COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Azeem Rafiq at Select Comm | Arlott's legacy | Sussex's 'real fans' | Steve Smith to play county cricket? | The Grinch who stole County Cricket | Kookaburra ball in Champ

COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Azeem Rafiq at Select Comm | Arlott's legacy | Sussex's 'real fans' | Steve Smith to play county cricket? | The Grinch who stole County Cricket | Kookaburra ball in Champ

Rich Clarke
CricketPaper

Blimey, it’s cold.

Not just outside, in my house we are concerned about having the heating on too much so I am writing to you decked out in two jumpers and an Essex woolly hat.

I call this particular catwalk ensemble ‘Opening morning of the season at Chester le Street’.

Summer seems so far away.

The DCMS Select Committee on racism in cricket dominated the agenda this week. The Yorkshire Racism scandal needs resolution. It has been 63 weeks since the allegations were first made and there is still too much fighting over establishing or accepting the truth rather than seeking to solve the problem.

On the sunnier side, Rehan Ahmed is set to become England’s youngest ever player in the upcoming Test in Pakistan. See this tweet from former Leicestershire analyst Dan Weston. This is what counties do - nurture talent for themselves and, if possible, international recognition.

Yes, county cricket is inferior but, as with Will Smeed, it has been Ahmed’s cricketing college until now. It has put him where he is. The international scene will be his university and, after just four first-class games, this 18-year-old spinner seems good enough to graduate early.

Paul Nixon’s ability to spot and develop talent is England’s gain. It is an investment of time, money and emotion. Given international games provide 80 per cent of the sport’s revenue in this country, the return will be financial as well as one of sheer pride.

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The point is not lost on the county cricket public, see some of the Tweets below.

Every time Harry Brook hits a six, Yorkshire can take some of the credit. Jack Leach will always be grateful to Somerset for reaching 100 Test wickets. Ben Stokes will draw on experience gained in Durham 2s for some of the decisions he makes as captain.

It is richly ironic that as the English cricketing authorities have looked for solutions away from county cricket, its value becomes more and more obvious.

Good luck, Rehan Ahmed.

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Signings, contracts, appointments

Signings: Wagner (Yorkshire - Overseas, 1st 10 Champ games), Sowter (Middlesex to Durham - permanent)

Contracts: Davis (Leicestershire - 1yr), Bailey, Wells, Bell (all Lancashire - 1yr), Madsen (Derbyshire - 2yr), Walter (Essex - 2yr), Duckett (Nottinghamshire - 3yr)

Ryan Campbell named as Durham head coach on three-year deal (Cricinfo)

Paul Farbrace announced as head coach of Sussex (Sky Sport)

Warwickshire back to drawing board after first-choice director of cricket turns down job (The Cricketer)

Stuart Barnes moves to Warwickshire as bowling coach (Express and Star)

Luke Procter to captain Northamptonshire in County Championship (Cricketer)

England’s batter Gary Ballance set to play for Zimbabwe (The Statesman)

Steve Smith eyes county stint ahead of Ashes series (Telegraph)

PAUL NEWMAN: England's counties must slam the door in Steve Smith's face when he comes looking for Ashes preparation next year - and it appears Ben Stokes agrees… Australia would not rush to help our stars (Daily Mail)

Of course, Paul Newman is right. Smith should not be allowed to get a month’s preparation on English wickets. But as a county fan, I’d love to see him. Again, it comes back to a lack of agreed priorities.

What do we really want from English county cricket? Is it ALL about the international game or can counties have their own ambitions?

Racism in Cricket

Watch this week’s DCMS Select Committee proceedings

Azeem Rafiq accuses ECB of being in denial on racism in cricket (Guardian)

Azeem Rafiq: Sky Sports wrong to sack David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd (Times) ($)

EXCLUSIVE: Azeem Rafiq identifies ex-Yorkshire and Hampshire star Alex Morris as the cricketer who 'pinned him down' and 'forced red wine down his throat' at the age of 15 in shocking revelations (Daily Mail)

ECB chair: Racism review will prove 'challenging' for English cricket (Cricinfo)

Sky Sports should not have sacked David 'Bumble' Lloyd for remarks about Asian players, insists Azeem Rafiq, as he says he has 'been driven out of the country by abuse' since speaking out on racism (Daily Mail)

Jahid Ahmed: "I've received no support from anyone" (Cricketer)

Club Statement: DCMS Select Committee (Essex Cricket)

EXCLUSIVE: Allegations of historic racist abuse being investigated by the ECB against one of their own umpires with the figure - who has officiated on the international stage - alleged to have called a team-mate a 'f****** p***'

Recently, somebody walked into Azeem Rafiq’s garden in broad daylight with a toilet roll in his hand and took a shit. Before that, someone circled his house at night with what appeared to be a chain in his hand. These are just the latest lowlights in a cascade of abuse and intimidation against Rafiq. He and his family are leaving the country soon. He has previously spoken about struggling to ever get work again.

