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

September 12, 2022 Rich Clarke

We have a critical few weeks ahead but not quite as critical as they first appeared because, finally, the ECB might have found a credible leader.

On Wednesday, David Hopps’ report on Nottinghamshire’s win over Leicestershire revealed the upcoming timetable like this : “Strauss will officially unveil his [High Performance Review] proposals to the ECB Board next Wednesday, with Richard Thompson taking the chair for the first time. The Board will then decide what exactly to propose to the counties, and when.”

Hopps added that a September deadline might not be met and the counties might “stare down” all threats of a “talent drain”. They may be swayed that way if members are belligerent enough about the changes when they are finally put in front of them. But many of the boards are dancing around the issue of whether they will be fully bound to the members’ wishes.

Why was all this in Hopps’ match report earlier this week? Because Nottinghamshire’s win meant they are nailed-on to win the Division Two title yet they still did not know if it would mean anything. It took the “New ECB’s” incoming chair Richard Thompson to finally confirm that upcoming changes will not be enacted before 2024 but we did not know for sure at this point. Nottinghamshire have all but won Division Two without knowing if it would put them in Division One, Conference Two or wherever next year. Leaving teams playing blind all season does not scream “trust us, we know what we are doing” when it comes to the Championship.

Strauss has been doing the media rounds this week, see below. It has only served to stir up the feeling against his proposals among legacy fans. The “one man and a dog” comment about county cricket is not just a loose tongue, it is falling into a stereotype and he should know better.

And, anyway, let’s explore this issue. The average attendance at a Women’s Super League game last season was 1,600 despite a sizeable marketing push and significant free-to-air coverage. That is less than the crowd at many Championship games I have been in at Chelmsford this season and the gate revenue will be much lower. But that sport is seen as vibrant and growing. This is not knocking women’s sport. The success of the female version of the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named in comparison to the men (see below) screams of greater parity in pay. From the perspective of cold, hard cash, the “old ECB’s” favourite metric, they are worth much more than a quarter of the male version, as their contracts would suggest right now.

Strauss’ comments suggest there is still no real concern at the top of the game about the membership fanbase. To use a phrase thrown so often employed the other way around, he is “out of touch”.

Of course, money is the root of all this. At Somerset’s meeting on the possible changes last week, the CEO revealed membership accounted for just 11 per cent of income. The ECB’s contribution was four times that and commercial income made up the rest. Ironically, Taunton is one of the best-attended grounds on the circuit and, arguably, Somerset are the biggest sports team in the south-west. And anyway you cannot subtract people from the commercial revenue and media rights. They own the wallets and open the eyeballs which support this income. But, above all that, the point of a sporting entity is to create pride, meaning and purpose among its ‘tribe’.

Strauss has been flinging out quotes that, if articulated in Trade Union leader Mick Lynch’s more guttural English, would be mediated as threats. Compare that with Thompson, who in his first interviews has opened the door to everything, including aspects I do not like such as the future of the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named and the outside investment in their franchises. However, he is an adult clearing up cricket after the juveniles left an unholy mess playing with their expensive, unnecessary toys so let’s give him some leeway for now.

He demonstrated that at the end of this week by delaying the meaningful vote by the counties on the Strauss review. Lack of consultation and transparency was “the old ECB” he said. Yep, the one who railroaded the counties into the-tournament-that-shall-not-be-named.

In his various interviews this week, the diplomatic Thompson has been as critical as you can expect of the old regime, a body that damaged county cricket in so many areas. Perhaps the worst hit was the trust between those who run the game and those who have supported it for so long.

You can not rebuild that with threats, spin, marketing or loose words. Along with diplomacy and effective change management, transparency, clarity and consistency are key.

But along with all that, it will take thousands of words and gestures to create cracks in those stubborn defences we have built around ourselves to prevent further damage.

Change is required from everyone.

