The England captain’s carefully plotted rise is a reflection of the ECB’s central planning but cricket’s fragmentation into different leagues and franchises may bring that era to a closeWhen he was 15 Joe Root drew a sketch of a cricket stadium and wrote on it, “today was the day I realised I would become a world-class batsman”. He still has that picture. Presumably he keeps it somewhere special, only bringing it out now and then, maybe when he’s doing an interview.You may have read the novel A Confederacy Of Dunces, in which John Kennedy Toole’s furiously hopeless anti-hero Ignatius J Reilly spends some of his spare time going to the cheesiest, schmaltziest romantic movie matinees in downtown New Orleans in...
State broadcaster’s deal to show more than 100 hours of live cricket each summer from 2020 is well merited and long overdue, according to a former director of BBC SportIt is unalloyed good news that live cricket is coming back to BBC television. One of the great national sports is reunited with the one broadcaster that can make big events bigger – and get the whole of the country talking about what they watch. The story of the falling-out between the England and Wales Cricket Board and the BBC feels, happily, to be in the far distant past.It was two decades ago that live test cricket moved from the corporation to Channel 4 – which, by common consent, did an...
All this week’s county matches will be day/night in a pre-Test experiment but players who are colour blind may have difficultiesThere may be some splutterings from the disgusted of Tunbridge Wells, with cornflakes flying into the marmalade as if propelled by a Purdey after reading about County Championship matches starting at 2pm, finishing around 9.30 under floodlights and being played with a pink ball. On Monday this will be the case in all nine games around the country.A pink ball! The colour pink has so many connotations. Many years ago I was accosted by a mischievous EW Swanton, who asked: “Whatever are you doing writing for that pinko rag?” (After a moment of confusion I realised that he was referring...
Leaked documents suggest the ECB wants some cricket back on free-to-air television but this feels like attempting to squeeze toothpaste back into the tubeDo not expect a mighty mea culpa from the England and Wales Cricket Board but now we have an implicit acknowledgement that the decision, taken more than a decade ago, not to insist upon some cricket remaining on free-to-air television was contrary to the best interests of the game.Alongside the promise of more money came assurances in 2005 that viewing habits were changing so rapidly that cricket’s removal from terrestrial television would not be damaging to the sport. As indicated by the viewing figures for rugby’s home internationals, which were available to all in the winter, those...
The England bowler was refused permission to play for Nottinghamshire this week but with fast bowlers caution is understandableThe 21st-century revival of England’s Test team has much to do with the advent of central contracts. They were introduced in 2000 to the universal relief of the England players and their coaches; there was some grumpiness around the counties but at least they were spared some significant wages. As has been clear this April, the counties have never been averse to what is effectively a handout.But there are occasions when the central contract system is a source of exasperation. And this is one of them. Stuart Broad was very keen to play against Durham on Friday; his county, Nottinghamshire, now a...