Friends Provident Trophy Final
Over two days in a rather dismal London, Shane the German and his bunch of merry men were outplayed by a bunch of northerners travelling south for their first final as a county.
Apologies for the lack of preview and my thoughts on who would win, but I wasn’t actually sure which way I was going to go. I did say to a mate before the game started though that I fancied Durham as underdogs to spring a surprise, but I didn’t believe it enough to put any money on it though! I think the word I’m looking for here is “DOH”!
Herr Shane decided (I’m not quite sure why) to put Durham in to bat, and Mustard soon set about showing Hampshire the way to play positive cricket. And at the other end of the innings, Gibson managed to twat Tremlett into the stands a couple of times which was good to watch, unlike the horrific beamer the England “star” followed up with. Setting over 300 to win was a cracking performance from the Durham boys, and it was always going to be an uphill struggle for Hants to win.
The hill became as steep as Everest after the first over though, with Gibson taking two wickets and leaving Hants reeling on 3-2. KP was a bit of a disappointment, but it wasn’t the sort of situation he likes coming in on, despite the amount of practice England give him in one-dayers! At 158-5 when play was stopped it was a matter of waiting overnight for Durham to finish the job off. I’m not quite sure why they couldn’t just use the Duckworth/Lewis method to delay the inevitable, as when they eventually won it on Sunday it was in an almost empty Lords stadium. Not great for the TV, fans, players or anyone really.
Durham fully deserved the win, scoring over 300 after being put it to bat – and Hampshire will wonder how it got away from them quite so much. Maybe it was Warney’s pre match night routine of “pizza and a couple of beers”!
Marketing Cricket
Whilst sat at a the county ground in Taunton last weekend basking in the un-summer-like sun, I heard something from a kid in front of me that got me thinking. The boy was probably around 10, and was at a Pro 40 game with his dad. About an hour in, he said “I’m bored, I prefer twenty20″. He moaned that they had only bowled 13 overs in an hour (slow admittedly, but it was very hot), and that it wasn’t exciting enough. Bearing in mind that Trescothick and Langer were at the crease on a small Taunton ground and it seemed like the boy’s problem was rather in his head than what he was actually seeing. He liked twenty20, therefore anything longer than that must be boring. And lets face it, there is a bit of that kid in all of us.Twenty20 has been so hyped up by the marketing bods at the counties, on TV and in the magazines and newspapers that almost everything else is a let down in comparison. We think we want to see boundaries every over, balls hit out the ground and some blistering run rates. However, twenty20 is only one part of cricket and however successful it has been, I’m starting to think its almost getting too successful and is close to harming the traditional forms of the game.
Come a Saturday afternoon, those that want to play a game of club cricket generally want it to be a 45-50 over affair. There are longer forms of the game going higher up the ECB pyramid also, and these games are supposed to get people ready for county cricket and maybe beyond. If the counties were to start playing more twenty20 cricket though, the skills required to be successful as a county player will change, and from there upwards our test players would change in skills also. Test cricket is still the pinnacle and gets great attention in the media and crowds, and we need players who can play the longer form of the game (something our current batsmen are making look hard!)
We need to do something to ensure that the cricketers coming through get experience of all types of cricket, and if the youngest generation only want to play the short version of the game that isn’t going to happen. Something needs to be done to generate interest in the Pro40, County Championship and Friends Provident trophies. Pro40 out of these doesn’t do too bad at some counties (if the weather is right), but there is still more that could be done. There are far too many kids at these games who aren’t even watching the cricket which surely isn’t right. Running around the ground, playing cricket with a tennis ball and not being able to see the pitch whilst Tresco, Langer and Blackwell are batting, surely Pro40 can’t be that bad?
One thing I know cricket misses out on is the pre-match news and views that other sports give. If we take football for an example, before any match we will have been on the club website, seen who might be playing, who is injured and a couple of interviews with managers and players. Sky Sports News is currently full of transfer rumours and injury news and the football season hasn’t even started yet! You try getting some information about the latest team news etc from a county club and it just won’t happen. If you offer this kind of service and news it may then get picked up by the TV and newswires which will immediately get you some possible additional coverage.
The ECB do offer some cricket clubs tickets for participating in schemes such as Focus Clubs, Cricket Force etc, but they are not greatly advertised and as such many people wouldn’t know how beneficial it is to participate. You cannot just give out some free tickets either though and expect everything to be all right. It needs a considered, long term plan to get people through the turnstiles at grounds around the country, something which I don’t see any evidence of currently.
It is an issue that needs to be addressed or forever you will get kids not going to any game that is “boring” or not Twenty20. What did his dad say to the boy mentioned in this post “Give it a chance”. I imagine he went home that night though and wondered whether it was worth returning until an “interesting” Twenty20 game comes around again. Clubs cannot build a season around getting crowds in for two weeks of the season, and something will have to be done to ensure all forms of cricket are marketed well throughout the country.
