Memories are made down by a county ground sightscreen, not the never-ending schedule of T20 leagues around the worldPsst. This bit is between just us, please. It isn’t something I’d want to get out in public, especially not when I’m in this line of business, but I need to get it off my chest. I don’t much like the Indian Premier League. There, I said it.This, like an acceptance you will never play the Dane, is the sort of self-knowledge you acquire in middle age, but admitting it here exposes me to youthful titters on Twitter, marks me out as the sort of man who probably quite likes gardening, sighs when he settles into a chair, someone who, yes, you...
There will be only three rounds of matches next year in the three months that constitute high summer, offering few chances for those seeking to break into Joe Roots teamOne day after a numbing, naive innings defeat against New Zealand the impetus for England to become as effective with a red ball as they are with a white one is surely redoubled. Joe Roots team were ultimately thrashed on a true, hard, unyielding pitch upon which the Kookaburra ball seldom deviated.Often the conditions in New Zealand are likened to those in this country but that no longer seems to apply. The announcement of the first-class fixtures for the 2020 domestic season in England offers little encouragement that our Test team...
Winner-takes-all finale to County Championship and yet there is talk of culling counties to make way for The HundredWith autumn stepping into its strides – and conkers rolling fat and round outside the pavilion at Lord’s – cricket still has one hand to play in this eye-popping summer. A single round of the County Championship remains, the winner tantalisingly yet to be decided. The two contenders, Essex and Somerset, meet on Monday at Taunton to fight it out, with crowds expected to burst the gates, Sky sending a camera crew and a double-decker temporary press box for the media wheeled in for the occasion.If Somerset, five times runners-up this century, win it will be their first championship title and romantics...
The international tournament has more flash, but the county scene continues to charm and entrance its devoteesRoll up, roll up, here comes the Cricket World Cup, if only for one more day. In her high heels and tail-feathers, she jiggles past smiling, waving, bowing this way and that. She sings, plays air guitar, and speaks in CAPITAL letters at all times. She swallows sixes, dot balls, yorkers and spits them out into video clips. She dines out on youthful impetuosity and career-ending mistakes, while fading players chasing former glories are given short shrift. And for 45 days she has consumed our attention, eaten us up, spat us out. She’s magnificent. Look at her go!On Sunday morning she hits terrestrial TV,...
Newport on the Isle of Wight will host first-class cricket for the first time while Lancashire are set to play at ‘home’ in SedberghGlamorgan took the field against Gloucestershire on Tuesday morning on a well-tended ground in the suburbs of Newport with the rather unfortunate name of Spytty Park. They thus added a small footnote to their 98-year Championship history, making Spytty their 14th first-class ground.In recent years such events have been rarities in county cricket. For decades the counties (and, with more regret, their followers) have been saying goodbye to the outgrounds and festival venues that once added hugely to the charm and variety of the cricket circuit. Related: County cricket talking points: in praise of the One-Day Cup...