Hampshire Cricket History

Interesting reading from the 1975 Wisden:

In 1974, fines for poor over rates were imposed on a number of counties. In 1973, four counties had achieved an overall average of 19.5 overs per hour, in 1974 only Middlesex (19.8) did so, nonetheless, in that latter year only four of the 17 counties failed to reach the required average of 18.5 overs per hour – the equivalent in a six-and-a-half-hour day of 120 overs.

Today teams notionally play for six hours but it’s nearly always six-and-a-half and they bowl just 96 overs – or 384 in the match, minus overs off for change of innings

If they still bowled 120 per day in 2015/2016, it would take us to a bit before lunch on day four to get to 384.

Incidentally the Middlesex average gives about 128 overs per day which would be more in three days then than they get now in four!

But unfortunately we only have Lord’s and I doubt they will stop him

There is a piece in the Times today headlined “BBC in talks over screening English cricket from 2019” although it seems it’s only a new T20 (couldn’t be a city franchise I suppose?)

However the article continues with “the more immediate domestic front”.

Before the start of the 2016 season “counties will know without a shadow of a doubt” about the changes for 2017 which will almost certainly be: Two blocks (50 & 20) of ‘white ball’ cricket and a reduction in the Championship with eight teams in Div One (next year, two down, one up) and ten in Div Two

It then says “Graves opted not to force through issues until ‘everyone is in a comfortable place’. But he is determined that changes must appeal beyond county members”.

The article adds that there are less than 80,000 county members, while nine million people are interested in cricket

So there we have it, one more season of the Championship in what is already a less than perfect form, and then a dwindling Championship that Graves and his mates (including Hampshire) will gradually dismantle, selling cricket in the way that grocers know how.

You can just make out the square at Hawkley CC which I passed today on a ‘William Cobbett’ Rural Ride (Walk) around mid-east Hampshire. Like the previous photo below it seems light years from Sky Sports, IPL, DOAG etc

I’ve been to the Courtauld Gallery in London today, visiting a new exhibition of paintings by Peter Lanyon who was from St Ives. The bookshop had an interesting collection of related books (etc) including one about the Bloomsbury sisters Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell as children in the Cornish town. On the front cover is a rather charming photo of the two sisters playing cricket

Today’s BBC site:

Gloucestershire may rebrand themselves as Bristol for the T20 Blast.

In an end-of-season questionnaire, supporters are being asked if the change would make them more likely – or less likely – to attend matches … “We just wanted to put it out there to get people talking about it. This issue comes up again and again,” club chief executive Will Brown said.

“We want people’s suggestions and opinions,” Brown told BBC Radio Gloucestershire. “I’m not sure how it would change Gloucestershire – but other counties have done it”.

If I remember rightly from my schools days the word counties is plural, i.e. meaning more than one

So that would be Warwickshire and ???

I hope they go bankrupt

Just spotted this from three days ago from the Daily Telegraph

Colin Graves is quoted as seeking to stop county players being “exhausted” and enhancing county cricket TV income while preparing to win the World Cup here in 2019. And it’s all been stimulated by England’s early exit from the Rugby World Cup.

Of course! Should’ve realised

I wonder what excuse he will find next? Perhaps Pompey’s failure to crack their home form, ‘Saints’ early exit from Europe, Eric Clapton’s inability to play anything new since 1976, the end of the Harry Potter series? He said all this while watching the current Test Match, but one thing is for sure – the answer to England’s poor batting this morning is to for the next generation of Test batsmen to play fewer Championship innings. That’ll solve it.

Actually I know. He’ll propose that all proper Rugby-playing nations can field 15 players in cricket Tests

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/11946134/Englands-Rugby-World-Cup-humiliation-convinces-ECB-chairman-of-the-need-to-alter-structure-of-domestic-cricket.html

I’ve just worked this out for a project I’m doing and thought you might be interested

In January 2000, the first Test Match of the new decade and new century* started at Newlands, Cape Town, between South Africa and England and the home side won by an innings. It is listed in the second volume of the Wisden Book of Test Cricket as match number 1477 (and for England number 765). By late August 2009, the final entry in volume three was Sri Lanka v New Zealand in Colombo, match number 1932, although there were a further 12 before the New Year, so there were 467 matches in that decade or just less than an average of 50 Test matches per year.

By comparison, the first Test match to start in the 1950s was South Africa v Australia in Durban in late January. It was just Test Match number 320 although they had started in 1877 and by Christmas Eve 1959, when India beat Australia in Kanpur, they had reached number 483, which is 163 Tests in the decade or about one third of the 21^st century figure. In addition of course there were no ODIs, World Cups or T20 tournaments in the 1950s.

(* incidentally I know some people say the decade/century started on 1 Jan 2001 but the point would be pretty much the same – I find January 2000 more elegant, and so ignore the maths)

These politicians know nothing

Northants have just been loaned some dosh by the Council and the report has this comment from Mary Markham, the Conservative leader of the council:

“We will look at providing financial support to help the club get back onto a stable footing. With over a century of tradition, the club is one of the oldest still playing in the County Championship, and a big part of life in Northampton”.

Reference the last point, I was told recently that they have fewer than 200 members although not sure if that’s correct. What is for sure is that since they were founded in 1878 and came into the Championship in 1905, they’re one of the ‘youngest’.

I watched until lunch then went out on various missions. Came back in to see the last few overs; Misbah faced Moeen for the final one, on 87. He hit the first square for six, reverse swept at the second and was nearly lbw, hit the third straight for six and reverse swept the fourth to reach his century

In the last over

That’s not how the game should be played surely?

I wonder whether we think this was better?

That’s the Pompey ground in the 1950s as I first saw it

I’ve been doing some work on ‘out grounds’, checking on them in 1960.

In that season the 17 counties used 79 grounds. Essex and Glamorgan used eight each, Yorkshire and Kent seven and Somerset six. Hampshire used four – Bournemouth, Cowes (IOW), Portsmouth and Southampton.

Apart from Yorkshire, those who used fewest grounds were mostly the Test match counties. Middlesex played everything at Lord’s although they had ventured to Hornsey for the first time the previous year (v Hants), Notts played just one at Worksop, Surrey one at Guildford, while Warwicks used Coventry (2) and Nuneaton. The oddest of the lot I think was Glamorgan at Mergam – I’ve never heard of it!

Motorways weren’t so good (although less congested) but by rail this was pre-Beeching, so more lines and stations.