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
I posted this photo on the first morning of Essex's game with Lancashire last Thursday. I have tweeted shots with a similar sentiment before and they have always proved surprisingly popular. In a few days, it had garnered almost 80,000 impressions and 500 likes. The point is simple. People DO watch county cricket. Not in big numbers, certainly not enough to support any argument in favour of maintaining the game’s status quo but, still, the majority of Championship days I attend are watched by a crowd of four figures. The bigger ones like the opener at Middlesex last week had over 2,000 in for a couple of the days.
But, it seems, we are the wrong sort because the picture provoked the usual too "pale, male and stale" response.
Of course, it is.
This form of the game is pitched towards older generations and played when other demographics are much less likely to watch. But, also, what do you expect the complexion of a county crowd to be when, over the past generation, the game has not been played in state schools, kept off free-to-air television and the county version has never received anything approaching proper marketing support. The seeds of future support were not sown so fallow decades must be expected.
But there is much more going on here.
Much of that response to the picture feels like straightforward ageism, one prejudice we seem happy to ignore. Cruises, bowls, Countdown and county cricket - these are things invented to keep the oldies amused while they wait for their care home room. Otherwise, they are just “a problem”. I joke but it is deadly serious. Quite rightly, women have long complained about society turning them invisible at the appearance of the first grey hair. Believe me, it happens to men in the work place in their 50s. Perversely, the UK now expects you to work until your late 60s but deems you too old for employment after your late 40s. That is why this sector of society walked away from the workforce in the aftershock of the Pandemic lockdown and have had to be enticed back. It is closely linked to an horrific stat - "since around 2010, males aged 45 to 64 years have had the highest suicide rate" in the UK. It should be no surprise when we are taught to value ourselves through work, status and money while, at the same time, ‘expecting’ men to be strong and silent. Loss of identity, meaning and purpose both ruins and takes lives.
The graph of lifetime happiness comes in the shape of a smile. It is high in your youth and Autumn years when responsibilities are low. But, in midlife, work worries coupled with the last years of dependent children and ailing parents hang heavy on your mental health.
I am deep in that mire right now at 53. So last week I soothed my soul with a couple of sessions of county cricket. Thirty years ago, this type of therapy would not have worked. I did not watch Championship games and saw only a little of the one-day stuff. Therefore it is so simplistic to argue the entire audience for domestic red-ball cricket is dying out. Streams and social media suggest there is interest across the age groups but, right now, the younger ones are busy doing other things. There is every reason to suggest some will be back when their lives slow down to a pace akin to county cricket. In middle age, many of us suddenly start to feel in step with the longer form of the game as we have tired of the whirlwind nonsense of other sports. I am looking at you here, football.
Ironically enough even T20 is criticised for attracting a football-style crowd. Clearly, they are the wrong sort too. Though the demography of Surrey's Blast ticket buyers in 2019 were exactly what we all wanted - new, young, female - and they still shunted the event from its prime position to throw buckets of hidden cash at the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named.
But, having been in the crowd at Chelmsford, I'll tell you one area in which the photo seemed much more representative - social class. An area increasingly seen as the key issue in the growth of the game in the UK. Of course, there is no way I can be sure but it did not feel like 52 per cent of the crowd went to a fee-paying school (like the ratio of Junior Ministers), or even 43 per cent (like the English-qualified county cricketers or news journalists). It felt a bit more like seven per cent, the actual ratio within the country. Diversity does not start and end with what you can see in a photograph.
The picture also fails to portray what happened an hour so later at the start of the lunch interval. As the crowd dispersed, a few children carrying bats hurdled the advertising boards and sprinkled themselves around the parameter of the pitch. They were followed on by parents and some grandparents, who turned their arms.
And thus the time-honoured transfer of sporting affection from older to younger generations continued once more.
You underestimate this at your peril.
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Week 2 Review
County cricket: Warwickshire go top with Surrey lurking in second (Guardian)
Ollie Pope blitzes Hampshire as Surrey register first win of season (Cricinfo)
From county to country? 5 players impressing domestically ahead of Ashes summer (The Independent)
Yorkshire complain following abandoned match against Gloucestershire (Mail)
Essex's Sam Cook sets his sights on breaking into England's Test team (Mail)
Jamie Porter and Mohammad Abbas aren’t moving on (King Cricket)
Week 3 previews
There’s a different preview in every link.
