World Class Ineptitude

I spent a large part of the wee small hours this morning watching ineptitude in action as England fell apart in their first innings in Auckland in the First Test against New Zealand. Just for the record, England regard themselves as a vastly superior cricketing nation and through the munificence of Sky and the way the ICC cake is carved up these days, they are infinitely better funded……

You have to ask yourself whether English cricketers are that bothered to play Test cricket or that bothered at how they play Test cricket. Time there was, not so very long ago, when cricketers earned the square root of bugger all, that it was a real honour to play for England and regarded as such. Not so long ago, no one regarded cricket as a sport in which you could earn “life changing” or “made for life money” even of you were the England Captain.

With the advent of central contracts, that all changed. But now the world has moved on yet again as vast riches can be earned travelling the world playing T20. Players who will or may never turn out for England can now eclipse the earnings of England players. Little wonder then that certain people have abandoned the red ball form of the game. Others will follow and it is not hard to see why. Even Joe Rood threw his cap into the IPL ring and seemed distinctively peeved when no one took up his services. He may be the top dog of English Cricket and a big earner out of it, but, now a man of mortgage and family, it is not hard to understand why even he might cast envious glances at those who earn so much with far less graft.

Only Overton showed any nous in standing out of his crease and negating the swing of Southee and Boult. The batting was an embarrassment. But does it matter? Does it matter if you are embedded in the “England set up” in other forms of the game? Does it matter given that the chances of some players getting dropped is remote to say the least. Just ask yourself what Cook has contributed in the last six months apart from a double century when it did not matter. And as for Moeen Ali, well what can you say? Lamentable does not get close. He is not alone. Of course one of the troubles these days is that those that run the England set up think they have the best players and all too often will trot out the mantra, “well who else is there”? Well they would wouldn’t they!

The answer actually is players with potential who are hungrier and who cannot do any worse than the current incumbents. I always thought that Root would turn out to be a real leader, but I am beginning to wonder. By the end of this summer, we may have a clearer picture and by then, any ambition he harbours of a return to captain an Ashes side in Australia may have disappeared. And oh yes, Trevor Bayliss said he had no explanation for his players’ performance. Might we have yet another Australian brought into one of our national sports on a wave of fanfares and optimism who turns out to be all smoke and mirrors? It’s about time he got a grip on things and justified his salary.

SW

Crossing the Ethical Line

The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s report into ‘Combating Doping in Sport’ has determined that the Team Sky cycling team, Sir Dave Brailsford and Sir Bradley Wiggins crossed the ethical line in their pursuit of glory. The Committee believed that drugs were being used by Team Sky, within the WADA rules, to enhance the performance of riders, and not just to treat medical need. So that crossed the ethical line.

I have some reservations about these Committees which operate a bit like the Star Chamber with hapless individuals dragged before them and harangued by MPs displaying varying degrees of outrage for the benefit of the cameras to show their constituents that they are actually doing something approximating to useful. Those brought before them have little chance to defend themselves, put their case or receive anything like a fair hearing. At the end of it, these Committees can say what they like in a Report which will be broadcast far and wide. I cannot help feeling, given the shenanigans that MPs are regularly pulled up for, that there is a huge element of the pot calling the kettle black when MPs lecture us lesser mortals on ethical conduct.

So what are we taking about? What does ethical mean? Well, ethics are defined in the OED as moral principles governing or influencing conduct. So ethical means relating to moral principles. So the Committee decided that what was being done was legal but immoral. If indeed Bradley Wiggins did not have a condition that required medical treatment, yet took advantage of the rules simply to enhance his performance, you can see their point.

So what has this got to do with cricket? Cricket is said to be played not only in accordance with its Laws but within the “Spirit of Cricket”. The blazered chaps at the MCC set great store by that. Well, tell that to Carew CC (pictured below) which won its League in Pembrokeshire by declaring on 18-1, so limiting Cresselly CC to 20 points, preventing them from gaining any bonus points and so winning the League by a point. A pretty good example of crossing the ethical boundary, I would have said.

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The Laws of Cricket, particularly in their latest 2017 incarnation, contain lots of laws aimed at preventing sharp and unfair practice. So you can argue that cricket has grasped a nettle that other sports have not by outlawing unethical activity. But the real problem in cricket lies more with enforcement of its laws. Take sledging which is endemic throughout the game and must be audible to umpires, because spectators can hear it. It is simply allowed to go on and on and nothing is done until matters reach such an appalling level that even players’ wives are denigrated – vide the current Test between Australia and South Africa. Historically, umpires have always prided themselves on being able to run a game with a quite word and a raised eyebrow. Now they are expected to dish out warnings, have the power to exclude players and can award penalty runs. It will be interesting to see how much of this is actually put into practice.

But for me, the ethical line has been crossed in cricket more in the manner in which the game is administered. In recent years, England, Australia and India have carved up the world cricket pie for their financial benefit at the expense of overall quality and equality in such a way as to create a lasting disparity in Test Cricket. Access to the World Cup has been limited. Now on the domestic scene, the ECB seems determined, no by your leave, to create a state of haves and have nots in County Cricket by paying Counties that have international grounds with no international cricket phenomenal sums. Having outflanked the County Game with its coming T20 completion, the powers that be seem determined to emasculate and marginalise the County game. How it will all play out, only time will tell.

SW

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Times They Are A Changing!

The young man pictured above is 22 year old Jofra Chioke Archer and he is having the time of his life, recently starring at the Big Bash, then signing up for the Rajasthan Royals in the 2018 IPL for the princely sum of £800,000. Yet to qualify for England, he has all the attributes to become a T20 superstar. Form and fitness permitting, that is what he will be. The chances are that he may never play Test cricket even if he is allowed to quality sooner than originally envisaged.

A few years ago, the notion that a young cricketer in his early 20s could command such riches was the stuff of fantasy and from an England perspective, Archer is Not alone. Tymal Mills and and Ben Stokes have received greater sums and there is a host of other players who have probably trebled or quadrupled what they receive on the county circuit by playing T20 around the world.

Now, two quality players have eschewed red ball cricket to play only white ball cricket for their counties. With the riches on offer in the shortest form of the game, others certainly will follow. No longer is Test Cricket or playing for England the pinnacle of aspiration.

It is hard to believe that T20 was invented in England just under 15 years ago. Compared with the Big Bash and the IPL and indeed a few of the other T20 competitions around the world, the current English version is a poor relation. The weather and some of the venues do not help which is why the ECB is looking to roll out its all new regionalised jazzed up version.

All this is anathema to the diehards who, in rose tinted spectacles, hark back to a time of uncovered wickets, gentlemen and players, Peter May, Ted Dexter, out grounds, large crowds, festivals and, more contemporarily to Botham’s Ashes, packed houses at the one day final at Lords and everything right with the world.

But the truth is that every so often cricket needs a kick up the backside or a shot in the arm. Kerry Packer and his trusty lieutenant, Tony Greig, did just that in the 1970s and the result was a vast improvement in the one day game and in what players could earn. We forget that long before the County Cricket imposed its vicelike stranglehold over the game of cricket, cricket was a game of teams funded by rich men played by hired gun players paid substantial sums and upon which even greater sums were wagered. T20  is the modern reincarnation of those times and if nothing else, it might make the administrators think creatively how the longer forms of the game can be more attractively presented. A good start would be to stop using the four day game as bookends to the season but it may be too late for that!