Whistle-blowers are always punished but this is something different and much more sinister.

As a result, I just cannot accept the continued cascade of comments after every article on the Yorkshire racism scandal. The vast majority are basically saying “look, he is a bad person too”. It is this sort of myopic, nasty race to the bottom that, in my opinion, has left this country in its current angry, crisis-ridden state.

His anti-semitic tweets are often commented on. And again, this is a point of difference. Rafiq addressed this at the DCMS Select Committee, apologising and thanking the Jewish community for their understanding and inclusion of him. Likewise, Rafiq criticised Sky’s decision to part ways with David Lloyd in the wake of allegations that he had used racist comments to the ex-Yorkshire spinner. According to Rafiq, Bumble phoned him up immediately, apologised and tried to move forward.

For me, it takes more than one comment or tweet to brand someone as “a racist” or define anyone’s entire character with a specific label. Life is more complicated than that, good people can do bad things and you must allow room for growth and change. The casualties of cancel culture are mounting up and, yet again, this seems to be about illustrating the worst in people, not allowing them to be their best. This should be applied to Rafiq, Michael Vaughan or even, heaven help me, Colin Graves.

As a 50-something, white male, I am probably not as sensitive as some to issues of racism and sexism. Mrs G often picks me up on the latter and having a teenage daughter also influences my perspective these days. However, after suffering a decade of scruffy, scornful Essex schooling in the 1980s and then hitting a glass ceiling in my career, I see class division riddled throughout our society. In cricket, it is staring us in the face yet, as ever, little is done.

So it was heartening to see the issues of race and social class linked so directly in the conversations with the DCMS Select committee and Duncan Stone’s recent book heavily referenced.

Here’s a stat from the proceeding that illustrates the problem:

At the end of my interview to become a member of the Essex CCC board, I asked if addressing issues of social-economic class at the club was going to be placed alongside race and gender in terms of importance. The response was laughably inadequate, offering the defence of the relative lack of public school-educated players in that season’s Royal London Cup side.

With that, I was out.

By that time, I was already sure I would not be chosen. My answers on the key issue of governance were insufficient. My problem was that, of the 70 applicants and 24 interviewed, three of the club’s favoured candidates were nominated and seconded by the same three people, including the interviewer who had given me that woeful answer on class. All the club-endorsed candidates were voted on to the board, with the exception of one, who was replaced by the daughter of the previous chair.

I have never met any of these new board members and the vote was democratic. They may well be much more capable than me and, as stated above, I felt I was strong on ideas, enthusiasm and Essex-focus, but presented myself poorly in a vital area. However, the result felt like an exercise in ‘more of the same’ and, while I was ‘allowed’ to be a member of the club, there was an inner circle to which I could never gain entry. I won’t bother to stand again.

Azeem Rafiq and Yorkshire CCC DCMS Hearings: Why truth must be sacrosanct over racism in cricket - Comment (Yorkshire Post)

Here’s the Yorkshire Post’s response to the mauling they received in the Select Committee.

For the true context, I would like to see the printed paper, not just the online version. But I half-expected the editor to come out all guns blazing on the front page. In the end, it was just a long missive from the Post’s cricket reporter, re-iterating his position.

One of his key points is that many of those accused have not had their ‘day in court’. I am sympathetic here but Dobell answered that in the Select Committee.

Another tired old trope is money and bias, the Yorkshire Post piece says “Dobell, who has pushed the story from the start on Rafiq’s behalf, and who is writing a book with him that comes out in May, with a film deal in the pipeline…”

I have just written a book and, though Dobell carries much more clout, I suspect we’d both be better off ghosting some sort of vacuous volume with a Love Island star.

I still call myself a sports journalist, though it is 20 years since that made up the majority of my salary. Though I weep at most of the barrel-scraping ‘churnalism’ trotted out these days, I still believe in the profession. In a world where Teflon Tom Harrison is prepared to spend £60,000 on PR consultants to ready himself for yet another grilling from the DCMS, we need to hold our leaders to account more than ever.

The powerful know this. That is why Rupert Murdoch has always used his media ownership to gain political influence and, shamefully, the Johnson government leveraged its control of the BBC’s license fee to neuter criticism from the corporation.

However good sports journalism can still create proper change. Though they will often go through ridicule and the risk of ruin to bring it about.

Here’s some recent examples:

Then there is John Arlott, above, who did much to assist Basil D’Oliveira’s England career and undermine the Apartheid movement. I’ll wager there were many upset by his stance at the time and certainly establishment feathers were ruffled. But Arlott left himself on the right side of history.

Despite a long, illustrious career in the service of English cricket, it is this stand that leads his legacy.

