Leading, Managing and Influencing
ECB’ s commitment to the future direction of recreational cricket
I recently had the privilege of watching a day’ s Test cricket from a box at Lord’ s in the company of some of our most valued volunteers. It was a beautiful day, the cricket was very good, the hospitality splendid, and the conversation animated and passionate as it always is when you put 20 or so cricket people in a room together. Lord’ s was packed to the gunnels, bands played, dancers entertained, and one would be forgiven for thinking that all is well in the world – and particularly in the world of Test cricket.
Unfortunately, despite the full house at this particular Test against Sri Lanka, all is not well in the world of cricket – and particularly with Test cricket. The problems have been well documented and in a world dominated by money and business plans, the bottom line is that cricket needs to find a way to make Test cricket pay, such that it remains not just viable but the premier competition in the world cricket portfolio.
It is understood that in financial terms this is about TV deals and getting people into the grounds to watch, as well as achieving a balance between the various forms of one day cricket and the multi-day game. But in cricketing terms, it is also about the players themselves – and what they want from the game. It seems that an increasing number are choosing to‘ retire’ from Test cricket and an increasing number are not putting themselves in the frame in the first place by declaring themselves as‘ one day specialists’.
I have always thought the term‘ one day specialist’ was a misnomer because even without the current debate about the efficacy of Test cricket, the massive majority of cricketers worldwide will only ever play one-day cricket. Many years ago when I was the Master i / c Cricket at Dulwich, our cricket professional was the former Surrey batsman, Bill Smith. Bill was a brilliant coach, a real‘ old school’ technician who would drill the boys in the arts of keeping still, picking line, playing straight, and being patient. I remember a young lad coming in and playing across the line very early in his innings and smiling broadly as the ball sailed away through mid-wicket. Bill remonstrated with him and told him that he was watching too much one-day cricket. Quick as a flash the lad retorted that one-day cricket was all he was ever going to play!
That was in the early 1980s and of course the way that all cricket is played 35 years later is markedly different, but the principle enunciated by my young friend( who went on to become a very successful club cricketer) has not changed at all. The fact is that multi-day cricket and one-day cricket should be complementary, not oppositional.
Leaving aside Test cricket for a moment, what is the future for multi-day domestic cricket – county cricket and minor counties cricket, where the basic arguments for and against are broadly the same? That is, how can these forms of cricket remain viable options in the business-led environment in which we operate and, if not, what is to be done about it?
Cricket is not alone in having a shortened version of the main game – there is a world series seven-a-side rugby and we have been playing indoor five-a-side football for years. But mainly because of the similar time elements in these other sports, the shortened versions do not threaten the very existence of the main games as we know them, as it does in cricket.
In my editorial in the last magazine I referred to the differences between multi-day cricket and one-day cricket in respect to the redrafting of the Laws in 2017, expressing the hope that MCC might consider publishing regulations for limited overs cricket in a separate booklet for T20, 50 – 50 and generic suggestions for other formats, and in so doing reduce the need for the different regulations that so plague recreational cricket. If the contents of my postbag and email inbox are anything to go by, this is by far the most popular suggestion I have ever made, so I will be re-doubling my efforts to achieve this outcome.
This is not to say that all is well in the world of domestic recreational cricket: I regret that the news is not great there either and it is not that I wish to be the portent of doom and gloom, but it is important to report the situation as it is, specifically in terms of the disappointing figures that show the declining number of participants playing the game and the stagnant nature of the growth of the game as a whole. ECB has tackled this issue head on and as many of you will know, this has resulted in a complete change of strategy and direction, which you can read about in more detail elsewhere in this publication.
Whilst there is little disagreement about the need for this transformation, it is inevitable that such change management will lead to uncertainty, particularly in the realm of personnel and job retention; indeed a recent meeting that I attended made Harold Macmillan’ s 1962 Night of the Long Knives look like no more than a rearrangement of the cutlery! But the good news is that for every job that has been made redundant, at least one other has been created, which demonstrates in tangible and financial terms, ECB’ s commitment to lead, manage and influence the future direction of recreational cricket. In my view, this is essential if change is to be effected successfully.
Whilst it should be acknowledged and appreciated that its remarkable social history has served the game well, not least in facilitating autonomous leadership and decision making in different parts of the structure, the fact is that in current circumstances, the governing body must govern, and if leagues, county boards and other organisations and stakeholders( often driven by the egos of certain individuals) are enabled to ride roughshod over that need for collective and collaborative change, then it is not being overdramatic to suggest that the game( as we know it) may wither on the vine.
I wish you all a happy summer of officiating, wherever you are and in whatever capacity you operate.
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