Players and coaches - signings, contracts and departures

Moves and contracts: Williams (Northamptonshire - end of season), Khan (Somerset - end of season), Hayes (Nottinghamshire - 2yr), Hammond (Gloucestershire - 2yr), Gill (Glamorgan - end of the season)

Ryan Higgins re-joins Middlesex for Championship finale ahead of permanent return (Middlesex - loan ahead of permanent deal) (Cricketer)

Head coach James Franklin to leave Durham at end of season (Cricketer)

Marnus Labuschagne commits to Glamorgan until end of 2024 season (Cricinfo)

This is great news. A two-year deal for one of the best batters in the world in recent years.

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Looking back on the-tournament-that-shall-not-be-named

Now, you know where I stand on all this. Recent history has led me to have little faith in the official figures and, anyway, there are plenty of question-marks over this event after the conclusion of year two. Sky might be ‘deliriously happy’ with the result but, as at the ECB, careers have been staked on its success and they would be saying the same thing if it was tanking so who knows? We do have some figures below - broadly the crowds have slightly dipped (thanks to the men’s event) but the television audience is markedly down. And it is still making a thumping loss.

The sad thing is that all the background history and the built-in destruction means I can’t celebrate its successes. Getting well-attended stadiums with families and youngsters involved in cricket of any form is great. But not at this cost.

While my bias will be at play, it seems to have been created as a zero-sum game. There is no mutual benefit. If you win, I lose and vice versa.

It is just so sad.

This was an unexpectedly negative take from the Wisden Cricket Weekly chaps on you-know-what.

Fire and Loathing: the Hundred and its pyrotechnics will strangle cricket (Guardian)

When you only have eight franchises, all backed with marketing money never seen before in domestic cricket, having a runt in the litter is really rather embarrassing.

The Guardian view on the Hundred: a short format is playing a long game (Guardian)

"Bashing the Hundred has become a little tiresome and predictable. Yes, it is a horribly simplified version of a wonderfully complex game; yes, the commentators, with their endless bigging up of some very ordinary cricket are annoying; yes, the rise of short-form franchise cricket across the world threatens the traditional game. But at least it has got the sport back on to terrestrial TV, and at the same time given a boost to the women’s game."

This is such limited thinking from the Guardian, and in an editorial too. Like so many, they take the view that the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named was the only solution available. As we discussed last week, highly-successful ex-Surrey CEO Richard Gould proposed a different one in his interview to become ECB CEO and the BBC were already at the table when it was first pitched as a T20. Surrey already had concrete metrics that they were reaching new audiences at a fraction of the marketing spend, risk and rancour, see below.

The campaign to save county cricket

Previewing the review (Wisden)

The Cricket Badger does a think piece in this podcast. It is spot on.

Exclusive: Transfer windows could be introduced to county cricket by 2024 (Telegraph) ($)

Exclusive: Counties push for more T20 Blast games to be played on Friday nights (Telegraph) ($)

Clubs call for ban on overseas players in County Championship (Times) ($)

Sir Andrew Strauss wants ‘feeder leagues’ as counties fight reform plans (Telegraph)

Being Outside Cricket @OutsideCricket

So Strauss' ideal schedule is: April - One Day Cup May-June - T20 Blast June, July, September - Championship What does Sky think about the Blast completely overlapping with the IPL? Surely it would mean they'd televise far fewer matches.

Counties have a simple choice - back Andrew Strauss's reforms or watch red ball cricket die (Telegraph)

Exclusive: Sir Andrew Strauss tells counties to accept reforms or face player exodus (Telegraph)

Here comes the PR blitz by Andrew Strauss. Then there’s Michael Vaughan leading the charge for self-interest. Yet again, he writes: "The [you-know-what] is here to stay. That is a fact."

It is a “fact” due to the “old ECB’s” conscious and deliberate decision-making based on their agenda and the power they can wield. It is not natural, it has been manufactured.

Surrey's Blast figures (above) show how counties could attract families and kids to their games. And their marketing budget for the WHOLE SEASON was roughly equivalent to ONE GAME in the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named.

If you are looking for best practice then just look at their efficiency.

