There was a decent, albeit rain-affected, one-day international at Durham last Friday. England were not without blemish, but again they offered sufficient reasons for their ever-loftier standing in international one-day cricket. Pakistan at last displayed some gumption.
Only the most cynical of observers doubts the veracity of the contests at the moment: only the most foolish of participants would ever think of providing such doubt right now. So let us just enjoy the contests. Sport is still a triviality, a pleasurable counterpoint to life's harsh realities. Nothing more.
So it was a joy to watch Steve Davies play such a convincing hand as England's wicketkeeper/batsman. Amid the brouhaha about Kevin Pietersen's omission it was easily overlooked that Davies' inclusion ahead of Craig Kieswetter was much the more significant. Pietersen will return swiftly; Kieswetter won't for some time. It was a big call.
Care should be taken about leaping to conclusions over Davies' slick and controlled 87 at Durham (Eoin Morgan made a Test century at Trent Bridge but will probably not start the Ashes, and I still have sneaking suspicion that Matt Prior could still oust Davies), but it was easy to envisage England's World Cup starting eleven on Friday. Pietersen for an unfortunate Jonathan Trott and away you go.
Roles have become ingrained and are always performed with an energy that opponents find difficult to match. Plans are well-hatched, even if the constant use of the short ball may not be so effective in the subcontinent. And Ravi Bopara at No 6 instead of Luke Wright now lends a real reassurance, as well as some seriously damaging late-innings, leg-side hitting. That the likes of Ian Bell and Ryan Sidebottom also wait in the wings displays a sign of considerable depth. And if England ever wish to change tack and desire a wicketkeeper/batsman down the order they possess two precociously gifted youngsters in Somerset's Jos Buttler and Yorkshire's Jonathan Bairstow. Both will play for England, mark my words. And they will not necessarily have to wear the gloves. They are both that good as batsmen alone.
The crowd at Durham was encouragingly close to capacity. Headingley will be similarly stocked today. Of the remaining venues in this five-match ODI series Lord's is the biggest worry, with just 16,000 tickets sold so far. But to point to doomsday scenarios is overly hasty. For the corresponding one-day series against Pakistan in 2006, the five venues were filled to 82 per cent of capacity. Currently this series is panning out at 75 per cent, with obvious potential for more. It is not bad for a recession.
There are problems, of course, though. Without the latest scandals, it has been a poor summer, with crazy scheduling and unappetising opposition. Ticket prices desperately require re-examining.
Which brings us neatly to last Tuesday's T20 international at Cardiff. It was a calamity. A £55 calamity, if you were paying full whack. I have never attended a more dispiriting international sporting occasion. A crowd of little more than 5,000, an embarrassingly one-sided contest, and all on a chilly, damp autumnal evening.
Lessons must be learnt. Firstly two T20s in the same city in the space of three days is madness. Especially when it is Sunday to Tuesday rather than the more attractive Friday to Sunday, especially during Ramadan when the opponents are Pakistan and especially in a rugby-mad nation when the oval-ball season has just begun. Hilariously there were suggestions that England's football international against Switzerland on the same evening might have affected numbers, but finding anyone in Wales actually aware of that event might have been rather time-consuming. The match-fixing farrago played its part, of course, but it was only a minor part. Such a paltry attendance was flagged and feared long before that appeared. Glamorgan made a huge mistake in bidding for both games.
Secondly floodlit cricket in September should be banned. The last two ODIs at Lord's and Southampton will certainly be chilly affairs. I have long questioned the wisdom of the England & Wales Cricket Board's huge investments in floodlights for counties. Such cricket is a novelty that has long worn off. It does not work for much of the summer, either, when it is too light, too dewy or just too cold.
So it beggars belief that next Saturday's Clydesdale Bank40 final at Lord's is to start at 3pm and conclude under lights. The tin pot competition just got pottier. ECB officials insist it is not at the behest of television, and even suggest that the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur is a factor in the timing. This makes no sense. Prepare then, I'm afraid, for the lowest ever crowd for a domestic final.
There is a vital meeting on Sept 23 about the future structure of the domestic game. I believe it may be the first time that all the chairmen, chief executives and directors of cricket from each county will be present in the same room. Let's just hope the cricketing men can be heard, because the balance between cricketing and commercial needs has to be redressed urgently. t is a situation running out of control.
