 |
October 13, 2009
Hoggard needs to offer better value for money
Posted on 10/13/2009 in English cricket
Yorkshire have dispensed with the services of Matthew Hoggard, their swing and seam bowler who won 67 Test caps for England. Hoggard said he was "shocked and disappointed" with the decision but he'd have to be more blinkered than the average Yorkshireman not to have thought it a possibility after failing to accept the two-year contract the club offered him a few months ago, writes Derek Pringle in the Daily Telegraph.
Neither had he scotched the rumours of a move elsewhere, the classic signs of someone wanting to keep their options open. Though they may want to do exactly that, players cannot bleat about loyalty and then play the field. Player power, especially those with international reputations, has been on the rise in recent years, but you become vulnerable once your options are reduced.
September 20, 2009
‘Everyone has a dossier on each other’
Posted on 09/20/2009 in 2009 English domestic season
In the final days of his first-class career, Justin Langer reflects on his time with Somerset, the leaked e-mail dossier to Tim Nielsen during the Ashes which got him negative publicity, his views on county cricket and more. Simon Wilde of the Sunday Times caught up with him.
While he talks, England’s latest disaster in the one-day series unfolds on television. Is he surprised at how one-sided it has been? “A year ago, the England one-day team [which beat South Africa 4-0] was a good-looking side. It shows what happens if you take out Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen. I don’t know why but you chop and change a lot here, too.
May 25, 2009
Twenty20 deluge gets under way
Posted on 05/25/2009 in 2009 English domestic season
Today marks the beginning of the Twenty20 boom in England, starting with the domestic Twenty20 Cup and then the World Twenty20 in June. Next year the England board plans to add a second two-divisional Twenty competition to the domestic calendar - P20 - to provide their version of the IPL including extra international players. In the Times Christopher Martin-Jenkins writes that the board is in danger of falling heavily between two stools: giving the new tournament a spurious glamour by encouraging the counties to pay a lot of money to overseas players, but, having rejected the franchise path, leaving them to find their own sponsors.
A league played either under lights on Fridays, or in sunshine on Saturdays, through the first two thirds of the season would have been attractive and better for the players than two competitions played to the same format. Home games for the clubs finishing top of the four preliminary groups would have been virtually certain sell-outs and there would have been a case for leaving the existing climax of the competition as it is, with semi-finals and finals on the same ground on the same day.
That way we would at last have got round to three county competitions - Championship, 50 over and Twenty20 . Thereby professional cricket in Britain might at last have achieved the tremendous and long overdue bonus of establishing a county fixture list that is coherent, that everyone understands and that leaves room for the recovery, practice and preparation that the players and coaches crave. Once again, in reality, they are not going to get it.
April 14, 2009
County Championship on the backfoot
Posted on 04/14/2009 in 2009 English domestic season
|
|
|
County Cricket: Feeling the pressure?
© Getty Images
|
|
For how much longer can the County Championship stand against the forces of progress and fashion? An Ashes series, a West Indies tour, the ICC World Twenty20, an English Premier League looming next season...factor in the recession and the erosion of local newspaper sales, and the umbilical cord between cricket lovers and their nearest first-class county is in danger of fraying like never before. Robert Kitson in his blog on the Guardian website calls for a massive facelift.
It is a simple question, but the answer will define English cricket in future. Do you care more about the start of the new County Championship season tomorrow or the Indian Premier League, about to be refloated as a Bombay duck out of water in South Africa this weekend?
A scorer is as essential as an umpire to any proper game of cricket – perhaps, the longer you consider it, even more so. In his blog, Frank Keating in his blog on the same website pays his respect to various keepers of the log across the county circuit.
The Championship may be facing fierce competition this year, but for Angus Fraser, as he takes charge of Middlesex, it's still the life and soul of cricket. Writing in the Independent he explains why he 's back in the game.
Excitement, energy and hope are the emotions that fill county dressing rooms, because the new season heralds the start of another challenging but potentially life-changing chapter in their lives. No player can be sure how the coming season will unfold – it is hard to believe Essex's Graham Napier would have contemplated being awarded an IPL contract 12 months ago – and it is such uncertainty that brings about these emotions. Working in such a positive environment is proving to be extremely satisfying.
Back to the Guardian. Bob Willis joins Lawrence Booth, Andy Bull, David Hopps in assessing each side before the season begins.
Read Gary Keedy's column in the Manchester Evening News.
|
|
RSS Feed