Strauss is not writing the headlines suggesting ‘if you don’t accept my proposals then X will happen’. But he is making himself available and saying the words.

It is similar to the Project Fear-tactic used by Brexiteers to label concerns about leaving the EU. Dominic Cummings’ only contribution to British life is the tallest tale in our recent history and a couple of devious, yet effective election slogans. Anyone who has seen those tailbacks on the M20 and examined our economy in comparison to others will see we were right to be fearful of Brexit. In English cricket, we must be open to change but wary of those peddling self-interest disguised as ultimatums.

With regard to these proposals, I am undecided as yet. I will examine it further after the Essex meeting next week. However, part of me thinks, let’s just split the game now and build something better from a smaller base. It is no good hanging on to the coattails of others.

My viewpoint was similar with regard to the European Super League last summer. Let them go because they are playing a different game now.

Being Outside Cricket @OutsideCricket

Here are a list of ECB penalties against counties this season: Durham: 16 pts? (Bat too large) Derbyshire: 2 pts (Bat too large) Leicestershire: 2 pts (9 penalties in 2 years) Durham: 2 pts (7 penalties in a year) Essex: £50k fine (Suppressing racism enquiry) Yorkshire: Nothing

News, Views and Interviews

New ECB chief wants England to host IPL matches - and play Tests in August (Telegraph) ($)

New ECB chairman Richard Thompson: We have to win back people’s trust (Times) ($)

Vote on future domestic schedule delayed, current structure to provide basis for 2023 season (The Cricketer)

ECB admit pay for top players will increase amid threat from global leagues (The Cricketer)

'We have to protect the red-ball game... we can't diminish it': English cricket is at a crossroads with T20 franchise invasion, but new ECB chief Richard Thompson vows to look after oldest format (Mail)

New ECB chair Richard Thompson did a round of media interviews this week. Here are some highlights. My takes are in italics.

Targetting an increase in attendance from 2m to 4m
Increasing diversity
Open to IPL games in the UK
On the Bonuses for the CEO…

“The CEO of the ECB should not be paid on the back of the broadcast deal,” he said. “The CEO should be paid on growth, participation and the success of the England teams.”

Pretty damning on Teflon Tom Harrison and those who enfranchised him.

Reduce the headcount at the ECB
On the new Sky TV deal…

"Thompson says he was consulted on the deal and would not have taken the job had he felt it would tie his hands. “Had we waited, could we have generated more? I doubt it,” he said.

OK but look at what is not said here - would he have done it? Has you-know-what justified this deal? Why is there no BBC involvement? What about the future of the £1.3m ‘dividend’ for the counties? Why not have waited until he was in post?

Then again, Harrison got a lucrative deal for cricket overall and Sky are the game’s biggest partner in the UK. The money is good and, with a deep recession on the way, you can understand Thompson taking this position. He can’t unpick it anyway. But whatever he did or did not say, it cannot be best practice to have this agreed upon without the full input of the chair or CEO who will have to manage it.

On county members…

“The anxiety that county members are feeling is as a result of the way the Hundred played out when they felt they were not consulted. We are feeling that tension now."

100 per cent. There is no trust at all on the members’ side after the ECB pushed through you-know-what via the counties through a £1.3m sweetener and some ambush tactics. Then they added a new TV deal that leaves so many questions unanswered.

It is all this, not the tournament’s achievements, that leaves us in the position of "It's going nowhere. It is here to stay". This is why trust is so low.

I don't know how Thompson can balance all this because, in truth, four competitions is just too many. The television deal will last the length of his tenure and seems immovable. Yes, his tone has changed over you-know-what since Surrey's vehement opposition. But he is still talking about the primacy of Test cricket and the importance of the red-ball game. This is all heartening.

Every new chair has to be diplomatic and conciliatory in their early words. Especially, if your biggest revenue stream, Sky, are enthusiastically behind something that has caused so many problems. I stress I have no specific knowledge but I am going to look at the actions, not the words, just as I did with Teflon Tom Harrison when he talked of supporting red-ball cricket and then did everything possible to marginalise it.