Jun 9

Jun 9 COUNTY CRICKET BLOG: Blast catches fire at last | Sky's schedule, fights and food problems | Why fan engagement is the key | Yorkshire payouts

Sports teams spend the vast majority of their time, money and focus trying to win matches. However, in reality, it is not success that determines the team a fan supports. Family, friends, locality or that first moment are much more influential.

This is true in football, let alone county cricket where the emotional ties are not so caught up in the macho maelstrom of British sporting culture.

At first, you might be attracted by some sort of success or star player but, when it inevitably wanes, you do not switch horses. After all, Manchester United have not lost their legion of fans in the past five years. Therefore it is not the need for constant victory that sustains the attraction, albeit it could well wain if your team never reach their previous heights.

In building support, little moments mean a lot. Like the ones in the tweets below.

Chris Simpson @GoingLongC

Thanks to @KentCricket @sambillings all the team for making my little boys day with a great win and signing his hat afterwards. pic.twitter.com/82Aa19cbhU
— Chris Simpson (@GoingLongC) June 5, 2022

For the child taken to their first cricket game in their primary school years, the result does not really matter and the taste of the ice creams will be long gone by the time they leave the ground.

But ‘a moment’ with the players? That can stay in the memory for a lifetime. It is 40 years ago, but I vividly remember speaking to Stuart Turner about Essex when he picked up his daughter from my school and getting Derek Underwood’s autograph on the beach at Broadstairs.

As these tweets suggest, county cricket is doing its bit here. But it is playing catch-up and it must do more. Commit to creating a fanbase one-by-one, moment-by-moment. The Blast and the RL50 offer opportunities in different ways. I have talked before about measuring the success of a game but how many kids play on the pitch in the break. It is about actively cultivating these ‘moments’, sporting serendipity if you like. It is something I learned from my time in US sport.

As ever, the tournament-that-shall-not-be-named will soak up the attention and the opportunity for the county game to grow. And, one of the problems is that the sport has been so mismanaged that a generation of fans do not know the difference between what is historic, cultured and real and what is parasitic and plastic.

Still, there is a sliver of hope if the players and the counties work hard to engage.

I bet Chris Simpson’s son (see above) will keep that hat for a while. And, as Sam Billings took the time to tweet back, the appreciation was mutual.

Good to see.

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T20 Blast

While I was always going to agree with Andy Nash and the Cricket Badger when they discussed the-tournament-that-shall-not-be-named, this podcast was an in-depth and nuanced account, see below. The former was chair of Somerset when you-know-what was in its gestation period. Yes, he resigned because of it and clearly feels it is likely to be a destructive force. But Nash was in the room when event was being created (actually make that ‘made up on the hoof then forced through’) which is more than most of us can say.

It is a depressing chat in many ways. If, as Nash and Eoin Morgan suggest, there can be only one short-form competition, then I fear for the Blast and, as the Badger says, the narrative has changed from 'can you-know-what survive?’ to ‘can the counties and their competitions survive?’ Just look at the YouTube video at the end of this section.

And if the Blast disappears then, in all probability, many of the counties will follow soon afterwards.

In other news, Teflon Tom Harrison finally left the ECB this week. He did an exit interview. Read it if you want, but I suggest you first put away all smashable items within easy reach. (Here’s another takedown from Being Outside Cricket.)

He'll have spent his obscene bonus and moved on to his next gig by the time the destruction he created comes to pass.

Sadly, I am starting to think that is almost inevitable.

What’s that? School tomorrow? Ok won’t be long! ⁦@VitalityBlast⁩ ⁦@YorkshireCCC⁩ pic.twitter.com/CWn34xYvYJ
— Kevin Howells (@KevinHowells16) June 6, 2022

In a previous podcast last week (see above) the Cricket Badger discussed the Blast and its lack of marketing push. It feels it has been struggling (although that epic Roses game may help it catch fire) and the lack of promotion from the ECB and Sky, their long-term broadcast partner, has been apparent. At first, they were not showing the Blast because of the IPL and then it was the Tests. Now they are just not showing it. OK, they are, but their scheduling has not allowed the tournament to gain momentum. The broadcaster tends to get a free pass because, in the past, they have covered the international game superbly and stood by the county version. That is undoubtedly true but the latter part might be waning. Also, in this podcast, The Badger ponders a question that has occurred to me - is the Telegraph... how should we say this... a bit too onside with the ECB. Certainly they seem to have given them a relatively easy ride in recent times.

The stars of the week in the Blast were Leicestershire who sold out Grace Road for the game with Lancashire on Tuesday following their decision to introduce £10 tickets for the rest of the competition.

