The little cricketing hiatus seems to be over. We can tell that is the case because the admirable and ubiquitous Isa Guha is back on a TV screen somewhere. Just over a week ago she was hosting the Hundred draft at Sky’s studios in the outskirts of London; at the weekend she was in Adelaide where Sri Lanka have just been hammered by 134 runs in a T20 international. Meanwhile, England are in New Zealand, where the intrepid Ali Martin should be landing about now, and under the guidance of Chris Silverwood they are preparing for some white-ball internationals before two Test matches. There will be barely another break in the next 12 months.
Your Spin correspondent (at least for this week) has just had a break, having taken the precaution of one last, easy dash to Europe before the Halloween deadline (an unnecessary one, it seems) in a desperate attempt to refresh the mind. There was Michelangelo’s David, still in the Accademia in Florence, about to slay Goliath but on this occasion I managed to avoid blurting out: “Look, he’s got hands just like Alec Bedser,” which did not go down so well with my travelling companion on a previous visit since we were supposed to be in a rare cricket-free zone. This time I noticed that steely eyed Dave is somehow reminiscent of Sam Underhill lining up an opponent, but I soon sensed this observation was barely appreciated either.
There followed the agony of boarding a flight in Pisa just as England’s rugby players were embarking on their semi-final against the All Blacks, which was, I imagine, another example of how live sport at the highest level can captivate so many people, even those who only have a passing interest in the game. By the time we landed, the possibility remained that England might be dual World Cup winners in 2019.
Indeed, after England’s epic semi-final victory in Japan the assumption is that the leading lights of the Rugby Football Union may at this very moment be seeking advice from their cousins at the England and Wales Cricket Board as they contemplate how best to capitalise on a possible World Cup triumph: a new city-based rugby tournament in 2020, perhaps, with simpler rules and shorter matches as they seek to overcome minor inconveniences such as having the best teams based in such small places as far away as Exeter or Northampton – as is the case with Chelmsford and Taunton during the cricket season. Maybe it could all be preceded by a riveting draft on TV.
Sadly, my travels meant that I caught only a glimpse of the Hundred draft. I have to confess that it was not a Damascene moment during which the blinkers were suddenly removed as the brave new world became clearer. I’m not even sure it all panned out quite as the ECB would have wanted, though there is no sign of this in its latest round of triumphant press releases.
There are some notable overseas players destined for the Hundred: Rashid Khan, Kane Williamson plus a host of Aussies who sense a grand opportunity for a lucrative extension to their ODI tour of England next summer. But the coaches of the eight teams, all of whom are from overseas – was that the original intention of Andrew Strauss and co at ECB towers? – have selected 40 out of 112 players who are not eligible to play for England. This may not have been the boost that the Professional Cricketers’ Association was anticipating. So look out for Brydon Carse, Leus du Plooy, Ravi Rampaul, Marchant de Lange, David Wiese, Hardus Viljoen and Cameron Delport on our television screens next August.
Search for some of the brightest talent in English cricket and you may be disappointed – there were no places for two of our fastest and most promising bowlers, Olly Stone and Jamie Overton, nor for Sam Northeast, Sam Hain, James Bracey, Daniel Bell-Drummond and Dom Bess.
Meanwhile, the advantages of playing for one of the host counties is highlighted with no one from Leicestershire selected for the Hundred and one, Adam Rossington, from Northamptonshire.
This does not seem to apply in Cardiff. Welsh Fire, the team with “intense passion and relentless energy” plus “the hunger to prove the haters wrong”, has no Welshman and one Glamorgan player (the South African Colin Ingram); they do have eight players from overseas along with Jonny Bairstow, the England red-ball central contract pick, and Tom Banton, a local icon pick. (Don’t ask me to explain these categories since we must all understand by now how this tournament is renowned for its simplicity).
Somerset and Gloucestershire are aligned with the team that will “Spark the Welsh Fire” yet, Banton aside, there are no Somerset players in their squad and just two from Gloucestershire. Well, let’s take the positives; come August there should not be too many extra tailbacks on the Severn Bridge.
My travels also denied me the opportunity to witness ECB officials at the select committee of the department for digital, culture, media and sport, where Colin Graves explained how the BBC was seduced by the concept of the Hundred – even though the corporation originally bought into a new T20 competition.
I would have liked to follow those proceedings closely if only to discover how much has been spent by the ECB in setting up the new tournament. But I now realise that if I had listened to every word I would have been none the wiser on that score. Politicians are not the only ones determined to avoid answering the question.
The Hundred still divides opinion. Those who conceived it and those about to broadcast it believe it will be wonderful; so, more understandably, do the coaches and the players who are being well-rewarded to deliver it – though there must be a surprisingly large seam of English county cricketers disappointed not to be included.
Then there are the many thousands of curmudgeons like me, who believe that in the wake of a World Cup triumph, a vibrant Ashes series and a record-breaking T20 Blast, the game is strong enough in this country without the addition of a fourth format that may prove to be a reckless gamble from which it takes years to recover.
Should we rejoice that the ECB has got the Hundred done, quite an achievement given that the majority of fans oppose it? Should we just shut up and hope for the best despite the creation of such a hopelessly unbalanced domestic schedule? I keep trying but can’t quite manage it yet.
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