Cricket is right to worry about the cancer that is corruption, but, in my view, greedy, egotistical administrators are just as great a threat to its future.
Only the most cynical of observers doubts the veracity of the contests at the moment: only the most foolish of participants would ever think of providing such doubt right now. So let us just enjoy the contests. Sport is still a triviality, a pleasurable counterpoint to life's harsh realities. Nothing more.
So it was a joy to watch Steve Davies play such a convincing hand as England's wicketkeeper/batsman. Amid the brouhaha about Kevin Pietersen's omission it was easily overlooked that Davies' inclusion ahead of Craig Kieswetter was much the more significant. Pietersen will return swiftly; Kieswetter won't for some time. It was a big call.
Care should be taken about leaping to conclusions over Davies' slick and controlled 87 at Durham (Eoin Morgan made a Test century at Trent Bridge but will probably not start the Ashes, and I still have sneaking suspicion that Matt Prior could still oust Davies), but it was easy to envisage England's World Cup starting eleven on Friday. Pietersen for an unfortunate Jonathan Trott and away you go.
Roles have become ingrained and are always performed with an energy that opponents find difficult to match. Plans are well-hatched, even if the constant use of the short ball may not be so effective in the subcontinent. And Ravi Bopara at No 6 instead of Luke Wright now lends a real reassurance, as well as some seriously damaging late-innings, leg-side hitting. That the likes of Ian Bell and Ryan Sidebottom also wait in the wings displays a sign of considerable depth. And if England ever wish to change tack and desire a wicketkeeper/batsman down the order they possess two precociously gifted youngsters in Somerset's Jos Buttler and Yorkshire's Jonathan Bairstow. Both will play for England, mark my words. And they will not necessarily have to wear the gloves. They are both that good as batsmen alone.
The crowd at Durham was encouragingly close to capacity. Headingley will be similarly stocked today. Of the remaining venues in this five-match ODI series Lord's is the biggest worry, with just 16,000 tickets sold so far. But to point to doomsday scenarios is overly hasty. For the corresponding one-day series against Pakistan in 2006, the five venues were filled to 82 per cent of capacity. Currently this series is panning out at 75 per cent, with obvious potential for more. It is not bad for a recession.
There are problems, of course, though. Without the latest scandals, it has been a poor summer, with crazy scheduling and unappetising opposition. Ticket prices desperately require re-examining.
Which brings us neatly to last Tuesday's T20 international at Cardiff. It was a calamity. A £55 calamity, if you were paying full whack. I have never attended a more dispiriting international sporting occasion. A crowd of little more than 5,000, an embarrassingly one-sided contest, and all on a chilly, damp autumnal evening.
Lessons must be learnt. Firstly two T20s in the same city in the space of three days is madness. Especially when it is Sunday to Tuesday rather than the more attractive Friday to Sunday, especially during Ramadan when the opponents are Pakistan and especially in a rugby-mad nation when the oval-ball season has just begun. Hilariously there were suggestions that England's football international against Switzerland on the same evening might have affected numbers, but finding anyone in Wales actually aware of that event might have been rather time-consuming. The match-fixing farrago played its part, of course, but it was only a minor part. Such a paltry attendance was flagged and feared long before that appeared. Glamorgan made a huge mistake in bidding for both games.
Secondly floodlit cricket in September should be banned. The last two ODIs at Lord's and Southampton will certainly be chilly affairs. I have long questioned the wisdom of the England & Wales Cricket Board's huge investments in floodlights for counties. Such cricket is a novelty that has long worn off. It does not work for much of the summer, either, when it is too light, too dewy or just too cold.
So it beggars belief that next Saturday's Clydesdale Bank40 final at Lord's is to start at 3pm and conclude under lights. The tin pot competition just got pottier. ECB officials insist it is not at the behest of television, and even suggest that the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur is a factor in the timing. This makes no sense. Prepare then, I'm afraid, for the lowest ever crowd for a domestic final.
There is a vital meeting on Sept 23 about the future structure of the domestic game. I believe it may be the first time that all the chairmen, chief executives and directors of cricket from each county will be present in the same room. Let's just hope the cricketing men can be heard, because the balance between cricketing and commercial needs has to be redressed urgently. t is a situation running out of control.
Cricket is right to worry about the cancer that is corruption, but, in my view, greedy, egotistical administrators are just as great a threat to its future.
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