Div One
Somerset vs Lancashire
Northamptonshire vs Hampshire
Kent vs Essex
Middlesex vs Nottinghamshire
Div Two
Worcestershire vs Gloucestershire
Glamorgan vs Durham
Sussex vs Yorkshire
Signing: Agar (Kent - overseas - next 4 Champ games)
News, Views and Interviews
County cricket: Can Sussex reap the rewards for investing in youth? (The Cricketer)
Haseeb Hameed on Ramadan - 'Faith puts our careers into perspective' (Cricinfo)
Jonny Bairstow says request to keep wicket for Yorkshire is a 'non-story' (BBC Sport)
Jonny Bairstow on track to return to action against Glamorgan at start of May (Cricketer)
Labuschagne's 'sole focus' on county wins ahead of Ashes (Cricket.com.au)
Cricket history buried in rogue Hampshire Chronicle (Hampshire Chronicle)
INSIDE COUNTY CRICKET: Bizarre job-share for Arthur and Somerset shirt controversy (Mail)
Surely it would be easier and potentially more lucrative for Mickey Arthur to leave Derbyshire and return to the role of full-time coach of Pakistan. The common sense of a sporting career suggests that’s what he should do. Or, at least, it is the norm. In county cricket, we have seen Leicestershire's best move to Nottingham. Key Derbyshire talent got to Lancashire. And there was a period when Surrey were seemingly happy to hoover up anyone who had a decent season. But Arthur has stayed. It could be down to his belief in "the project", the perspective a long career gives us, simple happiness or merely honouring personal and professional promises he has made.
Whatever, Mickey Arthur has been a breath of fresh air in county cricket. He is welcome to stay as long as he likes.
Also, the Mail seem to be stepping up their coverage of county cricket. Very good to see.
The County Championship could ultimately go the way of the Royal London Cup (Yorkshire Post)
Unfortunately, I believe this is correct. But let's not single out the Championship. If the growth of franchise cricket is left unchecked, unregulated and taken to its logical conclusion, it applies to the Test game too. Certainly, when the generation brought up with a T20 and IPL focus become the majority of the cricket-playing fraternity.
Pride of Lions Day proves a hit among young members (Surrey CCC)
County distances itself from Middlesex Schools Cricket after racist and offensive tweet (Times) ($)
Cricket history buried in rogue Hampshire Chronicle (Hampshire Chronicle)
Cricket Society & MCC Book of the Year Award 2023 (Lord's)
Jason Gallian Appointed Chair of the Cricket Committee (Essex CCC)
Breaking ground on the Travelodge at The Kia Oval (Surrey CCC)
Yorkshire could face wait until July to find out CDC sanction (Cricketer)
Delay, delay, delay. Wait, wait, wait. This is serious, delicate and presumably mired in legalities. But it is just not good enough.
Gary Ballance retires after failing to find “happiness” after Azeem Rafiq scandal (Times) ($)
Saudi Arabia in talks with IPL over new T20 tournament. (2023) (Times) ($)
Saudi Arabia woos IPL to set up world’s richest cricket competition (Sydney Morning Herald) ($)
Cricket at the Olympics? (Economic Times)
Saudi Arabia has been throwing cash at the elite of the elite in sport over recent years. Anthony Joshua fought there, Cristiano Ronaldo plays there and F1 races there. Their golf tournament has split the sport and the Saudi-backed purchase of Newcastle United has quickly turned around the fortunes of the Magpies. The label ‘controversial’ has been attached to all those ventures but money talks in sport. Therefore if stories of a Saudi T20 are true and they are working with India not against them, then it has the potential to lay waste to the current economics of cricket.
It is ironic that while we’ve feared the IPL and the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named would end the red-ball game, the protective dam holding back this seismic change may be broken by the timing of the Major League Cricket in the US and the extreme wealth of Saudi Arabia - two countries with little or no background in the 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