Kent - Twenty20 Champs!
I hope you all took my advice and followed my lead by backing Kent to win the twenty 20 final! Despite looking like it was falling away and needing 13 off the final over they managed to win with a couple of balls spare!
They had some key performances from the players I spoke about in my last post, along with a man of the match performance from quickie Ryan Mclaren who ripped out the heart of the Gloucs middle order with a stunning hat-trick.
Just remember the next time I give you a hot tip and make sure you act on it!
Twenty20 Finals Preview
This Saturday sees the conclusion of the 2007 twenty20 competition with the semi’s and final being played at Edgbaston. Its not been the most classic competition this season with the weather meaning quite a few games weren’t played, and some almost farcical 5 over games being played as well.
Still though, four teams have got through to the finals, and they are (in no particular order) Lancashire, Kent, Gloucestershire and Sussex. Here’s a brief preview of the semi’s and my tip to win!
First Semi Final - Lancashire Lightning v Gloucestershire Gladiators
Lancashire are currently favourites to win the competition, and when you see some of their players you see why the bookies have given them that status. They have James Anderson back in, and Freddie should be playing (although maybe just as a batsman), along with players such as Brad Hodge, Mal Loye and Stuart Law and the wizard Murali. I’m not convinced though, as they have often flattered to deceive and I’m unconvinced about the inclusion of Freddie. There is no doubt that they have the talent, but whether it all comes together is a big question.
Gloucestershire are the big outsiders at the moment, and they lack the household names in the squad which get the media excited. They do have the New Zealand pair of Craig Spearman and Hamish Marshall with the bat, and John Lewis with the ball, but take them away and there isn’t much left. They probably like being the underdogs though as they go in with no pressure and can just go out there and give it a biff!
First Semi Prediction - Lancashire Win
Second Semi Final - Kent Spitfires v Sussex Sharks
This should be an intriguing game, not least for the fact that Kent have just signed the Sri Lankan pace bowler Malinga for three weeks, starting on Saturday. He could be a real star in this game, as he comes in for Andrew Hall who has to go back to South Africa. Denly has been in real form with the bat recently for Kent, and if you add in Key, van Jaarsveld, and Geraint Jones, they look like a decent unit. I saw them get a draw in a match against Hampshire this year and Key showed then a bit of thought in captaincy when it comes to this game, so I think they could do well.
Sussex have Matt Prior back in behind the stumps for this game, and he will also open up the batting as well. Murray Goodwin and Chris Adams will probably provide the bulk of the runs, but if Rana Naved gets in expect to see some boundaries to be hit! They also have the wicket machine that is Mushtaq Ahmed, who as always has been taking wickets for fun again this year. With him and Rana Naved they’ve got a some real experience which may see them through.
The second semi is much tougher to call than the first, but:
Second Semi Prediction - Kent Win
FinalÂ
Now I may have got those two predictions horribly wrong (I probably have!), but the final is I hope good viewing. I’ll have to sky+ it though as i’ll be out playing cricket (or in the pub!). Who will win it? Its difficult to say without knowing the teams in the final but where is the fun in sitting on the fence. I’m going to stick my neck out here and say Kent to win. I think the signing of Malinga might be the boost that the rest of the players need to up their game, and I think they can do it. Right, i’m off to the bookies!
10-47
The title of this post isn’t the time - but the amazing figures Ottis Gibson managed to get today playing for Durham against Hampshire!
This hasn’t been done for 13 or so years in the county championship, and for it to come from a bowler who is 38 and has been around for quite a few years it is quite a feat! Gibson has had a season full of wickets, but I imagine this will be the peak of his season.
Twenty20 Begins!
It must be the middle of summer - no, not the rain outside your window, its the return of Twenty20 cricket to England!
I really like the way they schedule this competition, creating a few weeks where nothing is played but twenty20 cricket. It helps get a bit of hype in the media, and it means there is plenty of cricket on the tele to watch after work! I havn’t actually been to a live Twenty20 game before (the perils of living in a ‘minor’ county), but this year should be different - and I reckon it’ll be a laugh!
There are plenty of changes happening within most of the counties, with overseas players being called back by their countries and new players coming in. The most intriguing of these is Essex’s signing of Adam Hollioake - the one day specialist who retired a couple of years ago. Lancashire have brought in Jayasuriya who could be explosive, and Somerset didn’t need to bring anyone in as they already had some massive players in Langer, Tresco and Cameron White. Somerset are the favourites to win because of these players, but you can’t count out a ‘lesser’ team such as the holders Leicestershire were considered last year. The fixtures can be seen on the ECB site, and as the competition goes on I’ll write a few of my thoughts!
