ECB executives turn to Google’s X boffins in search of futuristic solutions to age-old problemIf you’ve ever come across a 1939 novel called The Amazing Test Match Crime, you’ll know it’s one of the most bonkers cricket books ever written. It is a spy-parody-caper, in which a cartel of super criminals called things like The Professor and Sawn-off Carlo plan an extravagant international heist during a crucial Ashes game. It was the first thing that came to my mind when the news emerged last week that the England and Wales Cricket Board had met with a shadowy organisation called X.X, as it turns out, are the secretive R&D arm of Google, the shiny, happy Doodle-makers who exist to make the...
Cricket should stop worrying about its status and enjoy any newcomers attracted by its charmsLast summer, that heady season where hot day followed hot day until heat became an expectation then a belief, there was a World Cup in Russia. In front of largely disbelieving eyes back home Gareth Southgate’s men tossed away the burden of low hope and through a purring repertoire of set pieces got all the way to the semi-finals, where they were finally outrun by Croatia in extra time.A year on we hit another World Cup, the men’s Cricket World Cup – with the Women’s Football and Netball World Cups nipping at its heels. England this time pull on the unfamiliar shiny shoes of favourites, which...
Two years of overhaul, including a home World Cup, could fire cricket’s future in England if the governing body has its wayIt was a coincidence that the MCC scheduled its winter 1918 committee meeting on 12 November, though if pressed Lord Hawke might have professed it presentiment and canny planning. Either way, on the very first day after the armistice, the MCC’s ordinary committee got together to get on with the business of organising the next domestic schedule. They had a lot to talk about. Through four years of war, there had been no county cricket at all. Now it was back, no one seemed to agree exactly what it should be. Opinion was split. On the one side were...
The ECB’s approach may seem light beside Australia’s to ball-tampering but it is time to look forward to the last summer of cricket as we know itIt is now possible to move on. To the relief of those in charge of the England cricket teams – Trevor Bayliss, Ed Smith, Joe Root and Eoin Morgan – Ben Stokes and the man who became the doosra in all this, Alex Hales, are eligible for selection for all forthcoming matches. There will be no complications for the national selector when he announces the tour parties for the West Indies on Monday. Related: Ben Stokes and Alex Hales fined by ECB over Bristol incident but cleared to play Continue reading...
A 10-team First Division is a good idea but the shires will host the most low-key games during the school holidaysViewed in isolation, the proposals for English domestic cricket from 2020 onwards from the men’s domestic playing programme (MDPP) group, which was chaired by Leicestershire’s CEO, Wasim Khan, display rare common sense. The problems arise when all the packages outlined are put together.The most striking change has the First Division of the County Championship containing 10 teams in 2020 with the Second Division reduced to eight, a reversal of the current format. This is a good idea that more fairly reflects the strength of the counties. It removes the necessity for 25% of the sides in the First Division to...