COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Yorks Racism hearing, at last | Hants double signing | Rob's key is being an outsider | Who cleared Canterbury's Lime Tree | Somerset, Middx sign overseas stars
It’s March, which means your county should be playing friendlies by the end of the month. There’s a cold snap coming this week but the evenings are getting a little lighter, the mornings are sunnier and the temperature will start to turn soon.
Clearly, cricket is coming.
The past fortnight has seen the best and worst of English cricket. Odd as it may sound, England’s one-run defeat to New Zealand qualifies as the former. As head coach Brendon McCullum said afterwards: “We don’t mind losing as long as we give ourselves a chance to win.”
It’s the lack of cynicism I love the most.
Of course, McCullum’s England are well in credit after a string of fine wins but this was only the fourth time a Test team had lost after enforcing the follow-on. Yet we all marvelled at the type of game this sport can produce. Never mind the result, just enjoy the cricket.
At its best, the Test game is a long, boozy, expensive banquet at a top restaurant. It is about the flavour, the ceremony, the skills, the atmosphere, the company and the luxury of time. It is worth the wait.
In contrast, franchise cricket is a meal on a short-haul flight - a mini-version of something reminiscent of sustenance but jam-packed with artificial additives. When hungry, I will scoff it down readily enough but it is rushed, cramped, overpackaged and consumed elbow-to-elbow alongside people with whom you would never choose to dine.
It is plastic, single-serve cricket.
When you finally extract it all from the packaging, you realise there is not much of value to consume.
The Cricket Discipline Commission hearing into racism at Yorkshire represents the worst of the game, if not the country. Check my previous blogs about my outlook and there are posts below but I’ll wait until the conclusion before commenting in full.
My fear is that there will be no conclusion. There have been too many delays, too many mistakes, too little governance and two big camps created. I predict no-one will learn anything, let alone change their position.
I hope I am wrong but we see fudges everywhere in modern Britain. In the confusion left behind, the group normally best placed to seize the initiative is the one that was in charge when it all went wrong. They appear to be at fault but delay, dispute and doubt are effective methods of avoiding a guilty verdict and retaining control. However, they can not prove innocence therefore bitterness and suspicion fester.
This is one reason why nothing changes.
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Players, Coaches, Signings and Contracts
Signings: Henry (Somerset - Overseas - 7xChamp, Blast), Maharaj (Middlesex - Overseas - 8xChamp, Blast), Edwards (Yorkshire), Stubbs (Durham, T20), McDermott, Ellis (Hampshire - Blast)
Contracts: Gleeson (Lancashire - T20 2yr), Overton (Somerset - 3yr), Donald (Hampshire - 1yr), Organ (Hampshire), Richards (Essex - first senior contract)
Paul Stirling set to miss England Test as he locks in Warwickshire return (Cricinfo)
County stint to fast-track 'sponge' Murphy for Ashes (Cricket.com.au)
Todd Murphy has been linked with a move to Durham.
Johnson, Madsen, Manenti sign up for Berg's Italian Job (Cricinfo)
This is standard practice for any smaller nation trying to improve its standing in an emerging sport. Parachute in talent with familial connections or the right passports and get some better results. At the same time sow the seeds of player development and try to move on from there.
Mark Alleyne set for Glamorgan white-ball head coach role (Cricketer)
Yorkshire County Cricket Club give former Essex bowler top academy job (Telegraph & Argus)
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Here are some of the reciprocal arrangements at counties for the 2023 season: Lancashire, Hampshire, Essex. I’ll add more when I have them.
Indian cricket seems to be thinking the county game is a place for older players to regain their form. You could argue Pakistani cricket believes the county game can toughen up and refine their younger talent.
I am happy enough with that. It is a role the Championship can fill, providing purpose and adding attraction. Of course, some Australians are already coming over before the Ashes, albeit with short, specific and selfish aims.
But has the England set-up ever had a stable, mutually fulfilling relationship with county cricket in the central contracts era? Yes, we have seen players return to recover their form, with diktats over how they can be used. And we have seen it pulled this way and that in response to Test fashions and endless ECB reports. But it seems to be seen as a tool, used for a time to adjust something much more important and then tossed back in the box.
For me, it should be the foundation of the entire game in this country. When it is strong, everything above and beyond it is strong too.
It was so disheartening to see stories on Harry Brook's wonderful and rapid rise from state school, via a public school scholarship mediated in some areas as "look, the system works". Yes, scholarships do skew the figures regarding the public school domination of English cricket. But remember, if the game truly reflected the nation then 93 out of every 100 players, executives and board members would be state school-educated.
Yes, some talent is plunked and nurtured on the manicured lawns of private school cricket but so much is never even given a chance to explore the game. And even if their interest is piqued, they will have to give up weekends to start playing at club level where, if it is anything like my early experience, they will be left rooting around the bottom of a musty leather bag for the last of the communal kit, trying to hone their skills on rutted council-prepared strips and changing in whatever facilities are still standing after the local vandals have had their fun.
A few years ago, Felsted School, a regular supplier of talent to Essex, held an evening event entitled "Exploring county cricket as a career". My Year-11 son and his friends barely know it exists. There is little youth culture and community around the game at his school, which is far above the rancid Essex comp I attended.
The system works for those who created it and cricket will never regain its former sporting and cultural resonance in the UK until that changes.
Essex and SACA agree three-year arrangement (Cricketer)
Counties send scouts to watch SACA session as scheme continues to unearth talent (Cricketer)
It is shocking that we have to lean on the SACA and ACE programmes for talent, despite their excellence. Neither has been driven by the ECB. They declined to bankroll the former and the latter was initially funded as much by Sport England. Even a subsequent injunction looks poor in comparison to those executive bonuses.