We all know that the-tournament-that-shall-not-be-named will be compared to the Blast at the end of the campaign. Many observers feel the ECB are abusing their role as regulator and commercialiser by deliberately marginalising the Blast. But the Foxes, perhaps the smallest first-class county, filled their ground despite having a fraction of the marketing budget, little help from Sky (see above) and poor weather for a midweek fixture that came a couple of days after a four-day bank holiday. As I mentioned last week, price is critical. Leicestershire took a unilateral decision to reduce their tickets to the same level of you-know-what. But its prices have been kept artificially low by eating in to the ECB's reserves, which were built up by legacy fans, predominately in the international game but surely crossing over greatly with county membership.

Food taken from fans and a fight at Worcestershire Rapids game (Worcestershire News)

Yorkshire County Cricket Club investigating reports of drunken disorder from group of fans (ITV)

Cricket is not good at reading the room. As discussed, Blast ticket prices now appear high, in comparison to you-know-what and there is a cost-of-living crisis. So, if you are going to turn up, you might want to bring some of your own food and drink. This has always been an issue. I remember wrapping beer cans in silver foil on the morning of an England game so any inquisitive (and, I must have presumed, myopic) steward might think they were sandwiches should they feel the need to inspect my cool box. Worcestershire got it badly wrong last week. In fairness, they acted quickly and communicated a change in policy.

Regarding the drunkeness and the fighting. That has always happened, although the clip from Yorkshire was extreme. The tournament-that-shall-not-be-named had its issues last season and I suspect it will again. It is a particular concern given its stated purpose to attract families. Though, as Andy Nash said on the Cricket Badger podcast, it’s goals seemed to have completely changed since its inception.

However, I have sensed a little extra rowdiness in sporting crowds since we emerged from lockdown. All those pitch invasions at the end of the football season were worrying and, at times, nasty. There has been a build-up in tension and mental anxiety after the unprecedented times we have gone through. Mental health services are swamped, particularly those serving the younger generations, while working from home means some of us really need that extra release from our pastimes. Then there are the anxieties of what lies ahead. I am no psychologist but I do have a Masters degree in the Sociology of Sport, during which I studied Norbert Elias’ Quest for Excitement, which examined the role of sport in modern society. In no other environment can adults shout, scream and temporarily ‘lose it’ without bringing shame upon themselves. It is one of sport’s important social functions and it could become critical in the years ahead. But there could be disorder.

Post-match cricket sessions to return for weekend Blast fixtures ((Worcestershire CCC)

This is much more like it from Worcestershire.

Sprinkling of stardust provides Surrey with Blast-off in 20th season quest (Cricinfo)

How a Parisian breakfast fuelled Jimmy Neesham's dream Northamptonshire debut (Cricinfo)

Why Carlos Brathwaite and Samit Patel retired out tactically in the same game (Cricinfo)

Yeah, I get this tactic and I really don’t like it.

News, Views and Interviews

Player news: Alsop (Sussex - permanent), Duffy (Kent), Petersen (Durham - departure)

Toxic relationship with money an elephant in the long room at Lord’s (Guardian)

This piece is right. You might even say 'on the money'. But anyone who has worked for an elite sporting body will know they are utterly obsessed with revenue-raising. It’s all business, baby. And, let’s face it, media organisations ‘sell news’ for commercial gain too. Only the BBC is different, which is why that batty old Auntie needs to be preserved.

Those in commercial or partnerships ultimately run the club. Even in the ATM that is Premier League football, the era of fiefdoms such as those under Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger are over. The ownership groups really rule the roost and they aim to maximise income despite any protestation to the contrary. In my experience, those interested in the deeper, more meaningful aspects of sport are at best, tolerated, if not marginalised and ignored. It seems any level of acquiescence occurs for fear of bad PR, not because it is the right thing to do.

Certainly, arguing against 'the suits' did my career running content, digital and communications for elite sports teams no good whatsoever. Which is I am looking for a job.

UMPIRES' COLUMN: Scorer is a crucial role (Bolton News)

Yorkshire face more financial strife as Andrew Gale wins employment tribunal after sacking (Cricinfo)

This could be a huge financial blow to Yorkshire. It is getting super-murky and, frankly, I do not feel I know enough to have a firm opinion. While I have always backed Lord Patel’s reforms, due process needs to be followed. It was an impossible situation over the winter with sponsors bailing out and supposedly threatening the very future of the most historic county. Then again, for all I know, this is doing precisely the same thing.

George Dobell’s piece for the Cricketer suggests Yorkshire will fight this decision.

My big fear is that cracks appear in the foundations of the reform campaign and that forces of the establishment, some of whom felt there has never been a problem to resolve, take over once more.

Moeen Ali awarded OBE for services to cricket and admits 'door is open' for Test return (Cricinfo)

Hugh Morris awarded MBE (Glamorgan)

In Praise of Mickey Arthur (Peakfan)

I am interested in 99.94 which aims to “change cricket commentary”. But I do not really know how it is going to work. Still, click and sign-up to be involved in the beta phase.