Freelance journalist/Author
The endless discussion of where English cricket is headed since the Strauss Review continues to frustrate and, to many (traditionalists?), the future looks misty and not just a little scary.
In an attempt to penetrate the gloom, Ben, rather than further muddy the waters by adding his own judgement, researched opinions from numerous interested parties; the views of administrators, fans, clubs, coaches and members formed the basis of his book.
Inevitably, franchise cricket on a global basis informed their assessments, being regarded as either the future or the deathknell of the game. Money, ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’, contract implications, multi formats, greed, loyalty, self interest etc all get an airing.
In our current game we have nine grounds that host Tests, eight are owned by counties, plus changes in structure of these formats. In effect there is a set of superclubs, largely with the bigger grounds, meaning half the counties could be on their way to becoming feeder clubs.
So, is it just about making money? Aren’t the smaller counties community assets? If some clubs can strengthen, others become weaker. It has become imperative for clubs to generate absolutely vital non cricketing revenue; Surrey work hard to make millions but recently Derbyshire’s largest income generator was a concert by The Who.
It seems ironic that Ben’s search for resolvement through clarity has highlighted the numerous reasons of exactly why there seems little chance of any …
Below is the link to an article Ben wrote for the Guardian, just after visiting us – you will probably enjoy it.