Recently, George Dobell revealed the SACA scheme cost less per year than the £60,000 Teflon Tom Harrison spent on PR consultants ahead of the DCMS Select Committee hearing into racism allegations at Yorkshire. What a disgraceful waste of resources.
But, even if you ignore all the privilege, the lack of funding, greed and politics, when we do find a jewel in the dust where do they go to fulfil their talent…
…the county pathways.
News, Views and Interviews
I may try to get #DontHeadToHeadingley trending if Graves is re-appointed as I will not spend a penny there to watch Essex or England under his reign. His corrosive spell as ECB chair virtually created a civil war in domestic cricket. The bulldozer approach of the organisation he led bred mistrust among the rank-and-file support. Meanwhile, he has been called out by the DCMS Select Committee into racism in cricket and accused of being a “roadblock to change” at Yorkshire. He denies this but, as the article points out, there are question marks over his reaction to racism allegations at Essex when he was at the ECB. Of course, The Graves Trust has held up the club over the last few years. But proper altruism does not come with strings attached. This article says “£15m is owed in October 2024… the majority of board members are prepared to back a return for Graves on the basis that he would delay the repayment”.
At the time, the appointment of Robert Key made little sense seen through the lens of the evidence-based decision-making that underpins modern sport. He seemed to have little of the requisite experience and qualifications. But, up to now, it has worked spectacularly well. In this podcast with Mark Butcher, Key talks about his tenure so far, arguing that his thinking was different because he has not been brought through the ECB system.
This chimes with me. I used to apply for jobs at cricket’s governing body but gave up years ago. Firstly, they appeared to be an organisation who have lost all sense of good governance and care for their sport. Sporadic interactions with staff left me distinctly unimpressed; too self-satisfied and self-serving, too accepting of the approach from on high and dismissive of any dissent. The usual shield put up by a sports organisation under pressure. Secondly, they tended to recruit from within, so there was no point.
These two are linked.
Rob Key still seems to believe the way to save county cricket is the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named. Taken to its logical conclusion, the new event will kill it. Should you-know-what survive, the next few years, having sucked up so much of the resources, papered over its cracks and leeched the talent from the existing structure, then the ECB will see that as a mandate for it to take over. When it has grown enough and sucked the last breath out of the county game, it will bury the carcass.
As Key himself pointed out, the system we are all criticising is producing great players who are leading English cricket’s revival. Which begs the question, why are we not supporting it and improving it, instead of replacing it with a system that can only support a section of the game?
Northants skipper Luke Procter backs change to Championship points system (Northampton Chronicle)
Alec Stewart returns to work at Surrey after leave of absence (Cricketer)
County Championship umpires to trial cameras – and assist England player selection (Telegraph)
Glamorgan Cricket: County record small loss in 2022 (BBC Sport)
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Clearing the Lime Tree (Kent Cricket Heritage Trust)
The Lime Tree at Canterbury was one of those utterly unique tales from county cricket. It was so disappointing when it succumbed to disease. Here’s the story of those who cleared it.
Warwickshire appoint Amiss as new club president (Leamington Observer)
Lancashire Cricket Club new Farington ground plan approved (BBC)
Surrey commit to Net Zero by 2030 (Surrey CCC)
How a Derbyshire lady inspired Ian Fleming's James Bond (Great British Life)
The daughter of a county cricketer inspired the author.
The art of watching County Cricket in April (Guardian)
Yorkshire Racism Scandal
Yorkshire plead guilty to data deletion in wake of racism allegations (Cricinfo)
This stinks.
"It was discovered that emails and documents, both held electronically by the club and in paper copy, had been irretrievably deleted from both servers and laptops and otherwise destroyed.
"After a thorough independent investigation, it was established that the deletion and destruction of documents date from a time period prior to the appointment of Lord Patel and relate to the allegations of racism and the club's response to those allegations. The club is not prepared to conjecture publicly as to why this occurred, who was responsible or the motivation for doing so."
Regular readers will know I am very concerned about the upcoming Newton report into racism into Essex and the effect it will have on the club. The Yorkshire scandal started earlier but the pace of progress has been much slower. There have been cock ups, conspiracies and, it seems, lots of key actors denigrating the problem, blaming the victims and plunging their fingers in their ears while going "la, la, la".
In comparison, Essex have addressed the issue with greater urgency, determination and less infighting. But that is not saying much. The Times are reporting names will be redacted but that will either fuel more rumours or they will get out via some other means.
The tone of the statement about the departure of Azeem Akhtar really concerned me. So, after an exhaustive process, the new chair was appointed then stepped back after a few days due to the "emergence" of historic social media posts. Now he has resigned.
But, according to this, no one has done anything wrong. Everything in the shop is tippity top. Therefore, we assume, this chain of events is entirely normal.
It is a worrying trend I see in public life these days. There is a failure to accept any culpability or responsibility, presumably for fear of bad press and loss of reputation.
Whereas in real life, every good person has done bad things. And vice versa.
How have we got to the stage where we can’t accept this?
Azeem Akhtar resigns as Essex chairman despite being cleared of antisemitism (Times)
ECB lays out case against Yorkshire defendants as CDC hearing begins (Cricinfo)
Adil Rashid pressured into backing Azeem Rafiq, says former Yorkshire bowler (Times)
Michael Vaughan: Yorkshire cricket racism hearing is 'terrible look for game' (BBC Sport)
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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