More strife for Essex as new chair Azeem Akhtar resigns after three days (Cricinfo)

Azeem Akhtar: Essex chairman 'steps aside' for review into social media content (BBC Sport)

Essex under major pressure to sack new chair amid review into liking anti-Semitic tweets (Telegraph) ($)

News, Views and Interviews

Sussex chief urges positivity from 'real fans' after Paul Farbrace's arrival as head coach (Telegraph) ($)

Paul Farbrace positive about Sussex rebuild: 'I've come here to win' (Cricinfo)

Horsham cricket chiefs disappointed Sussex won’t visit in 2023 (Sussex World)

When sporting leaders say “real fans”, it normally means those who agree with me. Understandably, the Sussex CEO is trumpeting the youngsters coming through and the financial stability of the club. Of course, playing with kids helps the bottom line but, even so, getting your bank balance back in the black is critical, yet the work often goes unseen and unheralded by supporters.

As a sports communications consultant, I’d be selling this story hard. But it is still a tale of “jam tomorrow” and that narrative lasts only so long. Clearly, there is something else fuelling the ongoing dissent at Sussex, though the appointment of Farbrace is inspired.

Hove should be a jewel in county cricket’s crown.

Ben Stokes can save red-ball cricket from ECB and their toadies (Telegraph) ($)

What a wonderful England team we have at the moment. Exciting, positive cricket from our international side can be much of the answer to the game’s problems in this country.

But what has struck me is the lack of logic around the genesis of this ‘new broom’.

The Strauss HP Review was instigated because England were blown away in Australia and, given this sort of body is not brought together after every defeat, it must have been especially bad and likely to get worse, not better.

Before all that, England appointed Rob Key as MD. I said at the time, he had very few real credentials for the role. His supporters only murmured about him being astute and a “good bloke”. Given the data-driven and cold logic of the Strauss Review, it seemed ridiculous to have the person at the top appointed merely for their “soft skills”.

But it has worked.

It shows the value of that which we cannot measure and the importance of getting the leadership calls right.

(And, of course, having Ben Stokes)

Michael Atherton sits down with ECB chairman Richard Thompson | ECB setup, county cricket, franchises (Sky Sport)

Counties asked ECB to accept private equity offer for The Hundred (The Cricketer)

Speaking of getting leadership calls right, here’s a sensible chat with ECB chair Richard Thompson.

I have found the narrative around selling the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named beyond naive. The sports executives involved are going to paint this as a total and utter triumph of their approach. They will let the bank balance (excluding the costs they have hidden and damage to the structure) tell the story and look for the next project.

They not going to hand over the cash to county cricket and then get behind pushing the Championship, the Blast and the 50-over cup.

No, buoyed by a carefully constructed story of success, they will try to do it all again. But bigger. They will try create something in a similar vein that will squeeze out or erode county cricket. This is why you-know-what is an existential threat to UK domestic cricket and the decision not to go for Richard Gould’s proposal of a T20 Premier League was critical.

Famously, the Peter Principle says employees are promoted to their level of incompetence. Well, marketers keep selling a product until they ruin it.

Exclusive: Kookaburra ball to be used in County Championship next summer (Telegraph) ($)

I get the reasoning but it is another experiment on the County Championship that erodes its credibility. The test period will be “two to four games” and it is a recommendation of the Strauss High-Performance Review. Had their full proposals passed then this could have been a third of the season.

Fantasy League teams will need to be changed when the Kookaburra comes in. I strongly suggest making your best batter the captain.

Shaun Udal exclusive: 'I have dark days but cricket has been fantastic to me' (Telegraph) ($)

President Mike Selvey announces his proposal for successor (Middlesex CCC)

For a couple of seasons in the mid-90s, I ghosted a weekly column with Shaun Udal. He is a very decent chap and cricketer, who has had a truly horrible past few years. When I moved to a paper in north London, I wanted to write a column with Mark Ramprakash but the Middlesex CEO pushed me to Owais Shah as “we need to make new heroes”. Unknown to me, Ramprakash was in the process of extracting himself from Lord’s and move to Surrey. It was a fraught affair given the flamboyant England batter had not long enjoyed a benefit year. Clearly, all has been forgiven if he ends up as Middlesex president.

Rain Stopped Play, Inspection at 3pm: Jonathan Wilson Interview (rainstoppedplayinspectionat3)

Ballance signs two-year-deal with Zimbabwe in bid to give career 'a fresh start' (Cricinfo)

Kent head coach Matt Walker regards 2022 season as a success but knows they must start next summer better (KentOnline)

What Edgbaston Stadium could look like in ten years time as major regeneration plans unveiled (Birmingham Live)

And finally…

Finally, some super Christmas blogging from Pete Aird.

A Cricket Christmas Carol - Part One | Part Two | Part Three (PeteAird.org)

How the Grinch Stole County Cricket (PeteAird.org)

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