when she won the US Open, was she?
News, Views and Interviews
Wisden’s team of the T20 Blast so far (Wisden)
Counties threaten to ban fans after spike in drunken disorder (Times) ($)
The junk food of cricket? (Morning Star)
The Morning Star? The most socialist thing in cricket are the drafts in the IPL and you-know-what. They are pure Marx -"from each according to their ability to each according to their need". But I suspect that is not something that Kevin Pietersen, a big fan of both events, would go along with.
Meanwhile, here are some of my favourite reports from the Championship games this week
Craig Overton felled by twin brother as Somerset batting lands in a heap (Cricinfo)
Toby Pettman, Mark Watt underline value of opportunity that the county game affords (Cricinfo)
Chesterfield left dreaming of glories as Derbyshire down high-flying Middlesex (Cricinfo)
Paul Edwards was clearly inspired by Chesterfield. His report was simply marvellous, you do not read paragraphs like this in reports on other sports.
"While you are eating your cobs and drinking your coffee, you can look again at the sweet chestnut and the sycamores and marvel at the trees' fellowship and think of the consolation offered by conifers that stay green when the rest of their world is grey and the cricket ground is sleeping."
County cricket offers more runs for your money (Guardian)
County cricket: Green shoots of progress as runs aplenty in Spring (SW Londoner)
Can cricket clubs be better at attracting more spectators? (Cricket Yorkshire)
This is about club cricket, mainly in Yorkshire, but it smacks of the general loss of community in UK society. We recently had a street party for the Jubilee. I met the people from about a dozen houses in my crescent for the very first time... 10 years after moving in.
Matt Parkinson hasn’t forgotten his year with Staffordshire (Express & Star)
Rossouw: I would like to play for SA again (SACricket Mag)
Hadlee, Fleming, Adams … Notts know just how good New Zealanders are (Guardian)
English cricket’s best bowlers aren’t too aged after all (The Economist) ($)
From National Counties to first-class cricket with help from an umpire (East Lothian Courier)
ECB charge Yorkshire and seven individuals following investigation (Cricketer)
There are some big names on this list. Many of those have previously denied or played down their actions. As for Yorkshire, I have been waiting all year for them to be charged. There may well be perfectly valid reasons for the delay and, on all sides, due process must be followed.
However, the tardiness of all this may bring sporting integrity into question or, at the very least, muddy the waters. In mid-season, a committee might be able to predict a points deduction that would assure or avoid relegation. I am not suggesting it introduces bias, it is more about unnecessary and unconscious influence.
But overall, this Yorkshire business is just getting messier and messier. If, as expected, the county pleads guilty then that expedites the process somewhat.
And, of course, the ECB should be throwing the book at themselves for their own failures in this sorry tale.
But, knowing them, they’d probably miss.
Sport Notebook: Pressure on YouTube to stop county cricket streams being hijacked (Times) ($)
These interruptions are soooooo annoying. It happened at the end of an Essex game in the Blast last week. Inevitably, the motivation is money. The report explains “India-based operators of another YouTube stream, which was re-streaming their coverage illicitly, made the bogus complaint to draw in more viewers and then charge them to watch.”
Then again, the bastions of the game are hardly showing the way when it comes to greed (The MCC are facing questions from members over their failure to repay over £3m in furlough money, despite holding £36.5m in the bank and charging up to £160 for Test tickets... with the club paying back just £402k (Daily Mail))
However, if the counties want to monetise their streams then they need to ask YouTube to close a loophole that allows any complainant to shut down a live event, whether the claim is legitimate or not.
When you have to pay, it is a service and you will complain if the provider fails to deliver.
This is an issue for @Robelinda2, who runs the greatest cricket YouTube channel.
I did a Sports Content Strategy podcast with him where we discussed the issue in depth.
While we are on the subject, here are the other podcasts I have produced on cricket over the last five years. They might be of interest. These all link to my website but you can find Sports Content Strategy on all major podcast platforms.
bit.ly/MrRCWestonFox Data analytics at Leicestershire CCC
http://bit.ly/MrRCGupta Kolkata Knight Riders content strategy
http://bit.ly/MrRCMillard The business of the Barmy Army
http://bit.ly/MrRCWeston The European Cricket League
http://bit.ly/MrRCGuerilla The story of Guerilla Cricket
http://bit.ly/MrRCWarren Somerset CCC’s digital content
http://b.link/MrRCDunmore Starting up Major League Cricket
http://bit.ly/MrRCMoody The world’s No1 cricket YouTuber
http://bit.ly/MrRCAkhtar Sarim Akhtar - being a cricket meme
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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